Speeches by Turner.

“rose—”

“Will the shadow Minister give way?”

“The hon. Gentleman has just said that there may be areas where we could go further on flexible working. Can he explain why the previous Government’s flexible working taskforce met just once last year, and just once the year before? As with the long-awaited employment Bill that never materialised, is it the case that th…”

“I agree. My hon. Friend makes a very important point. When we look back at the national agreement in the early 2000s which led to the expansion of school support staff roles, the justification was that they would alleviate pressure on teachers and add to the quality of teaching in classrooms. That is exactly what schoo…”

“I welcome today’s announcement. Recruitment and retention challenges have limited access to justice in recent years. Will the Lord Chancellor outline what steps she is taking to ensure that we have enough barristers and solicitors so that courts can get through as many cases as possible?”

“Does anyone else want to come in briefly on that point?”

“I want to ask about the 2023 inspections regime. We have heard conflicting evidence about its effectiveness, so I would appreciate your take and any comments that you might have on coring and its advantages for monitoring road quality.”

“I want to ask about the long-term effects of openings on pavements and roads. Emma, Keith and then Jack, surface quality can suffer when there are repeated openings and reinstatements are patchwork in nature or otherwise of poor quality. How does that long-term damage to the surfaces affect travellers, including from a…”

“Thank you. That figure is really striking. Please send through any supplementary information. We will come back to local authority responses but let’s keep on surface quality for the moment.”

“Presumably, there is damage to vehicles. Is that a problem as well?”

“Emma, coming back to your point—starting with you, and then the other witnesses may want to come in, although I am conscious that time is getting tight—you talked about local authority responses. How high do you think public awareness levels are about complaints processes through local authorities and utility companies…”

“Birmingham has a large and growing community of people from Hong Kong. Although most are now well settled in the wider community, some of my constituents are fearful about continued monitoring and surveillance, especially if they speak out on human rights. Will the Minister give me and my constituents an assurance that…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving us the opportunity to talk about our local non-league football clubs, such as Northfield Town FC and Alvechurch FC; I pay tribute to them for their community work. Does he agree that many clubs face a challenge in finding funding to bring on more women’s and girls’ teams, and to invest…”

“I thank the members of the Backbench Business Committee and the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for granting and leading the debate. Three years ago, we watched as missiles rained down on Ukraine from Kharkiv to Lviv, damaging even the Holocaust memorial at Babyn Yar. Anyone w…”

“The Government said that they intend to repeal the ban in the 2017 Act on local authorities creating new companies for the purpose of providing bus services. Do you think that lifting the ban on new municipal operators will have an impact in non-metropolitan areas?”

“My hon. Friend makes a sensible point, and the issues that he raises are reflected in my constituency. That is one of the major barriers to getting jobs and spending into our high streets. If the Budget last year had failed to raise money for investment in public services, it would have been like changing the colour of…”

“I understand the point the hon. Gentleman is making, but is it not the case that in that specific circumstance, after a week, they would be covered by the new probationary period provision? This provision is writing probationary period into the law for the first time.”

“As the Minister knows, the Nationwide Caterers Association, which represents small independents and family-run street food businesses, is based in Kings Norton in my constituency. I thank him for the recent positive meeting we held. Does he not agree that one of the previous problems it faced was that, under the previo…”

“Will the hon. Member acknowledge that what the Bill actually says is that no one should be forced on to a zero-hours contract? It is not the case that someone who wants that flexibility will be denied it.”

“My hon. Friend makes his point as well as it could be made, and I thank him for his intervention. Let us not forget the costs that the previous Government inflicted upon businesses. Their botched EU withdrawal policies have meant up to £7.5 billion in costs from customs checks alone according to HMRC, £1 billion from h…”