Speeches by Glover.

“I have a fairly straightforward question. Why has the rail network enhancements pipeline not been updated since 2019?”

“That is very clear. Could I infer from your comments that you would really like to see a clear strategy for the railway from Government, giving clear direction as to what they want to achieve, strategically and not just in terms of pet projects? Far be it for me to suggest any pork barrel project.”

“You mentioned that one of the issues with Great Western was that there had not been any electrification for a long time, so the art of how to do it was lost. Does that mean you think a commitment to a rolling programme of electrification would help the supply chain and everybody to further reduce unit costs or manage t…”

“T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.”

“Many constituents have written to me to express their concern on the recent UK Supreme Court ruling relating to the legal definition of a woman. It has left the already vulnerable members of the trans community feeling uncertain about how they will be able to go about their day-to-day lives. What steps is the Minister …”

“T7. Enersys ABSL is a space battery manufacturer based at the Culham campus in my Oxfordshire constituency. The Minister will be aware that Culham has been designated as an AI growth zone by the Government. It applied for an export licence last August but got an outcome only last week, which meant the contract was near…”

“Can I just pick you up on that in terms of the newness of telecoms and broadband?”

“I am now going to ask some questions about permit schemes, which I know will fill us all with joy and enthusiasm. Local authorities have told us that immediate permits are being overused, which can make it difficult to plan and co-ordinate works, but the Department has said that it sees no evidence of misuse. Does it c…”

“They probably would not, would they?”

“In that context, for a long time there have been these definitions of urgent and emergency for types of permits. Are those definitions still fit for purpose, or could they do with a review?”

“That is fair enough.”

“I understand what you are saying now and, to be fair, I have recently moved house and have a broadband provider that I had never even heard of a year or two before.”

“We have had those for a couple of decades, have we not?”

“In 2023, the Department for Transport introduced a new performance-based inspections regime, which means that companies with a high failure rate on standards are inspected more often. In your opinions, how successful has this been?”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I rise to speak to new clause 19. First, the Liberal Democrat members of this Committee support a lot of what the Government are proposing in this part of the Bill. Creating electricity grids of the future is a critical route to decarbonising and has the potenti…”

“Please expand. Rachel Hallos: I am not convinced that there is clarity on the balance and calculations. If you take such land out of production, what imbalance does that create with production elsewhere? If you move environmental goods from one area of land on to another, what imbalance is being created there? If we ar…”

“Q I appreciate that there is a lot of uncertainty and you have been very honest about that. As a colleague of mine has already acknowledged, there is a huge amount of concern about the provisions in the Bill. What is it that gives you such assurance or confidence, given that we know so little about EDPs, that the Bill’…”

“Q You mentioned that you have already started some work on environmental delivery plans. Are you able to say a little more about how long you think individual plans will take to develop and come into force, and a little more on what you said about the criteria that you will use to decide where and what sort of areas wi…”

“Q One of the challenges in planning is finding the optimum balance between housing, environmental requirements, food production and local decision making and consultation. Do you feel that the Government’s proposed Bill strikes a fair balance between those four things? Rachel Hallos: No.”

“Q Mr Stevens, you mentioned local plans briefly in one of your previous answers. Do you feel that the draft Bill sufficiently considers the interaction between the proposed spatial development strategies and existing local plan processes? Kate Henderson, it would also be good to hear your views on that. James Stevens: …”