Speeches by Whitby.

“This Government are rightly committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, but care leavers still face disproportionate challenges as they move into independent adulthood. Will the Minister commit to reviewing the universal credit age-related rates for care leavers, with a view to ensuring that all 18 to 24-year-o…”

“10. Whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of ensuring that all care leavers are entitled to the same standard universal credit allowance.”

“3. What steps her Department is taking to increase funding for UNESCO world heritage sites.”

“Cromford Mills in Derbyshire Dales was the world’s first water-powered cotton spinning mill and the birthplace of mass production. In recent decades the Arkwright Society has transformed this UNESCO world heritage site into the much-loved tourist attraction it is today. However, the renewal of the site is not yet compl…”

“Do you think that the Treasury is taking a sufficiently precautionary approach to long-term climate, environmental and economic risks? Do you think that it fully appreciates those risks?”

“Q6. A film called the “People’s Emergency Briefing” is being shown in communities up and down the country. I recently attended a screening in Wirksworth, and there is another one next week in Bakewell. The film educates us and reminds us of the climate emergency that we all face. Yet, inexplicably, the Conservatives ha…”

“How should the Treasury balance its climate and nature objectives against competing fiscal, economic and public spending pressures, if that is not the same question in a slightly different order to the previous ones?”

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“At COP29, an agreement was reached to provide $300 billion of international climate finance annually to developing countries by 2035 to help them pursue green growth pathways, access clean energy, reduce deforestation and so on. What steps is the Department taking to ensure that this commitment is delivered in full by …”

“There has been a lot of talk for a very long time about additional money being needed for defence. What would the Minister do with more money that he cannot do now?”

“The hon. Lady asks what is in it for the residents of Cheshire. The scheme—if it goes ahead, of course—will capture 3 million tonnes of carbon every year. That is the equivalent of a quarter of all the emissions from the counties of Derbyshire and Staffordshire every year, so that is a benefit for the residents of Ches…”

“We have heard lots of references to your back-up HVO today. I am just a bit concerned that it is being used frequently. Is that because the grid cannot cope, for whatever reason?”

“Should we be deploying SMRs in those growth zones and those clusters of data centres?”

“What is going to produce the lesser impact on the environment? Is it fabulous design for the building, or is it where the centre is sited?”

“How should the drive to accelerate the development of data centres through AI growth zones be balanced against environmental constraints and local infrastructure capacity?”

“Mr Hayes, are there any environmental constraints that would rule out a site completely, regardless of mitigation?”

“I welcome the steps that the Government have taken to improve the conviction rates for rape and other serious sexual offences, including announcing a new independent legal advice service for rape victims, changes to stamp out rape myths in court, and expanding the victims’ right to review scheme, which is particularly …”

“3. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the victims’ right to review scheme pilot on victims of rape and other serious sexual offences.”

“The Climate Change Committee’s “Well-Adapted UK” report suggested that 92% of existing homes will overheat by the middle of the century without adaptation. How can passive cooling measures, such as the ones that Professor Howard Boyd mentioned—shutters, shading and insulation—be better publicised and incentivised?”

“Dr Millar, in response to Sammy’s question, you mentioned how rapidly the planet had warmed—1.6° in a few decades. Is it fair to say that, historically, getting to that temperature would have taken a few thousand years?”