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(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Oral Answers to Questions
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
The new national short-term lets registration scheme entered user testing at the end of October to ensure that it is robust and easy to use and meets the needs of the scheme ahead of its planned launch later in 2026. Secondary legislation will be required to enact the scheme and we intend to bring that forward when parliamentary time allows.
Rachel Blake
I appreciate the focus and attention that the Minister has brought to this issue, which is so essential in my constituency where about 6,000 homes are lost to short-letting. Will she share with us how she will capture the number of nights that properties are let out, as that is an essential part in ensuring that short-let properties do not go over the 90-day rule or breach any planning permission? Will she tell us how she will approach that matter?
Stephanie Peacock
The registration scheme will collect essential data to help authorities, but, as my hon. Friend knows and indeed secured a ten-minute rule Bill on the issue, the legislation does not address the issue around data sharing for the number of nights. I look forward to working with her to see whether we can rectify this issue to ensure that data is shared between platforms, and that hosts understand their responsibilities and give local authorities and Government the required data. I know from a number of meetings with her how important this issue is to her constituency, and she is a really big campaigner on it.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister very much for her answer. Indeed, I am always impressed with her answers. Those that she has given us this morning are equal to what she always gives to me and others in this House.—[Hon. Members: “Ah!”]
Back home in Northern Ireland, we have the same problem with short-term lets. This is about protection both of the landlords and of those who take on the short- term let. I know the Minister is a regular traveller to Northern Ireland, which we appreciate, so can she share what is happening here with those back home to ensure that the protection for everyone is equal across this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland?
Stephanie Peacock
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his incredibly kind comments. Following his question, I will set up a meeting with my counterpart to discuss this matter and he would be very welcome to join it.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
I feel all warm and happy after that lovely little exchange. This Government believe in the power of grassroots sport and that everyone should have access to quality sport and physical activity. The hon. Member will know that we recently committed a further £400 million to grassroots sport facilities so that every child and young person have the chance to live out their dreams.
Lincoln Jopp
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer. In Spelthorne, we love our sport. I was playing walking cricket last week with the cricket club. I have been in the ring at the boxing academy and I have been to the dance academy. We also have Spelthorne FC, Staines & Lammas FC and Ashford Town (Middlesex) FC. I am inviting my hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin) to come and watch Windsor and Eton play against my Ashford Town (Middlesex) team, and we look forward to a fantastic game. However, the jewel in our crown is the year 11 girls football team at Thamesmead school, which is in the last 32 of the country. Will the Minister wish them the huge amount of success that we all hope they will achieve when they play the Beacon academy from Kent—
Lisa Nandy
We have just announced the first allocations of the £400 million that we are investing in grassroots sport, but I would pay a lot of money to see the hon. Gentleman at a dance academy. May I take the opportunity to wish Thamesmead—both teams actually—the best of success in what should be a fantastic competition.
Charlie Dewhirst
Swimming is not just a sport, but a very important life skill, particularly for those of us who represent coastal communities. Unfortunately, over 1,600 swimming pools across the country are now more than 40 years old. The previous Government committed £80 million to renovating those swimming pools. What are the plans of the Secretary of State or Minister to continue the legacy of the previous Government and improve our swimming facilities?
Lisa Nandy
I thank the hon. Member for that question, and many hon. Members will thank him for it, as they have raised it with me and the Sport Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Barnsley South (Stephanie Peacock), consistently over recent years. The Sport Minister is working very closely with her counterpart at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to address this issue. We have made more funding available, but we now need to ensure that it gets to the right places, so that every child can access good swimming provision in their local area.
Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)
I refer hon. Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. On behalf of those on this side of the House, I congratulate everyone at Team GB for an incredible winter Olympics performance. Like many across the House, I was glued to the excellent coverage during recess, and was pleased to see online that the Sport Minister was in Milan supporting the team. We all know that the true value of Team GB’s success is their ability to inspire the next generation of athletes, so what steps is the Secretary of State taking to secure the legacy of these games in both the elite and grassroots facilities required for sports to succeed?
Lisa Nandy
The Sport Minister has just told me that more than 4,000 people have expressed an interest in the skeleton following Team GB’s fantastic performance, which really shows the power of these games. It was an absolute privilege to be out in Milan cheering on Team GB during the most successful winter Olympics ever.
The shadow Minister is absolutely right; we now must ensure that the lasting legacy of the games is in bringing forward the next generation. As well as committing future funding so that our athletes can succeed and we can bring people through from grassroots sport, as we have just discussed, one thing I discussed with the team in Milan was recognising in our honours system the people who helped those incredible athletes to get to where they were along the journey. It must not be just about the people who have succeeded and won medals; it is about time—it is long overdue—that our honours system recognised the ordinary men and women in grassroots sport who have helped people go on to do extraordinary things.
Mr French
I thank the Secretary of State for that answer, and I am sure we all echo her comments. She will be aware of the widespread concerns regarding the Government’s plans to water down the powers of Sport England and the much-needed protection for grassroots pitches. Before Christmas, leading sports figures led by former Lioness Jill Scott and Fields in Trust wrote an open letter highlighting their concerns for people’s health and wellbeing and for sport more generally if the Government allow pitches across the country to be concreted over. What action is the Secretary of State’s Department taking to try to force the Government to U-turn on this bad policy decision?
Lisa Nandy
This Government believe that we need a much more sensible and lighter-touch system of regulation in this country. In principle, that is something that Members on both sides of the House should be able to agree with. What we do not want is a reduction in the grassroots facilities that are available to communities. The Sport Minister has been working with the Housing Minister, the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich (Matthew Pennycook), and Sport England—they met recently to discuss this—to ensure that we proceed in a sensible way that sees no reduction in the amount of facilities that are available.
James Asser (West Ham and Beckton) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
Our national youth strategy sets out our plan to ensure that every young person has somewhere to go, something to do and someone who cares. It is backed by over £500 million of Department for Culture, Media and Sport funding over the next three years.
James Asser
Based in North Woolwich in my constituency is Fight for Peace, a boxing and martial arts facility that also delivers employment and education skills for young people, helping to divert them from gangs and knife crime. Like so many organisations over the last few years, it has faced a tough time. Does the Minister agree that organisations such as Fight for Peace, which supports over 1,300 people and employs over 50 people, are vital for urban and inner-city communities like mine, and what more can the Government do to secure their future? May I also extend an invitation to the Ministers to visit North Woolwich and see the fantastic work that the club does?
Stephanie Peacock
Boxing clubs like Fight for Peace play a huge role in supporting young people’s physical and mental health. Through Sport England, funding for England Boxing between 2022 and 2029 will be over £9 million. I recently met with the all-party parliamentary group on boxing, and I would be delighted to meet my hon. Friend to discuss this further and, indeed, to visit his constituency.
Dame Caroline Dinenage (Gosport) (Con)
We all know that actions speak louder than words. So far we have seen a reduction in the urban cricket domes that were committed to by the last Government, the scrapping of our National Citizen Service without anything to replace it and now, supposedly, an argument over who will be funding school sport. Social mobility depends on participation. Research by Sky found that girls who play after-school sport in the UK are 50% more likely to get professional roles as adults. What are the Government doing to address this, and can the Minister give us grassroots examples in our urban communities of where things are improving rather than getting worse?
Stephanie Peacock
I am grateful to the Chair of the Select Committee for all her work; it was a pleasure to meet her again yesterday. I do not recognise her representation of cricket domes. The previous Government simply did not fund them, but this Government has, announcing two new ones, alongside the £400 million of grassroots sports funding that the Secretary of State has referred to. On the National Citizen Service, we announced our national youth strategy, which was the first in over 10 years.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
This Government are championing the UK’s living heritage: the crafts, customs and festivals that are important for local pride and community cohesion. Following the ratification of the 2003 UNESCO convention, we invite communities to submit their traditions to inventories of living heritage in the UK. Some examples are Up Helly Aa on Shetland, the Notting Hill carnival and, some might argue, the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon).
Rachel Hopkins
The end of May will mark the 50th Luton international carnival, which is the UK’s largest one-day carnival. I think that 50 years means it qualifies as a UK tradition—it is definitely a Luton tradition. Does the Minister agree that events such as Luton carnival are vital for celebrating the rich cultural diversity of our country and strengthening community cohesion, and may I invite him to Luton to join in with carnival this year?
Ian Murray
I would be delighted to go to Luton carnival; it sounds slightly less scary than participating in skeleton.
We would welcome a submission to the living heritage inventories for Luton carnival, which is an important event in my hon. Friend’s constituency, as she has laid out. Congratulations to everyone involved in organising the carnival, not just now but in the last 50 years. We want to celebrate the UK’s diversity and encourage diaspora communities to contribute, ensuring that all practices are fully represented in our living heritage inventories. I will pass on her kind invitation, as well as to me, to the Minister for Heritage in the other place, who I know had an enjoyable time learning about Luton’s rich heritage when she visited last year.
Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)
There is no finer UK tradition still lived out than drinking a cold beer and watching the local cricket team that has been there for decades. I recently visited St Annes cricket club. I should declare an interest as my dad was the professional there in 1973—he will probably not thank me for saying that, as that declaration is probably time-expired. Those clubs have relied on the revenue from their bars to support that wonderful tradition for many years, but the changes in national insurance costs and other cost pressures have completely eliminated the profits that many make and they are struggling to reinvest in facilities. What more support will the Government announce for our traditional British cricket clubs?
Ian Murray
The hon. Member makes a great point, and I congratulate to his father on being the professional at St Annes cricket club—I think he said that it was in 1973. If the hon. Member gets in trouble for saying that, I have just said it as well.
We know our cricket clubs and all our sports clubs are right at the heart of our communities. We want them to thrive and they should be thriving. This Government are fully committed to ensuring that all our sports clubs thrive. It is not just about enjoying that cricket with a cold beer, as the hon. Member says he does and like many hundreds of thousands do every Saturday, but about young people being involved and the way in which that takes them into the future of work and sport.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
In December, we published “Youth Matters”, the first national youth strategy that this country has had in nearly two decades. The youth investment and better youth spaces funds have together invested three quarters of a million pounds in youth services in Perry Bar, and we have recently announced an additional £100,000 of funding for Birmingham to undertake preparatory work for the Young Futures hub and local youth transformation.
Ayoub Khan
I know that I would not be in this House—the mother of all democracies—and I would certainly not be a barrister, if I had not benefited from youth centres in my ward of Aston. I recognise how important they are. We have lost somewhere in the region of 50 youth workers in Birmingham and my constituency lost out on the Pride in Place funding, which was £20 million that we could have benefited from. Given the importance of youth centres, the loss of Oakland youth centre and the risk of closure of Lozells Recreation Group, will the Secretary of State meet me and representatives of youth clubs in my constituency to see how we can ensure that that service remains in my area?
Lisa Nandy
I absolutely share the hon. Member’s assessment about the vital role of youth provision and the devastating impact that the 73% cuts to youth provision under the last Government made to the life chances of young people. The Sport Minister will be more than happy to meet him to discuss that issue.
Ian Sollom (St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire) (LD)
According to the Office for National Statistics, 3.8 million people report feeling lonely, with young people consistently among the loneliest groups. Is it any wonder when we have seen youth centres shuttered and libraries boarded up, and the very places that bring people together hollowed out? The Liberal Democrats have a plan to change this by creating a new wave of third spaces centred around something simple but incredibly powerful: shared hobbies. We want to bring people with shared interests together, creating places where they can thrive. What is the Minister doing to tackle loneliness through rebuilding community life and shared experiences? Will she seriously consider our proposals for a bold new wave of hobby hubs to help restore the social fabric of our communities?
Mr Speaker
Before the Minister responds, I point out that the question is linked to Perry Barr in Birmingham. The hon. Member is well away from Birmingham, and I am not quite sure that his question links to youth services—good luck.
Lisa Nandy
I am sure, Mr Speaker, that the people of Birmingham Perry Barr are clamouring for a hobby hub. In that spirit, I will address the important point that the hon. Member makes. Our national youth strategy is the first time we have put young people in the driving seat of their own lives. We handed over money and power to a generation of young people who told us that they need three things: somewhere to go, something to do and someone who cares. That is why we are investing in the next generation of youth centres and youth workers. To the point made by the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), I was delighted to be in Grimsby a couple of weeks ago where we opened an OnSide youth zone, which had people queuing for miles down the road to come in and see the incredible provision that we have been able to fund and back. I will certainly consider his proposal, and I would be keen to work with him as we help to rebuild youth work and youth centres, connect people to one another and turn around over a decade of decline.
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
In December, we published “Youth Matters”, the first Government strategy in over a decade for young people up and down the country. It will, of course, run alongside other major Government investments, including the youth guarantee and the expansion of mental health support teams in schools.
Peter Swallow
Last week, I dropped into the Wayz youth centre in Bracknell to celebrate its 60th anniversary—that is, 60 years of supporting young people in Bracknell Forest, developing their skills and helping them find and use their voice. This Government are backing the youth centre with our national youth strategy, which young people from the Wayz contributed to. I am delighted that the Government have announced more capital funding to support youth centres after many years of neglect. What specific funding pots are available for the Wayz because when a youth centre is 60 years old, there is always a need to invest in the day-to-day upkeep?
Stephanie Peacock
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, who is a strong champion for his constituency, and to Wayz for all its work over the last 60 years. The strategy is backed by £500 million of new funding, £350 million of which will be available till the end of March 2030, to refurbish or build youth facilities through our better youth spaces programme. We are committed to working with areas of greatest need across the length and breadth of England, and I will write further to him.
Andrew George (St Ives) (LD)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
I have not personally had any discussions with my counterpart in the Hellenic Republic on the future of the management of the sculptures. The sculptures are legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum. The chair of the British Museum has been in discussions with the Greek Government about a partnership, including reciprocal loans.
Andrew George
I am grateful to the Minister for that response, and I should declare an interest as the chair of the British Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures over the last 20 years. The British Museum’s planned redevelopment will necessitate its board agreeing the relocation of many of its exhibits, including the Parthenon sculptures. In the light of that, it is suggested that the time is right for the museum, with the consent and constructive support of Government, to facilitate an exhibition of those sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens where they can be displayed alongside other artefacts. Does the Minister agree that should such a project be agreed by the museum, it would enhance the reputation of the United Kingdom as it would be seen as a gracious act between two nations that are long-term international allies?
Ian Murray
It is clear that the UK and Greece do indeed have a strong bilateral relationship built on our shared history and values. We greatly value the friendship that exists between our people and our Governments. It is for the British Museum to seek to reach an agreement with the Greek Government on the loan of the sculptures, as the British Museum is operationally independent from Government, as he knows with his long track record on this. But if they do reach an agreement, the Government would not stand in the way of such a loan.
Gareth Thomas (Harrow West) (Lab/Co-op)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
The Government are committed to ensuring that people of all ages have the opportunity to maintain an active lifestyle. Sport England invests over £250 million of lottery and Exchequer funding annually into grassroots sport to support people of all ages. That includes multiple campaigns designed to encourage active lifestyles.
Gareth Thomas
The clearly remarkable Fay Bond took up athletics at the age of 90 and won three gold medals last year at the US senior Olympics at the age of 101—the oldest of over 12,400 older athletes who took part. Given the many benefits of an active lifestyle in later life, when might the first UK senior Olympics take place?
Stephanie Peacock
I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Team GB at the winter Olympics. It was a real pleasure to be out in Italy cheering them on in their most successful winter games yet.
I pay tribute to the lady the hon. Gentleman mentioned. We want everyone, whatever their age, to be able to be active, and we are always interested to hear ideas about future major sporting events.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
Bridgwater is the home of carnival. At nearly 180 years old, ours is the oldest carnival in the UK. This fantastic cultural event promotes an active lifestyle among the whole community. However, every year the cost of complying with legislation makes it that little bit harder to continue. Will the Minister meet with me and members of the carnival to discuss what support might be available so that this fantastic spectacle continues for another 180 years?
Stephanie Peacock
I am aware of the issue and would be delighted to meet the hon. Member to discuss it further.
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
We encourage local authorities to continue to work in partnership with key players in local arts ecosystems, such as Arts Council England, and make the most of the opportunities provided by the mayoral strategic authorities to deliver strategically for culture in their areas. Furthermore, the Government are providing substantial financial support to local governments, committing an additional £3.4 billion in grant funding by 2028-29. That commitment is underpinned by the creative industries sector plan, which includes a £150 million creative places growth fund to support it.
Olly Glover
Local councils in my Oxfordshire constituency work hard to secure public arts funding through developer contributions for our growing population. However, some existing cultural venues are struggling. The much-loved Vale and Downland Museum in Wantage is having to rely on one-off grants to plug funding gaps and has had an annual average deficit of £24,000 a year since 2020. In that context, what more can the Minister do to help our local councils to provide funding for museums and cultural venues in my part of Oxfordshire?
Ian Murray
The hon. Gentleman raises a very good point. Our museum renewal fund, worth £20 million, is supporting three museum groups in Oxfordshire, including Vale and Downland Museum in his constituency. Our new museum transformation programme, a 5% funding uplift for the ACE national portfolio organisation and the museum development network will further support the museum sector in 2026-27. Museums in difficulty are encouraged to reach out to Arts Council England, which can provide guidance and support. I encourage the hon. Gentleman to consider the town of culture competition, which has been very popular with Members across this Chamber, to see if he can get more funding in that way.
Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre in my constituency is absolutely smashing it in my constituency of Stafford, Eccleshall and the villages. It welcomed 150,000 people last year and is likely to welcome 170,000 this year. The pantomime alone welcomed 19,500 people—oh yes it did!
Leigh Ingham
Thank you. [Laughter.] Does the Minister agree that thriving venues in towns such as Stafford demonstrate the appetite for culture in our local places? What are the Government doing to support towns like Stafford?
Ian Murray
I thank the hon. Member for being a wonderful champion for Stafford and for culture and arts in Stafford. In February, we announced £1.5 billion over this Parliament for the arts everywhere fund, which is broken down to make sure that we can support infrastructure in every part of the country. The Secretary of State’s and Department’s commitment is to make sure that there is arts and culture everywhere for everyone, and the Department will do everything we possibly can to make sure that gets to Stafford.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
My hon. Friend is a fantastic champion for young people in her constituency. She will know, having worked with us to deliver the first national youth strategy in decades, that we are allocating over £500 million of funding for youth provision over the next three years. She will also know that, most importantly, the way in which we allocate funding is changing. Rather than imposing settlements on communities for things that they did not ask for and do not need, our funding is driven by the grassroots and what communities need. If they need a new building, transportation or different facilities—whatever it may be—we will pay for it.
Maya Ellis
I welcome the universal approach of our new youth strategy, but in my Ribble Valley constituency, in which communities are small and often far away from city-centre youth hubs, young people miss out on support. Their family may be just about managing, but dual-career households and long hours leave little time to take children to activities. This country has an inequality problem, but it also has a productivity problem. I have had welcome conversations with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on how we can unlock real entrepreneurship, ambition and opportunity for young people, in order not only to reduce unemployment rates but to unlock and capitalise on the incredible energy and ideas of our young people. How will the Secretary of State ensure that, while we rightly support those most in need, we also provide all young people with third spaces for ideas and creativity?
Lisa Nandy
I would be very keen to work with my hon. Friend to ensure that we get the right funding for the right provision in her constituency. As she would expect, I am working closely with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and the Secretary of State for Education to ensure that we hang on to young people from the earliest age all the way through to adulthood. I represent a very rural constituency, so I recognise the challenges that my hon. Friend talks about. That is why we are doing things differently, led by the grassroots. I would be very happy to talk to her about how we deliver for people in Ribble Valley.
Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)
It is all very well for the Secretary of State to talk about her version of support for youth services, but that is of little consolation to young people who cannot get a job because youth unemployment is up under this Government. Will she relay that message to the Chancellor?
Lisa Nandy
The hon. Gentleman talks about my “version of support”; it is not mine, actually. This Government have put this generation of young people, who were so badly let down by the hon. Gentleman’s party over many years, back in the driving seat of their own lives. This is not my strategy; it is theirs, and we are determined to deliver on their promise.
It is a bit rich for Conservatives to sit there and talk about letting down young people, after the devastation that they wreaked for so long on a generation, and given that, as the hon. Gentleman well knows, we announced in the Budget investment to ensure that the 1 million young people not in education, employment or training, who the Conservatives had left on the scrapheap, now have guaranteed work, education or training as a right. What did the Conservatives do? They opposed every single measure in that Budget, they opposed all the ways in which we proposed to pay for it, and they labelled it a boost to welfare provision. He knows full well that it is the lifeline that young people have been waiting for.
David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)
The Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Lisa Nandy)
Many Members from across the House have raised with me their deep concern following the broadcast of a highly offensive racial slur during the BBC’s broadcast of the BAFTAs. As Members would expect, I was in contact with the director-general immediately following the broadcast, and I am pleased that an investigation is now under way to ensure that this never happens again.
May I also take this opportunity to congratulate Team GB on their most successful winter Olympics ever? To update the House, since we last met, we have unveiled the biggest ever investment in the arts. This Government are committed to ensuring that the arts are for everyone, everywhere.
David Chadwick
Despite a spirited performance at the weekend, Welsh rugby is in crisis. Clubs are demanding a vote of no confidence, and supporters fear a stitch-up that wipes the Ospreys off the map, ending professional rugby in Swansea. Does the Secretary of State agree that the leadership of the Welsh Rugby Union has lost the confidence of the grassroots game, and should step aside?
Lisa Nandy
Rugby union plays a vital role in our national identity. It matters to hugely to many Members of this House, almost as much as rugby league—the finest form of rugby, Mr Speaker. I appreciate the serious concerns of Welsh rugby fans, including the hon. Gentleman. He knows that the UK Government have no role in the operations of Welsh Rugby Union. Welsh sports policy is the responsibility of the Welsh Government and Sport Wales, so I strongly suggest that he raise his concerns with them.
Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stephanie Peacock)
Spending on youth services in England saw a 73% reduction under the last Government. Too many areas like my hon. Friend’s then had no youth services. That is why our national youth strategy, backed by over £500 million, is reversing that trend, and I would be happy to discuss it further with him.
Nigel Huddleston (Droitwich and Evesham) (Con)
As mentioned by the Secretary of State, this week’s BAFTA awards—a great celebration of British creativity—were marred by the unnecessary airing of involuntary comments by Tourette’s campaigner John Davidson. It appears a microphone was placed close to John, and some offensive comments were aired, despite a two-hour delay. This no doubt well-intended attempt at inclusivity has caused great anxiety to John and great offence to many others. Does the Secretary of State agree that the BBC and BAFTA must not only investigate this matter but apologise?
Lisa Nandy
I am grateful to the shadow Secretary of State for raising this and to the Chair of the Culture, Media and Sport Committee, the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage), who I know has raised her concerns directly with the BBC as well. The shadow Secretary of State heard what I said a moment ago. I think it is fair to say that this Government and I were not satisfied with the initial response from the BBC, and we need to see much swifter action taken in these instances and action that results in this not happening again; I think we are all deeply concerned that there have been too many incidents of this kind.
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for the sensitive way in which he raised this. We all want to make sure that the BAFTAs and all our award ceremonies are inclusive places where people with Tourette’s, who have been shut out of society for too long, can be fully included. The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts, my right hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South (Ian Murray), met BAFTA this week to talk about how we exercise a better duty of care to all concerned.
Nigel Huddleston
I thank the Secretary of State for that response. When the Labour Government cut the budget for the listed places of worship scheme, it was suggested that we should not worry because it never runs out of money. Well, it has now run out of money. As the details for a new scheme have not yet been announced, uncertainty is growing, and vital repair work is being postponed or cancelled altogether. Will the Government follow the Conservative lead and commit to fully restoring the budget for the listed places of worship scheme and to releasing information about the new scheme as a matter of urgency?
Lisa Nandy
The shadow Secretary of State knows that this is important to this Government. These incredible buildings and places of worship stand at the centre of our communities, and it matters deeply that we preserve and protect them. But he will also know that there were serious challenges with the previous scheme, including the fact that his Government left the economy in such a parlous state that there was no funding available going forward, despite their commitments. We have committed to a new scheme that ensures we can get funding to not just those places that can already raise the money for their own buildings but those places where money is in short supply. We are designing that scheme and will bring forward details of it shortly.
John Whitby (Derbyshire Dales) (Lab)
Stephanie Peacock
I know this is a concern to Members across the House—I have met and corresponded with a number of them. It is an issue that is incredibly important to both me and the Secretary of State, who met with players impacted by this to hear their stories. I will be hosting a roundtable discussion shortly with the football bodies to explore what more can be done. Our priority is for the football authorities to provide greater clarity on the available funding and to ensure enough money is available to provide those impacted with the support they need.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Stephanie Peacock
Sport England is not losing its status; there is a consultation. The Prime Minister and I have met a number of times to discuss the issue. Having committed £400 million to grassroot sports, we do not want to see playing fields and grassroots sports reduced.
Daniel Zeichner (Cambridge) (Lab)
The Minister for Creative Industries, Media and Arts (Ian Murray)
It is not just about building homes and economic drivers; it is about building cultural and heritage communities as well. It is fantastic to see so many infrastructure projects taking shape across Cambridgeshire and Cambridge this year. Cambridge already has a fantastic cultural offer, with Arts Council England’s national portfolio programme already supporting organisations like the New International Encounter and Oblique Arts, both of which work with communities across the region. I encourage my hon. Friend to ask all of his cultural organisations to look at the £1.5 billion Arts Everywhere fund—that record funding was announced last month—and maybe the city or town of culture programme.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond and Northallerton) (Con)
Richmond, North Yorkshire, is home to brilliant cultural assets like Richmond castle, the Georgian Theatre Royal, the Station and the Green Howards Museum. It has a unique place in our national story, with a history stretching back to Norman times and a record of successfully putting on community events, like MayFest. This gateway to the dales is also the UK’s most copied place name: it is the original Richmond but there are more than 100 across the world, from America to India. Will the Secretary of State join me in congratulating Richmond Yorkshire Community Interest Company, which is putting a great bid together to be the UK’s town of culture?
Lisa Nandy
I thank the right hon. Gentleman for championing Richmond’s town of culture bid. I have been following the work of the community interest company with interest. It has brought together an incredible group of people and gathered huge public support for the bid. The question that the Mayor of Richmond asked recently was, “Why not Richmond?” I concur with those remarks and encourage the company to continue its work.
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
Stephanie Peacock
The “30 by 30” programme seeks to recruit 40,000 more cadets across the UK. We are working with the MOD to do that. They do incredibly important work, and my hon. Friend raises an important issue.
Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
On Saturday, the cream of UK music will gather in Manchester for the annual Brit awards, and I am sure the Secretary of State would like to wish everybody all the best for that. UK music has grown for the 11th consecutive year, and UK artists are starting once again to re-emerge in global markets, including through the success of Lola Young and Olivia Dean, but there are issues. Artist remuneration, touring in Europe and the threat of AI continue to emerge as threats. Will the Secretary of State continue to engage with the sector and ensure that all those issues are addressed?
Lisa Nandy
I am absolutely delighted that the Brits will be held in Manchester this year, and I will, of course, be in attendance. The hon. Gentleman raises a serious point. Whether through our work on the voluntary levy to get funding into grassroots music venues or our work with the music industry to solve the challenges posed by the issues around AI and copyright, he is right to say that we need to work to support what is not just an incredible industry that brings joy to millions of people all over the world, but one of the UK’s best exports.
Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Northern industries built this nation, but the previous Government did not care about our industrial heritage, which is one reason why Newcastle’s iconic swing bridge no longer swings. On her recent visit, the Minister for Heritage encouraged us to take the steps necessary to safeguard its future, but what help can the Secretary of State provide to support the funding necessary to get the swing bridge swinging?
Ian Murray
I commend my hon. Friend’s campaign for Newcastle’s swing bridge in its 150th anniversary year. I know the Minister for Heritage, who sits in the other place, has been dealing closely with her on those issues. I understand that Newcastle city council is leading a feasibility study on returning the bridge to full operation, which should help us to understand if and how this magnificent grade II listed building and scheduled monument can be brought back to life. I share my hon. Friend’s aspiration to allow the bridge to swing.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
The Restoration and Renewal Client Board has recently published a report providing costed proposals for the R&R programme and a recommended way forward. The key recommendation is to commence a phase 1 works package, including enabling works and the preparation of temporary accommodation, which includes a long-term resilience Chamber. It has reduced the number of delivery options from four to two, with a final decision on a preferred option required by 2030. The next step is for parliamentary debates to be held so that Members of both Houses can consider the client board’s recommendations and decide how to progress. The R&R team holds regular briefings, tours and detailed Q&A sessions, which the hon. Gentleman may find of interest.
Charlie Dewhirst
The London 2012 Olympics took seven years to organise and cost £7 billion. The World Trade Centre rebuild in New York took seven years and cost $3.9 billion. The restoration of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris took less than five years and cost less than €1 billion, yet here we are, with the cheapest option available to us to spend £16 billion and move out for 24 years. I am sorry, but that really does stink. We need to look again at the entire proposals for the restoration and renewal of this place. Restoration is fine, and we should all operate in a safe workplace, but I ask the hon. Member to go back to the board and look again at this entire proposal.
Nick Smith
I agree with the hon. Gentleman that we should make much faster progress on this project. However, he talks about Notre Dame, which has a much smaller footprint than our Palace of Westminster. The bulk of the construction costs relate to the replacement and upgrade of mechanical power, water and heating infrastructure, improvements to fire safety, and the controlled management of asbestos and repaired stonework. Not enough has been invested in our palace over the years, and much more needs to be done. This needs to be done at a good speed, but I accept his point. Let us try to take Members of both Houses with us.
Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Marsha De Cordova)
The Church remains a major investor in deprived communities. Funding for the period from 2026 to 2028 has reached a record £430 million, focusing on strengthening ministry and providing long-term support for the lowest-income communities. That is in addition to the £91 million already spent in the period between 2023 and 2025 in dioceses in urban, post-industrial and coastal communities. Just recently, at the last General Synod meeting, we marked the 40th anniversary of the landmark “Faith in the City” report into tackling structural deprivation.
Jessica Toale
Over the last few weeks, I have visited Winton and Parkstone community pantry at the Winton Christadelphian church, which is supported by FareShare, and the sanctuary project at St Andrew’s church in Kinson, which has a food bank supported by the Trussell Trust. Both churches go out of their way to support our community members in need. Will the hon. Lady join me in paying tribute to the churches and their volunteers? Will she outline what more they can do to provide support with the cost of living and isolation in our communities?
Marsha De Cordova
Churches are cornerstones of all our communities, and I congratulate the clergy, volunteers and congregation of St Andrew’s church in Kinson and the Winton Christadelphian church on their hard work and contributions to supporting the community pantry and the sanctuary project. Across the country, churches are delivering around 31,000 community projects, including 8,000 food banks, 4,000 parent and carer groups, 5,000 lunch clubs and 3,000 community cafés. These programmes offer practical support, companionship and advice to those facing hardship, demonstrating the Church’s ongoing commitment to serving and standing with all our communities nationwide.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
St Nicholas church in Shepperton in my constituency made an application under the listed places of worship scheme to get £16,000 of VAT back on essential repairs that it has made. It got an auto-reply saying that the scheme has been used up and that there is no money left. On behalf of the Church Commissioners, will the hon. Member entreat the Government to look again at that application and see whether the VAT can be reclaimed?
Douglas McAllister (West Dunbartonshire) (Lab)
Marsha De Cordova
While church attendance statistics for 2025 are still being collated, early indications suggest an increase in attendance at Advent and Christmas services. Indeed, churches have reported fuller congregations for carol services, especially Christmas eve and Christmas day services. This is consistent with the upwards seasonal patterns seen over recent years.
Douglas McAllister
Long-term trends suggest a decline in regular weekly church attendance; however, there was a rise in church attendance across the UK this Christmas, and I enjoyed visits to various churches in West Dunbartonshire, not least the Hope Community church in Clydebank and Dalmuir Barclay church. Christmas and Easter are often the two occasions when people consider attending church, so what can the Church do to attract new worshippers as we approach Easter?
Marsha De Cordova
I thank my hon. Friend for his question. As I say, anecdotal evidence suggests that attendance is growing, especially in urban areas and among young people. The Church of England is producing a large number of resources for major festivals, in addition to its regular Everyday Faith app—my hon. Friend should download it if he has not already done so—and the online services it already provides. The Church is also producing a variety of resources for the Lent and Easter period, including booklets and reflection activities for individual groups. In this Lent season and leading into Christmas, I encourage all colleagues across the House to consider visiting some of their local churches—including during this festive period, if they have not done so already.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the hon. Lady for her response. Trends seem to indicate that among the young people of Generation Z, attendance at churches is growing, which is good news. We all know that the greatest story ever told is the birth of the Lord Jesus on 25 December, and the fact that he was crucified and died to forgive us our sins and get us to heaven. That is a wonderful story—the hon. Lady knows that, I know that, and indeed I think everybody in the House knows that. We should be telling many people about that. Trends seem to indicate that attendance is growing. Is that not good news for the greatest story ever told?
Marsha De Cordova
I could not have put it better myself. It is the best good news story which must be shared, and we will continue to lift up our voices and share that great story.
Kate Osamor (Edmonton and Winchmore Hill) (Lab/Co-op)
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)
Marsha De Cordova
Despite the horrific and truly devastating situation in Palestine, Christian communities continue to be steadfast and resilient in the face of war and destruction. Last month, the Bishops of Chelmsford, Gloucester and Norwich made a joint visit, which highlighted the severe pressures facing Christian communities across the region. Sadly, attacks and intimidation continue, including the destruction of farms and olive groves, and the Israel Defence Forces and settler militias shamefully attempted to obstruct pastoral visits by the Archbishop of York to Christian families on the west bank during his last visit. We know that despite all these atrocities, it is so important that we continue long-term engagement and supportive visits to the region.
Kate Osamor
The Israeli Government’s new vetting rules have halted much humanitarian work in Gaza. The Palestinian Church committee has urgently appealed to Churches worldwide to intervene so that aid can continue. With local churches and faith-based agencies stepping up their support, can the hon. Member update us on how the Church is strengthening that appeal and helping to ensure that Gaza is not left without vital assistance?
Marsha De Cordova
I commend my hon. Friend for being such a strong voice on this issue. The Church shares the concerns about the hostile new vetting restrictions and how they have disrupted humanitarian operations in Gaza—they are adversely affecting both church-based agencies and international aid programmes. The Church continues to work closely with the diocese of Jerusalem and partner agencies to ensure that aid reaches those who most need it. The Anglican presence in Gaza centres on the al-Ahli hospital, which despite significant damage remains one of the only functioning health facilities in north Gaza.
Patricia Ferguson
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pizzaballa, recently said of Palestine:
“Peace and reconciliation are beautiful concepts, but they risk remaining mere slogans if they are not accompanied today by concrete actions, gestures and testimonies that physically demonstrate the possibility of rebuilding trust.”
Does the commissioner agree with me that Christian Churches are ideally placed to work with other faith communities to lead that rebuilding of trust?
Marsha De Cordova
The hon. Lady makes an important point; the issue is about how the Church works across faith-based organisations to be the leaders of peace. The Church works closely with the diocese of Jerusalem and the Anglican communion agencies, providing education, healthcare and employment across the region and in other countries, ensuring that there is co-operation across the entire Christian community.
As I said earlier, in Gaza, for example, the Church is working with the Anglican communion in supporting the al-Ahli hospital. I also point out some of the work that the Church is doing in the west bank. Assistance is being delivered through the diocesan schools, the Princess Basma Centre and local health centres, through financial support, advocacy and co-ordination, and the Church is working hard to maintain medical care, humanitarian assistance and pastoral support for all Christians and Palestinians affected by this crisis.
Dame Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West) (Lab)
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Members and their teams should be supported to manage and address the increasing volume and complexity of work being placed on us all. Managing email inboxes is a huge task, as we all know. The Parliamentary Digital Service has been working with Members to understand how we can harness technology to help us filter, prioritise and manage our correspondence and casework. I know that the Parliamentary Digital Service is happy to further support the hon. Lady in that work.
Dame Chi Onwurah
I thank the hon. Member for that answer. I believe that Parliament can—indeed must—use AI to improve our productivity, but it must be used securely, ethically, effectively and in the public interest. A poll by Brunel University has said that 80% of the public reject the idea of AI assisting parliamentarians or replacing our judgment. What progress has been made on shaping Copilot—the only AI that we are allowed to use—to reflect Parliament’s priorities, rather than Microsoft’s? I am thinking specifically about inbox management, which I have raised and the hon. Member has mentioned.
Nick Smith
The hon. Member is right to keep on raising this issue. The foundation of the guidance to Members on the use of AI is that there needs to be a human in the loop. The Parliamentary Digital Service is in ongoing discussions with Microsoft to shape the use of Copilot to meet Members’ needs. Our digital service must continue looking at the potential applications of AI to support all our work, so that either Copilot or another solution from elsewhere can be tested for all our benefit.
If the hon. Member wishes, she can join our committee the next time we meet the PDS management team to look at how we can better support Members.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
The Client Board’s recent report recommends a way forward for restoration and renewal. It contains phase 1 works, including seven years’ foundational works for the full programme. These preparatory works can begin once we have approval from both Houses. A final decision on the preferred delivery option is required from both Houses no later than 2030. The main R&R works could begin in 2032.
Dame Meg Hillier
In modern times, this issue has been discussed since 2016; we are on our 10th anniversary of discussing what has actually been an issue for 40 years. I disagree with the hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds (Charlie Dewhirst) about going back to the drawing board again. Does my hon. Friend have any idea of when the vote will be? If it is in 2030, that will be after the next election. I can see the same old arguments about having to revisit this being rehashed again and again, while the building remains riddled with asbestos and at risk of fire. Frankly, once the works begin, my staff and I will no longer be in the building because of safety issues.
Nick Smith
I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. She is right to say that we must make progress, and we now have the costed proposals in front of us. The work is necessary. The home of our Parliament is not only an iconic building, but a UNESCO world heritage site. We currently spend £1.5 million a week on maintaining and repairing the Palace, and every year of delaying delivery has a considerable cost. We must move forward. I hope that the Leader of the House will let us know when we can discuss and debate this important matter.
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Marsha De Cordova)
The Church of England has expressed heartfelt sorrow and regret that anyone has been hurt. The National Church Institutions are engaging with a range of stakeholders, including, most importantly, those people who were directly affected.
Peter Swallow
On Tuesday, the Education Committee held a public evidence session on historical forced adoptions and heard how, over many decades, unmarried mothers were shamed and coerced into giving up their babies for adoption—a practice driven by the policies of the state and delivered by charities and religious organisations, including the Church of England. Do the Church Commissioners agree that the victims—mothers and adopted children—are owed a full and formal apology from the Church for its role in this scandal? I heard what my hon. Friend said, but only a formal apology will begin to heal the wounds of this horrible scandal.
Marsha De Cordova
The Church recognises the profound pain experienced by many mothers and adoptees affected by historical forced adoption practices, and it is sobering to hear the accounts from mothers and their children whose lives have been adversely affected by what happened to them in maternity homes, including those linked to the Church of England. I want to reiterate to my hon. Friend that the Church has expressed its heartfelt sorrow and regret that people have been impacted by that practice. If he is willing, I am very happy to meet him.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
Nick Smith (Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney)
Given my hon. Friend’s journey time from Cornwall, I can understand why she asks that question. The Commission recently endorsed recommendations from our participation team to improve the school visit booking process and the use of our travel subsidy. Schools from her area will have extra time to apply. We want to encourage greater participation from schools furthest away from Westminster by increasing capacity through our education service.
Jayne Kirkham
I am so pleased that schools furthest from Westminster are going to be prioritised and given time to apply for parliamentary trips. It takes at least six hours to get here from Cornish schools, which means they have to take a number of days in London. That is why their visits are rare and often in the summer term, when they interfere less with formal exams. Could my hon. Friend confirm that children from remote and deprived areas will be helped to surmount the barriers they face in getting here?
Nick Smith
The new booking process, which will be launched in September, will ensure that regions are allocated visit opportunities to ensure that no region accesses more than its fair share. Consideration has been given to the circumstances of band C schools—those furthest from Westminster—which have a clear preference for summer-term access due to the long distances they must travel. The education team will weight band C visit opportunities to favour the summer term, so that the booking opportunities best meet those schools’ needs.
Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)
The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Marsha De Cordova)
The Anglican communion is deeply alarmed by the worsening humanitarian catastrophe, which has been described by regional bishops as “almost unbearable”. Christian communities are among the hardest hit and are facing mass killings, sexual violence and famine. Millions of people have been displaced, and churches and properties have been seized, burnt and destroyed. The Archbishop of Sudan briefed MPs and bishops before Christmas, and said that the conflict has created the world’s largest hunger and displacement crisis.
Warinder Juss
Earlier this year I attended the Open Doors world watch list launch, at the request of my Wolverhampton West constituents, who are gravely concerned about the situation in Sudan. The event confirmed the extreme levels of persecution against Christians in that country, with reports of forced conversions, physical punishment, the destruction of churches and sexual violence. Given that the conflict seems to be getting worse, with the country rising nearly 10 places on the Open Doors watch list in the past five years, can my hon. Friend please outline what steps are being taken to supply international aid and support to Christians being persecuted in Sudan?
Marsha De Cordova
I, too, attended the launch of the Open Doors world watch list last month, and I agree that the testimonies shared by those who have fled persecution were powerful and moving. The Bishop of Leeds, who has visited Sudan extensively, has repeatedly raised the issues facing the Sudanese people in the other place and directly with the Government. He held a debate in which he specifically called on the Government and the international community to secure a ceasefire in order to ensure humanitarian access and protect civilians. The dioceses of Leeds and Salisbury both hold a formal companion link with the diocese of Sudan. The Church stands with Sudan’s Christian population and all those who are suffering, and calls for renewed global attention on this horrific conflict.
Business of the House
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Joy Morrissey (Beaconsfield) (Con)
Will the Leader of the House give us the forthcoming business?
The Leader of the House of Commons (Sir Alan Campbell)
The business for next week includes:
Monday 2 March—Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill.
Tuesday 3 March—My right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer will make her spring forecast statement, followed by consideration of Lords amendments to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Bill.
Wednesday 4 March—Estimates day (4th allotted day). There will be debates on estimates relating to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Ministry of Defence, and the Department for Business and Trade. At 7 pm the House will be asked to agree all outstanding estimates.
Thursday 5 March—Proceedings on the Supply and Appropriation (Anticipation and Adjustments) (No. 2) Bill, followed by a general debate on the contributions of Commonwealth troops in world war one, followed by a debate on a motion on the future of palliative care. The subjects for these debates were determined by the Backbench Business Committee.
Friday 6 March—The House will not be sitting.
The provisional business for the week commencing 9 March includes:
Monday 9 March—Consideration of Lords amendments to the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.
Tuesday 10 March—Second Reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill.
Wednesday 11 March—Remaining stages of the Finance (No. 2) Bill.
Thursday 12 March—General debate to mark International Women’s Day.
Friday 13 March—The House will not be sitting.
Joy Morrissey
It is a pleasure to be doing business questions and responding to the right hon. Gentleman. He was a Chief Whip—a Whip, like me, but more grand—and he was much respected, revered and sometimes feared by Members of this House. I will be honest and say that even I was terrified of him, and we are not even in the same party. It is a pleasure to be here today.
As we reach the fourth anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is important that we restate our unwavering support for the people of Ukraine. We must never abandon them.
I know that it has been a challenging few weeks for Labour Members—we have all been there—who have come to realise what the British people have long understood, which is that we have a Prime Minister who has U-turned on every principle he held and every promise he made. He is a Prime Minister elected on a promise not to raise taxes on working people, and then he raised them. He is a Prime Minister who promised to be pro-business, and he has become the most anti-business Prime Minister of modern times. He is a Prime Minister who promised to raise standards in public life, but he is presiding over an ever-growing mountain of Government scandals. “The grown-ups are back in charge, no more sleaze”—how is that going for them?
While the Prime Minister stumbles on, his Ministers are out of control and out of their depth, and the British people are paying the price. Let me start with the Justice Secretary. This week we saw that he intends to pursue his reckless plan to cut jury trials: a principle that has existed for over 800 years; a principle that he wants to wreck without proper debate in the House. Will the Leader of the House give me a categoric assurance that we will have time in the House to debate the changes that the Justice Secretary wants to make before we get to May?
Let me turn to the Education Secretary, who is also the Equalities Minister. There can be no justification for the delay in providing guidance on single-sex spaces. The Supreme Court ruled a year ago that biological sex defines a woman—a fact that most people knew without needing a judge to tell them. I do not know whether the Education Secretary deep down still does not agree, but the inaction must end. Will the Leader of the House confirm when the guidance will be laid before the House, and grant a debate in Government time on the unacceptable delays and risk it has proved to women and girls?
Let me turn to the Chancellor. This week the Chancellor’s entrepreneurship adviser shamefully said that Britain does “not need more restaurants”, laying bare what we already knew: that this Government are determined to tax our hospitality businesses into extinction. Will the Chancellor apologise for her adviser and sack her, or back her and agree with her anti-hospitality stance? Will the Leader of the House grant a debate in Government time on our pubs and hospitality, so that Members—at least, those on the Conservative Benches—can show their support for the hospitality sector? We want to ensure that the crippling tax burden is removed from the hospitality sector.
It is now clear that we have a Prime Minister with an out-of-control Government buried deep in scandal after scandal, failure after failure and broken promise after broken promise; a Prime Minister without principle; a Prime Minister without purpose; and a Prime Minister without a future. The British people deserve better.
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank the hon. Lady for her questions and for her warm welcome, but let me gently warn her that soft soap will get her absolutely nowhere.
Let me join the hon. Lady in expressing our continued support for Ukraine. This week marks four years since Putin’s full-scale invasion. The Government remain steadfast in our support for the people of Ukraine, as did the previous Government. This week we announced a landmark sanctions package against Russia. We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes to achieve a just and lasting peace. That underlines the importance of NATO and, frankly, the foolishness of any party in this House that wants us to leave NATO.
I am sure that the whole House will wish to congratulate Team GB on their most successful winter Olympic games ever, and send our best wishes to Paralympics GB ahead of the Paralympic winter games starting on 6 March.
I want to send my condolences to the family and friends of Harry Barnes, who passed away last week. He diligently served as MP for North East Derbyshire for nearly 20 years.
I also wish to send my condolences to the family and friends of Martyn Butler, the co-founder of the Terrence Higgins Trust. Martyn supported the trust for five decades and fought for LGBT rights. It is undoubted that his legacy will live on.
This week, Ofgem announced that electricity bills will come down for millions of households as a result of the action we took at the Budget. We have announced major changes to the special educational needs and disabilities system. We are putting children and young people first. Every child with additional needs will benefit from better, more tailored support, with SEND support in every school and community.
Finally, I want to wish all those celebrating a happy St David’s day on Sunday.
Let me now turn to the hon. Lady’s remarks. I will begin with what I thought were her fairly churlish remarks about the Prime Minister. She failed to mention that, because he is doing such a good job—[Interruption.] I am pleased that Conservative Members acknowledge that, because inflation is falling, interest rates have fallen six times since the general election, retail sales are up, wages are up and the economy is growing. I think that is a record of which we should be proud.
Let me turn to the Prime Minister’s integrity. I draw the comparison between the integrity of my right hon. and learned Friend and how the hon. Lady was one of the very last people in the redoubt with Boris Johnson. She did not join others in holding the former Prime Minister to account.
I have already announced Second Reading of the Courts and Tribunals Bill; there will be plenty of time for debate, and I will bring forward the next stages in the usual way. Similarly, on the guidance that the hon. Lady referred to, we will bring that forward—we have committed to that—and there will be time for debate on these important matters, but it is important that we get them right.
On hospitality, there will be further opportunities to debate such issues when the Finance Bill returns to the Chamber, but let me remind the House that under the previous Government 7,000 pubs closed. The hon. Lady referred to that as “support” from her party for pubs. Goodness me—how would it have been if it had not supported those pubs? We will not take any lessons about hospitality from the Conservative party.
Chris Bloore (Redditch) (Lab)
My constituent Bethany is 27. She has spent time in various residential care units and with at-home support provided by Worcestershire county council. During that time, she has experienced unexplained injuries and neglect, resulting in health problems and weight loss. Her family have submitted various complaints about that poor treatment, but the council will not provide a final response to their complaints and has not replied to my office’s multiple requests for that to happen. In fact, the council is still trying to reclaim fees from the family while the complaint remains unresolved. Will the Leader of the House advise me on how best to escalate that distressing case when the county council refuses to engage?
Sir Alan Campbell
May I first express my deepest sympathies for the case that my hon. Friend raises? His constituent, and indeed all our constituents, deserve better than what he has outlined. If he sends me the specifics, I will ensure that they are taken up with the relevant Minister.
Bobby Dean (Carshalton and Wallington) (LD)
I join the Leader of the House in his comments about Ukraine. It is clear that Vladimir Putin underestimated Ukrainians’ resilience and Europe’s willingness to stand by Ukraine. He will find out that we will all stand by Ukraine right to the end of this war.
The cost of living has been piling pressure on people for years, and people have been plunged into debt. Bodies such as Citizens Advice and StepChange offer advice on how to get out of debt situations, and one thing they commonly raise with me—I see it in my inbox as well—is the aggressive debt recovery actions of those in the public sector. If people fall behind on council tax payments, councils are often quite quick to cancel their existing payment plans and order them to pay a fine. They also get to a stage involving bailiffs quite quickly—often within six weeks. This is different from what happens in the private sector, which is more heavily regulated and where there is a need to show more meaningful engagement with residents, offer payment plans, and get to court action much later.
I see this again in the case of the Department for Work and Pensions. We have spoken in this place about the carer’s allowance overpayment scandal and how those people were chased for payments, but in the last couple of weeks I have had examples in my inbox of somebody whose debt with the DWP rose to £10,000 due to errors on the Department’s part, and started being chased aggressively for that. Of course, the DWP can automatically deduct payments of up to 15% from someone’s universal credit almost immediately, leaving them with no understanding of what happened in the past, let alone how they will manage going forward. The Government are seeking new powers to go into bank accounts and take payments directly, which is extremely worrying given the errors that the DWP has made in the past.
This relates not only to the DWP, but to all public sector bodies, so I am not sure who is the relevant Minister, but I would appreciate it if the Leader of the House engaged with the Government to see if they can get more sympathy and understanding into the debt recovery process across public sector organisations.
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his remarks on Ukraine. It is important that every party in this House stands with Ukraine, and it is a pity and a disgrace that that view is not shared by everyone in the House.
The hon. Gentleman is right to raise the matter of debt recovery, because it must be fair to everyone; if someone falls into debt, they must be treated fairly and supported to get back on their feet. That is why we are reforming the enforcement sector to safeguard debtors and creditors alike while building a more sustainable future. It is a question of balance, because any Secretary of State has an obligation to protect public funds and ensure that, wherever possible, overpayment and penalty debt is recovered; it should, however, be recovered as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible without causing undue financial hardship to debtors. I will draw the hon. Gentleman’s remarks to the attention of Ministers, starting with those in the DWP, to ensure that they have heard what he has said today.
Natasha Irons (Croydon East) (Lab)
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Coloma Convent girls’ school in my constituency, where students are campaigning on the vital issue of debt relief for developing countries and what this nation can do about it. They highlighted the stark reality that 3.3 billion people live in nations that spend more on servicing debt than on health, infrastructure and education. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the teachers, students and staff at Coloma for their work to highlight this issue, and will he make time for a debate on the growing global debt crisis and the UK’s role in supporting meaningful debt relief?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising the work and campaigning of Coloma Convent girls’ school and will certainly join her in thanking the teachers and staff at the school. The Government fully recognise the pressure that many developing countries face, and we are committed to delivering an international financial system that supports development needs and helps countries to address their debt vulnerabilities. I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary hears my hon. Friend’s words.
Bob Blackman (Harrow East) (Con)
I thank the Leader of the House for announcing the business for the next two weeks. May I make a plea to him—and to you, Mr Speaker—about the estimates day debates? We had seven excellent bids, from which we had to choose three, and time will be compressed in those debates. I hope that a very high bar for urgent questions will be implemented and that the Government will not put on statements on that particular day—
Mr Speaker
Order. Maybe I can help: don’t put in as many questions for the Government. [Laughter.]
Bob Blackman
I don’t think I have submitted a request for a UQ for a very long time, Mr Speaker.
Bob Blackman
I might do next week.
The business in Westminster Hall on Tuesday will be a debate on strengthening community cohesion, which might be quite appropriate after today’s by-election. On Thursday 5 March, there will be a debate on the importance of local museums, followed by one on World Book Day. On Tuesday 10 March, there will be a debate on the import and sale of fur and fur-related products. On Thursday 12 March, the Liaison Committee has a debate on Northern Ireland, followed by a debate on Government support for carnivals. On Tuesday 17 March, there will be a debate on productivity and economic growth in the east midlands.
Unfair service charges implemented by companies across the UK are frequently raised at business questions, but I think I have one that tops the lot. In my constituency, we have a development called Stanmore Place, which has a mixture of housing association-managed property and 798 private leased properties. It is managed by St Edward Homes, with a managing agent called Rendall & Rittner.
Due to its incompetence, R&R has failed to deliver the costs of heating for the shared services for the past 10 years. It has now decided to re-invoice individuals, who have paid their bills, saying—generously—that it will not invoice them from 2015 to 2021, but that it will invoice them from 2021 to 2026. Ofgem is apparently changing the rules so that this will not be allowed in future; companies will be able to go back only 12 months, which is reasonable. However, Ofgem is not making the change until 2027, meaning that in this particular case, and across the UK, we have a wild west show in back billing.
I know that the Government are looking at leasehold reform and service charges in particular. Could the Leader of the House therefore encourage Ministers to ensure that this practice is outlawed immediately?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank the hon. Gentleman and his Backbench Business Committee for all their work. I am pleased to hear that a number of very good bids came forward for estimates day, so, to that extent, the system is working. However, as he will know, it is a question of balance. We want to make full use of the time on that day. Having three debates may be challenging in terms of time, but it certainly should ensure that we use the whole of the allotted time, which was not always the case previously. I heard his request about statements, which is a matter for the Government, and I will see what we can do.
Let me turn to service charges. As the hon. Gentleman said, we are determined to take action to address unfair and unjustified charges. We are committed to implementing the measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 as soon as possible, because we are committed to ensuring that those who live in the leasehold sector are protected from abuse and poor service at the hands of unscrupulous managing agents. I will ensure that both Ofgem and Ministers hear the hon. Gentleman’s concerns and see whether anything can be done about timing, because I take his point very much.
Euan Stainbank (Falkirk) (Lab)
Next week, SNP-controlled Falkirk council proposes to cut school bus services from communities such as Shieldhill, Hallglen and Maddiston—bus services that get bairns from some of our most rural and deprived communities to school on time. Hundreds of working parents in Falkirk responded to the budget consultation, as they are worried sick about the impact on their bairns’ safety, wellbeing and attendance at school. Will the Leader of the House join those families and me in calling on Falkirk council to reject this cut?
Sir Alan Campbell
As ever, my hon. Friend raises a very important issue. We all want children across the UK to have the best opportunities and start in life, so it is vital that important transport services are available for children to access education, particularly in rural areas. As I have said many times, the Scottish Government have a record funding settlement and they should make use of it. I hope that Falkirk council has listened to my hon. Friend’s concerns.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
At 3 o’clock on Saturday, Windsor & Eton football club will play the Ashford Town (Middlesex) team in the north of my constituency. My hon. Friend the Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin) is coming over with 100 of his closest friends. Will the Leader of the House join me in encouraging as many members of my Spelthorne constituency to get themselves to Ashford Town at 3 pm to cheer on the team?
Sir Alan Campbell
I certainly join the hon. Gentleman in hoping that the day is a success. Of course, we want to encourage people to go along and cheer on and support teams, not least because many clubs face difficult financial circumstances, so getting communities behind teams is really important. The only thing that surprises me is that a Member of Parliament has 100 friends.
Peter Swallow (Bracknell) (Lab)
On the last day before the February recess, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government released a consultation on regional strategic planning, including proposed maps for regions where a mayoral strategic authority has not already been established. I am extremely concerned that that amounts to imposing a devolution area on my region from Whitehall, but I have not yet been able to secure a meeting with the Minister in question to share my concerns. Will the Leader of the House speak to colleagues in MHCLG about arranging that meeting as quickly as possible?
Sir Alan Campbell
The Government were clear in their manifesto that housing need in England cannot be met without planning for growth on a larger than local scale, and that it will be necessary to introduce effective new mechanisms for cross-boundary strategic planning. None the less, I will raise my hon. Friend’s point with the relevant Minister and ensure that he gets a reply and, if appropriate, a meeting.
Helen Morgan (North Shropshire) (LD)
The western side of my constituency is blighted by the dangerous A483, which runs from Welshpool in Wales through to Oswestry in my constituency. The residents of Llanymynech, Pant and Llynclys are particularly badly affected by safety issues. Everyone knows that the right solution is a bypass, but National Highways has come up with a solution to make the Llynclys crossroads much safer and to improve safety through Pant and Llanymynech, so that schoolchildren are not risking their lives every day by crossing the road to catch the bus. Can the Leader of the House tell me when we might see the road investment strategy 3 announced—when that statement might come before MPs—so that constituents in the western part of my constituency can start to feel hope that, for the first time in 40 years, somebody is doing something about the death trap that is the A483?
Sir Alan Campbell
The hon. Lady is right to raise this important matter. I cannot give her the answer that she is looking for this morning, but I will make sure that Ministers are aware of this issue and that she gets a reply directly from them.
Rachel Hopkins (Luton South and South Bedfordshire) (Lab)
This week my home town of Luton celebrates a very important milestone as we mark the 150th anniversary of the borough and its elected council. Will the Leader of the House join me in celebrating this anniversary and paying tribute to our local councillors of all political stripes across the country for their democratic service and representation of their local communities?
Sir Alan Campbell
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in celebrating the incredible anniversary that she describes. Local councillors are vital to the work of local government and to supporting our constituents on all manner of issues, and I thank them for their work, not just in her area but across the country. However, let me just say that I am disappointed that we do not have a representative from Reform here today, because I would like to have heard from them what their party leader refused to say yesterday: whether or not there would be condemnation and the sacking of the deputy council leader in Lancashire for disgraceful comments about my hon. Friend the Member for Bolsover (Natalie Fleet).
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
I am sure you are aware, Mr Speaker, that the armed forces parliamentary scheme provides Members of this House and the other place with the unique opportunity to get a better insight into the military so that we are better informed in debates and decision making. Yesterday, Wing Commander Greg Smith finally retired from the RAF after not only 10 years of running the armed forces parliamentary scheme for that service but a very distinguished active service with the RAF fast jets in the cold war, the middle east and the Balkans, before taking on multinational operational roles with NATO. He then took on the most challenging role of all, which is, of course, herding Members of Parliament to bases in the UK and abroad. Will the Leader of the House join me in thanking Wing Commander Smith for his extraordinarily distinguished service and wishing him all the very best in his retirement?
Sir Alan Campbell
I pay tribute to everyone involved in the armed forces parliamentary scheme. I know that it has had a profound effect on colleagues over the years, and it is so important in informing Members of this House and ensuring that we are able to debate all armed forces matters with even greater knowledge. I am happy to wish Wing Commander Smith all the very best for the future, and I thank him for everything that he has done.
Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)
My constituent Isabel Rose suffered a horrendous event in Hong Kong almost exactly two years ago. She was sexually assaulted and violently raped. She went to the authorities in trust to report this, but it was not properly investigated. Given the Government’s support for tackling violence against women and girls here in the UK, does the Leader of the House agree that it is time we had a debate in Government time about violence against women and girls more generally and the under-reporting of sexual assault, which is also under- reported in Hong Kong? Will he also flag this issue to Foreign Office Ministers?
Sir Alan Campbell
I am very sorry to hear of the case that my hon. Friend raises. The Government are absolutely committed to tackling violence against women and girls wherever it happens. There are opportunities to debate these matters, but I will certainly see whether there are further opportunities for my hon. Friend to raise her concerns. I will also draw this case to the attention of Foreign Office Ministers.
Joe Robertson (Isle of Wight East) (Con)
The England Beach Soccer association has an agreement with the Football Association, as its delivery partner into FIFA. However, beach soccer is not recognised as a stand-alone sport by Sport England, which means that it cannot benefit from funding, and it does not receive anything from the FA either. It is a growing sport, with 30 years of history behind it, and it is crucial, particularly in coastal areas where no facilities are required other than a beach. Will the Government consider setting aside time for a debate about the importance of open-air sport and about beach soccer finally getting the recognition from Sport England that I think—I am sure other Members agree—it rightfully deserves?
Sir Alan Campbell
I certainly join the hon. Gentleman in praising those involved in beach soccer, not least because we have some fantastic beaches in my constituency. He may wish to seek an Adjournment debate to raise those important matters, but I will certainly draw them to the attention of the appropriate Minister. If the hon. Gentleman wants a meeting to go through the advantages of supporting beach soccer, he may be able to make his case there.
Andy McDonald (Middlesbrough and Thornaby East) (Lab)
May I ask the Leader of the House whether the Government will make time for the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to report to this House on the findings of the best value process for the mayoral Tees Valley combined authority as the 12 months of the best value notice draw to a close? In that period, Mayor Houchen has been required to relinquish the chairmanship of three development corporations and the authority is seeing changes to all three statutory officers, with the outgoing director of finance referring to “informal agreements” between the South Tees Development Corporation and Teesworks and with interim officers resigning. Its external auditors, EY, have disclaimed the last two years’ accounts, with reports suggesting a further year of disclaimed accounts is likely. Given the serious and continuing concerns regarding finance, governance and audit, will the Government provide an opportunity for a full statement on the conclusions reached and any further steps proposed to secure best value and to restore confidence in and the future of the development corporations?
Sir Alan Campbell
My hon. Friend sets out further disturbing news from Tees Valley. He described me earlier as a “pussy cat” on some matters; on these matters he has been a terrier over the years. He has pursued them on behalf of his constituents and the wider region, and he is absolutely right to do so. If he wishes to have a meeting to draw them to the attention of the Secretary of State, I will help him to arrange it. If the Secretary of State wishes to bring forward a statement on these matters, that is a decision for him.
Pippa Heylings (South Cambridgeshire) (LD)
The Greater Cambridge shared planning service, which covers both South Cambridgeshire district council and Cambridge city council, is an award-winning planning service that has one of the highest build-out rates in the country while maintaining high environmental standards, for which it is recognised by the Government’s Cambridge Growth Company. Yet right now, it faces a perilous situation, with unplanned speculative development, as a result of a ridiculous anomaly. Although the five-year housing land supply is a joint, shared target, the housing delivery test does not recognise the cross-boundary shared target, putting at risk that supply. I, together with all MPs for the area, wrote to the Housing Minister in January and we had a meeting in the first week of February. He assured us that he understood the urgency of the situation and offered us a swift resolution, but to date we have heard nothing. Will the Leader of the House help us resolve this matter swiftly?
Sir Alan Campbell
I certainly will try to do that. The hon. Lady is right to raise those concerns. Two things spring to mind: first, with the support of other colleagues who she says have similar concerns, she might seek an Adjournment debate so that they can express them directly to the Minister, or secondly, she gets the reply from the Minister that she is after. I will ensure that she does.
Warinder Juss (Wolverhampton West) (Lab)
Last weekend, the Wolverhampton Wanderers player Tolu Arokodare was subjected to appalling racist abuse on his social media profiles and three other premier league players shared similar experiences. I wrote to the Minister for Online Safety, my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan (Kanishka Narayan), this week to request a meeting to discuss what can be done to stop this racist abuse of our black footballers so that the perpetrators are punished for their disgusting behaviour and social media companies take their share of responsibility. Will the Leader of the House please join me in condemning this horrible abuse and expressing full support and solidarity to Tolu? Will he also reach out to the Minister to ensure that the requested meeting is scheduled as soon as possible?
Sir Alan Campbell
I absolutely join my hon. Friend in condemning the abuse that he describes and offering our support for Tolu. Nobody—no football player and, indeed, not anybody involved in sport—should be put through that. The Government’s stance is unequivocal: we stand for unity, not division. Racism, sexism and any other form of discrimination has no place in our society, which is why we are working closely with the national governing bodies for sport to tackle racism and discrimination. I will ask that my hon. Friend gets the meeting that he seeks so that Ministers can hear his concerns fully and completely.
Mr Andrew Snowden (Fylde) (Con)
As winter takes its toll, many Members of this House will, like me, be finding their best angry faces and awkwardly pointing at potholes in their constituencies, but this year many residents are getting in touch with me to say that this is the worst they can ever remember them being. In fact, one of the potholes that is sparking quite a few emails to me is a giant one right outside Reform UK’s office in the Fylde constituency, which is becoming a little metaphor for the rocky road that Reform has had since winning control of Lancashire county council.
Reform promised to magically save hundreds of millions of pounds, to improve services and to cut council tax, but what have we seen so far? Council tax has gone up, and Reform went millions of pounds over budget within months of taking office and then it tried to settle some of that overspend by consulting on closing care homes, such as Milbanke in Fylde and Grove House in the Chorley constituency. Will the Leader of the House agree to have a Government statement on what support they will provide to these Reform-controlled councils, given that it clearly won control of them with no idea of what it was getting into or a plan of what to do once it did?
Sir Alan Campbell
The Government have provided huge resource for local authorities to tackle potholes. The hon. Member is right that, given the fact that it has been a wet winter, potholes appear to be prevalent everywhere. It sounds once again as if this Reform council over-offers and underdelivers and, like other Reform councils, is providing poorer services and yet putting council tax up at the same time. I cannot offer him a debate or statement in Government time, but I hope that when electors in his area get the opportunity, they will make their views absolutely clear.
Helena Dollimore (Hastings and Rye) (Lab/Co-op)
We have a pothole epidemic in Hastings, Rye and the villages. After years of the Conservatives slashing council budgets, this Labour Government have given Conservative-run East Sussex county council a record cash injection of £21 million to fill those potholes. Despite that, potholes are causing chaos. They risk lives, cause damage to our cars and, as we heard at my public meeting on buses last week, make our buses break down three times as often in Hastings as anywhere else in the country because the roads are so bad. Despite the record cash injection, the council refuses to answer basic questions about how much of that £21 million will be spent in Hastings and Rye, which has the worst potholes. Does the Leader of the House agree that there are now no excuses for Conservative-run East Sussex county council? It must get on and use this money to fill those potholes, and also respond to my freedom of information request.
Sir Alan Campbell
Absolutely, the council should do that as a matter of urgency. It is a gross discourtesy to a Member of this House for any council not to take these matters seriously enough. It seems that we are not just criticising Reform councils on these matters; we are now quite rightly condemning Conservative councils. Where they are not listening to their residents, they should listen. As I said in my previous answer, a record amount is going in from Government to fix potholes. The money must be used effectively so that our constituents see those benefits. I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this matter to the House, and I encourage her local Conservative council to listen to her important contribution and the views of their community, and to get back to her with the information that she rightly seeks.
Pete Wishart (Perth and Kinross-shire) (SNP)
It is absolutely right that student debt has been one of the main focuses this week. Students are graduating with an average debt of £53,000. That simply is an appalling and debilitating financial burden at the start of their working lives. But the Leader of the House will know that this is not the story in the whole of the UK; in Scotland, under the SNP policy of free tuition, students graduate with an average debt of £17,990—a third of what students graduate with in England. Will he ensure that that is pointed out when this issue is debated and student debt is referenced? I have heard about U-turns on student debt. If those happen, will he encourage his Ministers to look at the Scottish system of free education and ensure that graduates in England have the same opportunities as graduates in Scotland?
Sir Alan Campbell
As the hon. Gentleman will know, we inherited the current system from the previous Government. They designed it, they delivered it and they caused the problems that are there now. We are trying to put them right. We have made changes to try to make it fairer. We continue to look at ways of doing that, and we will look at examples wherever they happen to be. We are focused not just on that, but on improving the cost of living to benefit young people. I very gently say to the hon. Gentleman that of course the situation is different in Scotland, because money is available to put into it. I would simply ask him where the money comes from. We have put a record funding settlement into Scotland, and it is up to them how they use it, but I am afraid the idea that there is a magic money tree in Scotland is from his imagination.
Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)
I recently visited the Lancaster University School of Mathematics, which is based in Preston on the edge of my constituency, a brilliant new place for 16 to 18-year-olds to take A-levels in maths and maths-based subjects. In a world where we desperately need more maths and technical skills, it was truly a joy to hear that students who had previously felt unsupported in their passion for maths now had a place where they could thrive. Will the Leader of the House join me in encouraging my young constituents to consider this brilliant choice now on their doorstep, and will he consider a debate on how the culture of our educational settings is crucial to enabling the creative and entrepreneurial learning we need for growth in this country?
Sir Alan Campbell
I will absolutely join my hon. Friend in encouraging her constituents to consider studying at Lancaster University and the colleges associated with it, as I did myself many—or, shall I say, many, many—years ago. We have conducted the first curriculum review in a decade, which includes high standards for every child in maths and other foundational subjects. The topics my hon. Friend raised will make an excellent topic for an Adjournment debate, should she apply for one.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
During the recent floods in Somerset, the Minister for Water and Flooding said that
“the Environment Agency has committed to reviewing the issues around water level management in Somerset”—[Official Report, 11 February 2026; Vol. 780, c. 890.]
and that it will consider
“when pumps should be activated, whether the current trigger points are right, and whether installing permanent pumps in certain locations could offer better value for money in the long term.”—[Official Report, 11 February 2026; Vol. 780, c. 890.]
Given the agency’s decision to withdraw from main river maintenance, I ask the Leader of the House for a debate in Government time so that we can discuss these issues and the Environment Agency’s effectiveness at preventing flooding.
Sir Alan Campbell
The Government are committing resources to the alleviation of and protection from flooding, but it is important that we learn from local examples. I happen to think that the Environment Agency has been working full out in many areas over what has been a very wet winter, as I said before, but that does not mean it has got absolutely everything right. If the hon. Gentleman is seeking a meeting with the floods Minister to outline his local concerns and inform that debate, I will arrange that.
Ms Julie Minns (Carlisle) (Lab)
The Leader of the House knows how proud I am to represent England’s most northerly city. It is a city that had not one, but two Roman forts. It has a wonderful Norman castle and a 900-year-old cathedral with the nation’s favourite stained glass window and retains its city walls and citadels. Nationalised beer was served there for over 50 years. It is the city that gave birth to the railway ticket and where the world’s oldest biscuit factory keeps our country fed on custard creams. Does the Leader of the House therefore agree that there could be no finer place than Carlisle to be the UK’s city of culture 2029?
Sir Alan Campbell
As ever, my hon. Friend is a strong advocate for her city of Carlisle. She paints a very attractive, and realistic, picture of a fantastic place. She referred to the 50 years of nationalised beer. It is fair to point out that it was a Conservative Government who nationalised the breweries in Carlisle, which I think is interesting—obviously not that interesting. The city of culture competition is a brilliant opportunity for our constituents to show their pride in their cities, as my hon. Friend pointed out. I wish all the applicants good luck, wherever they are, including Carlisle, because it is a fantastic city for all the reasons my hon. Friend listed and more.
Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)
Specialist hospitals—by which I mean major trauma centres, trauma units, cardiac centres, burns centres, stroke units and some children’s hospitals—are the main destinations for the most time-critical, seriously injured and ill patients. Those are the same patients that our amazing air ambulance services routinely treat and take to hospital. Will the Leader of the House speak with his Health and planning colleagues to ensure that helipads with 24/7 access are mandated for all specialist hospitals? The national guidelines for planning neither protect hospital helipads nor include hospitals and aircraft operators or ambulance charities as statutory consultees on development in proximity to existing helipads, which can affect their utility for safety reasons.
Sir Alan Campbell
I join the hon. Lady in praising everyone involved in air ambulances, and in acknowledging the importance of the hospitals to which she refers. In fact, many newer hospitals have helipads—including Northumbria specialist emergency care hospital, which serves my constituency—but that does not apply across the board. She raises an important point, and I will draw it to the attention of the Secretary of State for Health.
Tim Roca (Macclesfield) (Lab)
Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Dan Blackman and in thanking all others at the Silklife church food bank, along with the other food banks and community groups across Macclesfield, including Cre8 and the CORE pantry, for their extraordinary dedication in supporting people who face food poverty? As Dan steps aside after six years of service, will the Leader of the House set out what the Government are doing to tackle food poverty, and wider poverty, including by increasing the national minimum wage, expanding free school meals and dealing with the cost of living for families?
Sir Alan Campbell
I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Dan Blackman on his expansive dedication to his community, and in thanking all those involved in such important work in every community. Groups such as Silklife food bank support people in their time of need, and we are very grateful for that. Of course, we would like to be in a situation in which they were not necessary, but unfortunately they continue to be. The previous Government presided over the first Parliament in modern history to see a fall in living standards. This Government are determined to tackle poverty, including by lifting the two-child limit, expanding the warm home discount and extending the household support fund. In the meantime, I thank Dan Blackman and all volunteers for their work.
Wera Hobhouse (Bath) (LD)
Lib Dem-run Bath and North East Somerset council is deeply concerned that the Government’s proposed reforms to the national planning policy framework will cap local ambitions on meeting net zero through sustainable development. National minimum environmental standards must not become a ceiling that prevents councils from aiming to go beyond the minimum. Will the Government make a statement to assure councils such as Bath that the new framework will not stymie the forward-thinking and innovative sustainable planning policy that many councils across the country want to pursue?
Sir Alan Campbell
Although I understand the hon. Lady’s concerns, there is a balance to be struck on infrastructure planning, as I have said before. Our changes to the national planning policy framework are forecast to deliver £6.8 billion in growth and the highest level of house building in 40 years, and bring in a new approach to energy infrastructure. I understand the local concerns on these matters, and I will draw them to the attention of the relevant Minister so that the hon. Lady gets a response.
Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)
Solitary confinement beyond 15 days is considered psychological torture under international law. UN experts report that the former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, has been held in solitary confinement for up to 23 hours a day, raising concerns about mistreatment. Reports suggest that he is losing vision, and is belatedly receiving treatment only after repeated pleas. His lawyers have petitioned the Supreme Court of Pakistan to transfer him to Shifa international hospital for specialised care. Given the serious concerns raised by my constituents, will the Leader of the House ask the relevant Minister what representations have been made to ensure that Mr Khan is treated fairly and with dignity?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important matter. Pakistan’s judicial processes are, of course, a domestic matter, but we urge Pakistan to respect the fundamental freedoms of all its citizens, including Imran Khan. We are concerned by the use of military courts for civilians due to potential issues with transparency. I will ensure that the Foreign Secretary hears my hon. Friend’s concerns and that he gets a response.
Ayoub Khan (Birmingham Perry Barr) (Ind)
In Birmingham, residents and I are appalled at Birmingham city council’s botched sale of the former Newtown swimming baths and New Aston House. A bid was put in for the property by a charity dedicated to educating, serving and uplifting the local community. The bid was approved by the cabinet committee, but that decision has now been overturned. I will not mention the names of any organisations, politicians or council officers, because it may become a legal proceeding, but I have it on good authority that this distortion of due process was a result of some politicians in Birmingham. I have never encountered anything of this nature in my 20 years of political and public life. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the Nolan principles, so that we can discuss the ethical limits of members’ powers and the harm that can be done when party politics infringe on non-political local business?
Sir Alan Campbell
The hon. Gentleman raises concerning matters. I encourage him to seek an Adjournment debate, where he can not only set out his concerns in more detail but get a response from the relevant Minister.
Rachel Blake (Cities of London and Westminster) (Lab/Co-op)
This week, one of my constituents experienced a homophobic attack on Oxford Street from a shopkeeper who runs one of the American candy stores. This is a stark reminder of not only the rogue traders who are operating on Oxford Street but the ongoing presence of homophobia in our society. Will the Leader of the House help me to secure a meeting with the relevant Minister, to ensure we get rid of these rogue traders on Oxford Street for good?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for championing unity, not division, and working to make our high streets safer. All forms of hatred are completely unacceptable and have no place in our communities, and the Government are clear that those who commit hate crimes will face the full force of the law. I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets the meeting she requests, but I also encourage her and other Members to attend the debate on community cohesion scheduled for next Tuesday.
Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) (LD)
An important frontline healthcare company operating within the NHS in my constituency and across Somerset has relied on a certificate of sponsorship for a number of years to provide those services. An application to renew the certificate of sponsorship was made in the normal way, but because the company changed its structure a few years ago and there was a change in ownership, even though the qualified head of that company remained the sole director and beneficial owner, the Home Office has rejected the application, adding that there is no right of appeal. That could have a significant impact on healthcare services across Somerset. I have written to the Minister for Migration and Citizenship, the hon. Member for Dover and Deal (Mike Tapp), and I would be extremely grateful if the Leader of the House helped to facilitate a meeting, so that patients across Somerset do not suffer because of an overly heavy-handed approach to the rules on certificates.
Sir Alan Campbell
The hon. Gentleman rightly raises a concerning matter, and if he lets me have further details, I will do everything I can to get him the meeting he seeks.
Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth) (Lab/Co-op)
A number of my constituents have been struggling with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, including several type 1 diabetic HGV drivers who have to renew their class 1 licences on a yearly basis. Every year the DVLA takes three to four months to process those applications. Licences expire, and they are relying on section 88 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 to continue driving, but many employers will not take drivers on section 88, so they are losing income. The DVLA needs to look at either removing the requirement for annual renewal or speeding up that process, maybe by getting reports from GPs rather than private consultants. Will the Leader of the House facilitate a meeting between me and the relevant Transport Minister, so that we can discuss this further?
Sir Alan Campbell
My hon. Friend raises an important matter. The DVLA is delivering improvements for customers with medical conditions, including diabetes, but there is still a great deal to be done. Such delays can affect the lives of constituents—not just their ability to drive but their livelihoods—so I will ensure that she gets a meeting with the Minister, to outline her concerns.
Josh Babarinde (Eastbourne) (LD)
Given that Sky Sports and TNT Sports subscription rates for commercial premises are tied to their rateable value, not only do pubs like the Crown in Eastbourne, run by Andy and Jo, face a business rates hike, they are also facing an unsustainable increase in the cost of their TV sports packages in the midst of the looming revaluation. Will the Leader of the House support me to secure a meeting with the relevant Minister to discuss how we can better support our hospitality venues, including pubs, to protect the airing of live sport on their premises?
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)
My constituents in Portsmouth have raised concerns about significant mark-ups on third party funeral services and lack of transparency in pricing. At a time of extreme grief, families should not have to worry about excessive costs or unclear pricing. In 2025, the Competition and Markets Authority recommended statutory regulation and price control in the industry. Will the Leader of the House allocate time for a debate on strengthening regulation of the funeral industry to ensure fair, transparent pricing and proper protection for families during what can be an extremely traumatic time?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising this matter in the way that she has today. No one wishes to be faced with this issue, particularly at such a distressing time. The Government will set our their response to the Fuller inquiry in due course, including on the matter of statutory regulation. If my hon. Friend wants a meeting with the relevant Minister, I will seek to help her to arrange that.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
During the recess last week, I had the opportunity to visit Iraq as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for international freedom of religion or belief, and I wish to take this opportunity to again raise the continuing plight of Yazidi families. More than a decade after the atrocities committed against the Yazidi community in Iraq, when 6,500 people were murdered and 2,500 people remain missing, some 96 mass graves remain unexhumed. Many victims have yet to be recovered, identified or returned to their families for proper burial. The lack of progress in addressing those graves continues to cause profound distress to survivors and relatives seeking closure. We in Northern Ireland understand that, perhaps in a smaller way, because of the disappeared. Will the Leader of the House ask the Foreign Secretary to set out what discussions the Government have had with the Iraqi authorities regarding the identification and the dignified return of remains, and what support the United Kingdom is providing to assist in these efforts?
Sir Alan Campbell
As ever, the hon. Gentleman raises a serious matter. The Yazidi population suffered immensely, and the repercussions are still being felt today. Supporting the safe return of remains to families is vital. I will ensure that he gets a response from the relevant Foreign Office Minister, but I also remind him that it is Foreign Office questions next week.
Tom Rutland (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Lab)
Road safety is a concern for many of my constituents: those living on the Old Shoreham Road worry about dangerous accidents and near misses along the A283; the parents and staff at Swiss Gardens primary school are concerned about cars ignoring the school street closure; and the crossing in Broadwater, near Downsbrook and Whytemead primary schools, is considered so dangerous that the lollipop person was removed by West Sussex county council. I am glad that the Government are taking road safety seriously with our new strategy, so will the Leader of the House join me in thanking the School Streets Initiative volunteers for their work around Swiss Gardens primary school, and in calling on West Sussex county council to improve the enforcement of schools streets and to move the dangerous Broadwater crossing? Will he consider providing time for a general debate on road safety and how local authorities can be held to account on delivering safer streets for us all?
Sir Alan Campbell
My hon. Friend is a strong advocate for his constituents and he is right to raise the issue of road safety. As he has said, the Government are determined to take action on road safety. Our road safety strategy includes a plan to reduce deaths and serious injuries on British roads by 65% by 2035. I join him, as he requests, in thanking the School Streets Initiative volunteers, not just in his constituency but across the country, for all their work in helping with road safety. I hope that the other people who have an obligation to make streets safer in his constituency have heard his remarks today.
Jessica Toale (Bournemouth West) (Lab)
As you know, Mr Speaker, the HealthBus Trust recently came from Bournemouth to Parliament and parked up its bus in Speaker’s Court. May I put on record my thanks to you for offering that opportunity? The HealthBus Trust provides direct, nurse-led care for people experiencing homelessness, but it needs access to local shared care records, including historical NHS records, to improve care and address complex needs. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute to the HealthBus Trust’s trustees and volunteers? Will he ask Ministers to give due consideration to how we reach the most vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations in the ambition of our NHS 10-year plan to get more care into the community?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising the important work of the HealthBus Trust, and I join her in paying tribute to its work. I will raise the point that she has drawn to our attention with the Health Secretary and ensure that she gets a response.
Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow West) (Lab)
My right hon. Friend is well aware of the ongoing issues with Royal Mail and the concerns of many Members and constituents about the delayed delivery of hospital appointment letters and other important correspondence. The Communication Workers Union advises that the problem of delivery office staff turnover is worse in Scotland than in other parts of the UK. Does he share my concern that the imminent Scottish Parliament elections bring a fresh cause for concern? Voters anxiously awaiting their polling cards and postal ballots will be understandably concerned about the possibility of being disenfranchised by any delay. Does he agree that Members of the House should be reassured by Royal Mail that it has adequate staffing to discharge its responsibilities regarding the smooth running of May’s election?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for raising that point. This is not the first time that we have heard concerns regarding Royal Mail’s performance, but she is absolutely right to draw specific attention to this concern in the run-up to the very important elections taking place right across the country. It is vital that Royal Mail delivers a reliable postal service to ensure that postal voters receive their ballots and are able to return them in good time. I have just announced the Second Reading of the Representation of the People Bill, so there will be an opportunity to raise this matter during that debate. I know that Royal Mail takes an interest in these sessions, so I hope that it has noted her concerns, which I will raise directly with Ministers in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. I am not sure whether my hon. Friend or any other Members who have raised concerns about Royal Mail are aware, but Royal Mail has been called in by the Business and Trade Committee to account for its performance.
Liz Twist (Blaydon and Consett) (Lab)
Transform Trade is a remarkable charity that promotes Fairtrade produce and supports producers and workers across the world, ensuring that trade is fair and respects both people and the planet. Founded in Gateshead as Traidcraft in 1986, the organisation will this year celebrate its 40th anniversary of campaigning for a fairer global trade system. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating it on 40 years of vital work and allow a debate in Government time about tackling trade exploitation and poverty?
Sir Alan Campbell
I certainly join my hon. Friend in praising the work of Transform Trade and congratulating it on its 40th anniversary. Let me take this opportunity to thank the founders of Traidcraft and everyone involved over those four decades. It has been very important to her constituency, where it was founded, and to constituencies such as mine. The UK will continue to champion free and fair trade, and Traidcraft—now Transform Trade—has an important part to play in that. If my hon. Friend applies for a Westminster Hall debate on this matter, I am sure that it would be well attended.
Adam Thompson (Erewash) (Lab)
I know from my own time in the air cadets, as well as from hearing recently from 348 Ilkeston squadron and TS Indomitable in Long Eaton, that the cadet movement is an incredible force for excellence in young people’s development. I am sure the Leader of the House will agree that the adult volunteers who drive the movement do amazing work, quietly building young people into pillars of their communities, but will he consider recognising those volunteers and the wider cadet movement by supporting the Government in organising a national cadets week?
Sir Alan Campbell
My hon. Friend is right to champion the work of cadets and the impact that they have on young people. I join him in praising all the volunteers who allow cadet forces to operate; they are so important to our local communities and are of such value to young people’s life chances. I can confirm that Ministry of Defence officials are looking at the viability of taking forward a national cadets week.
Mary Glindon (Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend) (Lab)
Over recent weeks, students and graduates have written to me about the broken student loans system. They tell me about the mental stress caused by punitive interest rates, and that the planned freeze of the repayment threshold will impact their living standards when they aspire to earn more and spend more in the local community. Regional pay disparities have been a Government focus, so will the Leader of the House relay my concerns to the relevant Minister and encourage them to consider how the freeze will impact disposable incomes in Tyneside and across the north-east?
Sir Alan Campbell
As I said previously, we inherited this system from the previous Government—they designed it and delivered it—and it is not working to the benefit of students. We are making changes to improve the system and make it fairer, and will continue to do so, but I will draw my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour’s concerns to the attention of the relevant Minister, because I know these matters are of such importance in her constituency.
Tom Hayes (Bournemouth East) (Lab)
Instead of fighting for Bournemouth in Poole-led Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council, Liberal Democrats in Southbourne and—proving they are just like the rest—independents in Muscliff and Strouden Park voted to kill off a shovel-ready rail project that would have given disabled people, parents with prams and elderly people equal access to Pokesdown station. The independents and Liberal Democrats running BCP council voted to end their long and oft-repeated promise to fund a step- free Pokesdown station despite this Labour Government paying off £165 million of their historical debt, despite the fact that they have increased council tax to raise a further £5 million, and despite their core spending power going up by £56 million. I have been working with the community campaign to rescue this project. Will the Leader of the House support me in facilitating conversations with the Treasury and the Department for Transport, taking the conversations I have already had further so that we can achieve a step-free Pokesdown station once and for all?
Sir Alan Campbell
I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution—he has raised this matter several times on his constituents’ behalf, and is fighting hard against the Lib Dem and independent funding cuts in his area. As he has said, rail plays a crucial role in connecting communities. Pokesdown station sounds like a very important part of that, so I will make sure that the relevant Minister is made aware of the situation, and will arrange a meeting so that my hon. Friend can discuss this matter in more detail.
Gibraltar Treaty
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
The Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Stephen Doughty)
With permission, I wish to make a statement on the UK-EU treaty in respect of Gibraltar. First, I welcome the presence in the Gallery of His Majesty’s Governor of Gibraltar, His Excellency Lieutenant-General Sir Ben Bathurst. Given his previous commands, I also take the opportunity to wish him a very happy St David’s day in advance—dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus—which I share with all the House and, indeed, with the people of Gibraltar. It is also a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mr Speaker, given your own strong support for and associations with Gibraltar, not least in relation to the university.
After five years of tireless and complex work and dozens of rounds of negotiations, I am pleased to inform the House that we have published a draft version of the treaty. I am depositing a copy of the draft treaty in the Library of each House, together with an accompanying summary document. I am delighted that we have reached this moment, which heralds a new era of security, prosperity and stability for Gibraltar and the surrounding region and, crucially, protects British sovereignty over the Rock.
For more than 300 years, the Rock has been a hugely important part of the British family. Its people are British citizens, and our commitment to them remains absolute. This Government have taken seriously their responsibility to protect Gibraltar’s unique position and to secure post-Brexit arrangements that deliver on that responsibility. This draft treaty protects jobs and livelihoods for the people of Gibraltar and offers a stable framework for their relationship with the European Union, removing the uncertainty they have faced since Brexit. In short, it shows what real diplomacy and co-operation can achieve. It is the result of sustained and effective efforts on the part of the United Kingdom, His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar, the European Union and Spain.
His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar have been at the table at every stage of the negotiations; nothing has been agreed without their full support. I place on the record my appreciation for the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and their teams, who played vital roles in securing the best outcome. I also pay tribute to UK negotiators, including our teams in Brussels, Madrid, London and Gibraltar. Their diligence and diplomatic skill have ensured that this treaty protects UK sovereignty and delivers practical outcomes for citizens and businesses on both sides of the border.
Now let me reflect on some of the detail. Around 15,000 people cross the land border between Spain and Gibraltar every day—half of Gibraltar’s workforce. The treaty removes all checks on people and goods at that border; instead, dual immigration checks will take place at Gibraltar’s airport, with Gibraltar conducting its own controls and Spain, as the neighbouring Schengen state, conducting checks on behalf of the European Union, in a model similar to the French police operating at St Pancras.
Let me be clear: Gibraltar is not joining Schengen. Immigration, policing and justice remain the responsibility of its own authorities. British sovereignty over Gibraltar, including British Gibraltar territorial waters, is fully upheld and explicitly protected. Crucially, the United Kingdom’s military facilities and operations on the Rock remain under full UK control. The treaty also establishes a bespoke customs model that removes the need for routine goods checks at the land border and strengthens co-operation between customs authorities.
Gibraltar will align its import duty rates on goods with EU rates. That will allow people to cross the border with everyday goods, such as shopping, without declarations or additional charges, bringing an end to long queues for workers, businesses and visitors. Having been in those queues myself, I know that that will make a substantial difference. To be clear, Gibraltar will not apply VAT or any other sales tax, and its vital services industry will not be affected.
The result is a pragmatic agreement and arrangement that protects Gibraltar’s way of life, supports its economy and strengthens cross-border co-operation, while safe- guarding the United Kingdom’s sovereignty position. It also gives businesses the certainty that they have sought for many years, allowing them to plan and invest with confidence. The conclusion of the negotiations also reflects the wider, transformed change in tone and trust that this Government have rebuilt with our European and EU partners, including Spain—a crucial NATO ally and economic partner. It represents a new era of co-operation and delivery for growth and security.
As with the UK-EU summit last year, the agreement shows that a constructive, problem-solving relationship with the European Union can deliver real benefits for British citizens. We are publishing the draft treaty alongside the European Union while legal teams complete final checks and translations, so that all Parliaments with an interest can have access to it on the same timeline.
The publication of the draft today marks a milestone, but it is not the formal end of the process; the final version of the treaty will be laid in the UK Parliament for scrutiny before ratification, in accordance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010. We will continue to work closely with the Government of Gibraltar, the European Union and Spain as we move towards signature and implementation, and I will update the House as that work progresses.
In conclusion, this is a significant achievement for Britain, for Gibraltar and for our wider European partnerships. It shows this Government’s commitment to fixing problems, supporting our overseas territories, and defending Britain’s interests with clarity and confidence. With this treaty, Gibraltar can look to the future with certainty. Its people can be reassured that their way of life is protected. To quote the Chief Minister today, the treaty
“provides a springboard to stability, certainty and a modern partnership with the EU. And it does so without affecting our fundamental, inalienable right to remain British in every respect. Indeed, the Agreement makes absolutely clear that nothing in the Agreement or any supplementing arrangements shall affect sovereignty.”
In the words of my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister, our commitment to Gibraltar remains, as ever, as solid as the Rock. I commend this statement to the House.
Wendy Morton (Aldridge-Brownhills) (Con)
I am grateful to the Minister for bringing this statement to the House and for allowing me to have advance sight of it, but let me be clear: Parliament is reacting to events, rather than being respected as part of the process.
For weeks, detailed provisions of the treaty have circulated in the press before Members of this place have been permitted to see any legal text. That is not how serious constitutional business should be conducted. Now that we have the text, proper scrutiny must follow in this place and in Gibraltar. As we have consistently said, this must be a deal that the Government, the Parliament and, above all, the people of Gibraltar are comfortable with. It is right that the democratically elected Government of Gibraltar have led negotiations and prioritised a free-flowing border, but trade-offs come with that, and it is our duty to examine them carefully.
The sovereignty clause states that nothing in the treaty alters the respective legal positions of the UK or Spain, but sovereignty is not simply about words; it is about how arrangements operate in practice. What recourse does the United Kingdom have if there is an operational overreach by Spain, including in the exercise of border control powers within Gibraltar’s port and airport? Will British citizens be subject to the 90-day Schengen rule in Gibraltar? What is the reciprocal position for Spanish citizens, and what protections exist for British nationals with long-standing ties to Gibraltar who do not hold Gibraltar ID cards? What mechanisms are in place to resolve disputes when asymmetric decisions are taken at the border?
On customs, processing at EU-designated points in Spain and Portugal raises practical and constitutional questions. What oversight will the UK have, and what recourse exists if those arrangements fail to operate effectively? What protections are there for imports of British goods and for Gibraltar’s distinct economic model, particularly its financial services sector? Have the Government’s impact assessments fully examined UK-Gibraltar trade flows and potential adverse effects?
We must also address dynamic alignment. The treaty does not merely apply a fixed list of EU laws; it provides for future EU Acts listed in the annexes to be adopted and implemented, with serious consequences if they are not. Can the Minister explain clearly how this mechanism will operate, and how Gibraltar and the UK will avoid becoming subject to ongoing EU rule-taking without meaningful political control?
The treaty requires consistent interpretation of applicable Union law in line with case law of the European Court of Justice. In which precise areas will EU law bind Gibraltar’s domestic arrangements? What assessment has been made of the implications of future rulings for Britain’s national interest?
I must also draw attention to article 25 and its reference to the European convention on human rights. Will the Minister clarify how that provision operates within the treaty framework, and does adherence to the ECHR form a continuing condition of the agreement? No international agreement should pre-empt or constrain the sovereign right of this Parliament to determine the UK’s constitutional arrangements. Will the Minister confirm that under this treaty an EU national may have access to Gibraltar through the land border without restrictions, but a British national travelling from the UK could be banned from entering at the airport, including on the say of those carrying out Spanish border checks? More broadly, what domestic legislation will be required to give effect to the treaty, and will Parliament have the opportunity to amend it in the normal way?
On national security, Gibraltar’s naval base is of immense strategic importance. Will the Minister give an absolute assurance from the Dispatch Box that nothing in this agreement—now or through future implementation —can directly or indirectly impact the operations, freedom of action, access arrangements or security of the UK’s naval base in any way whatsoever?
Finally, process matters. Given the scale of the agreement, it is not possible to cover all its implications in this short exchange today. There are serious questions about the operation of the border and dual checks, the role of Spanish authorities at the airport, customs and taxation arrangements, business impacts, the adoption of future EU Acts listed in the annexes, ECJ interpretation and the domestic legislation required to implement the treaty. The Minister has said that it is a draft, so when does he expect it to be finalised? When will the CRaG process begin? There has been talk of early implementation, with Gibraltar suggesting 10 April. Can the Minister please clarify that? There must be time for the CRaG process, and it must be meaningful. Provisional application on 10 April must not reduce parliamentary scrutiny to merely a rubber stamp. Gibraltar has stood resolutely British since 1713, and its people have repeatedly affirmed that choice. Any treaty must be examined line by line by this Parliament.
Stephen Doughty
I thank the shadow Minister for her questions. I have to say that I have been rather disappointed by the tone today, and indeed the tone taken in the media over the last few days on these issues, not least as I provided a very full briefing to the shadow Foreign Secretary in advance. The idea that we have not been communicating about this treaty is simply not correct. In a spirit of generosity, I am happy to offer further briefings for the shadow Minister and the shadow Foreign Secretary in order to go through any detail in the treaty they would like. There is nothing to hide. We welcome their scrutiny, and we welcome the scrutiny of this House.
The shadow Minister asked about the timeline. Of course, there is a process in this place, but there are also processes in the EU. We are committed to that and to laying the finalised text after signature of the treaty, which we expect to take place next month. Of course, it will then go through the appropriate processes in relation to CRaG.
The shadow Minister asked about sovereignty and about recourse and dispute mechanisms. First, I need to make it absolutely clear that sovereignty was never on the table in these negotiations. It is not in doubt. That is an absolute, and this agreement safeguards that. There is a range of recourse and dispute resolution mechanisms attached to the treaty. She is welcome to go through those; I am happy to explain them in more detail. We have very much kept to the double lock, which we set out at the start of the process.
The shadow Minister asked about the 90-day rule. British citizens are not free at the moment just to turn up in Gibraltar without going through immigration checks; they are already subject to a 90-day rule. That is important to clarify, because there seem to have been some misunderstandings of that in relation to all our overseas territories recently. There is not an automatic right, and Gibraltar of course maintains immigration and security checks.
The shadow Minister asked about customs. Gibraltar is not joining the customs union, but it is entering into a bespoke customs arrangement with the EU to ensure, crucially, the fluidity of goods. It has chosen to enter into those arrangements, and it is obviously for it to decide what alignment it needs for that. Again, I think that reflects a wider challenge: the Opposition would rather stick with the ideology of the Brexit years than make pragmatic arrangements that deliver for the people of Gibraltar or indeed the people of this country. Crucially, the agreement is about facilitating trade. It is about facilitating the flow of goods and removing the checks and delays that have caused such frustration in the past.
The shadow Minister asked about the ECJ. I am happy to speak to her further about that. There is full detail in the treaty. She asked about the ECHR. Of course, we comply with the ECHR, as does Gibraltar and, indeed, Spain and the EU. We do not shy away from that, notwithstanding the reforms that we are seeking in the wider debates going on outside this place.
The shadow Minister asked for an absolute assurance about our military activities at Gibraltar. I can absolutely assure her that nothing, either now or in the future, will fetter our ability to operate unimpeded in the way that we, and indeed our allies, have done from the base. That was an absolute condition that we set. I am pleased with Spain’s very co-operative approach. It is a key NATO ally, and we co-operate with it in the defence and security of Europe. I am glad that we now have a co-operative and positive spirit of engagement not only with Spain, but with the EU and a range of partners.
Fundamentally, this agreement is good for Gibraltar, it is good for stability, it is good for prosperity and it is good for security. It is supported by the Government of Gibraltar, which was our primary concern throughout this process as well as protecting UK interests. I think we should all respect and get behind the Government of Gibraltar in support of this agreement.
Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)
As the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North and the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar, I welcome this statement and place on record my strong support for the ratification of the treaty. This agreement represents a practical, well balanced and forward-looking settlement for Gibraltar, the United Kingdom and our European partners. Crucially, the deal has the clear backing of the Government and the people of Gibraltar, and that point should carry significant weight across this House. We should be guided not by abstract political positioning, but by the lived reality of the community whose prosperity and security are directly affected. The treaty protects United Kingdom’s red lines. Sovereignty remains unchanged and was never in question. British jurisdiction is respected and Gibraltar—
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlingto and the Wolds) (Con)
Will the hon. Lady give way? [Laughter.]
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Order. That is not good form. Ms Martin, you are not meant to give way when you are asking a question, but I assume you have finished your question.
Madam Deputy Speaker
Order. I think the question is done. I call the Minister.
Stephen Doughty
I thank my hon. Friend, who speaks with eloquence and expertise on these issues as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Gibraltar. She is a staunch defender of the people of Gibraltar, and of their rights, sovereignty and future prosperity. Like many Members of the House, she has visited Gibraltar with me. She has seen the reality on the ground, the difficulties resulting from the current arrangements, and the fears for the future. She is absolutely right that this Government are supported by Gibraltar. The treaty is good for the people of Gibraltar. I welcome her support and that of the all-party group on this matter.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Calum Miller (Bicester and Woodstock) (LD)
I thank the Minister for advance sight of the statement and for contact about it in the preceding days.
The Conservatives’ botched deal with Europe left Gibraltar in a state of limbo for years. That was a shameful dereliction of their duty to protect Gibraltarians and the business community there. Now that we have a draft deal in place, we look forward to full scrutiny of the treaty in this House. It must meet a number of key tests.
The first of those tests is the question of sovereignty. The new agreement must leave no lingering questions over the status of Britain’s sovereignty in Gibraltar. That is vital, given that we know from past experience that the Spanish Government are willing to act unilaterally over Gibraltar and to the detriment of Gibraltarians. Will the Minister outline what mechanisms exist in the deal to ensure compliance and effective dispute resolution in the event of any future possible unilateral action, giving confidence to Gibraltarians that the deal will be enforceable? Will the Minister confirm that the deal includes provisions for the agreement’s termination in the event that the UK and Gibraltarians view it as no longer being in our shared interest, ensuring the ultimate guarantee of Gibraltar’s sovereignty?
The second test is whether the deal gives genuine effect to the self-determination of the Gibraltarian community. Nothing about Gibraltar should be agreed without Gibraltarians, so will the Minister confirm that the Gibraltarian Government have led the negotiations and that their interests have been front and centre in them?
The final test is whether the deal actually works for the Gibraltarian economy. It must support jobs and economic growth in the territory. Will the Minister make available to the House the Government’s impact assessment of how the deal will support economic growth and jobs there?
Stephen Doughty
I thank the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for his constructive approach and support. He is absolutely right to set out concerns in those three areas. I can absolutely assure him on all three points. I have been very clear about the sovereignty provisions. They are there in the explanatory documents, explaining that the deal does not affect our position on sovereignty. The sovereignty of Gibraltar is protected. There are dispute resolution mechanisms and termination provisions, and I am very happy to brief him and other Members further on them.
The hon. Gentleman asked about self-determination and the principle of nothing about Gibraltar without Gibraltar. I can absolutely assure him that that is the case. Gibraltar was at the table throughout the negotiations. We have had a very constructive engagement with the Chief Minister, the Deputy Chief Minister and their whole team throughout the process. We were very clear that we would not enter into an agreement that did not have their full support. That is a very significant matter for the whole House to consider as we move forward.
The hon. Gentleman asked about the deal working for Gibraltar’s economy and growth. I can absolutely assure him that it does, with very pragmatic changes that will deliver for businesses. They will deliver for the free movement of goods, they will ensure that Gibraltar’s important services sector can continue to thrive without impediment, and, crucially, there will be the mobility of individuals across the border. Indeed, there is also an important provision on the ability for—subject to commercial decisions—flights to arrive from inside the EU into Gibraltar airport, which they are currently unable to do. That will be good for jobs, tourism and growth in the whole region.
I will come back to the hon. Gentleman on impact statements. They will undoubtedly be in the purview of the Government of Gibraltar to do those assessments, but I will happily provide him with further information.
Tim Roca (Macclesfield) (Lab)
I put on record that I chair the all-party parliamentary group on Spain. I congratulate the Government on this significant agreement. Can the Minister confirm that it provides additional safeguards to Gibraltar’s sovereignty, while creating new economic opportunities? I think he was alluding to that with the airport. I thank him for the hard work he and colleagues have done in rejuvenating our important relationship with Spain, which is a key NATO ally and our seventh-largest trading partner.
While I am speaking, Madam Deputy Speaker, may I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) for her commitment to the self-determination of the people of Gibraltar? For my part, when I visited Gibraltar last year and met community leaders, including senior business leaders, I was very struck by how low the stock of the Conservatives had fallen with the people of Gibraltar. I think the Conservatives have some bridges to mend.
Stephen Doughty
I agree with my hon. Friend and thank him for his work as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Spain. He is right that we have entered into a new era of co-operation with our friends in Spain on prosperity, on security and in many other areas. That in no way affects our commitment to stand by our red lines and principles in these negotiations. It shows that when things are approached with trust and respect, we can achieve what we need for the people of Gibraltar and the people of the United Kingdom, and see a flourishing relationship with our friends in Spain and, indeed, the European Union.
David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
As a former Royal Marine, Gibraltar has a special place in my heart—we have “Gibraltar” emblazoned above our globe and laurel crest for the valiant efforts of former bootnecks in 1704. Having transferred seamlessly through Gibraltar on previous operations, I know how important it is to be able to transfer kit and equipment. The agreement seems to indicate that Gibraltar will be subject to Spanish export controls relating to defence equipment and dual-use technologies. Prior to agreeing the text, did the Minister consult the armed forces leadership in Gibraltar to ensure that service personnel can still carry on their duties, with kit not subject to Spanish export controls?
Stephen Doughty
I assure the hon. Member that we have worked closely with colleagues in the Ministry of Defence. I thank him for his previous service and indeed that proud history in relation to Gibraltar. I once saw the original reports from Trafalgar in an old edition of the Gibraltar Chronicle when I was in the Garrison library in Gibraltar. We are all well aware of that incredible history.
I assure the hon. Member that nothing in the agreement will fetter any ability of UK military forces to conduct operations; I assure him about those interests. I will not go into detail at the Dispatch Box, for obvious reasons, but I will be happy to explain to him privately some of the important provisions that we have in place to ensure that can continue.
Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)
The people of Gibraltar have had 10 years of uncertainty since the Brexit vote, so I congratulate His Majesty’s Government, and indeed the Government of Gibraltar, on working so hard to get the treaty over the line. When I visited Gibraltar last year as a member of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I was really impressed by our military personnel there. I was glad to hear what the Minister said about making sure none of that will be affected.
As I passed through, I also saw the fairly new airport and how empty it was. I was therefore glad to hear the Minister talk about the possibility of more flights coming through. Can he say more about how travel will be improved for the people of Gibraltar, and indeed for people across Europe—including our country—coming to visit Gibraltar?
Stephen Doughty
As I said, I can assure my hon. Friend on the important provisions we have in place in relation to our military facilities. He rightly asked about transport and travel. The immediate benefit will be the end to the huge queues we have previously seen across Gibraltar’s border with Spain. That will be good for the whole region, and for economic benefits for the whole region.
My hon. Friend specifically asked about the airport. He knows that for years there has been a block on flights between Gibraltar and the EU. The treaty will now enable commercial flights—obviously subject to commercial decisions—between Gibraltar and EU member states, which will enhance Gibraltar’s status as a tourist destination and boost prosperity and opportunities across the whole region.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke (Wetherby and Easingwold) (Con)
I hope the Minister will forgive me for not having read the tome that he has next to him. I want to probe him further on dispute resolution. A lot of hassle—criminality, really—happens in the Gibraltar seas. What co-operation may be in place between the Spanish Government and the Gibraltarian Government if resolutions cannot be found on the laws of the sea for some of the things that happen? The Minister spoke about resolutions in the treaty between Spain and Britain, but what will be the processes if the Gibraltarian Government do not feel that criminality is being acted on with appropriate speed?
Stephen Doughty
The right hon. Member asks an important question. The security of not only Gibraltar but the whole region is important to both the people of Gibraltar and the people of Spain. We have close co-operation between the Royal Gibraltar police and authorities and Spanish law enforcement, and this agreement will strengthen that co-operation. The Royal Gibraltar police will continue to be responsible for the safety and security of Gibraltar, but there are a range of provisions, including in relation to co-operation in the maritime domain and the safety and security of the whole region, that I am confident will improve co-operation on law enforcement, again to the benefit of residents on both sides of the border.
Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)
I welcome the Minister’s statement. What role will Parliaments have in the ongoing oversight and scrutiny of the operation and implementation of the Gibraltar agreement? Will the Government commit to having a vote in both the UK Parliament and the Gibraltarian Parliament?
Stephen Doughty
Matters for Gibraltar’s Parliament are obviously matters for that Parliament, but I can assure the hon. Lady that this treaty will go through the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act process in the normal way in this place. I wanted to take the important step of coming here to make a statement today, even with the draft treaty, to ensure that there was full scrutiny and that we get away from some of the nonsense that we have seen in the media about us somehow hiding this process from Parliament.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
I was honoured to represent Gibraltar during my 10 years as a Member of the European Parliament, so I know how important their British identity is to our fellow citizens living there. I am pleased that the treaty was negotiated with and agreed by His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar, but can the Minister confirm that Gibraltar’s Parliament will have the opportunity to scrutinise the treaty and that we will have the opportunity to know that Parliament’s views before we vote in this House?
Stephen Doughty
It is my understanding that there will be a scrutiny process in the Gibraltar Parliament, although ultimately that is a matter for that Parliament. I know that this treaty has enjoyed lengthy discussion in Gibraltar. We have certainly worked closely with His Majesty’s Government of Gibraltar at every stage of the process, and it is for them to go through their processes there—I understand that the Chief Minister has been making statements today. I am sure that we will have the chance to consider what the Gibraltar Parliament says. The hon. Gentleman should be assured that I have also met the leader of the opposition in Gibraltar, and we engage across the political spectrum there.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Even though he has been a very naughty boy, I call Charlie Dewhirst.
Charlie Dewhirst (Bridlington and The Wolds) (Con)
Madam Deputy Speaker, I can only apologise for being a naughty boy.
Hon. Members will remember that in 2001 the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair, entered into negotiations with Spain over a joint sovereignty agreement with Gibraltar, which resulted in a referendum in which 98.5% of Gibraltarians rejected that deal. Although the Government of Gibraltar welcome today’s treaty, which I am sure is well intentioned, the Minister will no doubt understand that there may be some concern with that history and the involvement of Spain in the operation and governance of Gibraltar. Can he therefore reassure the House, the United Kingdom and the Gibraltarian people that any future changes to the current treaty and any further alignment with the EU will be done only with the agreement of the people of Gibraltar?
Stephen Doughty
I can absolutely assure the hon. Gentleman of that. We were not willing to enter into an agreement that the Gibraltarian people were not content with. That is the principle of the double lock, which we have stuck to throughout this process. It is 2026, not 2001. We are confident that this deal protects our interests and the interests of the people of Gibraltar.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I thank the Minister for his statement and for his strong words. I am reminded of a wee saying that my mother used to use when I was young: once bitten, twice shy. With that in mind, I must ask the Minister a question. As a nation, Northern Ireland finds itself a slave to European diktats, with our state aid hampered, our trade disrupted and our democratic rights to representation withheld. I am therefore concerned for the Gibraltarian people, who are good friends of Northern Ireland—we have had a relationship over many years. I understand the difficulties they could face while the agreement does not make certain things clear. Will the cold hand of EU back-door unification come first before the Gibraltarian people? Their sovereignty must be able to stand against any EU aggression. I seek an assurance from the Minister—an honourable man who is much liked by everyone in the House, and by me in particular—that British citizens in Gibraltar can stand against EU back-door control of Gibraltarians, as indeed the EU has already done against us in Northern Ireland.
Stephen Doughty
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He knows that he is hugely respected, by me and others in this House. I can assure him that we were not willing to enter into an agreement that the Government of Gibraltar were not content with. Obviously, it is for them to decide the arrangements that they want to put in place to ensure their prosperity going forward. They are fully supportive of this agreement, which we think will be good for jobs and business in Gibraltar, good for the people of Gibraltar and, indeed, good for the prosperity of the whole region. I think it reflects a spirit of pragmatic co-operation with the EU, which we strongly welcome.
Lincoln Jopp (Spelthorne) (Con)
I thank the Minister for his statement. Will he reassure the House that the team who have negotiated the draft treaty that he has brought before us today have had nothing to do with the team that negotiated the disastrous Chagos deal? That deal is, I believe, as of yesterday, on pause, although No. 10 appears to be gainsaying that slightly now.
Stephen Doughty
I have answered many questions in this place on Chagos, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman that that read-across between these processes is completely erroneous. This is an agreement that is good for Gibraltar. It has been agreed by the Government of Gibraltar, and we have worked closely with the EU to ensure that it works for the prosperity and security of the people of Gibraltar. As I have said many times, it is hugely unhelpful to draw false comparisons between Chagos and the British Indian Ocean Territory, and indeed other overseas territories. Indeed, the Chief Minister of Gibraltar has specifically cautioned against doing so—the hon. Gentleman might want to listen to him.
Maccabi Tel Aviv Fan Ban
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
We now come to the Select Committee statement on behalf of the Home Affairs Committee. Dame Karen Bradley will speak for up to 10 minutes, during which no interventions may be taken. At the conclusion of her statement, I will call Members to ask questions on the subject of the statement. These should be brief questions, not full speeches. Can I emphasise that questions should be directed to the Select Committee Chair, and not the relevant Minister? Front Benchers may take part in questioning.
Dame Karen Bradley (Staffordshire Moorlands) (Con)
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for granting this statement.
The banning of away fans at football matches is highly unusual in this country. The imposition of such a ban on fans from another country is almost unprecedented. The fact that the ban was on fans of an Israeli club playing at a venue situated among sizeable Muslim communities added a level of political sensitivity. That is why the Committee took the unusual step of writing to the then chief constable of West Midlands police to seek an explanation. We were surprised by what this simple request eventually exposed.
Our report covers conclusions about three organisations: West Midlands police, which is responsible for providing advice to the safety advisory group of Birmingham city council; the SAG itself, both in Birmingham and more generally; and the Home Office, including its liaison across Government. I will take them in turn.
Our inquiry uncovered serious failings in the way that West Midlands police gathered and presented information and intelligence in advising on this fixture. While the fixture was rightly identified in advance as high risk, and the initial assumption was for away fans to attend, consultation was limited. The police relied to a disproportionate extent on a single conversation between a chief inspector from West Midlands police and the Dutch police about the behaviour of Maccabi fans at a match against Ajax in Amsterdam in November 2024. The Dutch police strongly disputed the WMP version of events, which included claims that 500 to 600 Maccabi fans were involved in disorder that targeted local communities, that they had links to the Israel Defence Forces, and that they threw local fans in the river.
We cannot be sure what was said in that conversation because, unbelievably, the meeting notes were destroyed by West Midlands police. We now know, however, that some of the information relating to the conduct of the Maccabi fans was generated by artificial intelligence—Microsoft Copilot, to be precise. The use of AI by West Midlands police was under consideration at the time, but was not authorised at that stage. What we found extraordinary, though, is that the information used to support such a significant decision—whether from AI or elsewhere—was not cross-checked with other sources.
Not only did WMP fail to do due diligence on the information that it presented to the SAG, which was responsible for taking the decision to ban away fans, but it failed to prepare properly to give accurate information before the Committee. The then chief constable told us explicitly that AI was not used by West Midlands police, and that the reference to a match against West Ham— a completely fictitious game that was cited as one of the reasons for banning the away fans—had resulted from a Google search. He had subsequently to apologise that that was not the case. Precisely how West Midlands police managed to generate inaccurate information using AI to inform the intelligence picture related to this match is the subject of an ongoing inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Conduct, so I am sure we will hear more on that in due course. Although we accept that the former chief constable did not deliberately misinform the Committee, he should have ensured that he came armed with the facts rather than with complacent platitudes followed by humble apologies.
However, it is not the issues relating to competence that are the most damaging to the reputation of WMP; it is those around balance—balance in the information presented to the SAG, which consistently emphasised the unique risk from the Maccabi fans and downplayed the risk emanating from local communities in Birmingham. Intelligence around elements in these communities threatening to “arm themselves” against Maccabi fans was not relayed to the SAG.
There was also imbalance in community engagement. WMP acknowledged that it failed to engage with the Jewish community early enough, in contrast with a full programme of engagement with other communities. It apologised for that and for managing to mislead the Committee on the extent of engagement, and acknowledged the damage done to relations with the Jewish community in the west midlands. We welcome the commitment of the new acting chief constable this week to continue WMP’s efforts to rebuild trust with the Jewish community and, more broadly, to address each of our recommendations. I cannot stress strongly enough how vital it is that the Jewish community in Birmingham and the west midlands are able to feel trust in their police. At the moment, they simply do not.
As I have indicated, responsibility for the decision to exclude the Maccabi fans ultimately rested with Birmingham city council, through the provision of a safety certificate for the event. The role of the SAG was to provide specialist safety advice regarding the event. In reaching its conclusions on advice relating to public order, SAG is heavily reliant on the advice of the police. We reviewed the content of all three SAG meetings that provided advice on the fixture. Having done so, we were not surprised that the chair of the SAG wrote to WMP seeking further clarity on the rationale for the ban on away fans. There were clearly some who were uncomfortable with that decision—not just Aston Villa, who said they were happy to host away fans, and the leader of Birmingham city council, who expressed to us both his discontent with the decision and his respect for the operational independence of the police and the integrity of their advice.
In respect of the role of the SAG in this decision, we concluded that it failed to apply sufficient challenge to the clear recommendation of WMP regarding the banning of away fans, and that it lacked the capability to balance the interests of local communities and those of the police against broader national and international considerations, given the unusual sensitivities surrounding this particular fixture. We welcome the review of guidance to SAGs being undertaken by the Cabinet Office, and we recommended in our report that that should consider whether an escalation process is required to handle such rare but highly consequential circumstances.
As part of its review of the governance of SAGs, the police should review the presence of elected politicians on what are essentially safety-oriented committees. As I have said, it is unusual for there to be a political context to SAG decisions, but that was the case here. Although we did not see evidence of political pressure regarding the decision to ban away fans—we simply do not know what conversations went on behind the scenes —we did note that the Muslim councillors on the SAG, who had publicly stated views on whether the match should take place at all, had “a disproportionate opportunity” to influence the decision of the SAG. We concluded that elected politicians should not sit on SAGs.
Finally, we scrutinised the role of the Home Office in the decision-making process, and that of the Government. Strictly speaking, there should not have been a role for the Government in a decision taken at local authority level on the operational advice of the police, but No. 10 recognised at an early stage the political significance of the match and asked the Home Office to be kept informed of developments. There was also a Department for Culture, Media and Sport interest, as that Department has lead responsibility for the safety of sports grounds.
This was a test of the ability of the Government as a whole to identify whether they should have a role in the decision and, if so, to share information internally to enable any intervention to be made in a timely and effective manner. I am afraid to say that that test was failed. The Government were informed on 6 October—a month before the match—that a ban on away fans was the likely outcome of the SAG process. It was the “working assumption”. If the Government did not find this outcome politically palatable, you might think, Madam Deputy Speaker, that they would take prompt action to avert it—for example, by providing the necessary additional resources to enable the fixture to be policed safely and go ahead. No such attempt was made. The Home Secretary and Ministers were not told definitively that there would be a ban on away fans, but we know that she was briefed that it was a possible option. Home Office officials were aware that a ban was the likely outcome. We still do not know precisely when Ministers in the Home Office, DCMS and No. 10 were informed of this.
It was only on 16 October, when the decision was announced, that the Government intervened—in the form of a post on X by the Prime Minister, saying that it was the wrong decision. Only at this point did officials begin exploring options with the police to enable away fans to attend.
The Home Secretary argued that respect for the operational independence of the police did not allow earlier intervention, but this principle was inconsistently applied. If the Government could intervene publicly after the decision, could they not have intervened privately before the decision? We concluded that they could have done so in a way that respected the operational independence of the police and reduced rather than inflamed tensions.
In the event, Maccabi Tel Aviv did not take up their allocation of tickets and the issue went away, but not without considerable damage being done to the reputation of WMP, to trust in the police by the Jewish and other communities in Birmingham, and to the integrity of decision making around the policing of football and sporting events. We welcome the review of this decision-making process announced by the Government and have urged them to look again at a previous review of the policing of football by Baroness Casey. We look forward to examining the results.
Nigel Huddleston (Droitwich and Evesham) (Con)
I thank the Chair of the Select Committee and her team for their work. I agree with all of their conclusions. On her last point, about who knew what when, does she agree that it is now very clear that the Government were not co-ordinating effectively, that they seemed to be asleep at the wheel, and that Ministers and/or officials at the Home Office and DCMS were clearly not co-ordinating with each other on what is transparently a very sensitive issue, because they knew about the possibility of the ban weeks before the decision was made and appear to have done absolutely nothing?
Dame Karen Bradley
I thank the shadow Secretary of State for his question, and I agree with what he said. I will give the Minister for Policing and Crime, who was new in her post, credit for coming in front of the Committee and giving us a full account of what happened, but having been a Minister in the Home Office, I cannot believe that somebody did not spot the possibility of this problem and that alarm bells were not ringing. An earlier intervention—privately and behind the scenes, not impacting on operational independence—could have averted this whole problem. It could have been done without anybody knowing that there was a working assumption to ban the away fans, and the match could have gone ahead in the normal way.
Sir Alec Shelbrooke (Wetherby and Easingwold) (Con)
I have raised concerns about Jew hatred in this country several times in the House. As I have said previously, I give credit to the Prime Minister for driving out the antisemitism in his party, in which, between 2015 and 2019, antisemitism and Jew hatred were given a safe space.
May I make reference to another political party in this House, Madam Deputy Speaker? I am sure that you were as shocked as I was to read in a Sunday newspaper that there is effectively Jew hunting taking place in this country. In that context, we must be sure that our Jewish communities and our Jewish constituents can have faith in the authorities and the police. May I ask my right hon. Friend whether she found evidence of antisemitism specifically playing a part in these decisions?
Dame Karen Bradley
I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. He makes an incredibly important point, which was really the basis of many of the questions that the Committee put when we took evidence in person. The suspicion was there that the decision had been taken not because of worries about violence from the Maccabi fans, but because of their religion. It has to be said that two weeks later, another match went ahead at Aston Villa with away fans—against the Swiss team Young Boys—and there was significant violence, but nobody suggested that those away fans should not attend. We were very concerned.
We could not find actual evidence of antisemitism, but the very fact that we had elected politicians who were campaigning not just for a ban on away fans, but for the whole match to be cancelled, sitting on the safety advisory group, which provided the advice to Birmingham city council on the safety certificate, has to be cause of great concern. I know that it has given great concern to the Jewish community across Birmingham who are in contact with me. I urge all safety advisory groups to make sure that there cannot be any inference of political interference—that nobody can think that there is political interference. The groups have to be fully transparent, and everyone has to appreciate and understand why decisions are taken.
David Reed (Exmouth and Exeter East) (Con)
I thank my right hon. Friend for the work she and her Committee have done on this report. To my knowledge, this is the first time artificial intelligence has hallucinated and given a response that has been used by a public body to make a decision. To my right hon. Friend’s understanding, has West Midlands police learned from this mistake and removed this type of sloppy analysis from its decision-making process?
Dame Karen Bradley
That would be a question for West Midlands police, but my hon. Friend is right. There obviously is a role for artificial intelligence in many areas of public life, including policing, but when any of us searches for something and artificial intelligence provides information, we should not neglect to double-check the information, click on the links it provides or make sure that we talk to the right people about it.
The West Ham match that was cited as part of the reason for banning away fans and for tensions being identified never happened. Why did someone not pick up the phone to the Metropolitan police and ask what its experience had been at this fictitious match? They would pretty quickly have discovered that the match never took place and that it was not a genuine fixture.
I do hope that West Midlands police and all police forces have learned lessons from this. I must say, I have spoken to other forces that have been incredibly helpful, including the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, who came in front of the Committee. They have been clear that they would not allow this to happen. I do hope that West Midlands police has learned its lesson.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I first of all thank the Chair of the Committee for the report. Sport is always a method of bringing people together, but on this occasion it failed miserably as a result of the conduct of certain police elements that distorted the occasion of a Maccabi Tel Aviv football match. What did the Committee say should happen to those in senior roles who did wrong or who deliberately thwarted the law?
Dame Karen Bradley
My hon. Friend is right that sport has a role to play in bringing us together. We have just seen at the winter Olympics the joy that the athletes feel and the sense of pride in the country at the success of Team GB. It is one of those areas where there should not be political tensions or issues. It should be viewed joyfully, and fans should be allowed to enjoy their teams playing. That is something that we do so well in this country, and that is why this incident is such a stain on us. Throughout the years we have managed to facilitate away fans attending games and enjoying those fixtures in a safe way. Football is not what it was in the past; it is a family game now. I go to football matches with my son all the time. I enjoy the atmosphere and I enjoy the fact that it is somewhere families can be. It is a great shame that that did not happen.
The hon. Member asks specifically about senior members of the police. The then chief constable has now retired, but once the conduct inquiry has completed, further action might be taken.
Point of Order: Rectification Procedure
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I call Louie French on a point of order in connection with the code of conduct to rectify a failure to declare.
Mr Louie French (Old Bexley and Sidcup) (Con)
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I would like to apologise to the House for failing to declare an interest when tabling three written parliamentary questions to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, two written parliamentary questions to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and one written parliamentary question to the Treasury. When I tabled the questions, I inadvertently failed to declare relevant interests: the receipt of hospitality from the Jockey Club and from Ascot Racecourse, and a charity donation from the Betting & Gaming Council. This was in breach of the rules, and I apologise to the House for this inadvertent error.
Madam Deputy Speaker
I thank the hon. Member for his point of order. There will be no further points of order on this issue.
Backbench Business
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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St David’s Day and Welsh Affairs
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Ruth Jones (Newport West and Islwyn) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered St David’s Day and Welsh affairs.
It is a real privilege to open this debate as we come together to mark St David’s day and discuss Wales’s past, present and, critically, its future. I may not use my full 15 minutes to speak, because other colleagues will want to speak in this important debate. This is my seventh St David’s day debate and my second as Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. I thank my colleagues the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) and the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), who sadly is not in his place today, for helping to secure this debate.
It continues to be an honour to Chair the Welsh Affairs Committee and to facilitate the effective cross-party working that makes the Committee so special. We work together to achieve the best for Wales, and I must thank all current and former members of the Committee for their valuable and constructive contributions over the past year. I particularly commend the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) for her practical support of Welsh cakes for our Committee meeting yesterday—they were very useful. I would also like to pay tribute to the fantastic team of Clerks, led by Alison Groves, who support the Committee. We simply could not function without them and are incredibly lucky to have such a diligent and skilled team assisting us.
It has been a busy year for the Committee since our last St David’s day debate. We have four ongoing inquiries, with two reports set to be finalised in the coming months. We also published the conclusions of our inquiry into farming in Wales in November, and following it, the Treasury made very welcome changes to the thresholds for agricultural property relief and business property relief.
Let me move on to the namesake of this debate: St David, who adorns the entrance to this Chamber coming from Central Lobby. He faced adversity from an early age, having been born in the middle of a violent storm as the child of an act of rape. Nevertheless, he would rise to become the first Bishop of Mynyw and establish new churches throughout south Wales, 50 of which are still named after him. St David is commemorated as a great orator and preacher who spread the Christian message. Indeed, one of his recorded miracles was forming a hill beneath himself as he preached to a large crowd to enable them to see and hear him more clearly.
As a nation, we are proud of our rich and storied past, kept alive by our vibrant oral tradition. The Eisteddfod each summer forms a key celebration of this oral tradition, our Welsh culture and the Welsh language by attracting 170,000 visitors each year. From the chapels to the miners’ welfare halls, Wales is renowned for being a land of song. Regardless of the rugby score—we are trying to forget some of the latest scores—Members can be sure that we are the loudest and proudest on and off the field. Our choirs are not only a source of national pride but often the bedrock of community solidarity.
Wales has an enduring history of valuing fairness, solidarity and respect—values passed down from generation to generation and shaped by our history, but employed time and again in our everyday lives. Indeed, before there was an NHS or a welfare state, Welsh communities came together to ensure dignity and respect for all.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Lady on securing this debate; she is right to praise St David’s day, and everyone is here for that purpose. While we can be Welsh, Northern Irish, Scottish or English, what brings us together is this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and our Gaelic cousins in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are all part of that. I commend her on her speech today, and I am sure others will also make good contributions. We are always better together. Does she agree with that?
Ruth Jones
The hon. Member is quite right; we are always better together. As a Gaelic colleague, I welcome him to this debate today and I look forward to his contributions later on.
St David was known for his austere lifestyle, surviving on a vegetarian diet of mostly leeks and water. I am not necessarily advocating that today for all here, but his resilience has come to symbolise Wales’s resilience in the face of social challenge, including inequality and social disadvantage. Wales has strong communities that are rooted in the place where they live. This is a legacy of our rich working-class heritage—a pride in place founded upon pride in work. Wales played a leading role in Britain’s last industrial revolution as a centre of heavy industry, including mining, quarrying, smelting and steelmaking. This was recognised by our communities.
In continuing this place-based story, I welcome the Government’s focus on restoring pride in place and driving investment into our former industrial communities. Welsh councils are set to benefit from £280 million of Pride in Place funding, alongside over £30 million of capital funding to invest in Wales’s public realm.
While manufacturing might have defined Wales’s past, it will also shape its future. Wales is still a proud manufacturing economy, and manufacturing continues to be the biggest contributor to the Welsh economy in terms of output, employing over 150,000 people. This makes Wales an outlier in the UK and an international leader in advanced manufacturing. Whether it be aerospace, automotive, defence or electronics, we know that Wales is leading the way.
I am extremely proud that my constituency of Newport West and Islwyn is an exemplar in many of those industries of the future. Duffryn is home to the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster, which includes Vishay, IQE, Catapult and KLA. Just across the road, Airbus is innovating cyber-security solutions for aerospace, and Safran provides deluxe seats and even beds for airlines. In Blackwood, General Dynamics is busy outfitting the future of Britain’s mechanised defence forces, and in Marshfield, Microsoft and Vantage are building a number of data centres as part of the new South Wales AI growth zone.
As Wales positively embraces the fourth industrial revolution, I welcome the efforts by the Welsh and UK Governments to address the adverse impacts of the last. As a former physiotherapist, I have treated miners with lung conditions such as pneumoconiosis and silicosis, so I know how profound and lasting the impacts have been. The human and environmental impacts have been great and long-lasting, and we are not going back there.
In Islwyn, I am proud to represent a former mining area that will greatly benefit from the Government’s decision in the autumn Budget to return £2.3 billion to former British Coal staff. Those pensions are long overdue and I welcome their return. Though the pits may be gone, the bonds of solidarity and community spirit embedded within Islwyn are still clear for all to see. A prominent example of that is the Cefn Fforest Miners Institute. First built in 1935 and funded by contributions from local coalminers, it has been lovingly restored by the village. It reopened in November after being closed for 15 years and now acts as a renewed hub for the community, hosting shows and events. At the same time, I pay tribute to the fantastic Cross Keys silver band, which was formed in 1902 by the local mining community and is still going strong today. I would recommend any concerts they provide—really, I would.
I welcome the strong, co-ordinated response by the UK and Welsh Governments in putting forward a record combined £230 million over the next four years to improve coal tip safety. The new multi-year approach being taken by both Governments was much needed.
The Welsh Affairs Committee has been looking in detail at prisons, probation and rehabilitation in Wales. That is an area of significant public policy concern in Wales because we have the highest incarceration rate in western Europe, with 177 Welsh residents in prison per 100,000 of the population. The Committee was pleased to receive oral evidence from the Prisons Minister, Lord Timpson, who I know is committed to driving forward work to address reoffending and improve our prison system. As part of our inquiry, we have looked at a wide range of issues, including prison management, housing and education support, as well as the provision of healthcare and services in the Welsh language.
The Committee has also considered the specific experiences of women in the criminal justice system, but of particular concern has been the ongoing management of issues at HMP Parc following the 17 deaths there in 2024. We will continue to scrutinise the working arrangements there to ensure the safety of inmates and staff alike. Despite our inquiry being ongoing, the Committee has already had some early wins, with the Ministry of Justice agreeing to our request for the publication of an annual Wales-specific justice dataset, the first of which was published in September.
I will close by talking of the future and the big choices facing the people of Wales in just a few months’ time. In May, Wales faces a profound choice about its future: to move forward with a clear plan and a track record of delivery with Eluned Morgan and Welsh Labour, or to turn inward and embrace a politics of grievance and division. While Wales relied on devolution to protect itself from the worst of the Conservative and Lib Dem austerity for 14 years, that period thankfully has ended and Wales can face the future and invest. We now have a Labour Government at each end of the M4 working together for Wales, providing a record devolved financial settlement for 2026 and year-on-year increases in borrowing powers for the Welsh Government, delivering on our manifesto. That means an additional £6 billion of funding for our schools, hospitals and public services.
In the Senedd, that record funding is being put to work. Waiting lists in Wales have fallen for the last seven months in a row and are the lowest they have been in three years. We are seeing serious long-term investment in improving literacy and numeracy in our schools, and significant additional support for local businesses seeking to grow. Just last week, we saw our two Governments in partnership announce the end of the historical under-investment in Wales’s railways, with a shared ambition for £14 billion-worth of upgrades across north, south, mid and west Wales, including new stations at Newport West and Cardiff Parkway, near Marshfield in my constituency.
This week, the House voted to abolish the cruel two- child limit, which is set to benefit almost 70,000 children across Wales, including over 2,000 in my constituency. From April, that change will slash child poverty in Wales by 10% overnight. None of that is an accident; it is the product of a joint vision of a fairer future for Wales, rooted in social justice and delivering the jobs, transport and opportunities people need to thrive. The path of progress may be slow and difficult, but that does not make it any less valuable. Now is not the time to put the partnership at risk, just as we are beginning to see good news and developments across Wales.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allowing this debate on St David’s day to take place, and I look forward to hearing the contributions of other colleagues. Diolch yn fawr.
Ben Lake (Ceredigion Preseli) (PC)
Diolch, Madam Deputy Speaker. I begin by thanking the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) for opening the debate, and indeed for her work as the chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee. As she mentioned in her speech, we work as a team for Wales on the Committee, and it is good that we have this opportunity today not only to speak about the work of the Committee, but to talk to the wider House about the wonders of Wales and how great St David’s day is.
St David is famous for having said that we should do the little things, and it is in that spirit that I will dedicate my speech to small businesses, which, as is the case across Wales, forms the backbone of our economy. In my constituency of Ceredigion Preseli, as much as 81% of businesses are classified as small, making it the small business capital of Wales—an accolade that we are very proud to hold. Thirty-five per cent of those businesses are in the agricultural, fisheries and forestry sectors, and some 15% are in hospitality and tourism.
Although the winter months are always quite difficult for those industries, in recent weeks I have had a chance to meet a number of small business groups from Aberystwyth in the north of my constituency to Fishguard and Goodwick in the south. Unfortunately, they have all told a tale of the difficulties and challenges they face as small employers. I want to draw the House’s attention to the cumulative pressures that are having a severe impact on their ability to trade and to continue in business.
Businesses cited the impact of rising energy costs, higher employment costs and the burden of increased business rates. That is not a problem that is unique to Ceredigion Preseli, with the Federation of Small Businesses having found that to be equally true across the whole UK. Indeed, according to recent FSB research, from April this year the typical high street business will face an estimated £25,000 in extra unemployment costs and £1,600 in higher energy standing charges. We all agree that that sort of incessant rise in costs for small businesses is simply unsustainable. Unfortunately, too many are now citing that the pressures have become so acute that 35% have said that they are planning to close or contract over the coming year. That would be devastating for economies across the United Kingdom, but specifically so in the small business capital of Wales that is Ceredigion Preseli.
In the spirit of doing the small things and in advance of the spring statement next week, I draw the attention of the House to some measures that those businesses have suggested the Government could take to help them build a firmer and more prosperous future. On energy costs, businesses with an annual electricity consumption of around 40,000 kWh, which is a typical small restaurant, gym or café, are currently looking at a potential rise in their standing charge of some 40%. One proposal that the Government could entertain is to mirror the support that they are offering on household bills—the 75% reduction in renewable obligation costs—to non-domestic bills. That would offer much-needed support to many of the businesses in Ceredigion Preseli.
Another point that they wanted me to raise was the rising pressure of employment costs. Between January of last year and April this year, an employer with nine people on the national living wage will see their annual employment costs increase by an equivalent of 12.9% and the employer national insurance bill over that two-year period would have increased by 46%. One proposal these businesses have suggested that the Government could entertain next week is to uprate the employment allowance, so that it continues to cover the employer national insurance contributions of four employees on the national living wage. That would offer great support to the businesses I have spoken to in Ceredigion Preseli.
The final thing is business rates, and colleagues from across the House will have had a lot of concerns on this appear in their postbags and inboxes in recent weeks. It is for the Welsh Senedd and Welsh Government to look at the reliefs and how they offer additional support to small businesses. The one thing it would be worth this House and Government considering is the way in which the valuation process operates. One common concern is that the process lacks transparency and clarity as to how valuations are calculated. Some businesses in hospitality and trade, for example, cite that their rates are primarily driven by turnover as opposed to profitability, whereas in retail it is primarily fixed on the square meterage of their shops. This inconsistency is troubling, and the lack of clarity of how the Valuation Office Agency, as it was, has come to make the calculation is causing a significant degree of concern.
I turn to the measures that could help businesses in the tourism and hospitality industries. The VAT rate, currently set at 20%, has long been a concern for these businesses. Again, they would be grateful if the Government could look again at the rate. Decreasing it to 15% would offer them much-needed breathing space to withstand some of these increased pressures and costs, but also the opportunity to invest in their businesses and their staff—something we all want to see if we are to bring about economic growth across the land. Indeed, other countries have shown that a reduction in the rate of VAT for tourism and hospitality can bring significant benefits.
I also want to raise the removal of the automatic 10% “wear and tear” tax allowance for childminders, which will come into force from April. Childminders in my constituency have long used this provision to meet the costs of the inevitable damage, and maintenance costs, that arise from hosting their businesses in their homes. They have told me that the move to this new system is forcing them to reconsider their ability to continue in this critical sector. If the Government could look again at that, I know that a lot of childminders in my constituency would be grateful.
Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)
Does the hon. Member not agree that we have the green shoots of recovery already in the economy? We have interest rates going down and retail sales up. The recent massive £14 billion investment in rail will help every single small business and every single person across Wales.
Ben Lake
I agree with the hon. Member that the investment in rail will do a great deal of good for businesses in her constituency. Of course, it is sadly not the same for mine due to historical structures of the railway network—the hon. Member nods. The fact of the matter is I only have three stations, and they are all terminals, so sadly the investment that has been announced will not quite reach us yet, but I hope that in due course we will receive further announcements of investment in the Cambrian and west Wales lines. I would very much welcome and applaud the Government if they were to do so.
For rural areas such as those of the hon. Member and mine, the outflow of young people is a big concern. In my part of the world, the 6% decline in the overall population from the last census is a real worry for us. That is why it is so important to ensure that we support these small businesses.
It would be remiss of me not to brandish my constituency’s links with St David. He was, of course, born just to the south of my constituency boundary in the area of St Davids, but he was—according to legend—raised along the Ceredigion coast. Of course, as the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn mentioned, he performed one of his most famous miracles in the village of Llanddewi-Brefi. If I needed to really underline his Ceredigion credentials, he was the grandson of a Ceredigion king. Perhaps it is because of that that we have so many St David’s day events across Ceredigion Preseli, from parades in Aberystwyth, Cardigan, Fishguard and Goodwick, as well as in the towns of Lampeter, Tregaron and Aberaeron. The ladies of the Celtic longboats at Aberporth did the voyage from Aberporth to Llanon, the village named after St David’s mother, Non. Of course, there are the cawl evenings held across my constituency and the eisteddfods—this weekend in Swyddffynnon and Crymych, but also in schools across the constituency.
I would like to place on the record my gratitude to all those community volunteers and champions who have put on these events and who ensure that St David’s day is a joyous occasion. I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, a dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus iawn.
Gerald Jones (Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare) (Lab)
It is a pleasure to speak in this St David’s day and Welsh affairs debate. I will raise a number of issues affecting my constituency.
I was so pleased that this Labour Government are making huge steps in tackling child poverty. The removal of the two-child cap represents the biggest action to tackle child poverty in any single Parliament. My constituency has some of the highest levels of child poverty in Wales, and this single act will lift around 2,600 children in my constituency, and nearly 70,000 children across Wales, out of poverty. The previous Minister for Employment, my hon. Friend the Member for Birkenhead (Alison McGovern), came to meet local organisations and charities as part of the Government’s consultation on the child poverty strategy last year. The single message from that event was that the removal of the cap would be the most important thing to tackle child poverty locally. It is a huge step forward and shows the difference of a Labour Government in action.
In the Budget debate in November, I mentioned the high fuel prices in my constituency, and in Merthyr Tydfil particularly. I first wrote to fuel suppliers around two years ago, highlighting that fuel prices in Merthyr Tydfil were around 10p per litre more expensive than anywhere else across the valleys. In fact, fuel here in London is cheaper than in Merthyr Tydfil. In 2024, I wrote to all the fuel suppliers locally, highlighting the unfairness of their prices. I also wrote to the Competition and Markets Authority asking it to look into the matter, and so far it has not felt the need to act. All the while, my constituents are paying over the odds, and some have questioned whether some local suppliers are colluding to keep prices higher than they need to be.
In January, I met Asda to stress that its Merthyr Tydfil store was selling fuel at 8p to 10p per litre higher than any other nearby Asda store—in fact, 10p higher than the Asda store in the Aberdare part of my constituency—and higher than any other store in south Wales. To be fair, Asda agreed that its prices were high and agreed to reduce them. Within three days of that meeting, it dropped its fuel prices in its Merthyr Tydfil store by 5p per litre. That is a step in the right direction—absolutely—but it is still higher than elsewhere. Meanwhile, prices at other petrol stations, such as Esso, Texaco and Applegreen, continue to be significantly higher than elsewhere.
For many of my constituents, if they need to go out of town for work or leisure, they do not fill up locally any more. Many people work locally, though, and many older people may not have a choice and end up paying over the odds. Given the deprivation and levels of child poverty that exist in Merthyr Tydfil, it is immoral that fuel suppliers continue to appear to rip off local people. This is not a short-term situation; it has been the case for almost two years now.
In the Budget, the Chancellor introduced the fuel finder scheme, which forces suppliers to publicise their fuel prices within 30 minutes of increasing them or, for that matter, decreasing them. That will help consumers find cheaper fuel, but sadly, consumers in Merthyr Tydfil do not have too many options, other than travelling to other towns and villages to fill up. By raising this issue today, I hope that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State may be able to add her voice to the call on fuel suppliers to do the right thing by my constituents and act in a fairer way. While we as MPs do not have the authority to tell private suppliers what they can charge for their products, by calling this out for what it is, I hope that suppliers will recognise that they need to act, and I hope that the CMA will also come to the table to take whatever action it can.
My constituency is home to General Dynamics where the Ajax vehicles are being assembled. Recently, the Ministry of Defence conducted investigations following noise and vibration concerns from Army personnel. While I and the Government rightly prioritise safety, we need an outcome soon, as the 700 workers in my constituency need assurances on their future and the future of that work. The £50 million Wales defence growth deal signed by the Secretary of State, the Defence Secretary and the Welsh First Minister just last week signifies this Government’s intent to invest in defence. I very much welcome that investment, which also provides yet another example of two Labour Governments working together to create jobs and prosperity for the people of Wales. I am keen to ensure that my constituency continues to play a part in supplying defence capabilities for the nation.
In the 19th century, Merthyr Tydfil, at the height of the industrial revolution, was the largest iron-producing town in the world. The ironworks in my constituency supplied cannons and cannonballs to the Royal Navy, and in the 21st century the workforce at General Dynamics are keen to continue in that tradition. I hope that we can soon move on with Ajax and secure and grow the much-needed jobs in my constituency and across the south Wales valleys.
There is much to be positive about this St David’s day. This Government have delivered the largest budget and spending review settlement since devolution, providing the Welsh Government with a record £22.4 billion a year on average, and the Welsh Government are investing in public services and driving down waiting lists. After years of under-investment under the Tories, the NHS is improving across Wales and right across the UK. As we have heard, waiting lists in Wales have gone down for seven consecutive months, and out-patient appointments are increasing all the time.
The increased national minimum wage and living wage have given a pay rise to 160,000 Welsh workers. For the second year in a row, the state pension is due to increase. From April, the full state pension will increase by 4.8% to £241. Also welcome is the decision to right a historic wrong with the mineworkers’ pension scheme and the British Coal staff superannuation scheme— a real boost to hundreds of ex-miners and their families who will benefit in my constituency.
The last issue I would like to talk about is tourism and the role the valleys play in attracting visitors to Wales. Although tourism is largely devolved to the Welsh Government, there is a role for the UK Government too. In my area, to name a few attractions, we already have Zip World, BikePark Wales, the Summit indoor climbing centre and the new Old Drift wellness centre, which I visited during the February recess. The centre includes a sauna room, but also outdoor tin baths with cold water, which I did not partake in because it was around 2°C and raining. However, there were people enjoying that facility, and the centre is becoming a real attraction in the local area. I am told that that new venture is getting visitors from across Wales and beyond. I very much welcome that new addition to the constituency.
Members may know that earlier this year, Merthyr Tydfil county borough council agreed planning permission for Rhydycar West, a £300 million project that will create the UK’s largest ski slope and a tropical waterpark. That has created huge excitement locally and will also be a very welcome addition to our tourism offer.
The Abernant tunnel is a historic disused railway tunnel built in the 1850s as part of the Vale of Neath railway that links both parts of what is now my constituency, Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare. It has huge potential as a tourist attraction and a new walkway and cycleway link in both communities. Both Rhondda Cynon Taf council and Merthyr Tydfil council are keen to develop its potential. I am working with them to offer support. The tunnel is currently owned by the Department for Transport, but discussions are currently under way to transfer ownership of the tunnel to convert it into a tourist attraction and cycle and walkway.
Cyfarthfa castle is an iconic part of Merthyr Tydfil’s industrial past. It was the home of the Crawshay family and the base for their ironworks, which transformed Merthyr Tydfil during the industrial revolution. Last year, the castle celebrated its 200th anniversary. It received a very welcome royal visit from their Majesties, the King and Queen, on the King’s birthday last November, when the King cut a cake in the shape of a castle that was made by a local person. It was very impressive, I must say—it was a pity to cut it. His Majesty enjoyed the cake, as did all the other people there.
Sadly, the castle and museum are in need of significant repairs. The local authority and the Welsh Government have made financial contributions, and urgent work is under way. A heritage lottery bid is in progress and other forms of funding are being considered. As I said, tourism is mainly devolved to the Welsh Government, but the UK Government may have an interest too, because they occasionally support projects across Wales. Hopefully, all efforts can be looked at to safeguard this historic castle for future generations. It truly is an iconic focal point in the town of Merthyr Tydfil.
In closing, St David said, “Do the little things.” Lots of little improvements, and indeed larger ones, across Wales are gradually improving the lives of my constituents and many others across Wales.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I am surprised that the hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare did not suggest an awayday in the tin baths for his party—maybe next time.
Ann Davies (Caerfyrddin) (PC)
Diolch yn fawr, Madam Dirprwy Lefarydd. I refer the House to the Register of Members’ Financial Interests—I am co-chair of the anti-pylon group in Llanarthne and the president of the Farmers’ Union of Wales in Carmarthenshire. From the Arglwydd Rhys of Dinefwr’s first Eisteddfod, which was held in Aberteifi in Ceredigion, to the Rebecca riots, the coal mines and the tin and copper works of decades past, my constituency of Caerfyrddin is marked by history. We are proud of our shared stories, our communities and our beautiful landscape, which we do our best to protect.
I was elected in July 2024 on the back of a local campaign against new electricity infrastructure, not because we are nimbys—I will get that in straightaway—but because we found a factual, feasible alternative that put our land and our communities first: undergrounding the cables instead of using pylons. Three years on, we are still working hard to persuade the Labour Welsh Government that this is the way forward. When we started this journey, the cost comparatives were around seven to 10 times more expensive. The latest figures are around three to four times more expensive, and in Norway one study says that undergrounding is an average of 1.8 times more expensive than pylons. In just three years, the comparatives have drastically reduced, but all costings are time and project-specific.
Plaid Cymru’s policy on new infrastructure is clear: all 11kV to 132 kV lines should be underground unless there is a specific reason that cannot happen, for example that they go through peatlands, where a 10-metre pole would be used. All the usual impact assessments would also need to be considered, as per current planning policy: visual, ecological, language and community. We would work with communities, not against them, while safeguarding our heritage, chain of castles, ancient hill forts and viaducts. This is our land and our history that we need to protect.
It is not just pylons. Over 400 wind turbines are planned to be built across my constituency and the neighbouring constituencies of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe and Ceredigion Preseli. The turbines are huge—up to 230 metres tall. The London Eye over the river is 202 metres high. The turbines are even taller than that and 400 of them are planned across the horizon in my constituency. Plaid Cymru supports green energy that delivers real benefits to our communities, but the transition must be shaped around people and place, not imposed at a scale that alienates those being asked to host it. Instead of concentrating development in vast projects that dominate our landscapes, a Plaid Cymru Government would prioritise community-centred solutions. We would refocus efforts on community energy and introduce retrofit standards to upgrade more homes more quickly.
Green energy in Wales is a success story and our communities understand the need for it. Indeed, most people are passionately committed to playing their part in the transition. My concern is that the sheer scale of these proposed developments, combined with the bullish approach taken by some developers, risks undermining the good will and the positivity that has defined Wales’s green energy journey so far. This extractive economy needs to change and, again, we have a solution. Having a 10 km gap between each wind farm would significantly reduce the number and still generate more than enough electricity. That would safeguard some villages in my constituency, including Pencarreg, Cwmann, Ffarmers and Pumsaint, and up towards Mynydd Mallaen. Two huge wind farms are already licensed in the Celtic sea, and the Crown Estate is proposing another three, so we know that we will generate far more electricity than we need. I ask gently whether we need to spoil our more rural landscapes by placing turbines in areas in which people still live, still farm the land and still have vibrant Welsh-speaking communities. Do we need 400 turbines in one relatively small area?
Speaking of rural communities, the next battle on our hands in Caerfyrddin is to secure a banking hub in Rhydaman—or Ammanford. The last bank has closed. To be honest, I do not blame Lloyds, which had remained when others had long gone. However, I just wish that we had been able to secure a banking hub before they had closed. Although 23,709 people live in the Ammanford area, only 7,444 live around the high street, so we fall short of the 10,000-person threshold for a banking hub. As we all know, the valleys are part of and merge into our post-industrial towns—the two cannot be separated—and that is certainly true of Ammanford. Blaenau, Llandybie, Saron, Penybanc, Glanaman, Brynamman and many others all form part of Dyffryn Aman.
Deprivation is high, unemployment is high, and there is a significant lack of opportunities. Since Lloyds closed at the beginning of January, on Fridays—market day—residents queue outside the post office to access cash. They are mainly elderly and the digitally excluded, and are unable or do not wish to use a laptop or tablet. Some older constituents go to extreme lengths just to access their own money by paying extortionate amounts for a taxi into town, and giving the driver their card and PIN to get cash out of the ATM for them.
LINK might say that the nearest ATM is close enough—and it is for those who are fit, mobile and able to get there independently—but that simply is not the reality for many elderly or disabled residents who cannot make that journey safely, easily or affordably. There should be access to cash for all, so I have started a petition to set up a banking hub, and I would be grateful if the whole House shared it. I will be in touch with the Financial Conduct Authority to arrange a meeting to discuss that further. I have no doubt that I will work closely with the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) and my hon. Friend the Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi), who have secured banking hubs in Ystradgynlais and Caergybi respectively. Post-industrial town such as Rhydaman need our support. I ask Members to share my petition; let us get as many signatories as possible.
Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)
I am very close to the hon. Lady’s constituency, so a banking hub in Rhydaman would benefit my constituents too. I thank LINK for working with local councillors to bring banking hubs to Mumbles and Gorseinon. I think she will be successful in her bid to secure a banking hub in Rhydaman.
Ann Davies
We are working closely with LINK and the FCA to get as much information as we can to secure a hub. That is what our communities need. They deserve to be able to get to their cash safely.
My community means everything to me. The interwoven history and heritage of Caerfyrddin run through my veins. As I have said before, I have moved only 4 miles in my entire life, and I have no intention of moving any further than that—I love where I live and I love the people there. It is a privilege to live there, and, like others, I want the best for my patch, so I was delighted when a new post office was opened in Whitland after a sustained period of absence.
When we consider access to cash, let us look for opportunities to place a post office within local shops, convenience stores and even pubs. That increases footfall and gives businesses an opportunity to increase turnover and expand naturally. A few villages in my constituency are currently looking for that opportunity. One of them is the township of Laugharne, which is of course famous for the Dylan Thomas boathouse—it is where he wrote “Under Milk Wood”, and he and his wife Caitlin are buried in the churchyard there. These are inevitably decisions for the local community, and I hope that they find a resolution soon.
As David’s last words were “Do the little things”—gwnewch y pethau bychain—I ask for large organisations, such as LINK, the FCA and the Post Office, to collaborate closely with our communities to ensure that access to cash is a reality for everyone. Rural communities are unique, and what works in a city or a large town does not automatically work there. There is no one-size-fits-all solution.
That brings me back to my community. Caerfyrddin is filled with castles, history and heritage, but it is also filled with talent, entrepreneurship and vision. Let us harness those qualities and work together to help the places that we are so proud of to thrive and prosper, in line with what our communities need, want and deserve. Let us do the “pethau bychain” together.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
I do not want to disappoint you, Ms Davies, but I cannot sign your petition, because I have my own petition for a banking hub in the town of Crowborough, which colleagues are more than welcome to sign.
Jessica Morden (Newport East) (Lab)
I wish a happy early St David’s day to all. I congratulate my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), on an excellent opening contribution to the debate.
We will all say it:
“Be joyful, keep the faith and do the little things”.
Those were the final words of our patron saint. The Prime Minister repeated them in his remarks at the St David’s day reception at No. 10 on Monday, which was an excellent event. It afforded us the opportunity to invite people who do extraordinary things in our constituencies. I brought along Mark Seymour, who, alongside his team in Newport, runs the Sanctuary project, which works with refugees and asylum seekers.
In that vein, I want to begin by recognising some more extraordinary Newportonians who perform small, kind and positive acts that help make our community what it is. First, I pay tribute to my constituent Martyn Butler, who sadly passed away last weekend. Martyn was a co-founder of the Terrence Higgins trust, setting up one of the first AIDS helplines in 1983 using his home telephone. His tireless work, right up until his death, to raise awareness of HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis helped to contribute to the 20% fall in new HIV cases in Wales in 2024. More people than ever before are being tested. That legacy will be felt for generations. We send our love to his family—he was a lovely, lovely man.
Emma Webb is a bereaved mother whose daughter took her own life in 2020 aged just 16. From the depths of her grief, Emma has spent every day since campaigning to raise awareness of suicide prevention. She has walked hundreds of miles with a life-size model pony, raised thousands of pounds and worked relentlessly to save lives. I thank her from the bottom of my heart.
I have also had the pleasure of welcoming 11-year-old Sophia from Newport East to Westminster this year. She lives with juvenile arthritis and uses her incredible energy and infectious positivity to raise awareness and improve support for children like her. She will clearly rule the world; she is a brilliant example to us all. The great privilege of this role is meeting and working with such remarkable people who show so much resilience.
It is that resilience that has carried out city through challenging times. After more than a decade of austerity, I am glad to see that the damage done by the Conservatives is beginning to be undone. The recent announcement that work will begin this year to build two new railway stations in Newport East has been warmly welcomed by businesses and residents alike.
Catherine Fookes
My hon. Friend mentioned her new railway stations. She used to be the MP for part of my constituency, and I want to pay tribute to her. Will she join me in welcoming the new Magor and Undy railway station? I want to say a big thank you to her for all the work she has done with the Magor Action Group on Rail to make that station a reality.
Jessica Morden
I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous, and indeed for the work she has done to carry that on—she has been relentless in this Chamber, at every single opportunity—and the fantastic Magor Action Group on Rail, which it is a privilege to work with. Well done to them.
I was also pleased to see the proposed Caerleon station included in the rail vision for Wales. My hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn has been very supportive of that, as has our MS, Jayne Bryant. I commend the TRACS—Towards Restoring a Caerleon Station—group for its commitment to securing a station for the town, and I support it all the way.
This investment of many millions of pounds—part of a £14 billion commitment to rail in Wales—is just one example of how the people in Newport East are feeling the benefit of two Governments working together. That is really important. Another example of that, due to a good settlement, is the fact that the Labour-run council in Newport, under the energetic and resourceful leadership of Dimitri Batrouni, has this week announced the biggest investment in roads, infrastructure and schools in living memory, with a £40 million commitment. That includes £15 million to repair and resurface our roads and pavements, all of which are showing the impact of 14 years of Tory austerity. There is also half a million pounds for our city centre’s invaluable grassroots sports clubs, match funding for teams like Newport County and the Dragons, more funding to tackle fly-tipping and much more. Those are the kinds of priorities that residents tell us matter to them, and this action is due to the massive 6.1% funding increase from the Welsh Government, thanks to the Chancellor’s decisions flowing down to them. That partnership working is really important.
Crime and antisocial behaviour in our city centre remains one of our top concerns, so I was really pleased to hear from Gwent police that reported crime has fallen over the past year, with shoplifting down 20% across our city and antisocial behaviour seeing a steep decline during November. That is due to increased investment from the UK Labour Government, the hard work of Gwent police and the extra measures it is deploying, including the new Project Vigilant scheme, which will help to protect women and girls who are out and about in the night-time economy in our city centre. I commend that really good initiative. Gwent police has also confirmed that, by the end of March, every single neighbourhood policing team in Newport will be up to full establishment, delivering on a key and very important manifesto pledge, so I commend that.
The news of £20 million of Pride in Place money for Newport has been warmly welcomed, allowing us to invest in regeneration of the city centre and surrounding areas. That complements the work already going on in the city centre around the leisure centre, which I think my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn would agree is going up at an alarming rate, and the ongoing restoration of our Newport transporter bridge, which benefited from a further £5 million of UK Government funding. It is the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge annual general meeting tonight, and my hon. Friend and I hope to get there in time.
I support Newport city council’s expression of interest for the town of culture competition, and particularly Caerleon’s bid. As one of the most significant and best understood Roman legionary sites in the former empire, with a strong community, it would be a really worthy winner, so let us hope that happens. [Interruption.] I hear a bit of competition there.
Turning from Newport’s significant history to its really promising future, the UK Government’s announcement of the AI growth zone represents a really exciting prospect for our city that we want to grasp. As my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn said, we have globally significant tech companies already based in Newport, including KLA and Vishay, which were here yesterday for an event. Further investment in sites and jobs is really welcome, particularly given that we are the fastest growing and the youngest city in Wales, with the fastest growing population of under-16s.
Sitting at the heart of cwm silicon, Newport is not just part of the new industrial revolution; it is driving it. With a strategic location, vital grid connections and a talented workforce, we have all the assets that modern industry is competing to secure. Of course, all this development and new infrastructure needs steel—I always have to mention steel—so I look forward to seeing the Government’s steel plan when it is published in the next few weeks. As always, I pay tribute to those who work in the steel industry in Newport East.
Its people, its geography, its grit and its determination set Newport apart from anywhere else, but it has something else: momentum. Under the inspired leadership of our council, and with support from the UK Government and the Welsh Government, we are seizing the opportunity of the moment. Newport is ready for this moment. Huge investments are coming, innovation is accelerating and the city’s strong communities are leading the way. We are not looking back. We are not about the politics of grievance and division; we are positive and ambitious for the future of Newport, and we will take every opportunity to build it.
Dame Nia Griffith (Llanelli) (Lab)
A very happy St David’s day to you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to everyone here. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) on taking the initiative for this debate. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity in the St David’s day debate to highlight some of the very positive steps that this UK Labour Government are taking to drive economic growth in Wales, create more and better jobs, and help people cope with the cost of living crisis.
Of course, it is our job as politicians to face up to the problems and tackle them, but too often we overlook the success stories—the real drive and determination of factory managers and business owners whose enterprises are doing well in spite of what are often challenging circumstances. Just in the last couple of weeks, I visited three such businesses. It was inspiring to see Shufflebottom Ltd in Cross Hands. Well known locally for its steel-framed agricultural buildings, it is now winning contracts for school buildings, the Ministry of Defence and leisure centres, including the splendid new Pentre Awel building in Llanelli, a Swansea bay city region project financed by both the UK and Welsh Governments.
Then we have Dave Timbrell-Hill, whose Beer Park located at Dafen trade park in Llanelli—
Dame Nia Griffith
I know my hon. Friend knows it well. Beer Park was named last year as the best independent beer and cider retailer in the UK, and it was shortlisted again this year for the prestigious drinks retailing awards.
Then we have DesignYO!, a design company that has gone from being a work-from-home start-up to taking on another full-time employee and opening premises in Llanelli town centre. Those are three very different businesses, but each provides quality goods and contributes to our local economy.
We must be under no illusion that the task we faced after 14 years of Tory austerity, which saw not only swingeing cuts to our public services but wage freezes and benefit freezes, coupled with the Tory cost of living crisis, has made life very, very difficult for my constituents in Llanelli. Time and again, I hear from people across my constituency that the cost of living crisis is their biggest concern, as they work every hour they can and still struggle to make ends meet. Tackling that cost of living crisis is an absolute priority for both the UK and Welsh Labour Governments. That is why it is so important that we have put up the national minimum wage and the national living wage. It is important to ensure that work pays, and workers need and deserve those increases. Moreover, we have made a particular increase to the 18 to 20-year-old rate as a step towards bringing it up to the rate for 21-year-olds.
I am delighted that we are now removing the two-child benefit cap. I had the privilege of working on the child poverty taskforce. We looked at the full range of possible ways of taking children out of poverty, and this is the most effective change we can make. The imposition of the two-child limit by the Conservatives when they were in power has pushed hundreds of thousands of children into poverty, damaging their health, education and life chances. In Llanelli alone, an estimated 2,200 children will benefit from the change, giving them the foundation they need to succeed in school and go on to get secure, well-paid jobs.
We are also uprating the universal credit standard allowance by 6%, the first ever permanent real-terms increase, benefiting some 320,000 households in Wales. We are keeping the triple lock on the state pension, meaning that it will increase by 4.8% this April, raising incomes for 700,000 pensioners in Wales. We are sticking to our pledge of no increases in income tax, employee national insurance contributions or VAT. Furthermore, we have seen many cuts in interest rates, bringing down the cost of mortgages and business loans.
I welcome the decision by this Labour Government to save householders some £150 on their domestic energy bills from April this year. That will be particularly beneficial to those who rely heavily on electricity, such as those whose homes are not on the mains gas network, of whom there are many in the more rural parts of the Llanelli constituency. Let us not forget that the Welsh Government have rolled out the universal free school meal programme for all primary school pupils in Wales, which is a real help to many families.
The UK Labour Government are ending Tory austerity and providing the Welsh Government with the best settlement since devolution—some £22.4 billion on average for each of three years—so that they can plan ahead and begin to rebuild and improve public services, but that will take time. In some instances, additional work can be started immediately but in other areas, such as specialist areas of the health service, more personnel will have to be recruited in order to speed up the process of bringing down waiting lists. I appreciate that we all want to see waiting lists come down more quickly, but it is no mean feat that they are now consistently falling. Whether it is creating more and better paid jobs, filling potholes, bringing down waiting lists or tackling the cost of living crisis, I know that our two Labour Governments, in Westminster and Cardiff, are relentlessly focusing on improving people’s lives.
We must also remove barriers to people’s getting to work, one of which is lack of transport for them to get from where they live to where they work. I welcome the UK Government’s massive investment in rail in Wales, but Welsh Labour and the UK-wide Labour Government are also absolutely committed to investing in our bus services so that people can get to job opportunities. This is not to be anti-car—far from it; we recognise how vital car transport is, particularly in rural and semi-rural areas, and we have frozen fuel duty for two years running and now petrol is the cheapest it has been for five years—but it is to recognise that we need good bus services, too, and to understand that many households do not have access to a car at all or, if they do have a car, that different members of the family need to go in different directions to work or leisure activities.
Our bus services, particularly in semi-rural areas, have been badly eroded over the years. First, we had the Tory privatisation of bus services, which led to companies prioritising only the more profitable routes; then we had Tory austerity, which cut local council budgets, leading councils to cut back on subsidies for less profitable services; and then we had covid, and some services have struggled to pick up since that time. I very much welcome the initiative introduced last year by the Welsh Labour Government to enable 16 to 21-year-olds to pay just a £1 flat-rate bus fare, which is so important to help them get to education, training and job opportunities. If Labour is returned to government in the Senedd elections in May, we are absolutely committed to enabling all adults of working age to pay a flat-rate bus fare of £2.
Hand in hand with that is our election commitment to provide over 100 new bus routes across Wales. The Welsh Government have already passed legislation to bring bus services under public control, and we in south-west Wales will be one of the first areas where that will happen. If Labour is returned to government at the Senedd elections, the public will have an opportunity to be involved in shaping our bus services. I have already talked to First Bus and officers at Carmarthenshire county council about this future model.
I do not want to pre-empt what services the public will want, but I know, for example, that many residents in Tycroes would like a bus service from Ammanford to Llanelli. That could be one of the new routes, but, likewise, the public could have views about timetabling, evening services or frequency. What about Sunday services? Our Sunday bus services seem to reflect a bygone era, when everything was closed and people just walked to chapel, but now shops and hospitality venues are open, sporting events happen, and it is a popular day to get together with family and friends. People need buses to get to work in those places, and to go and enjoy them.
What is important is that Labour is committed to increasing these services and to giving local residents opportunities to shape the services of the future. I thank my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales for securing a good Budget settlement for Wales and allowing the Welsh Government to prepare these sorts of plans. If Labour is in government after May, I very much look forward to the additional bus services.
I will finish on a note about the Pride in Place programme. I very much welcome the funding that has been allocated to Llanelli. At some £20 million over 10 years, it will help us to regenerate Llanelli town centre and the area around it, and to create job opportunities. This is a real chance for Llanelli people to shape the town’s future, because it is Llanelli people who know what is best for Llanelli. We will want to hear from everyone who lives or works in Llanelli, or would like to have more reason to come into the town centre and the surrounding area: local businesses, residents, education establishments, third sector organisations, public sector, private sector, young people, older people. We really want to make the most of this opportunity. Once again, I thank my colleagues in Government for giving us the investment that we have needed so badly in Wales.
Mr Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West) (Lab)
Thank you very much for calling me, Madam Deputy Speaker—diolch yn fawr iawn. I thank the hon. Members for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) and for North Dorset (Simon Hoare), and my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), for securing this important debate and for their vocal championing of Wales. I particularly thank my hon. Friend for her stewardship of the Welsh Affairs Committee. Let me also take the opportunity to pass on my best wishes to colleagues from north Wales who, through no fault of their own, could not be here today, including the hon. Member for Ynys Môn (Llinos Medi) and my hon. Friends the Members for Clwyd East (Becky Gittins) and for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes).
On this day last year, I was proud to speak in my first St David’s day debate, and a lot has taken place since then, including record investment in Wales, both internationally and domestically; record investment in rail for a modern Wales; a pay rise for 150,000 Welsh workers; and Pride in Place funding, to which I shall return shortly. We will lift 450,000 children out of poverty in this Parliament, including 69,000 children in Wales and 3,180 in my constituency of Cardiff West. We also have a new team at the Wales Office: I welcome the Under-Secretaries of State for Wales, my hon. Friends the Members for Cardiff North (Anna McMorrin) and for Bangor Aberconwy, and I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) for the great work she did in that role.
Since the debate last year, I have been proud to introduce my Registration of Birth, Deaths and Marriages (Welsh Language Provision) Bill. In a nutshell, it is about giving people living in Wales and Welsh people living in England the right to have their or a family member’s birth or death certificate issued in Welsh or English, or bilingually, after registration. If no preference is given, such birth or death certificates should be issued bilingually by default. As for marriage certificates issued in Wales, those too should be issued bilingually by default.
All that was a policy aim under the previous Labour Government, and it is a policy that still has cross-party support. However, rather than that being the default position, in 2026, Welsh people are left to fight for those rights. That cannot be right in a modern Wales—a Wales proud of its language and a population proud of its country. I am grateful for the conversations I have had with the UK Government about my Bill, and I can assure my constituents that those conversations continue. In so doing, I want to take the opportunity to thank my constituent Afryl Davies for bringing the matter to my attention, and for channelling her grief about the tragic loss of her husband into trying to bring about change for the better on this very important topic.
We know that Wales regularly punches above its weight in music, arts, culture and sport—
Carolyn Harris (Neath and Swansea East) (Lab)
Our Welsh culture and community are a huge part of our heritage. However, decisions being made by the Welsh Rugby Union—specifically the chairman, who does not understand either our Welsh communities or our culture—are putting that heritage at risk. Does my hon. Friend agree that those decisions are putting wallets before Wales and threatening to rip out the heart of our Welsh rugby union?
Mr Barros-Curtis
While I will always say that Cardiff Rugby is a brilliant team, I take very seriously the campaign that my hon. Friend and other colleagues have fought on this issue. I too care about the future of our sport, especially when it comes to rugby, so I commend her for her ongoing work in this area.
As I was saying, we know that Wales regularly punches above its weight in music, arts and culture and sport, in invaluable contributions to our society such as birthing the NHS, and in the collective defence of all four of our home nations. Last week, as part of the armed forces parliamentary scheme, I was privileged to be able to spend some time with our troops in Norway and the Arctic circle. The strategic defence review highlighted the necessity of our strategic and operational focus in the High North; thousands of our troops are rising to that challenge every day, and I pay tribute to each and every one of them.
I spoke with many officers while I was there for the week, including troops from Cardiff—Welsh men and women serving together as part of our collective defence. We have officers from all four home nations, not separated by their nationality but united by our common values—values that Wales evidences every day. We are a modern nation that is diverse and outward-looking. There is no better example of that than in my own constituency, with its variety of cultures, communities and languages; people can walk the streets and, within a couple of metres, hear Welsh, English and Bengali. I was pleased to discuss this point, and how we all have a responsibility to work to emphasise our common humanity over division, recently with the leaders of City Church Cardiff in my constituency.
This modern Wales should be celebrated. While we are far from perfect and there are great improvements to be made, we have come a long way from the days, described by our First Minister, when rocks were thrown at school buses on their way to Welsh language schools. Some would like to take us back there, whether by dismissing our language and culture as trivial or by trying to divide our communities with hatred and pitting us against each other. We must never submit to such division and separation.
It was the Labour party and Welsh Labour Members of Parliament who drove the debate for devolution. It was the Labour party that established the office of Secretary of State for Wales. It was the Labour party that, at long last, as the party of devolution, brough the then National Assembly into being. The Labour party’s commitment to devolution is rooted in its belief in Wales and the Welsh people and in our confidence as a nation to shape our own path when we choose. We reject the idea of being treated as an afterthought, as some would prefer, or isolating ourselves completely by taking the route of separation, as others would have it.
I said that I would return to Pride in Place. When I began campaigning for Pride in Place funding to be invested in Ely and Caerau in my constituency, I did so because I knew that those communities wanted greater investment. I am immensely proud that this UK Labour Government have committed up to £20 million of Pride in Place funding to Ely and Caerau. This is a moment of real significance for our area and a clear signal that the Government are serious about backing communities that have too often been let down by politicians of all stripes.
There are those who talk down Ely and Caerau, judging without any real attempt to get to know the communities, but they are wrong. Ely and Caerau are full of good people doing remarkable things for their community, often with limited resources and against significant odds. Time and again, I see residents stepping up, volunteering their time, supporting their neighbours or running sports clubs. It is a privilege to learn from them every day and to represent them in this place.
Without a doubt, part of the reason for correcting historical under-investment through this programme lies in the wider funding context that Wales has faced over the past decade. Previous UK Governments reduced funding to Wales, which had a significant knock-on effect on Welsh Government and council budgets, and communities such as Ely and Caerau inevitably felt the impact of those decisions. The UK Labour Government have recognised that and delivered the largest real-terms funding settlement for Wales in its history of devolution. This Pride in Place funding is so important to restore opportunity, rebuild local infrastructure and ensure that communities receive the investment that they deserve. That is why Pride in Place funding matters.
I firmly believe that when people feel good about where they live, they feel better about themselves. If we are serious about improving health outcomes, supporting people into work and raising aspirations, investing in the quality of local neighbourhoods is essential. This £20 million investment will help to provide the spaces, confidence and opportunities that people need to thrive. One of the best things about the Pride in Place programme is that it is not politicians, councils or Governments who decide where the money will be spent, but the people themselves. My constituents have my assurance that I will work at speed to collaborate with them so that they can inform us about where and how the money should be spent.
Our nation has come so far in 27 years of devolution. In my eyes, devolution has always been, and will always be, a process. This week, a new moment in that history was marked, as Senedd Members returned to the newly renovated Chamber—the Siambr—as our country prepares for its next chapter of devolution following May’s elections. In May, Wales has the opportunity to reject division and separation and support the power in partnership between our UK and Welsh Labour Governments, and I trust that it will do so.
To you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and to everyone celebrating our nation’s holiday, in Cardiff West and beyond, I wish a dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus.
Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr) (Lab)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) on securing today’s debate and thank her for all her work as the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee.
In last year’s debate, I spoke about the pride that I feel in representing Glyndŵr, the area that I have lived in my whole life. While it is a great honour to do so from these Benches, I am always at my happiest in my work when the train pulls up in Chirk or Ruabon, at a factory in Glyndŵr, on a farm in Montgomeryshire or meeting people in the towns and villages and hearing about their concerns and aspirations and how best I can help them. Although I could speak for hours on the historical significance of that great pre-Marxist socialist Robert Owen and Newtown, or the unique place in world history that Bersham holds, I will focus on what has been achieved by our Labour Government since last St David’s day.
On 1 April 2025, our first Budget came into force for Wales. We saw pay rises benefiting 160,000 workers in Wales, significant uplifts for people aged 21 and over on the national living wage, and a double-digit percentage pay rise for 18 to 20-year-olds on the national minimum wage. We had a record-breaking devolutionary settlement for Wales. I was especially pleased with the £25 million allocated for coal spoil tip safety, which is especially important for the Pentre Bychan side of Rhostyllen, with its closeness to our big spoil tip. Non-doms were made to pay tax. We had huge tax increases on private jet owners and a windfall tax for greedy energy companies.
What about the forthcoming Budget, which was announced in November? We have the implementation of a mansion tax, a 67% increase in taxes on online gambling companies and the jewel in the crown that is the lifting of the two-child benefit cap. That will lift more children out of poverty in the life of this Parliament than has happened in any other Parliament since records began in 1961. Do not be deceived by the naysayers: the majority of the families in Wales who will benefit from the lifting of the two-child benefit cap are in work. This measure alone will improve the lives of 2,270 children affected by the limit in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and 69,000 children in Wales as a whole. In Wales, we have greater poverty and deprivation than in England, and measures to tackle wealth inequality will always have my full-throated support. That is what I came here to do.
Let me turn my attention to Welsh rail. The £14 billion commitment from our UK Labour Government to Welsh rail will be transformative. I was overjoyed at the news that Deeside industrial park will get its own railway station, as many of my constituents commute to it; some 135 constituents in Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr work for Airbus. The changes at Padeswood will lead to increased frequency by separating freight from passengers, with more trains to Liverpool and the north-west of England and much less time taken to get there. Designs are also being drawn up for disabled access at Ruabon station. People in my constituency already have to travel far further than most to access work and opportunities, and this will make a massive difference.
My constituency, the birthplace of British ironmaking where the cylinders of James Watt’s steam engine were built, will now once again be connected by rail to where the growth is—where the jobs and opportunities are. Yes, we should celebrate the rich histories of our Welsh constituencies, but we should also be celebrating what we have been able to achieve for our constituents, only 19 months in and with just one Budget implemented. Diolch yn fawr.
Catherine Fookes (Monmouthshire) (Lab)
“Gwnewch y pethau bychain,” were the famous words of St David, meaning, “Do the little things.” I do hope I have not mangled the pronunciation too much; dw i’n dysgu Cymraeg—I am learning Welsh—so I am getting there. That is the message that many of my colleagues have talked about today: take those compassionate daily actions, even if they do not feel like much in the moment. Our community in Monmouthshire put this into action hugely in our response to the dreadful flooding that affected us as a result of Storm Claudia in November last year; everyone did their bit, big or little. I thought I could not be any prouder to represent my constituency, but I have been proven wrong. Seeing our community pull together was yet another brilliant reminder of the privilege it is to represent them; they are resilient, generous and determined.
The flooding in Monmouthshire was devastating. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded, and they are still dealing with the after-effects, including anxiety every time it rains—which as we know, sadly, has been pretty much all day, every day recently. Particularly among our older community, there is anxiety about when, if ever, they will get back into their homes or residential spaces. People who have replaced every single thing in the ground floor of their flat or house are anxious about maybe losing it once again in a future flood.
Let me take the House back to the early hours of the morning on that November day. What was described by constituents as a tidal wave came down Drybridge Street and Monmouth’s high street, leaving shops and houses badly damaged, a stinking mess, and a fine brown silt everywhere. Osbaston, Overmonnow, Little Mill and Rockfield Road were affected, as were parts of Abergavenny. For some, this was not novel; sadly, the communities in Skenfrith and on Forge Road in Monmouth flooded yet again, as they have every single year for the past few years. It was awful, but from that awfulness rose an astonishing response. It was not only the council, charities and emergency services that intervened immediately and did those little things; it was volunteers, ordinary members of the local community who heard the calls for assistance and answered them. Pets were rescued by Sara from Paws pet shop, and an elderly resident was also rescued by boat from Chippenham Court by Sara. I want to say a massive diolch yn fawr iawn to our emergency services, and to everybody who helped and continues to help.
However, recovery is incredibly long and arduous. The media have most definitely moved on, but the people who live and work in Monmouthshire—especially in Monmouth—are still struggling, particularly with their mental health. Businesses have seen insurance costs jump, in one case from around £1,000 a year to £20,000 a year. As such, I am exceptionally relieved that additional funding was made available for the first stages of recovery, in part through the mayor’s fundraiser, which she set up and which people donated to, not just from the local area but from all around the world. Of course, I am also grateful for the emergency funding from Monmouthshire county council and the Welsh Government, and thank goodness for the £1.5 million Pride in Place funding from this UK Government. Alongside the Welsh Government’s town transformation grant, it will help to regenerate some of those areas affected by the floods. I was also delighted and very thankful that our Secretary of State came to visit and see for herself the community support in action, and the high street and what was going on there.
In yet another show of resilience, businesses have been fighting to reopen as quickly as possible, and I am proud to say that Monmouth is very much open for business. Salt and Pepper, one of our lovely coffee shops, was quick to get back on its feet, thanks to the owner Catherine and her fantastic team, as was Bar 125. These became a visible sign of resilience in the town centre. Bee Beautiful nail bar is back—I had my lovely nails done there—and Harts of Monmouth, which was established over 50 years ago, showed real determination by continuing to trade from the first floor of its premises the weekend after the floods while flood repairs were still under way downstairs. Alex Gooch’s artisan bakery is now selling from a converted horsebox outside on the pavement while the damage in the shop is assessed.
However, many places are still on the journey to reopening. The Robin Hood Inn, Monmouth’s oldest pub, remains closed; despite the challenges of repairing that listed building, it is working hard to reopen. Handyman House and the Bridges community centre are also working on their recovery after their premises were badly damaged, so now we need to apply that lesson—“Gwnewch y pethau bychain”—once again. I invite any of my constituents who can, as well as those living just outside Monmouthshire’s bounds, those from further afield and all fellow Members of this House, to please come and visit Monmouth. Come to our high street; come and have a coffee, have some lunch, and buy some gifts in our wonderful independent shops that need our support. I know you will be given a brilliant welcome.
Finally, I wish a happy St David’s day to all in the House.
Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower) (Lab)
I draw the attention of the House to my lovely little badge. Everybody has been calling it a gingerbread man, but it is actually a handmade felt Welsh lady to celebrate St David’s day, made by somebody from Penyrheol primary school in my constituency.
I am going to talk about something quite niche today. I probably will not take up too much time, but I want to draw the House’s attention to a serious and entirely preventable animal welfare issue that is affecting our coastlines, particularly in Gower. It is the harm caused to seals by discarded flying rings. Once lost to the wind or tide, these lightweight toys frequently end up at sea, where they become deadly. Rescue centres are increasingly treating seals with flying rings embedded in their necks—injuries that cause severe tissue damage, infection and, in most cases, death.
These seals, the grey seals, are a very rare species, and are found off the coastline of Gower. Gareth Richards, my constituent, is the founder of Gower Seal Group and vice-chair of the UK’s Seal Alliance. There is quite a lot we could do, because these flying rings are imported into the UK in their thousands and sold in many retail outlets for as little as £1. They are often left discarded on our beaches or near waterways, where they end up in the ocean. To a curious little seal, these floating flying rings—our toys or playthings—are seen as attractive, as any child would find a new toy, but soon that natural curiosity of maybe a few seconds will turn into a lifetime of pain. When the flying ring is in their neck, it will grow into the skin over time. It is really awful, and I have seen some terrible pictures.
It is difficult to rescue or disentangle seals that are trapped in such rings, and those fortunate enough to be rescued require many months of rehabilitation at a specialist wildlife rehab centre, such as those provided by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals at one of its four centres located across England. As an aside, we do not have a specialist RSPCA centre in Wales; it has to utilise one of those four centres, with the nearest to Gower located in Taunton, Somerset. A single seal caught in a flying ring will cost the RSPCA up to £15,000 during its time in rehabilitation before it is fit and healthy enough to be let out into the wild again. That is a massive expenditure for a charity that relies on public donations. To put that in context, one flying ring costs the retailer a wholesale unit price of 33p, so it is costing charitable wildlife centres 45,450 times more than the cost of one of those rings to rehabilitate just one seal.
However, there is a solution. I am very proud of Swansea council, which unanimously voted in favour of a motion to voluntarily ban the sale and use of flying rings in Swansea via one of our councillors, Councillor Andrew Stevens, who supported the application. Neath Port Talbot council and Vale of Glamorgan council have also voted for such motions. That shows the grave concern about the sale of flying rings. I would like the Secretary of State and the Minister to help me and Members across the House to get all 22 unitary authorities in Wales to ban flying rings, which would make Wales the first country in the world to ban them. Other unitary authorities across the UK, such as Cornwall and several on the Norfolk coast, have banned them, and action from other councils is pending. We can do this.
There has been a huge amount of media coverage of the issue—from mainstream BBC and ITV to BBC Wales, ITV Wales, Radio Wales and programmes such as “Countryfile” and ITV Wales’s “Coast & Country”. There is significant public interest in the campaign. There is also a petition from the Save Our Seals from Flying Rings campaign.
Many major retailers are really leading the way—Tesco, John Lewis, Pets at Home, Halfords and Sainsbury’s, as well as a number of smaller retailers. Retailers in Gower, particularly on the coast, have been absolutely fantastic in supporting the campaign. Vets are taking part, as well as Kennexstone caravan park and Pitton Cross farm in particular. People can also read the children’s book “Sammy and the Flying Ring”, written by Sandy Brown and illustrated by E.J. Henderson.
Anyone planning a trip to the beach, whether they live in Gower or not, should buy a traditional frisbee, which were created in the 1930s and are fantastic. Do not buy a flying ring. It is a big ask for the Secretary of State to get the local authorities on board and make us the best in the world. Grey seals are the sentinels of the sea: a globally rare species found off the Gower coast, which is a unique destination—not only because it was the first designated area of outstanding natural beauty, but just because it is a great place. Did hon. Members know that seals swim 60 to 80 miles in just one day? There are no boundaries on these flying rings—they should be banned.
Earlier, I bigged up some of the major retailers. I would like to call out Asda and Home Bargains. They are two of my favourite places to go and shop, but they have not banned flying rings. I call on the Secretary of State to urge them to be more like St David: do the little things, and save the seals.
Andrew Ranger (Wrexham) (Lab)
Diolch yn fawr, Madam Deputy Speaker. It is a real pleasure to speak in my second St David’s day debate in this Chamber. I begin by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), Chair of the Select Committee, and the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for securing this debate today.
The story of St David began about 1,500 years ago, when, in the wake of the Roman empire’s departure from Britain, a unique Welsh identity began to take shape—one identity around community, language, culture and a resilience that lives on today. There is no better place to see that identity in action than Wrexham this weekend. At 12.40 on Sunday, the bells will ring out from St Giles church, marking an end to the traditional St David’s day church service and the beginning of our now regular St David’s day parade. The parade will be led by the Cambria band. It brings an array of colour and music to our streets, with community groups, schools and other organisations all playing their part. All weekend, there will be special events, including St David’s day markets in Queen’s Square and the surrounding area, where our fantastic local businesses and independent traders offer delightful products, food and drink, including what I am sure are the best Welsh cakes across the whole of Wales.
Andrew Ranger
It’s a close-run thing.
There is also a range of interactive and engaging cultural and educational activities for everyone to enjoy and take part in. Wrexham is bidding to become the city of culture in 2029 and our annual St David’s day celebrations, which are now embedded in our city and growing every year, demonstrate so much about what makes Wrexham a welcoming place for everyone.
Last summer, Wrexham was the very proud host of the National Eisteddfod, reportedly attracting around 160,000 visitors over its week-long celebration of Welsh arts and heritage, drawing people from across Wales and the UK to enjoy all that Wrexham has to offer, as well as the plethora of fantastic events on the Maes. This year is also Wrexham’s “Year of Wonder”, marking 150 years since a significant number of events happened in what was then our town, back in 1876. That included the establishment of the Football Association of Wales. There was an art treasures exhibition, which shone a spotlight on Wrexham for the rest of the country. The first National Eisteddfod to be held in Wrexham also happened in that year.
You would not expect me to speak about Wrexham, Madam Deputy Speaker, without mentioning a certain local football team that you may have heard of. Another reason to celebrate: this year, it has reached the fifth round of the FA cup for the first time in 29 years. We will be welcoming Chelsea in the next round, in a week or so’s time. We have past history of causing upsets against top-tier teams from London—I won’t mention which.
We are also sitting in the play-off spots of the championship. It is a real football fairytale story, if ever there was one—back-to-back promotions and all that success. That has made a real difference to Wrexham: how we think about the place where we live and how we welcome people there from all over the world. We cannot walk around Wrexham now without bumping into Americans, Australians, South Americans or people from Europe. It is absolutely fantastic; things have changed in the last four or five years.
Beyond the pitch, the Wrexham Association Football Club Foundation is impacting young lives through its programmes such as the Street Dragons and the Young Leaders programme. To continue this sporting theme, I also welcome recent confirmation from the Welsh Minister for north Wales, Ken Skates, that north Wales will be joining discussions alongside the northern mayors in England about a possible joint Olympics bid for 2040, in which Wrexham’s very own StōK Cae Ras would be a possible venue, along with many other venues across the whole of north Wales, north-west England and right across the other side. Let us go for that bid—we can do it, with the north of England and north Wales working together in partnership. We can build on the success of 2012 in London and do it even better.
I turn back to 500 A.D. As many Members have mentioned today, one of St David’s most notable remarks was about doing the little things. In 2026, that phrase still holds dear in Wales: a nation of community, where people look after not just themselves but their neighbours too. People may try to divide us, but they will fail. That is at the core of our Welsh Labour politics. We believe in partnership working, which we saw at its best only last week with the announcement of the seven new railway stations across Wales—including the one at Deeside industrial park, which will make such a difference to people in Wrexham getting to and from work and other places.
Alongside the improvements to the Wrexham-Liverpool line, there is the electrification of the north Wales main line and ambitious plans for North Wales metro. The £14 billion investment from the UK Government will be truly transformative for communities, our economy and the future of Welsh rail. We have seen many other further investments in Wrexham and across north Wales; they are transforming jobs, education, opportunity and north Wales as a whole. We talk about the AI zones, the small modular nuclear reactors in Ynys Môn, the Flintshire and Wrexham investment zone and Pride in Place, through which a total of £21.5 million has been invested in Wrexham. Local people will decide how money is spent, for the best of Wrexham.
A big key to our Welsh identity in Wrexham and north-east Wales is our very proud links between north-east Wales and north-west England. That is about work, family, social life and culture—a two way relationship that we are stronger for, not poorer. At the heart is how the Welsh Government have delivered since devolution: small things—maybe big things—such as free prescriptions, keeping and not cutting student maintenance grants, the bus fare caps discussed today and the first wellbeing of future generations Act in the UK, never forgetting that a decision, however big or small, is important for what it does for the people of Wales. As we once again gather to celebrate our national day, I will remember to do all those little things. Of course, I wish everyone a dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus—a happy St David’s day.
David Chadwick (Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe) (LD)
Wales is ready to move on from 27 years of failure and a century of Welsh Labour dominance. Labour’s failures in Wales represent the greatest failure in democratic governance anywhere in the world. Wales lies at the bottom of every British league table: it has the lowest education scores, the lowest wages and the longest waiting times. What explains this complete failure of democratic governance? Welsh politics has been too chummy, with people moving freely between journalism, public affairs and political parties. Wales has lacked proper scrutiny. It needs fresh thinking, which is why Wales needs Welsh Liberals.
I wish to be clear: for over 100 years, Welsh Liberals fought for Home Rule, Cymru Fydd and a Welsh Parliament. Devolution is a sacred flame that we will follow, but the Labour party has done irreparable damage to it. Recent polling shows that only 36% of people in Wales think that devolution is worth it. Why is that? Why has Welsh devolution failed to improve outcomes? First, Wales should have powers equal to those of Scotland, because we are an equal nation and should be treated as such. The galling gap exists most obviously in the funding and powers made available for rail and those of the Crown estate. Until the Westminster Government acknowledge that Wales gets a raw deal, this constitutional question will rumble on, fanning the flames of populism and nationalism.
Andrew Ranger
In the hon. Member’s response to our Labour Government’s record-breaking £14 billion commitment to Welsh rail, he stated that there was no mention of the electrification of the north and south Wales main lines in the plan. I assume that he has now had a chance to read the full Transport for Wales vision document, which does in fact include that. Would he now like to take the opportunity to row back on his previous comments and instead welcome the benefits that his constituents will incur from it?
David Chadwick
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his contribution, and I am coming to that.
Secondly, we need a Government with plans to empower people across Wales. Devolution was intended to bring power closer to people, but the Welsh Government has instead hoarded power in Cardiff. We need a Government in Wales who trust councillors and council officers to make their own decisions, without demanding that the Welsh Government sign off on minor changes to bus routes; a Government who do not try to hide behind a £2 million a year Future Generations Commissioner; and a Government who ensure that health boards are truly accountable to the people they serve. In short, to put things right, Wales needs more than just a change of Government; we need a change in the style of government. Most importantly, people need the truth from us—politics depends on it. What happens to the spirit of democracy when people are not told the truth? It erodes trust, leading to populism.
Last week, the Government sought headlines by saying that they were spending £14 billion on Welsh rail projects. Well, Labour knows, and we know, that they are not doing so. What did that announcement achieve, other than creating further distrust in politicians? This will be their legacy: a Wales that is so tired of broken promises that people have stopped tuning in or turning up.
The Government are not the only ones who have broken their promises. The Brexiteers told Wales that leaving the European Union would save our steel industry, save Welsh farming and boost our international links. Ten years on, our steel industry is on the brink of collapse, Welsh farmers are being undercut by lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand, and Welsh universities are cutting jobs. The Brexiteers cost us the last decade, and Reform cannot be trusted with the next. If this Government wish to see off the threat from Reform and restore some faith in democracy, they must do two things: first, fix our health care system, and secondly, grow the economy. I will start with healthcare.
At the start of this Parliament, we were told that the two Labour Governments would work together. The Government said that they would use spare capacity in England to drive down waiting lists in Wales, and that proposal was welcome. Cross-border healthcare has long been an everyday reality for my constituents. My predecessors, Richard Livsey and Roger Williams, fought to ensure that Powys patients could go to Hereford hospital for treatment. But last summer, faced with a mounting deficit that is now approaching £50 million, Powys teaching health board asked English hospitals to slow down treatment times for Powys patients. Waiting times for some procedures have now doubled.
On Saturday I spoke to Dorothy Griffiths, who has been waiting since June 2024 for a knee replacement, and she is not alone. Patients who could have had hip or knee operations months ago have been left in pain because no one will take responsibility for ending this cruel policy. Nobody waiting for a knee replacement gets better with time, and the financial, physical and emotional costs will only mount. I have pressed the Welsh Office and Welsh Government Ministers for a plan to end the pain, but it is clear that there is no plan. Denying healthcare to people who need it is a moral outrage.
Growing our economy is how we can pay for the NHS that we need. Agriculture, heavy industry and tourism are key sectors of the Welsh economy. The Welsh economy is driven by small family-owned businesses, and I wish to emphasise this point: the best long-term approach to tackling poverty in Wales is to build an economy with good jobs. Businesses are allies in the war on poverty, not foes, yet rather than seeing those sectors as an asset, this Labour Government have all but declared war on them. First, despite the low earnings of Welsh farmers being well known to anyone who knows anything about farming, the Government launched a tax raid on family farms. Secondly, they introduced a jobs tax and rateable value changes for pubs, restaurants and hospitality venues, prompting closures and lost jobs across Wales.
Thirdly, there is the great betrayal of our steel industry. Before the general election, Welsh Labour MPs lined up in front of signs saying that they would “Save Our Steel.” They had a manifesto commitment to spend £2.5 billion on rebuilding our steel industry. Then they let the blast furnaces be turned off and said there was nothing that they could do. Yet months later, when the blast furnaces in Scunthorpe were under the same threat, Labour intervened and nationalised the steelworks. It was one rule for England and another for Wales.
We were told during that debate that a steel strategy was forthcoming. In September last year, I asked the Government where it was. Their answer was that it would be published by the end of the year, but it still has not been published. Why not? How much money has been spent on shoring up the English steel industry in the meantime? Will the Government commit to spending that £2.5 billion in Wales? If they do not, our economy in south Wales will be in danger of withering away, and the anger that will follow will wash Labour Members away. They must fight their colleagues for that funding.
There is huge demand for the skills that exist in south Wales, particularly around Neath Port Talbot. Welders are in big demand and can command six-figure salaries. We need an abundance of welders to build the big infrastructure projects that we need on time and on budget, and therein lies the opportunity to tackle poverty and build the industries of the future. Let us get Welsh children welding.
I support the Government’s aim of building supply chains and providing green jobs, but they must hurry up, because Wales is missing out. The tidal lagoon project in Swansea bay, which the Conservatives cancelled, would have created thousands of jobs, generated tons of green energy and given us an industrial lead. The Liberal Democrats agree with the Government that green industrial leadership is ours for the taking. Take offshore wind: Wales has the coastline, the ports and the industrial skills to lead the renewable transition, but parts of the supply chains have now been built elsewhere, which means that Welsh companies will have to import steel to build the necessary parts. We should not be importing steel into Port Talbot—that defies all logic. The Government have given themselves a deadline of 2035 to get floating offshore wind ready. What are they waiting for? This sluggish attempt at industrial development is costing us jobs.
Dame Nia Griffith
Does the hon. Member not recognise that there have been two very successful auctions for offshore floating wind, and the electric arc furnace has already started to be built in Port Talbot? We have the development of the ports in Milford and Port Talbot, plus the defence college and the associated factories that will go with that industry, plus the amazing semi- conductor industry, which I do not pretend to understand. Yes, of course we want welders, but we also want people highly skilled in the many new technologies that we are already bringing to Wales. He just does not seem to be living in the same country as the rest of us.
David Chadwick
It will be news to people in Port Talbot that the electric arc furnace is ready, because that is not what they are seeing on the ground. It is not ready. They were told it would be ready in 2027, but now we are hearing that will not happen until possibly 2028. This failure in industrial development is costing us jobs and damaging Welsh communities.
I am glad that the hon. Lady mentioned the Crown Estate, because the Crown Estate should have been forced to prioritise domestic supply chains, as has happened in the Netherlands and Germany, in its offshore leasing rounds. That is why devolution of the Crown Estate matters. It must be held accountable for its actions in Wales, and for its utter failure to build Welsh supply chains using Welsh businesses. I would like to distance myself from my predecessor, who said in this place that
“moving away from steelmaking would not have a direct impact on national security.”—[Official Report, 31 January 2024; Vol. 744, c. 849.]
I disagree, and I think it shows that the Conservatives do not understand Wales and never have done.
Finally, the Welsh Liberal Democrats believe that the green transition must be a Welsh jobs strategy. That means anchoring supply chains here, and investing in steel capacity, heavy plate manufacturing and port infrastructure, so that Welsh communities benefit directly from the energy revolution happening off our shores.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Mims Davies (East Grinstead and Uckfield) (Con)
Diolch yn fawr, Madam Deputy Speaker, and dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus—a happy St David’s day—for Sunday. It is a delight to be in the Chamber, a year on, for another discussion about wonderful Wales. All of the Members who have spoken have shown a deep affection for this truly special place, and in that spirit I am absolutely delighted to contribute to this vital debate and pay a heartfelt tribute on behalf of His Majesty’s loyal Opposition.
I thank the Chair of the Welsh Affairs Committee, the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), for opening the debate so strongly and for the great work that she and her Committee are doing. She was absolutely right to say in her conclusion that the future of Wales and big choices will come up in May, and every single vote matters.
I have told this House on many occasions, and I am pleased to affirm it once again today, that my love and passion for Wales endure and are long-lasting. It has shaped my life in every way. It gave me life chances and a determination to succeed. Some of my happiest memories are from my nearly 10 years of living and working around Swansea. It was lovely to hear the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) talking about future sporting aspirations and the impact of US football. My time in Swansea was long before Snoop Dogg, but I hear there was one heck of an atmosphere this week— I had family there, and they had a great time. On the sporting front, which was raised by the hon. Member for Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris), the clouds on the horizon for rugby in Wales are not necessarily what we would have expected this time last year.
The hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) rightly raised the impact of Storm Claudia on her constituency, particularly those parts that were flooded. My heart goes out to those who are still living with the effects, and I was pleased recently to meet many of her constituents and those affected. They are living with this and are terribly worried about it, and I am sure they will have been pleased not to have been forgotten in this debate.
When the Leader of the Opposition asked me to look after Wales for her, I was ecstatic, because my opportunity to champion Wales continues. Much of my experience was pre-devolution, and I was reflecting during this debate on the opportunity I had at the Government Dispatch Box, working with my Welsh colleagues, of whom I hope to have many more in the future. When I was a Minister in the Wales Office, with my friend Alan Cairns, we abolished the tolls on the Prince of Wales bridge, and that is one of our legacies. There is this feeling that nothing happened for 14 years, but guess what happened on the bridge? We made life easier for everybody crossing the border, so there is some positivity.
Members have mentioned the challenges facing the NHS in Wales. Everybody knows somebody waiting in pain and in vain in Wales, including perhaps in the families of those of us in the Chamber. Yes, waiting lists are improving, but they are still outrageously high. Nearly one in four people remain stuck on a waiting list. We hear the cross-border stories, and we recognise the challenges when the NHS in England is involved. People are often told to hold back because the additional treatment cannot be followed up, and that is absolutely wrong.
There is the ongoing Betsi Cadwaladr scandal, and with the NHS still limping from one scandal to another, it is absolutely right that these scandals are tackled. Something needs to happen between Westminster and Cardiff Bay, because it is heartbreaking that hundreds of thousands of mothers, fathers, grandparents, children and loved ones living with ongoing pain feel that they are voiceless. It is unacceptable that, despite two fabled Labour Governments at either end of the M4, responsibility is still not being taken for those public services.
It is vital that, 27 years on, we look at what has happened with the powers devolved to Cardiff Bay. As we have heard, it is Welsh Labour, ably assisted by Plaid and the sole Liberal Democrat in the Senedd, that is responsible for the challenges we have seen in health, education, transport, schools, economic development—you name it—although we would not have recognised that from some of the speeches this afternoon.
I have mentioned the tremendous work of the last Conservative Government, and it was the record sums in investment that saved Welsh steel in Port Talbot and plotted its future. As the hon. Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) rightly said, the electric arc furnace is going in, but that needs to happen on time, as promised to the community. We also saved 100,000 jobs with our furlough scheme and launched two freeports and investment zones. In fact, Members have pointed out many of those policies this afternoon. The problems holding back Wales have been caused not by the excellent people of Wales, including our excellent doctors, nurses and teachers—I have family members who are superb and passionate members of the teaching community— but, frankly, by the arrogance sometimes coming from Cardiff Bay.
The sanctity of our schools and the opportunities for young people have not escaped Labour’s clutches. I note that the shadow Secretary of State for Education, my right hon. Friend the Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), is now in her place, which is perfect timing. In mathematics, science and reading, schools in Wales continue to sit at the bottom of the PISA scores for the whole United Kingdom, as has been the case for a decade. It is absolutely wrong that we are not doing something about that.
Labour has now turned its attention to private schools. The ideological decision to hammer private schools with 20% VAT on fees is destroying jobs and livelihoods in Wales, and putting more pressure on state schools. I have been warned by anxious headteachers in the independent sector that nobody in the Wales Office or in Cardiff Bay is listening to their pleas. These schools may collapse soon, but they are key employers, often in rural areas, and they are vital for people’s pay packets and for communities.
Gerald Jones
The shadow Minister is talking about public services in Wales. Would she care to reflect on the 14 years of austerity and the damage that the Conservatives, along with the Liberal Democrats, did as the architects of austerity to Welsh public services, which we are rebuilding?
Mims Davies
We left office with the best readers in the western world, apart from in Wales. I think this trope about those 14 years is deeply unhelpful. Eighteen months on from entering government, it is now Labour that is in control. It wanted the levers—get on with it.
While my constituency is obviously not in Wales, it is the home of the Caravan and Motorhome Club. We talked about tourism and the importance of the economic situation, and we heard from some Members concerns about the economy. The club has 1 million members, and 15 of its campsites and motorhome sites are in Wales, supporting the three beautiful national parks and five areas of outstanding natural beauty.
The hon. Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) talked about grey seals and flying rings. I had no idea what they were, but they are posh frisbees. Asda has been called out twice in the Chamber this afternoon to get a grip of them. I congratulate her on her important campaign.
The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who is no longer in his place, highlighted the power of our Union. All our nations make up the great United Kingdom. The danger is that, in May, we could be sleepwalking into separatism. I hope that that has been drawn out strongly enough in this afternoon’s debate.
That leads me to the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake). He talked about Welsh wonders, which I think we can all agree on, and the power of small business and tourism. He told the tale of businesses struggling to trade, the insecurity of higher energy prices and business rates, and the challenges to the high streets in his constituency. I am very much looking forward to pictures of him parading for St David’s day and making it so joyous. Did he mention a cawl-eating competition? I think I have been in many of them myself.
The hon. Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (Gerald Jones) rightly called out the cost of fuel and asked for the CMA to get involved, and Asda was called out. I am not sure that tin baths and tourism are a happy marriage, but Zip World certainly sounds great.
The hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies) spoke about the importance of new electricity and the reality of green energy for the people of Wales. People are being overlooked when it comes to vast projects, and absolutely—I agree with her—they need to be heard. Two banking hubs are coming to my patch—yes, I am showing off—but keep pushing, because they are well worth it and they mean so much. She also rightly highlighted talent, which is everywhere.
The hon. Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) talked about Newportonians. May I please pass on my condolences on the passing of Martyn Butler? He was a fantastic advocate for the Terrence Higgins Trust, and he did so much around HIV testing and PrEP. I am very sorry to hear of his passing.
On transport in Wales, a lot of figures have been bandied around. I have the same view as the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick). Let us see the reality, because that is extremely important.
Before I conclude, I want to highlight the Labour UK Government’s decision to allow their colleagues in the Welsh Government to include glass in their deposit return scheme from 2027. That will have serious ramifications for the whole of the United Kingdom and jeopardise the integrity of our internal market. With all other areas of the UK not including glass in their DRS, there could soon be a significant new trade barrier for Wales and, as a result, a significantly less competitive market. This decision will not do.
We need to keep Wales in the United Kingdom. We need to stop attempts to divide us. That means voting for the Welsh Conservatives in May and, in doing so, backing our family firms and farms, and stopping wasteful and unnecessary spending—plenty of money has gone to Wales, but spent wastefully. Wales needs more doctors, dentists, nurses and teachers. We have a health emergency; we need to put the NHS first and focus on the long waits. We also need to scrap the default 20 mph limit and look at a proper road building programme.
I hope my speech has not sounded defeatist or pessimistic; it is just that I and the whole Conservative and Unionist party know that after 27 years of Labour, Wales deserves better.
The Secretary of State for Wales (Jo Stevens)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) and the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for proposing today’s debate, the Backbench Business Committee for granting it, and everyone who has taken part in it.
In preparation for closing the debate today, I reflected on last year’s Welsh affairs debate. Still then less than a year into the new Labour Government, I updated the House on some of my priorities for Wales, but also those across the Government. I spoke of our plans to end Tory austerity, with investment in Welsh public services and infrastructure; to seize the golden opportunity of Wales’s new green industrial revolution in floating offshore wind and new nuclear; to rectify historic under-investment in Welsh rail; to deliver an industrial strategy with key Welsh sectors at its core; and to do whatever it takes to protect Welsh steelworkers and build a strong future for Welsh steel. It is fair to say it has been a very busy year. The UK Government and the Welsh Labour Government have worked together to deliver huge change on every one of those priorities and more.
Take, for example, this Government’s announcements in the past week alone. On Tuesday, we launched a new £11 million fund to help businesses affected by the steel transition at Port Talbot, to create new jobs and attract investment. Some £122 million has now been allocated by the transition board. I promised that the Government would do whatever it took to protect Welsh steelworkers and we will always keep that promise.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister, the Transport Secretary and I were at Transport for Wales’s headquarters, with the First Minister and the Welsh Transport Minister, Ken Skates, to announce a generational commitment by the UK Government to deliver our long-term plan for Welsh rail as quickly as possible, building on the nearly £445 million announced last year. After years of under-investment by previous Conservative Governments, this is a plan to deliver the rail network Wales deserves, with up to £14 billion of projects in every corner of our country: seven new stations, including the first new station in north Wales for many decades; extra capacity; and more and faster trains, transforming the experience of passengers. That commitment will unlock 12,000 jobs in rail and our industrial parks, better connecting people with the tens of thousands of well-paid jobs we are creating across Wales.
On Thursday I was at Cardiff castle with the Defence Secretary to sign the new £50 million defence growth deal for Wales, with the Welsh Government. That will back our growing Welsh defence sector, drive innovation and create even more high-skilled jobs, using our increased defence spending as an engine for economic growth.
Jo Stevens
No, I am going to carry on, because I do not have much time left.
Just before Christmas, we announced one of the biggest public investments in Welsh history: the siting of the UK’s first fleet of small modular nuclear reactors at Wylfa, creating 3,000 direct jobs and thousands more in the supply chain. After a decade of inaction from the Conservatives and the inability of Plaid Cymru to agree among themselves whether they support nuclear or not, I am beyond proud that this Labour Government have made that game-changing commitment to Ynys Môn and the whole of north Wales. We have secured the most successful auction round in European history, backing the Awel y Môr offshore wind farm in north Wales, and the first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic sea, Erebus, to support thousands of jobs in our renewable energy industries.
On tackling the cost of living, which lots of hon. Members mentioned, our relentless focus saw wages rise faster in the first 10 months of this Government than in 10 years of Conservative rule. Interest rates have been cut six times, meaning significant savings in mortgage payments for Welsh households and businesses. The lifting of the two-child limit will benefit 69,000 children in Wales. Well over a quarter of a million families in Wales—320,000 of them, in fact—will benefit from the first ever sustained real-terms increase in the universal credit standard allowance, which will help many working families.
Our support for communities in every part of Wales includes over half a billion pounds for the new local growth fund to create jobs and put more money in people’s pockets; £143 million for the Welsh Government to ensure that coal tips remain safe, supporting families living in the shadow of the tips; and bringing economic growth and employment opportunities to some of the most deprived communities in Wales. There have been a lot of mentions of Pride in Place funding: with £280 million for 14 communities, as well as at least £1.5 million for every single one of the 22 local authorities in Wales through the Pride in Place impact fund, we are putting decision making about communities in the hands of communities. In addition, this year all our Welsh police forces will receive a real-terms funding increase to help them keep our streets safe.
As we have heard, Labour is the party of devolution: we delivered it, we have protected it and we are enhancing it. We have updated the Welsh fiscal framework and worked with the Welsh Labour Government on the future of water regulation and devolution. We are devolving employment support funding and delivering in partnership our economic trailblazers and city and growth deals. We have restored the Welsh Government’s decision-making role over the local growth fund. Just two weeks ago, I announced plans to devolve new powers for the Senedd to create a vacant land tax to encourage house building.
Hon. Members across the House will know that the ultimate proof of that successful partnership between our two Governments is seen in the nearly £6 billion of additional spending power that the UK Labour Government are providing to the Welsh Labour Government. Through the largest funding settlement in real terms since devolution began, we have ended Tory and Liberal Democrat austerity, making sure that Wales is funded properly and fairly, and enabling the Welsh Government to invest in our NHS and schools and across our public services.
We are now less than three months away from the Senedd election, at which Wales faces an important choice. Together, the UK and Welsh Labour Governments are strengthening public services, building new infra- structure, creating new jobs, increasing wages and tackling the cost of living. We can continue to build the next chapter of Wales’s future with two Labour Governments focused entirely on the real and pressing priorities of the people of Wales, or that future can be put at risk with the division and destruction of Reform, or distraction and separation from nationalists. We on the Labour Benches will continue to campaign in the months ahead to secure the next chapter of Wales’s future with Welsh Labour.
We had some fantastic contributions to the debate. The Chair of the Select Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones), gave a wide-ranging speech covering the Welsh cakes made by the hon. Member for Caerfyrddin (Ann Davies), churches, choirs, the NHS, Pride in Place and pride in work. My hon. Friend the Member for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare (Gerald Jones) spoke about his campaign for fair petrol pricing in his constituency. To me, the higher prices he referred to appear completely unjustifiable. I wish him lots of luck with that good campaign.
My hon. Friend the Member for Newport East (Jessica Morden) talked about how Newport is definitely on the up. It is Wales’s fastest growing and youngest city, in large part thanks to the dynamic leadership of its Labour council, its MPs and its MSs. My hon. Friends the Members for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith) and for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr (Steve Witherden) spoke about the impact of the UK Government’s child poverty strategy measures and policies on tackling the cost of living.
My constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Cardiff West (Mr Barros-Curtis), spoke powerfully about his ten-minute rule Bill and the right to have birth, marriage and death certificates issued bilingually, as well as about the Pride in Place programme in Ely and Caerau. My hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) talked about the incredible community response to the floods in her constituency caused by Storm Claudia. It was a real privilege to meet many of her constituents when I visited straight after the floods.
My hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi) gave, as she said, a niche speech on flying ring toys and their impact on grey seals on the beautiful Gower coast. That campaign sounds like a good one; I would be happy to have a conversation with her after the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger), who always gets in a mention of the football club, also talked about north Wales joining forces with northern England to bid for the 2040 Olympics. That is an exciting prospect, befitting of north Wales’s ambition and sporting prowess and a great example of the potential of collaboration across the borders of our Union.
I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. All of us here are committed to serving our constituents, and we are dedicated to the continuing success of Wales. This week, on the 10th anniversary of Wales Week London—I know that many hon. Members across the House will have been to its events this week and will do so next week; it is a fantastic platform for promoting Wales not just across the United Kingdom but globally—I wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, all hon. Members and everyone across Wales a very happy St David’s day on Sunday.
Ruth Jones
It has been an honour to open and close this debate. I thank everybody who made a contribution. I will not go through the list as the Secretary of State just did that admirably, but each Member spoke with passion and pride about their constituency and highlighted the great aspects of the people and the places within their constituencies. Sadly, none of them can compare with Newport West and Islwyn, but well done for trying.
We have also been educated. Madam Deputy Speaker, I think you might have missed the references to St David when we learned about his diet, where he lived and what he did. We also had animal welfare lessons from my hon. Friend the Member for Gower (Tonia Antoniazzi), which we will all go away with, about the flying rings. None of us will buy those ever again.
It is really important that we have been here for the debate. Madam Deputy Speaker, you were not in the Chair when the previous Deputy Speaker was invited to the tin baths of Merthyr, but I am sure you would be welcome to go along as well. We will all be there to cheer you on as you get into that ice-cold water—it will be lovely, I am sure.
I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. I am so proud that our country can be spoken about so well and so warmly in this Chamber. I thank everybody. It remains only for me to wish you, Madam Deputy Speaker, a very happy St David’s day—dydd gŵyl Dewi hapus. Diolch yn fawr iawn.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered St David’s Day and Welsh affairs.
Mims Davies
On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Could you please advise me on how I can seek clarity, given that we have the Secretary of State for Wales here in the Chamber? I have been seeking clarity on which financial year each tranche of rail funding is expected to be spent in. That has been challenged by the media and indeed by hon. Members in the Chamber this afternoon. I seek clarity on where the £14 billion figure comes from and whether it is governmental. Could you please advise me?
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. The point that she raises is a point of debate rather than a point of order.
Bereaved Children: Government Support
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
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Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
We come to the Backbench Business debate on Government support for bereaved children. I call Christine Jardine to speak for up to 15 minutes.
Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD) [R]
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Government support for bereaved children.
First, I thank the Backbench Business Committee and all those who supported my application for the debate, not just on my behalf because we have the opportunity to discuss this issue, but for many thousands of children and young people in this country who feel that their voices are not heard, that they are not being listened to, and that we are not hearing what help they need in what, for some, will be the darkest times they ever experience.
I am grateful to this Government because, since they came to power, they have shown some appreciation of the problem—more than their predecessor—which is reflected in the fact that their strategy for young people mentions the need for support. However, there is so much more that needs to be done. This is an issue that affects this country on many levels: the human, the personal, the social and the economic. I will come to the economic issue later.
First, I will take a moment to explain how I came to this point and why this issue matters so much to me, and why I understand how it matters to others. My dad was just 44 when he collapsed one Saturday morning just before Christmas and died. It was a heart attack. Without any warning, our comfortable, happy, working-class family was plunged into uncertainty.
My sisters were eight and 13. Having turned 20 just the week before, I thought I was an adult; it was only years later that I came to appreciate the impact it had on me, and, indeed, on all of us. I had instantly become not just the second adult in the household, but, in reality, the second parent. When my own daughter was eight, and then again when she was 13, I struggled with watching her with her dad, realising—probably for the first time—exactly what my sisters had lost and had been through, and what my mother had dealt with.
Then—irony of ironies—when my daughter was the same age as I had been, almost to the day, her father died of a sudden, unpredicted heart attack. I saw that she was not quite an adult, and realised that neither had I been. In helping her cope, I saw yet another aspect of our family’s dynamic and challenges from a new perspective.
The moment when it came home to me that something had to be done about this on a wider scale was when I talked to my youngest sister—the one who had been eight when dad died. She asked me if I remembered that we had not had any support from any organisations—from anyone. She pointed out that that was because before he died, we had never been on the radar of social services or needed support, so at that moment they did not know that we needed it. There was no support mechanism to help mum and to discuss the sort of emotional challenges we would face, because nobody was really aware of who we were and what we needed.
In a lot of ways, it is exactly the same today. The organisations and charities are there and they want to help, but unless someone is on the radar of social services, those organisations and charities have no way of knowing who needs help, where they are and how to contact them. It is very difficult for families in distress to figure out exactly where to go and how.
It is more than three years since I first raised this issue in the House and called for a protocol or a process to identify those young people at the point of their loved one dying. There is genuinely support across House, from individual MPs and from the all-party parliamentary group on grief support and the impact of death on society. We have had debates and I have had meetings with Ministers. Everyone is supportive—it is just the action that is missing.
Too often, I have been told that schools and GPs are there to help. Yes, they are; they do a great job. However, bereavement affects every aspect of a child’s life, not just school. The campaign “Grief Matters for Children” has shown that children who are bereaved are at an increased risk of depression, anxiety and physical health problems, have lower academic attainment and are over-represented in the criminal justice system. Yes, GPs and schools are vital, but they are not there at weekends, at Christmas, during school holidays or late at night when children need someone to talk to. What if a child moves home? What if it is an estranged parent who dies, and the school does not know?
One of the main issues is that where there is support, there is huge variation in the provision of services across the UK. Services have developed in an ad hoc way, and there are inequalities in provision. Many struggle for funding, and large areas of the country are still without services that support children. Even in areas that do have a service, there are long waiting lists or travel times, and services’ survival is precarious. The pandemic made it worse: waiting lists for child bereavement services were increasing, and there were already concerns about access, which the pandemic only exacerbated. We need to do more.
That brings me back to how we know where there are children to help—the protocol and the process that I have called for. We do not collect data; we have no way of knowing. It would be simple: when someone dies, the registrar could just take a note if a child or children are affected. That would be a chance to signpost support to the family with relevant local information. We could give families the opportunity to opt in to a real-time referral pathway, similar to those for families bereaved by suicide.
Local data on the number of children and young people bereaved could be combined with activity data from local services to identify what proportion of children and young people are getting support. Data on which children and young people have been bereaved could be linked to other datasets such as those on the use of health services. The understanding of the impact of bereavement on children’s health and their futures could be much improved just by taking a note when someone dies. That knowledge of where children are, who needs help and what help they need would make such a difference.
Of course, we also need to make sure that children are getting the right help. When they were asked by the UK Commission on Bereavement what they needed, half of the bereaved children and young people who shared their experiences said that they got only a little or no support from their education setting after their bereavement. The commission recommended that all educational establishments have a bereavement policy, including staff training and a process for supporting bereaved children and their families. What a difference that would make. Winston’s Wish, the charity, led the “Ask Me” education campaign, which takes this a step further by asking all schools to sign up to a manifesto to pledge to see each bereaved student as an individual and ask the simple but powerful question, “What do you need? How do we support you?” Given the critical role that schools play in children’s lives, the fact that we already acknowledge that they do so much work, and the fact that the answer is always to turn to those schools, what are the Government doing to improve the consistency and tailoring of bereavement support in educational establishments in support of pupils’ wellbeing and learning?
Can we finally make sure that, after 20 years, grief education becomes a vital part of the national curriculum and attempts to get us over our national aversion to talking about grief? If we do not start talking about grief more openly and regularly, we will never begin to tackle the problems that it creates in society. We know that children who suffer bereavement and do not have support in coping with the trauma will likely have problems in later life. They are more likely to have difficulty forming relationships, more likely to get into trouble and more likely to live in poverty.
Various reports, including one by Sue Ryder, show that grief costs the UK economy an estimated £23 billion a year. We could help to mitigate that. We could take preventive measures that protect children and safeguard a healthy economy in the process. The situation has not been helped by the change in bereavement payments to families and the fact that they have been frozen for the past nine years. I ask the Government whether they will address that particular shortcoming. Will they fix it?
When I started to get involved in this area a few years ago, one charity that works with adults bereaved as children warned me that I might be opening a can of worms. I did not think so, but now I am not so sure. Meeting young people who faced losing someone close and felt that they did not have the support or the understanding that they needed has been both inspirational and heartbreaking—inspirational in seeing how they have coped and heartbreaking in knowing that they have lost an important emotional and economic anchor in their lives. Sometimes it is the only emotional anchor. No moment drove that home to me more than a meeting in Parliament where I met representatives of Winston’s Wish and some young people. One girl thanked me for everything I was doing and said, “But you understand, don’t you?” And I do, but I am not the only one. I also know that my sisters and I were very lucky. We may not have had the official support that we needed and that all young people deserve, but we did have support. Too many children today will face the trauma that we and hundreds of others have faced without support. An estimated 127 children go through it every day in this country. Every 20 minutes while we have been in this Chamber, someone has lost a parent.
Above all else, those children ask us to ask them what they need, and then to make sure that the authorities, ourselves included, provide it. They want us to make sure that no child in this country feels alone, unsupported or lost without the friend, sibling or parent that they have lost. I ask the Government to make sure that they get that help.
Maureen Burke (Glasgow North East) (Lab)
I thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) for securing this debate. We all know that there is no good time to be bereaved, no convenient moment to lose a loved one, and no guarantee that we are equipped to cope with loss at any time of life, but to lose a loved one as a child must surely be one of the most isolating experiences imaginable. Their friends have not encountered anything like it, and the adults in their life might not feel confident in knowing how to help them. From chairing the APPG on grief support, I know that as a society we remain woefully underequipped to handle grief among adults, let alone children who are navigating loss in childhood.
Bereavement that is left unaddressed can lead to serious problems at any time in life. For children, those problems are only magnified. It is well documented that grief that is left unresolved can lead to a pathway towards unemployment, crime, imprisonment and homelessness. If grief occurs in childhood, the effects can be lifelong and snowball into problems that can start to feel impossible to overcome.
Charities across the sector point to the lack of data as the starting point for our failure to properly support children who experience grief in childhood. We simply do not know how many children encounter bereavement. That means that we do not know where to target support or what the scale of the problem is. When support can be given, it is incumbent on all of us to encourage open, honest and frank discussions about loss. The work of charities such as Cruse and Winston’s Wish is incredible, but we should not have to rely on a postcode lottery of local organisations or the variable levels of staff training across our schools and colleges. Teachers need to know where to access dedicated support as soon as they need it, and they need training to help children when they need it the most.
There are, of course, many examples of good practice in supporting bereaved children across our schools, and I want to draw attention to the incredible work that has taken place at Oakwood primary school in my constituency. In the autumn of last year when the staff and students at Oakwood were faced with the tragic consequences of a car accident that led to the death of a classmate, they addressed the bereavement head-on, led by their incredible headteacher Vanessa Thomson. A garden of remembrance was created, and students were encouraged to speak out about their feelings with their teachers and each other. Encouraging conversation in this way and providing a dedicated space to grieve and talk about loss goes a long way to moving away from a culture of silence around death. Encouraging conversations about loss must be at the heart of any policy intervention in this area, and the work at Oakwood should act as a great example to others.
I hope that, by continuing to draw attention to the importance of supporting bereaved children through debates such as this and the work of the APPG on grief support, we can continue to improve the support available to staff, students and parents. This should start with collecting the basic data, which will enable us to get a better picture of what is needed and where.
Kevin Bonavia (Stevenage) (Lab)
I would like to add my personal thanks to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) not just for securing today’s debate but for being such a powerful champion of this cause. I came to it myself through leading a petitions debate. The hon. Member took part in it, which I really appreciated at the time.
I introduced that debate as a member of the Petitions Committee, but it opened up my own experience. As Members may know, part of preparing to open a petitions debate is meeting the petitioners. For this debate, in December 2024, the petitioners were Mark Lemon, who is leading a petition to collect data, which has been touched on, and John Adams, who is leading a petition to make bereavement part of the national curriculum. I spoke to them and they both had their own stories, just like the hon. Member for Edinburgh West and my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke), who touched on some of the experiences she has heard about too. It reminded me that this can touch us in many other ways.
In my case, my dad got throat cancer when I was in my teens. He passed away when I was 20 years old. I was mostly away at university at the time, but I had a younger brother who was 15 when my father passed, and I did not really appreciate at the time just how hard it was on him. My mum was overcome with it all and he did not have the life that I subsequently was lucky enough to have. He had it hard: he was out of school and had some tough years, and he is no longer with us. Looking back, it would have made a real difference if the support that some people have, some of which has improved over the years, had been there.
There has been progress, and around the country there are many fantastic organisations. We have heard about Winston’s Wish, which took part in and supported the petition debate that I led. In my constituency, there is a charity called Stand-by-me, which has been fantastic. I met representatives at a summer fair in Knebworth, where I also met a mum and her young daughter Evie. They showed me what could be done. Evie had support from the charity and also became a young ambassador, which is about kids getting support from other kids who have been through it. That is great; however, we have already heard that that support is patchy around our country. I am really glad that there has been progress.
Of the two petitions I mentioned, the Government have listened to the first, which was about having bereavement on the national curriculum. The Minister’s predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby), was at the debate, took that on board and it has now happened—we now have that in the relationships, health and sex education strategy. However, it has to be implemented, so I will ask the Minister: how is that going? How are we monitoring it, are schools taking it up and are we giving the schools what they need?
On that second petition about collecting data, how can we know the problem we face if we do not know the extent of that problem? How many children are out there and, for whatever reason, they or their families are not reported through the system? How can we make it easier for that to happen? Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of man or woman to change that approach. We can do it—where there is a will, we can do it. The hon. Member for Edinburgh West made the point that there has been progress, but I ask this Government to go even further. There are kids out there who need that support and we must do all that we can, in this place and elsewhere, to provide it.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.
Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) for her powerful speech introducing the debate and for all her work on this subject.
It is normal in debates in this Chamber to bring the stories of our constituents to illustrate the issue, but today I am going to share my story as well. In 2002, I had a five-month-old baby and a two-year-old toddler, and my beloved husband was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer. A year later, he died, just a week before Ellie’s fourth birthday and Laura was 17 months old. You cannot explain to a baby or a four-year-old what death means. One day their parent is there, the next he is gone. I remember Laura, who had just learned to say the word “Dadda”, going round the house opening the doors, going “Dadda, Dadda”, because she could not find him. I did not really know anything about the impact of bereavement on children, but in the last 20 years, I have learned quite a lot.
In the UK, around 120 children are bereaved of a parent every day—[Interruption.]
Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
The hon. Member is making a powerful speech, and we are all honoured to hear it.
Caroline Voaden
I thank the right hon. Lady for her intervention.
In the UK, around 120 children are bereaved of a parent every day. By age 16, approximately one in 20 young people in the UK will have experienced the death of a parent. I became the chair of the Widowed and Young organisation and met loads of kids and their parents through that work, many of whom I am still friends with today. I saw the impact on scores of children who had lost their mum or dad. Thousands more in the UK have lost a sibling, which is also a profound grief for children, which is little understood. I saw these children grow up and adjust to their lost; the progress they made and then the setbacks; the challenges with attachment, loss, fear and abandonment; the issues with friendships and relationships; struggles with school; dangerous coping mechanisms and risk-taking in teenage years; mental health challenges; anger; intense emotions and anxiety. Just for the sake of my daughters, that is not all related to them.
While children are navigating all of that, the challenge of becoming a single parent at exactly the same moment that you are bereaved cannot be overstated, and that is compounded exponentially when the bereavement is sudden and unexpected. The day my husband died, my children came home from nursery and needed me to be the same reliable, loving, stable mum they knew—up at 7 the next day needing their breakfast, and so it went on. There is not much time to navigate your own grief in all of that.
On top of that is the loss of income. The challenge of holding down a job, bringing in a wage, while being a grieving single parent to grieving children is immense, as are the unaffordable costs of childcare that enable you to go to work at all. But in a way, I was lucky, because I was bereaved before 2017 and I received the widowed parent’s allowance—a payment that was funded by the national insurance contributions that my husband Nick had made during 20 years of full-time work, contributions designed to pay into a system that is meant to pay out when needed. He will never receive a state pension.
What difference did the widowed parent’s allowance make? It made all the difference. It allowed me to work part time. It allowed me to be present for my children, to help keep them stable while the world around them felt unsafe and scary. It made a part-time income go further. It helped pay for childcare and a few out-of-school activities so my children could live the same life as their peers. It also helped pay for the holiday clubs that they had no choice but to go to so that I could go to work —and they did not always want to.
Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)
In 2024, my constituent Claire lost her husband—a personal tragedy. Overnight, she became the sole parent to her three-year-old son. [Interruption.] Sorry, this is personal as well. I was going to talk about me, but I am not going to talk about me. She rightly points out that the fixed 18-month limit on bereavement support payments creates a financial cliff edge for widowed parents, to which my hon. Friend has already referred. Does she, and the Minister too, agree that the grief, permanent loss of income and parenting responsibilities to all children, particularly very young children, do not end at that arbitrary 18-month period, that cut-off point, and that it should be rethought?
Caroline Voaden
I thank my hon. Friend for her intervention; I could not agree more.
In 2017, it all changed: the previous Conservative Government replaced the widowed parent’s allowance with the bereavement support payment—an 18-month flat-rate payment paid regardless of the child’s age. That decision drew cross-party criticism and was opposed at the time by us, the SNP and Labour MPs. It severed the historical link between national insurance contributions and long-term family protection. It created measurable disadvantage for widowed parents and bereaved children. The bereavement support payment has not been uprated since it was introduced, and it remains at 2011 figures. The very minimum we are asking for today is for the Government to uprate it in line with inflation, and I ask the Minister to respond to this call. However, I want to see the Government go further and consider calls from campaigning organisations, such as WAY, to reinstate a bereavement payment that lasts until children leave school, to iron out the disadvantage that children are under from the moment they lose a parent.
Grief does not last 18 months; bereavement lasts a lifetime, and for children it comes back again and again in huge, destabilising waves every time they reach a different stage of growth and understanding of what death really means. Believe me, you have to keep going through it again and again as they get older, explaining exactly what death means—“No, he’s not coming back”—what they did to his body, and all that stuff. It goes on right the way to adulthood. Parents navigate this through a child’s life. Adding the extra strain of financial worries on to a widowed parent makes a difficult job far harder and puts a bereaved child into an even more dangerous place.
Lucy from West Sussex is 31 and a teacher. Her husband died aged 36 from sudden adult death syndrome in January 2023—out of the blue, with no warning. Her children were nine, six and three when their dad died. She said:
“Losing one income overnight has a huge knock-on effect. Combined with rising living costs, there are times I genuinely struggled to afford food. I always made sure my children ate, but that often meant skipping meals myself or relying on the cheapest food just to get through the week. I’ve had to use food banks.
Even now those payments would still make a meaningful difference to us as a family—not as a luxury, but as support that recognises what has been lost and what continues long after the funeral.”
We know that poverty is directly linked to poorer life chances, reduced attainment in school and more vulnerability to harms, and there is a societal impact to this too. Taking it to its very extreme, there is an association between bereavement and negative outcomes, so it is perhaps unsurprising that bereavement is prevalent among people in custody. The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has reported that 41% of young offenders have experienced the death of a parent as a child— a rate significantly higher than for the general population. Other research shows that up to 90% of young men aged 16 to 20 in specific institutions have suffered at least one bereavement, with many experiencing multiple traumatic losses.
As the hon. Member for Glasgow North East said, we do not do grief well in this country. It is still often something to be brushed under the carpet. I know from my personal experience that it makes people embarrassed and awkward. It is something to be avoided, not talked about. We desperately need grief education, as my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh West said, because it could be transformational.
On top of our financial calls on the Government today, we support the Winston’s Wish “Ask Me” campaign to make nurseries, schools, colleges and universities places where grieving students feel seen, understood and supported. Right now, at least one child or young person in every classroom across the UK is grieving the death of a parent or sibling, and 72% of students who were bereaved while in education said that they had never been asked what support they need. As my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh West said, they need to be asked, “What do you need, and how can we support you?”
I remember vividly having to go through the story of my children’s bereavement again and again with different teachers every time they moved up in school or moved to a new school, to make sure they were aware that the children had lost their dad when they were very young. I often felt that the teachers just did not understand the impact, or how the loss could manifest itself at different ages as they grew.
Emmeline told me that her brother died aged 10 after a long illness. She said:
“I was 11 and my sister was 13. We said goodbye to him in the hospital, but it didn’t feel real, and when he died, we had so many unanswered questions that we didn’t feel able to ask for fear of upsetting our already grief-stricken parents. Although family members, teachers and our friends were kind to us, we weren’t offered counselling or professional support—I doubt it existed then—but in hindsight, this was something we really needed.
I had struggled with the grief for years and as an adult sought counselling to unravel those feelings, to learn how to cope with them when they resurfaced and understand the impact losing my brother had on me.”
The hon. Member for Stevenage (Kevin Bonavia) referred to that in his very powerful speech.
“I am sure had this help been available when I was younger, I would have been able to express my grief more openly and come to terms with it much earlier.
I can completely see how losing a close family member could negatively change the course of a child’s life and in some cases, impact society itself.”
For people who work with children as teachers, care workers, youth leaders or wellbeing professionals, understanding developmental grief is essential. Grief is not rare; it is a common childhood experience that shapes how children see themselves and the world. I know that we are asking a lot of schools at the moment, with big changes on the horizon once again, but it is a small but absolutely fundamental ask of nurseries and schools to take the time to understand how grief affects children and how they can be supported. Schools must have the tools to signpost families to support organisations.
I absolutely agree with the calls for data to be collected on how many children have suffered such bereavements, which could be done through registrar offices. Until we understand the problem, we cannot begin to fix it. I was going to ask the Minister to talk to the Department for Education—I was not sure who would respond to the debate—but he is from the Department for Education. Can we discuss how to implement better understanding of developmental grief across the education lifetime, and find a way to collect data through registrar services? Will he talk with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions about uprating bereavement support payments in line with inflation, and begin the conversation about reinstating a bereavement payment that lasts until children leave school, in order to give them the best chance of overcoming the impact of the death of a parent?
Bereavement is a long, complicated and difficult journey. Members can see that, even after 23 years, it is still very, very real for me. Adding financial hardship to that journey is unjust and discriminatory, and it is time that it ended.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the shadow Secretary of State.
Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)
May I say what a privilege it has been to be part of this debate, and how much I admire all those who have spoken about their personal stories? I do not underestimate for a second how difficult it is, but suffering a catastrophic event and trying to make other people’s lives better is about the most admirable thing someone can do.
I congratulate the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) on securing the debate, and I thank the Backbench Business Committee for putting it in place. She is so self-evidently right in what she says: there needs to be a general strategy, and we need data to be made available. It is worth thinking about why those things have not happened to date, and making suggestions about how we can overcome those barriers in future.
Governments have historically been bad at cross-departmental data collection, as we know. That has been grappled with over time, but there has been no clear solution to date. I have seen such working function more effectively on occasion, such as in cross-departmental working committees on something specific. I offer that up to the Minister as a suggestion that might work. For example, in recent years there have been changes to implement a “no wrong door” policy on reporting a death. That took a lot of time. Previously, when reporting a death, as I am sure many in this Chamber have unfortunately had to do, people had to go to multiple Government Departments before the death could be recognised. That has been changed for the better, and I hope that something similar could be adopted in this case.
The hon. Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke), whose APPG does incredible work on these matters, mentioned good practice in schools. We should think about how to collate it more systematically. We are quite effective when it comes to education policy, through the Education Endowment Foundation, which picks up what works from an academic perspective and shares good practice among schools. By and large, that is missing in the special educational needs and disabilities space, but it is also missing here. We have heard about good practice, which I am sure exists up and down the country—the hon. Lady mentioned Oakwood primary school—but there is nowhere to share it effectively. Will the Department think about how to take that forward? I am sure that there will be guidance, and I am just as sure that it could be made better.
On overall data collection, when a death is reported, it is linked to one individual rather than to a wider database. Change will need to be made on that, and the referral to the pathway is critical, as the hon. Member for Edinburgh West said. She also mentioned that that now happens in cases of suicide. I hope the Minister will take that up today, because we have seen that it can work. It may take time, and I think we all acknowledge that government is difficult—it is not easy to wrangle different Departments together—but that could definitely be taken forward.
Before preparing for this debate, I had not realised what the figures are for the outcomes for bereaved children, and I was quite shocked. If we have not gone through this catastrophic event, it is too easy to overlook the impact it has on young people. The statistic that the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) gave about the number of offenders who have suffered a bereavement was shocking. I hope and believe that this will be even more grist to the mill for the Education Minister to try to deal with this, because it is one of many areas across Government where early intervention—helping people—is not only the right thing to do but will benefit us and wider society.
What we have heard today is that many children who go through this have amazing families—we have some examples of those amazing families here today—and they have people around them who will support them, help them and do whatever they can to ameliorate this catastrophic incident. But that is not true of every family. Of course, the state will miss things, but if we can set up a system that minimises the impact of this catastrophic event on young people, that is the right thing to do.
I am very grateful to be part of this House today. It is these types of debate that take place in a relatively empty Chamber on a Thursday afternoon that can really make a difference to young people across the country. We have a very good Minister here, and I am sure he is about to tell us how he is going to sort this all out after many years. I commend the many voices who have spoken up today, and I am grateful to have been here for it.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Education (Josh MacAlister)
It is a pleasure to respond on behalf of the Government to such a constructive and heartfelt debate. I thank everybody for their contributions, and I particularly thank the hon. Member for Edinburgh West (Christine Jardine) for securing it and for her opening speech, in which she reflected not only her own personal experience but her long-standing efforts to champion these issues on behalf of so many children and families outside this place. This House is better for it.
I will turn to a few of the contributions to the debate. My hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow North East (Maureen Burke) highlighted the brilliant work being done by Vanessa Thomson and her team at Oakwood primary school in her constituency, which reflects the importance of what happens in classrooms and the essential role that teachers play. I will say a bit more about that later.
My hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage (Kevin Bonavia) spoke about his experience of meeting petitioners Mark and John and the power of people sharing their experiences, which is probably the thing I will take away from this debate more than anything. He also shared his very painful experience of losing his younger brother. I am sure that his brother would be very proud of him, hearing the speech he gave today.
Finally, the hon. Member—my hon. Friend—for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) talked about her personal experience and those of her children, and in particular the long tail of the effect on families of losing a loved one, needing to navigate that alone and the isolation that must come from that. The point that she made on bereavement support was valid and well made. That is not within my gift as a Minister at the Department for Education, but I would be very happy to facilitate a meeting with the Minister who is responsible for those issues.
As we have heard, bereavement cuts across all our lives and is something that we will all experience—it is universal. Responsibility for bereavement crosses boundaries between Departments, and I am pleased to be responding to the debate on behalf of the Government as the Minister for Children and Families. Grief comes to all of us, although we experience it uniquely and at different times. Loss can be particularly hard for children. It is therefore vital that young people are helped and have someone to turn to for support when they need it.
Given my role as a Minister at the Department for Education, I will start and focus most on the role of schools, where the Government have taken important steps to support bereaved children. On 15 July last year, we published revised relationships, sex and health education curriculum guidance, with a focus on supporting young people to develop resilience and to live healthy, full lives. During the consultation process, we heard that the RSHE curriculum should do more to recognise bereavement. We have listened carefully, including to many of the organisations referenced by Members today. As a result, for the first time, the guidance contains new content about coping strategies for dealing with issues such as anxiety, and specifically covers issues such as loneliness and bereavement.
As a society, we should become more open to discussing loss, as Members have said, and the guidance is an important step towards opening up that conversation with our young people in a sensitive and early way. Teachers can also draw on a wide range of external expertise and resources to help tailor their lessons. I want to express my gratitude to organisations such as the Anna Freud Centre and the National Association of Funeral Directors that provide invaluable support to children and young people coping with loss and bereavement.
In developing the guidance, we worked closely with experts on childhood bereavement, including the Childhood Bereavement Network. I am extremely grateful for its help, as well as that of all the other organisations and individuals who contributed to the guidance. I also want to thank individuals including Caroline Booth, who my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Kate Dearden) drew to my attention.
Schools can choose to adopt the revised RSHE statutory guidance now and, in response to the question asked by my hon. Friend the Member for Stevenage, will be required to teach the new content from September this year. The roll-out of the new guidance has been supported by many of the organisations that helped to develop it, which are working on quality materials for teachers to use in our schools. Schools also have a wider role to play in supporting the resilience and mental health of children and young people. That is why we have made mental wellbeing, as well as health education, compulsory for all pupils in state-funded schools.
Pupils should be aware that change and loss, including bereavement, can provoke a range of feelings, that grief is a natural response to bereavement, and that everyone grieves differently. Pupils are taught how to recognise and talk about their emotions, including having a varied vocabulary of words to use when talking about their own and others’ feelings, and how to judge whether what they are feeling and how they are behaving is appropriate and proportionate. Pupils are taught to discuss their feelings with an adult and seek support. They are taught where and how to seek support, including whom in school they should speak to if they are worried about their own or someone else’s mental wellbeing or ability to control their emotions. The Government are committed to improving mental health support for all children and young people, and will provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school by expanding mental health support teams, so that every child and young person has access to early support to address problems before they escalate.
Of course, for whatever reason, young people may not always want to access support at school, so it is important to look for ways to better help young people to access alternative sources of support, including the fantastic support available in the charitable sector. Members have mentioned a number of organisations, which I congratulate on the work that they do across the country. To name just two that have not so far been mentioned, officials in my Department recently met representatives of Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which provides support to children and families of the armed services, and Sibling Support, a UK-wide charity providing critical help to children who suffer the heartbreaking loss of a sibling. Last year, we added new links to key gov.uk pages for those who have suffered a bereavement that previously included no reference to children. I thank the Childhood Bereavement Network for its support, with the Department, in ensuring that that happened.
The shadow Education Secretary, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), mentioned the importance of cross-Government working. We have continued to ensure that consideration of children remains a priority for the cross-Government bereavement working group, which is chaired by the Department of Health and Social Care and takes its membership from a broad range of Departments. The group meets quarterly and continues to consider options for improving services for all bereaved people, including bereaved children.
The group was formed following the UK Commission on Bereavement report in 2022, “Bereavement is Everyone’s Business”. In November 2025, the UKCB steering group, including members from the Childhood Bereavement Network, attended a meeting of the cross-Government bereavement working group to share progress on its report’s recommendations and discuss further work. Furthermore, during National Grief Awareness Week in December, Baroness Merron attended the annual meeting of the UKCB commissioners, which was chaired by the now Archbishop of Canterbury, Dame Sarah Mullally, to discuss progress on implementing the report’s recommendations and hear from adults and children with direct experience.
In summary, bereavement will come to all of us—very sadly, for some it will be when they are still young and figuring out the world. I know that all those who have spoken today and the many experts and charities working in this area share a commitment to ensuring that every child is aware of and able to access the support that they need to navigate some of the most difficult times that they will ever experience. I thank everyone for contributing to the debate, and for being prepared to share very personal and moving stories; I hope they feel that everyone in the Chamber was willing them on to do so. Again, I pay tribute and give deep thanks to the hon. Member for Edinburgh West for her passion and her continued campaigning in this area. I look forward to working with her in the future to make progress in this essential field.
Christine Jardine
I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate and spoken so movingly and powerfully about their own experiences and the experiences of those they have spoken to. I also thank the Minister for laying out the steps that the Government are already taking to move towards the better understanding and support that we have all talked about.
If I may say so, I think the shadow Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Sevenoaks (Laura Trott), summed the debate up best. It is on occasions like this, when there are no party divisions and we talk to one another as individuals about a problem that affects us all and the people we know and represent, that we see the best of this House. If any children who are grieving are watching, they will hopefully think that we have taken a first step in listening to what they have been telling us and are moving towards what they need to support them.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered Government support for bereaved children.
AEA Technology Pension Scheme
(1 day, 17 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Olly Glover (Didcot and Wantage) (LD) [R]
Let me start by setting out some context and background to how we got to the AEA Technology pension scheme scandal. I will set out the moral case for redress, sum up some of the independent evidence supporting the pension campaigners’ cause, and address some previous comments made on the issue by the Government and some amendments relating to it that are currently going through the House of Lords.
I hope that we can begin on a subject of agreement. I hope that we all recognise the vital importance of pensions as part of our financial and life planning system and the importance of having a pension system in which everybody can trust. I hope the Minister will agree that that is particularly important, given that a Money and Pensions Service survey in 2024 found that 29% of 18 to 25-year-olds in work have never contributed to a private or workplace pension.
The AEA Technology pension scandal is a profound injustice that has affected thousands of individuals and families across the country. In 1996, the commercial division of the UK Atomic Energy Authority was privatised to become AEA Technology. The Government gave Parliament a number of assurances about its employees’ pensions, which led to 90% of employees transferring their pensions over. The assurances included one from Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, who said in 1995 that
“employees of other parts of the authority which may be divested need not be concerned about their future pension arrangements. It is the authority’s clear policy, irrespective of employment law, that employees who move to the private sector should be able to join a pension scheme which is broadly comparable with the authority pension scheme. Indeed, to do otherwise might mean that employees had a claim for constructive dismissal.”—[Official Report, House of Lords, 30 October 1995; Vol. 566, c. 1289.]
However, the new scheme turned out to be less favourable. While the UKAEA scheme had a specific provision that the Government would pay the benefits if the scheme did not, it turned out that the new scheme had no equivalent provision.
At privatisation, the Government transferred less than half of the accrued pension contributions into the new AEAT pension scheme, underfunding it from its inception. In 2012, AEA Technology entered a pre-pack administration. The underfunded AEAT pension scheme was in deficit and was transferred into the Pension Protection Fund. The employees paid into the UKAEA scheme for pensions linked to the retail prices index, but the PPF provides no inflation protection at all for the pensions those employees earned before privatisation. They now receive about 50% of the pensions they were promised. This is particularly galling for AEAT closed section pensioners, who paid extra pension contributions—30% more than in the open section—specifically to purchase RPI indexation.
At the time, the Government actuary assured people in writing that they would receive the same pension benefits from the new scheme, and specifically advised them not to consider the security of their pensions in making their decisions. Alongside this, there is strong evidence, which I am sure the campaigners would be willing to share with the Minister, that the Government transferred less than half the proper sum into the new scheme at privatisation. They kept about £200 million. Campaigners believe that had the proper sum been transferred in 1996, it is unlikely that the scheme would have been underfunded and wound up in 2012. There is a strong moral case for redress. Ultimately, for hundreds of pensioners, in my constituency and across those of my colleagues, the retirements they saved for have been blighted.
I want to say a little about why this particular pension case is unique and unusual and contains factors related to actions of the state, because I am aware that many such cases come across the Minister’s desk. Both I and my colleagues, including my hon. Friends the Members for West Dorset (Edward Morello) and for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom), have heard from our constituents about the devastating effect this scandal has had on their retirements. I spoke with campaigners in my constituency just a few weeks ago, and they told me that their plans to provide for themselves and their dependants at the end of their lives were shattered. They have lost a huge fraction of their pensions, and they told me that they feel that recent Budget changes will make very little difference to them. They have spent years pushing on this issue, only to have been failed time and again by successive Governments. On top of that, it has been estimated that around 200 of the affected campaigners have died.
Many independent reports have supported the pension campaigners’ cause. In 2023, a National Audit Office report clearly demonstrated that the Government Actuary’s Department failed to inform closed section pensioners about the loss of Treasury backing when transferring their benefits from the UKAEA pension scheme to the AEAT scheme. Later in 2023, a Public Accounts Committee investigation found that pensioners had not only been misled, but lost money as a result. It also found that no Government Department had taken responsibility, and that pensioners had been passed “from pillar to post”, as well as having no route for appeal.
In 2023, the Work and Pensions Committee, chaired by the right hon. Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms), concluded that the Government should report back on how they intended to ensure an adequate means of redress for the pension scheme members. The then Under-Secretary of State for pensions, Paul Maynard, accepted the Committee’s recommendations and began to communicate with the Cabinet Office on the matter, only for that to be abandoned with a change of Government. The current Government have not accepted the findings, and have stated, without particularly clear justification:
“There are no plans to offer specific redress to AEAT members.”
The Government have often claimed that the matter has been “thoroughly investigated” by previous Ministers. The pension campaigners and I feel that that is not the case.
Similarly, the response that I received to a letter from November requesting a meeting with the Minister to discuss this issue—I am grateful to him for making time to meet me—stated:
“there are no plans to put in place a further review…the Chancellor announced at the Budget that this government will introduce pre-1997 indexation into the PPF and FAS to address this matter, and that AEAT members will benefit from this measure”.
However, my constituents feel that those recent changes will make very little difference compared with what they have lost. Again, they have produced calculations to illustrate that; I am sure that they would be happy to share them, should the Minister be interested.
Perhaps more concerningly, the Department for Work and Pensions and its Ministers have repeatedly insinuated that the matter has been investigated by various ombudsmen. The truth is that no ombudsman has ever investigated the information on pension options given to scheme members by the Government and their agents in 1996.
The Pensions Ombudsman refused to investigate on the basis that the Government Actuary’s Department is excluded from its remit. The Financial Ombudsman Service cannot deal with defined-benefit pension schemes, so this did not fall within its remit either. The Pensions Ombudsman said that it could take action only if the PPF board had made a mistake, which it had not.
As the Minister will be aware, the Pension Schemes Bill is currently being debated in the House of Lords. The noble Baroness Ros Altmann, who we can all agree is widely recognised for her expertise on pension matters, recently made a strong statement supporting the AEAT case to the Lords Committee on the Pension Schemes Bill. She proposed a solution by which schemes such as AEAT’s could leave the PPF with full compensation. The Lords Minister, the noble Baroness Sherlock, rejected that proposal. The noble Lord Palmer of Childs Hill tabled amendment 218 to the Pension Schemes Bill, which would require the Secretary of State to commission an independent review into the pension losses incurred by former employees of AEA Technology.
Numerous insinuations have been made in the House of Lords, such as those made by the noble Baroness Sherlock, claiming that the 1996 Government Actuary’s Department note highlighted the risk that the scheme might fail. For the pension campaigners, that is simply not correct: the words “risk” and “fail” were not used at the time in the Government Actuary’s Department note in connection with the AEAT scheme.
In conclusion, I want to put forward three key problems to the Minister today. First, the pensioners received poor information from the Government on their pension choices at privatisation. The information that they were given was not accurate or complete, and that precluded them from making an informed choice about whether to accept the privatisation of the pension alongside their employer. Secondly, the Government retained a large proportion of the funds that should have been transferred to the new pension scheme. Thirdly, the PPF is making a large profit on the assets transferred in from the AEAT scheme, while members are receiving 50% of the benefits that they spent many decades paying for.
My affected constituents, alongside campaigners from across many constituencies, have five questions for the Minister. I hope that he will be able to answer this afternoon; if that is not possible in some cases, I hope he will be willing to make a commitment to write to me with his findings.
First, why has the current Pensions Minister refused to provide redress for AEAT pensioners without giving reasons why, even though a thorough investigation by the Public Accounts Committee concluded in their favour and the Pensions Minister at the time accepted that conclusion and indicated to the Work and Pensions Committee that he was keen to resolve the situation?
Secondly, how are the Government to be held to account for the wrongdoing that has ruined the retirement of elderly AEAT pensioners, many of whom, very sadly, have passed away without justice, given that the previous Administration accepted the objective, non-political findings of the Public Accounts Committee?
Thirdly, why do Government officials, particularly in the Department for Work and Pensions, repeatedly make insinuations to the effect that the AEAT pension situation has been thoroughly investigated by previous Ministers when the evidence does not support that assertion?
Fourthly, why is the Government’s position on AEAT pensions the exact opposite of that taken by the right hon. Member for East Ham when he was Chair of the Work and Pensions Committee?
Fifthly, will the Minister require or request that the Government Actuary’s Department publish its calculations —not just the assumptions underlying its calculations—of the sum transferred to the AEAT scheme at privatisation, on the basis that GAD presumably calculated what the cash equivalent transfer sum required by the Pension Schemes Act 1993 would have been?
I hope we can all agree that it is vital that people invest in their pensions during the course of their working lives, so that they can have confidence in their wellbeing and livelihoods when they reach retirement. That is particularly important because of the figures I cited at the beginning of my speech, which reveal a worrying lack of investment in private or workplace pensions. This is not just about redress for the AEAT pension campaign, although that is the most important thing; this is about showing that the Government believe in the integrity of pension schemes and are committed to making sure that everybody has faith in those pension schemes. It is so important for people to invest in them.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Torsten Bell)
I congratulate the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on securing today’s debate, and endorse his opening remarks about the general importance of pensions. We should all think that, but Pensions Ministers should certainly endorse wholeheartedly what he said. He and I have discussed this issue on a number of occasions, and he has spoken clearly and passionately about it today, as always. We all absolutely understand why it has such resonance, particularly for his constituents.
I express my sympathy for all the AEAT pension scheme members. All of us would hate to see our employer enter administration and our pension scheme enter the Pension Protection Fund. I meet a wide range of individuals who have been through that exact experience, and many of them rightly bring the same kind of passion to their cases as he has done. That is particularly true of many of those with pre-1997 accrued pensions, as was the case for many members of this scheme.
The hon. Member is right to say that there was a particular focus on securing better indexation at the point of transfer, so I can understand why these pensioners feel that they have not secured what they had hoped for. It is also particularly true for those with accrued public sector pensions that transferred into private sector schemes at the point of privatisation. We are discussing one of them today, but it is far from the only one—Carillion is obviously the highest-profile case in the recent past. That can no longer happen, given the changes that have been put in place. At the point of privatisation, we will no longer see accrued pension rights transferred into private sector schemes. This is a real issue, but that exact situation cannot occur in future.
As we have heard, this matter has a long and complex history. The company was privatised 30 years ago, in 1996. On the hon. Member’s questions about the value at transfer, the reassurance I can offer—I know it will not be enough for his constituents and others who have raised the case with him—is that the transfer value was agreed by the trustees. It was not proposed by the firm or the Government at the point of transfer, and the financial assumptions that underpinned it were common at the time.
Unfortunately, as we have heard, AEAT entered administration in 2012, which resulted in its pension fund scheme entering the PPF. Of course, that was when the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition Government were in office. It is not for me to speak for the coalition Government, who included a Liberal Democrat Pensions Minister, but they responded to the grievances raised by pension scheme members by maintaining that all legal obligations had been fulfilled and that the safety net existed through the PPF. I understand that that is not the position of the hon. Member, but it was the position of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative coalition Government at the time.
The hon. Member has raised two big-picture concerns, to which I will try to do some justice. One is about the income levels that scheme members are living on, which is the most immediate and important thing, and the other is about the consideration of this case by appropriate bodies. On the first of those, AEAT members receive compensation from the PPF, which is a well-established compensation scheme that provides a vital safety net. I do not want to underplay that, because the world before the PPF saw members exposed to much more risk in the case of insolvency. We do not want to underplay the importance of the PPF compensation route, but there have been concerns about the lack of indexation of pensions accrued before 1997, which in this case applies to all the pensions accrued prior to privatisation.
Unlike previous Governments, we have listened to those concerns and are acting. The Government have brought forward legislation in the form of the Pension Schemes Bill, which the hon. Member mentioned. It will introduce annual increases to compensation payments that relate to pensions built up before 6 April 1997 where the schemes provided for this. I can confirm that AEAT members will benefit from the changes to the PPF, because their scheme provided for such indexation, as we have discussed. That will make a real difference in the years ahead by making sure that we do not see further erosion of the value of their pensions due to inflation.
Turning to the second issue raised, the hon. Member is aware that this matter has been considered by a range of different Government and parliamentary bodies since the insolvency in 2012. That includes the Public Accounts Committee inquiry, which he mentioned. All I would say is that the first recommendation of that inquiry was that we address the issue of pre-1997 indexation within the PPF. The answer to his first question is that we have taken those inquiries seriously. That is one of the contributing factors to our acting now, unlike previous Governments, to address the issue of pre-1997 indexation in the PPF.
This issue has been debated twice previously in Parliament, although it is a decade since it was last discussed, so I am sure scheme members will be glad to see the hon. Member bringing it back before Parliament. It has obviously been raised in other debates. Most recently, I have been involved in discussions of it during the passage of the Pension Schemes Bill, during which hon. Members on both sides of the House raised it, including on Report on the Floor of the House just a matter of months ago.
Multiple ombudsmen have considered specific complaints —the hon. Member is right to say that they have considered specific complaints, not the case as a whole—and in the majority of those cases, they have come to a view, not said that it is out of scope. One did such a thing, but in general they have considered the specific complaints raised and brought them to a resolution, although obviously not always in the in the way that some people would prefer.
More generally, my reflection is that I understand the temptation to call for more reviews in this case, because scheme members—and I have spoken to some myself—do not feel fairly treated. I understand that, and it is right that hon. Members come to the House to raise such effects on their constituents in debates like today’s. However, the Government’s view is that the best thing we can do is not to promise further reviews, but to act. The most important way in which we can act, given the circumstances, is by addressing the lack of pre-1997 indexation for AEAT members.
Olly Glover
I understand what the Minister is saying about pre-1997 indexation, but that is not the primary issue. The calculations by the campaigners about the difference this makes to their losses is that it is trivial—very small. I do not have the exact percentage, but it is probably a 5% difference, or something along those lines. I am very happy to share that with the Minister. That does not address the key issue, which is that Government guidance was incorrect at the time, and that led people to make decisions on the basis of wrong information. I suggest to the Minister that pre-1997 indexation is a different issue.
Torsten Bell
I recognise the point the hon. Member is making, which is that the nature of insolvency and entering into the PPF will have made more of a difference than future PPF accruals. However, had a previous Government—for example, the one that included the Liberal Democrats—introduced pre-1997 indexation a decade back, it would have made significantly more than a 5% difference. That would have made a very large difference to the pensions that AEAT members are living on today.
I am responsible for what the Government are doing about indexation now, and it is a lot more than 5%, because even in just the last years inflation has been running at particularly high levels. I do not agree with the hon. Member’s calculation, but I do agree with him that that is definitely not the entire story. I totally understand that members’ feeling about the advice they received back in the 1990s is at the core of their view that they should never have been in a situation where their pensions were transferred out of the public sector in the first place, and he is right to say that that issue is different from the indexation that occurs within the PPF.
I am merely pointing out that the reviews the hon. Member has mentioned, including that of the Public Accounts Committee, focused on the issue of indexation. My best bet is that, if the Government were not acting on this issue, it would have been one of the issues he raised with us here today, but he is completely right to say that it is not everything. I have said what we are doing to address the lack of indexation: we are acting where previous Governments failed to do so, and acting because we can all put ourselves in the shoes of pensioners who have not seen their pension incomes live up to what they were expecting, through no fault of their own.
Let me close by again congratulating the hon. Member on securing this debate and for giving us the opportunity to speak on such an important subject. I appreciate that I cannot and have not offered everything that he and, indeed, AEAT scheme members would want, but this Government are making real, concrete changes to better protect the pensions of those members from inflation in the years to come. That cannot right all of their feelings about what has happened in the past, but as I say, this Government are choosing to act rather than promising another review in the months and years ahead.
Question put and agreed to.