Speeches by Western.

“Sarah and David, in terms of how we can address that, what work is being done, recognising the gaps and the £3 trillion worth of construction that could be happening? We might be letting down young people or adult learners who want to get back into construction just because we do not have the training in place.”

“Speaking to my local college, Warwickshire College, which is the sixth largest in the country, I am told it has loads of young people who want to get in to be plumbers, electricians or whatever, but it cannot provide the training because there are not enough tutors. Is that what you see across the country and in all se…”

“How do you assemble that data?”

“Tim Balcon, I am interested to know where you see the really significant gaps in the construction industry, in terms of roles or subsectors trying to get people in and trained?”

“Morgan, would you welcome something along those lines?”

“This is putting a lot of pressure on them. What about covid loans? Is that something that you can relate to? Are there issues with outstanding covid loans that you may have taken out or that have been taken out across the sector?”

“Very briefly, from talking to pubs in my constituency, Warwick and Leamington, they would really welcome minimum pricing for alcohol. Stephen, in Scotland, how does it work for you?”

“It is just those other additional pressures on the sector. The margins may have been reasonable to slim.”

“Lydia, are there any other costs that are really bearing down on the business?”

“Would many of your pubs, do you reckon, have taken out loans, especially for some of the energy hikes that they saw?”

“Just to pick up on a couple of points, you have clearly articulated some of the pressures that the 2024 Budget has brought. I would be interested to know about some of the challenges that may also have been contributing to the viability of business prior to the 2024 Budget. Starting with you, Morgan, in terms of the pu…”

“So a good town centre would have really good connectivity, easy access and public transport. What else?”

“We need to sort out rents. We need to sort out business rates. What else?”

“Jon McGinty, we used to be a nation of shopkeepers, apparently. Under the current system, are we not denying all manner of citizens the opportunity to have their own business on the high street?”

“When I talk to businesses in my constituency of Warwick and Leamington, the points that come up from all those in the centre of the town are concerns about rents, business rates, parking, and a few other issues. I am surprised at how little I have heard from the three of you about those points. Six years ago, I remembe…”

“So we are looking the other way?”

“It would be useful to know specifically whether the Government could do that and when it would choose to do that.”

“I understand, but I guess—going back to Minister Falconer’s point about making an assessment—if there is an opportunity for the Government to make an assessment of what is happening in Gaza, when all of us are denied that because we have no media feed about what is happening, the UK has an opportunity to determine or a…”

“Is that something you could ask the RAF to do?”

“I understand it is not the purpose, but do we, as a Government, have that data through the RAF?”