Speeches by Baker.

“But in terms of chapter 9.1 specifically, Mr Speaker has raised concerns directly with this Committee. It is obviously something he takes very seriously and is worried about, so would you accept that there have been breaches of the principles set out in 9.1 in this Session?”

“As you said, the Independent Adviser has told us that he does not view it as falling under his remit to assess whether there has been a breach of the principle set out in chapter 9.1 that “the most important announcements of government policy should be made in the first instance in Parliament.” Who should therefore det…”

“Does my hon. Friend agree that the Chancellor’s excellent spending review for Scotland, which sets out record funding for the Scottish Government, means that SNP Ministers are ideally placed to offer the agricultural sector in Scotland a multi-year funding settlement, and that that is exactly what they should now do?”

“Thank you, Emma, for the further evidence you provided after the last session regarding action taken on culture within ONS. In that letter you referred to an organisational review of psychological safety across the senior civil service cadre of the ONS. Can you tell us a bit more about what drove the commissioning of t…”

“Thank you, Chair. I am often bewildered and confused, but I have some questions that are quite direct around the Integrated Data Service, which is one of the casualties of this process. Can you just remind us what the Integrated Data Service was intended to do when it was first pitched in 2020 with the then Government’…”

“Can you tell us how much was spent? What resources were actually deployed into the establishment of the IDS?”

“That is a huge amount of investment. Just at the end of last month, we heard from the acting director general for economic statistics that the programme was being finished. In terms of all that investment, what have we got out of that at the end of the day, given it was such a flagship priority for the ONS?”

“In effect, what does the decision to close the programme mean in practice for government analysts and external researchers who had hoped to link anonymised datasets to improve policy outcomes?”

“Is the Secure Research Service still being turned off?”

“Will that provide an alternative avenue for some projects so that data analysts who might be waiting for the IDS will now be directed elsewhere instead?”

“The final question is are there any major data programmes that will now not be able to proceed because of the closure of the IDS programme?”

“Could you follow up subsequently?”

“This was published in March 2023, so some time ago. The most common themes in analysis of the transcribed conversations were comments on governance and decision-making structures widely seen as ineffective in setting and communicating strategic priorities, with a resulting lack of strategic clarity contributing to over…”

“17. What recent progress her Department has made on tackling antisocial behaviour.”

“With increasing incidents of antisocial behaviour and falling police numbers in Scotland, will the Minister assure me that she will share learning from the safer streets initiative with SNP Ministers, as it is rolled out, to encourage them to raise their game on this issue? Will she also join me and Police Scotland in …”

“Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker—persistence pays off. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that he will report regularly to this House on progress against this excellent plan? I hope that will help us to evidence the case for investment in community health facilities in Scotland, which have long been promised but…”

“I might say that Labour Members have had rather more impact on Government policy than SNP Members. The hon. Gentleman makes important points about welfare and the importance of having the right system to get people back into work. Why, then, did his Government in Holyrood, of which he aspires to be a member, cut invest…”

“rose—”

“Is it not the reality that economic growth is increasing under this Labour Government, in rather sharp contrast to the experiences of hon. Members under Liz Truss, which I think were somewhat different for the whole country, including Scotland?”

“It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir John. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on securing this important debate. His constituents could not have a more doughty and effective champion in this place. As a fellow Fife MP, I was particularly pleased t…”