Westminster Hall

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

Tuesday 21 March 2023

[Mr James Gray in the Chair]

Commonwealth Day

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

09:30

[Sir James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend East) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered Commonwealth Day.

It is a privilege and it gives me extreme pleasure to serve under your esteemed and excellent chairmanship, Mr Gray; I know you will appreciate the sincerity of my words.

I apologise for being here today, not only because of the content of my speech but because you were expecting my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), who sadly cannot be here due to a more recent commitment going into her diary urgently. I want to facilitate a wide debate on the Commonwealth while particularly concentrating on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s international branch and some technical issues around the branch’s status that we are making progress on.

I should not have to remind the House that the second Monday in March is Commonwealth Day—a day of great celebration and a second birthday for parliamentarians across a third of the world. I am pleased to see the Minister in her rightful place; it is a pleasure to work with her in yet another format.

I looked back on previous debates on Commonwealth Day, conscious of vague memories of participating in them as a Back Bencher, as chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and, in 2021, as the Minister responding to the debate. I started by reading the first paragraph of the 2021 debate in Hansard, which was taken up entirely not with Commonwealth matters but with matters to do with covid, including how we were to behave and rules on virtual participation; how far we have moved forward since then. I skipped to the back, which is always the most interesting place, where my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset (Mr Liddell-Grainger) was summarising his comments, and something leapt out at me. Not only was there a reference to Emilia Lifaka, who at the time was chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Deputy Speaker in Cameroon and has since sadly passed away; there was also a glancing reference to the late Sir David Amess, my parliamentary neighbour. My hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, in characteristic form, was praiseful; he said that Sir David made a lot of “good points”. He somewhat undermined that, however, by going on to say that he did not understand a word of what they were.

I leapt forward, ignoring my studies of the Commonwealth to reminisce about Sir David, who rightly started by saying to the Chair:

“Today, I will not be calling for city status for Southend, because I know that will happen in any case, but I will be celebrating with others Commonwealth Day”—[Official Report, 16 March 2021; Vol. 691, c. 65WH.]

and he did, drawing on great experience of visits and a relationship with two Commonwealth countries that are slightly off the beaten track. He made very specific points and demonstrated some of the best assets of Members of Parliament getting involved with Commonwealth countries.

While it was sad to see the trees being replaced in Portcullis House last week, it was a pleasure to see the fluttering of 56 flags of the new Commonwealth. It is always a sign that spring is coming and a chance to reflect on our relationships around the world. Of course, the Commonwealth is not a new thing; it has evolved over time. The modern Commonwealth started in 1949, when its head was the King, although the role is not hereditary; it does not move from monarch to monarch. It moved to Her late Majesty the Queen and then to the current King when he was Prince of Wales. He took up the mantle having visited 45 of the 56 Commonwealth countries, and Her Majesty visited 54. I am lagging behind enormously but hope to visit Togo in the next 24 months, having visited Gabon only a few weeks ago with my hon. Friend the Member for South West Hertfordshire (Mr Mohindra)—despite not having my glasses, I think I recognise him sitting at the Parliamentary Private Secretary desk. It was an excellent visit in which we welcomed Gabon’s application. In all candour, we were a little uncertain as to whether it would be successful that time around, but we were pleasantly surprised that both it and Tonga were successful. The meeting was interesting.

Reflecting again on what Members of Parliament do when they go out to countries, I can say that this was a particularly good visit, because we and other parliamentarians went out into the forest, where there is a big issue of carbon sinks, and saw the detail of how illegal and legal logging was being monitored. In fact, we got into canoes in Gabon. That was perhaps one of my parliamentary low points: I was almost eaten by an hippopotamus. However, the hippopotamus’s loss is Parliament’s gain, as I am still here, Mr Gray.

The Commonwealth accounts for a third of the global population—around 2.5 billion—60% of whom are under the age of 30, which is a particular issue for the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth works across human rights issues. There is also the sports of the Commonwealth. Sadly, in some countries, the Commonwealth is more related to sports than to the broader Commonwealth relationship, thus demonstrating that we have still more work to do.

LGBT issues are always quite prominent in any discussion, as are freedom of expression and the promotion of democracy more generally. However, having elections alone is not enough to provide democracy; it goes much deeper than that. Trade is an increasing issue: 9% of UK trade is with the Commonwealth, but for some Commonwealth members the trade with other Commonwealth countries is even more important. It is very tricky to do a trade deal with Eswatini, where I was a banker, and do that same trade deal with India, which a massive percentage have said to block.

It is great to have welcomed the Francophonie. In fact, Rwanda has headed up both the Francophonie seat and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting within the past 12 months, which shows that we can work through French groupings and English-speaking groupings. Indeed, as well as Rwanda, Togo and Gabon, there is the Lusophone country of Mozambique within the Commonwealth, thus demonstrating that the Commonwealth is growing. There were originally eight members in 1949. By the 1970s, that number had risen to 31, and by 1990, it was 50. I predict that, in another five years, the number will not be 56, but nearer 60, as people want to come together in different ways to work.

We also see the Commonwealth in the City of London. The City of London Corporation is very active through the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council. I praise its work in investment and also in its facilitation of work with the Commonwealth parliamentarians both here in this Parliament and when we have incoming delegations.

As hon. Members know, the CPA UK branch is very active. There have been some excellent chairs, including my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke, my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset, and Lord Haselhurst, who also went on to serve internationally. Recently, it held the 71st seminar here in the UK. It has done post-election work in Grenada. Next week, we are sending a delegation to South Africa. Colleagues are going to visit our partners in Canada. There has been work on violence against women and girls, an awful lot of work on modern slavery, working with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and also work on the issues around overseas territories, which is a particular passion of mine. There have been election-observing missions in places such as the British Virgin Islands—good work if you can get it, Mr Gray. There is quite a lot of detailed work, particularly on public accounts committees, which are new forms of committees and new ways of working. More recently, I have been involved in trade and scrutiny work.

I said that I wanted to turn to the CPA’s international branch, which forms the core of my asks for the Minister today. I spoke this morning to Stephen Twigg, late of this parish, who, I think, was just on the way to bed. He is in Tonga at the moment doing a post-election seminar. He wanted me to thank the Department for its work on the issues of CPA status. The CPA international branch is currently based in the UK, but it has charitable status. That charitable status causes some countries around the world a problem because to a poor, small-island state or a state that is receiving money, giving moneys to a UK charity seems somewhat incongruous. However, there is a massive benefit in the CPA being located here under some such auspice, and it is good that we are working closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office around those issues.

I was pleased to see the Bill introduced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke being debated on Second Reading. Sadly, it did not go through, but it did provide a place setter. I praise Lord Goldsmith for his engagement on the issue, alongside the Minister. Having been involved in these issues over a number of years—I hate to think how many—let me say that it is quite exceptional for any Foreign Secretary to engage in such detail. Therefore, it was pleasing to see the recent letter from the Foreign Secretary saying that he wanted to help and to resolve the situation to the satisfaction of both CPA international and the FCDO, and it was amazing to read that he had secured Government time for that. I would appreciate the Minister confirming that that is not just a promise from the Foreign Secretary, but something that is being worked through via the normal channels, so that if we need legislation, the time for it is there.

Time is indeed pressing because the issue is outstanding and because it has caused friction in some countries. A number of countries are looking at the 17 April meeting in Gibraltar of the CPA international executive as a pinch point for a decision. The Foreign Secretary’s letter mentions an officials’ meeting. May I ask the Minister to commit herself to holding those meetings of officials as soon as she can so we can get the best possible product on 17 April and ensure that CPA international stays in the UK? That presence is of great benefit to the CPA and to UK plc more generally.

I think we have the right people in place. I was pleased to see Jo Lomas of the Foreign Office, whom I worked with a number of times years back. I picked up the phone to her and received in response an international warble. I decided that I had probably phoned her old Burundi or Rwanda mobile and hung up immediately, not wanting to speak to the new Minister, only to find it might have been her current mobile, as she is in Fiji. I am sure that, on her return, this issue will be high up in her in-tray and the in-trays of a number of others. I am sure the work of Jon Davies—again, formerly of the FCDO—will be called upon. No doubt he will be reading Hansard closely following the debate. Jon is an excellent individual who has served CPA UK very well, and who is well disposed to help Stephen Twigg and the international branch.

As punishment—in the unlikely event of my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke and my hon. Friend the Member for Bridgwater and West Somerset not being available, although I can promise anything on their behalf, including their dropping everything and cancelling their holidays to attend whatever meeting is needed—I stand ready to serve.

09:43

[Navendu Mishra (Stockport) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Gray. Last year, I finished taking part in the armed forces parliamentary scheme. I know you do a lot with the scheme, and I want to draw the attention of the House to the links between people from the Commonwealth and the British armed forces. When I took part in the Royal Air Force segment of the scheme, I saw those links and had the privilege of meeting some of those people.

I thank the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) and the members of the Backbench Business Committee for securing this important debate. I wish there were more speakers from both sides of the House, but I guess I could argue that it is quality rather than quantity that counts.

One of the primary aims of the Commonwealth is to increase trade within the membership, and I understand that we are looking at $20 trillion of trade among those nations by 2030. The target is ambitious, and our Government should support and work towards it. I get a large amount of constituency correspondence regarding the environment and climate change, and one outcome of the previous Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, which took place in 2022, was commitments regarding climate change and biodiversity. Those commitments reaffirmed commitments to the Commonwealth Blue Charter to help to address ocean pollution and to protect marine environments. The combined population of the 56 member nations is about 2.5 billion, so taking action on climate change and protecting our environment would go a long way. In the context of global population, Commonwealth nations have a large footprint, so those are positive developments.

The Commonwealth is not just about trade; it is also about fostering closer cultural and educational links between nations and people. Let us be honest: there is always more to be done. I represent the constituency of Stockport in Greater Manchester, and one of the great things that the Commonwealth organises is the Commonwealth games. The great city of Manchester hosted the Commonwealth games in 2002, which is not that long ago, and they were a massive success. The invitation remains open to Commonwealth delegates to come back to my constituency in Stockport and to the Greater Manchester city region. There is so much more to be done not just on sports, but on cultural and language ties and, of course, food.

I have already mentioned that the organisation has 56 member states and a population of about 2.5 billion people. Of those 2.5 billion, approximately 1.4 billion are Indian nationals—people from the Republic of India—so India makes up a large chunk. The hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East has referred to the trade deal that Britain is negotiating with India, so I take this opportunity to highlight that I have been campaigning for a long time for a direct air service between Manchester airport, which is the third largest airport in Britain, and key cities in India, particularly Mumbai and New Delhi. I mention that because we have tens of thousands of people of Indian heritage in Greater Manchester and the north-west region. Manchester airport is also quite close to Yorkshire, which also has a large community of Indian heritage, so having direct air services between Manchester airport and Mumbai, which is the economic hub of India, and New Delhi, which is the political capital, would be helpful.

It would be helpful not just for trade, but for cultural and educational links. My understanding is that Indian students now make up the largest segment of international students in the UK. It used to be Chinese nationals, but in the past two years, or at least 18 months, Indians have made up the largest segment of international students in the UK. Having that direct flight from Manchester airport to Mumbai and to New Delhi would benefit not only trade, but jobs at Manchester airport, the economy in Greater Manchester and organisations and businesses in the north-west region, and in Yorkshire as well, so I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight that.

I will end on the fact that the Commonwealth is a force for good—it does a lot of good. Of course, there are several issues that need to be addressed in member nations when it comes to equality and, in particular, LGBT+ rights and democratic systems. There are lots of issues that need to be addressed. I welcome this debate and once again thank the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East for securing it and the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for it. I hope the Government take forward the work on environmental issues, but also thank our serving soldiers and veterans who come from Commonwealth nations. That is an important issue. I hope the Minister will use her good office to push forward the flights issue from Manchester airport.

09:48

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, and to follow the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra). I do miss the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), but the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) has stepped admirably into her shoes. I hope they were flat ones.

This year, Commonwealth Day took place on Monday last week. It marked a week of activities and celebrations around the theme of forging a sustainable and peaceful common future, serving as a reminder of the deep ties and shared goals between Commonwealth nations. I think we can all agree with that. The Commonwealth still has a long way to go in adapting to a more socially conscious and multipolar world; however, that must be done in the spirit of equality and mutual benefit.

The Commonwealth must make progress on the charter adopted in 2013. It was full of aspirations for justice, democracy and human rights, and we all want to see those things. The UK Government should formally acknowledge complicity in and make amends for the UK’s role in the slave trade and the legacy of colonial atrocities around the world. Scotland is doing that. Work is going on in schools, but more needs to be done across the UK.

There are many deep ties between the UK and the Commonwealth. Despite that, 90% of pensioners affected by the frozen pensions policy live in Commonwealth countries. I am using this debate as an opportunity to highlight the unfair treatment of British pensioners, including veterans and former public servants, and Commonwealth citizens who have contributed to this country, only to be abandoned and forgotten as they face financial hardship. I am grateful to endfrozenpensions.org and the all-party parliamentary group on frozen British pensions for the briefing that I received. I have been talking about this matter since I arrived in Parliament in 2015, and I will continue to do so at every opportunity.

An example of a pensioner affected by the frozen pensions scandal is Anne Puckridge, a 98-year-old world war two veteran who receives a state pension of just £72.50 a week after moving to Canada to be closer to her family. In the coming months, she will be excluded once again from the annual uprating, bringing the total she has lost during her retirement to £41,000. Research by the APPG on frozen British pensions found that half of frozen pensioners receive £65 per week or less, and more than 50% struggle financially because of their frozen pension.

The UK owes a debt of gratitude to the Windrush generation, but the story of Monica Philip, who moved to the UK from Antigua, tells a different story. She worked for 37 years in the UK, including as a civil servant for the City of London social services and the Ministry of Defence. She returned to Antigua to care for her ailing mother and, as a result, receives a frozen UK state pension of just £74 per week.

Reverend Maxwell left for England from Antigua in 1957. He worked in the UK on the railways. Eunice Hughes worked as an NHS Nurse. The couple moved to Jamaica following a pastoral calling, and the UK Government encouraged the Reverend Maxwell to top up his British pension voluntarily by £3,000 to ensure he had made the full contribution. When they lived in Jamaica, the couple received their full pension uprating every year. However, they have since moved to Antigua, where their pensions are now frozen.

Commonwealth countries such as Canada are ready and willing to work with the UK Government to end this injustice. The Canadian Government’s most recent request to negotiate a new reciprocal social security agreement was just last year—the fourth time since 2013—yet the UK Government continually refuse to engage on the issue, leaving nearly half a million British pensioners to face a retirement of poverty.

All UK pensioners with national insurance contributions are entitled to a British state pension regardless of where they live. However, nearly half a million UK pensioners overseas are excluded from annual payment upratings because they live in the wrong country. That means their pension is frozen at the level it was at when they left the UK or first withdrew their pension, and it is falling in real value year on year. Government inaction to address the issue is a stark failure to protect our most vulnerable and is leaving our own citizens in poverty. All it takes to end this injustice—

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

Order. I am reluctant to interrupt the hon. Lady. She is making a most interesting speech, but it is quite wide of the subject we are discussing, which is Commonwealth Day. The Minister might find it difficult to reply on a matter that is not her responsibility. The hon. Lady might like to return to the subject of Commonwealth Day and the role of the Commonwealth.

[Marion Fellows]

Mr Gray, if I tell you that 90% of people with frozen pensions live in the Commonwealth, may I continue from that point?

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

The subject of the debate is Commonwealth Day and the role of the Commonwealth, rather than people who happen to live in a Commonwealth country. It might be sensible to return to the main topic under discussion.

[Marion Fellows]

I respect your advice as Chair, Mr Gray. I will not continue on this; I believe I have made my point forcefully. I ask the Minister to listen carefully to what I said, because this is an injustice that must end.

09:55

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is a pleasure to participate in today’s debate on Commonwealth Day, and I thank all hon. Members who have made contributions with salient points, as we reflect, celebrate, remember and enjoy the day.

I have great pride in this nation; I love this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as we all do. We rejoice in the role it has played in bringing together four nations in this Commonwealth as one. As we look to the coronation of King Charles, it inevitably brings to mind the life and legacy of Elizabeth, the great and faithful. One of her greatest achievements was not only her faith in action that honoured God and inspired nations, but the Commonwealth of nations, which was her pride and ours.

The Commonwealth is a cultural, historical and family organisation, which we love. It is like a gathering of the clans, if that is the right terminology to use, whenever the Commonwealth comes together. What joy it brings to us all that, from this nation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Commonwealth grew. The tenets of democracy, liberty, freedom and faith have been espoused by the Commonwealth across the world.

We have heard recent attacks on the legacy of the Commonwealth from sources who should know better, and that wilful misdirection must be challenged. I thank the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) for raising the subject and allowing the opportunity to debate the truth, rather than the devious innuendo that platforms seem able to stream with no impugnment or accountability. I want to put on record the full nature of Her Majesty, who said, when she talked of her duty:

“My whole life, whether it be long or short, shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong.”

The great family to which she referred was the Commonwealth of nations—a group of 53 distinct and unique nations, whose common ground enabled the fostering of trust and the building of a relationship from which we all benefit.

A glance at the basic Commonwealth statistics online quickly outlines the many benefits. Some are financial benefits, but they are important and maintain the stability of nations. Of the 53 Commonwealth members, 31 are small states, mostly with populations of well under 2 million. Member countries have successfully obtained more than 1.8 million square kilometres of seabed through the United Nations, with our assistance, and more is still to be claimed.

More than 60 countries, including 15 non-Commonwealth countries, have benefited from our debt management programme. Our software helps to manage more than $2.5 trillion of debt globally. The combined gross domestic product of Commonwealth member countries was estimated to be $14 trillion by 2020. Trade in goods and services between Commonwealth members is estimated to be more than $680 billion, and it is predicted to surpass $1 trillion. The trade, economic ties and benefits from trade and cultural exchanges are important for countries’ future.

Commonwealth members’ combined exports of goods and services are valued at $3.4 trillion, which is about 15% of the world’s total exports. Intra-Commonwealth flows of remittances are estimated to be $45 billion, of which $42 billion went to developing countries. The most innovative economies in sub-Saharan Africa —eight of the top 10—are Commonwealth member countries. Those are all indications of the importance of Commonwealth trading to world exports and trade. Five of the best performing 15 countries in the youth development index are Commonwealth members. It is about that interconnection, that acknowledgment of each other and the fairness that arises from trade within the Commonwealth. That speaks to me not of a boys’ club, but of a community engaged in mutually beneficial sharing of information, training and trading. We should be incredibly grateful to Her Majesty for that, and for everything that she did over the years.

The Commonwealth games offer countries such as Northern Ireland, with 1.9 million people, an opportunity to contribute to the Commonwealth medal tally. At the last games, we did so in sports including boxing, bowls and swimming, and some of the winners were people from my constituency. I am thinking of Barry McClements, who won the bronze. That wee boy, who was disabled as a child when he lost his leg from the knee down, managed to achieve a bronze medal in the Paralympics. That has made that young man, and his interaction with other Commonwealth countries is something we cannot ignore. By their very nature, the Commonwealth games bring us together to participate. We are united through the Commonwealth and a love of sport, but the games also give smaller countries, such as mine, the chance to excel—and, boy, did we excel last time, like never before.

Every Commonwealth nation has the ability to leave as they determine; we do not operate like the EU, with rules and penalties for daring to step aside. Yet the fact is that each nation is content. Just as Scripture says that two is better than one, it follows that 53 must be even better.

10:01

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir James.

[James Gray (in the Chair)]

It is certainly not Sir James—[Hon. Members: “Not yet!”] Just Mr Gray will be fine.

[Deidre Brock]

Forgive me, Mr Gray. I am sure I have just highlighted something that is missing but will arrive eventually.

First, I pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) and the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) for securing this debate about Commonwealth Day. This year marked a significant milestone for the Commonwealth and the UK’s international relationships, and a new phase for the UK’s diplomacy and soft power. As we recognise the first Commonwealth Day since Queen Elizabeth’s passing, we have an opportunity to reflect on the impact of the Commonwealth, to acknowledge the damage of British colonial history and, I hope, to begin to forge a path to more conscious, thoughtful and honest relationships with Commonwealth countries.

I want to dwell a little on some of the contributions that have been made. The hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East spoke of the work of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association branches in areas such as election observation and on issues relating to women and girls. The hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) highlighted how the Commonwealth can foster closer cultural links, language ties and economic opportunities—and, indeed, transport links between Manchester and Mumbai in the future. He also touched on some of the concerns that I will focus on in my contribution.

My hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) spoke eloquently of the injustice of frozen pensions, which affect many people from Commonwealth countries. She has pursued that matter for some years, and I am sure those people are grateful to her for bringing it up today. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) described the Commonwealth as a family—indeed, as a “gathering of the clans”. He welcomed the fact that this debate allows us to debate the truth, highlighting the economic and trade benefits. He also mentioned the positivity of the Commonwealth games in bringing nations together in their love of sport, and I very much agree with him. The Commonwealth games in Glasgow were a tremendous occasion for us all in Scotland.

We have witnessed some historic changes across the Commonwealth in the last few years. Barbados became a republic in 2021, and Jamaica has served notice that it intends to do likewise by 2025. In Australia, the arrival of the new young Queen in the ’50s seemed to herald a new start, and the Commonwealth of Nations was a very appealing concept after the misery of two world wars, but the gloss of those early days has faded. Republican voices in Australia, New Zealand and Canada have strengthened, particularly following the increase in the knowledge and understanding of the effects of colonisation on indigenous people. The Jamaican Government have announced plans to seek compensation for an estimated 600,000 Africans who were shipped to the island for the financial benefit of British slaveholders.

There are many now who feel that this reckoning with history should be embraced, paving a new way forward for the Commonwealth based on respect and a real acknowledgement of the past. The SNP’s policy is to join the Commonwealth once Scotland is independent again, because we want to co-operate with the rest of the world, not be apart from it. At the same time, we sincerely wish the Commonwealth to meet this moment of reflection and change positively and constructively.

Although one welcomes the royal family’s attempts to address Britain’s bloody imperial past—King Charles, when he was prince, attended a ceremony in Barbados in 2021 and spoke of the appalling atrocity of slavery, which forever stains British history, and Prince William spoke out against the injustice of the Windrush scandal—there is still a very long way to go to improve relationships and outcomes with Commonwealth countries.

[Navendu Mishra]

The hon. Lady is making an excellent speech and raising important points. On atrocities, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which took place in 1919 in Punjab, impacted a lot of people at the time, and there is a justice campaign in this country and India. Does she agree that there should be a formal apology?

[Deidre Brock]

I am not familiar with the complete details of that situation, but those are exactly the sorts of issues that Commonwealth countries should be discussing among themselves. If a country is involved in something that it needs to apologise for, it should absolutely do so.

The UK Government could start by acknowledging Britain’s complicity in historical crimes, and by seeking to make amends for its role in the slave trade and its frankly shameful legacy of many colonial atrocities around the world. The SNP is aware that the UK and Scotland must do more to address our colonial past. We all need to have an open and honest conversation about goods acquired via colonialism, as well as about the systematic and structural issues that perpetuate ongoing inequality.

Ignoring the crimes of the past undermines our leadership and our ability in the present to ensure the Commonwealth lives up to what are perceived to be shared values. As my hon. Friend the Member for Motherwell and Wishaw said, 10 years ago the Commonwealth adopted a charter full of laudable aspirations—justice, democracy and human rights—but it has much to do to ensure adherence to those principles. For example, in 2013, President Mahinda Rajapaksa of Sri Lanka hosted a Commonwealth summit at a time when his Government stood accused of presiding over war crimes.

The human rights picture across the Commonwealth varies greatly. Most Commonwealth states—32 out of the 56—criminalise same-sex acts between consenting adults. Many such laws were introduced in the colonial era. As of September 2020, only 70% of girls in the Commonwealth attended school. That is a shocking figure, and we must do much more to address it. I hope the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East will touch on that in his closing remarks. He mentioned the CPA’s involvement in that, and I would be interested to hear more about that. Only 20% of parliamentarians across the Commonwealth were female in 2018. Of course, the figure is just 34% in this place, so we do not have much to brag about.

Something else that we cannot brag about is the fact that, regrettably, as Commonwealth chair-in-office between 2018 and 2022, the UK Government wasted a key opportunity to recentre human rights and respect for international law. They refused to make covid-19 vaccines more readily available for the global south by protecting intellectual property barriers, they concluded that there was no evidence of institutional racism in the UK via the Sewell report, and they cut international development spending by at least £4 billion in 2021-22. It seems to me that a nation that genuinely cared about the Commonwealth in the truest sense of the word—the commonweal; the happiness, health and safety of all the people of a community or nation or, in this case, nations—would immediately reverse the damaging cuts, including those inflicted on people living in extreme poverty in Commonwealth countries.

Last year, the UK handed over the Commonwealth chair-in-office role, as I think has been mentioned, to Rwanda, despite some very grave concerns about Rwanda’s human rights record, governance structures, reports that the Rwandan Government are arming the M23 militia group—the March 23 Movement—in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and widespread gender-based violence in those countries. The UK Government introduced the immoral and illegal Rwanda scheme. The SNP opposed the Immigration Bill when it went through Parliament and also opposed the anti-refugee Nationality and Borders Bill, as well as the damaging Rwanda proposal that the Bill would enable. We will do the same with the Illegal Migration Bill. Criminalising people is not the answer. Such policies have no place in a tolerant society that respects international law, particularly one that frequently proclaims itself to be a shining example of such qualities.

The UK Government could follow the lead of the Scottish Government and establish a comprehensive loss and damage policy, prioritising vulnerable regions in the Commonwealth that are already suffering devastating effects from the climate crisis. It is vital to ensure much greater investment in renewables and to avoid any new fossil fuel projects, which threaten our path to net zero—the precarity is underlined by the fact that 49 out of the 56 Commonwealth countries border the sea. That would demonstrate genuine commitment to the theme of Commonwealth Day 2023, which is to forge

“a sustainable and peaceful common future…especially through climate action”.

Just days ago, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change delivered a “final warning” on the climate emergency with the publication of the final part of its sixth assessment report. A significant proportion of the 3 billion people whom the IPCC says are highly vulnerable to climate breakdown are based in Commonwealth countries. The report shows that the 1.5° limit is still achievable—just—but only if action to address the crisis is fast-tracked by every country and on every timeframe. We need to go further and faster, and the UK needs to take much more of a lead.

King Charles’s Commonwealth Day message highlighted the Commonwealth’s

“opportunity, and responsibility, to create a…durable future…in harmony with Nature”

to

“secure our unique and only planet for generations to come.”

The IPCC report is a stark reminder—as if one were needed—that this window of opportunity is rapidly closing. I am aware that climate change was on the agenda last week in London at the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers meeting, with an emphasis on building on the outcomes of COP27, but we know that 1.5° will not be met under the final agreement with no deal on reducing fossil fuel usage. Therefore I urge the UK and the Commonwealth to now recognise the opportunity and responsibility that King Charles mentioned, before it is too late.

10:13

[Preet Kaur Gill (Birmingham, Edgbaston) (Lab/Co-op)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I thank the right hon. Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) for securing the debate and I am sorry that she could not be here. She has been a strong advocate for women and girls around the world, and we hope that the UK and all Commonwealth nations can live up to those aspirations.

We have heard much today about the power of the Commonwealth—its strength, size, diversity and vitality. We have also heard great examples, from the hon. Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge), my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) and the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), of the work and collaboration that the Commonwealth fosters through the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Members have made significant contributions on topics including promoting democracy across our Commonwealth nations, economic prosperity, human rights, and connectivity. It is wonderful that my friend the hon. Member for Strangford even mentioned the Commonwealth games.

However, the past year has been another of great disruption and loss. I must start by remarking on the sad death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. This year has been the first in 70 years that she has not been the Head of the Commonwealth. During those remarkable 70 years, the Commonwealth has changed beyond all recognition. Then, it was made of only seven members; today, there are 56 members, representing more than 2.5 billion people. Her Majesty will be remembered as a symbol of the links between our many nations. As she put it,

“the Commonwealth is an example of multilateralism at work”.

That is a poignant reminder of the significance of today’s debate. This is not a cosy members’ club, but an important vehicle for global co-operation and change, and that work is not yet done. I take this opportunity to express my welcome to His Majesty the King taking his seat as the new chair of the Commonwealth. I am sure he will carry on his mother’s legacy with distinction.

I consider myself a child of the Commonwealth. To me, nothing serves as a greater reminder of our place in a global community of nations than my own family story and home. Birmingham is a Commonwealth city; the diverse heritage of my constituents span from Pakistan to Sri Lanka and Somalia to India, from where my family came. There are Brummies who can trace their roots to every corner of the Commonwealth. As a city, our diversity is our greatest strength, and that shone through in every moment of the Commonwealth games last summer.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth games were Britain’s most successful ever, beating our previous record medals total in Glasgow 2014 by two. They were also the most streamed games ever, outstripping the previous record sixfold, and represented the character and diversity of our country and Commonwealth tremendously. Our city was proud to have hosted and celebrated a games worthy of Her Majesty. We should not play down the powerful message of inclusion and diversity that the games sent to the millions watching around the world, nor the hundreds of millions in investment they brought to some of the most deprived patches of Birmingham, and the deepened and renewed connections across borders that we helped to forge. It is a great example of the benefits that Commonwealth membership can bring.

This year, Commonwealth Day marks the 10th anniversary of its charter, which gives expression to its defining values: peace and justice; tolerance, respect and solidarity; care for our environment, and for the most vulnerable among us. His Majesty summarised those values perfectly last week, saying:

“In this we are blessed with the ingenuity and imagination of a third of the world’s population”,

and that our shared humanity contains an immensely precious

“diversity of thought, culture, tradition and experience. By listening to each other, we will find so many of the solutions that we seek.”

Nowhere is this more urgent or relevant than in our environment. As I am sure all Members present know from our own constituencies, young people are demanding action on climate change. Across the Commonwealth, the futures of 1.5 billion people under the age of 30 will be defined by this issue. Yesterday, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change issued its synthesis report, which was a warning shot: we can still achieve 1.5° this decade, but humanity is on thin ice. Our sovereign has been a committed advocate for action on climate change for many years, and Labour shares that sense of mission and common purpose. That is why we have committed to our green prosperity plan to decarbonise electricity by 2030, phase out dirty imported energy and legislate to ensure that climate flows into every aspect of UK development policy and spending, just as gender does. We recognise that this issue that will define this century, and we have only seven short years to take the action needed.

To their credit, the Government reaffirmed their commitment to the 1.5° Paris agreement goals and nationally determined contributions at the Heads of Government meeting last year. However, it is now a matter of delivering. Can the Minister therefore update Members on the progress made to develop an implementation plan for the call to action on living lands that was promised in Kigali last year? Can she update the House on the progress she has made towards delivering the £11.6 billion of international climate finance that the Government have promised? Does she see a greater role for networks such as the Association of Commonwealth Universities in catalysing innovation and collaboration to tackle shared global challenges? I had the pleasure of meeting the ACU last year. With 500 member universities across 50 countries, it is uniquely placed to develop international policy at scale and pace. We have great institutions; we must not forget to nurture and make use of them.

It was fitting that, in Her Majesty’s jubilee year, the Heads of Government meeting was hosted in Africa—the very continent where she became Queen 70 years ago. I was delighted to see Gabon and Togo join the Commonwealth of nations, and Labour welcomes our newest Commonwealth siblings. Their participation shows that our association is based on not only our shared history, but our shared aspirations for a better future. They are both remarkable countries. Gabon is one of the few countries on earth that absorbs more carbon than it emits, owing to its rich ecosystem. The future of Gabon and Togo can be bright, and Commonwealth membership could help in shaping a positive path. Will the Minister say what efforts she is making to support Togo, along with our other Commonwealth partners such as Ghana and Nigeria, in addressing the increasing threats they are facing from instability in the Sahel?

It is a cause for celebration that the Commonwealth continues to grow, because we hold dear its values of human rights, democracy and inclusion. The eligibility criteria for Commonwealth membership states, among other things, that:

“an applicant country must demonstrate commitment to: democracy and democratic processes, including free and fair elections and representative legislatures; the rule of law and independence of the judiciary; good governance, including a well-trained public service and transparent public accounts; and protection of human rights, freedom of expression, and equality of opportunity”.

We hope that Zimbabwe can turn a new page in its history and evidence the progress on the requirements needed to rejoin the Commonwealth soon. I would be grateful if the Minister provided an update on its progress and the role that the UK is playing to support that.

I am sure that Members will join me in celebrating the progress made by Commonwealth countries. In recent years, India has passed legislation on maternity leave, to the benefit of over 600 million women. Last year, four of our fellow members—Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Barbados and Singapore—repealed anti-LGBT legislation. The UK must acknowledge the legacy of discrimination and laws it helped to create in some of those countries. We must do more to support member states wanting to lead reform.

As we see the sad roll-back of rights and norms in many countries around the world, the Commonwealth can provide a leading example. As every member agreed in the joint statement issued before the Human Rights Council in Geneva in 2020,

“the full social, economic and political participation of all…is essential for democracy and sustainable development to thrive.”

Continued progress and practice in support of human rights, democracy and inclusion is a core Commonwealth principle—something that we must all strive to achieve.

I will end with a few remarks on the future of the Commonwealth and the UK’s role within it. Our country’s ties of history, kinship and commerce with many of the other member states goes very deep. For countries in the global south, many in Africa, the past few years have been an onslaught—covid, climate, conflict and the cost of living. It is essential that the UK plays its full part in supporting them. It is in Britain’s interests to support a safer, more stable world. That is why developed countries have been rightly united in opposition to Russia’s brutal war on Ukraine; the war has drawn many countries in the west closer together as a result.

At the same time as the world’s poorest countries struggle, this Government have given the global south the cold shoulder. Many in the world’s poorest countries look at Britain and are losing faith in us as a partner that they can work with and rely on. There has been a damaging departmental merger, as well as promises made and repeatedly not kept, and successive cuts to aid programmes, as the Government divert money to firefight crises of their own making. We ignore the global south at our own cost. Many of those countries have rapidly growing economies, and will be increasingly important in a post-Brexit, multipolar geopolitical era. Together, they are geographically, culturally and economically diverse; the Commonwealth could be one of our most important multilateral institutions, as Her Majesty the Queen said.

Does the Minister think that it right that the Commonwealth received only two passing mentions in the integrated review refresh? Has she given any thought to improving Commonwealth operations out of London, to improve and better reflect the institution’s diversity and global representation? Does she agree that the UK should be playing an active and ambitious role in the shared agenda agreed in Kigali last year? Does she share my concern about the disproportionate impact of the aid cuts on Commonwealth partners in the last few years?

There is so much to be proud of in our Commonwealth membership and relationships. It is crucial to our mutual interests in relation to development, trade, security, climate change, human rights and democracy. It is a great institution that has, at times, been neglected when it needed to be nurtured. The past few years is a prime example of that. I hope the Government will act to correct their course; Labour certainly would.

10:24

[The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Anne-Marie Trevelyan)]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (Sir James Duddridge) for leading the debate, and for his dedication to the Commonwealth, including as a Minister and former chair of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I also thank colleagues for their contributions. Where there are questions that are not within the FCDO purview and for which I am unable to provide a response—some of which you highlighted, Mr Gray—I will ensure that the correct Minister does so in a timely manner.

The Commonwealth is a vibrant and diverse family of nations. It makes up a third of the world’s population and around 30% of the votes on the UN, and has a collective GDP of over $14 trillion. It plays an important role in supporting an open and resilient international order, bringing together states with an interest in promoting democracy, sustaining individual freedoms, driving sustainable development and enabling cross-border trade. In an increasingly turbulent world, where autocracy is on the rise, the Foreign Secretary has renewed the UK’s commitment to what he calls “this extraordinary organisation”.

This is an important year for the Commonwealth. On Commonwealth Day, we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Commonwealth charter, which enshrines our shared values of freedom, peace and democracy. We will also celebrate the coronation of His Majesty the King, the new Head of the Commonwealth, on 6 May. Last week, His Majesty the King and Her Majesty the Queen Consort joined Commonwealth representatives at Westminster Abbey for a service that paid tribute to Her late Majesty the Queen for her tireless dedication to the Commonwealth. I think the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) speaks for all of us in highlighting how sad we were to lose her last year. However, I think the Queen would have been so pleased that 2023 is also the Commonwealth Year of Youth. Over 60% of the Commonwealth’s population is under 30. As the previous Commonwealth chair-in-office, we championed the voice of young people, who will drive future prosperity across some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

The UK’s commitment to the Commonwealth is unwavering. We provide significant bilateral aid to Commonwealth countries, totalling over £1 billion in 2021, and we fund and support a wide range of Commonwealth initiatives and programmes. As we look towards the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa next year, the UK will work with partner nations to deliver tangible benefits in our three priority areas: trade, climate and values.

First, we need to boost trade and investment between Commonwealth countries. Encompassing over 2.5 billion consumers, the Commonwealth makes an important contribution to the global market network. Our shared language and shared institutions create what we refer to as the Commonwealth advantage, reducing the average cost of trade between members by 21% compared with trade with the rest of the world.

Building on that advantage, the UK has secured trade agreements with 33 Commonwealth countries, including economic partnership agreements covering 27 Commonwealth African, Caribbean and Pacific nations. However, we need to go further to make sure that all members feel the full benefits of Commonwealth membership, so the UK is working with partners to reduce barriers to intra-Commonwealth trade and to help developing members to attract sustainable inward investment.

The hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) raised an important point about flights between the UK and India. He is absolutely right to say that they are a tool that could open up both family and trade opportunities. The UK’s airline network is privately owned; different countries run their airlines in different ways. However, I am happy to discuss this issue with him and with colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade, to see how we can encourage the opening of new routes. I have dealt with this issue in relation to other countries, and I am happy to take it up with colleagues.

Secondly, the Commonwealth can drive enhanced action on climate change and the environment, particularly to support its more vulnerable members, including 25 small island developing states. I have had the great privilege personally, both in former ministerial roles and currently as Minister with responsibility for the Indo-Pacific, to visit nearly two dozen of our Commonwealth family countries, and in every one the challenge of climate change—the impact of more extensive and extreme weather events—is a real and present danger to the lives and livelihoods of so many people, their families and their businesses, and to the healthcare and education needs of women and young people most especially.

The UK has committed £11.6 billion to international climate finance, of which £3 billion is being invested in climate change solutions that protect and restore, and provide sustainable solutions to manage nature. The UK will continue to lead globally on this matter, harnessing all our talents, including—as the hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston highlighted—the ACU, in order to help to find long-term solutions. The UK is also committed to supporting Commonwealth members to access climate finance through our funding of the Commonwealth climate finance access hub. Our investment of around £500,000 in the hub has already helped to mobilise $38 million of climate finance in three Caribbean states. At the last Heads of Government meeting in 2022, the Prime Minister announced further funding, through the new £36 million sustainable blue economies programme, to support small island states to develop sustainable ocean economies.

As Members have noted, the continued commitment by Lord Goldsmith, my FCDO ministerial colleague, has helped to deliver the 30by30 oceans commitment that was announced just a couple of weeks ago, which will afford opportunities to many of our most climate-vulnerable Commonwealth countries and others to support and sustain their ocean economies and protect their livelihoods. These are really important areas of development.

Thirdly, the Commonwealth has the potential to deliver much more on democracy, good governance, human rights and the rule of law. All Commonwealth member states have committed to upholding those shared values enshrined in the Commonwealth charter. The UK has worked with national human rights institutions across the Commonwealth to strengthen human rights and has supported human rights advisers to help small states engage with the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

We are ensuring that more girls are in school, pledging £217 million to support girls’ education across the Commonwealth at CHOGM 2022. The funding supports global education data gathering, teacher training in Rwanda and programmes to get girls and vulnerable children into school in Pakistan.

We have also delivered programmes for the promotion and protection of LGBT rights across the Commonwealth. Some £2.7 million of funding will continue to support grassroots organisations, such as the Commonwealth Equality Network, to defend human rights and equality for LGBT+ people. However, much more needs to be done, and we will encourage Commonwealth countries to go further to ensure the full and equal participation of all people in society.

The UK values the work of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to strengthen parliamentary oversight and accountability in the Commonwealth, and the FCDO looks forward to continuing to work closely with the association. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East and my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller) for their consistent and passionate voices on the legal status of the CPA. They will be pleased to know that the Foreign Secretary has tasked FCDO officials with working with the CPA secretariat to find an acceptable solution by legislative means if necessary.

[Sir James Duddridge]

Will the Minister confirm that, as well as the pledge from the Foreign Secretary, normal channels have agreed that time will be found, if needed, for legislation? Secondly, could those meetings with officials happen as soon as possible, so that there is something a little firmer to go back with to individuals at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association international executive committee meeting on 17 April in Gibraltar?

[Anne-Marie Trevelyan]

I absolutely note my hon. Friend’s comment on the need for timeliness in those discussions so that it becomes clear exactly what the right route will be. I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary and his team are fully cognisant of that time pressure so that, whatever the solution is, we can ensure that colleagues on the write-round are able to support it. The Foreign Secretary is clear in his commitment to move forward, but I note that the clock is ticking as regards that meeting.

To drive our three-pronged agenda of trade, climate and values, our mantra needs to be the continuous improvement of Commonwealth institutions, building on the reforms agreed by Heads of Government in Kigali. We will work with the Commonwealth secretariat and members to ensure quick progress ahead of CHOGM 24. In the words of His Majesty the King,

“Let ours be a Commonwealth that not only stands together, but strives together, in restless and practical pursuit of the global common good.”

We will do all we can to meet the challenge he has set us, to strengthen the Commonwealth and to ensure that it delivers clear purpose and value for all its members, whether large or small.

10:33

[Sir James Duddridge]

What a wonderful flourish to end on—I am only sorry that I have to spoil it with my final comments. It is great that the Minister quoted his Majesty who, as I mentioned, has visited 45 countries, which is a little better than the two dozen visited by the Minister—not that I have been wasting my time over the weekend, but it is 32 for me, if you are asking, Mr Gray.

However, it has been a great tour de force from the Minister, particularly on small island states, and that is much appreciated by all. I ask her to pass on our collective thanks to the Foreign Secretary, for what is being done and, more generally, for the work he and Lord Goldsmith are doing, which has been exceptional. Getting that commitment on parliamentary time if it is needed, and knowing that the whole Department—from the Foreign Secretary down to the people who do the real work—knows there is that 17 April deadline is absolutely superb. So I thank the Minister for that.

I thank the hon. Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra) for his comments. I look forward to the Mumbai-Manchester route. I am happy to support that very visibly and vocally if he supports the Manchester-Southend route connecting up with it. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill) spoke about the impact on constituencies. The Commonwealth games are really passionate, and a lot of people, such as my constituents in Southend, held events involving, for example, children celebrating the Commonwealth. In Southend, the mayor, Kevin Robinson, took part in the celebrations. There is more we can do to celebrate in our constituencies.

The hon. Member for Motherwell and Wishaw (Marion Fellows) spoke passionately about pensions—perhaps stretching your patience with the detail, Mr Gray, although attention to detail is always admirable—and questions were raised about what type of heels I was wearing. I can reassure the House that I will be leaving my feet under the table so as not to embarrass anybody. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is always present for debates in this place, made an excellent contribution, particularly on the youth development index, and went through some of the nitty-gritty detail, which we sometimes brush over.

The hon. Member for Edinburgh North and Leith (Deidre Brock) touched on a few subjects on which I disagree with her, although we agree on others. I was present for a debate in the Chamber during which you, Mr Gray, disagreed with Members being allowed to use devices to look at Wikipedia. However, had I not spent a little time googling, I would not know that the hon. Lady is a product of the Commonwealth and of Australia. I suspect that, while I was at university, I watched her on “Home and Away”. The only characters I can remember are Charlene—for obvious reasons—from the garage, a dog called Bouncer and someone who went on to appear in “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, whose name I cannot remember.

The hon. Lady urged me to talk about schools. We have done a lot of work on girls’ education through the Department—sorry, the Government have. I am mixing up my roles. She also mentioned COVAX, which was rather curious. She should look back on her comments, because I think she will find that it was my right hon. Friend the Minister who brought in a £420 million facility for covid, called COVAX, before the vaccine even came into place, so we had that funding ready to distribute when a vaccine came forward. At the time, I was a Minister, and I spent hours, which I cannot get back, in covid committees looking at operationalising the vaccine and getting it out to different countries, which was somewhat problematic in a number of cases.

The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston made an excellent speech, drawing on her constituency experiences. I mused on whether there is a constituency out there containing representatives of all 56 Commonwealth countries, and Birmingham could probably muster those people. Perhaps we could all get together to celebrate the 56 nations. I fully support what was said about LGBT issues. We can both be embarrassed about how we have legislated across the Commonwealth against those communities, but we should also be proud of the progress that has been made, while acknowledging that further progress needs to be made.

There were calls for Zimbabwe to come back to the Commonwealth. Brilliant. Bring it on, Mnangagwa. We are ready for you. You just need to do the right thing. The hon. Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston also discussed whether we make enough of the Commonwealth. We make a lot of it, but we certainly do not make enough of it. It is good to know that not only His Majesty’s Government, but His Majesty’s official Opposition, want to do more with this multilateral institution.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered Commonwealth Day.

10:38

Sitting suspended.

Energy Charter Treaty

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

11:00

[Chris Skidmore (Kingswood) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this house has considered the Energy Charter Treaty.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray. I am grateful to the Minister responding today. I know he is currently very busy, preparing the finishing touches to the Government’s response to the net zero review, which I submitted as the review’s independent chair. I hope he will excuse me taking this chance to place on his ministerial desk another precious opportunity for the UK to demonstrate clear and decisive climate leadership.

I know that the Minister is all too aware of the opportunity that net zero and green growth present to the UK: new industries, new jobs and a wall of inward investment ready to be deployed into the UK if we are prepared to take the net zero pathway, rather than taking the risk of not zero and turning our backs on the economic opportunity of this decade, if not the century, that net zero provides.

The new economic narrative for net zero that the “Mission Zero” report outlines clearly demonstrates that the choices that the Minister and the Government will make this month—March 2023—over our future net zero investments and policy certainty will potentially define his place in climate and clean-energy history, if he acts now. The rest of the world is watching and waiting to see whether the UK will continue to show international leadership on climate policy.

I suggest that there is another opportunity to deliver international leadership on climate, which is achievable today, that the Minister and the Government can seize while the rest of the world watches and waits to see whether the UK will demonstrate international leadership. The UK Government can make a clear and public commitment to withdraw from the energy charter treaty. That treaty is an investment agreement dating back to the mid-1990s, when the focus was on access to oil and gas reserves in former Soviet countries, and when work to tackle climate change, and recognition of the opportunities of clean and renewable energy, was negligible. Today, the energy charter treaty acts as a millstone around the necks of all signatories who wish to take their climate obligations seriously.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The right hon. Gentleman’s interest in Northern Ireland is always significant. When I ask a question, I am always aware he probably knows the answer, for which I thank him. The aim of the energy charter treaty is to promote energy security through open and competitive markets. Although that is great for the English mainland, in Northern Ireland it is restricted to providers, and the competition is diminished. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that competitive markets must be available across all of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland so that we can all get the benefit? I know he is saying we should withdraw, but Northern Ireland is already behind the eight ball, as it is.

[Chris Skidmore]

If the hon. Gentleman looks at the details of the treaty, which I will come to, he will see that it does not create a level playing field for competition. It is weighted in favour of fossil fuel interests. He knows full well, given his interest in clean energy, how Northern Ireland could become a future green energy powerhouse. It wants to ensure that it can continue to build onshore wind turbines, with a huge opportunity for providing green hydrogen. The challenge the energy charter treaty provides to the UK, and Northern Ireland as a proud member of the UK, is that it takes those potential clean and renewable investments and weights them disproportionately against existing fossil fuel commitments that no other country wishes to make. That is a challenge that we need to deal with.

The charter is a relic from a bygone age, which should have long been recognised as serving an obsolete purpose that still places its dead hand across all states that signed it three decades ago, preventing climate investments and, worse, prioritising inexcusable investments in oil and gas, even when the countries themselves do not wish to make them. The energy charter treaty has effectively become a Magna Carta for fossil fuels, and it is being weaponised by fossil fuel companies to sue Governments for introducing climate policies.

Recently, Italy was sued for its ban on offshore oil drilling. The Netherlands has been sued for its coal phase-out law. Several companies have taken the Dutch Government to court for their decision to phase out fossil fuels by 2030, claiming damages of €3.5 billion. Slovenia has also been sued for its fracking ban

[Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green)]

Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that there is a danger of complacency in the Government’s current approach? When I have asked questions on this issue of the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism, the Minister has replied, “Well, there has never been a case against the UK, so it is not a problem.” The examples the right hon. Gentleman has just given show why it is such a problem. In the Italian case, the Government were sued for six times the amount the oil company ever invested in the project. Does he agree that there are real risks here and that we should not be complacent just because we have not yet had a UK case?

[Chris Skidmore]

Absolutely. The other risk, which I will come on to in a moment, is the chilling effect. We do not know, or are unable to quantify, the investments that could be coming to the UK but for the fear that the energy charter treaty will again place its dead hand on those investments. Withdrawal from the energy charter treaty provides the certainty, clarity, continuity and consistency—the four Cs—that the net zero review outlined as part of a mission-based approach to long-term certainty. We cannot have long-term certainty for investment in future renewable projects or take decisions potentially shutting our fossil fuel investments unless the energy charter treaty is removed. It is critical that we provide that future certainty if we want those additional investments and the opportunities offered by that inward wall of capital that is waiting to be spent. As the hon. Lady mentioned, an oil company winning £210 million from the Italian Government over their restriction on offshore oil drilling is a perfect example of the risk to which this outdated treaty now exposes the UK. She mentioned that the company won six times the amount it had ever spent on the project, and those winnings are now likely to be fed back into financing new oil exploration.

Most worrying are the continued binds that the energy charter treaty places on signatory countries to prioritise and protect private foreign investments ahead of the democratic rights of elected Governments. Through investor-state dispute settlements, Governments who wish to do the right thing by the citizens who elected them and to tackle climate change to meet their net zero commitments are having their hands shackled by the energy charter treaty, imprisoning what should be free nations and leaving them bound by undemocratic regulations that are fought over by fossil fuel lawyers in courts. At a time when the UK should be taking back its sovereignty, and when it is seeking to demonstrate its energy sovereignty, the energy charter treaty, with its use of these unacceptable ISDSs, should be a prime example of legislation that we must recognise as being at the top of any lists of Brexit freedoms. Surely the UK Government should, can and must take action now to restore our energy freedoms.

[Christina Rees (Neath) (Ind)]

If the UK follows the International Energy Agency’s recommendation and cancels oil and gas projects, it could face legal claims under the ECT of up to £9.4 billion. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warns of the risk of regulatory chill—which the right hon. Member has mentioned—causing the UK to delay or to decide against climate action for fear of being sued by large fossil fuel companies using the ISDS mechanism.

[Chris Skidmore]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right. Far more impressive legal minds than mine—who have been working at ClientEarth, Global Justice Now and Green Alliance—have demonstrated that there is a way for us out of this treaty and that we can, potentially, work with our European partners to create an exemption regime for some of the historic investment cases in relation to which we might be under treaty obligations.

[Dame Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)]

I heartily congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing this important debate. Does he agree that, given that there could be a 20-year timeframe in which we would still be liable for action and penalties, the sooner we get out of this treaty the better? Moreover, what indications has he had that it may be possible to negotiate and mitigate down those 20 years, especially given the huge interest from other European countries?

[Chris Skidmore]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right: the sooner we get out, the sooner we are not under the cosh. However, when it comes to looking at the mitigation circumstances for the 20-year rule, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands have all signalled their intention to withdraw from the energy charter treaty. As I will explain later, the EU as a bloc will now potentially decide to withdraw from the energy charter treaty, although it will obviously take time to gather agreement and the UK can therefore lead on making a concerted effort to get all the countries to withdraw. If they do, that potentially creates a mechanism by which some of the disputes are unable to be taken forward in certain areas, such as the wider European area; there could be an opportunity to demonstrate how the overall potential liability can be cut by over 60%.

As the hon. Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) has made clear, the risks of the status quo could hold the UK open to future challenge. The status quo cannot continue, because continued membership of the energy charter treaty risks having a chilling effect if Governments back away from new policies in order to avoid being sued—a danger that UN climate experts specifically warned about in the IPCC report. The UK Government have already recognised the problem, with the then Energy Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chelsea and Fulham, saying:

“The UK cannot support an outdated treaty which holds back investment in clean energy and puts British taxpayers at increased risk from costly legal challenges.”

I hope to see the same clarity from the new Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, as well as from the new, beefed-up Department for Business and Trade.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for securing today’s debate on such an important topic. Does he agree that the creation of a new Department gives us the opportunity to expedite the decisions that we desperately need to take, particularly in the light of yesterday’s IPCC report and his own excellent report? We have to work towards net zero; otherwise, we will hit “not zero”.

[Chris Skidmore]

Absolutely. The UK has demonstrated continued leadership time and again, and I was the first Energy Minister to sign net zero into law. We became the first G7 country to do so, beating France by one day. We must collaborate, and I am proud that we have now seen a huge number of countries commit to net zero. I think we are the first country globally to ensure that we have a Department for net zero, which must also be welcomed. I thank the Government for demonstrating leadership on this issue, but let us extend that leadership by not just changing the words on a plaque on a wall in a Department; let us ensure that the new Department can boldly show leadership by coming out and demonstrating to other countries that it is willing to act. Then others will follow.

There are now serious moves, both here in the UK and elsewhere across Europe, to leave the energy charter treaty as a matter of political priority. It is clear that any chance of reforming the treaty is over. The modernisation talks proposed last year have failed, because several European countries, including Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands, have decided to leave the treaty due to reforms not going far enough to bring it in line with the Paris agreement. Even the European Commission, which previously led the modernisation process, has announced plans for a full EU withdrawal from the treaty.

Without support from the UK’s traditional allies in favour of the continuation of the reform process, it will be impossible for the UK to push through reforms on its own against the remaining, less climate-ambitious energy charter treaty countries. The UK’s previous position of supporting modernisation is therefore no longer credible. Instead, the UK needs to reach out to like-minded partner countries, such as Germany, France and the Netherlands, to begin the process of co-leading an orderly withdrawal from the treaty.

In February, a group of experts wrote to the Energy and Net Zero Secretary, calling on the UK to quit the energy charter treaty. Today, 15 Members of Parliament from the all-party parliamentary group for the environment—I see a number of those colleagues in the room, representing four different parties—have written to the Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero, my right hon. Friend the Member for Beverley and Holderness (Graham Stuart), to make it clear that withdrawal from the ECT is now the best option for the UK in the future. The letter states that there is now an overwhelming case for taking action to leave the treaty unilaterally, especially given that many European countries have left and the EU as a bloc has publicly announced its withdrawal.

First, the letter makes it clear that

“The ECT is undermining efforts to achieve net zero due to costly legal action from fossil fuel companies, and the so-called “regulatory chill” effect, which causes governments to refrain from adopting climate policies. This view is supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change”.

Secondly,

“The ECT makes the UK less attractive for clean energy investments as instead of serving the interest of clean energy and sustainable technology companies, it creates a policy landscape that is tilted against clean energy, and which exposes UK finances to huge litigation risk.”

Thirdly,

“The Treaty modernisation process has failed, with major signatories like Italy, Germany, and France preferring to leave the Treaty.”

And fourthly,

“The UK can regain control by co-leading a coordinated Treaty exit by working with like-minded partners such as Germany and France. This would help put the UK at the centre of decision-making on the next phase of ECT discussions, rather than waiting for an EU-led strategy to re-emerge.”

Not only is the letter signed by Members from across the House, but the wider principle of leaving the energy charter treaty is backed by climate and clean energy non-governmental organisations. I have already mentioned a number of them, including the Green Alliance, Global Justice Now and ClientEarth. There is also the Aldersgate Group, chaired by the former Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May).

As the former Energy Minister who signed the UK’s legal commitment to achieve net zero by 2050 into law, I know too well the challenges that the Minister faces, having sat in his position in the past. Politics has always been about priorities, and no doubt he will be told that there are other priorities that the Government must face. Some will seek to delay; others will claim that it is just too difficult. It was no different when I was seeking to persuade other Departments to agree to net zero. History judges us all on the priorities that we make and the future that we seek to create. Sometimes that future is unknown and unknowable, but that should not prevent us from taking action now to achieve it.

If someone had told me back in 2019 that 90% of the world’s GDP would have signed up to a net zero target just three years on, I simply would not have believed it. Change comes at us fast sometimes, and there is no faster change than climate change. I know of no one serious about achieving net zero who would back the UK’s remaining in the energy charter treaty. Indeed, the reality is that continued membership of the ECT and continued commitment to net zero are not compatible. We face a choice between defending our fossil fuel commitments of the past or delivering our net zero commitments for the future. Our continued membership of the energy charter treaty is not only unsustainable, but simply indefensible. The time has come to pick a side. I urge the Minister to choose net zero and commit to the UK’s withdrawal from the energy charter treaty.

11:18

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Andrew Bowie)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Gray, and to respond to my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood (Chris Skidmore) on such an important and pertinent topic. Thanks to his work in passing net zero legislation into law, and through his work on the review, the UK is committed to tackling climate change at home and internationally through our ambitious net zero targets and our international climate agreements, including the Paris agreement. I want to assure him of my personal commitment to achieving those goals, which I hope he knows already.

In an earlier intervention, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) raised energy security in Northern Ireland. I urge him to hotfoot it back to this Chamber at 2.30 this afternoon when the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) has a debate very much focused on Northern Ireland and energy security for farmers. I look forward to seeing him there and we can continue our discussion.

The energy charter treaty was signed in 1994. It was originally designed to provide stability and certainty for those participating in cross-border trade and investment in the energy sector, particularly for investors operating in states with a less stable rule of law. It currently applies to more than 50 contracting parties. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood rightly says, the world and the energy sector have changed significantly since 1994, and there is wide recognition that the energy charter treaty has not kept pace.

Britain has long accepted that to remain relevant the energy charter treaty needs to be updated to reflect the current energy landscape. In its unmodernised form, it is focused on trade and investment in fossil fuels. Although renewables are in scope, it does not cover modern energy technologies such as hydrogen or carbon capture and storage. That is exactly why His Majesty’s Government have been such keen supporters of modernising the treaty; I dispute the characterisation from the hon. Member for Brighton, Pavilion (Caroline Lucas) that we are in any way complacent.

We have spent two years negotiating to align the treaty with today’s changing energy priorities and investment treaty practices, as well as international climate commitments, such as the Paris agreement. We took a leading role in pushing for additional safeguards for the sovereign right to introduce measures such as net zero and a flexible mechanism to allow parties to phase out investment protection for fossil fuels. To be clear, there were challenges to overcome in the renegotiation. It is a multilateral treaty across more than 50 states, each with different priorities on energy and climate. The UK was able to secure coverage for modern technologies, and provisions to ensure a stronger environmental, labour and climate focus.

[Chris Skidmore]

This is a factual question: who is the Minister going to negotiate with in a modernisation programme, when none of the European countries, including Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands and Italy, will be in the room? Logically, there is no opportunity to discuss modernisation, because no one wants to discuss it. The Minister’s speech may have been written before the decisions taken by the EU last week or the week before were made public, but it is simply not logically possible to follow the pathway that the Minister is suggesting. It might have been possible last year, but it is certainly not anymore.

[Andrew Bowie]

I was not suggesting a pathway forward; I was giving a brief history of how we have got to the stage we are at. If my right hon. Friend hangs fire for two seconds, I will explain where we are going next.

Despite efforts to update the treaty, which the EU had supported us on, when it came to the final moment the European Union and its member states were unable to endorse adoption of the modernisation at the energy charter conference in November. That was unexpected and a great disappointment to those, including member states and the UK, that were championing modernisation. As such, several EU member states have now announced their intention to withdraw. We expect a decision on modernisation to be rescheduled when enough contracting parties are in a position for a vote to take place.

We must carefully assess the impact of the evolving situation to understand how best to take forward our priorities in relation to the treaty. Since the conference in November, the Government have monitored the public positions of other contracting parties, engaged with official-level negotiators from those parties, conducted further assessment and considered the views from stakeholders across business, civil society and Parliament. We are building all that information, engagement and analysis into an assessment, underway right now, of how the UK should respond to the current situation in the energy charter treaty. We will keep the House informed of any relevant developments as soon as we are able.

Whatever the final decision on our membership or the future of the treaty, the UK remains committed to addressing the urgent need for climate action at home and abroad. As such, I sincerely thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood for raising the issue.

[Caroline Lucas]

I wonder whether the Minister recognises that there is an urgency to this. I appreciate that he is listening to lots of different voices, but if we are left on our own because all like-minded countries have left, we risk becoming stranded and unable to leave with the protection that would have come from a co-ordinated departure with our EU colleagues. Will the Minister consider that as he plots the way forward?

[Andrew Bowie]

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention; of course, that is being considered. As I said, an assessment of the UK’s position in regard to the treaty is being undertaken right now, and as soon as a decision has been taken we will update the House. The issue is important and pertinent, and I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for Kingswood for bringing it to the Chamber today.

Question put and agreed to.

11:24

Sitting suspended.

Energy Support for Farms

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

[Mr Laurence Robertson in the Chair]

14:30

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

I remind hon. Members that they need to stand and catch my eye if they wish to speak.

[Carla Lockhart (Upper Bann) (DUP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered energy support for farms.

As a matter of openness and transparency, I declare an interest: I come from a small, family-run farm. Thank you for chairing the debate, Mr Robertson; it is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship. I thank the Minister for being here and for his prior engagement on the topic. I thank hon. Members from across the House for giving their time to attend this debate on this important issue.

In the constituency that I represent, the agriculture sector is vital to our economic wellbeing. In the wise words of my grandfather, if the farmer is not doing well, no other industry is or will; such is the importance of our agrifood industry. Across the wider Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon area, we have 3,431 farms. They contribute approximately £376 million in goods value and farm support payments into the local economy. They provide employment in the agriculture sector and in the 265 local agrifood sector businesses that the industry supports. In Northern Ireland, we have 26,000 farming families. The agrifood sector is worth more than £5 billion to the economy, and we feed more than 10 million people with our top-quality produce.

As has been the case for all households and businesses, energy costs on these farms have spiralled since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. Many farms are unavoidably energy intensive. Take dairy, for instance. Farmers who needed to renew their energy contract last autumn experienced increases of more than 400%. With an electricity price of 37p per kWh, the annual cost to an average-size dairy farm is now approximately £105 per cow. For a 250 cow herd, that adds up to £46,000 a year, which is up by £26,000.

[Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife) (LD)]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on securing this important debate. I absolutely agree with her and want to give my own example. I represent a local seed potato farmer whose costs have increased from £10,000 to £30,000. He has a generator and thinks he may have to come off the grid entirely. He faces an increase not only in energy costs, but in standing charges. Does the hon. Lady agree that farmers face a cliff edge at the end of this month and are disappointed that the Government did not do more to support them through the Budget?

[Carla Lockhart]

I think the hon. Member has been reading my speech. A cliff edge certainly is coming for this important industry, which is the backbone of our economy.

Another example is poultry. There has been an increase of approximately £87 a day, which equates to about £32,000 a year. That is a phenomenal amount, and only so much of that can be passed on.

Ahead of the Chancellor’s spring statement last week, our farming unions, alongside Members from across the House, had been lobbying to bring about a change in mindset from the Government in relation to support for farmers with energy costs. The Government must recognise the key role of the agriculture sector in feeding the nation. The industry needs support in the face of energy price pressures.

The current support from the energy bill relief scheme is due to expire at the end of March. It will be replaced by the energy bills discount scheme, which will run for 12 months. That scheme offers far less protection and support to businesses, with the removal of the price cap and its being replaced by a token discount. A pre-defined selection of industries has been identified for additional support under the energy and trade-intensive industries scheme. However, farming sectors have been left off this scheme, leaving them literally out in the cold without support. In the face of that cliff edge, the ask of the Government was straightforward. Our farming unions, on behalf of their members, sought the extension of the energy and trade-intensive industry scheme to include energy-intensive sectors, such as horticulture, poultry and pig production. That was a reasonable ask that the Government should have listened to.

Poultry businesses are reliant on gas and electricity to rear poultry and store fresh produce safely. Without sufficient support, there is no doubt that those farmers will struggle to absorb the huge hikes in energy prices that they will face. The same can be said for pig producers.

[Mr Gregory Campbell (East Londonderry) (DUP)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. As I am sure is the case across the UK, small farm holdings in Northern Ireland have shown great adaptability and diversification over recent years, as times and legislation have changed. Does she agree that the campaign and the pressure she is applying to the Government, to which I hope they will respond positively, needs to get them over the hump of the next 12 months, after which we hope things will improve regarding prices and the war in Ukraine, so that a more normalised structure can return?

[Carla Lockhart]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. The point is well made that there needs to be a short-term injection for those farmers, so that they can continue to produce at the same levels. We will see farming families and farms going out of business, which will not help the overall industry or the nation’s requirement for food produced locally.

Horticulture’s exposure is significantly greater not just for gas for glasshouse heating but for electricity used for lighting, chilling and storage. Without sufficient support, that sector will be under huge strain to remain viable. Yet the evidence-based appeal was ignored by the Chancellor. That reasonable ask of the farming community to extend the ETII scheme was ignored. There was no extension of ETII to support energy-intensive farms. A range of other industries continue to receive support. High-level energy relief continues to several sectors, including food processing and manufacturing, but the primary producer is forgotten. The Government once more ask the farmer to do more with less, and that is simply not possible.

[Wendy Chamberlain]

I thank the hon. Lady for giving way again. Wholesale energy prices are already falling. The Government have not spent the amount of money that they had expected to spend on their energy-relief schemes. Does she agree that the Government have the headroom to go over and above what they announced in the Budget and to date? They could use those additional funds to support our farmers.

[Carla Lockhart]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Lady. There is the headroom and available money. I encourage the Government to do the right thing by the industry and to support those farmers at this time of need. This decision will have consequences; the cliff edge will be too much for some farmers. They will exit the industry and others will reduce output, unable to absorb the cost of maintaining their current output. Consequently, UK food production will fall, processors and manufacturers in the supply chain will be impacted, food inflation may well increase, and consumers ultimately will end up paying more.

No one wins from this decision. I believe it is still in the interests of the Treasury and the Government as whole, the agrifood industry and consumers that this decision is revisited. I ask the Minister to undertake to explore this comprehensive case once more, and to step up with the support these farms need to face the challenge and conditions they find themselves in. I also invite him to visit my constituency in his ministerial capacity to witness at first hand the value that these farms add to our economy and the pressure that they are currently feeling.

We need to back British farming. The Government demand the highest standards of our farmers and must repay their endeavours to produce world-class produce to the best animal welfare, environmental and sustainability standards with sufficient levels of support to enable them to do just that.

14:40

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

It is indeed a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson, and an even greater pleasure to support my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart). She has outlined very clearly the problems that her constituents in Upper Bann are having, and I want to reflect on those problems as well.

It is also a pleasure to see the Minister in his place. He reminded me at 11 o’clock that this debate was on— I was already going to come, by the way. It is a real pleasure to be here. I think that he has already told me that whatever I ask for, he will respond in a positive fashion. I am not quite sure how that will work out, but perhaps my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann could give me a list of things to ask for. I say that in jest, by the way, but I know that the Minister will reply in a very positive fashion and I appreciate that.

My hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann is truly an advocate, in every sense of the word, for her constituents. She is also—I say this respectfully—a credit to her constituency and to us as her colleagues. We are very pleased to have her here alongside us today and we are equally pleased to support her.

I declare an interest as a landowner and a farmer, and a member of the Ulster Farmers’ Union. As my hon. Friend and I both hail from rural constituencies, we are often of one mind and one voice. Everyone else present is also of that one voice because the issue raised by my hon. Friend affects many constituencies across this whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It is hard to know what more can be added to the comprehensive case that my hon. Friend has made today, but I will certainly do my best to contribute to this debate in a positive fashion. Farmers and farm businesses are heading towards crisis, which will not be a matter of a few “Closed” signs and a closed door; instead, it is a matter of food security, which is of the utmost importance to this House.

I chair the all-party parliamentary group on eggs, pigs and poultry. There is no better APPG to chair, by the way; I love telling people about it. Everybody says, “Well, you’ll have a good breakfast every morning”, and I probably do. I always have two eggs every morning; I do not always have bacon or sausages, but I always have my eggs.

In my constituency of Strangford, the eggs, pigs and poultry sectors have intensive businesses with high energy usage. They have been encouraged to produce more food over the years, and to invest to do so. They have done that. The old saying, “You need to speculate to accumulate”, only really works if someone can speculate in a way whereby they know they will get a return. The problem is that with energy costs being so high, that speculation is now looking rather doubtful for many farmers, which is why we worry.

In my constituency of Strangford, we have the world-famous Comber spud. There is no spud like it; there are no potatoes like it in the whole world. By the way, Europe recognised that and I have to say that I had a small role to play in getting the Comber spud recognised by Europe. My colleague at that time was Simon Hamilton. He and I pursued that objective and the Comber potato is now highly recognised and valued, not only right across the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but as far away as Europe.

The very famous Comber potato is produced by farmers in my area. They are immensely proud of that product, as they rightly should be. In my constituency of Strangford, we are blessed with precisely the right climate to be able to produce three crops of potatoes per year instead of the standard two. As I say, that is due to the climate, but it is also down to the soil. I would say, without fear of being contradicted, that there is no better soil in Northern Ireland to do that. And what a joy it is to represent that constituency, which has, as I say, the best soil there is.

The difficulty for the businesses in my constituency is that the cost of production has risen but the cost to the agrifood industry of converting potatoes into mash pots—which is where nearly all potatoes seem to go now—or whatever form they take, means that they cannot provide as much food as they potentially could. That is due to the rising energy costs.

[Mr Alistair Carmichael (Orkney and Shetland) (LD)]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way and I remind the House of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. He touches on the most important part of the debate. The issue is not just that farmers face increased energy costs, but that that is part of the overall package. They have labour shortages and are under the cosh in just about every way imaginable. Consequently, if they are not able to meet the demand, other food sources will come through trade deals, and once they fill that gap in the market, we will never get them out.

[Jim Shannon]

The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I will refer to that shortly and give an example. There are many issues with workforce and the supply of products as well. We have had problems over the last year, before and after Christmas, and I wish to refer to them as well.

Over the years, Government have encouraged farms to diversify and modernise, providing grants for new equipment and technology. However, Government have not taken into account the fact that costs have quadrupled in the space of a year for many farmers, and grants and subsidies certainly do not meet those rising costs. When I speak to farmers in my constituency about the possibilities for renewable energy—there are quite a few who are trying to do it—I learn that, unfortunately, they have heard too many stories of fields being used for solar energy with only £100 being saved on the electricity bill. They would be better off renting out their field for a birthday party bouncy castle, which would bring in more revenue than £100. The numbers do not seem to add up for many and that is why we must now step in and sow solutions into the problem. Hopefully, the Minister will give us some ideas about what can be done to assist and help.

The lifeblood of this nation lies in self-sustainability. The right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) referred to that. The UK does not produce enough fruit and vegetables for its population to get the recommended five portions a day. Even without taking waste into account, the United Kingdom would need to produce or import 9% more fruit and veg for everyone to be able to eat the recommended amount. That is not possible while farmers do not have the ability to produce and process in profit.

The recent debacle with the fruit and vegetable shortage highlighted a pertinent point: the UK depends on Morocco and Spain for vegetables during the winter. It does not have the workforce to sustain and gather all the fruit and veg in the summer. There are opportunities to do that better and to work ahead. Because of heavy rains and floods, suppliers have been hit by the problem of ferry cancellations, which has, in turn, affected lorry transport. At one stage, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs had to reply in the House as to why food was so scarce. To be fair, it was not the Secretary of State’s fault, but ultimately the need to find a solution fell at her feet.

Supermarkets have also had shortages of broccoli and citrus fruits and we were left with rationing. I am not an avocado man, but my wife mentioned that they were in short supply as well. We never eat them, by the way, so I do not know why she told me that. I could not figure it out because it did not really make that much difference. However, farmers know they could fill the breach with other seasonable vegetables if they had the capacity to do so in a profit-making venture. If it comes to speculating, to accumulate we need to encourage the farmers to do just that.

Generations of farmers are prepared to carry on with the family farm and the back-breaking, morale-destroying and socially isolating nature of their work. We may not give farmers enough credit for all they do. They work away. I have always lived in the countryside, so I am aware of that from friends I went to school with and others I know quite well. Also, I live on a farm and my neighbours are all intensive farmers. But they cannot do this without support and the recent payment does not even make a dent in what is needed.

I back my hon. Friend the Member for Upper Bann in her calls for meaningful support. This is not only a matter of saving a job; this is about saving the nation’s ability to survive alone, and that is worth any investment in my eyes and hopefully in those of the Minister.

14:49

[Patricia Gibson (North Ayrshire and Arran) (SNP)]

I too congratulate and thank the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) for securing this debate, in which I am pleased to be participating. It is important that the challenges facing our farming sector are properly aired, and it is a little disappointing that the debate has not attracted more interest from across the House.

Farming that uses more energy—for example, the horticultural and poultry sectors—is not included in the UK Government’s definition of energy and trade intensive industries. There will therefore be a reduction in the energy cost support for farms, which has caused understandable and great disquiet.

The omission of horticulture is particularly frustrating. The question posed by the National Farmers Union, to which we would all like an answer, is: why are botanical gardens included in the scheme, but not food grown in greenhouses? That is not to take anything away from botanical gardens, but it seems quite out of kilter and bewildering. European farmers have been supported with a €500 million package to help with production costs, but farmers in Scotland and across the UK feel that the support they have been asking for has not been forthcoming.

As the Minister is aware, it was very much hoped that the Chancellor, in his Budget last week, would extend the definition of energy and trade intensive industries. It is extremely frustrating that that did not happen. As production costs soar, many farmers and food producers face a cliff edge of support. “Cliff edge” is an expression that every speaker in the debate has used. Many producers simply do not know how they will be able to keep going. Where in the Government’s priorities does domestic food production come? Unless the definition is extended, there may well be a reduction in production, which will risk longer-running food price inflation for consumers and could negatively impact the thousands of supply chain companies sustained by the farming sector.

Recent weeks have demonstrated how important domestic food production is, but it is energy intensive. We only have to think back to the recent tomato shortage as a prime example of what can go wrong if the farming sector is not supported. The vast majority of UK tomatoes are grown in greenhouses, which is clearly energy intensive. That, alongside the soaring cost of fertiliser, has given farmers cause to review what food they can actually afford to grown. Indeed, many have opted not to grow vegetables this winter, since there is a genuine lack of confidence that they would be able to cover the costs associated with energy-intensive crops. Cucumbers, which are also energy intensive, are expected to be another casualty. More generally, a shortage of domestic produce right across the board is now expected next year. Farmers cannot be expected to grow produce when they cannot even cover their costs. The reality is that it is simply not viable to grow under glass unless farming is recognised to be an energy-intensive business.

The only way to ensure that we have fresh domestic produce on our shelves is for the UK Government to understand what everyone else understands: that food production is energy intensive. It is bewildering that that argument has to be made. If that is not recognised, a shortage of fresh domestic produce on supermarkets shelves will become a familiar sight. The disruption of international supply chains means that we cannot even have imported fresh produce, as we saw recently with tomatoes. It will not be because of rain in Spain or Moroccan weather changes, as we were told recently when tomatoes became like hens’ teeth; it will be because of inaction from this Government.

There can be no doubt that Brexit has posed huge challenges for domestic food production. Farmers were promised a Brexit bonanza, but the reality is that they have been left paying the price for the damage caused by the Brexit adventure. Some people may think, “Well she would say that, wouldn’t she?” but the chair of Save British Food has also observed:

“I keep hearing that Spain is being blamed for the food shortages in Britain and this is absolute nonsense. The reason we have food shortages in Britain—and they don’t have food shortages in Spain or anywhere else in the EU—is because of Brexit and because of this disastrous Conservative government that have no interest in food production or farming or even food supply. That’s why we are in this mess. The Conservatives with their Brexit have messed up our trade and made that very difficult. This has also impacted the labour supply as it ended freedom of movement. It has also removed the cap and food subsidies, then add on top of that the Ukraine war and Covid and all of the inflation. All of this was predicted and predictable.”

Those are not my words; they are the words of the chair of Save British Food, who I suspect knows a thing or two about British food. She is now part of a growing chorus of people who have concluded that the only way to fix the problem is to

“get back into the single market and customs union”.

The woes are not hard to find; they are piling up for farmers at an alarming rate. The Public Accounts Committee criticised the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for its “blind optimism” over the implementation of the UK Government’s alternative to the EU’s common agricultural policy funds, with a lack of detail as to how alternative funding will provide the help needed.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

Order. I gently remind the hon. Member that the debate is on energy support for farms. It is quite a narrow title.

[Patricia Gibson]

Mr Robertson, you intervened at the right moment. I was setting out the general context for farmers. I have talked about energy support, but I am putting it in the context of the bigger challenges our farming sector faces. I take your point about the title of the debate.

We can barely imagine the sense of betrayal and abandonment that farmers feel when they look at their EU counterparts, who have a £500 million support package to help with production costs. That is a lump sum to farmers and agrifood businesses affected by the significant increase in input costs, such as energy, fertiliser and animal feed. All that UK farmers are asking for is similar support. Energy costs are the obstacle that is going to hit domestic food production across the UK—there is no debate about that. On top of energy costs, farmers have to deal with chronic labour shortages, with £22 million of fruit having rotted in the fields because of the labour shortage caused by the end of freedom of movement.

The Scottish Government are doing what they can with their limited powers to support farmers. The Minister does not need me to tell him that energy support is reserved to the UK Government. It is to the UK Government that our farmers are looking and hoping; they are asking and lobbying them to take note of the devastating impact that we will see on the farming sector and domestic food production if farming is not rightly recognised as an energy-intensive business—that should be no surprise to anybody.

When we get down to it, this debate is really about whether domestic food production matters. If it does not matter, then the Government can tell us about that position. I believe, as do many others, that it does matter, and that it requires the support that has been called for today. I hope the Minister will listen, and then go back to his colleagues to make the strong, robust case to include horticulture and poultry in the energy and trade intensive industries scheme. Otherwise, the damage to our farming sector and to domestic food production will be nothing short of catastrophic.

14:59

[Dr Alan Whitehead (Southampton, Test) (Lab)]

I congratulate the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) on securing the debate. It is on an important and usually forgotten part of our current energy debates. We talk generally about domestic customers and industry and commerce and what they get in the various energy bill support schemes and discount schemes and so on, but we very rarely talk about farming or agriculture.

We tend to think that there is not much energy going into these rural buildings. We completely overlook just how much energy is used by farms, particularly in intensive industries such as poultry farming and horticulture where an enormous amount of energy is used in many parts of the process. It is rather hidden behind the seemingly low-cost, low-energy appearance of the rural environment.

It is important to concentrate on the farming sector’s problems with energy costs and what they mean for the ability of such businesses to sustain themselves. We must also think about what that means for the on-costs for everybody else, such as effects on the cost of food production. Many farms are pushed between the prices they are going to get for their end products from further up the chain and their own costs coming in. We must consider how they are going to make a living between those two points.

The hon. Member for Upper Bann gave examples of just how much energy costs have gone up for relatively small farms in her area. Those costs are, of course, replicated across the United Kingdom. She made a strong case for the question of energy support for farms to be looked at with a far wider lens that encompasses not just the small contributions that have been made to farms through the energy bill support scheme and others—though I know Northern Ireland has a slightly different scheme from the rest of the UK, where the payments are lumped together. There has been a considerable debate in Northern Ireland about the extent to which farms that are both domestic properties and farms get the full amount of payment through the scheme. Indeed, I have discussed with Ministers in Delegated Legislation Committee proceedings the rather complicated nature of that process.

The hon. Member for Upper Bann put forward the case that, notwithstanding Northern Ireland’s scheme, farms ought to be treated as part of an energy-intensive industry. I am sure hon. Members will be interested to know what actually is classed as an energy-intensive industry. The starting point for being treated as an energy- intensive sector is to fall in the 80th percentile for energy intensity—meaning it must fall in the top 20% for energy intensity across the UK—and the 60th percentile for trade intensity. So there is a formula as to what gets on the list of energy-intensive industries and can then receive additional support from the EBRS and be substantially exempted from environmental levies on the whole industry. The exemption has been 85% for quite a while, and there are discussions about whether it should be increased to 100% in the not-too-distant future. Categorisation as an energy-intensive industry is important, in a number of ways, to getting support with energy.

It is curious that poultry processing, for example, is on the list of energy-intensive sectors, but poultry production is not, and that things relating to ornamental plants are on the list, but horticulture is not. I suspect that may be because of the NACE—nomenclature of economic activities—classes, which define sectors. It may be that what look to us like sectors—poultry and horticulture, for example—are lost in the wider definition of a class such as agriculture and farming.

The Government should review fairly urgently how sectors are defined for energy intensity purposes. Seventy-one sectors come under the definition of energy-intensive industries. Is farming simply losing out because, as the sector is defined, its relatively lower-carbon elements dilute the elements with greater energy intensity? Such a review is well overdue. If the sectors were drawn a bit more closely, I think farming—or at least substantial elements of it, in the way that the hon. Member for Upper Bann described—would come under the definition.

Curiously, coalmining is defined as an energy-intensive industry and therefore 85% exempt from environmental levies, when we might think that that activity has something to do with the raising of those levies in the first place. There may be a wider case for redefining what counts as an energy-intensive industry.

This is a very important issue, and the Government could do something about it, not simply by providing a larger cash amount to farms, but by defining much more clearly what it is to run a farm and how energy use affects such definitions. The Government can look again at those definitions, and I hope that the Minister will commit to doing just that.

15:09

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Andrew Bowie)]

It is an absolute pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I thank all hon. Members for joining us in Westminster Hall for this debate. All of us—especially those of us who represent rural constituencies—are aware of the challenges that farmers are facing at the minute. I wish to express my gratitude to the hon. Member for Upper Bann (Carla Lockhart) for bringing forward this debate and for her dedicated campaign to back British farming.

The Government have implemented several comprehensive support schemes across the UK to assist farmers in coping with energy costs. In particular, I wish to address the support being provided in Northern Ireland, given the vital contribution of farming and agriculture to the economy there.

I understand how fundamental agriculture and the wider agrifood industry is to Northern Ireland, employing more than 50,000 people across 26,000 farms. Northern Ireland is renowned at home for the quality of its produce. Farms are at the heart of the agrifood industry, which contributes £4.5 billion in turnover every year, helping to deliver a stronger, more secure economy in Northern Ireland. Before I go any further, let me say that I would be delighted to take the hon. Lady up on her invitation to visit Upper Bann and see farms operating in her constituency.

Given the industry’s importance, it is right that the Government’s energy schemes have offered much-needed support to farmers over the winter in the face of high and rising energy costs. On 1 October, we introduced the energy bill relief scheme, which will continue to run until the end of this month. It provides a discount on the wholesale component of gas and electricity bills and has provided protection to farmers from excessively high energy costs over the winter period. Support offered by this package is worth £7.3 billion and it is available across the entire United Kingdom.

Although energy prices are coming down, and it is right that we balance continued support with energy costs with our duty to the taxpayer, we also recognise that prices remain far above historical levels. For that reason, although the energy bill relief scheme is coming to an end, we have pledged to provide further support to non-domestic customers, including our farming industry, from April onwards through the energy bills discount scheme. The EBDS will continue to provide support to eligible non-domestic customers with their energy bills from April this year until the end of March 2024.

It is true that the EBDS baseline support is significantly reduced compared with that of the current energy bill relief scheme. That is to reflect the welcome reduction in wholesale energy prices. The Government make no apology for ensuring that the taxpayer is protected; we need to focus our support where it is most needed. Under the support package, energy and trade-intensive industries will receive a higher level of support than the baseline element. That is essential if those industries are to maintain their competitive edge against their international counterparts as they are less able to pass on increased costs to their consumers.

Before I move on, I wish to address the specific points that were raised. It is a great pleasure to see the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) back in the Chamber for the second time today. I am delighted to address his points, although I take issue with his assertion that the Comber spud is the greatest potato in the world. I think a tattie howked from the Howe o’ the Mearns is the far superior potato when it comes to international comparisons. None the less, I do take on board all of what he said. I know that, as a diligent Member of Parliament for an incredibly rural constituency, like me, he speaks from his heart when he talks about representing his farming constituents. I associate myself entirely with his comments on the socially isolated nature of farming in the 21st century. We must do all that we can to support farmers in the incredibly important work that they do to support this country and, indeed, to export great British produce around the world.

The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead), raised eminently sensible and pertinent points. I commit to looking at the definition of an energy-intensive industry, and specifically at his point about how the less carbon-intensive elements of farming may reduce the overall burden of carbon intensity.

Let me turn to the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson), the spokesperson for the Scottish National party. I will not take any lectures from the SNP on supporting Scottish farmers. It is not the Conservative Government, but the SNP Government who have been accused by the National Farmers Union Scotland of leaving farmers to operate in an information void, given the lack of progress on the Scottish post-Brexit farming Bill.

If the hon. Lady really is as passionate as she says she is about supporting domestic food production in Scotland, perhaps she will make the case within the SNP Government that they should get on board and extend the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Bill to Scotland, just as the NFUS has asked them to. That could be a great fillip and a great boost for Scottish farming, given that so much of the technology in that field is being developed in Scotland. Other than that, the hon. Lady did make some important points regarding supporting Scottish farmers, which, of course, I take on board.

I thank the hon. Member for Upper Bann for raising the issue of farms not being eligible for the additional targeted support of the energy and trade-intensive industries scheme. I am aware that the National Farmers Union and the Ulster Farmers Union have raised similar concerns. I want to stress that the energy and trade-intensive industries eligible sectors list is targeted and comprehensive. It was developed to support sectors in the top 20th percentile for energy intensity and the top 40th percentile for trade intensity in the UK, notwithstanding what I said in reply to the hon. Member for Southampton, Test about the carbon intensity of some elements of farming.

Sadly, the farming sector does not meet the ETII eligibility criteria at the minute and is therefore not eligible to receive the targeted support. Although I recognise that the hon. Member for Upper Bann would wish us to go further, I hope she will understand that we have sought to be fair in applying the criteria rigorously and objectively. We do not have plans to extend the scope of eligible sectors to include farms, as confirmed by the Chancellor at the Budget. However, the non-domestic alternative fuel payment offers one-time support of £150 to approximately 76,000 customers in Northern Ireland and 315,000 non-domestic customers without access to mains gas, including some farms, throughout Great Britain. High users of heating oil can apply for a top-up payment based on their usage over the past year.

It is essential that we look at energy bills support for farms and farmers in the round. Although farms will benefit from the EBDS at its base support level, rather than at the enhanced level for energy and trade-intensive industries, they will also benefit from funding available to domestic customers. That includes the energy price guarantee, the alternative fuel payment and the energy bills support scheme. The energy price guarantee reduces electricity and gas costs for domestic customers, aiming to lower annual bills, combat fuel poverty and maintain supplier market stability. The scheme covers approximately 29 million households.

In Northern Ireland, all households are receiving a combined payment of £400 from the energy bills support scheme and a £200 alternative fuel payment, regardless of whether they use alternative fuels or mains gas to heat their homes. That payment has been provided by electricity suppliers to all households with a domestic meter and a contract. That will include farmhouses with a domestic meter. Farms in Northern Ireland with a combined meter are covered by the alternative funding, to which I will turn shortly. Suppliers began making payments on 16 January and have confirmed that all first attempts to reach all customers have been made. Efforts are now ongoing to reach those who encountered challenges in the first pass, such as vouchers addressed to the wrong individual or failed bank transfers. Those who have not yet received their vouchers or a payment into their bank account should immediately contact their electricity supplier.

In Great Britain, the energy bills support scheme is being delivered as a discount on energy bills and provided by suppliers in monthly instalments from October 2022 to March 2023. As we are now approaching the end of the scheme’s final month, I urge all hon. Members to join the Government in highlighting to their constituents who use traditional prepayment meters the importance of acting now to redeem their energy bills support scheme vouchers.

[Jim Shannon]

Over the weekend, it was indicated in a newspaper that 20,000 households in Northern Ireland have not received their benefit. Is there any way that the Minister can ascertain who those 20,000 households are? Are some of them farmers? We suspect that they are. There was certainly an issue early on, with some farmhouses not receiving the benefit. Would the Minister be so generous as to find out the answer to that question?

[Andrew Bowie]

Across the entire United Kingdom, 1.9 million vouchers remain unused, which is why I ask all hon. Members to encourage people who have not received their vouchers, or who are not receiving the discount that they should be, to contact their electricity supplier, either directly or through their Member of Parliament. I will find out the fuller answer to the hon. Gentleman’s specific question on where those people are.

For those without a domestic energy supply, who were not eligible for automatic support, we have introduced the energy bills support scheme alternative funding in Great Britain and its Northern Ireland counterpart, the energy bills support scheme alternative funding for Northern Ireland. They offer one-off, non-repayable payments of £400 and £600 respectively. In Northern Ireland, applications are processed by our contracted delivery partner, with Government support. The £600 payment in Northern Ireland comprises £400 for energy bills, as in Great Britain, and £200 for alternative fuels, mirroring the payments under the main energy bills support scheme in Northern Ireland.

The Government are committed to providing assistance to farmers, households and businesses affected by high energy costs. The comprehensive schemes that I have outlined have been designed to offer support when it is most needed and alleviate the burden on our citizens and businesses during these challenging times.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Upper Bann on securing this debate on a subject of great importance to many farms, businesses and households. I commit to taking away all that she and others have raised about the high intensity of those businesses. I would be delighted not just to visit her constituency but to work further with her if my Department can provide further assistance to ensure that support reaches all those who need it as swiftly as possible.

15:20

[Carla Lockhart]

I thank everyone who participated in the debate. Farming is clearly the backbone of our economy, and it was important to highlight this issue. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for raising food security. His constituency always gets a mention. No one is in any doubt about the importance of Comber spuds.

I thank the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael) for highlighting not just the energy issue, but labour shortages and the effect of the increase in production on feed and so on. That was an important point.

I thank the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Patricia Gibson) for highlighting the lack of support and raising the need to prioritise domestic food production. She digressed slightly with some of her views on Brexit, but her overall point about energy and the need for more support for our farming families was well made.

I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Southampton, Test (Dr Whitehead), for his contribution. He made the important point that the Government need to look at the definition, and the Minister said he would do just that. The shadow Minister asked whether the definition is being diluted; we need to look at that important point.

I thank the Minister for his comments in this important debate. He highlighted that lots of support has been given out, but it really is a drop in the open. He will understand why I say that I do not believe it goes far enough. I encourage him to look again at the definition and include farming in the intensive industries list. It is intensive, and it needs more support or farming families will be diminished across the United Kingdom. We do not want to see that; we want more food to be produced in this United Kingdom. We want to serve our communities and produce high-class, quality produce for all to feed on.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered energy support for farms.

15:23

Sitting suspended.

Altitude Sickness: Travel Advice

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

15:59

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

I will call Rob Roberts to move the motion in a moment and then the Minister to respond. As is the convention for 30-minute debates, there will be no opportunity for the Member to make a winding-up speech.

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Ind)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of travel advice on altitude sickness.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship once again, Mr Robertson. Altitude sickness is somewhat of a blanket term covering a variety of ailments that range from acute mountain sickness to high-altitude pulmonary oedema and high-altitude cerebral oedema. These conditions can be life-threatening, as many people find out each year and, sadly, as my own family recently discovered. I apologise and beg the indulgence of the Chair as some of the comments I will make may be distressing to hear, but it is important to convey the seriousness of the situation.

Altitude sickness is brought on by ascending to a high altitude too quickly or remaining at extreme altitudes for too long. To start with, the common and normal reaction to being at high altitude resembles that of a hangover—something I am sure we have all experienced at least once. It is not pleasant, with a headache being the most reported and common symptom. A few days on, if the headache is still occurring, someone with altitude sickness has what are referred to as category 1 symptoms, which include being out of breath when active, having difficulty sleeping and having a higher than normal heart rate. It is worth mentioning that if people are travelling to places of high altitude and do not know their normal heart rates, both at rest and during activity, they should definitely seek out advice in advance and find them out so that they can judge whether they rise.

The headache and other category 1 symptoms would be annoying or a minor irritation. They may affect the first couple of days of that person’s well-earned holiday but will normally be overlooked as just an annoyance. Those early warning signs, which would normally just mean “Drink more water” and “Take it easy on a Sunday morning”, should be treated very differently if experienced in unfamiliar conditions, especially at high altitude.

We then have what are deemed category 2 symptoms, which occur predominately when no action is taken to relieve the category 1 symptoms. They indicate that something much more significant may be happening and that individuals should seek immediate medical advice. The symptoms may include loss of appetite or nausea, weakness, dizziness or light-headedness, and ongoing fatigue. Category 3 symptoms are the most severe of all and are deemed immediately life-threatening when the aforementioned aliments start to occur.

High-altitude pulmonary oedema is just a fancy way of saying that someone has fluid on their lungs. It is often identified by symptoms such as persistently coughing or bringing up a white frothy liquid that may be tinged with blood. A person with high-altitude pulmonary oedema is deemed to be drowning from the inside, with their chest congesting, and they make abnormal sounds. They will likely experience extreme confusion, slurred vision and a cold, clammy skin. They should not lie down as that can make the situation worse, as I will discuss later.

High-altitude cerebral oedema is a fancy way of saying that someone has fluid and swelling on the brain. Cerebral oedema can be immediately recognised in someone being extremely confused, having blurred vision, being sensitive to light, having the inability to co-ordinate, walk or talk, and if their skin is turning grey.

Altitude sickness typically occurs only above 2,500 metres, or 8,000 feet, although some people are affected at lower altitudes. Risk factors include a prior episode of altitude sickness, a high degree of activity or a rapid increase in elevation. Acute mountain sickness, cerebral oedema and pulmonary oedema are all diagnosed based on clinical findings, and their severity is determined subjectively by the intensity of the symptoms that the individual reports.

Altitude sickness occurs in around 20% of people after rapidly going to 2,500 metres and in 40% of people going to 3,000 metres. Although AMS and cerebral oedema occur equally frequently in both males and females, pulmonary oedema seems to occur more often in males. Being physically fit does not decrease the risk.

Ascending slowly is the best way to avoid altitude sickness. Avoiding strenuous activity such as skiing or hiking in the first 24 hours at high altitude may reduce symptoms. Alcohol and sleeping pills are respiratory depressants—they slow down the acclimatisation process—so should be avoided. Alcohol also tends to cause dehydration and exacerbate AMS, so the avoidance of alcohol consumption in the first 24 to 48 hours at a higher altitude is optimal.

Travel to high-altitude regions and mountainous areas has become increasingly popular for tourism, recreation, adventure activities and sometimes rescue missions. One study in America in 2018 estimated that 30 million people each year travel to mountainous regions of the western United States. That is just one part of one country.

Let me touch on pulmonary oedema in more detail. As I mentioned, my family and I have come to experience this condition at first hand. My sister-in-law, Lorraine Roberts, recently died from pulmonary oedema while on her dream holiday with her partner, visiting Machu Picchu in Peru. It had been on her bucket list for years. She followed the guidance of gradual ascent. She had rest days and did everything that she thought was right, but she was not feeling great. It was nothing too serious: she just felt generally under the weather and a bit sick, with almost hangover-type symptoms. It was nothing that would normally stop anybody who was on their holiday of a lifetime.

On the evening of 31 August, seven days before just her 52nd birthday, Lorraine went to bed at the end of an amazing day, and never woke up. Her symptoms were a sign of altitude sickness which, left untreated, turned into pulmonary oedema as she slept. It was nobody’s fault. The devasting news that took away Gill and Pete’s daughter, Dawn and Gareth’s sister, and Hannah and Joe’s mum, was a complete accident.

A similar fate befell legendary Wales rugby No. 8, and then journalist and commentator, Eddie Butler. He died in his sleep at altitude in Peru on 15 September last year, as he was taking part in one of his many fundraising efforts for the cancer charity Prostate Cymru. He was 65 years old. The condolences of the House go out to his wife and children for their loss.

Despite years of careful research, the exact causes of high-altitude pulmonary oedema remain relatively poorly understood. As I mentioned, fluid has been shown to fill up in the air pockets in the lungs, preventing oxygen from getting into the blood and causing the vicious circle of events that can kill people. As with many biological processes, many factors play a role in the disease. There is good evidence to support several theories about how the fluid gets there, but that is not the purpose of today’s debate or my remarks.

Let me move on to my call to action. On the gov.uk website, each country has travel advice, which is published and provided by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. There is a section on health for them all. On the Peru page, a number of things are listed. Regarding altitude sickness, it simply says:

“Altitude sickness is a risk in parts of Peru (including Cusco, Puno, the Colca Canyon and Kuelap).”

Then there is a link to another website for more information. It is the 11th link on the Peru health section.

It is my belief that that one line, with a link to another site, simply does not give sufficient prominence to the dangers of altitude sickness, which can prove fatal if left untreated. Plenty of studies show that the number of people who click on links on websites is nowhere even close to 100%, especially when the link in question is the 11th on a particular page. It is highly likely that the reader will have lost patience, given up clicking links or been taken off in some other direction well before that point.

I do not ask a lot of the Government—perhaps for a little more consideration with levelling-up fund bids, or a new train station in my constituency—but this request has to be one of the simplest of all for the Minister to grant. Will he please look at all the countries for which travel advice exists and make the wording much stronger for all those where there is the potential for altitude sickness, thereby giving people a much greater warning about the dangers of this condition without their having to click on a link? Tell them, in the body of the FCDO travel advice, that altitude sickness can prove fatal if untreated. Put it in capital letters.

I am not asking for a massive awareness campaign or a big marketing budget; it is of zero cost to the Government just to add a couple of lines of strongly worded text to a website. That is the only thing that I am asking for. If one person takes that advice and is saved from suffering the same wholly avoidable fate, Lorraine’s legacy will be secured.

16:10

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (David Rutley)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Robertson.

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Delyn (Rob Roberts) on securing this debate on altitude sickness travel advice. His constituency is beautiful: I see the Clwydian hills from Macclesfield on the other side of the Cheshire plain and have spent great times there. It is stunning and helps to remind us of the beauty of mountains, and how they attract us to their presence and make us want to spend time in them. However, he is also right to highlight concerns around altitude sickness. I hope he will recognise the sincere condolences that I extend to him and his family for the sad and tragic death of his sister-in-law Lorraine, which he spoke about so powerfully today. I am sure his family will be proud of what he has said and the request that he has made of the Government.

I also extend my condolences to other families who have been bereaved through altitude sickness, including the family of Eddie Butler, who was well known in Wales and will be sorely missed, not least, of course, by his family. Having spent time in some mountains at high altitude, I know that this is a really serious issue.

Supporting British nationals overseas remains the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s central public service. Since 1990, that service has included our travel advice on 226 countries and territories globally. Millions of people access the advice every year. We regularly review and improve our travel advice to ensure that it helps British people who are living or travelling abroad to take responsibility for their safety. The content reflects our latest assessment of risks to British people—“risks” being the important word there.

FCDO travel advice aims to help UK nationals to make better-informed decisions about international travel and to avoid trouble. The safety of British nationals is our overriding concern and our travel advice is based on an objective assessment of the risks. Multiple sources of information feed into that travel advice, including information from British embassies and high commissions around the world, from foreign Governments, from our expert staff in London and, where relevant, from the intelligence services as well.

All travel advice includes information on entry requirements such as passports and visas, and we also provide relevant information and advice on risks. The risks include safety and security matters, such as protests and demonstrations, or natural disasters, such as in areas susceptible to tropical cyclones, earthquakes and flooding. In compiling our travel advice, we work closely with our closest international partners in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States.

The FCDO has a long-standing approach to travel advice about health risks that has been tried and tested in recent outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola, Zika and, of course, covid-19. We provide health information that is up to date and that draws on specialist medical expertise, including advice from the FCDO’s chief medical officer, and it includes directing British people towards reliable sources of expert information and advice.

All our travel advice pages provide links to expert health guidance and country-specific information from the National Travel Health Network and Centre, the acronym for which—NaTHNaC—is sometimes difficult to say. The centre is commissioned by the UK Health Security Agency to provide travel health advice to the British public and the health professionals who advise them. That health advice complements our FCDO travel advice for each country.

Individuals can visit NaTHNaC’s TravelHealthPro website for information on vaccine recommendations, current health risks and outbreaks, and factsheets about staying healthy abroad. Rightly, it is for individuals to decide whether to travel. Health risks vary considerably, depending on an individual’s personal circumstances. Some people may be at greater health risk in certain locations if they have a pre-existing health condition.

Members will appreciate that the Government cannot, and should not, make decisions about travel for individuals. We encourage British people to check relevant travel information for their destination at least two months before they travel. That gives them the time to make any preparations needed for their trip. Some travellers might want to consult their doctor or pharmacy on advice for preventing illness or managing a health condition overseas.

[Rob Roberts]

I thank the Minister for his thorough answer. I have no doubt that the TravelHealthPro website from the organisation with the complicated acronym is very good—I have read through it in great detail with regard to this issue—but my fundamental point is that the route to get there is more convoluted than necessary. Even if someone needs to follow that route, we need to highlight it.

Rather than the FCDO website just saying that altitude sickness might be an issue, people need to be told why it might be an issue and how dangerous it might be, in order to force them down that route. Obviously, there is a lot of information and it cannot all fit on the FCDO website, but let us make more of a drive for people to click that link, which is way down the page, to force them towards that information and ensure that they do not miss anything.

[David Rutley]

I understand the point my hon. Friend makes and will come to address specific points on that, if he can bear with me. I want to highlight the broader context, because there will be others listening to this debate, but he can be assured that I will get to his specific points.

As I said, it is important to seek advice from doctors or pharmacies. Alongside that, whatever their health preparations, all travellers should ensure that they have adequate health and travel insurance, to ensure that if they have a health emergency while travelling, that they receive the right treatment and support.

[Rob Roberts]

Will the Minister give way?

[David Rutley]

I will; it is my hon. Friend’s debate after all.

[Rob Roberts]

I am very grateful. Does the Minister agree with me, as someone who used to work in financial advice, on how important it is, when filling out applications for health insurance, to disclose all previous medical conditions? People complain about insurances all the time, but one of the biggest reasons for not being able to claim is not putting down pre-existing conditions and things that might make a claim fall out. That is an aside to the issue at hand, which is the importance of disclosing everything in one’s medical history in an insurance form.

[David Rutley]

I completely agree that disclosure is vital to ensure that the cover is valid. To build on what my hon. Friend said, as someone who enjoys outdoor recreation when I travel, it is important for me to check that the activity is covered by the policy. People should make clear pre-existing conditions and also be clear about activities to ensure that they have the proper cover. That particularly relates to altitude, because not every travel insurance policy covers that. I am sure my hon. Friend will agree with that.

We apply the same logic to Government advice on altitude sickness. We know that travelling to high altitudes can have health impacts. In the worst and most extreme cases, such as that of my hon. Friend’s sister-in-law Lorraine, altitude sickness may tragically result in an individual’s death. For countries where altitude sickness may present a particularly high risk—Nepal, Ecuador or China, for example—we include that information in our travel advice. We may point to specific regions that are higher in altitude, particularly if we know that they are a popular tourist or travel destination. For instance, our travel advice for Nepal mentions the risk of altitude sickness on Annapurna, Langtang and Everest base camp treks. As my hon. Friend pointed out, in our advice on Peru, we flag Cusco, Puno, the Colca canyon and Kuélap. In most cases, we point readers to NaTHNaC’s factsheet on altitude sickness. This resource lays out the key facts and symptoms, and gives advice on how travellers can reduce the risk of altitude sickness, and on what they can do if they develop symptoms.

The House will be aware that ultimately, travel advice is just that: advice. Only travellers can decide whether to travel. It is their responsibility to plan for a safe trip, and to take sensible precautions, including when it comes to their health. The Government’s travel advice is intended to be just one source of information that can help British people to make informed decisions about where and how to travel. My hon. Friend has made a powerful argument for more information about altitude sickness in travel advice. I have listened to his concerns, both outside this Chamber and in his powerful speech today. I understand his desire to ensure that British people are better informed of the risks of high-altitude travel. I also recognise and appreciate, as I am sure he will, the desire for an ever-greater number of risks to be clearly outlined in the FCDO travel advice. I assure colleagues that we will always consider these arguments on their merits. However, we must make judgments and consider all risks in proportion. When other organisations have the necessary expertise, it is right to point British nationals in the direction of their detailed advice; in this case, we point them to NaTHNaC.

I remind the House that there is lots of information already available, through links and other sources, on our travel advice pages. I strongly encourage those travelling to click through, and to take the time to absorb all the relevant information available to them. I assure my hon. Friend that I will come the point that he raised; I ask him to bear with me.

We are always looking to improve our consular services, including our travel advice. We welcome any and all feedback, including the feedback that he has provided today, and we use it to improve our services and the information that we provide. Following a surge in demand for clear travel advice during the pandemic, and in line with our commitment to providing accessible, easy to use digital services, FCDO reviewed its approach to travel advice, design and content. Our aim is to improve the presentation and format of our travel advice pages, so that it is easier for the public to find the information that they need when travelling.

I recognise the strength of feeling from my hon. Friend—and others, no doubt—on the issue. We will consider his proposal very carefully. Officials have already updated the Peru travel advice to better highlight the risk of altitude sickness, which my hon. Friend set out today. Previously, the Peru travel advice stated that Peru had areas of high altitude; now we highlight the risk of altitude sickness. That is a step on. I have also asked officials responsible for travel advice to review the advice on other countries where altitude sickness is a risk, to ensure that we are clear about the risk that it presents. We will review opportunities to state more clearly what we are linking to, as that is best practice, and will redouble efforts to proactively encourage people to seek expert advice from NaTHNaC as an essential part of preparing for any trip.

I would be pleased to discuss the matter more fully with my hon. Friend in due course. We are on a journey. He has highlighted a key issue, and I am keen to ensure that we take further steps in making the risks more readily identifiable to people on the FCDO travel advice pages. However, when we highlight a risk, there is a responsibility on the individual to take the extra step of looking to the bodies that can provide detailed advice and information on how to prepare if they are not used to being at altitude.

[Rob Roberts]

I thank the Minister for giving way again, and I appreciate everything he has said. People do not know what they do not know. The words that I am particularly interested in inserting in the FCDO guidance are: “can prove fatal if left untreated.” It is as simple as that. That would be an extra incentive for people to click the link. It would be saying, “I know there are a lot of links on the page, but you should really click this one, because it is important.” It would highlight the gravity of this issue.

[David Rutley]

I have noted my hon. Friend’s request. He made it at the beginning of his speech and has reiterated it. I understand the points he has made. As I say, we have taken a step forward today. The key thing is to highlight not just the fact that places are at high altitude, but that there is a risk of altitude sickness. Then we can look at the other points. I am more than willing to meet once we have had a chance to review our travel advice across multiple countries, because this matter affects not just Peru, but other areas in the world. He has highlighted an important point, and I hope he recognises that we will review the matter in more detail.

In conclusion, I reiterate our commitment to providing clear, accessible and up-to-date travel advice that highlights key risks. We keep it under constant review and ensure that it reflects the latest assessment of the risks to British nationals. I welcome my hon. Friend’s suggestions for improving our advice on the risks of altitude sickness. I share his interest—both personally and as a Government Minister—in ensuring that our travel advice helps British nationals to make more informed decisions, particularly in high-altitude areas.

Question put and agreed to.

Social Mobility

Tuesday 21st March 2023 Westminster Hall

16:27

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

As the mover of the motion and the Minister are present, we can start slightly earlier. We can run on until the end of the debate’s allotted time. I call Sir David Evennett.

[Sir David Evennett (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Con)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered social mobility.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson, and to be able to raise the important issue of social mobility. I am absolutely delighted to see that the Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies), will respond to the debate.

This matter has interested and concerned me for many years. Having been so fortunate as to be a product of social mobility, as are my family, I am keen to see it advanced. My family originated in the east end of London, in Bow and Poplar. Through education, hard work, opportunity, determination and good fortune, my grandfather, Thomas Evennett, and my father, Norman Evennett, were able to progress during their lives. I too have had many opportunities to work in careers that I have loved so much, including as Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath and Crayford, and before that, for Erith and Crayford.

Social mobility is about every single person having the opportunity to succeed. It is the link between our starting point in life and where we end up. If where we begin strongly determines where we end up, mobility is low, but if everyone has a good chance of achieving any outcome, regardless of their background, mobility is high, and that is what all of us here want. The Conservative Government are determined to ensure that work is a route out of poverty and into a future where individuals can achieve their ambitions, irrespective of their situation or origin.

Social mobility is one of the key reasons why Britain has been so successful in channelling the talents of all sections of our country, to their own benefit and that of the whole nation. Social mobility is good not just from a moral perspective; it has a huge impact economically. By ensuring talent is harvested from across the whole social spectrum, we can boost productivity and our GDP.

The Social Mobility Commission notes:

“the popular narrative of worsening mobility prospects for young people in the UK is not supported when we take a careful look at a range of outcomes across education and employment.”

That is positive news, because although talent in Britain is spread evenly across the country, regrettably, opportunity is not always. Every individual should have a fair chance of reaching their full potential, so we must ensure that everyone has the opportunity to build a good life for themselves, irrespective of their background.

In the latest “State of the Nation” report from June 2022, almost every gap in the intermediate outcomes between young people from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds has narrowed in the past decade. However, there are still disparities, but there has been progress across all measures. Intermediate outcomes in education and work have been trending in a positive direction. Educational attainment gaps between people from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds have narrowed, especially at key stages 2 and 4.

The gaps between those from professional and working-class backgrounds for both university participation and degree attainment have also narrowed, although I only have figures from the Sutton Trust, which are rather out of date now. However, there is still a long way to go. On early careers, the gap between people from professional and working-class backgrounds has decreased for most of the occupational and economic outcomes since 2014. However, it is noted that the full effects of the covid-19 pandemic are still unlikely to be shown in any data.

Although positive progress has been made, research undertaken by Professor Steve Strand from the University of Oxford found that there are still vast inequalities in educational achievement at the age of 16. I am particularly concerned about the fact that British white and British black Caribbean male attainment falls well below the average for all students of that age, and scores the lowest across all socioeconomic groups, particularly for the working class.

The variations in attainment are particularly pronounced in the lowest socioeconomic groups, with black Caribbean males achieving an average score of -0.77, and British white males achieving a score of -0.68, compared with Bangladeshi boys achieving a score of 0.07 and those in other Asian male groups scoring -0.11. There are also significant disparities between the attainment of boys and girls in these groups. White British girls and girls of black Caribbean origin score significantly higher across the socioeconomic levels than their male counterparts. Girls from black Caribbean origins from an average socio-economic group scored 0.01, whereas boys scored -0.41. British white girls from the same socioeconomic group scored 0.09, while British white boys scored -0.22.

This data is concerning as educational achievement has such a significant impact on socioeconomic attainment in later life. Our priority must be to create an even playing field, so that everyone has the opportunity to excel and achieve, wherever their ambitions take them. Even before the pandemic started in 2020, there were already many challenges facing our country, but the past three years have added many global challenges outside of the Government’s control—not just the devastating pandemic, but the ongoing war in Europe and the rise in the cost of living. These have all had an impact on social mobility. That is why it is more important than ever that the Government’s levelling-up agenda should remain at the heart of all that we do. The Government have an important role to play—they can lead—but others need to take up the issue and give it support, be they businesses, professions, families or communities.

The covid-19 pandemic was hopefully a once-in-a-generation crisis. It will have an impact on the world’s social mobility for years to come. It was entirely out of the Government’s control. It is important to remember that the historic vaccination programme enabled us to be one of the first western democracies to restore people’s freedoms and open our economy. The Government also delivered more than £400 billion-worth of unprecedented support during the pandemic. It was one of the most generous economic support packages anywhere in the world. It supported more than 14.5 million jobs and provided almost £80 billion in business grants and loans. However, the covid-19 pandemic has impacted particularly harshly on young people from poorer backgrounds. It is likely to have long-term consequences, in education and work, for that cohort. In the short term, we can expect there to be an adverse effect on social mobility, particularly for young people entering the labour market.

It is more important than ever that we provide support that can lift everyone, irrespective of who they are, where they live and where they come from. We cannot accept a country where people have different ladders to climb. People must be encouraged to engage with education and understand its long-term benefits. The recovery programmes that have been introduced, such as the recovery premium and the national tutoring programme, are vital in helping the most disadvantaged. I also welcome the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill, which is proceeding through Parliament. It will enable people to get education and training throughout their life, so that they can skill and upskill, from school age up to the age of 60. That is a really positive movement.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the right hon. Gentleman for what he says. I am very aware that those with educational attainment can move on to employment that reflects that. People move from one job to another, but not every person can achieve educational attainment. I am not decrying anybody, by the way; it is just a fact of life. For those who cannot achieve educational attainment, their jobs may be on a building site or a farm, but we should never decry them. The right hon. Gentleman has mentioned opportunity three or four times. Does he agree that we need to make sure that a young boy or girl who is trying to achieve something moves in the direction that they need to?

[Sir David Evennett]

The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. Of course, the whole thing about the Lifelong Learning (Higher Education Fee Limits) Bill is that it offers skills, training and opportunities. If people did not succeed at school, they can come back and get skills, training or qualifications later. That is a really positive thing that the Government are doing.

I have worked as a college lecturer, teaching women returners to the workplace after career breaks, the unemployed and those who needed additional qualifications to advance in their careers, or to change career. Unfortunately, too much of the education in colleges and universities has been for young people only, but I taught people who are older—those who would benefit from what the Government are doing with the lifelong loan entitlement. It will improve access to education and training, and accelerate the Government’s levelling-up agenda.

Providing people with opportunities to acquire skills will help them to obtain work, or to advance their careers. That is particularly important in the technological age we live in, where the need to learn new skills never stops. All of us are always learning. Lifelong learning has become a reality, as I am sure you will agree, Mr Robertson. Education played a vital part in my life, and I am grateful to teachers, employers and my family for support and encouragement. We should accentuate the positives and say thanks to the teachers and lecturers at colleges and universities, as well as businesses and industries that invest in their staff and help them to advance in their careers.

I recognise that education alone will not be enough to transform social mobility; nor are the Government’s actions alone. As we continue our recovery from covid, the Government are spending record sums on apprenticeships, which play a key role in boosting social mobility, improving people’s skills, and increasing earnings and opportunities.

[Dr Dan Poulter (Central Suffolk and North Ipswich) (Con)]

I congratulate my right hon. Friend on securing the debate. He rightly highlighted the challenges faced in raising educational attainment for white working-class boys and Caribbean boys. Under the coalition Government, many of the initiatives that he outlined were started, and they are beginning to bear fruit. There was also a Cabinet Sub-Committee, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, focusing on social mobility and how we could target groups who had fallen behind. Would my right hon. Friend recommend that to the Minister as something that could be taken forward? If we want to get real impetus behind improving social mobility, there needs to be much more focus centrally, and a Cabinet Sub-Committee is a good way of doing that.

[Sir David Evennett]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point, which I know the Minister will have noted. This focus is so important. We had it, but we have slightly stalled, which is why I sought this debate.

We need to see even more young people from disadvantaged backgrounds accessing higher and degree level apprenticeships, and to ensure that all young people have an understanding of the many and varied options available to them. Careers advice in schools, colleges and universities is vital to let individuals know what is out there and what their potential could lead them to. Additional funding is being provided to employers and training providers who take on apprentices aged 16 to 18, and apprentices aged 19 to 24 who have an education, health and care plan or have been in care. This targeted support incentivises employers to provide high-quality apprenticeships across all sections in disadvantaged areas. However, according to the latest figures, the share of apprenticeships in the most deprived areas has fallen from 26% in 2015 to 20% in 2020. That is why it is vital that everyone—in our constituencies, across Government and so forth—publicises the excellent opportunities that are available.

I have long advocated for more collaboration between businesses and education. Businesses should look to partner schools or colleges in their local area to provide more careers advice, work experience and support to pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. This would improve social mobility and help to ensure that pupils obtain the skills necessary to succeed in the world of work. All children must be nurtured, valued, enthused and inspired by their schools, and although all children should study the basic curriculum, there should be the opportunity to have a curriculum with more relevance to their future life chances; there needs to be more focus on career opportunities, and it is important that students are shown the full range of opportunities that they may be able to pursue. Successive Governments have tried to improve the careers advice on offer, but unfortunately it still varies widely across the country, which is why the involvement of businesses is vital, as is the provision of advice and role models. Role models are so good to give people an idea of what they could become via training, skills and education.

A particular campaign that I have been very supportive of and promoted is the Social Mobility Pledge, which was founded by my friend, former parliamentary colleague and former Education Secretary, the right hon. Justine Greening, alongside entrepreneur David Harrison, who are both passionate about improving opportunities for all. Some 700 organisations have made the social mobility pledge, with 5 million employees and 2 million students covered by it globally. It encourages organisations to be a force for good by putting social mobility at the heart of their purpose. The pledge recognises that it is more important than ever for organisations to take steps to boost opportunity and social mobility, as we face the challenges of a growing opportunity gap post covid.

We all want Britain to be a country where all can get on in life, regardless of our background. Talent is spread across our country, and businesses, with the prosperity and careers they create for people, are key to improving social mobility locally and nationally. There are three parts to the pledge. The first is getting businesses to partner directly with schools or colleges

“to provide coaching through quality careers advice, enrichment experience and mentoring to people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances.”

The second is access:

“providing structured work, experience and apprenticeship opportunities to people from disadvantaged backgrounds”.

The third is the adoption of more

“open employee recruitment practices which promote a level playing field for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or circumstances”,

with things like “name blind” and contextual recruitment. Businesses that are prepared to take those simple steps show their commitment to levelling the playing field of opportunity for everyone.

I was delighted that the Chancellor’s Budget last week recognised the need for further investment in removing barriers to work—in particular, by investing £485 million in support for unemployed people and those on universal credit working part-time. Assigning a work coach to those people will support them in obtaining full-time work. Supporting people into work is important, but we should also strive to support people into higher-paying jobs, as that is critical for social mobility. The Government’s job support initiative provides more than 120,000 low-income workers with tailored support and guidance so they can earn more and progress their careers. The Government’s various skills initiatives provide excellent opportunities to gain key skills such as numeracy and digital, but it is more important than ever—essential, in fact—that everyone is encouraged to take up those opportunities.

Our defining challenge in Britain is to level up opportunity and make sure everyone gets the chance to go as far as their talents or ambitions take them. Ultimately, it is about delivering generational change. That means looking right across people’s lives from childhood to adulthood. We cannot afford to leave any section of our population behind; otherwise, there will be discontent and disillusionment, which is terrible for individuals and frankly very bad for our nation. Aspiration, opportunity and achievement are the goals that we should be aiming for. In so many fields, we have entrepreneurs with business success, scientists, lawyers, clinicians—high achievers, all of whom need to be role models. The Government have a mission, but employers need to raise their own game and rise to the challenge. Britain remains a great country, but with a more skilled, enthused and aspirational workforce that is socially mobile, I believe we can be an even better one.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

Order. A number of Members are trying to get in. If they can limit themselves to roughly five minutes or so each, we should be able to manage that.

16:46

[Jon Trickett (Hemsworth) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. It was interesting to listen to the speech of the right hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett). He is right to emphasise social mobility, and I was very interested to hear him describe his background.

It is probably worth referring to my background. I was more or less told to leave school when I was 15. I left with no meaningful qualifications and I went to work as a manual worker in the building industry. I was encouraged by my grandfather to try to understand why the system had failed me or why I had failed the system. I became very curious about it, and eventually I went to a further education college. The right hon. Gentleman said he had been a college teacher, so no doubt he helped many people in my position. I eventually finished up at university.

My first reflection is this: the stepping stones that were available to me are no longer available to the same extent to the current generation. Further education has been cut to the bone and is simply not available at the scale that it was when I was younger, when I basically left school in some disgrace. The university system is now really a commodified form of education. I voted against the original idea to charge student fees—it was a mistake. I did it because I was thinking about people from my background. My grandad said to me, “The system doesn’t work for people like us.” That is a profound thing to have said, and I have spent almost all my life trying to understand what it is about “people like us” and why the system is not working properly for them.

The right hon. Gentleman has an optimistic view of social mobility in our society, perhaps because his constituency is the 51st most socially mobile in the whole country. There are 533 constituencies in England, and mine is the 529th most socially mobile, so he and I inhabit almost two different worlds. He is right to be passionate about this subject, but the truth of the matter is that the Conservative idea that there is real social mobility available for all who are able to make use of it is simply an ideological myth designed to gloss over the fact that our social structures are ossified and it is almost impossible to break though.

The right hon. Gentleman mentioned the Sutton Trust. The trust identified, out of the 60-odd million of us in this country, 6,000 people who run it; and two fifths of them went to public school, which is five times as many as average. I accept the right hon. Member did not go to public school; I do not know why I am looking at him—I will draw my attention elsewhere. The people who run this country, including this Parliament, tend to come from very privileged backgrounds. Not so many years ago, there were 100 manual workers in Parliament; now there are only seven of us left. There are 200 people with a business background in the House of Commons. If we look at almost every power structure in our society, the same thing applies—other than in professional sports, where more people from working-class backgrounds have access.

I will cut to the chase. There are 440,000 children living in poverty, despite that fact that their parents are working full-time, and yet Government Members and Ministers continually tell us that work is the way to opportunity in life. I believe in work. I am a member of a party called Labour; the Labour party is about work. We believe in work and want people to be at work. But do not tell me or my constituents that work is a route out of poverty. It is a route into poverty as much as any other system in our country.

In my constituency, there has been a 50% increase in the number of children in poverty since 2015. That is in one constituency. My constituency is also in the lowest 20% for young people’s educational attainment. Given the low levels of social mobility, and the levels of poverty and education in my constituency, it is impossible to imagine, how—without dramatic social and economic change—a child born there today can expect to do anything other than die younger than normal and in poverty. The whole idea of social mobility is a myth, unless it is combined with massive structural and transformative change. With that, I will take the hint that I have had my five minutes.

16:52

[David Johnston (Wantage) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) on securing the debate. I have heard him talk many times about how important social mobility is to him, and we have had conversations about it. He is right that we have slightly lost focus on the issue in recent years.

Social mobility has been very important to my own personal and professional life. I ran three charities for disadvantaged young people, the last of which was called the Social Mobility Foundation. I was on the original Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission, when Alan Milburn was the chair. I chair the social mobility all-party parliamentary group. The two words “social mobility” have been very important in both my personal and professional life.

If there is one key point in what I will say, it is that it is everybody’s responsibility to make social mobility happen. On the commission, we used to say that we can get into a situation where employers blame universities, which blame schools, which blame families—and everybody blames the Government—and that, actually, if at each stage of people’s life cycles things were done slightly differently, obstacles that are in the way of social mobility would be removed.

Starting with the early years is very important, but it should not be an obsession. It does not necessarily provide what Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Children’s Zone calls the escape velocity that will take someone through the rest of their life—even though we might hope it does. Some academics would say that about 80% of our outcomes are about what happens in the home rather than in school. We focus on school in this place. That is why things like family hubs are so important; every parent wants to be able to do the right thing, but they do not necessarily get the right advice and guidance about what to do. Being school-ready at age five is so important to how children then access school as they move through their lives. That is one big area that is not within the Government’s control, but it is important that we encourage the right things.

Then there is school. The Prime Minister said that education is the closest thing to a silver bullet that we have for social mobility.

[Dr Poulter]

Before my hon. Friend moves on to school-age children, there are things the Government can do to support disadvantaged and vulnerable children at an early age to improve not only educational attainment, but many aspects of their lives. We can look at longitudinal studies of schemes like the Family Nurse Partnership, which targets vulnerable and poorer families, provides targeted support for new mums and dads, and helps children be school-ready. Will he briefly comment on that, because that is something the Government could put money towards?

[David Johnston]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. We have to talk more about this because too often in politics people on the left fear they will demonise parents and on the right they fear they will appear to be the nanny state if they talk about it, but politicians and commentators who say those things are doing exactly the right things for their children. He is absolutely right about the Family Nurse Partnership and a whole range of other things, including family hubs.

The schools system is the easiest lever for politicians to pull, and we have seen huge increases in attainment through academies, free schools and various other initiatives. We have seen London state schools go from being the worst to the best, but we still have parts of the country where the standard of education is not good enough. We have a gender gap in education where girls do better than boys, and an ethnicity gap where certain ethnic groups do better than others, but the biggest gap in education is between children who have free school meals and those who do not. Although we have been making progress—albeit slow—covid has made that situation a lot worse, and has destroyed a lot of the progress we have made. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford says, the national tutoring programme is important, but we have to do more to focus on that.

Let me quickly canter through some other areas. This is about further education colleges and ensuring that the courses they provide will help people in the employment market, which is what we were trying to get to with the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022. When it comes to universities, the success they often trumpet about the percentage of state school students they have masks the fact that a huge proportion of them went to selective state schools—grammar schools—and that the proportion of comprehensive school entry pupils is still low. There is more for them to do, particularly at the most elite universities.

Finally, on professions, Members will have heard me say previously that someone is 24 times more likely to become a doctor if their parent is a doctor; only 6% of doctors are from a working-class background. Again, that is not in the Government’s control. Employers have to do something about that. Some people will say that social mobility is not about people leaving their home area, going to a Russell Group university and getting a middle-class job, but show me someone who says that, and nine times out of 10 they will have done exactly that in their own life. That does not invalidate the point—we need to have both, and to move jobs and investment to those areas—but do not tell me that we should not be trying to get more people into those universities and professions, because they are controlling the country. If we are to get to a position where talent and opportunity is everywhere, everybody has to play their part.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

I have to ask Members to please stick to four minutes now.

16:54

[Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) on securing and leading this important debate. A gap between aspiration and opportunity exists in some parts of the country, and that should not be the case. I am in a similar position to my hon. Friend the Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett); if we look at the list of constituencies and the ranking of social mobility, Barnsley East is 430 out of 533 constituencies in England. That is different from constituencies of—not exclusively, but generally—Conservative MPs.

Former coalfields like Barnsley East tend to have fewer good jobs, which obviously has a knock-on effect on the number of schools and transport infrastructure in the area. Among other factors, this has led to a significant geographical divide between the north and the south. For example, life expectancy in Barnsley for both men and women is approximately two years less than the national average and five years less than more affluent areas of Surrey. More than 6,300 children across Barnsley East alone—that is just my constituency, not the borough of Barnsley—live in child poverty. A third of Barnsley residents now live in fuel poverty, and the Office for National Statistics found that 12.4% of those eligible to work in Barnsley do not have any qualifications. That is in stark contrast with London, where the number of people with no qualifications sits at just 6.6%.

All these factors obviously have an impact on children’s and young people’s life chances. Accessible vocational education is an important part of overcoming disadvantage, giving young people the tools and employment experience to get on in life. My constituency of Barnsley East does not have a sixth form college, so when students finish their GCSEs at one of the secondary schools, they have to travel into the town centre and go to Barnsley College. That is not to take away from the fantastic work that the college does; it is an excellent college and it really supports people. I know from being a teacher that for some children and young people, not having to take that step of leaving their supportive school environment would encourage them to stay on and think about further education.

We need long-term, sustained investment in our schools. Investment has been cut over the last decade. We also need investment in industry so that young people and children have as much chance to succeed as they would in other parts of the country. We need to think about young people’s experience at school. As a former teacher, I have seen at first hand that if they turn up to school hungry, it affects their ability to learn and to do well.

We must also think about young people’s access to extracurricular and cultural activities. Parents may be doing the best they can, but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Hemsworth said, being in work does not necessarily mean they are not in poverty. A good example of encouraging kids to do a cultural activity is the fantastic, world-class Barnsley Youth Choir, which provides choral training regardless of financial or social background. It is an amazing programme that has done so much for Barnsley, and I am pleased to support it.

My final point on education relates to the point that the previous speaker, the hon. Member for Wantage (David Johnston), made about the impact of covid. There was a huge disparity between the learning experiences of working-class kids and middle-class kids during the pandemic. Using predicted grades for people’s A-level results also had a hugely disproportionate effect on areas such as Barnsley, and that will have a huge impact going forward.

Social mobility is really about this generation doing better than the generation before, and we are falling behind on that. The Government can, and should, do better to support working-class communities such as Barnsley, by investing in both people and local economies. I am sure that the Labour spokesperson, my hon. Friend the Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern), will touch on some of this, but a future Labour Government have pledged to do just that.

We will invest in the skills of our workforce, including a shift of resources to local communities to help people back into work. We will help more people into high-skilled and better-paid jobs, and implement a new taskforce—Skills England—to link local people with local businesses to grow skills and the economy across the whole country. It is about ensuring that kids have the best education, and that they can get qualifications and good jobs. Where someone is born should not limit their opportunities or their chances. It currently does, and that must change.

17:02

[Peter Gibson (Darlington) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) on securing this important debate, and I am delighted to see the Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression responding to it.

Levelling up is not just about dishing out money to parts of the north that have been ignored by Governments of all colours. Righting that wrong is part of my motivation for being here, and it is about delivering on the core missions of the levelling-up agenda. Social mobility goes to the heart of those missions, particularly education and skills. We all know that there are only two real- terms solutions to solving poverty—work and education. Providing opportunity, aspiration and inspiration to the next generation is critical to delivering social mobility. We all have a part to play in that.

For the record, Darlington is ranked 120 out of 533 English constituencies on the social mobility index, so Conservative Members are representing every type of constituency out there. There is already a vast swathe of new opportunities for local people in Darlington, which will enable them to fully reach their potential and find good, well-paid and secure employment into the future. Just this weekend, the brand new engineering block, the Ingenium Centre, opened at Darlington College. The centre has been delivered with £2.96 million from the towns fund, and it will house the college’s T-level students.

I commend the Government for introducing T-levels, and for providing an innovative educational route for people to gain the skills they need to prosper and fully meet their potential. I simply do not recognise the picture painted by the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett).

Literacy and reading is a great ladder for opportunity, and we know that wider reading broadens aspirations. I take this opportunity to highlight and pay tribute to Skerne Park Academy and its reading lobster scheme, which was introduced after the children said they did not have someone to read aloud to at home. They now each have their own reading lobster, a buddy for life to listen to their stories. The scheme is proving hugely successful and is promoting a lifelong love of reading in these children. Indeed, Seb, my own lobster, has met Mr Speaker, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. The scheme is going down very well in Skerne Park in Darlington. We know that children who read for pleasure go further in life, and I ask the Minister what the Government are doing to ensure that we encourage wider reading.

This debate seemed a perfect opportunity to highlight the work of the Purpose Coalition and the Social Mobility Pledge, but my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford has already done that, so I want to put on record my thanks to Justine Greening and David Harrison for their incredible work on the Social Mobility Pledge. Through the Harrison Foundation, which David heads up, the Social Mobility Pledge has contributed over £50,000 to First Stop Darlington, which is helping people get on in life.

In conclusion, the investment that Darlington has received from the Government has helped to galvanise organisations that work with local people to ensure their true potential is not wasted. But we can go further, and I urge the Minister to do so. Many of us in this place can be examples to our communities of what can be achieved. I am thinking in particular about those of us who went to state schools and were the first in our families to go to university, or indeed did not go at all.

17:06

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Social mobility ought to concern us all. I am not comfortable living in a country where the chances of success are heavily influenced by where someone is born and who they are to. The Sutton Trust’s report “Elites in the UK: Pulling Away?” found that one in five men in professional occupations who were born between 1955 and 1961 became socially mobile, but the figure drops to one in eight for those born between 1975 and 1981. In other words, as generations go by, we are becoming a less mobile nation.

When I was chair of the all-party parliamentary group on social mobility, we did a report on access to professions, including medicine, law, politics, media and art. Those are the areas where the lack of opportunity is most prevalent. Three quarters of senior judges, more than half the top 100 news journalists, more than half the Cabinet and two thirds of British Oscar winners are privately educated. We have already heard the statistic that someone is 24 times more likely to be in medicine if their parents are already in it.

Our report is six years old but just as relevant today. I would really like to see some of the practical recommendations in it implemented, such as a ban on unpaid internships, which really take the ladder away from many who are trying to get on the first rung. Exploitation is taking place at entry level.

Drama is one area where opportunities are limited. I should point out, for the record, that my son is an aspiring actor and uses some of the services I am about to mention. I mention them because they are a new way of exploiting young people’s ambitions. Most acting jobs now are hidden behind paywalls, costing anywhere from £15 and £19 a month to access. What kind of world do we live in where someone has to pay a subscription just to see whether there are any jobs they might want to apply for?

There are three companies that seem to operate in this way: Spotlight, Mandy and StarNow, which I see regularly advertising on social media. I say three companies advisedly, because Backstage and StarNow seem to have almost identical websites, and Mandy and StarNow have the same registered office and similar directors. Perhaps I am missing something about why I need to have three separate subscriptions. In their defence, they say:

“Having memberships to the multiple platforms will give you access to the most job opportunities and increase your visibility to casting”.

That sounds reasonable enough, but I suggest it would also be reasonable to put all the jobs on one site and not charge at all. We can debate the morality of this business model another time, but I wonder whether the Minister thinks it is right for a profession that is notoriously difficult to access to be exploiting people and charging them just to look at what jobs are available.

I conclude by asking the Minister another question about where social mobility lies in the Government’s list of priorities. As we have heard, if social mobility is to be tackled properly, we need to tackle more than just access to work. It is about tax, welfare, housing, transport and health. At the very least, it should not be the remit of just one Minister in one Department; it should be a central mission across all Departments. If the Government are serious about tackling injustice and widening opportunity, it must be driven from the very top.

17:09

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson. I congratulate the right hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett), but I also want to chastise him because he has taken some of my best lines.

I, too, am a product of social mobility. My father was a co-operative milkman and my mother was a cleaner. They both left school at 14, but they were determined to give me the chances that they never had. I was the first in my entire family to go to university in the days when many folk considered educating girls to be just a waste of time—she would only get married and have weans. I did both, and now I am here.

I also taught in further education. I know that times have changed, but social mobility is a real issue. Those in poverty cannot be socially mobile. Those who are hungry cannot learn. When fees are a barrier, many cannot access higher education. That is why children in Scotland are lucky. The Scottish Government take their duties to the next generation seriously, and they have introduced many measures to tackle child poverty. The latest iteration is “Best Start, Bright Futures”, which looks at long-term parental employment support, increased social security and measures to reduce household costs. The recent Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis of Scottish tax and benefit reform found that the lowest-income families in Scotland are significantly better off as a result of the Scottish Government’s tax regime.

Among the poorest 30% of households, those with children will see their incomes boosted by a sizeable £2,000 a year on average, driven by higher benefits for families with children. Perhaps the Minister would consider that in relation to the UK. The Scottish child payment has recently been increased immensely. It is now up to £25 a week—the Scottish Government are providing an extra £2.6 million this year—and it is being extended to children up to the age of 16.

Other small independent countries do much better on social mobility. I am thinking of Nordic countries, such as Denmark. According to OECD figures, it takes two generations to increase social mobility in Denmark, but it takes five generations in the United Kingdom. We must look at that.

I do not want to, and cannot, mention everyone, but the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett) caught my attention when he talked about Conservative Members saying that the only way out of poverty is work. That is not the case for those on a zero-hours contract and minimum wage. The living wage, as it is described by the Tory Government, is not enough to live on. That is why many working parents are still getting universal credit. There is something wrong with a system where both parents are working and children, who are our future, will never be able to be socially mobile. They will not know how, because they are being held back by poverty. Will the Minister also look at introducing a minimum support payment for the Child Maintenance Service if parents refuse to pay? I have already spoken to her about this.

Social mobility is important. Social mobility actually works. Social mobility means that we will prosper, right across the UK. Countries, such as Norway, which give their citizens high social benefits, are not poor countries. They make people’s lives better and therefore increase social mobility. I will sit down now, because I am really interested in what the Minister and the Opposition have to say.

[Mr Laurence Robertson (in the Chair)]

I call Alison McGovern, who also has five minutes.

17:14

[Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)]

Thank you for calling me to speak, Mr Robertson. I will try to be swift.

I obviously thank the right hon. Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) for securing this timely debate, and I thank all the Members who have spoken. The right hon. Member began by mentioning the 2022 report of the Social Mobility Commission. However, since its publication the chair of the commission has given up her role and it is unclear what the future holds.

I am here on behalf of the shadow Department for Work and Pensions team, and the Minister is here representing DWP. Responsibility for social mobility has been passed from Education to Equalities and now to DWP. Over the past couple of years, that has suggested that it is an unloved policy area for which nobody really wants to take responsibility.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)]

I really wanted it!

[Alison McGovern]

I am sure the Minister did. But what exactly is going on? Part 1 of the Equalities Act 2010, which Parliament passed all those years ago, set out a public sector duty regarding socioeconomic inequalities that would have tackled, in a cross-cutting way, as ably described by my hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders), all the issues that Members have mentioned today. That is its objective. Amazingly, the Conservative-Lib Dem Government and subsequent Conservative Governments have never brought that duty into force. We are left asking why.

However, as we are here with a DWP Minister and her shadow, I will just raise some points about the Department’s own policy areas. If it had that overarching duty to tackle socioeconomic inequality, it might not have adopted, as it has done for many years now, the policy of any job, better job, career. That policy has shaped the Department’s approach and has resulted in people being told to get any job, as if that was a route up or a route out of poverty. As we have heard from Member after Member today, it is simply no longer the case that work, by definition, provides a route out of poverty. It is also true, and the Government themselves know this from their own pay progression report, that getting any job is not a route to better pay.

We need new principles and new policies, not least because of the geographical impact of this issue. We know from the House of Commons Library’s analysis of the Social Mobility Commission’s previous rankings that 77% of constituencies in London are in the top 20% of social mobility constituencies by metric, whereas the corresponding figure for the west midlands falls to 14%, for the east midlands 9%, for the north-west 8%, for Yorkshire and the Humber 7%, and for the south-west just 2%. Of the top-ranking areas for social mobility, 77% are London constituencies and just 2% are in the south-west. Geography is at the heart of this.

Exactly what steps is DWP going to take to clarify the role of the Social Mobility Commission? What data will be made available to this House and when on the current state of social mobility in this country? Precisely what targets are the Government now setting? What is the future for the commission’s metrics—it seems to have veered between different ones—and its report? And what action will DWP take immediately to stop forcing people to take jobs that, as several Members have said, are likely to make them struggle with social mobility and not achieve their ambitions?

Social mobility cannot just be a talking point for us politicians; it has to be about genuine hard work to shift the opportunities in our countries. I am afraid that the Tories and the Lib Dems saw this as a way out in 2011: they wanted to end the child poverty goal and to put something fluffy about social mobility in its place. But passing a non-specific goal from Department to Department is kidology—it will never work. We need a real effort for change. My hon. Friend the Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston has already said how the Labour party will do that. The first thing that we will do is to enact part 1 of the Equalities Act 2010 and take real action against class discrimination and put in place policies to bring it to an end.

17:19

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)]

I start by congratulating my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford (Sir David Evennett) on securing this important debate and on his excellent, thoughtful and wide-ranging speech on social mobility. It has also been a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Robertson, and I thank all Members who have contributed to this excellent debate.

I reassure Members of all parties that as the Minister for Social Mobility, Youth and Progression in the Department for Work and Pensions, this is a topic that I am particularly passionate about. In response to my hon. Friend the Member for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (Dr Poulter), I am absolutely committed to working across Government and keeping a focus on this issue. I absolutely agree with the point about role models: you simply can’t be it if you can’t see it.

On Single Parents’ Day, and as a single mum, it is an honour and still a surprise to serve in this House. I was the first uni student in my family, with many of my relatives still thriving in trades as manual workers with a farming background. My father left school at 14 with no qualifications and a substantial dyslexia challenge, so our family is absolutely a product of social mobility. I understand the strong views expressed by the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett). I take a different view, but I am very proud and pleased that we all share our own experiences in this House, and how we learn from our experiences helps with the role model piece.

I agree with my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford and many colleagues about the commitments that we make in this House by continuing through, and this is a great opportunity to move the levelling-up conversation into the social mobility conversation. Social mobility is absolutely about every single person having the chance and opportunity to succeed, no matter their background or postcode.

[Peter Gibson]

The Minister may not be aware that Darlington is home to one of the largest settled Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities in the country. I am particularly keen to hear her views—if not today, by following up in writing—on what the Government are doing specifically in respect of them.

[Mims Davies]

The support for all groups, no matter their background or where they are, is exemplified by hon. Friend pointing out that particular group. I am happy to come forward with further information on that, including cross-Government work.

The Government remain committed to all aspects of life, from education to work and later life, and to having a comprehensive suite of measures in place to achieve social mobility. The challenges laid down today are very welcome, because we have heard about different experiences in the different corners of Britain. Yesterday I visited Sandwell, West Bromwich, Wolverhampton and central Birmingham to discuss how our DWP support, youth offer and work with the third sector and local partnerships is making a difference in our communities.

I do not agree with the hon. Member for Wirral South (Alison McGovern) on the ABC—any job, better job, career—approach. Throughout the engagement that I had yesterday, it was consistently said to me that the skills, confidence and network that that gives people are transformative. As we have all spoken about today, you have to start somewhere.

[Alison McGovern]

It is great to hear the Minister’s contribution, and I know she cares deeply about this issue. If she has evidence of the efficacy of that policy approach, will she place it in the Library of the House of Commons?

[Mims Davies]

We are doing some work on the impact of the kickstart scheme and how getting a job and progressing is leading young people to stay in work. There will be further information coming, and I will always share that with the hon. Lady.

In my conversations yesterday, I heard how adverse childhood experiences such as bereavement, poor attainment at school and other issues have impacted on young people’s confidence and opportunities, and on their experiences in adulthood. It demonstrates the critical point made in the Chamber this afternoon about the importance of getting education right and, above all, getting the Government’s lifetime skills guarantee right. As my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford rightly said, education and skills have a massive impact. I absolutely agree that local colleges are among the most socially mobile and able connectors in terms of what they achieve, and I applaud the work that goes on in colleges. Spreading opportunity for every child and young person is a top priority, because their talent should contribute to where they end up.

I am concerned by the point made by the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Justin Madders) about job opportunities being hidden behind paywalls. As the former Employment Minister, and as the Minister for Youth, I worry about those opportunities. I thank him for raising that point. I ask those sectors that often approach the Government about being more socially mobile and more open to look at themselves. This is not a finger-pointing exercise, but those that continue to recruit in the same way often end up with the same people around the table. If that is excluding people, let us look at those recruitment basics.

The Government are investing in 55 education investment areas where outcomes in literacy and numeracy are the poorest, including £86 million in trust capacity funding to support and expand areas of improvement. That will help my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Peter Gibson) in terms of his reading ask. I will meet my parliamentary neighbour, the Minister for Children, Families and Wellbeing, my hon. Friend the Member for East Surrey (Claire Coutinho), shortly and will raise the issue of reading confidence. I was delighted to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington use the O-word—opportunities. We are absolutely trying to spread opportunities.

The Department for Education is delivering a clearer skills system that is employer focused, high quality and fit for the future, which is what my right hon. Friend the Member for Bexleyheath and Crayford, who set up the debate so well, asked for. If only we had had time for a longer debate. We should get this subject into the main Chamber and spend more time on it. I would be very happy to respond to it—that is another commitment from me today.

The Social Mobility Commission has said that apprenticeships are among the best mechanisms to help employers build that diverse, talented, wide-ranging workforce, as well as to tackle the skills shortage. Many apprentices earn more than graduates five years after completion. Average graduate earnings five years after graduation are £28,200, compared with £30,900 for level 4 apprentices five years after completion. That is a lesson to us all to promote filling the skills gaps with apprenticeships.

DWP has progression leads in our jobcentres to help people. I recognise that some people work all the hours God sends but still find it difficult to make ends meet. Our progression leads work with our claimants, partner organisations, local authorities, local employers and small and medium-sized enterprises, to make sure that people are able to progress in work.

I had a very engaging meeting with leading employers during the week of International Women’s Day, to talk about the barriers and to focus on interventions. I will meet the Social Mobility Pledge team, including our former parliamentary colleague, Justine Greening, to discuss her mission. She is doing a brilliant job. DWP also has the social mobility commitment, pledge and consortium, of which 60 employers are a part.

It has been such a pleasure to respond to today’s debate, because this week is the DWP’s inaugural social mobility week—a week of action and engagement in our Department, with colleagues across the country working out how to tackle any barriers and to focus on social mobility. That includes being a national employer and giving our customers aspirations and goals. We are looking at things such as caring responsibilities, and I will host a session on Thursday. We are also looking at subjects such as accent bias and recruitment bias. I hope that reassures the hon. Member for Wirral South.

Throughout the debate, we have seen that social mobility is a key priority and I hope I have shown my passion for it. We will break down the barriers. No matter what someone’s background is, we can cater for every single circumstance. Everybody, like us, should have the opportunities to succeed.

17:28

[Sir David Evennett]

I thank the Minister for her response and thank everyone who has participated. We should be working together as much as we can. I do not agree with the hon. Member for Hemsworth (Jon Trickett), but I hope we can have a chat over a cup of tea.

This is a very important issue. We have had a very constructive debate. We have lots of ideas and we want to make progress. Those of us who come from very ordinary backgrounds want other people to be able to do the same and make something of their lives—I think we can all agree on that. This is a very important issue. I do not want to make it party political, because I think it is much bigger than that. There should be a national approach to get the very best for all of our people, so that they can progress to what they want to and really can be.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered social mobility.

17:30

Sitting adjourned.