Speeches by Hobhouse.

“Before I call Patrick Hurley, let me say that there are two Members who want to speak but are not on the list. I want everybody’s voice to be heard, so I will give them two minutes each at the end.”

“Order.”

“Order. We have been disrupted by a Division. I am expecting everybody to be back here in 15 minutes, at 3.20 pm. When we come back, the hon. Lady will have half a minute.”

“It might surprise the hon. Member for Northampton South (Mike Reader), but in my constituency people want good local councillors —particularly the Liberal Democrat ones, who are working hard. We Liberal Democrats passionately believe that power belongs in local communities, not concentrated in Whitehall. Although we we…”

“As I said, I have been the chair of the APPG for six years, and nothing has changed and got better. I really trust that this Government will make a difference—I hope they will. This is about culture change, but eating disorders are a very complex illness. The APPG has therefore called repeatedly for a dedicated strateg…”

“I have been the chair of the eating disorders all-party parliamentary group for six years and, frustratingly, things have become worse, not better. We set up the APPG six years ago to make eating disorder services better. I had hoped this Government would finally confront the crisis in eating disorder services after ye…”

“I was really disappointed that there was not one mention of eating disorders in the NHS 10-year plan, which is particularly troubling given that some of the proposed measures to reduce obesity may inadvertently harm those affected by eating disorders. When will the Government finally commit to an eating disorder strate…”

“Another little softball is coming your way.”

“Maybe after this session you could get the comms guys on your mission board on the case to package that up for the public—we all hear the public crying out for some good news stories—and also to address the Richard Tices of this world.”

“Since we need more good news stories, is there anything—even if the detail cannot be published—that would allow the public to share a little bit in some of the success stories?”

“You are pointing to the fact that mission-led Government is about getting out of the silo in Government. What is the biggest disconnect in Government? You have mentioned the MOD, MHCLG—”

“In January you refused to publish the minutes of the clean energy mission board, saying that it was not practice for Government committees to do so. Might you commit to publishing the membership of the mission board, like Cabinet Committees do?”

“Is it also a possibility to give the Committee more information ahead of the media?”

“The Department’s letters to the Committee are often simply a rehash of written ministerial statements. Given that we are a more informed audience, could you consider providing a bit more detail or analysis in these letters?”

“And here comes the slightly harder question.”

“Thank you. I am sure we can co-operate on this. I want to ask about this Committee. We obviously see the value of this Committee—we spend a lot of our time on it, and it is interesting—but we obviously want to be of value to the whole system. Secretary of State, what is the value of the Committee to you and your Depart…”

“Secretary of State, I hope you will look at the proposals from our leader, Ed Davey, about—”

“Very quickly—I will come to my set of questions—I want to raise what our leader, Ed Davey, pointed out last week. I totally agree with what you are saying about the need to get away from our reliance on fossil fuels, and therefore the Government’s strategy is to have more renewables. I absolute agree with that, but in …”

“It is so well known how damaging formal assessment can be for some children; their wellbeing should be at the forefront of our minds. I know that from primary school teachers in my Bath constituency. Is it not time that we completely scrapped SATs?”

“1. What steps he is taking to support small and medium cycle manufacturers.”