"It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mrs Barker. I thank the hon. Member from the very north of the highlands, the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone), for securing this important debate.
"My hon. Friend makes a very good point. It was an opportunity missed.
There are 4,765 houses in my constituency alone that are not connected to the grid. In Fylde, 28% of people are over 65, compared with a national constituency average of about 18%. That means we are dealing …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"There is a perception that a lot of the households on oil are rich or in large houses, but in rural communities a lot of the houses that depend on oil are actually smaller properties, where there is rural poverty and isolation...." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"The Minister has just quoted the number of houses in council tax bands A to D in rural areas. Does she know how many of those houses are not connected to the grid? We need to know whether these are people in small houses in villages, or whether the measure …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
Fourthly, on the youth guarantee and youth jobs grant, how many young people have actually started a job so far? What is the cost per place and how many remain in unsubsidised work once the subsidy ends? Fifthly, how many apprenticeship starts have …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"Tailored support is something that I will come on to shortly.
Worse still, the Government’s own choices have made the problem harder. The rise in employer national insurance and the new burdens of the Employment Rights Act 2025 have made it more expensive and risky to take a chance on …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"Speaking of badges of honour, it is always a badge of honour to be intervened on by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I totally agree with his point.
The figures that I just referred to are stark. Youth unemployment reached 15.6% in the first quarter of this year—that …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms McVey. I congratulate the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) on securing the debate. I thank all Members who have contributed, including the hon. Member for Horsham (John Milne), who referred to the thoughts of even the most …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech
"The hon. Member highlighted the statistic that around £550 million will be potentially raised in interest. How much of that interest does she think would be appropriate to go into the investments that she has outlined, given that we do not have any numbers for what we are supposed to …..." Andrew Snowden - View Speech