Senior Civil Service (Accountability and Appointment) Bill: Second Reading – Giles Watling.
Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the reasons for changes in the amount of foie gras imported in 2023 compared with previous years; what information his Department holds on the number of businesses involved in importing foie gras in 2023; and when he plans to conclude the evidence base research phase of the foie gras...
Giles Watling: I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the scrutiny and approval by Parliament of appointments to senior civil service roles; and for connected purposes. In this nation, people rightly expect this elected and accountable Parliament to oversee an impartial civil service. The notion of distance and unaccountability has, however, grown among the populace...
Giles Watling: What assessment he has made of the impact of the levelling-up fund on local communities.
Giles Watling: I thank my hon. Friend for his answer, and I am delighted that we have recently been able to bring £78 million of investment to Clacton. Freeports will be a major contributor towards levelling up, and in my view levelling up also means better transport infrastructure, but not enough is getting through to bus services in my patch. Will he support my campaign outlining that Freeport East in...
Giles Watling: If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 28 February.
Giles Watling: I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. I am certain that everyone in this Chamber will agree, whatever their political standpoint, that we should be able to think, speak and vote without fear or favour, but today I need to ask about the painful subject of dental care in Clacton, which is in crisis. Our integrated care system has found the money, and a private firm has found the...
Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate he has made of the total tonnage of foie gras imported in 2023; and whether he plans to ban its importation when produced via force-feeding.
Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of using voluntary collective licensing schemes to enable the licensing of copyright protected material for use in the training of generative AI models.
Giles Watling: What recent progress his Department has made on the AUKUS partnership.
Giles Watling: I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. AUKUS is a bold project that rightfully identifies the greater need for co-operation in the Pacific between our great nations. However, I do not think that it should be limited just to defence. In my own report for the 1922 foreign affairs policy committee, we found that there is not only a need, but an appetite for wider scope—the inclusion of...
Giles Watling: What recent steps she has taken to increase capacity in NHS dental care.
Giles Watling: I thank my right hon. Friend for her answer. Following my very productive meeting with her only a few days ago, will she confirm that NHS England locally has finally been unblocked and that my constituents in Clacton will soon benefit from more dentists practising on NHS patients?
Giles Watling: What steps she is taking to increase nuclear energy capacity.
Giles Watling: We have given away over the decades the massive advantage this country had with the Calder Hall development in 1956, so will my hon. Friend reassure me that we will regain that ground by pushing for more rapid development of a sensible nature, as the Finns have with their hole in the ground for storing nuclear waste? Will he inform the House with which nuclear vendors the Department is engaging?
Giles Watling: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he is taking steps to prevent banks from providing (a) financial and (b) investment support to industrial livestock companies that contribute to deforestation.
Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she is taking steps to support the growth of the human-specific technology sector.
Giles Watling: What steps he is taking to reduce the backlog of cases in the Crown court.
Giles Watling: In the light of the Post Office scandal, does my hon. Friend agree that it is imperative that we not only clear the backlog as quickly as possible, because there have been deaths involved, but enable the Justice Secretary to strip the Post Office of its powers to independently prosecute?