Speeches by Green.

“How are you prioritising where to invest that money?”

“Could you send a note to the Committee to clarify that for us? We do not mean to put you on the spot.”

“What progress have you made with the national housing development fund, which was launched at the end of March? It was only a short while ago, but I am sure you have progress that you want to report.”

“That is really helpful; thank you very much.”

“How do you ensure that the partners you work with are delivering the national housing delivery funding in line with your priorities? How are you keeping track of that?”

“How much of the £21 billion will be available for new unlocking land investments?”

“Are they bespoke to each authority?”

“That is really helpful; thank you, Cathy. Alison, you mentioned the 10 strategic place partnerships. Have I understood that they are very specifically connected to mayoral strategic authorities?”

“Understood. It sounds like money has already been unlocked and has already started flowing. Have I understood that correctly? Amy Rees indicated assent. Dame Sarah Healey indicated assent.”

“My constituents did not want HS2, and they have been putting up with the disruption of construction for years. Some of them warned that this would be a colossal waste of money, and they were right. This railway is costing nearly a billion pounds a mile. Every pound of cost overrun is a pound not spent on the local infr…”

“Thank you.”

“I may have misheard you. Did you say that you were going to write to all those with unclaimed— John-Paul Marks indicated assent.”

“Thank you. I will stop there, because my colleague has some follow-ups.”

“I declare an interest as a member of the all-party parliamentary group on the loan charge. My colleague said that you are spending £31 million a year on loan charge compliance. To date you have settled only £52 million of a total £1.7 billion tax liability, so how can you give us assurance that the approach you are tak…”

“I want to ask about the time it takes for these cases to be resolved. The Report says that the large business directorate has been closing compliance interventions more quickly in recent years, and that we should congratulate you on that, but it is still taking 17 months, or at least it was when the Report was written.…”

“Do you expect that figure of 17 months to reduce?”

“Thank you for clarifying that.”

“Is there a wider comms plan beyond writing to them?”

“Back in 2016, HMRC gained legislative powers for your special measures regime. For 10 years, you have had the power to sanction poor behaviour by the worst offenders. Why have you never used those powers?”

“A few moments ago, you mentioned litigation. I know it is a much smaller cohort of cases, but where businesses decide to litigate, their cases are taking significantly longer. I thought I had misread this figure, but they were taking 97 months in 2024-25. That is a long time. What work are you doing to bring that numbe…”