Speeches by Rushworth.

“Any way you want to come. For me, this started out as hearing one anecdote, and then I would hear another and another, until it became obvious that this is a serious issue. It is about not just fatalities—I accept that fatalities are low, thank goodness—but the quality of people’s lives. It is about the fact that too m…”

“That is what I am calling for tonight: for parish and town councils to be able to decide the speed limits on the roads within their boundaries. They represent the voice of the people in those areas. I will move on from the tour of my constituency—although you are all welcome to visit some of these lovely villages somet…”

“That is a fair point. Again, I pay tribute to all the people who serve at that level of government, particularly people who give their time freely to serve in residents’ associations just to make life better for their neighbours and the people who live around them. I will mention two more places before I move on. There…”

“That is an excellent point about local knowledge. I think back to High Grange, which I talked about, where only the local people understand the importance of the allotments and the park and the difficulty of crossing the road. Both those places are just outside the village, on the other side of the main road.”

“We are all here and have all stayed late because we are the voices of the people we represent, and clearly they are all telling us the same thing. It falls to the Government to do something about the challenges we are raising tonight. Let me quickly mention two or three other places, because I love my constituents, but…”

“I thank the Minister for this announcement. As she will recall, we met back in September to discuss my concerns about fuel poverty in my constituency, including the number of children living in cold homes. We specifically talked about this measure. She has taken it away, done the hard graft and delivered, so I thank he…”

“That was my next question: do you think it is cost-effective? I was just looking at Mannion Daniels and Palladium as two major FCDO contractors and the dividends that they pay to shareholders and so on. I am wondering about your view on cost-effectiveness.”

“Are you comfortable with the amount of dividends that get paid to shareholders in this space?”

“Is it?”

“Which is more profitable, working for the UK or USAID?”

“Can I just ask you about the degree to which you feel that there is competition in this space in bidding for contracts because it seems that Palladium has a very large share of the market.”

“Has it had an impact on the amount of business that comes your way?”

“In your experience, comparing working with DFID before the merger and FCDA since, how has it impacted the relationship between you and the UK Government?”

“That is all right. I am really just asking you whether, from the experience of Palladium, you feel that the FCDO has an effective strategy for working through private sector contractors.”

“I will turn to Sinead. Does the FCDO have an effective strategy for how it works in and through private contractors?”

“The example you are giving is very much a third party as an on-the-ground actor, but where you have the big players taking more of the management functions of the FCDO, do you see any risk that that undermines in-house capacity?”

“What are the circumstances where you think it would be more effective for the FCDO to engage private contractors rather than develop capability in-house?”

“I saw Mark and Alex’s eyes twitch with this question. If you do not mind, Chair, I think we had better let them answer as well.”

“I appreciate your response, but before we move on can I ask a slightly more subversive question? In your lived experience of seeing development projects pan out on the ground, do you feel that this huge framework we have built up around the evaluation of value for money is leading to us funding projects that deliver it…”

“Thank you for that. Your answer was very comprehensive and perfectly reflected my own experience; I have spent more of my life on your side of this relationship. You have segued perfectly into my next follow-up question, which is about inclusiveness. There is no doubt that a lot of people around the world will say that…”