Speeches by Smith.

“My hon. Friend is right to emphasise the QEII centre’s value to the UK events sector. However, I am advised that the evidence indicates that any displaced events could be accommodated by other conference centres in London, given the available spare capacity. Events, visitor spending and associated economic activity wou…”

“The Church Commissioner gets another rest. In February, the Restoration and Renewal Client Board reported costed proposals for the programme and a recommended way forward. The key recommendations are a phase 1 works package and the preparation of temporary accommodation, including a long-term resilience Commons Chamber…”

“I, too, read the waterside options. The issue is that there is a preferred option, which is that the Commons moves to the northern estate and the House of Lords moves to the QEII centre. That has been proposed for safety and value-for-money reasons.”

“Last week, I visited our youth hub in Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, and heard at first hand some fantastic success stories of young people being supported into work through this Labour Government’s prioritisation. Can we have a ministerial statement on the work of these hubs and how they will integrate with the new youth …”

“I thank the Minister for his statement. I am glad to see that he is stepping in, and I am pleased to hear that National Savings & Investments will focus on reuniting bereaved families with their money, which it holds after things went badly wrong. How will he and the Government raise awareness with savers of the fa…”

“And that was the 50%.”

“In our south Wales valleys, there are sometimes many steps to a letter box—our posties earn their pay. Can I just check a fact with you, please, Mr Walsh? Did you say that there are 28,000 new starters and then leavers in the last year?”

“Mr Cochrane, it is good to hear about your NHS-specific barcode approach. How many NHS organisations have signed up across the UK and what percentage is that of UK households? We get letters from constituents who talk about missed cancer care and appointments. How many individual complaints have you received at the Roy…”

“Does Mr Křetínský want to talk about it? We are trying to pull out important information about data affecting our constituents.”

“I am trying to work out what is going on here. I received a letter from the Wales operations director of Royal Mail about the Ebbw Vale office, and they told me that the yearly absence rate there is 9%. I understand that the Royal Mail average for absence is 7%, and the overall sickness rate for the UK is 2%. What is g…”

“Can we have all the background information, please?”

“Posties have tough jobs. They risk falls and carry heavy loads. The facts are that their sickness rates are two to two and a half times the national average. What is your explanation for that?”

“What are you doing to ensure that it is a better service in future?”

“Many of the letters that our constituents depend on are not covered by the USO because they use the Royal Mail access service. What is Ofcom doing to ensure that the Royal Mail delivers those on time?”

“Can we please have agreed and accurate facts so that everybody can understand what is going on for the future?”

“Ms Black, Mr Křetínský talked about a first-class mail delivery success rate of over 90%, but in your introduction you talked about a success rate of 76%. Is someone not telling the truth, or do you have mixed targets going on here?”

“Mr Křetínský, what proportion of the UK population is covered by your NHS-specific barcode system?”

“I welcome this development reset. I support the Government’s decision to invest in our country’s security now and our ambition to support development more in future. On Yemen, given the conflict and the overall fragility in the region, how do the Government ensure that UK aid spent there does not fall into the wrong ha…”

“The Government have delivered for mineworkers and their families on improving their pension schemes. Although members of both the mineworkers’ pension scheme and the British Coal staff superannuation scheme tell me that they are pleased after the release of reserved funds, there are many former miners in their 80s and …”

“May I say how proud I am that my birth certificate says, “Father’s occupation: labourer in the steelworks”? This strategy is a shot in the arm for steelmakers across the UK; it is in stark contrast to the failures of the last Tory Governments. But can the Secretary of State say more about the infrastructure projects an…”