Speeches by Olney.

“I have a final question, Mr Glass. How are you going to ensure that your function is not going to hold up the implementation of the overall shared services project any further?”

“Can you explain a little more why it is difficult? Is it that it is embedded within the processes and that it is hard to do, or is it just that there has not been the attention on it or the will to bring it together?”

“But is it correct to say that the people function decided not to implement a functional standard and that that is one of the reasons?”

“What specifically needs to happen in order for that to be achieved?”

“But it is not a resistance, and it is not that it is impossible?”

“Mr Glass, there are obviously different levels of preparation to be onboarded to the shared services, but as of November 2025, the Government People Function, responsible for HR, is behind in all the clusters, excluding Overseas and Defence’s civilian HR capability. Why is it the Government People Function data so diff…”

“What are the remaining obstacles to progress?”

“The debate surrounding a third runway at Heathrow has stretched over the past three decades. The Liberal Democrats have long stood by communities who oppose a third runway, arguing that the economic benefits are overstated and the environmental consequences are unavoidable. Although I have always opposed a third runway…”

“T5. More than 1.3 million people use lifetime ISAs to save for their first home. The property cap of £450,000 has been frozen since 2017, despite rising house prices, but those buying their first home over that threshold face a 25% penalty. First-time buyers across London are disproportionately affected. Data from Febr…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) on securing this extremely important debate. Four weeks ago today, I was at the funeral of a young man who was killed in a road traffic collision in Sussex, just after Christma…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Sutton Coldfield (Sir Andrew Mitchell) on securing this extremely important debate. Four weeks ago today, I was at the funeral of a young man who was killed in a road traffic collision in Sussex, just after Christma…”

“6. What assessment he has made of the adequacy of the proportion of disability living allowance for children applications that have been approved by his Department within its target timeframes in the last two years.”

“Over the past two years, only 3.5% of applications for disability living allowance for children have been approved by the Department for Work and Pensions within its own target timeframe. Parents of children with disabilities work tirelessly to ensure that their children can have the same opportunities as everyone else…”

“Jo, how are you managing the interdependencies with other rail improvement programmes, such as the Transpennine route upgrade? What are the particular challenges of doing that with the phased approach?”

“Jo, we want to talk a bit about the phasing. The DfT made the decision, as of January this year, to deliver the programme in three phases. What are the particular benefits of taking this approach?”

“Obviously, the focus for now is going to be on phase 1, but is there a danger that the inevitable challenges that will arise in delivering phase 1 mean that you take your eye off the ball in terms of what needs to happen to get the early stages of phase 2 and then phase 3 off the ground?”

“I thank the hon. Members for Thurrock (Jen Craft) and for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) for bringing this important debate to the House. I echo the sentiments of other Members who have underlined the important work that allied health professionals undertake and recognised the role that these clinicians play in saving lives, pro…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Pritchard. I thank the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for opening the debate so well, and for acknowledging my campaign on this issue. I also thank the hon. Member for Warrington North (Charlotte Nichols), who is no longer in her place. I know th…”

“Finally, Mr Bowler, will the target of 70% of accounts being laid before the summer recess be met this year?”

“On the table as you embark on phase 1—thank you. Mr MacMillan, back to my question: how well developed are the plans for phase 1?”