Speeches by Caliskan.

“I want to be clear about that.”

“Where I would not want you to end up is not opening cases at all.”

“T7. Thousands of my constituents in Barking receive their energy via a heat network provided by their landlord or a housing association. In many cases, they are not eligible for the warm home discount. What plans do the Government have to make sure that those constituents receive the support they need?”

“I thank the Minister for outlining the support available to households with high energy bills. Some 6,000 households in my constituency benefit from the warm home discount, but many in Barking and Dagenham, alongside almost 2 million other households in this country, are dealing with high energy debt. What plans are un…”

“20. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of extending the warm home discount to all households in receipt of means-tested benefits on people receiving those benefits.”

“I was pleased to be a member of the Public Bill Committee, and I welcome the opportunity to speak in favour of the Bill. I will also speak to clauses 4 and 46, and to new clause 55 and amendment 1, which I worry will further frustrate the planning process—the opposite of what the Bill tries to achieve. As the Member of…”

“As a fellow London Member of Parliament, I recognise everything that my hon. Friend has described. Was she surprised, as I was, to hear from the shadow Minister that the planning system is fine and should not change?”

“Being able to monitor progress and understand what is happening is quite different from trying to reach a target and a metric. You can be an organisation that is very well versed in where your strengths and weaknesses are, what the journey is and how it is going, but then there is actually achieving an outcome. That is…”

“This speaks to a bigger challenge that the Government are facing. We are in an environment where quangos are being abolished, and the public are saying to many of us, “Where is money being spent, and where can I feel the impact?” You will know far better than us that research and innovation is under particular scrutiny…”

“I am not trying to catch you out, but do you recognise that the lack of measurables is challenging? Although an organisation as a whole might always be going in the right direction, the purpose of this Committee is to assess value for money. I take the point—I think it is reflected in the Report—that for every £1 spent…”

“Okay. Professor Leyser, I do not know if you want to comment on that, but also, how do you know if the organisation has been successful or not?”

“So there will be a shift of expectation, from just tracking of a strategy to more measurable outcomes.”

“I want to ask about measurable outcomes and alignment to objectives. When the organisation was formed in 2018, DSIT set out 10 strategic objectives for it. None of the formal objectives is specific, measurable or time-bound, which makes it quite difficult to understand what outcomes the organisation is seeking to achie…”

“I have a very short question about the culture of the organisation, which panel members have already spoken about. You have a very good stat that staff feel they have the skills to do their job effectively, but a not so good one, too: only 40% of staff feel that they are encouraged to speak up when they identify seriou…”

“May I probe a bit more? There must be an innate tension between an organisation that wants to drive innovation in scientific research and the need to make those decisions within a policy framework set by a Department or Government. Professor, might you be able comment on that? How do you ensure that the funding is allo…”

“Obviously, there will always be areas that can be improved but, generally speaking, are you confident that there are clear lines of sight from the development of Government policy to funding activity and through to UKRI?”

“I want to ask about the relationship between the organisation and the Government; Professor Leyser and Sarah, you might be able to comment on this. It is fair to say that UKRI was set up with the intention that it would shape RDI policy and increase policy interest. How has the organisation improved clarity regarding t…”

“Going forward, are there other examples of what UK Research and Innovation needs to do better, when we compare ourselves with elsewhere?”

“Specifically about business, because in some of the evidence that we have received, it is an area that has been identified as perhaps a weakness. If you have other thoughts, the Committee would welcome them.”

“The total budget is a significant amount of money—£9 billion—so you will appreciate that the output is really important from a value-for-money perspective, for the taxpayer. You helpfully set out areas of focus. I want to probe a bit more on the work that the organisation does. It has an excellent reputation, as you ha…”