Matt Rodda: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that intervention; he makes a thoughtful point. He is absolutely right that there is a connection between raising awareness of this vital sector and the role of the review, and I would be grateful to work with him on that. As a former civil servant in the Department, I am very aware of the pressures and difficulty of trying to make the most of our...
Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the number of women affected by the underpayment of the State Pension.
Matt Rodda: The hon. Lady is making a fascinating speech and some very strong points. Does she agree that there is now an established body of judicial review going back a number of years that seems to demonstrate that this particular area of law has allowed the Executive to be held to account by the most vulnerable and weakest in our society? Does she also agree that an additional benefit, as mentioned...
Matt Rodda: I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for giving way. Further to the points about the dreadful events at British Gas, my experience as a local MP speaking to highly skilled, long-standing employees who work for British Gas in Berkshire is that the mistaken policy of fire and rehire did exactly that: it damaged the morale of highly motivated, highly experienced people working for British Gas,...
Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many women affected by the underpayment of the State Pension have been reimbursed by her Department through the State Pension Correction Exercise to date.
Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether people approaching State Pension age will face delays in receiving their State Pension.
Matt Rodda: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether all those affected by the delays in new State Pension claims have had their claim resolved.
Matt Rodda: My hon. Friend is making a very powerful speech about the importance of pollinators—not just honeybees, although they are hugely important—and the economic and environmental benefits of these very valuable insects. Does he agree that it would have been better for the former Minister to have listened to a broader range of advice about neonicotinoids? Does he also agree that it would have...
Matt Rodda: Does my hon. Friend agree that the key is to focus the big water companies on this issue? They have significant resources; they are large, wealthy businesses. Many people use our rivers, including many residents in Reading who live next to the Thames, the Kennet and the Loddon who are affected by this and very concerned about it. We are downstream of a number of effluent emissions, and people...
Matt Rodda: I had the pleasure of meeting Rosamund, and I can only say that my heart goes out to the family and that it is the most awful situation. My hon. Friend is making excellent points about the importance of air quality and the need for a much tougher approach from the Government, and I hope that, even at this late stage, the Minister will listen. Does my hon. Friend agree that a dramatic...
Matt Rodda: I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Sir Robert Neill). Further to the point about air pollution and working with the public, is the Minister also aware of the potentially significant business opportunities for vehicle and, indeed, cycle manufacturers in shifting to a low-pollution approach? As the hon. Gentleman said, local authorities are natural...
Matt Rodda: It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Devizes (Danny Kruger). I am grateful for the opportunity to speak this afternoon and I want to start by paying tribute to our small businesses across this country, first and foremost those in my constituency, which encompasses the town of Reading, its suburbs of Caversham and Emmer Green, and the separate town of Woodley, all of which have a...
Matt Rodda: Does my hon. Friend agree that our retail centres face a very serious situation? Even thriving retail centres in towns such as Reading, which has the major retail centre for central southern England, are being affected. In our borough, 1,200 small businesses are currently receiving business rates support, which is unheard of. I encourage my hon. Friend to address that point. Does she agree...
Matt Rodda: My hon. Friend is making some excellent points about the wide range of problems that families are facing—not only the deeply mistaken cut in universal credit and the end of the furlough scheme, but wide-ranging price rises linked to supply chain issues and the Government’s ineptitude in so many respects. All those problems are hitting ordinary people across the country very hard. Do we...
Matt Rodda: My hon. Friend is making a compelling and powerful speech about a wide range of issues affecting her region, and I commend her speech to the whole House. I was particularly moved by the point about housing and the difficulty for many tenants. Does she agree that there is a huge need for more council houses in this country?
Matt Rodda: As we start this debate on Third Reading, I want to reflect on what we have discussed so far in this important piece of legislation. The House has considered a number of issues relating to the Bill, and we will soon pass it over to the other place. Before we do so, we still have an opportunity to improve the legislation and to stand up for the interests of pensioners. Even at this late stage,...
Matt Rodda: I want to speak to the new clauses tabled in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham East and Saddleworth (Debbie Abrahams) and the hon. Member for Glasgow East (David Linden). As we heard on Second Reading, there are a number of important areas that the Government seem to have overlooked. Those failures and omissions are part of a pattern of behaviour by the Prime Minister and his...
Matt Rodda: In conclusion, these are sensible amendments which recognise the risks in the approach being taken by the Government. They offer a way of providing important information to Ministers and they could indeed alert them to potential problems with the Government’s approach. The new clauses also offer important safeguards for pensioners, and I hope the Government will consider them thoroughly....
Matt Rodda: While this Bill seems to be a technical piece of legislation, it raises fundamental questions about this Government and the trust that they enjoy among people across the country. I want to address a number of issues today: the substance of the Bill; how it is part of a pattern of behaviour; the changes we would like to see to protect pensioners; and the context of wider Government policy...