Since the election, the justice system in Telford and Shropshire has seen a massive increase in capacity. First, a magistrates court has been brought back into use, following years of closure because of a broken roof. We have also received news this week that the Nightingale court will become a permanent court, which is great.… However, in order to increase capacity, we need to recruit and retain magistrates. To my great surprise, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service is not currently recruiting for magistrates in my area. Will the Justice Secretary take a look at that, and work with me, so that we can recruit and retain as many magistrates as possible for our justice system?
Hansard · 3 Feb 2026 · parliament.uk
HM
Helen Morgan
What steps he is taking to reduce court delays in Shropshire.
DL
David Lammy
The Government inherited an emergency in our criminal courts, with a record and rising open caseload of nearly 80,000 criminal cases waiting to be heard in the Crown court. In Shropshire, Shrewsbury Crown court is at maximum capacity, as is an additional court base at Telford justice centre. We have added another 15 si…
HM
Helen Morgan
In my constituency of North Shropshire, residents have to travel to Shrewsbury to have their case heard. As of last September, there was a backlog of more than 730 open cases at Shrewsbury Crown court, a 7% increase on 2024. The wider West Mercia area ranks 43rd out of 44 areas for the time that it takes cases to get t…
DL
David Lammy
The hon. Member is right, which is why the Minister for Courts and Legal Services visited Telford a few months ago. It is important to say that Sir Brian Leveson has been absolutely clear in his report that we must pull all levers if we are serious about seeing this backlog come down by the next general election. That …
DL
David Lammy
I am very much looking forward to working with my hon. Friend, and am pleased with his recognition that the Nightingale court will continue, which is very important. The good news is that we are recruiting more magistrates across the system, including in his area. That announcement was made just two weeks ago.
Cross-border Health Services: England and Wales21 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
What discussions she has had with the Welsh Government on improving cross-border health services.
Hansard · 21 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
AM
Anna McMorrin
As two Governments, we are committed to working together to keep cross-border arrangements fair, transparent and patient-centred. I am proud that last year’s spending review saw the largest financial settlement in the history of devolution. Working in partnership, we will fix the NHS and make it fit for the future.
AM
Anna McMorrin
I thank my hon. Friend for raising the important work of the Lingen Davies charity. I understand that its appeal is seeking to raise £5 million to grow cancer care awareness in his area. The Government are committed to catching cancer earlier and treating it faster. I would be very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discu…
HM
Helen Morgan
Powys health board has been categorising the needs of its patients based on cost rather than clinical need, and that is causing a real problem for the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt orthopaedic hospital in my constituency and the associated Headley Court veterans’ centre, because they need to prioritise patients based on …
AM
Anna McMorrin
I can certainly write to the hon. Member with the detail of what we are doing about the Powys health board. I can assure her that this Government are committed to working with the Welsh Government to ensure that cross-border arrangements are fair and transparent and focused on patient need. These are two Labour Governm…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to Prime Minister’s questions, I extend a warm welcome to the President of the Storting, the Norwegian Parliament, and his delegation, who are with us in the Gallery today.
SD
Shaun Davies
The incredible Lingen Davies cancer charity provides lifesaving and life-changing cancer care, working with the NHS to support patients across Wales, Telford and wider Shropshire. The charity and the NHS have plans to double the capacity of cancer treatment. I am proud to support this campaign. Will the Secretary of St…
5G Connectivity: Telford and West Midlands20 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
It is good to see the Minister in his place. He is a man with great knowledge of, and passion for, this agenda, and I know he will take it forward in Telford, west midlands and further afield. I also want to place on record my gratitude to the Department for how helpful and proactive… it has been with me since I raised this issue both in this House and outside of it. I am also grateful for the opportunity to raise in Parliament something I have been talking about for some time, but which my constituents have been putting up with for even longer: 5G connectivity in Telford and across our region—or the lack of it. Debates on this subject often focus on connectivity in rural areas, and rightly so, but I want to start out by reminding anyone who is unaware that, despite our beautiful nature and green spaces, Telford is no village. It is a town with more than 185,000 people. Our borough is predicted to reach 200,000 people by 2032; that represents12.5% growth from 2018. We are just a half an hour drive from Wolverhampton and 40 minutes from our second city, Birmingham, but despite our size, population and proximity to major cities, we have very patchy 5G connections. In fact, constituents tells me that getting a 4G reception is often a challenge. Telford is a cultural and economic hub, bustling with industry. I cannot tell people to come and employ people in our great town, or to visit our wonderful world heritage site, when connectivity in whole areas across our town are, frankly, in the dark ages. This problem feels all the more sharp because we are in the heart of a region—the west midlands—which, according to the West Midlands combined authority, has the best 5G in the country. The combined authority is doing excellent work, led by Mayor Richard Parker. He is harnessing technology to reduce congestion and pollution, and to improve the local economy and the services it offers. Telford is run by a forward-thinking council that would be very keen to innovate in similar w
Hansard · 20 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
HM
Helen Morgan
The hon. Gentleman is making an excellent speech and a really good point, which applies equally to urban and rural areas. Mobile network operators do not have minimum standards of coverage and quality of signal. At some places where there was good coverage before, that now no longer appears to be the case because the s…
WJ
Warinder Juss
My hon. Friend has made some excellent points. Tettenhall in my constituency is a significantly populated suburb of Wolverhampton, where residents face similar problems to those highlighted by my hon. Friend. Constituents say that they have little or no signal and they struggle to make contact with family and friends. …
JS
John Slinger
My hon. Friend is making a compelling speech. I should declare that in a previous role, I advised a mobile phone company on communications. There have been occasions in the past when mobile phone companies and other digital companies have made very grand promises about things like video calling, as happened when they r…
KN
Kanishka Narayan
First and foremost, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Telford (Shaun Davies) for securing this Adjournment debate. Throughout his entire tenure as the local MP, he has been a relentless champion for the people of Telford on the question of 5G and mobile coverage. He has listened closely to those he represents in pe…
HM
Helen Morgan
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. May I just highlight that I did not declare my interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on digital communities, which I should have done?
SD
Shaun Davies
I agree with my Shropshire neighbour. This is a rural issue and an urban one. A mobile signal is very much like a utility; people expect it to work for both their personal life and their work-related life. Telford and Wrekin council kindly shared with me a report containing research by the River Severn Partnership. Bet…
SD
Shaun Davies
I completely agree. My hon. Friend makes the excellent point that this issue is not just about economic growth and access to public services, though that is important; it is also about access to lifesaving services in an emergency. In case I have come across too negative, at this point I would like to acknowledge the p…
Business of the House15 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
Residents across Telford and wider Shropshire are reporting long delays for Royal Mail delivery, including my constituent Ed Pritchard, who is waiting for urgent information from the NHS. Posties have contacted me privately to tell me that they have been ordered not to deliver post and to prioritise parcels. Will the Leader of the House… ask the Minister responsible to give an urgent statement to the House so that we can get Royal Mail to deliver to Telford, Shropshire and other affected areas of the country?
Hansard · 15 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 19 January will include: Monday 19 January —Remaining stages of the Public Office (Accountability) Bill. Tuesday 20 January —Consideration of Lords amendments to the Sentencing Bill, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Holocaust Memorial Bill, followed by considerat…
JN
Jesse Norman
I thank the Leader of the House for the clarity he has given us on the business of the House, and in particular for the rescheduling of the Diego Garcia Bill immediately after it was going to be debated, following the changes made to the Hillsborough law. I know the whole House will want to join me in expressing our co…
AC
Alan Campbell
I certainly join the shadow Leader of the House in sending our thoughts to the people of Iran and the region at this very difficult time. I also send our congratulations to Lord Forsyth, who was announced as the new Lord Speaker earlier this week, and I pay tribute to Lord McFall, the outgoing Lord Speaker, for his ser…
MH
Meg Hillier
I am sure that, like me and others, the Leader of the House will be pleased to learn that NHS waiting lists continue to drop. I am also sure he will agree that Homerton hospital, which has seen productivity on operations increase by more than 11% year on year, is a beacon of what can be done. I hope he will join me in …
New Towns15 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
It is a privilege to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Tim Roca) . Telford is a little further ahead than his and other proposed new towns, having been designated in the 1960s. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) on securing the debate and on her… powerful speech. Telford was in the second phase of new towns and learned from her community’s journey. It is a delight to see my hon. Friend the Housing Minister in his place. Unlike so many of his predecessors, he not only understands housing but has been in his position longer than a few minutes. New towns such as Telford, Cwmbran and East Kilbride, and the hundreds of thousands of people who live there, are the physical embodiment of hope and opportunity. First made possible by the Attlee Government, new towns gave families like mine a chance for a new life. The increase in affordable, high-quality housing made home ownership and renting away from the big cities possible for people who had never dreamt that that could be their future or reality. It was life-changing not just for the newcomers, but for those who, like my family, were in the area before the new town designation. They saw opportunities for their children and grandchildren that they could not have dreamt of for themselves. As the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) , clearly outlined, these new new towns need to learn lessons from those that came before them. New towns are not only important as symbols of hope and aspiration; they are incredible achievements in their own right. Telford still grows at a rate unlike almost any other town in the country, with 1,800 new homes built last year alone. Despite being one of the biggest and most YIMBY towns in the country, Telford excels in access to nature. Thanks to the national authority, since its existence Telford has designated 10
Hansard · 15 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I call Katrina Murray, who will speak for about 15 minutes.
KM
Katrina Murray
I beg to move, That this House has considered new towns. I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for finding time for this important debate. As we reach the 80th anniversary of the New Towns Act 1946, it feels like exactly the right moment for the House to pause and reflect on what was, at the time, a bold an…
JL
John Lamont
The hon. Member is making an excellent speech about the importance of new towns. I was brought up just outside Kilwinning, which is part of the Irvine new town in Ayrshire. She and I are probably of a similar age, so does she remember the campaign—the iconic campaign—in the 1980s: “What’s it called? Cumbernauld”? In he…
KM
Katrina Murray
The fact that you could not go anywhere in the ’80s without seeing that statement meant that people across the country knew about Cumbernauld. I remember seeing that wording on the tube on my first trips to London. Other new towns tried to get in on the act. “Living in Livingston” did not quite hit as well, but those i…
KM
Katrina Murray
I am very aware of the time, but on you go.
Parliamentary Debate14 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
Under the previous Conservative Government, Telford became one of the largest towns in the country without a direct link into London, we had a trainline into Birmingham and mid-Wales that was overcrowded, and private operators, who were falling over themselves to provide a solution, were being blocked by the Office of Road and Rail. I… welcome today’s announcements, particularly around the links between Birmingham and Manchester, but will the Secretary of State or the Rail Minister meet me to explore all options to get Telford connected to the capital?
Hansard · 14 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
LS
Liz Saville-Roberts
Of course we welcome the new offshore wind projects in Wales and all the anticipated jobs, but if only we could guarantee that profits would stay in our communities and the use of local supply chains were contractually hardwired! Will the Government ensure that time is secured for a debate on the Crown Estate Act 2025,…
JB
Johanna Baxter
It will come as no surprise to colleagues across the House to hear that the issue I want to focus on is the treatment of the Ukrainian children. When I first visited Ukraine, this was the issue that struck me to my core. Russia has stolen 20,000 Ukrainian children from their home, and Russian authorities themselves rep…
SA
Stuart Anderson
It is a pleasure to speak in this debate. I want to put it out there to all Members that, in the coming weeks or months, we will potentially vote to put our troops in harm’s way. I have put a friend on the back of a Hercules, in a coffin, in a foreign conflict. That is not something I want to see in this conflict. I am…
MV
Martin Vickers
The hon. Gentleman supports the point that I was making. I got it in writing from the Under-Secretary that there were credible bids. The issue of credible bids is one of the most important unanswered questions following last week’s announcement about the sale of the assets to Phillips 66, which I should say is an excel…
Northern Powerhouse Rail14 Jan 2026
SD
Shaun Davies
Under the previous Conservative Government, Telford became one of the largest towns in the country without a direct link into London, we have a trainline into Birmingham and mid-Wales that is overcrowded, and private operators, who are falling over themselves to provide a solution, are being blocked by the Office of Road and Rail. I… welcome today’s announcements, particularly around the links between Birmingham and Manchester, but will the Secretary of State or the Rail Minister meet me to explore all options to get Telford connected to the capital?
Hansard · 14 Jan 2026 · parliament.uk
HA
Heidi Alexander
With permission, I would like to make a statement on the Government’s plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail. I realise that I am not the first Minister to talk about transforming infrastructure in the north of England, and I get why people there are sick to the back teeth of Westminster politicians promising the earth and…
JM
Jerome Mayhew
May I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement? She started the statement by saying that people are sick to the back teeth of Westminster politicians promising the earth and delivering absolutely nothing—and then she did exactly that. We on the Opposition Benches know what the right hon. Lady’s s…
HA
Heidi Alexander
I cannot believe what I have just heard, to be honest. I know that the hon. Gentleman is standing in for the shadow Transport Secretary, the right hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay (Mr Holden) , but I really hoped that he would have done a bit better than that. The hon. Gentleman talks about no budget being set o…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Transport Committee.
RC
Ruth Cadbury
This is another hugely welcome transport statement from the Secretary of State for Transport and her team. Today’s announcement promises levels of rail connectivity for communities from Merseyside to Tyneside that will compare to those of the London travel to work area. The question that I and many others have is: when…
Conduct of the Chancellor of the Exchequer10 Dec 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Hansard · 10 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
Before I call the shadow Chancellor to move the motion, I remind Members that, as “Erskine May” says: “Good temper and moderation are the characteristics of parliamentary language. Parliamentary language is never more desirable than when a Member is canvassing the opinions and conduct of their opponents in debate.” The…
MS
Mel Stride
I beg to move, That this House calls on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to apologise for misleading the country about the state of the public finances, rolling the pitch for raising taxes, breaking her promises and increasing welfare spending, including her claim on 4 November 2025 that the OBR would be downgrading the…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. We do not refer to Members by name.
MS
Mel Stride
You are quite right, Madam Deputy Speaker; I meant to say the right hon. Member for Islington North and Liz Truss. The Chancellor is not so much the wilting lettuce as a complete liability. How could this possibly have occurred? We have a Government who came to power with one of the largest majorities in the history of…
GS
Gareth Snell
I congratulate the shadow Chancellor on finally working out what apologies are; I know he is demanding them from this side of the House. Before he carries on, will he apologise for the 15% spike in interest rates under Liz Truss, the thousands of pounds that were put on mortgages under Liz Truss, the billions that were…
SD
Shaun Davies
There are 4,600 reasons in my constituency why this Budget is the right thing to do: 4,600 children who will be lifted out of poverty by the Budget. On the basis of the Opposition’s remarks, it is my understanding that the Conservative party would plunge those 4,600 children back into poverty as part of a £46 billion w…
Resident Doctors: Industrial Action10 Dec 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank my right hon. Friend for his leadership, and also the NHS bosses up and down this country for theirs. They often do not get the praise that they deserve in this House. This situation is bad for patients and their families and also for NHS staff, but above all it is bad for… trust and confidence in our NHS. We know that there are people in this House and across the country who want to attack the very principle of the NHS. Does my right hon. Friend agree that the BMA needs to take into consideration that this is about not just the deal on the table today but the very principle our NHS?
Hansard · 10 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
WS
Wes Streeting
With permission, Madam Speaker Deputy, I shall make a statement on industrial action by resident doctors. I thank you, Mr Speaker, business managers and the official Opposition for facilitating this evening’s statement. As we head into winter, our hospitals are running hot and the pressures on the NHS are enormous. Flu…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Health Secretary.
SA
Stuart Andrew
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement, and sincerely thank him for making me aware last night of his intention to come to the House today and make a statement. Given that the next set of planned industrial action is due just a few days before Christmas, and at a worrying time when winter pre…
WS
Wes Streeting
First, I thank the shadow Health Secretary for the constructive terms on which he has agreed to work with the Government. That should give resident doctors across the country who receive their survey the confidence of knowing that, should they vote for this deal, emergency legislation will be introduced in the new year…
PH
Paulette Hamilton
I have always been a massive advocate for all medical and nursing staff, and I absolutely understand what a difficult job our healthcare workers do, but given that flu is running rampant across the country and most NHS staff—including resident doctors, but also nurses and other staff—are suffering at this moment, will …
Motability8 Dec 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
What steps he is taking to improve the Motability scheme.
Hansard · 8 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
ST
Stephen Timms
Changes announced at the Budget will improve value for money for taxpayers while ensuring that the Motability scheme continues to provide outstanding support for disabled people.
ST
Stephen Timms
I do agree with my hon. Friend, and I would be happy to meet him. Motability is an important scheme that does an important job. Some tax reliefs will be removed in July. Existing leases will not be affected, and neither will wheelchair-adapted vehicles. There will still be vehicles, with no up-front payment, that are a…
JM
John Milne
The shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions recently stated that “millions are getting benefits for anxiety or ADHD along with a free Motability car.” That is clearly nonsense, because only 200,000 claimants—at most—would be eligible to apply in the first place, and many of them also have a physical disability,…
ST
Stephen Timms
Well, choosing the most misleading claim is a tough contest, but the hon. Gentleman is right. The shadow Secretary of State’s colleagues introduced PIP, with the current criteria, in 2013. They then had 11 years to change it if they thought doing so was necessary, but they did absolutely nothing. My review will look at…
SD
Shaun Davies
The Motability scheme stems from the vital principle that people with disabilities should be able to live a dignified and independent life. I have heard from several constituents about how accessible cars can help them into work and healthcare, which I welcome, but I have also heard from a number of others about those …
Restriction of Jury Trials8 Dec 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
In Shropshire and wider West Mercia, victims of rape and other serious offences are being told to wait for their jury trials into 2027, 2028 and even later. Meanwhile, defendants of some other offences are opting for jury trials, the magistrates having already accepted jurisdiction. Is it not time that we back, trust and empower… our magistrates and district judges up and down this country?
Hansard · 8 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
RJ
Robert Jenrick
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make a statement on the accuracy of data used to justify the restriction of jury trials in relation to rape victim attrition rates and magistrates court capacity.
SS
Sarah Sackman
This Government inherited an emergency in our criminal courts. Record and rising caseloads are leaving victims and many accused who are seeking to clear their name facing agonising delays, while some defendants game the system in the hope that their accusers simply give up on justice. We inherited a system in which, qu…
RJ
Robert Jenrick
The Government are slashing jury trials under false pretences. Last week, the Justice Secretary suggested that 60% of those who report being raped are now pulling out of cases because of court delays, but Home Office statistics show that this year, only 9% of rape cases were abandoned after a charge was brought. Althou…
SS
Sarah Sackman
As I said a moment ago, not a single person who has encountered the system—not the barristers, the prosecutors, the judiciary, the court staff, the victims or the jurors; no one whom I have met—thinks it is working as it should. The shadow Justice Secretary has made a startling defence of the status quo while victims—n…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Child Poverty Strategy8 Dec 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I was a child who received free school meals when my both my parents were working. Free school meals gave me a helping hand, not a handout. Now 4,000 children in Telford are looking for the same, so that they can contribute proudly to this country and its future. Will my right hon. Friend tell… me one reason why she believes that the Conservatives wants to plunge 4,000 Telford children back into poverty?
Hansard · 8 Dec 2025 · parliament.uk
BP
Bridget Phillipson
With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s child poverty strategy. Tackling child poverty is a proud Labour tradition. It goes to the heart of the values we have and the beliefs we share—above all, that background must be no barrier to success, that opportunity is for every child and that the freedoms…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
HW
Helen Whately
I will start with something we can all agree on: none of us wants to see children grow up in poverty. We all know something of what that looks like: some hon. Members have lived it themselves; for others, it is part of the bread and butter of constituency work. Even in the wealthiest constituencies there are pockets of…
CN
Caroline Nokes
Order. The shadow Secretary of State has taken even longer than the Secretary of State and is well over her time limit. I call the Secretary of State.
BP
Bridget Phillipson
The shadow Secretary of State started by saying that none of us wants children to grow up in poverty. We, as the party in Government, will lift children out of poverty. The Conservatives pushed nearly a million children into poverty. That is the difference between our parties. The Conservatives knew when they introduce…
Topical Questions13 Nov 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Given the Government’s focus on strengthening skills in the agritech food sector, will the Secretary of State join me in visiting Harper Adams University’s new Telford facility at the Quad to see how the industry and higher and further education facilities, including Telford College, are working together to develop and diversify the skills pipeline in… the sector?
Hansard · 13 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
PC
Pam Cox
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
ER
Emma Reynolds
I am delighted to lead the first all-woman ministerial team in a UK Department of State. My focus as the new Secretary of State is delivering the Government’s No. 1 mission of economic growth, while restoring our natural environment. I have four big priorities: cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas; backing British fa…
PC
Pam Cox
Today I am hosting pupils from Colchester academy in Greenstead in my constituency. They and their families want a clean River Colne. Will the Secretary of State set out what the Government are doing to hold Anglian Water to account, and whether she is seeing an improvement in its performance?
ER
Emma Reynolds
I thank my hon. Friend for campaigning on these issues. We have already banned bonuses in six water companies, including Anglian Water, as she will know, for not meeting our high standards. That is a powerful incentive for companies to deliver immediate improvements and rebuild public trust. Together, I hope that we ca…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Police Reform13 Nov 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I pay tribute to the Conservative police and crime commissioner for my area, John Campion, with whom I have worked well over the past 10 years. In fact, we are meeting the Minister next week to discuss local policing. Can she confirm that the savings that this initiative will provide will go to community policing?… That will allow West Mercia police to reverse the 8 pm PCSO cap that it recently imposed; PCSOs have been barred from the streets of Telford and West Mercia after 8 pm.
Hansard · 13 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
SJ
Sarah Jones
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on police reform. Let me begin by expressing my sadness at the passing of Baroness Newlove, the Victims’ Commissioner. She was a champion for victims and made a huge difference, holding Government and agencies to account. I extend my sympathies to her family and frie…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
I thank the Minister for advance sight of her statement. The Minister mentioned at the beginning the Government’s plans to bring forward a police reform White Paper. That was announced, from memory, about a year ago, but there has not been a single sniff of that White Paper. Can she tell us when we can expect it and wh…
SJ
Sarah Jones
I am not sure whether or not the shadow Home Secretary is in favour of this announcement—it is not entirely clear. Perhaps he can come back when he has made up his mind. The right hon. Gentleman asked several questions that I am happy to reply to. He asked when the White Paper on police reform will come out. It will be…
LA
Lewis Atkinson
What the people of Sunderland want is visible and responsive policing. There is no doubt about the decline in recent years. Northumbria lost 1,100 officers under the previous Government. How will the Minister ensure that the savings resulting from these changes are reinvested in the frontline, to improve neighbourhood …
Curriculum and Assessment Review5 Nov 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
It has been 10 years since the last review, and the economy, education and, frankly, the world have moved on dramatically in that time, so I welcome the review. Subjects and activities like music, drama, art, play and debating have often had little to no attention and resources. Will the Secretary of State please assure… me that she will learn from the best schools in the country and local authorities like my own, which have continued to invest in the “10 by 10” initiative, so that that can be cascaded across the country?
Hansard · 5 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Before we come to the statement from the Education Secretary, I should inform the House that Mr Speaker is disappointed that this announcement was widely trailed in the media this morning, before this House had an opportunity to hear directly from the Government. I remind the Government Front Benchers that the expectat…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I note your comments, and I will make sure that they are taken forward. With permission, I would like to make a statement to update the House on this Government’s plans to renew the national curriculum, to secure for every child an education steeped in our rich history, ready to shape o…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LT
Laura Trott
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. I also thank Professor Francis for her work—any criticism of today’s announcement is directed not at her, but at the Government’s response to her review. I welcome some of the measures announced today. I am pleased that the Government have not moved awa…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. Ms Trott, you have run over your time. I hope you are going to conclude very quickly.
HMRC Customer Service4 Nov 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
What steps she is taking to improve customer service by HMRC.
Hansard · 4 Nov 2025 · parliament.uk
DT
Dan Tomlinson
HMRC is committed to improving day-to-day performance and the customer experience. Call waiting times in the first quarter of this year were half as long as in the same period last year, which is good news for customers. At the 2025 spending review, the Government allocated £500 million to make HMRC a digital-first org…
DT
Dan Tomlinson
My hon. Friend is a very strong advocate for Telford, both for jobs in the private sector and for those in the public sector that we are able to support in his community. I am glad to hear that he, like me, is proud of HMRC’s Telford campus and wants to see it play a key role in improving customer experience through in…
EM
Esther McVey
The Chancellor has justified her lack of a licence for renting out her house as an “inadvertent error”, but HMRC is never prepared to accept that people make inadvertent errors. Will this now change, or does the Chancellor expect to be treated differently from everyone else who makes an inadvertent error?
DT
Dan Tomlinson
I am not sure that the matter that the right hon. Member just raised has much to do with HMRC.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Treasury Committee.
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the Government’s £20 million investment in relocating and upgrading Telford’s HMRC office, with 1,000 members of staff working hard to deliver the best service possible. Will the Minister meet me and Telford and Wrekin council to discuss how the new HMRC campus can be at the forefront of improving the custome…
Topical Questions23 Oct 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
DJ
Darren Jones
This is my first appearance at the Dispatch Box as Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister. In this role, I have been tasked with modernising the state to build a system that will better deliver the public’s priorities and better communicate the changes we are making across the country. Sadly, too many political parties …
DJ
Darren Jones
The answer is absolutely yes. All our constituents know from their experiences at home, whether they are trying to do their banking, do their shopping or book a holiday, that they have the power to do it, when they want to do it, how they want to do it, on their phone, with services delivered in the way they want. That…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.
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Alex Burghart
I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for giving us a degree more clarity. Perhaps he will give us a degree more clarity again. Was he told that the alleged case of spying against Members of Parliament was due to collapse before the information became public and, if so, who told him?
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Alex Burghart
I believe the right hon. Gentleman, but I find that answer extraordinary, and I think he should find it extraordinary, too. As we have already said, the right hon. Gentleman chairs the National Security Council. He oversees the Cabinet Office’s national security secretariat. The Prime Minister knew, the Home Secretary …
SD
Shaun Davies
Transforming Britain’s public services will be a mammoth task, but while the white heat of artificial intelligence and digital technology offer a revolutionary opportunity to improve performance and value for money in healthcare, tax services and everything in between, will the Government seize this opportunity to mode…
Business of the House23 Oct 2025
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Shaun Davies
Across Telford, residents and businesses tell me that they are not getting reliable 5G connections for broadband or their mobile phones, despite the fact that surrounding towns and cities do. Some tell me that getting even a 3G or 4G signal is a real challenge. Can we have a debate in Government time about the… importance of digital connectivity for economic growth and access to public services, and what more can be done to connect Telford?
Hansard · 23 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
AC
Alan Campbell
The business for the week commencing 27 October will include: Monday 27 October —Remaining stages of the Victims and Courts Bill. Tuesday 28 October —Opposition day on a motion in the name of the official Opposition—subject to be announced. Wednesday 29 October —Remaining stages of the Sentencing Bill. Thursday 30 Octo…
JN
Jesse Norman
In addition to the tributes that were paid earlier this week, I believe I will be speaking for all Members in mourning the death on Monday of our former colleague Oliver Colvile. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Oliver entered the House with me in that glorious parliamentary generation of 2010. He was nationally famous fo…
AC
Alan Campbell
I am pleased to see the shadow Leader of the House back in his place this week. I just inform him, if he did not already know, that last week we discovered in his absence that he has a highly capable deputy in the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont) , who may or may not be joining us in del…
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Charlotte Nichols
Last week, the Office for National Statistics published its latest report on drugs-related deaths in England and Wales. Sadly, for the 12th consecutive year, drugs-related deaths have increased, with a harrowing 5,565 people losing their lives to drugs in the last year. A key finding of the report is that almost half t…
NHS Trusts: Performance21 Oct 2025
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Shaun Davies
What steps he is taking to help improve the performance of the most underperforming NHS trusts.
Hansard · 21 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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Wes Streeting
This Government have invested an extra £26 billion in the NHS, delivered 5 million more appointments in our first year and cut waiting lists by more than 200,000. We are also tackling the NHS postcode lottery. Patients should not have to wait longer for worse care because of where they live. Our new NHS league tables s…
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Wes Streeting
Absolutely. My hon. Friend deserves real credit for championing Telford and Shropshire and helping to get the trust the investment it needs. He is right that local services have not been good enough for a number of years. We will not turn a blind eye to that failure; we will do something about it. There is a long way t…
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Joe Robertson
I see the Health Secretary is having a bust-up with the Chancellor over who pays his £1.3 billion redundancy bill for breaking up NHS England. Will he guarantee that, once he has resolved his differences with the Chancellor, not a single penny will be taken from delivering frontline health and social care services or f…
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Wes Streeting
The hon. Gentleman should not believe everything he reads in the newspapers. I make no apology for trying to cut unnecessary bureaucracy in large national organisations to redeploy savings to frontline services. His Government really should have taken a leaf out of our book.
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Meg Hillier
The Secretary of State need look no further than Homerton university hospital in Hackney for good performance: it has managed to increase productivity by over 11%. What is he doing to support great leaders who deliver great progress and to make sure that they have the funding they need to continue with that?
SD
Shaun Davies
In Telford and wider Shropshire, we know that the NHS has an absolute mountain to climb after years of underperformance. We have begun that journey with falling waiting times, increased Government investment and plans for Telford’s first ever cancer treatment unit. Will the Secretary of State ensure that trusts that sh…
Pride in Place15 Oct 2025
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Shaun Davies
I refer Members to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I warmly welcome the £20 million investment in Telford, which has been match funded by Labour-led Telford and Wrekin council. That means that £3 million will go to Woodside, Brookside and Sutton Hill each and every year for the next decade. Will… the Minister confirm when that money will come to the community frontline? Will she also challenge Government agencies and Departments right across Whitehall to get behind the ethos of this scheme, and make sure that communities are in charge, and that there is pride?
Hansard · 15 Oct 2025 · parliament.uk
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Nusrat Ghani
Order. Mr Waugh, you do not cross the Front Bench, even to take a shortcut. It is not on.
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to make a statement on the action we are taking to restore pride in place. Britain’s renewal is a driving mission of this Labour Government, and we know that that must be seen, felt and heard in every single neighbourhood. Our identity, sense of patriotism and feeling of be…
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David Simmonds
This statement speaks of pride. Conservative Members have pride in our local pubs, 200 of which have closed in the past six months, hammered by the Labour party’s business rates rises. We have pride in our restaurants, which are closing in record numbers under the business rates burden imposed by this Government. We ar…
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I am disappointed by the hon. Member’s lack of contrition and his failure to say sorry. The Conservatives presided over 14 years of failure, during which, over a period of austerity, local government and local civic institutions were denuded and deprived communities were hollowed out. He says that we are funding areas …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. “Because of your record”? My record? “Because of you”? Me? Let us temper our language, lower the temperature and continue.
Jaguar Land Rover Cyber-attack9 Sep 2025
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Shaun Davies
This cyber-attack is terrible news for Jaguar Land Rover and its supply chain. Many of those companies are based in and around my constituency. Pool Re is a publicly owned insurance provider that provides insurance cover for physical terrorist attacks, invests in terrorism reassurance initiatives, and has £2.3 trillion of assets on its books. Have… the Government considered extending the reach of that publicly backed insurance scheme to cyber-incidents such as this one?
Hansard · 9 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
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Derek Twigg
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade to make a statement on the cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover and on what assistance the Government are giving to businesses to help protect them against cyber-attacks.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I welcome the Minister to his new job.
CB
Chris Bryant
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I fully recognise the anxiety and deep concern that employees at Jaguar Land Rover and across the supply chain will be feeling. The Government and the National Cyber Security Centre will do everything in our power to help resolve this as soon as possible. We are engaging with JLR on a daily basis…
DT
Derek Twigg
I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question—as a north-west MP, you know what a large employer JLR is in the region. As we have heard, this serious cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover has stopped production and halted sales, and staff have been instructed to stay at home. The car plants at Halewoo…
CB
Chris Bryant
First, I commend my hon. Friend on seeking this urgent question and you, Mr Speaker, on granting it. My hon. Friend makes the important point that Jaguar Land Rover is not only an iconic national brand, but a very significant employer—it employs 34,000 people in the UK, including in his constituency, and 39,000 worldwi…
Business of the House4 Sep 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Over the summer, hundreds of Telford residents joined me in demanding that the Conservative police and crime commissioner scrap his 8 pm cap on police community support officers patrolling the streets of Telford. Will the Leader of the House arrange a debate on the importance of neighbourhood policing so that we can send the commissioner… a clear message: “The Government are providing you with money for community policing, so you should keep police officers and PCSOs on the streets of Telford”?
Hansard · 4 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 8 September will include: Monday 8 September —Consideration of Lords amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill. Tuesday 9 September —Second Reading of the Diego Garcia Military Base and British Indian Ocean Territory Bill. Wednesday 10 September —Remaining stages of the Bus Services (N…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Leader of the House.
JN
Jesse Norman
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I hope you and everyone in this Chamber had a very good summer break, with just the right proportions of sun, sleep and family. If I may, let me start with a double round of congratulations: first, to the Prime Minister on his 63rd birthday this week, putting him squarely in the prime o…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Leader of the House.
Early Education and Childcare4 Sep 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I was delighted to hear recently from headteacher Mrs Solomon and school legend Lynne Purcell, who are excited about rolling out their school-based nursery this week and the difference it will make to communities across Telford. I have also spoken to Mrs McQuiggin and school business manager Sarah Nicholls at Lawley primary school, which serves… Telford, about the difference that their breakfast club is making to parents and children. Minister, when can we have some more in Telford?
Hansard · 4 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
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Stephen Morgan
With permission, I will make a statement to update the House on this Government’s vital work to give every child the best start in life. Within months of taking office we published our plan for change, a promise to improve the lives of working people and break down barriers to opportunity for people in this country. Th…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Education Minister.
SB
Saqib Bhatti
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, and it is a pleasure to be at the Dispatch Box for the very first time as shadow Education Minister. Education is the greatest enabler of success and opportunity in this country. All Members of the House regularly visit our local schools, colleges and universitie…
SM
Stephen Morgan
I start by welcoming the shadow Minister to his place on the Opposition Front Bench, but it is shocking that even now the Conservatives cannot bring themselves to recognise the significance of Labour’s childcare expansion, nor can they celebrate the new school-based nurseries that make more affordable childcare places …
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
Clause 1 - Exclusion of remaining hereditary peers4 Sep 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Lords amendment 1 flies in the face of the intention of the Government and this House to immediately reform the House of Lords by removing the last 91 peers who sit in Parliament based solely on their bloodline entitlement. I start with the premise that the last 91 hereditary peers sit in the other place… as a result of a compromise in 1999, when more than 660 hereditary peers were removed. I take the view that the other place, and indeed this Parliament, is no less effective as a result. The very architect of that compromise, the Marquess of Salisbury, said himself that the arrangement was supposed to last for around six months. The final 91 have had an effective notice period of 26 years already—a notice period that any worker in the real economy would no doubt welcome. It is now time to complete this reform. For those seeking to support the amendment, I ask, “Where have you been?” One of my predecessors as MP for Telford, my right hon. Friend the noble Lord Grocott has continued to campaign on this issue for decades and has been vindicated at long last. He proposed exactly the measure outlined in the amendment—ending the by-elections to phase out hereditary peers—in four private Members’ Bills over the last 26 years. Each and every Bill was blocked by Conservative peers and Conservative Governments, so I do not believe that this amendment has been tabled in good faith. Instead, the Opposition are clutching at straws to prevent progress because they fear change. In a recent speech on the Bill, the noble Lord Grocott used the word “gestating” to describe the reforms he tried to introduce over the last 30 years or so. That is the right word: the opponents of these changes knew in the 1990s that they had lost the argument and that the best they could do was to slow down the inevitable—bog down reforms with procedure and compromise. I agree with Lord Grocott that almost 30 years of gestation is far too long for anyone. This Government’s decision to finally lance the bo
Hansard · 4 Sep 2025 · parliament.uk
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Nick Thomas-Symonds
I beg to move, That this House disagrees with Lords amendment 1.
JC
Judith Cummins
With this it will be convenient to discuss: Lords amendment 2, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 3, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendment 8, and Government motion to disagree. Lords amendments 4 to 7 and 9.
NT
Nick Thomas-Symonds
This House sent the second Chamber a Bill that had a simple and direct objective outlined in this Government’s manifesto, but I have to report to the House that something very strange has happened since then. People said that the Conservatives were in some sort of hibernation since the general election, but it would ap…
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Christopher Vince
This is an opportune moment for me to mention my summer reading list and the first Labour Government in 1924. Even at that time, there was talk about reform of the House of Lords, so this is very much a tale as old as time itself. In fact, looking back in historical Hansard, it goes much further back than 1924, so is i…
NT
Nick Thomas-Symonds
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Whether we go back to 1924 or even further back—and I will during my speech—we find Conservatives in this House protecting their friends born into positions of power. This Bill will finally remove such an archaic right. Just as the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) —he is overse…
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Shaun Davies
My hon. Friend makes a valid point. A point that has been made by other Members, including from the Opposition Benches, is that there is nothing stopping the Leader of the Opposition putting forward any hereditary peers for life peerages.
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Shaun Davies
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. This is about priorities and choices. The Leader of the Opposition will be able to nominate people this year and next year—and maybe the year after, if she is still in place. She can make a decision on whether to put forward a hereditary peer or someone else during that sp…
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Shaun Davies
The Leader of the Opposition has a number of tough choices ahead of her, and those choices will no doubt be executed using her good political judgment. To conclude, to right hon. and hon. Members from different sides of the Chamber who say that we need more reform of Parliament, the House of Lords, the constitution and…
Energy Costs: Businesses15 Jul 2025
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Shaun Davies
What steps he is taking to help support businesses to reduce their energy costs.
Hansard · 15 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
We know that the cost of energy is a huge challenge to businesses across the country. That is why our mission to deliver clean power by 2030 is so important: that is how we will get bills down for good. While we try to get there, we are taking action to support businesses, including through the new British industrial c…
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Miatta Fahnbulleh
My hon. Friend is completely right to stress the challenges faced by businesses. The Government are committed to backing businesses. We are working with the regulator to make sure that the system is fair for everyone and, as is set out in our industrial strategy, from 2027 the new British industrial competitiveness sch…
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Martin Vickers
Energy costs are an issue that the Prax oil refinery has brought to my attention over the years as a problem it has been facing. I appreciate the calls I have had with the Minister for Energy about this. I was able to visit the plant on Friday, and there was clearly growing concern, with hundreds of jobs at risk. What …
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
The hon. Member is right to raise this situation; we know that it is very difficult, and we have been engaging on it. There have been long-standing issues with how the plant is run. We are trying, across the piece, to support businesses to make the transition—and support them within the transition—so that we can protec…
NT
Nick Timothy
When the price cap fell last month, the Labour party boasted, “£129 off your bills, delivered by Labour”. The Minister knows that energy bills fell as wholesale gas prices fell, and she knows that her policy is to take the country off gas and keep increasing policy costs on bills. That is why she refuses to repeat the …
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Shaun Davies
When the Government help businesses reduce energy costs, including by aiding their transition, businesses such as the pubs and cafés in Dawley, Madeley and Oakengates and manufacturers on Stafford Park and Halesfield can then protect and create jobs and pass on savings to customers. Will the Government back those busin…
State of Climate and Nature14 Jul 2025
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Shaun Davies
Tackling climate change is a top topic among children and young people when I visit schools and colleges across Telford. Switching to renewables is a top topic among employers; it will help to reduce the cost of their energy supply. Renewables companies tell me about the fantastic, well-paid jobs that are available. Climate security, environment… security and energy security are national security. Does my right hon. Friend know a single reason why this is not a key mission to rebuild Britain and protect our planet for generations to come?
Hansard · 14 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
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Ed Miliband
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the climate and nature crisis. On the day that the Met Office publishes its “State of the UK Climate” report for 2024, the Environment Secretary and I want to share with the British people what we know about the scale of the crisis and explain the acti…
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Andrew Bowie
It is a rare pleasure to see the Secretary of State at the Dispatch Box today, given that he turned down the opportunity to defend his plan for clean power by 2030 or the report from the National Energy System Operator that was published earlier in the year. Perhaps that is why we are being given a slightly longer stat…
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Lindsay Hoyle
Order. We need to be careful about what we say. I think that the hon. Gentleman has suggested that the Secretary of State was not honest, and I think we are all honest Members here.
AB
Andrew Bowie
I completely agree, Mr Speaker, and I apologise if I insinuated the opposite in any way. The UK accounts for less than 1% of global emissions. That is also the truth. In fact, now that I come to think of it, it is rather shameful that the Secretary of State should be using this report from the Met Office as cover, whil…
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Carla Denyer
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Parental Leave Review1 Jul 2025
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Shaun Davies
I welcome the statement and the launch of the review. I recently held a dads’ drop-in event supported by the Dad Shift, where I heard from dads about examples of excellent employers doing the right thing, but also frustrations among the self-employed and those who run small and medium-sized enterprises about how complex and confusing… the system can be. Can the Minister confirm that the voices of businesses of all sizes and of dads will be at the heart of this review? Also, can he give a message to his Government colleagues that Government Departments and organisations often lag behind the best of the employers in this country?
Hansard · 1 Jul 2025 · parliament.uk
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Justin Madders
With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s manifesto commitment to review the system of entitlements to parental leave. This Government are dedicated to delivering more for working families, and our plan to make work pay is central to achieving that, with the mission to grow the economy, raise living …
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Greg Smith
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement. From personal experience—as a father of three—I understand the importance of fathers being able to spend time at home with their newborns and supporting mothers in those early days. Having experienced paternity leave both as a Member of Parliament in 2020 and 202…
JM
Justin Madders
I take it that the shadow Minister is not in support of the review. May I correct him on a few points? Of course it is not a coincidence that this is being announced today; our manifesto was clear that we would launch the review within one year of taking office, and, of course, this week we do celebrate that astounding…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee.
SO
Sarah Owen
It is great to see so many hon. Members, with almost every party represented but one: there are four empty seats where the Reform UK MPs sit. They like to bang on about family values, but when it comes to actually standing up for dads and for parents, they are nowhere to be seen. I thank the Minister for acting on the …
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report16 Jun 2025
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Shaun Davies
Let me first praise and pay tribute to survivors across the country, and draw attention again to the survivors who worked in Telford along with me and various organisations to carry out the local review. We did so because the then Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, and the then local government Minister, the right hon. Member… for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak) , refused to provide a statutory inquiry into what had happened in Telford. That is why we worked with the police and crime commissioner—who happens to be a Conservative—and with people across the political spectrum to take this matter out of the party political field and try to find answers in our small part of the world. What we need, though, is action. We need action in respect of the Jay inquiry and in respect of the Casey review, but does the Home Secretary agree that we also need action in respect of the number of local reviews that have taken place up and down the country whose findings have not been on the desks of Ministers over the last 14 years and which have therefore not received the attention that they deserve?
Hansard · 16 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
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Yvette Cooper
With permission, I will update the House on the audit the Government commissioned from Baroness Casey on child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs, and on the action we are taking to tackle this vile crime—to put perpetrators behind bars and to provide the innocent victims of those crimes with support and justice. T…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Hopefully the report will be available in the Table Office for those Members who wish to see it. The Home Secretary quite rightly took longer than expected, and I have no problem with that. I say to the Leader of the Opposition, and to the Lib Dems, that it is available to them to do the same.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of the statement, although when I listened to it, I could not believe my ears. It was as if this was the Government’s plan all along, when we all know it is another U-turn. After months of pressure, the Prime Minister has finally accepted our call for a full, statutory, nati…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Mr Swallow, I want you to set a good example. This is a very serious statement, and tempers are running high, but I certainly do not want to see you pointing, shouting and bawling in that way.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
Mr Speaker, they can point and shout as much as they like; they know the truth, just as we on the Conservative Benches do. Three times—[Interruption.] I will repeat myself: Labour MPs voted against the reasoned amendment to the children’s Bill; in Committee, they voted against that Bill; and they voted against the Crim…
Winter Fuel Payment9 Jun 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Away from the knockabout of Westminster politics, I and people in Telford welcome this change. The principle of means-testing was right, but the level was too low. Does my hon. Friend agree that millionaires, MPs who happen to be of pensionable age and those who are living abroad should not receive this payment?
Hansard · 9 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
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Torsten Bell
On 21 May , the Prime Minister told this House that the Government wanted to extend eligibility for winter fuel payments to a wider range of pensioners in England and Wales. Today we are setting out how this will happen for the coming winter and the years ahead. This will provide certainty for pensioners and ensure tha…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
HW
Helen Whately
I feel for the Minister, sent here by his bosses to complete what must be the most humiliating climbdown a Government have ever faced in their first year in office. For nearly a year, the Conservatives have campaigned against this cut, and for nearly a year, the Government have tried to hold out. Just four weeks ago, I…
TB
Torsten Bell
I will deal directly with two of the questions raised because it is important to provide reassurance. The right hon. Lady asks what will happen with the estate of someone who is deceased. I want to be clear that His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs will never pursue any estate for the winter fuel payment alone. She also a…
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Navendu Mishra
Members on both sides of the House will have had a large volume of correspondence on this matter, so I thank the Minister for his statement. This fair policy change saves our public services £450 million by ensuring that the wealthiest pensioners do not continue to receive the winter fuel payment. Does he agree?
High Street Crime3 Jun 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Does the Lord Chancellor agree that when it comes to sentencing, ancillary orders, including those banning offenders from shops and high streets, are part of the answer? We need the police, together with the Crown Prosecution Service, to apply for them, and when an offender appears in court, we need the courts to issue those… orders when sentencing.
Hansard · 3 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
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Stuart Anderson
If her Department will take steps to increase sentences for high street crime.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
This Government inherited a situation in which 10% of offenders account for 50% of all offences, with a small number of repeat offenders wreaking havoc in our communities and on our high streets. Cracking down on these offenders is a central part of any successful strategy to cut crime, and we will accept David Gauke’s…
SA
Stuart Anderson
South Shropshire residents would expect high street crime to be dealt with, and proportionate sentencing and appropriate deterrents. How will removing short-term prison sentences achieve any of that?
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The hon. Member should know that 60% of all people who are given a short custodial sentence go on to reoffend within the year, so clearly the system that we have does not work. We cannot simply sit back and keep doing things that we know result in increased reoffending in communities that we all want to protect. We hav…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend raises an important point. He is right that so-called ancillary orders, often referred to as travel bans, bans from seeing football and bans on the ability to go to particular areas, are an important part of the package of measures that the Gauke review has recommended. We have accepted those in principl…
Topical Questions3 Jun 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
The 14,500 volunteer magistrates who deal with 95% of criminal cases are the backbone of our justice system. Will the Lord Chancellor meet me, the Magistrates’ Association, and a group of cross-party MPs who recently wrote to her, calling for a long-service medal to be established for justices, as well as discussing the Magistrates’ Association’s… forthcoming report on how to recruit and retain magistrates, as she increases their powers and responsibilities?
Hansard · 3 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Susan Murray
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I know the House shares my anger at recent attacks against prison officers. After the awful events at HMP Frankland, I commissioned a review into the use of protective body armour, and today I can announce that I will mandate its use in close supervision centres, separation centres, and segregation units in the high se…
SM
Susan Murray
What discussions have the Government had regarding the International Court of Justice’s 2024 judgment on Israel and Palestine?
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The hon. Lady will know that that is a matter primarily for the Foreign Secretary. We keep under review all judgments of all courts, domestic and international, and adopt our policy position accordingly. I will ensure that her concerns, if there are any, are raised directly with the Foreign Secretary.
SS
Sarah Sackman
I was pleased to visit Telford justice centre with my hon. Friend, where we met magistrates and leaders of the Magistrates’ Association. I meet the Magistrates’ Association regularly. We have a system of certification, acknowledging the vital work that magistrates do, especially long-serving magistrates who serve more …
Strategic Defence Review2 Jun 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Last month, I had the honour of visiting RBSL—Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land—in Telford. Along with many defence companies and organisations, it is so proud of its effort to help Britain to defend itself here and around the world. The SDR provides certainty to industry, but we need to go further to ensure that every Government… agency, body and Department—from skills and infrastructure to planning and the availability of land—gets behind its ethos. Does the Secretary of State agree that creating growth cluster zones will provide certainty to local communities and assist in that mission?
Hansard · 2 Jun 2025 · parliament.uk
JH
John Healey
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the strategic defence review. I have laid the full 130-page review before the House, and I am grateful for the opportunity to do so and to make this statement on our first day back from the recess. The world has changed, and we must respond. The SDR is our Plan fo…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
JC
James Cartlidge
Before I turn to the substance, in responding to my point of order, the Secretary of State said that when he was in opposition, “We were not offered a briefing”, and “We had no advance copy of the defence review.”—[Interruption.]
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Please! It has not been a good day so far, and I do not want any more interruptions.
JC
James Cartlidge
The Secretary of State said that this occurred when I was a Defence Minister. Actually, in March 2023, before I became a Minister, he was invited to a reading room on the morning of publication. On the Defence Command Paper refresh in July 2023, when I was Minister, he said he did not get a copy. I can confirm, and I a…
Independent Sentencing Review22 May 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Police officers, magistrates and judges all report that some offenders would rather go to prison to be back with their mates, watching Sky TV and having three square meals a day. Does the Lord Chancellor agree that those who go to prison should be treated more harshly and robustly than was the case under the… 14 years of the previous Conservative Government?
Hansard · 22 May 2025 · parliament.uk
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Shabana Mahmood
With your permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on sentencing in England and Wales. As the House will be aware, the independent sentencing review was published today. It was chaired by David Gauke and his panel comprised experts, including a former Lord Chief Justice, and representatives from the police, pris…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Lord Chancellor.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Today is about one question: should violent and prolific criminals be on the streets or behind bars? I think they should be behind bars. For all the Justice Secretary’s rhetoric, the substance of her statement could not be clearer: she is okay and her party is okay with criminals terrorising our streets and tormenting …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I thought people had come to listen to the statement and I expect them to listen. I expected the Opposition Front Bench to be quiet; I certainly expect better from the Government Front Bench.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
Mr Speaker, the truth is this: any Government serious about keeping violent criminals behind bars, any Government willing to do whatever it took, could obviously find and build the prison cells required to negate the need for these disastrous changes. What do the changes amount to? [Interruption.]
Ministerial Code: Compliance14 May 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
As a new Member of this House, I have noticed that on almost every single day on which Parliament sits, there is a statement from the Government, alongside, quite rightly, urgent questions. Will the Leader of the House use the Modernisation Committee to look at more ways that we can scrutinise the work of the… Government without slowing down the delivery of government, which is needed to rebuild Britain?
Hansard · 14 May 2025 · parliament.uk
KB
Kirsty Blackman
(Urgent Question): To ask the Leader of the House if she will make a statement on Government compliance with the general principles set out in paragraph 9.1 of the ministerial code.
LP
Lucy Powell
The ministerial code is clear: “When Parliament is in session, the most important announcements of government policy should be made in the first instance in Parliament.” That is an important principle by which this Government stand. Already in this Session there have been 146 oral statements in just 133 sitting days—mo…
KB
Kirsty Blackman
In recent times we have seen an increasing trend of the Government failing to make statements to the House first, despite there being no barrier to them doing so. Last Thursday was a mess, with the Minister of State for Business and Trade trying to withdraw the statement on the UK-US trade agreement, despite Members ha…
LP
Lucy Powell
I thank the hon. Lady for raising this urgent question, and I welcome the opportunity to emphasise that I take these matters very seriously. We have made a number of very big announcements to the House, often responding to world events in real time. I recognise—and I hope she will respect this—that there are judgments …
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Leader of the House.
Mansion House Accord13 May 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
How will my hon. Friend bring together UK pension schemes and local and regional governments in order to invest in local infrastructure projects, given that European and global pension schemes invest when UK pensions schemes too often do not?
Hansard · 13 May 2025 · parliament.uk
MS
Mel Stride
(Urgent Question): To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if she will make a statement on the Mansion House accord.
TB
Torsten Bell
Mr Speaker, I would like to associate myself with your tribute and those of other Members to Sir Roy Stone, who was a true public servant, and a servant of this House. Pensions matter. They underpin not just the retirement that we all look forward to, but the investment on which our future prosperity depends. This morn…
MS
Mel Stride
May I start by associating myself with the very fine tributes made to Sir Roy Stone? My condolences go to his family. No response from the Chancellor, we see, but I thank the Minister for his statement. The retirement incomes of millions of UK savers rely on the careful management of pension funds. Those pension provid…
TB
Torsten Bell
I will directly address two questions and then come to the overall tone of the shadow Chancellor’s remarks. There has been a debate across this House and in the wider industry about mandation, including on UK equities. It has been led by Conservative peers in the House of Lords—Baroness Altmann has called for exactly t…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Select Committee.
Immigration System12 May 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
This Labour Government inherited disorder at the border: a broken system where criminal gangs, dodgy employers and fake colleges too often decided who came into this country. Will the Home Secretary give the courts the powers to deport and the universities and colleges the resources to train our young people, and will she have a… system that encourages the brightest and the best to come to this country and rebuild Britain?
Hansard · 12 May 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
Before I call the Home Secretary to make her statement, Mr Speaker has noted that details of the White Paper have been reported in the media since Sunday morning. As Mr Speaker has said previously, it is important that these policy announcements are made in the first instance in this House, and not in the media. Mr Spe…
YC
Yvette Cooper
With your permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the Government’s White Paper on restoring control over the immigration system. Five months ago, the figures were published that showed net migration had reached a record high of more than 900,000 under the last Conservative Government —a figure that…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement—not that it was necessary, given the extensive leaks and pre-briefing. The Prime Minister claimed all of a sudden this morning that he wants to control immigration. I must say, it came as something of a surprise to me. He seems to have undergone a miraculous…
CP
Chris Philp
I will try anyway. If the Home Secretary is really serious about controlling immigration, will she vote later today for the immigration cap, and will she vote to repeal the Human Rights Act for all immigration matters?
Business of the House24 Apr 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
On a recent visit with the courts Minister, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman) , to Shropshire’s justice centre, I was reminded about the dedication of our magistrates. Can we have a debate in Government time about the importance of magistrates in the justice system? Since the… 12th century, magistrates have played a critical role in delivering local justice, and now do so as volunteers, many with decades of service. Currently, there is not a long service medal award; does the Leader of the House agree that there really ought to be?
Hansard · 24 Apr 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 28 April includes: Monday 28 April —Second Reading of the Football Governance Bill [Lords]. Tuesday 29 April —Remaining stages of the Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill. Wednesday 30 April —Committee of the whole House and remaining stages of the Sentencing Guidelin…
JN
Jesse Norman
Could there be a local election coming up? I very much hope that you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and everyone here had a perfectly spectacular Easter. I am sure I speak for the whole House in recording my sadness at the death of His Holiness the Pope, who was, in his work and in his life, the embodiment of faith, hope and c…
LP
Lucy Powell
I am sure the thoughts of the whole House will be with Catholics in this country and around the world as they grieve Pope Francis. As the shadow Leader of the House said, Pope Francis embodied the very best of us with his deep faith and commitment to the poorest, the weakest and those dealing with conflict and destitut…
TD
Tan Dhesi
We have been dealing this week with the sad passing of Pope Francis. I was also deeply saddened by the shocking, cowardly and deadly terrorist attack on innocent tourists in Jammu and Kashmir. The victims and their families are very much in my prayers. I sincerely hope that the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justi…
Asylum Hotels and Illegal Channel Crossings25 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
This Government inherited a chaotic and broken system and disorder at the border. Under the last Conservative Government, the local community was deprived of a manor house in my constituency because it was used as an asylum hotel. Can the Minister confirm that it is the hard-yards mission of this Government to close those hotels… and give them back to their communities?
Hansard · 25 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
CP
Chris Philp
(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary to make a statement on asylum hotels and illegal immigrants crossing the channel.
AE
Angela Eagle
As the right hon. Member is aware, the Home Office discharges its statutory duty to provide accommodation and to support destitute asylum seekers through seven asylum accommodation and support services contracts. Those contracts were entered into by the previous Government, commencing in 2019, and are split between thr…
CP
Chris Philp
Last summer, the Government were elected on a promise to end the use of asylum hotels. Well, it has now been nine months, so let us see how they are getting on. The use of asylum hotels has gone up by 8,000 since the general election—it has not gone down; it has gone up. Some 38,000 mainly illegal immigrants are now in…
AE
Angela Eagle
I will not take any lessons from the shadow Minister. In his last three months as Immigration Minister, nearly 10,000 people crossed the channel in small boats, but he is complaining about half that level of crossings happening in the past three months. Neither will I take any lessons from someone who served in a Gover…
CM
Chris Murray
Does the Minister share my astonishment at the shadow Home Secretary’s argument given that the Conservatives wasted tens of millions of pounds on accommodation that could not be used and billions on hotels? The state of the asylum system that we inherited is unbelievable. Will the Minister commit to reforming that seri…
Rare Cancers Bill14 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for introducing the Bill. He has channelled his personal experience, and that of his family, to produce a vital piece of legislation. I hope that he succeeds in driving change on this issue. He certainly has my support and that of all… Members of the House. It is on days like this that I call Members of Parliament from across the House my hon. Friends rather than hon. Members. This cause certainly unites us. I know from reading emails from my Telford constituents that they are fully behind the Bill. I join my hon. Friends in paying tribute to the many people who have told the stories of loved ones in their families and communities—they are far braver than I. Next Thursday, I will be a bearer at the funeral of a woman who is very special in my life. I am not quite brave enough to tell her story today, but maybe one day I will. I have heard about devastating impacts from a number of constituents who have contacted me to share their stories. I heard from one constituent about the mother of his three teenage children. She is in her 40s and battling terminal pancreatic cancer after a late diagnosis. Among those stories, a familiar theme arises: conditions such as pancreatic cancer are being diagnosed too late and there is no available treatment. My constituents’ loved ones are given just months to live. I focus on pancreatic cancer because it is an example of the scandal of rare cancer treatment. It is classed as a rare cancer by the Bill because it affects fewer than one person in every 2,000. Every year, one in every 6,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and half of them die within three months. There are roughly 107,000 people in Telford, which means that 18 of my constituents will be diagnosed with that awful cancer each and every year, and nine of them will die within three months of diagnosis. That is absolutely shocking. I owe it to those 18 people in my constituency to speak up in
Hansard · 14 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SA
Scott Arthur
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. We all know someone who has suffered from a rare cancer—a brain tumour, childhood cancer, pancreatic cancer, liver cancer, or one of the other cancers on a long list that are unfortunately all too familiar. Each of them may statistically be considered rare, but co…
SM
Siobhain McDonagh
The NHS has a drug repurposing office. To date, it has repurposed one drug, and that was for breast cancer. Does my hon. Friend think that is good enough?
SA
Scott Arthur
I welcome that intervention; I think that was a leading question. Of course it is not good enough. I do not think that anybody here thinks that it is good enough, including the Minister. Unfortunately, at present there are very few clinical trials in this country for rare cancer treatments. Families such as Kira’s shou…
EL
Emma Lewell-Buck
I thank my hon. Friend for the powerful way he is introducing his Bill. My constituent Steph is just 29 years old and is a mam to two little girls. She was diagnosed with grade 4 glioblastoma, known as astrocytoma, on her birthday last year. For months prior to her diagnosis, she was treated for migraines by her GP. St…
SA
Scott Arthur
Absolutely. Last week, I attended a reception for the Eve Appeal. I was really struck by the fact that early diagnosis was a big feature of what the charity was talking about, and I will come on to that in just a second. As a consequence of the lack of recognition of the symptoms of rare cancers, too many people are di…
Free School Meals (Automatic Registration of Eligible Children) Bill14 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Us former council leaders have to stick together. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for bringing forward this Bill. As I mentioned in my maiden speech, I was a recipient of free school meals myself. I remember that stigma; I remember getting a blue ticket when I went to get lunch with my friends,… while they got a yellow one. The stigma is still with me today. It runs very deep in me. Does he agree that the Government’s child poverty taskforce has to consider everything in the round? We should welcome the Government’s announcements on free breakfast clubs and the roll-out of the trial of those clubs. Does he also agree that we need to see urgency from the Government and the Minister, as I am sure we will, to address this issue and to take a systematic look at families and children in poverty?
Hansard · 14 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
PL
Peter Lamb
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am very grateful for my good fortune in having the chance to introduce a Bill in my first year as a Member of this House and to seek to address, in part, one of my greatest policy concerns: childhood poverty. The previous Labour Government made reducing child po…
PL
Peter Lamb
I absolutely agree. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for his intervention. The Government are doing a lot to try to address this issue, but that is not to say that we cannot do more. We hear those stories of stigma, with children pretending to bring food out of their bags so that they do not miss out or so that the…
LI
Leigh Ingham
This Bill is so important exactly because of what my hon. Friend has just said. It removes administrative barriers that get in the way, but that can frequently be overcome sensibly. Importantly, it still provides an opt-out for parents, which is important, because not everybody would want to take this up for their chil…
PL
Peter Lamb
It has been a while since I looked at the numbers, but my understanding when I last looked was that the level of unclaimed benefits in our system is at least 10 times greater than the total value of benefit fraud. People are choosing not to access the support available by and large because of stigma or a lack of awaren…
SR
Sam Rushworth
I thank my hon. Friend for the speech he is making and for putting child poverty at its heart. On educational outcomes, does he agree that auto-enrolling children would mean that schools could take advantage of many of the gateway supports that are premised on how many children at a school are on free school meals? I a…
SD
Shaun Davies
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Crawley (Peter Lamb) for bringing forward this private Member’s Bill on a process that, as a former council leader, I saw as a bureaucratic, red-tape nightmare. Children eligible for free school meals were not accessing them simply because a form was not filled in. Even th…
SD
Shaun Davies
I absolutely agree. My county borders Wales, so I know Wales very well indeed. The Westminster Government should absolutely learn from the Welsh Labour Government’s approach to child poverty, and to inequality more generally. We should congratulate and acknowledge the work of Welsh Labour in that space. I welcome the p…
Manufacturing: West Midlands13 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
What steps he is taking to support manufacturing in the west midlands.
Hansard · 13 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SJ
Sarah Jones
It was a good night for Villa fans last night, so I congratulate anyone in the west midlands who supports the club, as my husband does. The west midlands, in many ways, leads the country on manufacturing, and it has one of the UK’s largest specialist workforces. Whether in automotive, aerospace or the rail supply chain…
SJ
Sarah Jones
My hon. Friend is absolutely right; we do not want a race to the bottom. Advanced manufacturing jobs in the west midlands are well paid for a reason: there is a very highly skilled workforce and we want to protect and grow that. He is right that there is more that we can do. Some £2 billion was set aside in the Budget …
GW
Gavin Williamson
In Staffordshire and the west midlands, we are the only part of the country that is a net exporter of manufactured goods. The threat from Trump on tariffs could have a significant impact on manufacturers right across Staffordshire and the west midlands. What action are the Government taking to ensure that we will conti…
SJ
Sarah Jones
The right hon. Gentleman is right that the west midlands is a big exporter to many different countries, including the US and others. Of course, we will keep talking with the US, as the Secretary of State has been doing, and will ensure that we are standing up for British industry and doing the right thing.
SD
Shaun Davies
In Telford and the wider west midlands, we have a strong and proud British manufacturing base, as the Minister has just outlined. One of the biggest challenges that I hear from businesses is the uneven playing field between us and the rest of the world on pay rates and regulation. Clearly, no one wants a race to the bo…
Victory in Europe and Japan: 80th Anniversaries13 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the statement and the work of the Government to remember the greatest of all generations. Will the Minister join me in congratulating Telford and Wrekin council on launching a £50,000 community fund to mark this event? In particular, will she thank parish and town councils, the Royal British Legion, Telford and Wrekin Interfaith… Council and veterans’ groups for grabbing the opportunity to apply to that fund? Does she agree that our allies then and our allies now are very welcome to join us in marking this very special occasion?
Hansard · 13 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SP
Stephanie Peacock
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement about the Government’s plans to mark the 80th anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day. This year, 2025, marks 80 years since the end of the second world war—80 years since victory in Europe on 8 May 1945 and since victory over Japan on 15 August . “In all our l…
SB
Saqib Bhatti
I thank the Minister for her excellent statement and for advance sight of it. As we approach the anniversaries of VE Day and VJ Day, we look forward to the whole nation coming together to celebrate the end of the fighting in Europe, the surrender of Japan, victory over our adversaries and the end of the second world wa…
SP
Stephanie Peacock
I am incredibly grateful to the hon. Gentleman for the tone of his response. He is absolutely right that VE Day and VJ Day should be etched on our collective memory. I join him in paying tribute to our armed services personnel who are serving today, and I echo his comments on Ukraine. He is right to pay tribute to the …
JP
Jo Platt
I whole- heartedly welcome the Minister’s statement. It will be a true day of national unity. Last week, I presented a long overdue official armed forces badge to 100-year-old veteran Eric Radcliffe. Will the Minister thank Eric for his service, and will she inform the House and my constituents in Leigh and Atherton ab…
SP
Stephanie Peacock
I am sure the whole House will want to join me in thanking and paying tribute to Eric. As I said in my statement, veterans are at the heart of the celebrations. We are working closely with the Royal British Legion to ensure that they are central to the plans, so they can get involved and we can hear their stories.
Engagements12 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Telford and Britain voted for change in July, yet this week we saw the bizarre spectacle of the Conservatives attempting to bring back the Rwanda policy, clinging on to a gimmick that cost British taxpayers £700 million yet sent only four volunteers to Rwanda. As Labour works to secure our borders through our plan for… change, does the Prime Minister agree with me that it is quite clear that the Conservative party has learned absolutely nothing?
Hansard · 12 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
MM
Mike Martin
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 12 March.
KS
Keir Starmer
I welcome the progress of talks between Ukraine and the United States. We must now redouble our efforts to get a lasting, secure peace. On Saturday, I will convene international leaders to discuss how we can make further progress. I pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of all those responding to the ship collision…
MM
Mike Martin
Russia has abducted at least 19,000 Ukrainian children and transferred them to Russia. They have been told that their parents do not love them, placed in Russian homes and been re-educated. For that despicable crime and others, the International Criminal Court has issued six arrest warrants for Vladimir Putin and his g…
KS
Keir Starmer
I thank the hon. Member for raising that issue, because it is an absolutely terrible case of abduction and kidnapping. When we say a lasting, just settlement for peace in Ukraine, it must of course involve dealing with that issue. As he would expect, we are raising it continually with our allies.
KS
Keir Starmer
My hon. Friend is quite right. The Conservatives ran an open borders experiment that saw numbers go up to almost 1 million, and the Leader of the Opposition was the cheerleader, thanking herself for the lobbying that she did. The Rwanda scheme cost £700 million of taxpayers’ money to remove four volunteers. What a cont…
Criminal Justice System Efficiency: Technology11 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
What steps her Department is taking to use technology to improve the efficiency of the criminal justice system.
Hansard · 11 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
This Government inherited an analogue justice system that has not kept pace with a digital world. Technology can and must transform the justice system. Since taking office, we have expanded the use of tagging; we are piloting new technology to automate manual work in the justice system; and I have launched a new unit, …
SM
Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend raises an incredibly important point. We need to make sure that the whole justice system, including what happens in our criminal courts, is as efficient as it can be. That is why I have commissioned Sir Brian Leveson to conduct an independent review of the criminal courts. He will consider how to improve…
JW
Jeremy Wright
The Lord Chancellor will accept that the effective use of electronic tags will not only make the criminal justice system more efficient, but mitigate the need for expensive prison places. Does she agree that two things are necessary for that effective use? First, the tags must be technically reliable; secondly, officia…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
The right hon. and learned Gentleman raises two incredibly important points. There will be a bigger role for current, new and emerging technologies in the future of our justice system, particularly in expanding the range of punishment available to us outside of prison. I want to make sure that we are at the forefront o…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
SD
Shaun Davies
The recent announcement of 110,000 sitting days is welcome, but we need to use technology to streamline our justice system. Between 2016 and 2022, we saw a 25% reduction in cases being concluded. What plans do the Government have to use emerging new tech to enhance court processing, get faster justice for victims, and …
Crime and Policing Bill10 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
There are many areas in which the British people have had to put up with decline and decay over the past 14 years, but the breakdown of law and order might be the most profound. Victims have felt unprotected, criminals have gone unpunished and crimes have simply gone unchecked. Meanwhile, the law-abiding majority has looked… on in horror and police officers have felt frustrated without the tools to act. I am delighted to support the Bill, which will start to turn the tide on 14 years of neglect. I welcome the Government’s plans to introduce 13,000 extra neighbourhood police officers and put a named officer in every community; to introduce respect orders and real punishments for the so-called low-level crime, such as antisocial behaviour and off-road bike crime, that has plagued our communities because of the Tory amnesty; and to protect retail workers, including by scrapping the Tory shoplifter’s charter, which decriminalised theft below £200. I remember speaking to shop workers in my constituency during the general election campaign. They talked about yobs walking into shops, nicking items off the shelves and walking straight out, because they knew that the police would take no action. I welcome the Government’s plans to create a new duty to report child sexual abuse, and increase sentencing for the monsters who organise child grooming; to crack down on knife crime and the sale of weapons to under-18s; to give police the power to seize and destroy bladed articles; and so much more—all within months of the Home Secretary taking office. I urge the Government to go further, however, by strengthening neighbourhood policing, which is at the heart of their mission to take back our streets. The increased powers for police officers to tackle antisocial behaviour are among the most important measures in the Bill, but we must not stop there. PCSOs and local authority enforcement officers do vital work to support the police and be friendly faces in our communities. They, too,
Hansard · 10 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
YC
Yvette Cooper
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Crime and Policing Bill will make our streets safer, put neighbourhood policing back at the heart of communities after years of neglect, give law enforcement the powers it needs to protect the public and tackle the most serious violence, help communities to ta…
WM
Wendy Morton
The right hon. Lady makes an important point about neighbourhood policing. Does she agree that local police stations should be integral to this plan?
YC
Yvette Cooper
Local police stations are a matter for local forces, but they can be a central part of neighbourhood policing, which, sadly, has been heavily cut back in recent years. In fact, in many areas of the country, neighbourhood policing has been cut by a third or nearly half. At the heart of the Government’s plan is rebuildin…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I will give way first to my hon. Friend and then to the hon. Member for Huntingdon (Ben Obese-Jecty) .
CV
Christopher Vince
A report by Harlow council in 2023 stated that fewer than half of residents in Harlow felt safe going outside after dark. Does my right hon. Friend see the neighbourhood policing guarantee as part of the way of solving that problem?
Business of the House6 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Mail Solutions, an employee-owned company in my constituency led by Karl Lee. That company exports envelopes and printing around the world, including for elections across Africa, but it told me that it faces red tape and barriers in doing so. Can we back British business, reduce red tape,… and allow businesses such as Mail Solutions to grow?
Hansard · 6 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
JN
Jesse Norman
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
I shall. The business for the week commencing 10 March includes: Monday 10 March —Second Reading of the Crime and Policing Bill. Tuesday 11 March —Remaining stages of the Employment Rights Bill, day one. Wednesday 12 March —Remaining stages of the Employment Rights Bill, day two. Thursday 13 March —General debate on th…
JN
Jesse Norman
Mr Speaker, may I first associate myself very strongly with your kind remarks about Peter Hipkins and his service to this House? We join all colleagues in celebration of International Women’s Day this Saturday. I am sure the whole House will also share my deep concern at the latest news in relation to Ukraine and will …
LP
Lucy Powell
I join you, Mr Speaker, in passing on our condolences to the family of Peter Hipkins, who gave long service in this House. I also wish peace and blessings to those observing Ramadan and those marking Lent. Today is also World Book Day, a day to celebrate our favourite books and authors—and, I have to say, every working…
MT
Marie Tidball
Flooding has caused heartache for families and communities in my constituency. In order to be protected from extreme flooding, they desperately need Sheffield city council’s excellent proposals for the upper Don flood alleviation scheme, including work on the Clough Dike culvert and Whitley Brook improvements. Despite …
Courts and Tribunals: Sitting Days5 Mar 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Under the last Conservative Government, we saw a reduction in the numbers of Crown court judges in Shropshire and Telford; courtrooms remained empty for years while victims waited for years for their trials to take place. With Labour, we now have an extra Crown court judge, a remand court back in the county and extra… Crown court sitting times. I have heard from magistrates and Crown court judges in my area that defendants are opting for a Crown court trial because they know it will take years to conclude. Can we make sure that that does not happen in future? We should absolutely tackle the backlog, but can the Lord Chancellor give an assurance that we, unlike the last Government, will not tell police officers to stop arresting people and putting them before the courts?
Hansard · 5 Mar 2025 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With permission, I will make a statement on capacity in the Crown court. When this Government took office eight months ago, we received an inheritance from the Conservative Government that was little short of disgraceful: our prisons were in crisis, on the edge of collapse, and our courts faced a record and rising back…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I can always help by reopening Chorley court for you. I call the shadow Lord Chancellor.
RJ
Robert Jenrick
It is great to see the Justice Secretary back in the country after her holiday in Texas. If she can find time to travel to America, why can she not find time to travel to the two category A prisons—[Interruption.] I will be pleased to hear from the right hon. Lady if that is the case. That was not the answer to our wri…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Please, I need to be able to hear the shadow Lord Chancellor, and when Government Front Benchers shout for so long, I cannot hear. I will decide whether a statement is in order or not—are we understanding each other?
RJ
Robert Jenrick
I do not pretend that cutting the court backlog is easy, or that it will be quick, but the Justice Secretary owes the country a plan and a timetable for when that backlog is actually going to fall. This morning, she was repeatedly asked that question, but refused to give an answer. Can she tell the country now when the…
Defence and Security25 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the statement from my right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister. In places such as Telford—which has a proud defence sector—companies, communities and supply chains need certainty. British taxpayers will be demanding that their money is used to enable British-based companies to support our British troops around the world. Can my right… hon. and learned Friend assure me that each and every pound will be diverted to British industry or British-based industries, enabling them to support our interests around the world?
Hansard · 25 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before the Prime Minister’s statement, let me point out that the Government’s own ministerial code says that the text of statements should be provided in advance to the Opposition and the Speaker. It does not provide for the text to be redacted. I am particularly concerned by reports that some of the redacted informati…
KS
Keir Starmer
Let me begin by giving my word to this House that the statement was not given to the media. I will absolutely have an inquiry into that. I spoke to you, Mr Speaker, this morning. I would not be discourteous to you, the Leader of the Opposition or the House in that way. I give you that assurance from this Dispatch Box. …
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Leader of the Opposition.
KB
Kemi Badenoch
I thank the Prime Minister for the partial copy of his statement. Now that I have heard the unredacted bits, I must welcome his response and his fulsome support for Ukraine. This weekend marked a grim milestone: it is now three years since Putin’s invasion. The Conservative party stands resolutely with the people of Uk…
KS
Keir Starmer
May I first thank the Leader of the Opposition for her support in relation to today’s announcement and on Ukraine? That is important to the Government, to the House and, most of all, to the Ukrainians and President Zelensky. They want to see unity in our House—they value unity in our House—as they enter, after three ye…
Defence Spending10 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
This Labour Government have given our armed services their biggest pay rise in almost 20 years. I have spoken to service personnel in my constituency, and those who are part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme. They talk about pay, but they also talk about service conditions and support for their families being key drivers… of retention. What are the Government doing on those matters?
Hansard · 10 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
JL
John Lamont
In which financial year he plans to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.
AB
Aphra Brandreth
In which financial year he plans to spend 2.5% of GDP on defence.
JH
John Healey
The Government were elected on a firm commitment to set a path to increasing defence spending to 2.5% of GDP. The Prime Minister has said that we will do so in the spring.
JL
John Lamont
So that my constituents can better understand the Government’s priorities, which does the Minister think that we will achieve first: a deal to lease Diego Garcia for billions of pounds, or spending 2.5% of GDP on defence?
JH
John Healey
Everyone agrees that we must increase defence spending to meet the increasing threats. This Government are delivering for defence by increasing defence spending, and we have already increased defence spending by almost £3 billion next year.
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill10 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
It is an honour to follow the Father of the House. Alongside a deterrent—perhaps—the first, foundational point of any system must be control at the border, and over the past 14 years we have certainly not had that. My constituents tell me that they want change, and want fairness to be at the heart of… the border and asylum system. There has been chaos—chaos that saw last year alone at least 77 souls lose their lives by drowning while crossing the channel, about a third of them children; chaos that saw £700 million wasted on a scheme that did nothing to stop those crossings, but paid for a grand total of four migrants to move voluntarily to Rwanda; chaos that saw tens of thousands of people come to the UK and then spend years in hotels, including a manor house in my town, in military bases while our serving personnel waited for homes, and on barges, because the Government of the day refused to process their claims. The Bill marks a sea change, away from chaos and towards a security that will allow us to tackle the human trafficking gangs with counter-terrorism-style laws and tactics—to go after them, lock them up, and take possession of the proceeds of their crime. That security will allow us to welcome the most talented, the best and brightest, to make this country a better place, contributing to our public services, our cultural sector and our world-leading technology, research and innovation sectors, together with the people who help our country around the world, including Afghan interpreters. When things go wrong, however—when laws are broken, or time is up—my constituents expect the state to have the ability, the right and the mechanisms to remove people who have no right to remain here. The Bill takes the welcome first steps that will enable the state to remove such people, particularly those who come to the UK to commit crime. I urge the Government to go further, and allow British judges to impose stand-alone deportation orders in cases where the public interes
Hansard · 10 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
The reasoned amendment in the name of the Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch) , has been selected.
YC
Yvette Cooper
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The purpose of the Bill is to strengthen UK border security, which has been weakened and undermined in recent years; to restore order to the immigration and asylum systems, which were left in chaos; and to bring in new counter-terror-style powers for our law enfor…
GR
Gavin Robinson
The Home Secretary may recall that, when she was on the Opposition Benches, I cautioned the then Conservative Government that the actions they were going to take to have a uniform immigration policy throughout the United Kingdom were unsustainable. More particularly, I warned during proceedings on the Illegal Migration…
YC
Yvette Cooper
The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point. I can assure him that our approach is for both immigration and asylum to apply right across the UK, recognising the importance of border security as part of that UK-wide approach. Most people across the UK want strong border security and a properly controlled and manag…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I will give way to the hon. Member, but I inform Members that although I will take many interventions, I must make progress first.
English Devolution and Local Government5 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
Getting power out of Whitehall and into the hands of local people will be a game-changer for many communities who feel very distant from this place, but can we ensure that Whitehall, its vested interests and petty rules do not get in the way of more devolution in the west midlands? Does my right hon.… Friend agree that it is sign of how the Conservative party has changed that it now fundamentally disagrees with Lord Heseltine’s view of local government set out some time ago?
Hansard · 5 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
AR
Angela Rayner
With permission, I would like to update the House on devolution in England and local government reorganisation. The No. 1 mission of this Government is to unlock growth in our regions and put money back in the pockets of working people. Every one of our proud towns and cities has a vital contribution to make to growth,…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
KH
Kevin Hollinrake
I thank the Secretary of State for her statement, and for giving me advance sight of it. Although we support the principle of devolving power to local areas, we are totally against the Secretary of State’s plans to abolish every county council and district council in England, and we are against the unprecedented mass p…
AR
Angela Rayner
I have been very clear that Labour is embarking on a once-in-a-generation project to unlock growth in our regions, and to shift power out of Westminster and into local communities. From the shadow Secretary of State’s response, I cannot quite figure out whether the Conservatives agree or disagree with it. First, this p…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
Local Government Finance5 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I declare my interest as a serving unpaid councillor at Telford and Wrekin council and an honorary vice-president of the Local Government Association. I welcome the Government’s local government finance statement, and particularly the real-terms funding increase of 4.3% for local authorities across England. I am particularly pleased to see the £16.5 million of extra… funding for Telford and Wrekin council—a 9% uplift. What a contrast that is with the last 14 years of Conservative Government, during which authorities were, in the words of the Institute for Government, “hollowed out” by austerity, with core funding per resident falling by 18% in that time. We have all felt the impact in our communities. A third of English libraries closed during the 2010s, the number of miles covered by bus routes has fallen by 14%, and the proportion of councils’ budgets coming from council tax has risen from 36% in 2010 to 53% today, hitting working people hard in the pocket. I say to the hon. Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake) that it is a bit rich for him to talk about council tax rises, given that council tax doubled over the last 10 years under the Conservative Government. This settlement is a vital first step—I emphasise the word “first”—in the right direction. However, as we have been saying as a sector, and as I had been saying as the chair of the Local Government Association, local authorities need more funding, but they also need reform and a focus on prevention, because local government is the best preventive service that this country has. When it comes to housing vulnerable children and adults, local authorities and local government provide that housing. When it comes to social care and looking after elderly or disabled people, it is predominantly councils, not the NHS, that support those residents. Councils are essential frontline services that intervene to protect our most vulnerable, but they also keep our villages, towns and cities as places where people w
Hansard · 5 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
We now come to the motions relating to local government finance, which will be debated together.
JM
Jim McMahon
I beg to move, That the Local Government Finance Report (England) 2025–26 (HC 623), which was laid before this House on 3 February , be approved.
CN
Caroline Nokes
With this it will be convenient to discuss the following motion on council tax increases: That the Referendums Relating to Council Tax Increases (Principles) (England) Report 2025–26 (HC 624), which was laid before this House on 3 February , be approved.
JM
Jim McMahon
The Deputy Prime Minister and I, like many others in this House, have local government in our blood—we are proud public servants. We know what a difference the sector makes every day to millions of people across this country, and how much stronger local government, working in genuine partnership with central Government…
JH
John Hayes
I am extremely grateful to the Minister for giving way, and I appreciate much of what he has already said on the difficulties and challenges local government faces, and the Government’s recognition of that. Part of the consultation feedback he will have had is on the local authorities that have to fund drainage, such a…
SD
Shaun Davies
I agree with my hon. Friend, the Chair of the Select Committee, that it is not sustainable. It is also bad for children, families, councils and communities. If children are in temporary accommodation, they genuinely do not know what school they will go to next term. That is bad for children, who are the next generation…
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank my hon. Friend and recognise the contribution that she has made for that section of our society. I agree that far more needs to happen, and I know that the Minister is as ambitious as the rest of us to ensure that those 14 years of austerity are addressed. Giving councils the funding that they need is a welcome…
National Cancer Plan4 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
People talk about the politics of hope and, goodness me, this statement can give the country some hope that cancer survival rates will be driven up. However, the Shrewsbury and Telford hospital NHS trust has remained challenged over the last 14 years. Will my hon. Friend the Minister confirm that the areas that are most… challenged will be given support to catch up and push on?
Hansard · 4 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
AG
Andrew Gwynne
With permission, I wish to make a statement on the national cancer plan. Today is World Cancer Day. Almost everyone in our country has been affected by cancer, either themselves or through a friend or relative. Having lost both my parents to cancer, I am so grateful to the Prime Minister for giving me this job. He has …
DJ
Dr Caroline Johnson
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement, and I thank all the NHS workers, charities, scientists and others working to help those with cancer. We can all agree that tackling cancer should be a top priority for the NHS. From diagnosing people quickly to starting treatment quickly and using the latest tech…
AG
Andrew Gwynne
I start by genuinely thanking the shadow Minister for the co-operation she has pledged as we seek to improve the outcomes for people with cancer. This is not a party political issue. We all want people to be diagnosed more quickly and to be put on the effective treatment pathways as quickly as possible, and we all want…
SM
Siobhain McDonagh
I am delighted to announce to the House that we will be opening a drug trial for glioblastoma brain tumours in May, in memory of my late sister, Margaret. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] But for how long will progress on this depend on people baking cakes, running marathons and organising dinners? When will the NHS and t…
AG
Andrew Gwynne
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for her question. Those of us who knew Margaret miss her very much; she was such a towering figure in the Labour party for so many years, and we on the Labour Benches have a lot to thank her—and, indeed, my hon. Friend—for. My hon. Friend is absolutely right on research. This is one…
School Accountability and Intervention3 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome my hon. Friend’s statement. In Telford there are five stuck schools. The rise in investment from £6,000 to potentially £100,000 per stuck school means that up to £470,000 of extra investment is coming the way of Telford schools. From speaking to my wife, who is a primary school teacher in Telford, I know… that it is about not just money, but peer support and tapping into excellence and expertise. Can my hon. Friend assure me that the money, which is game changing, will also be accompanied by that extra support?
Hansard · 3 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
CM
Catherine McKinnell
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on this Government’s plans to reform school accountability. Before I begin, I want to say that I am devastated to hear that a boy has died after a stabbing at a school in Sheffield. My heart goes out to his family, friends and the entire school community at this very…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LT
Laura Trott
I am grateful to the Schools Minister for advance sight of her statement, and I echo her words: our thoughts and prayers are with the parents of the 15-year-old boy whose life was so tragically cut short, and with the teachers and pupils at All Saints Catholic high school. We are promised today a better and faster appr…
CM
Catherine McKinnell
Perhaps the right hon. Lady would recognise the legacy that her Government left behind: schools crumbling, standards falling, a lose-lose-lose special educational needs and disabilities system, and a generation missing from England’s schools. It is no wonder that a shadow Minister admitted that they should hang their h…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill3 Feb 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
In places like Telford, it is a basic principle that people pay into the system and then take out of the system, or their neighbours do, when they are in need. The companies and individuals that are defrauding national benefits are often also defrauding local authority benefits and schemes. Will we extend these powers so… that local government is able to work with national Government to pursue this fraud?
Hansard · 3 Feb 2025 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
The reasoned amendment has not been selected.
LK
Liz Kendall
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. This Bill will help deliver the biggest ever crackdown on fraud against the public purse, which has now reached an astonishing £55 billion a year. That includes fraud against our public services, such as by those who abuse the tax system; fraud by dishonest compan…
RB
Richard Burgon
The Secretary of State is absolutely correct to say that we need to pursue criminal gangs that are engaged in widespread organised theft. I put a written question to the Department for Work and Pensions to ask about the amount lost through personal independence payment fraud, and I was told that only 0.2% of such claim…
LK
Liz Kendall
People who are genuinely entitled to claim benefits have nothing to worry about from this Bill, but we believe that the £7.4 billion wasted every year through benefit fraud must be cracked down on. To the corrupt companies with their dodgy covid contracts, to the organised criminal gangs and to every single individual …
JS
Jim Shannon
No one denies that there are those who are blatantly cheating the system, as I referred to in my oral question to the Secretary of State earlier today. On her point about fair play, however, can she give an assurance to me and to the House? I am concerned that if officials in the Department seek out low-hanging fruit, …
Southport Attack21 Jan 2025
SD
Shaun Davies
I associate myself and my community with the statement from the Home Secretary on this tragic incident. Whether it is the purchasing of knives online or the sharing of horrible videos celebrating violence and death, there is clearly a gap in the ability of the state to hold social media companies and online retailers to… account. What more can the Government do, together with the intelligence services, to take robust action and hold to account social media companies that are allowing extremism, violence and horror to be present on their sites?
Hansard · 21 Jan 2025 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to the Home Secretary’s statement, I want to say that I appreciate that it has been most frustrating for the House that we have not been able to discuss the issues relating to this case because of ongoing prosecutions. Although the case is still technically sub judice until sentencing on Thursday, given …
YC
Yvette Cooper
With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a statement on the Southport murders. None of us will ever forget the events of 29 July . The school holidays had just started, and little girls were at a dance class to have fun, dance and sing. A moment of joy turned into the darkest of nightmares. We think especially of three…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. Let us start and I will try to call everybody who was here on time. I call the shadow Home Secretary.
CP
Chris Philp
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement and for the briefing she kindly arranged. First, let us remember the three young, innocent victims of this savage and senseless attack: Bebe King was just six years old, Elsie Dot Stancombe was seven and Alice da Silva Aguiar was nine years old. Their lives …
YC
Yvette Cooper
The shadow Home Secretary raised a series of points, which is obviously a substantial shift in position for him and his party from the one they took in government. He asked about the status of the inquiry. I can confirm that it will start quickly on a non-statutory basis, in the same way that the Angiolini inquiry did.…
Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement18 Dec 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as a councillor in Telford and Wrekin, as well as an honorary vice-president of the Local Government Association. The Government’s first step to restore funding for local government after a very difficult 14 years is welcome, but council areas such as mine… have fast-growing populations, provide outstanding services and provide leadership to the sector. On all three of those counts, until this point, that has not been reflected in the settlement that Telford and Wrekin council has received. Will this Government change that? I also gently remind the House that when I was chair of the Local Government Association over the past couple of years, there was not a single Conservative councillor who thought the settlement or the last Government’s approach to it was fair or proportionate.
Hansard · 18 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
JM
Jim McMahon
The Government were elected on a mandate of change, to deliver a new era of economic growth and national renewal, and reverse the years of failure and decline that we inherited. Through the tough decisions that we took in the Budget, we prevented a return to austerity while protecting working people’s payslips. The pla…
DS
David Simmonds
It is Christmas. The two wise men and the wise woman on the Government Front Bench have arrived bearing their gifts for local councils, but on closer inspection, while the goal is beautifully packaged, the box is somewhat emptier than people had been expecting. It has been a challenging few weeks for local government. …
JM
Jim McMahon
Here we go again. I would think that after 14 years of councils being on year-to-year watch to find out what position they would be in, the Conservatives would at least welcome the preparation now for multiyear settlements. They had 14 years to get their house in order, and they could not even line up to give councils …
JM
Jim McMahon
Let us talk about Birmingham, because the Opposition referenced the £3 million new homes bonus. The new recovery grant—£600 million of brand new money targeted at those councils with high deprivation and low tax bases—just for Birmingham is £39 million. That will start the repair work of rebuilding the foundations. Whe…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
Court Cases: Backlog10 Dec 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In the last five years, the number of magistrates covering Telford and wider Shropshire fell from 91 to 76. In 2022, 50% of the court sessions went unused. At the Crown court, victims are waiting an average of 18 months, with some sexual offences taking up to three years to be dealt with. Telford voted… for change. Will the Minister ensure that victims of crime get justice and that criminals are punished?
Hansard · 10 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
RS
Rebecca Smith
What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the backlog of court cases on victims of crime.
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
Bearing down on the outstanding caseload in the Crown court and bringing down waiting times is a priority for the Government. We want to ensure that every victim has the swift access to justice that they deserve. We know rape victims are waiting a disproportionately long time for their trials, and that is why we have c…
RS
Rebecca Smith
Recently, Truro Crown court, which serves my constituency of South West Devon, has been forced to shut one day a week due to recent budget cuts and the judicial sitting day reductions. Some cases have already been postponed until late 2025, including lengthy cases that involve victims of violence, and it is prompting t…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
As the hon. Lady knows, rape is an abhorrent crime and cases are usually complex. That means despite judges prioritising cases involving vulnerable complainants and witnesses, rape victims can wait disproportionately longer than victims of other cases for their trial to come to court. I remind her that the Government h…
AD
Alex Davies-Jones
Absolutely. The Minister with responsibility for courts, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman) , has already outlined the steps that the Government are taking to increase sentencing in our courts. We will of course consider what other action we can take. We know that the b…
Topical Questions10 Dec 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
What are the Government doing to ensure that offenders are managed effectively in the community, and how will the Secretary of State use offender monitoring technology to improve the efficiency of the Probation Service in keeping the public safe? I particularly welcome the steps taken with technology on exclusion zones and monitoring alcohol and drugs… in the human body.
Hansard · 10 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
AB
Antonia Bance
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
Last week, the National Audit Office released a damning report on the previous Government’s record on prison building, showing that their promise of 20,000 prison places by the mid-2020s was hollow. Unwilling to face down opposition on their own Back Benches, the last Government dithered and delayed, ultimately buildin…
AB
Antonia Bance
I thank the Justice Secretary for that answer. In common with many Members of the House, I have heard horrific stories of perpetrators breaching orders to which they are subject, giving them further opportunity to terrorise, injure, or in some cases kill women protected by those orders—may Harshita Brella and so many o…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
My hon. Friend will know that this Government have launched a pilot of domestic abuse protection orders in a number of areas, which will bring together the strongest possible protections for victims in other existing protective orders into a single order. Breaching such orders will be a criminal offence punishable by u…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Storm Darragh10 Dec 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In Ironbridge gorge, a world heritage site in my constituency, the river fills up with water from Wales in the days after these storms. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that the Government pay attention to secondary areas such as mine, and will Government Departments ensure that the economic hammer blow that flooding causes in… communities such as mine is considered in any future grant applications by the local authority?
Hansard · 10 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
BL
Ben Lake
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government’s response to Storm Darragh.
AO
Abena Oppong-Asare
I would like to say how sorry the Government were to hear that two people lost their lives during Storm Darragh. I extend my sympathy to their family and friends. Late last week, the Met Office issued a red weather warning for wind covering England and Wales, with wider parts of the UK covered by amber and yellow warni…
BL
Ben Lake
Thank you for granting the urgent question, Mr Speaker. I thank the Minister for her reply and join her in expressing my condolences to the families of those two individuals who have tragically lost their lives. The storm left hundreds of thousands of homes without power and disrupted critical infrastructure. We are al…
AO
Abena Oppong-Asare
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question and for his efforts over the weekend to provide advice and support to constituents. As he mentioned, many households across north and mid-Wales have been particularly affected by the damage and disruption caused by Storm Darragh. Again, I extend my sympathy to all those who h…
TP
Toby Perkins
I echo the sentiments of my hon. Friend and the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) about the people who lost their lives and all those who have been affected by flooding. Those of us in communities that have been flooded know how desperate the impact is, not just in the immediate aftermath but for months aft…
Farming and Inheritance Tax4 Dec 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
The right hon. Lady talked about choices and backing farmers. The current Leader of the Opposition did a trade deal with Australia and New Zealand that sold farmers down the river. Is that her version of backing British farmers?
Hansard · 4 Dec 2024 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I inform the House that I have selected amendment (a) in the name of the Prime Minister.
VA
Victoria Atkins
I beg to move, That this House regrets that the Government has undone its promises to farmers, and is seeking to punish them with Inheritance Tax bills of hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of pounds by cutting Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief; further regrets that the Government has prov…
JS
Jim Shannon
Will the shadow Minister give way?
VA
Victoria Atkins
In a moment. Since the Budget, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers has analysed the family farm tax and applied tax law and the realities of modern-day farming to it. Its analysis has revealed that up to 75,000 individual owners of farming businesses could be affected over the coming generation, even before…
AH
Alison Hume
Will the right hon. Member give way?
SD
Shaun Davies
Some of the correspondence I have received on this issue talks about the fact that the measures inflate land value. Does my hon. Friend agree with that assessment, and what will the changes do to help farmers across the country in that respect?
Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour27 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In a recent survey of residents of Telford, it was overwhelmingly clear that they had had enough of the inaction of the past 14 years. I welcome the respect orders coming into the police officer toolkit. Can the Minister confirm that they will give the authorities the power to seize and crush off-road bikes, to… seize booze off drunken yobs and to deal with those who consume drugs in our town centres? We also need a return to neighbourhood policing, so that we have coppers back on the streets, patrolling their communities.
Hansard · 27 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the Government’s action to tackle antisocial behaviour. From residential neighbourhoods to busy high streets, from rolling countryside to city centres and from idyllic villages to bustling towns, the places of Britain should be a source of local pride. A…
MV
Matt Vickers
I thank the Minister for her statement and for advance sight of it. It is not right that anyone should live in fear of intimidation in the place that they call home. Antisocial behaviour has real consequences—it can ruin communities and prevent people from making the most of their local area. Antisocial behaviour can m…
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I am grateful to the shadow Minister for acknowledging in his opening comments the effect that antisocial behaviour can have on communities and on individuals. But during the rest of his response, he seemed to have lapsed back into that condition that affects a number of right hon. and hon. Members on the Opposition Be…
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I am going to answer the questions, if the hon. Lady will give me an opportunity to do so. [Interruption.] I think a little courtesy in the House is helpful. We are talking about antisocial behaviour, and a number of my comments were about respect, which is very important in this House.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. Can we have less noise and heckling from the Back Benches?
Topical Questions26 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
We can all agree that ending human trafficking across the English channel requires an approach that is co-ordinated with that of all the countries from which people are being trafficked. Can the Foreign Secretary assure the House that the French Government share our commitment to smashing the gangs and ending these crossings?
Hansard · 26 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
RH
Richard Holden
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
DL
David Lammy
In the past month, growth was at the heart of my visit to Africa. We agreed work on a new global plan in South Africa and a new strategic partnership with Nigeria. During our UN Security Council presidency we have shown support for Ukraine 1,000 days into the war and pressed for a lasting peace in the middle east, and …
RH
Richard Holden
Since coming into office, the Government have suspended arms export licences to Israel; rolled over on the International Criminal Court, with nothing new against Hamas terrorists; and poured cash into the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, despite concerns over a significant number of its staff double-hatting with…
DL
David Lammy
The art of diplomacy is speaking to foreign leaders and foreign nations as best we can in the UK’s national interest. That does sometimes involve foreign languages, which is why, for example, we support the BBC World Service. It was a slightly bizarre question.
DL
David Lammy
My hon. Friend will be pleased to hear that I met the French Foreign Minister in London just last week, when we discussed these issues and agreed to co-ordinate better, and that the Home Secretary is working closely with the new French Interior Minister.
“Get Britain Working” White Paper26 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Those who can work should work, but so should the support services. I welcome the Secretary of State’s statement on transforming that public service, which embraces many of the principles of the work done by the Local Government Association on “Work Local”. In Telford and Wrekin, where I was council leader, we were driving down… youth unemployment under the previous Government, but we were expected to pay a charge to the DWP to share data. Will the Secretary of State assure me that that will not happen under these plans to work local?
Hansard · 26 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
LK
Liz Kendall
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I shall make a statement on our “Get Britain Working” White Paper, bringing forward the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation, turning a Department for welfare into a Department for work, and taking the first steps towards delivering our bold ambition of an 80% emp…
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
HW
Helen Whately
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. The Conservatives are the party of work and aspiration—[Interruption.] In the decade after we took over from Labour, we drove down unemployment—[Interruption.]
HW
Helen Whately
In the decade after we took over from Labour, we drove down unemployment and economic inactivity year after year, including youth unemployment, which went down by 400,000 after the mess we inherited from the last Labour Government. During the pandemic, we took unprecedented action to protect jobs and livelihoods, but s…
LK
Liz Kendall
May I say gently to the hon. Lady, who I personally like and have a great deal of time for, that the only people who dodge difficult decisions on welfare are the Conservatives? The facts speak for themselves. By the end of this Parliament, the Office for Budget Responsibility says that 420,000 more people will be on he…
Storm Bert25 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In places like Ironbridge Gorge in my constituency, it is days later when the water comes down the river and has an impact on businesses and residences. Each and every time the temporary flood barriers are erected, a hammer blow is dealt to the economy in this world heritage site. Will the Secretary of State… instruct the Environment Agency to come up with a plan and resource for frequently flooded areas, given that year on year the flooding becomes worse in places like Ironbridge Gorge? I invite him to visit the gorge to see it for himself.
Hansard · 25 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
SR
Steve Reed
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to update the House on Storm Bert. The storm brought heavy rain, high winds and snow across the UK over the weekend. The flooding Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Kingston upon Hull West and H…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
VA
Victoria Atkins
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of his statement. Storm Bert has had, and continues to have, terrible impacts across the United Kingdom. Our thoughts are with the loved ones of those who have lost their lives in recent days as well as the people whose homes and businesses have been devastated and all t…
SR
Steve Reed
I thank the right hon. Lady for her comments, and I echo her good wishes to people who have been affected by the situation. She refers to funding. I politely remind her that she was a Treasury Minister in the previous Government, who underfunded our flood defences and left more than 3,000 of them—the highest level on r…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.
Project Gigabit20 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
What progress his Department has made on the roll-out of Project Gigabit.
Hansard · 20 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
CB
Chris Bryant
More than 30 Project Gigabit contracts are currently in place, with a total value of almost £2 billion, and more are in the pipeline. In the past few months, the first premises have been connected as part of Project Gigabit contracts in areas including Norfolk, West Yorkshire and south Wiltshire, and the build has now …
CB
Chris Bryant
The world heritage aspects relate to my Department for Culture, Media and Sport responsibilities, but my hon. Friend is right about Ironbridge. I hope that we will be able to announce something shortly in relation to extending gigabit coverage in his constituency through a procurement via Openreach.
GL
Graham Leadbitter
The Minister will be aware that there is a strong link between communications technology and the roll-out of smart meter technology in areas in the north of Scotland that are suffering from cold weather. Particularly at the moment, connectivity is really important for such alternative technologies to work. What discuss…
CB
Chris Bryant
The hon. Gentleman is right: there is a series of issues about the security and safety of connectivity in areas that suffer from particular weather conditions. We had a successful summit on Monday morning to discuss the closing down of the public services network to ensure that everybody will be secure, but I assure hi…
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the progress that the Government are making on the roll-out of Project Gigabit to all corners of the country, but in Telford the inequality remains stark, with some wards having complete gigabit coverage and areas such as the world heritage site in Ironbridge having almost none. Will the Government confirm th…
Police Reform20 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
On Friday, I spent some time on patrol with Telford police, and Sergeant Alex Webb told me about her frustration at not being able to get repeat antisocial behaviour offenders out of our town centres and high streets. When will the Government give the police the tools that they need to deal with these issues… and get the yobs out of our high streets and town centres?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
LS
Lisa Smart
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make a statement on police reform.
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I will respond on behalf of the Secretary of State, and I thank the hon. Lady for securing this important question on what is an important subject. At its best, policing in England and Wales is truly world class. Every day, officers perform their duties with courage, skill and dedication, and we are all grateful to all…
LS
Lisa Smart
I am grateful to you, Mr Speaker, for granting this urgent question. Yesterday the Home Secretary announced significant reforms to policing through a written statement. A comprehensive restructuring of policing in England and Wales that will affect thousands of personnel, create a new performance unit and establish a n…
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I very much welcome the hon. Lady’s interest in this area. The written ministerial statement laid before Parliament yesterday set out the direction of travel for this Government on police reform. As I said in my response to the urgent question, a White Paper will be published in the spring. There will be full consultat…
DJ
Diana R. Johnson
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his question. This is Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, which aims to focus on the effect that antisocial behaviour can have on individuals and communities. He is absolutely right to say that we need to tackle antisocial behaviour. That is why the neighbourhood policing guarantee,…
Asylum Seekers: Hotel Accommodation20 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank the right hon. Member for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson) for securing this question. Under the previous Government, when the current shadow Home Secretary was in the Home Office, two hotels in my constituency were opened. There was no notification to the local authority and no consultation. This is another… example of the Conservative party crying over the mess that they made and the attempt that this Government are making to clear it up. Does the Minister agree that we will smash the criminal gangs and stop those channel crossings, and that the carping from Conservative Members demonstrates that they have learned nothing since their election defeat?
Hansard · 20 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
GW
Gavin Williamson
(Urgent Question): To ask the Home Secretary if she will make a statement on the Government’s decision to recommence the use of hotels as accommodation for asylum seekers.
AE
Angela Eagle
This Government inherited an asylum system under unprecedented strain, with many thousands stuck in a backlog without their asylum claims processed. The Home Secretary has taken immediate action to restart asylum processing and scrap the unworkable Rwanda policy, which will save an estimated £4 billion for the taxpayer…
GW
Gavin Williamson
May I record my appreciation for securing this urgent question, Madam Deputy Speaker? My constituents have had the devastating news that the Roman Way hotel is to be stood up to house asylum seekers. This was after it had been closed last year. Such a move has a significant impact not just on my constituents, but in Ca…
AE
Angela Eagle
As a senior member of the last few Administrations, the right hon. Gentleman will know that we inherited an asylum system that had been ground to a standstill by the previous Government’s pursuit of the Rwanda policy, which was doomed to failure. They spent £700 million over two years to send four volunteers to Rwanda.…
AE
Angela Eagle
I strongly agree with my hon. Friend: we inherited a system that was at a standstill. There was a backlog of 90,000 cases involving 116,000 people, and the law would not allow them to be processed. We have restarted processing. We are gearing up the asylum system, so that we can get throughput in the system, and ultima…
Topical Questions18 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
We were delighted to host the Veterans Minister in Telford recently. In a survey of the veterans community in Telford, access to healthcare was the top priority. What work is the Department doing with health Ministers to improve access for veterans to healthcare, in particular mental health care?
Hansard · 18 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
LM
Luke Myer
If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.
JH
John Healey
This Government are delivering for defence. Last month, the UK and Germany signed the landmark Trinity House agreement, marking a new era of co-operation between our armed forces and our defence industries. With threats increasing, we must strengthen European security. Tomorrow marks the bloody milestone of 1,000 days …
LM
Luke Myer
I welcome that announcement by the Secretary of State. It should shame every politician in this House that today veterans who have served our country are still sleeping rough on our streets. Can the Secretary of State set out the steps he will take to ensure that homes will be there for heroes?
JH
John Healey
Our first step was to ensure that veterans who face homelessness have a more advantaged place in social housing provision—that was announced by the Prime Minister in his Labour party conference speech and will be followed up by the Deputy Prime Minister in changes to the arrangements for local authority guidance. On th…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Children’s Social Care18 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the reforming zeal of the Secretary of State in this area; her work has been outstanding. As somebody who led a council with a double outstanding accreditation for the past eight years—all praise goes to council staff for that—may I ask that we learn from the best within the sector and ensure that… local government can also trigger a review where it sees profiteering? In one case in Telford, a bill for one placement of £409,000 was taken almost overnight. May I also give a word of caution and be assured that this grant will not be like the public health grant, which was consolidated into the local government fund and cut and eroded over a number of years?
Hansard · 18 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
BP
Bridget Phillipson
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s plans for children’s social care. I know all Members here today will agree that caring for vulnerable children is among the most vital responsibilities of any Government. This Government treat no issue with more importance than the urg…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
LT
Laura Trott
I thank the Secretary of State for advance sight of her statement. I welcome the Government’s focus today on children’s social care, and on the profiteering issues that we identified and set up the market intervention advisory group to look at when we were in government. However, at the heart of the problem is a lack o…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
I can say to the right hon. Lady that we will absolutely do more. We are doing more in four months than the Conservatives did in 14 years. They had 14 years, yet she has the temerity to stand there and carp about the changes that we are bringing in for some of the most vulnerable children in our country. Markets were l…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the Chair of the Education Committee.
Decarbonisation: Public Sector Bodies12 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
What steps he is taking to support public sector bodies to decarbonise.
Hansard · 12 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
As the first step towards the warm homes plan, we have committed an initial £3.4 billion. That includes £1 billion towards public sector decarbonisation, because we know that we have to ensure that our schools and hospitals reduce their energy bills.
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
I completely agree; decarbonising our public sector will not only reduce emissions but lower bills. We estimate that the £1 billion that we have allocated to public sector decarbonisation will reduce bills by about £40 million per year. That is a big step forward, but there is more work to do.
JS
Jim Shannon
It is clear that there is a role for all schools across this great United Kingdom to play in public sector decarbonisation. They also have a role in educating the children in their classrooms, who we want to be the pioneers of tomorrow. What has been done to ensure that the good things that happen on the mainland of th…
MF
Miatta Fahnbulleh
We will work on that with the devolved Administrations across the United Kingdom. Good practice is happening across local government and regional government. We will ensure that everyone can learn from it, and we will deliver the biggest upgrade in a generation.
SD
Shaun Davies
Decarbonising the public sector is good for our net zero target, but it also releases money for more teachers, nurses and street cleaners, so that savings benefit our communities rather than energy giants. Schools across Telford are crying out for that investment. Will the Minister do all she can to decarbonise the pub…
Clause 1 - Exclusion of remaining hereditary peers12 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
The right hon. Gentleman is being generous with taking interventions. I will boil it right down: this Government were elected on a mandate to remove the hereditary peers from the House of Lords, not to set up a wholly elected House and the concerns he is talking about right now. Does he support the Government’s… mandate and legitimacy to remove those hereditary peers?
Hansard · 12 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
With this it will be convenient to consider the following: Amendment 26, in clause 2, page 1, line 8, at end insert— “(3) Jurisdiction in relation to claims to hereditary peerages is to be exercised by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.” This amendment provides explicitly that the jurisdiction in relation to …
ER
Ellie Reeves
Thank you, Madam Chair. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, as I open this Committee of the whole House. As I noted a number of times on Second Reading, this is a short and focused Bill. It delivers on the Government’s manifesto commitment to bring about an immediate reform by removing the rights of the rem…
JL
Julian Lewis
The Government would find considerable sympathy for their position if they were to make provision for those hereditary peers currently in the House of Lords who have done good work and who have acquired a lot of experience by possibly introducing a phase-out or a generous allocation of life peerages to those who are co…
ER
Ellie Reeves
I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. There would of course be no bar on the Leader of the Opposition nominating any of those who have served as hereditary peers for life peerages in the normal way.
JL
Julian Lewis
That sounds reasonable, except for the fact that, unless there were a phasing of the process, it would not be possible within the numbers available to the Leader of the Opposition to nominate more than a small fraction. Can the Minister offer any more flexibility on that?
Small Boat Crossings6 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
May I welcome the Government’s approach on this issue, and the 23% increase in enforced removals since last summer? I agree with the Minister that the way to deal with this issue is to smash the criminal gangs. I urge her to consider what attention she gives to the shadow Home Secretary who, when he… was a Home Office Minister, imposed hotels on my constituency, and was the Chief Secretary to the Treasury for Liz Truss during the mini-Budget.
Hansard · 6 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
CP
Chris Philp
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department to make a statement on the recent increase in dangerous, illegal and unnecessary channel crossings by small boat?
AE
Angela Eagle
For too long, smuggling gangs have been undermining our border security and putting lives at risk, which is why the new Government have made it a top priority to address the crisis we inherited. Let us be clear about what that crisis entailed: small boat crossings in the first half of the year at their highest point on…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Leader of the House, Chris Philp.
CP
Chris Philp
Shadow Home Secretary; thank you, Mr Speaker. I am afraid the Government’s actions belie the reality. Since they came to office, 17,520 people have crossed the English channel, more than twice the number they have removed. That is one and a half times the number in the previous four months and 15% more than the same pe…
AE
Angela Eagle
I welcome the right hon. Gentleman —the shadow Home Secretary—to his new Front-Bench position. What a pleasure it is to be opposite him; I am going to look forward to jousting with him over the years. On the Rwanda scheme, during the period from when it began to when we scrapped it, 83,500 people crossed in small boats…
Income Tax (Charge)6 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
This first Budget is about cleaning up the mess of the last 14 years—five Prime Ministers and seven Chancellors—and repairing Britain’s foundations. It is about investing in Britain and backing it to succeed, and ensuring that when we need public services, they are there for us. It is an important first step. But my goodness,… the Conservative party have made an incredible mess. During the general election campaign, my team and I spoke to thousands of people across Telford. Every conversation was about decay—our crumbling NHS, the struggles of our education system and the breaking of our council services, the fact that we do not see enough police officers on our streets, high streets in need of support, a SEND system that is letting children down, roads and transport systems that do not work for working people—I could go on. There was a real sense that the Government had given up on governing and made many people believe that there was no hope, and that decline and doom, chaos and corruption was the norm. This first Budget is a watershed moment. It marks the return to a state that cares about making sure people can get the medical treatment they need when they need it, that they feel safe on our local streets and that they can afford housing. The contrast between the hope that this Budget offers and the bleak future I described under the Conservatives is striking. I am particularly pleased that this Budget has delivered a real-terms funding increase of more than 3% for local government next year. Before I came to this place, I was a council leader and the chair of the cross-party Local Government Association—I declare an interest on the basis that I am now the honorary vice-president of that organisation. Every councillor, regardless of political persuasion, will talk about the last 14 years, with councils of all political stripes going bankrupt almost every single year. The LGA has called this Budget “a step in the right direction”, but after 14 years of stumbling i
Hansard · 6 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
It is a pleasure to open this final day of the debate on the Chancellor’s growth Budget. Can I welcome the new shadow team? It is lovely to see them in place. I think many of us on this side would admit that we were shadow Ministers for longer than we ideally would have been, and I know that it is a tough and thankless…
KM
Kit Malthouse
The Secretary of State makes much of growth. Of course we all want growth, but the OBR report actually says that growth in real GDP will start to slow over the next three years and that in years four and five of the Parliament it will go negative. It is telling us that the Government’s Budget is actually going to resul…
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
That is not what it says. First, on the figures, we cannot make a like-for-like comparison because we know that the information provided by the previous Government in their financial information was erroneous. They did not square their own spending pledges with what was in those documents. The analysis by the OBR shows…
GS
Graham Stuart
The right hon. Gentleman will, I hope, be aware that the long-term economic growth of this country relies not primarily on public investment or indeed public infrastructure, but on a healthy private sector—the wealth creators from whom we can take the funding to deliver into those goods that he talks about and that are…
JR
Jonathan Reynolds
I am sorry but, again, the right hon. Gentleman is wrong. I agree with part of his assessment, such as that a strong and thriving private sector is crucial to growth, but I find his analysis a little simplistic. Private firms will say that they also need skilled workers, and that they need a decent transport system so …
Foreign National Offenders5 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Will my right hon. Friend consider a stand-alone deportation order as part of the sentencing review, so that rather than taxpayers having to pay to imprison foreign offenders for years on end, those offenders are deported back to their country of origin?
Hansard · 5 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
WM
Wendy Morton
What steps she is taking through the criminal justice system to facilitate the removal of foreign national offenders from the UK.
EL
Edward Leigh
How many foreign national offenders were removed from the UK through a prison transfer agreement in each year since 2010.
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I share the public’s view that there are far too many foreign national offenders in our prisons. Since coming into office, we have returned more than 1,500 foreign offenders and, I am pleased to say, we are on track to remove more foreign offenders this year than at any time in recent years.
WM
Wendy Morton
Some 12% of the prison population in England and Wales are foreign national offenders, so what specific action is the Justice Secretary taking to remove FNOs from our prisons and return them to their countries, including through the use of the prisoner transfer agreements that were put in place by the previous Governme…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
As I say, we are on track to remove more foreign offenders this year than in previous years. In fact, over the period when the shadow Justice Secretary was the Immigration Minister in the previous Government, the number returned was around 1,300. We have already returned more than 1,500 foreign offenders, utilising all…
Higher Education Reform4 Nov 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Universities are critical for students, of course, but also for economic growth, town and city regeneration, and much more. Reform and accountability are also important. Will the Secretary of State outline in a bit more detail the accountability to which she will hold these university vice-chancellors on teaching contact time, helping vulnerable students and ensuring… that universities play a huge part in the wider communities of the towns and cities in which they are anchor institutions?
Hansard · 4 Nov 2024 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before I call the Secretary of State for Education to make a statement, I note that reports about the possible increase in higher education tuition fees started appearing in the media earlier this afternoon.
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Mr Holden, you don’t help yourself, do you? The Secretary of State is here to make a statement, so hon. Members will have the opportunity to question her. If the premature media reporting is due to an unauthorised leak, that is a great discourtesy to this House. I hope the Secretary of State will be able to identify th…
BP
Bridget Phillipson
Mr Speaker, may I begin by expressing my deep regret that the content of the statement that I am about to make appeared in the media earlier this afternoon? It had always been my intention to come before this House to make the statement first, given its significance and importance. I appreciate that you, Members across…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Can we take it that there will be a full inquiry into how this has happened—that everybody will be brought in and questioned, and you will then update us on that full inquiry? That is what I really want.
BP
Bridget Phillipson
I can give you that undertaking, Mr Speaker, and I will speak to officials about the matter, as you request.
Police Accountability23 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I pay tribute to the majority of police officers, who go to work and do a decent job. Often, police officers themselves are as disgusted as the general public when misconduct takes place in police forces. Does my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary agree that there is a connection between the delays in police… investigations, the delays in the criminal justice system and the delays in misconduct hearings, and that these things have to be taken in the round? In my community, we had the case of Dalian Atkinson, who was killed by a police officer who is now serving time in prison after using a Taser. Will the review look at the use of Tasers as part of its work?
Hansard · 23 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Before I call the Home Secretary to make her statement, I inform the House that the inquest into the death of Chris Kaba has been opened and adjourned. The matter is therefore technically still before the courts. However, Mr Speaker has granted a waiver in relation to the House’s resolution on matters sub judice, so Me…
YC
Yvette Cooper
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will update the House on Monday’s verdict in the trial of Sergeant Martyn Blake, on the accountability review into police use of force, and on confidence in policing. Chris Kaba was killed in Streatham two years ago. His parents and family of course continue to experience deep g…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the shadow Home Secretary.
JC
James Cleverly
I thank the Home Secretary for advance sight of her statement, and for the recent Privy Council briefing that I received from her. I very much welcome what the Home Secretary has set out. I agree with almost all of it and disagree with almost none of it. As a society, we demand that our firearms officers put themselves…
YC
Yvette Cooper
I thank the shadow Home Secretary for his response. I hope that there will be widespread agreement on both sides of the House on the importance of these issues, which go to the heart of the British tradition of policing by consent. All of us want to know that there is proper accountability for decisions that police for…
Sentencing Review and Prison Capacity22 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
What a mess we have inherited! I thank the Lord Chancellor for the steps that she has taken today to sort it out. We know that offenders who are subject to home detention orders are 50% less likely to reoffend, but can we put them to work as well during unpaid work sessions? Can we… ensure that offenders who commit further offences while on licence are dealt with more robustly in the courts as they are recalled to prison?
Hansard · 22 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I would like to make a statement on how the Government will address the crisis in our prisons, not just today, but for years to come. The House has heard me recount my inheritance as Lord Chancellor before. The crisis in our prisons was, I believe, the greatest disgrace of the las…
EA
Edward Argar
As always, I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor for early sight of her statement, and for her coming to the House to deliver it, giving us the opportunity to ask questions. She is always unfailingly courteous in her dealings with this House. The Lord Chancellor made several announcements today. It is important that we …
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I thank the shadow Lord Chancellor for the courteous way in which he has approached this debate, and for his detailed questions. Let me start with his point in relation to the sentencing review. The voice of victims will be heard: there will be a representative with experience of working with victims to make sure that …
SM
Shabana Mahmood
I know that the shadow Lord Chancellor followed it closely. I am setting up a women’s justice board, which will report with a strategy in the spring. We need to do more with female offenders, especially given the impact that the incarceration of women and the breaking up of family homes has on their children, particula…
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
Taxi Licensing: Deregulation Act 201521 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the points he is making in his excellent speech. In 2022, the independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford published its report. It highlighted concern that: “So far as national policy is concerned…aspects of taxi licensing…undermine rather than promote best practice” in respect of tackling child sexual exploitation.… Does he agree that those concerns should be addressed by the Minister?
Hansard · 21 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
CV
Christopher Vince
I give my sincere thanks to the Minister for taking time to engage in this crucial debate. Taxi licensing is not merely a technical matter; it strikes at the heart of issues of fairness and safety, and affects the livelihoods of hard-working taxi drivers in my constituency, in Harlow and surrounding villages such as Lo…
CV
Christopher Vince
I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. I am sure that the Minister will address those concerns in his closing remarks. I have sought this debate to bring attention to the growing dangers fostered under the current system. The 2015 Act has opened a loophole, allowing private hire drivers to license their vehicle …
AH
Amanda Hack
Taxi licensing enforcement is funded by licence fees. However, with the ongoing race to the bottom for licence issuing standards, local authorities are unable to enforce externally issued licences. Any measure to allow local authorities to enforce would simply stretch enforcement budgets beyond sustainability. Does my …
JC
Judith Cummins
Order. I remind Members that interventions should be short.
CV
Christopher Vince
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that the principle should be that drivers should be licensed by the local authority for the area in which they are operating. Cross-border hiring is undermining high standards, and it strips councils like Harlow of the power to oversee and enforce proper regulations. A driver who …
Criminal Justice System: Capacity17 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In Shropshire, the justice system is broken. Under the watch of the last Conservative Government, the remand court in Shropshire magistrates court was closed and transferred to Kidderminster. I am delighted to say that, under this Government’s watch, that remand court is about to reopen. Some 300 court sessions are running empty each and every… year at Shropshire magistrates court. My local paper, the Shropshire Star, highlighted a criminal trial—it involved a retrial—that will take seven years from the original date of the offence to be disposed of, which is an absolute disgrace. Will the Lord Chancellor look at ways in which we can further empower district judges in the magistrates court, and at the use of technology in the justice system? Finally, it is important that the transparency around data is fixed. Unfortunately, the last Conservative Government did not release the data on time. We need to understand what is really going on now, and what has happened in the past.
Hansard · 17 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
SM
Shabana Mahmood
With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on capacity in the criminal justice system. When this Government came to power, we inherited prisons on the brink of disaster, moments from total collapse. Had that happened, the consequences would have been apocalyptic: courts would have been forced to can…
EA
Edward Argar
I am grateful to the Lord Chancellor and her civil servants for their typical courtesy in giving me early sight of her statement. I am also grateful to magistrates, to whom I pay tribute. In many ways, they are the backbone of our justice system, and like juries they root our justice system in our local communities. Th…
SM
Shabana Mahmood
It is almost as if the shadow Lord Chancellor was not, in fact, a Minister in the Ministry of Justice just a few short months ago. Let me remind him of a few salient facts. First, on Crown court sitting days, I will not accept any suggestion or allegation from him that this Government have cut sitting days or trials in…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
I call the Chair of the Justice Committee.
AS
Andrew Slaughter
As someone who spent a decade shadowing and scrutinising the previous Government’s justice policies, I sympathise with the Lord Chancellor over the chaos she has inherited, but the proposed changes to magistrates’ sentencing powers may have mixed results. They should ease the backlog in the Crown court, but they may pu…
Government’s Childcare Expansion17 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
As a former school governor and a dad, I see the amazing work that preschools and nurseries do up and down the country. These measures will be a key way to break down barriers to opportunity and get the country growing, as the Minister says. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that children in care… and the children of those in the armed forces are prioritised for the additional care places? Will he reassure childminders that we are on their side, because childminders in Telford have missed the memo from the Government on this set of improvements?
Hansard · 17 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
SM
Stephen Morgan
With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s plans to deliver additional places in school-based nurseries, and a clarification on Government action on so-called top-up fees for funded childcare hours. I will also update the House on the Government’s response to the consultation on safeguarding requireme…
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. I should explain to newer colleagues that interventions are not made during statements by Ministers or responses from shadow Ministers. I now call the shadow Minister to respond to the Minister’s statement.
GM
Gagan Mohindra
I thank the Minister for giving me advance sight of his statement. Labour Members may take this opportunity to create a fictitious narrative about the alleged failures of the former Government on early years and childcare, but it will not wash with us and it will not wash with the British public. That is simply because…
SM
Stephen Morgan
I thank the shadow Minister for his response, and welcome him to his place. I know that he will want to be a keen champion for the early years sector, and I was glad to hear him welcome the update that I have given to the House. As I said in my statement, Labour is committed to the delivery of expanded entitlement acro…
SC
Stella Creasy
I thank the Minister for all the work he is doing to right a much overdue wrong. It is extraordinary to hear the shadow Minister trying to claim credit for something this Government have finally done today, putting to rest the concerns that many of us tried to raise with the previous Government. I thank the Minister fo…
Engagements16 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
In Britain, the biggest killer of men under 50 is suicide. We have some of the worst paternity leave in Europe, and boys are 50% less likely than girls to pursue higher education. I know that my right hon. and learned Friend takes this very seriously, and his commitment on reducing suicide rates is very… welcome. Can the Prime Minister update the House on this work, and does he agree with me that it is vital that we tackle these issues head on because of the increasing alienation and mental health issues among young men?
Hansard · 16 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
DC
Danny Chambers
If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 16 October.
KS
Keir Starmer
Alex Salmond was a monumental figure in Scottish and UK politics. He leaves a lasting legacy. I know that the deepest condolences of the whole House are with Moira, his family and his loved ones. This week, we also remember our colleague and friend, Sir David Amess, whose kindness and commitment to public service conti…
DC
Danny Chambers
In last week’s maternity services debate, we heard of the devastating impact of the removal of consultant-led maternity services from hospitals. Under the previous Government’s unfunded new hospitals programme, there were proposals to remove consultant-led maternity services from our hospital in Winchester. Can the Pri…
KS
Keir Starmer
I thank the hon. Member for raising that very important issue and for championing the voices of women in his constituency. We are committed to ensuring that all women and babies receive safe, compassionate and personalised care through pregnancy, birth and the critical following months. Reconfiguration of the services,…
AH
Alison Hume
Whitby InterActive has provided inclusive play schemes and holiday activities for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities for 26 years. It has been a lifeline for families continually failed by Conservative Governments, but InterActive is set to close due to a funding shortfall. Does t…
House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill15 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
There has not been a single reform of the House of Lords over the last 14 years. Is my right hon. Friend as surprised as I am that Conservative Members now want huge reform of the second Chamber?
Hansard · 15 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
The reasoned amendment in the name of Sir Oliver Dowden has been selected.
NT
Nick Thomas-Symonds
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. As set out in our manifesto, this Government are committed to reforming the House of Lords. As a result, I am proud to be taking forward our first commitment: the immediate first step to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. T…
JH
John Hayes
The Minister knows that I have a great deal of time for him, even though what he has said so far is nonsense, and what he is about to say is bound to be so too. The truth of the matter is that at the apex of our constitution is, of course, His Majesty the King. He is there because, in the Minister’s words, he belongs t…
NT
Nick Thomas-Symonds
No, because the monarchy is a completely different part of our constitution. First, no monarch since Queen Anne has refused Royal Assent to a law. Secondly, our constitutional monarchy enjoys popular support. I return the right hon. Gentleman’s respect, and the one thing he is is honest. He is actually setting out a de…
EL
Edward Leigh
The trouble with this sort of partial reform is that it opens other issues. Why does the Church of England have a monopoly on places in the House of Lords? I am all in favour of the established Church, and of letting it have perhaps 12 bishops, but why can we not share the other places between this country’s other Chri…
SD
Shaun Davies
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
SD
Shaun Davies
The compromise of allowing the remaining hereditary peers to be in the other place is 25 years old. How much longer does the right hon. Gentleman need to consider the options and whether he is in favour of them?
SD
Shaun Davies
It is a delight to speak in this debate. I first wish to praise one of my predecessors, Lord Bruce Grocott. Since the 1999 compromise, he has tried his best to achieve the step-by-step constitutional change that the shadow Minister mentioned, by abolishing the by-election for the hereditary peers. That was the first st…
SD
Shaun Davies
If the right hon. Gentleman is patient, I will come on to the farce of the by-elections that have taken place for the hereditary peers. For me, Lord Grocott epitomises what is great about the House of Lords—somebody with experience, a contribution to make to our national life, and who was appointed by the then Prime Mi…
SD
Shaun Davies
I am surprised that Conservative MPs are able to get second or third jobs when they do not do their first job very well at all. A second Chamber in the manner that I have described could be a vital force in delivering effective and considered progressive change, whereas the ancestry and bloodline entitlement is for the…
SD
Shaun Davies
I will not. I am sure that the right hon. Gentleman will catch Madam Deputy Speaker’s eye in due course. I am proud to play my part in the democratic process, as somebody who was elected by the people of Telford. There is a strong message here for young people in our constituencies: “If you want to become a Member of t…
SD
Shaun Davies
To damage the street cred of us both, I am very fond of the hon. Member, as he knows—we go back a long way—but does he agree with me that perfection should not be the enemy of the good, and he should vote for this measure as a down payment on future reforms?
SD
Shaun Davies
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
SD
Shaun Davies
Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
SD
Shaun Davies
Will the right hon. Gentleman vote for the Bill before the House this evening? The Minister has been very clear that this is the first step of constitutional reform.
SD
Shaun Davies
If I follow the hon. Member’s argument correctly, is he saying that he would he be in favour of reversing the compromise of 1999 and going back to having more hereditary peers in the House of Lords?
SD
Shaun Davies
Is it not the case that the only time there is House of Lords reform is under a Labour Government? In 1997 we had a mandate to reform the House of Lords. In 2024 we have a mandate to reform the House of Lords, and we should get on with it.
Reporting Ministerial Gifts and Hospitality14 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Is this not another example of this Labour Government having to clear up the Conservatives’ mess? They voted against suspending Owen Paterson from this House when wrongdoing was demonstrated. Does the Minister agree that both candidates for the leadership of the Conservative party should declare their full hospitality over the past 12 months or more?
Hansard · 14 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
JG
John Glen
(Urgent Question): To ask the Minister to make a statement on the reporting and acceptance of ministerial gifts and hospitality.
ER
Ellie Reeves
I wish to update the House on the action that the Government will take to enhance transparency in relation to ministerial gifts and hospitality. Transparency is a critical part of restoring public faith in politics, and the Government recognise that changes are needed. Under the last Government, the rules for Ministers…
JG
John Glen
I thank the hon. Lady for her response. On the steps of Downing Street on 5 July , the Prime Minister pledged to put “country first and party second”. Labour Ministers have been beset by a series of scandals involving freebies. The Prime Minister has claimed that this was all a “perfectly sensible arrangement”. Does th…
ER
Ellie Reeves
As I said to the right hon. Gentleman in my first response, this Government are committed to rebuilding trust in politics. The Prime Minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality, which will be published shortly. That will outlaw the Tory freebie loophole, because this Government are commit…
CE
Clive Efford
The Conservatives have some brass neck criticising the Government on this subject when it was the Conservatives who set up the VIP lane for contracts during covid, and who accepted many gifts that they did not have to declare. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to close the loophole. I point out to the right hon. Membe…
Afghan Special Forces Relocation Review14 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank the Minister for his work in this area over many years. My constituency and wider borough have played a key role in relocating a number of Afghans over many years. Can the Minister confirm that he is having conversations across Government, including with local government, to ensure that when people are relocated to… the UK, it is done in a joined-up and supportive way?
Hansard · 14 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
LP
Luke Pollard
I would like to update the House on the ongoing review of Afghan relocations and assistance policy scheme applications from former members of Afghan specialist units, including former members of Commando Force 333 and Afghan Task Force 444, commonly known as the Triples. These Afghans worked alongside UK armed forces i…
AB
Andrew Bowie
I thank the Minister for advance sight of his statement and for its tone. The debt of gratitude that we owe all those who bravely served for, with or alongside our armed forces in support of our mission in Afghanistan is so great that words cannot do it justice. They worked at great personal risk to make Afghanistan a …
LP
Luke Pollard
I thank the shadow Minister for his support for the review and for the Triples in general. Those who served alongside our forces are owed a debt of gratitude by all those in the UK. It is good that there is cross-party support for the Triples and for the contribution they made in support of our mission to Afghanistan. …
JC
Judith Cummins
I call the Chair of the Defence Committee.
TD
Tan Dhesi
I welcome the statement by my hon. Friend the Minister, who was a staunch advocate for the Triples when in opposition. We should never have needed the review, because those individuals bravely supported us when we needed their assistance for the betterment of Afghanistan. Can he advise whether a member of the Triples w…
Film Industry9 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
This is great news for my region in the west midlands—bostin news, in fact—and, in particular, for special places such as Ironbridge Gorge, a world heritage site in my constituency. May we have a commitment from the Secretary of State that, across the Department, attractions such as the living museum at Blists Hill will be… protected so that filming can take place there for many years to come?
Hansard · 9 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
LN
Lisa Nandy
With permission, I would like to make a statement about the Government’s support for film making in the UK. Film is one of the great British success stories of the last 30 years. Ever since Gordon Brown created the film tax credit back in 2007, this amazing industry has created jobs and growth across the UK and flown t…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
JL
Julia Lopez
I am grateful for my first chance at the Dispatch Box formally to congratulate the right hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) on her new job following the electoral loss of the erstwhile Member for Bristol West, Thangam Debbonaire—I know it was unexpected. Given those circumstances, it must be difficult to have in a No. …
LN
Lisa Nandy
I thank the hon. Lady for her warm words of welcome at the beginning. I think that is perhaps the beginning and end of the consensus that we might be able to reach today. If I may, I will highlight a few areas where we are in agreement. First, I think we are in agreement that today’s announcement is a thoroughly good t…
CE
Clive Efford
I welcome the statement. When we met the film industry at roundtables in the last Parliament, it consistently called for this measure, so I am delighted to see that the Government are taking action. With 25,000 job vacancies in the creative industries, does the Secretary of State agree that if we can line up the traini…
Renters’ Rights Bill9 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome the Deputy Prime Minister to her place. Does she agree that no-fault evictions are bad not only for tenants but for local councils, which across the country spend billions of pounds on temporary accommodation? It causes havoc for children and the education system, as young people have to go from one school to… another.
Hansard · 9 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
JC
Judith Cummins
I inform the House that the reasoned amendment in the name of Kemi Badenoch has been selected.
AR
Angela Rayner
I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I hope the entire House will agree that everyone should live in a decent, safe and affordable home. Everyone should, but not everyone can. That is why, as Housing Secretary, I have put decency at the heart of my plans for housing, and taken steps to ensure that al…
LC
Luke Charters
During the general election campaign—a stressful time indeed— I was served with a section 21 notice. Thankfully, my family supported me, but such support is not available to everyone. Does my right hon. Friend agree that ending no-fault evictions will give British families the peace and stability that they desperately …
AR
Angela Rayner
I thank my hon. Friend for giving us the benefit of his personal experience—an experience that is suffered by far too many families. Hundreds of thousands of young families are in temporary accommodation, in many cases because of section 21. In 2019 the ending of this scandalous practice was included in the previous Go…
DB
Dawn Butler
I thank my right hon. Friend for pursuing renters’ rights in this way. Does she agree with the Mayor of London that we should consider setting caps for rent increases?
SD
Shaun Davies
Is it not the case that, as the country will see from the right hon. Lady’s speech, tenants in the private rented sector will fear the return of the Conservative party, in the same way as mums who rely on maternity pay?
VAT: Independent Schools8 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
This package of support will put thousands of teachers back into school classrooms in Telford and across the country. Has my hon. Friend received any representation to say that if this change did not take place, those plans by this Government—who were elected by the people of this country—would go ahead by any other means?
Hansard · 8 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
DH
Damian Hinds
I beg to move, That this House regrets that the Government has decided to impose VAT on independent school fees; believes that educational provision should not be taxed; regrets that the Government is rushing to implement this change part-way through an academic year; calls on the Government to exempt from the VAT char…
DH
Damian Hinds
I am spoilt for choice. I give way to my right hon. Friend.
GS
Graham Stuart
During the election, in the Monks Walk pub, I met a constituent who has stayed in his small home and has one car for the family, because they decided their bullied daughter needed to go to another school. They have sacrificed, with the support of wider family, so that that child with special educational needs can go to…
DH
Damian Hinds
My right hon. Friend is right to identify that many parents make great personal financial sacrifices to do what they believe is best for their children. Some parents whose children go to independent school are rich, and some are definitely not. I include in that latter bracket most of the parents sending their children…
JS
Jim Shannon
The shadow Minister has rightly underlined the issue for those who send their children to faith schools or independent schools. Many constituents in Strangford have told me that they have saved and persevered, have not been on holidays, have not bought a second car, or have even continued to use their old car longer th…
SD
Shaun Davies
For 14 years—the first five under coalition Government—state schools in Telford and across the country were told to be efficient, more creative and innovative to save money as budgets were frozen and then cut. Why can private schools not also be as efficient and creative to cut costs in their operations? It seems it is…
British Indian Ocean Territory: Negotiations7 Oct 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Words that are said in this House bear a huge amount of weight, particularly for citizens in Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands. Will the Foreign Secretary clearly set out that nothing in this agreement or in his statement today affects their settled status and their self-determination?
Hansard · 7 Oct 2024 · parliament.uk
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Before we come to the next statement, I remind the Government that I understand, and the whole House understands, that the business of the Government continues during recess and that Ministers will always need to respond to events in the UK and around the world. However, it is frustrating for hon. Members on both sides…
DL
David Lammy
Mr Speaker, I am very grateful for your instructions at the beginning of this statement. With permission, I will make a statement on the conclusion of negotiations on the exercise of sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory. [Interruption.]
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I have done the bidding. I do not need others to come in on the back of it.
DL
David Lammy
On Thursday 3 October , my right hon. and learned Friend the Prime Minister and Mauritian Prime Minister Jugnauth made an historic announcement: after two years of negotiations and decades of disagreement, the United Kingdom and Mauritius have reached a political agreement on the future of the British Indian Ocean Terr…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. You will all be able to question the Secretary of State, so please just wait for that moment.
Cross-border Train Services11 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Whether she has had recent discussions with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) the Welsh Government on steps to improve cross-border train services.
Hansard · 11 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
JS
Jo Stevens
Last week, I met the Transport Secretary to discuss rail infrastructure and steps to improve cross-border connectivity. I also joined the Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary, Ken Skates, to announce the joint Network Rail and Transport for Wales programme that will increase rail capacity by 40%, with 50% more timetabled…
JS
Jo Stevens
I agree with my hon. Friend that the Cambrian line provides an important connection to and from Aberystwyth University, and it plays a key role in supporting cross-border connectivity for the people of mid-Wales and beyond. In recent years, Network Rail has undertaken work to improve infrastructure on the Cambrian line…
LS
Liz Saville-Roberts
Diolch yn fawr iawn, Llefarydd. I am sure the Secretary of State will join me in sending every sympathy to the friends and family of the late, great singer and comedian Dewi Pws. On-the-day cancellations on the north Wales to London lines stood at 15.4% in August. We consistently have the highest on-the-day cancellatio…
JS
Jo Stevens
I thank the right hon. Lady for her question, and concur with her remarks. The Government are clear that the performance of Avanti West Coast has not been good enough. Many times in this Chamber, we have heard about the appalling service—too many cancellations and too many delays. This Government have required Avanti W…
LS
Liz Saville-Roberts
Sadly, it seems that between the Welsh Government and Labour in government here in the UK, that service in north Wales is not a priority—we see that in the rate of on-the-day cancellations. The truth is that the railways are broken, and Labour’s plan fails to address the chronic underfunding that is the cause, particul…
SD
Shaun Davies
It a real delight to see my right hon. Friend in her place. The train line from Aberystwyth to Birmingham International via Telford is critical to the university, and to the economies and connectivity of mid Wales, Telford and wider Shropshire. What conversations has my right hon. Friend had with the Welsh Government, …
Government Policy on Health9 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Fixing and getting our NHS back on its feet should be a national mission, and everybody should be able to play their part in that. Will the Secretary of State confirm whether any former Conservative Ministers have put themselves forward to try to fix the mess that the party now in opposition created over the… last 14 years?
Hansard · 9 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
VA
Victoria Atkins
It is always nice to see the right hon. Gentleman, but I was expecting to see the actual Secretary of State respond to this question. Perhaps he is at a business meeting with health firms—
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Order. May I ask the shadow Secretary of State just to pose the question? The Minister will respond, and then the shadow Secretary of State will get her two minutes after that.
VA
Victoria Atkins
(Urgent Question): To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if he will make a statement on the involvement of people with no formal appointment in the development of Government policy on health. I apologise to the House, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am more used to answering, but believe you me, I am looking…
WS
Wes Streeting
And I am committed to making sure that the right hon. Lady is there, asking the questions, for a very, very long time. Unlike our predecessors, this Government cannot get enough of experts. We work with a wide range of stakeholders in developing policy, because that goes to the heart of our approach to mission-driven g…
VA
Victoria Atkins
I fear that the right hon. Gentleman is betraying his inexperience. It is a shame that he needs all that help and experience; the rest of us have just got on with the job. The Department of Health and Social Care manages incredibly sensitive information, ranging from the development of healthcare policy to the handling…
Business of the House5 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Can we have a debate in Government time on veterans affairs? Whether it is through access to health and housing, support for veterans’ children or veteran cards being used as an acceptable form of ID for voting, can we have a debate about how we can make this country the best place in the world… for a veteran to live?
Hansard · 5 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
CP
Chris Philp
May I take this opportunity, Madam Deputy Speaker, to congratulate you on your elevation to the Chair and to welcome you to your place? Will the Leader of the House give us the business for next week?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the week commencing 9 September is as follows: Monday 9 September —Consideration of a motion to approve the Russia (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2024, followed by consideration of a motion to approve the Syria (Sanctions) (EU Exit) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2024, followed …
CP
Chris Philp
A warm welcome back to everyone following the summer recess. I thank the Leader of the House for setting out those recess dates. That will make her popular with everybody across the House. She has just saved me from booking a flight that I would have had to cancel, so I am personally very grateful to her. I also thank …
LP
Lucy Powell
I, too, welcome everybody back for the new term. I knew that my announcing the recess dates would be the big news of this morning. I am pleased to be able to help everybody with their family and holiday arrangements. I thank the House staff who have worked away to ensure that many new colleagues now have their own offi…
KT
Karl Turner
I welcome my right hon. Friend to the Dispatch Box and congratulate her on the wonderful job she is doing in government. I am very concerned that Post Office Ltd plans to close the post office counter in Morrisons on Holderness Road in east Hull. Many constituents have contacted me, and a petition on the subject has ga…
Engagements4 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I am a proud MP for a new town, but over the past 14 years, Telford has lost its A&E and has fewer police officers, GPs and teachers per head. We have also had 40% cuts to our local government budgets. Will my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister back places such as Telford, rather… than overlook us as has been the case over the past 14 years?
Hansard · 4 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
KS
Keir Starmer
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this issue, and I know he will be a really strong champion for his constituency. We are a Government who will be based on action, not slogans, and that is why we will have local growth plans, improved public services and investment in transport links. We will fix the mess that the Con…
TF
Tim Farron
In the past five years, there have been 10 fatal accidents on the A66 along the short stretch in the Eden valley in Westmorland. In our community, we are naturally deeply concerned that the vital A66 northern trans-Pennine project, which would make the roads considerably safer, has been put under review by this Governm…
KS
Keir Starmer
I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising this question about fatalities on roads, which are a very serious issue on the A66 and other roads across the country. We have inherited a broken economy, and we have to review what we are spending money on. We are going through that review, and we will report back as soon as we c…
GJ
Gurinder Josan
Will the Prime Minister join me in sending condolences to the family of Jahziah Coke, a 13-year-old boy who was stabbed and tragically killed in my constituency? Does he share my concern about the prevalence of young people carrying knives? What more can be done to end this scourge that is destroying families and commu…
KS
Keir Starmer
I am sure I speak for the whole House in saying that our thoughts are with Jahziah’s family at this difficult time. This is tragic, it is senseless and his age just absolutely makes one shudder. Our mission is to halve knife crime. Zombie-style knives and zombie-style machetes will be banned from 24 September , and the…
Topical Questions3 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome this Government’s plan to get Britain building again with a commitment to build 1.5 million homes across our country. There are also 1 million homes for which councils have given planning consent, and those with skin in the game need help and support to get those houses unlocked. What steps are the Government… taking in that regard?
Hansard · 3 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
GM
Gagan Mohindra
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
RR
Rachel Reeves
This Government have inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, and rectifying the situation requires tough choices. We will also clamp down on egregious spending and halve Government spending on consultancy, which will save £500 million next year. Increasing consultancy spend has been rife across Gover…
GM
Gagan Mohindra
I welcome the Chancellor to her place. Notwithstanding what she has just said, can she tell the House why she has made the political decision to scrap the commitment to spend at least 2.5% of GDP on defence, undermining our support for Ukraine, and has instead prioritised giving her union paymasters inflation-busting p…
RR
Rachel Reeves
Let me respond directly on the issue of Ukraine. In my first couple of weeks in this job, I had the pleasure of meeting Minister Marchenko from Ukraine, and made a commitment to him to go ahead with the extraordinary revenue acceleration programme. It is important that we work together across the House to support the U…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Can I remind everybody that this is topical questions? I have a big list to get through. Rachael Maskell will give us a good example.
Ofsted3 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I congratulate the Minister on this rapid work. The Conservatives had 14 years, but Labour Ministers have done it in a matter of weeks. Can I have a commitment that Ofsted’s focus on attainment, SEND and attendance will be laser-focused? For the benefit of the House, there are only two more Conservatives Members in the… Chamber for this statement on education standards than are standing for the Conservative party leadership.
Hansard · 3 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
DH
Damian Hinds
(Urgent Question) To ask the Secretary of State for Education if she will make a statement on proposed changes to Ofsted reporting.
CM
Catherine McKinnell
As the Government explained in the written ministerial statement that was laid yesterday, and as was outlined in our manifesto, single headline grades will no longer be issued by Ofsted when it inspects state-funded schools. Our landmark reform will drive high and rising standards for children, and will increase transp…
DH
Damian Hinds
The system can certainly improve. After the terrible tragedy of Ruth Perry, changes were made, and, as the Minister said, Ofsted initiated its wider Big Listen consultation. We supported that, and I welcome much of what was in Ofsted’s announcement today, but I fear that the Government have not thought through the cons…
CM
Catherine McKinnell
The shadow Secretary of State was a Minister in the Department for Education, and he knows these issues well. He also knows that the work we are announcing today is about clearing up the mess that the previous Government left. The Big Listen was announced under his Government, and his former colleague, the previous Cha…
AS
Alistair Strathern
May I thank the Minister for taking swift action? As a former teacher and children’s lead at a local authority, I know how high-stakes and low-information Ofsted judgments had started to become for local families. Indeed, having spoken to parents in my constituency ahead of my Westminster Hall debate on education for c…
Contracts for Difference3 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
The Secretary of State will know from his recent visit to Telford that businesses right across the country, including in my constituency, want to partner with the Government on this agenda. Will this statement and future announcements mean that those private sector businesses, which want to put their skills and money into this agenda, and… take risks on behalf of the Government and the country to make us a clean energy superpower, have the Secretary of State’s backing?
Hansard · 3 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
CN
Caroline Nokes
I call Ed Miliband to make a statement on contracts for difference.
EM
Ed Miliband
I congratulate you on your new role, Madam Deputy Speaker. With permission, I would like to make a statement about the sixth contracts for difference allocation round. It is less than two months since the Government came into office with a mandate to fix the foundations and make Britain a clean energy superpower. The l…
EM
Ed Miliband
At a lower price. This floating offshore wind farm alone is double the size of all of Europe’s installed floating offshore wind capacity. In addition, on tidal, where Britain has huge leadership opportunities, we have secured six new tidal stream projects at the lowest ever price. Fourthly, on fixed offshore wind, in c…
MG
Mark Garnier
I am grateful to the Secretary of State for the timely advance sight of his statement. I would like to put on record that Members on the Opposition Benches welcome the success of the contracts for difference allocation round 6. The Secretary of State is right to be proud of that achievement by the Government. It is to …
EM
Ed Miliband
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his elevation since the election. I look forward to our exchanges in this House. I say him to gently that the crucial first phase of Opposition, in my experience, is having a bit of humility to admit where they have got things wrong. I do not deny that some of the things that the pr…
Topical Questions2 Sep 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I know from my time as chair of the Local Government Association that all council leaders, regardless of political persuasion, need more money for local government, but that there is also a commitment from the sector to reforming the sector. Will the Minister confirm his willingness to work with council leaders, regardless of political persuasion,… to reform the system, and also to take a look at population under-counting, which is costing my council millions of pounds each year?
Hansard · 2 Sep 2024 · parliament.uk
AK
Ayoub Khan
If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
AR
Angela Rayner
I pay tribute to all those involved in supporting residents in Dagenham after the appalling fire last week—a sobering reminder of the importance of making buildings safe ahead of the Grenfell inquiry report this week. My thoughts are with the bereaved families, the survivors and the community of Grenfell affected durin…
AK
Ayoub Khan
Birmingham’s Labour-run council is on the verge of selling off some 700 residential units at a loss to the taxpayer of about £300 million. Will the Secretary of State intervene to allow the council to retain those properties for public ownership and for use by some of the 25,000 desperate families on the waiting list?
AR
Angela Rayner
The hon. Member will know that Birmingham city council will not be making decisions over asset sales lightly. I know that it is working with commissioners to ensure that its financing decisions deliver value for money and that it can avoid fire sales, and I will work constructively with the council and commissioners as…
TJ
Terry Jermy
Levy funding for internal drainage boards is an increasing concern for many councils. In my constituency, King’s Lynn and West Norfolk borough council now contributes the equivalent of 43% of its council tax income to fund IDB levies. Will the Secretary of State update Members on any progress determining a more sustain…
Parliamentary Debate25 Jul 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real privilege to make my maiden speech with you in the Chair, and a delight to follow the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) and my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott) . I cannot promise that my speech will be as witty as theirs,… but I do support a proper premier league team in Manchester United—[Interruption.] I have lost the House already. It is an honour to make my maiden speech in this House as the very proud MP for my home town. Telford is where I was born and raised, and where I am now bringing up my own family. I am Telford and proud. I begin by talking about those MPs I follow. My predecessor, Lucy Allan, worked on many notable causes. I particularly pay tribute to her tireless work in respect of the Post Office scandal, and to her constituency team, who have supported the residents of Telford over the past nine years. I would also like to mention and thank my friend and mentor, my immediate Labour predecessor David Wright, who served our town and this House with passion for 14 years. I also want to pay tribute to the first person to hold the job of MP for Telford, a great supporter and crucial adviser to me, who now sits in the other place, Lord Bruce Grocott. Lord Grocott led me on a tour of this House in 1997, when I was just 11 years old—right hon. and hon. Members may be forgiven for thinking that I look to old to have been 11 in 1997, but that is what 14 years in local government does to you. Telford is a new town in Shropshire, one that has grown significantly since its designation as a new town in 1963. A town with a proud history and strong local identity, we are home to the west midlands’ only world heritage site, the Ironbridge Gorge, the true birthplace of the industrial revolution. We have long-established communities such as Madeley, Oakengates and Dawley, which were recorded in the Domesday Book, and other proud communities too. I am of course a son of Telford, but also of Dawley, t
Hansard · 25 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
JA
Jack Abbott
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak. Let me say congratulations and welcome to your place. I have been moved and inspired by so many contributions over the past few days, and it is an immense privilege to be making the first maiden speech of today. I also offer my best wishes to the hon. Member for…
LJ
Lincoln Jopp
I join others in welcoming you to your place, Madam Deputy Speaker. Thank you for giving me the chance to make my maiden speech, and to contribute to this important debate on second jobs, speaking for the people of Spelthorne. I pay tribute to all Members who have made their maiden speeches, in particular my immediate …
Code of Conduct and Modernisation Committee25 Jul 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real privilege to make my maiden speech with you in the Chair, and a delight to follow the hon. Member for Spelthorne (Lincoln Jopp) and my hon. Friend the Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott) . I cannot promise that my speech will be as witty as theirs,… but I do support a proper premier league team in Manchester United—[Interruption.] I have lost the House already. It is an honour to make my maiden speech in this House as the very proud MP for my home town. Telford is where I was born and raised, and where I am now bringing up my own family. I am Telford and proud. I begin by talking about those MPs I follow. My predecessor, Lucy Allan, worked on many notable causes. I particularly pay tribute to her tireless work in respect of the Post Office scandal, and to her constituency team, who have supported the residents of Telford over the past nine years. I would also like to mention and thank my friend and mentor, my immediate Labour predecessor David Wright, who served our town and this House with passion for 14 years. I also want to pay tribute to the first person to hold the job of MP for Telford, a great supporter and crucial adviser to me, who now sits in the other place, Lord Bruce Grocott. Lord Grocott led me on a tour of this House in 1997, when I was just 11 years old—right hon. and hon. Members may be forgiven for thinking that I look too old to have been 11 in 1997, but that is what 14 years in local government does to you. Telford is a new town in Shropshire, one that has grown significantly since its designation as a new town in 1963. A town with a proud history and strong local identity, we are home to the west midlands’ only world heritage site, the Ironbridge Gorge, the true birthplace of the industrial revolution. We have long-established communities such as Madeley, Oakengates and Dawley, which were recorded in the Domesday Book, and other proud communities too. I am of course a son of Telford, but also of Dawley,
Hansard · 25 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
NG
Nusrat Ghani
Before we come to the motions in the name of the Leader of the House, I remind the House, in relation to motion no. 4, of the requirement for hon. Members to declare any relevant interest or benefit that might relate to the proceedings in which they are participating. I must draw attention to the fact that the motion o…
LP
Lucy Powell
I beg to move, That, with effect from 25 October 2024 , paragraph 2 of Chapter 4 of the Guide to the Rules relating to the conduct of Members be amended to leave out: “a) advice on public policy and current affairs; b) advice in general terms about how Parliament works; and”.
NG
Nusrat Ghani
With this we shall discuss the following: Motion 5—Modernisation Committee— That— (1) There shall be a Select Committee, to be called the Modernisation Committee, to consider reforms to House of Commons procedures, standards, and working practices; and to make recommendations thereon; (2) The Committee shall consist of…
LP
Lucy Powell
Thank you very much, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate you on your election as Chairman of Ways and Means. I look forward to working with you in the coming weeks. Over the past two weeks, it has been fantastic to watch so many new Members hit the ground running in representing their constituents, and it has been a p…
LC
Luke Charters
During the election campaign, I made a solemn promise to my constituents that I would not take on a second job, apart from being chief of staff to my two-year-old son. Does my right hon. Friend agree that it is time to end public policy and current affairs advocacy roles, so that we all have time to spend on the greate…
Urgent and Emergency Care23 Jul 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
For 14 years the community in Telford and I have worked hard to safeguard our A&E, but the last Conservative Government made Telford the largest town without a fully functioning A&E. Will the Health team meet me and other Shropshire MPs to discuss this discredited and disgraceful decision?
Hansard · 23 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
UK
Uma Kumaran
What assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of NHS urgent and emergency care services.
KS
Karin Smyth
I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election, and I also pass on my best wishes to her and her husband, who I know recently suffered a stroke. We hope he makes a speedy recovery. We recognise the great work of NHS staff for them, and indeed for all our constituents every day, but we do know that the NHS is broken. The…
UK
Uma Kumaran
I thank the Minister for her kind words today, and I also thank my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary for his wishes on the day. Mr Speaker, may I also take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for the care and kindness you showed me? Residents in my constituency of Stratford and Bow are served by Barts hea…
KS
Karin Smyth
My hon. Friend makes an excellent point highlighting the challenges particularly around hospital capacity, something well-known on the Front Bench with my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary representing a nearby area. This type of patient experience is unacceptable, but it sadly became normal under the last Governm…
PP
Priti Patel
I welcome the new Front-Bench Members to their new portfolios and responsibilities. Essex has actually seen some improvements in emergency care services over the past 14 years, particularly in our ambulance trust, and that should be commended. One way in which pressure on emergency services can be reduced is by having …
Covid-19 Inquiry19 Jul 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I welcome my right hon. Friend and near neighbour to his place. Like so many families, my family was affected by the death of a loved one during the pandemic, and a small heart on the national memorial wall reflects my auntie for time immemorial. Does my right hon. Friend agree that procurement during a… state of emergency such as the pandemic is important, and that any fraud that occurs must be pursued ruthlessly?
Hansard · 19 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
PM
Pat McFadden
With permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to make a statement on the covid-19 inquiry. Yesterday, Baroness Hallett published her report from the first module of the UK covid-19 inquiry, which examines the resilience and preparedness of the United Kingdom between 2009 and early 2020. My thoughts, and I am sure the thoug…
EA
Edward Argar
I thank the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster not only for early sight of his statement, for which I am grateful, but for his tone in how he addressed what is an extremely sobering report—module 1 of nine. I suspect that we will look at many more such sobering reports in the coming months. I put on the record our gr…
PM
Pat McFadden
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his response and for the tone in which he spoke. He set out what the previous Government have done, and in my statement I acknowledged that progress has been made, but I think it is also right that a new Government take the opportunity to have a fresh look at this, with fresh eyes a…
FE
Florence Eshalomi
I thank my right hon. Friend for his statement. Like everyone, my thoughts are with the many victims who tragically lost their lives. I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the hard-working staff at St Thomas’ hospital in my constituency who cared for so many people in their last dying days, and who cared for the fo…
PM
Pat McFadden
My hon. Friend is absolutely right to pay tribute to the staff at St Thomas’ and other NHS staff across the country, who did so much to care for people during that very difficult period. I have visited the memorial wall in her constituency, and she is right: it is an incredibly moving and human experience. I am very ha…
Business of the House18 Jul 2024
SD
Shaun Davies
I thank all House staff for the fantastic induction that new Members have received. It has been first class. Talking about the best start, can we have a debate in Government time on giving all children the best start in life? Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Telford and Wrekin council… on retaining its outstanding Ofsted rating for children’s services?
Hansard · 18 Jul 2024 · parliament.uk
CP
Chris Philp
Will the Leader of the House update us on forthcoming business?
LP
Lucy Powell
The business for the remainder of the week will include: Friday 19 July —Subject to the House agreeing the motion on today’s Order Paper, continuation of the debate on the King’s Speech on planning, greenbelt and rural affairs. The business for the week commencing 22 July will include: Monday 22 July —Continuation of t…
CP
Chris Philp
First, I congratulate you, Mr Speaker, on your unanimous re-election to the Chair and your triumphant victory in Chorley with 75% of the vote. Clearly we can all learn a great deal from you about how to win elections. I look forward to working with you and, I hope, learning from your very long experience of this House.…
LH
Lindsay Hoyle
Order. I think the problem is that people’s comments ought to reflect their previous jobs as well. Maybe that comment is from knowledge about making statements outside the House. I do not know; I do not make any judgment. The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely correct that when the House is not sitting, of course state…
LP
Lucy Powell
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. I start by thanking His Majesty the King for yesterday’s Speech and join colleagues in wishing Her Majesty the Queen a happy birthday for yesterday. I also thank the staff and security services who have worked so hard both to get Parliament ready for the King’s Speech and on the huge ta…
