Speeches by Sullivan.

“I congratulate my hon. Friend on bringing forward this debate. Does she agree that pimping websites are facilitating sex trafficking of women, making it easier for traffickers and organised crime groups to profit from the dehumanising, violence, exploitation and trade of vulnerable women?”

“I thank the Minister for coming to the House for the statement and the announcement of sanctions. We have all watched with horror the scenes of desperate people trying to access food—the most basic thing that we need to survive. While we can understand why our constituents have a sense of hopelessness, we should not ha…”

“Will the Minister commit himself again to working with local government and devolved Administrations to increase the number of people receiving pension credit, so that pensioners on the lowest incomes do not lose out but receive the support that they need?”

“I thank the Minister for his statement, which I know will be greatly welcomed by my constituents. Over 14 years, we became used to a Government who did not listen and did not change course when circumstances changed, so I for one am grateful for a Labour Government who do so. While there was an uptick in pension credit…”

“What are the potential benefits and drawbacks of the Scottish Government playing a greater role in delivering local growth funding? You have touched on the red tape, but could you elaborate.”

“Do you think there should be more direct funding from the UK Government, if it is UK Government funding, to local authority areas?”

“This is a question for Norman Hampshire. You have already touched on population growth in Edinburgh overspilling into the East Lothian area. You mentioned how a lot of local residents feel somewhat disadvantaged from that due to the increasing pressure on services. How are you supporting disadvantaged residents to ensu…”

“Can I also ask how significant East Lothian’s proximity to Edinburgh has been in driving its economic success, compared with other measures that might have been introduced by the council?”

“To clarify, has that project come from the city region deal?”

“For the purposes of transparency, I was a signatory to the Edinburgh and South East Scotland city region deal in my former capacity as depute leader, West Lothian Council.”

“We will now turn to city and regional growth deals. I will ask all of you how effective you think these are in delivering benefits to the areas that are most in need?”

“Picking up on the point you made about ensuring that the skills agenda is across the region, do you think there is a danger perhaps with the city deals that a lot of the money can be swallowed up by the large cities rather than spread across the geographical area?”

“Does anyone have anything to add to that?”

“Is it something to do with engagement with private businesses at a very local level, where people know the area best, the skills best and the local resources best?”

“That being the case, I will move on to my next question. What do you see as being the limitations of local and regional funding initiatives, and how do you think they could be improved? You have mentioned multi-year funding because one-year funding does not allow you to plan ahead and does not allow you to perhaps take…”

“Can I ask both Norman and Stephen how the reduction in the UK Shared Prosperity Fund for 2025-26 will impact on the projects and initiatives you currently have planned?”

“There are a number of initiatives going on within the council as well as those.”

“Can I ask for detail on what other measures the council has taken and how they compare with some of the work coming out of the city region deal?”

“I think this has been touched on, but what do you see as the barriers that are holding back private enterprises from moving into former industrial areas? That is to all of you.”

“I suppose that has to be two levels. If you are looking for the Government, local government or the Scottish Government to do something, there has to be movement from the business community and how it engages. Do you have any thoughts on how we get movement on that side to get them to recognise that a particular area t…”