Speeches by Cocking.

“Will the Minister give way?”

“When you say “go to the combined authority”, do you mean the combined authority or the elected mayor?”

“Fire governance in the UK is quite complicated. You have some areas run by county councils, some by elected mayors, some by police, fire and crime commissioners and some by arm’s length bodies. When we go through this process of devolution, what is the Government’s view of where fire responsibility should sit at a loca…”

“So you will definitely be around the table with that inspectorate and involved as much as you possibly can be?”

“We had someone from the London Fire Brigade here when we looked into Grenfell and he was saying he would welcome a national oversight mechanism for the changes that they have had to make to the fire brigade and he would welcome someone looking at making sure they implement all of the recommendations. What is your view …”

“I want to follow up on one of those questions, because I got lost in your answer, Minister. Are the Government going to introduce a national oversight mechanism—yes or no?”

“So it is a no.”

“I want to concentrate on your new role with some aspects of fire safety. Obviously we have got a Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention and now you are going to take on some responsibility for fire. Can you explain to us what you are doing and what is still left with them?”

“So you are saying that the police part of the inspectorate is taking precedent over the fire inspectorate, because you are saying the reason why that is staying with the current Minister is because she has responsibility for police. I am taking from you that we do not think fire is important enough to have you around t…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne, and I am a Hertfordshire county councillor as well.”

“I thank the Minister for his intervention. However, if the Government’s White Paper sets out their expectation for two-tier areas to reorganise, those two-tier areas do not have a choice. They either get on that train and do what the Government are telling them, or they wait by the sidelines and get forced to do it by …”

“The area is under Liberal Democrat control now, and they have gone for a massive council tax increase of 7.5%, even though when the Prime Minister launched his local election campaign he said everyone’s council tax would be frozen. I will leave that there. When we talk about the millions of pounds to be saved through l…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship today, Ms Hobhouse. I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a local councillor. I have just a few comments. The delay in elections for these local authorities was not really a choice for them; it was a mandate from Govern…”

“I fully agree with my hon. Friend.”

“I draw the Committee’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests that I am a local councillor. Given what the Minister has outlined, will he give us a flavour of how local people can make representations, even if it is straight to the Secretary of State or the Planning Inspectorate? I am con…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that building more of that infrastructure here in the United Kingdom would be good for British jobs and for our energy security, just as issuing new oil and gas licences in Scotland would be, as that would allow us to produce more of our energy here at home and make us safer from volatile ener…”

“Small boat crossings are up 30% since the general election. The number of illegal asylum seekers in the asylum hotel in my constituency of Broxbourne is also up. Illegal asylum seekers are being prioritised for GP appointments and school places, which is outrageous to me and my hard-working constituents. Can the Minist…”

“I know my hon. Friend is a passionate advocate for urban design, and he makes an important point. Of course we must invest in urban design, because it is the council—and MPs through our casework—that picks up the pieces. If a development is not planned correctly, with the right number of car spaces, for example, there …”

“Can the Secretary of State outline what powers in the Bill she will use to take on developers and make sure that they build based on the planning permissions they already have?”

“rose—”