Speeches by Cocking.

“But if you do not know where to find them, to be able to walk into a high street bank and ask some questions about the products that bank offers will surely affect people’s knowledge and understanding of the mortgage products on offer, even if it is just in that bank.”

“Face-to-face banking on our high streets is obviously important in accessing both cash and financial services. I want to come to you first, Henry. Nationwide had a notorious advert which said that you were not closing branches but you did close branches in Cheshunt, which is part of my constituency. What effect have th…”

“How does that help people to access face-to-face mortgage services in areas where you do not have branches?”

“That does not fill me with much confidence. It is difficult if you are an older person and you want to downsize. I have a question for the whole panel; has face-to-face banking had an effect on people’s ability to access mortgages across the whole spectrum?”

“Do you think that not having banks on the high street creates that effect? Obviously, you are saying that lots of lenders do not do it and mortgage lenders do it themselves, but if I were a first-time buyer and I could see banks on the high street, I could walk in, ask some questions and get pointed in the right direct…”

“I really do thank the Home Secretary for her statement. This is a tiny step in the right direction, but it does not go far enough. To truly show that the Home Secretary is listening to the British people, does she agree with me that if you enter this country illegally, you should never be allowed to stay?”

“As a former deputy police and crime commissioner, I know the hard work that police and crime commissioners do, and I know that the Hertfordshire police and crime commissioner, Jonathan Ash-Edwards, does all he can to keep Hertfordshire residents safe. The Government’s English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill b…”

“I should declare that I have a data centre in my constituency under construction. It went through the normal planning route. Will the Minister confirm to the Committee that if someone wants a data centre to go through the nationally significant infrastructure project regime, the local planning authority and local peopl…”

“Why did you reduce the targets in London?”

“There was no engagement.”

“Secretary of State, you said at the start of the meeting that you have been in meetings around the local housing allowance. Have you been in any meetings with any ministerial colleagues or civil servants around the Budget on any potential changes to council tax?”

“That is shocking.”

“I just want to drill down a bit further into that, if I can. You are the Department for Housing and you are seriously telling us that you have not done any calculations on how many social homes are needed each year, let alone a target. You are the Housing Department and you are seriously telling this Committee that you…”

“You have made your decision. Then you are going to consult.”

“For the new town at Crews Hill and right next door at Chase Park, my local authority was not consulted even though we border it.”

“First, I just want to say that it is a sweeping statement to say that the housing targets across the country are fair and consistent. That is not a statement that I agree with. I wanted to ask about new towns. When you do a local plan, you have a duty to co-operate with your near neighbours. There is a new town in Enfi…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, the Member of Parliament for Broxbourne.”

“T8. In a new poll, FairFuelUK has found that three out of four road users who voted Labour want fuel duty to be kept frozen or reduced. Will the Chancellor listen to the people who put her into Government and ensure that that regressive tax, which hits low-income families and economic growth the hardest, is not increas…”

“There are clearly some terrible landlords out there and there is an issue with enforcement. Kate, you have an example of Nottingham city council and Huntingdon council. Obviously they are very different. Nottingham probably has a budget of £300 million. Huntingdon is probably £15 million. They are rural and urban, with…”

“I am Lewis Cocking, MP for Broxbourne.”