Speeches by Slade.

“T7. Much of Dorset is blessed with solid-wall, thatched cottages—you must visit, Mr Speaker. That includes our National Trust village of Shapwick, where Slate cottage sat empty for two years because it would cost £100,000 to bring it up to the minimum energy efficiency standards, and the National Trust just could not d…”

“The child maintenance system is being used, as the Minister knows, to abuse women after they have left their relationship. One of my constituents lost her home after she was manipulated into selling it. Her ex-partner put the money into a joint account, and he then bought a new house in his own name. He left her and is…”

“Does the hon. Member agree that potentially every single working person, retired person and child in this country has paid the price for what Mandelson did? If he did indeed share information relating to the financial crash, it has cost everyone a fortune and he owes everyone in this country an apology.”

“The actions of Peter Mandelson are a disgrace, and I support the proposals to remove him without delay, but he is not the only British person implicated in the appalling Epstein files. What are the Government doing to ensure that all those linked to Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and any political, public or civ…”

“Almost one in six of the prison population is on remand, and more than 2,500, which is the population of all three prisons in Dorset plus the prison in Wiltshire, have been on remand for more than the custody time limit, including my constituent Liam. Many of them are not a flight or reoffending risk, and some may be i…”

“Storm Chandra has left the south-west in havoc, including deep flooding in Dorset, with routes blocked, villages cut off and even part of our historic Wimborne Minster underwater. Some residents have suggested that blocked drains are the cause, but the best flushed gullies would not cope. I welcome the reference to the…”

“There is only one rebar mill in the UK—in Cardiff—and it can make enough to meet only a small portion of our needs, which means that we are reliant on imports. Even if we open a new facility, we will not have enough capacity for things like the rail projects and the 1.5 million new homes. The ending of the roll-over ta…”

“A few weeks ago, I raised some of these very excessive charges, although I had a bit of pushback from some residents saying, “My child needs this very expensive school.” Can the Minister confirm whether the Government are looking at companies that are coming in and making profit at the expense of our children? We are t…”

“I got some data this week that told me that our local authorities are spending £60,000 a child extra on independent special schools versus maintained special schools. In the south-west of England, only one third of children can go to state maintained schools. Does my hon. Friend agree that as schools are having that mo…”

“My constituent Becky relies on Access to Work, but her application was denied and it has taken eight months just to receive an acknowledgement of her complaint to the Independent Case Examiner. We cannot progress an ombudsman claim until that is dealt with. What is the Department for Work and Pensions doing to arrange …”

“Can I take us back to when people are in prison, rather than when they have come out? The research suggests that programmes that start working with prisoners while they are in prison on income support, transitional support and their job placements are the ones that work most successfully. I know David has the Chrysalis…”

“Can you take us through the Chrysalis Programme and what it offers so that we talk to it, rather than just headlines?”

“Can I tease something out on that? We have heard that sometimes you have a great programme going on in prison, you get released and then because of the way the system is so fractured, you are released 200 miles away. That job is not there anymore and that person who is walking through with you cannot possibly offer you…”

“I am the Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole. My interests are as per the register, but nothing relevant to this Committee.”

“We will move on to the community end of it, but I am focused very much on what is happening inside the gate. You have already mentioned the third sector, so how different is it in terms of how things are offered and how they are supported if it is third sector versus private? Is it a completely level playing field? Is …”

“But we are where we are. We have visited some prisons recently and one prison that we went to, the average time there was 56 days, not enough time to bother. With the changes to the sentencing review meaning that people are going to be released into the community earlier, that is something that the system must learn to…”

“I wonder if the hon. Member has given any thought to residents such as George and Dennis in my constituency, who are both British citizens, brought up here, but went to work abroad either because they are dual citizens and wanted to be able to learn in two languages, or because of the covid delays. They will not be inc…”

“Can I tease something out on that? We have heard that sometimes you have a great programme going on in prison, you get released and then because of the way the system is so fractured, you are released 200 miles away. That job is not there anymore and that person who is walking through with you cannot possibly offer you…”

“Can you take us through the Chrysalis Programme and what it offers so that we talk to it, rather than just headlines?”

“We will move on to the community end of it, but I am focused very much on what is happening inside the gate. You have already mentioned the third sector, so how different is it in terms of how things are offered and how they are supported if it is third sector versus private? Is it a completely level playing field? Is …”