Speeches by Hobhouse.

“I warmly congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) on securing this important debate, and I thank all Members who have contributed. Rarely do I have the privilege of being part of a debate in which there is such consensus, though we have not heard from the Conservative Front B…”

“I had to talk about cricket the other day and could not quite remember what bowling is, so instead I said, “throw a ball”! One of my young constituents has had virtually no meaningful education since year 1. Now nearly at the end of his primary education, he cannot cope with being at school at all, as he is traumatised…”

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

“The hydrogen debate, I think, is very much alive, particularly in aviation. You have not said anything about hydrogen in aviation, but you could ultimately be at odds with the industry. I know that Airbus, for example, is trying to develop a hydrogen plane. They have put off the decision a little bit, but they are stil…”

“Despite the growing need for green jobs—obviously, we are all in favour of making sure we have green jobs—fewer than one in 10 employees receive any dedicated green skills training, according to an OVO Energy survey. What can we do to support businesses, and what can the Government do to accelerate that important train…”

“Pubs such as The Grapes free house in Bath provide so much more than just being somewhere to drink or meet. They host cultural events and all sorts of things that otherwise could not take place, and that would be a loss to our community and cultural life. Does my hon. Friend agree that the small loss in beer duty would…”

“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, although beer duty seems to target large brewers, it quickly trickles down and hits the much smaller venues and brewers disproportionately hard?”

“4. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of reductions in council tax revenue from student houses in multiple occupation on local authorities.”

“In 2013, my Bath council received £31 million through the revenue support grant. This year, it is just around £1 million. Students, who are exempt from council tax, are not being counted. Will the Minister ensure that, through the fair funding review, the issue is urgently addressed, and that councils such as Bath and …”

“I am fascinated by what I am hearing today. I met Tony Bury, my Bath constituent, who is working with the Centre for Social Justice on improving outcomes for boys—I encourage everybody who is interested in this issue to read its latest report, “Lost Boys”. Does the hon. Member agree that we need a national strategy to …”

“We have just heard how important it is that we get community support for infrastructure. The Committee supports the presumption of consent for low-carbon infrastructure with critical national priority status. However, the Committee sets out in the report serious concerns about the potential impact on biodiversity and t…”

“Yesterday, I met members of the Spanish Senate, with whom I discussed energy security and how to bring down energy bills for our residents on either side of the channel. It is clear that energy trading between the EU and the UK does not work properly. What can we do, and what progress has been made, to improve the inte…”

“UK households and businesses pay almost the highest energy costs compared with other European countries. As has already been said many times, although it is worth repeating, that is because the cost of electricity is coupled to the cost of gas. I absolutely share the Secretary of State’s ambition to rapidly reduce our …”

“Research from the University of Bath has uncovered serious violations of the pharmaceutical code of practice by Novo Nordisk, one of the companies behind new weight loss drugs. The company covertly paid millions of pounds to healthcare groups and charities to promote its drugs. In the light of the Government’s active s…”

“Eight out of nine men in prison report that they were excluded from school. I was a secondary school teacher before I entered Parliament, and the attainment gap was a big worry, but my biggest worry was that we do not respond properly to or cater for people who are neurodiverse. About 20% of our young people, including…”

“T6. I recently met Ruby Hamill—a young activist who nearly died in a Government-run prison when her severe eating disorder was ignored. Ruby is not a constituent; she wanted to talk to me because I chair the eating disorders all-party parliamentary group. Will the Minister meet me and Ruby’s family to ensure that there…”

“Only 34% of disadvantaged pupils in Bath met the required standards for reading, writing or maths in 2021-22, which was well below the national average. It is always surprising that Bath, which is a prosperous city, has very deep pockets of deprivation. The Language for Life programme in my constituency has made a big …”

“Thank you for coming and getting straight into the heart of things. The private rented sector has been raised as a concern in this Committee and elsewhere, and private renters absolutely do not have control over it. Some sort of scheme that actually addresses people in the private sector is probably very important. Let…”

“Professor Walker, what evidence-based strategies can help suppliers to improve public understanding of net zero? We are now talking about those who are supplying solutions to households. What is their role?”

“To come back to what you said about France in the 1980s—and I asked the previous panel the same question—are the Government very honest or clear about the cost of the transition and where that cost is divvied up and lands? Is that for industry, the consumer or the taxpayer? Do you think the Government are very clear an…”