Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 29th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

That is a timely question, because the Procedure Committee has just produced a report on “Correcting the record”. Its recommendations are that the obligations on Ministers should be extended to all Members of this House. We take these matters very seriously. It is clear that if incorrect information has been given to the House—I do not know the details of the particular matter the hon. Gentleman raises—the record should be corrected, and in my experience that is what Ministers do.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

I recently met a group of residents who live in a new build block that has a heat network. That means that they cannot access the domestic energy market and are not protected by the price cap, which leads to extortionate costs. More than 50% of London’s 200,000 homes supplied by heat networks are social housing, meaning that some of the poorest Londoners have been subject to uncapped bills. May we please have a debate on what can be done to protect those users from the wildly fluctuating energy market?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising this issue. I encourage her to attend the next question session for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, which is next Tuesday, and raise it there. That Department is also running surgeries because of the complexity of the issues and the casework that hon. Members are dealing with in relation to the energy market and schemes such as the one she outlines. I encourage her to sit down with officials and have that bespoke surgery with them.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 18th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I was pleased to respond to my hon. Friend’s invitation for me to visit her constituency, and in particular to see that site. I know she has been speaking to many people in Government to emphasise her concerns and represent the views of her many constituents who are worried about this. She will know that this is one reason why we are bringing forward new legislation to relieve the unsustainable pressure on our asylum system and accommodation services, which are costing this country £3 billion a year. She will note the remarks of the Prime Minister, at the Council of Europe the other day, in calling for other countries to recognise how we need to work together to make sure that the finite resource we have to support people in desperate need is directed to those people who need that care most.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Women’s organisations have warned that the cost of living crisis is having a devastating impact on women, putting them at greater risk of violence and abuse. On my visits to refuges, I have heard stories of women who are considering returning to their abuser because they are living in poverty and the rising cost of living means they cannot see a way out of their situation. Can we please have a debate on mitigating the cost of living crisis for domestic abuse services and victims?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Lady raises an important point. She will know that the next Home Office questions will be next week, and she can raise that matter then. This is a concern to Government, and it is why we have brought forward new measures to ensure that financial support is in place for anyone fleeing those situations.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 27th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that important point. We are all extremely worried about the fact that Mr Beheshti is on the 64th day of his hunger strike. I visited him much earlier, in the first month of his strike. He is doing this not just because of the situation in Iran, I think, but also because of the situation that we increasingly face in the UK, with people being intimidated, threatened or worse by the regime and its proxies. I hope that he will soon bring the hunger strike to an end, but I understand why he is doing it. I am glad that Ministers have met him. The hon. Gentleman may wish to raise the matter again with the Foreign Secretary on 2 May.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

One of my constituents has been part of the BBC Singers for 15 years and her husband is currently on trial with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which takes years of training and practice. They were just beginning to get their lives back on track after covid when the BBC announced it was closing the Singers and cutting orchestra jobs by 20%. Although that decision has been paused, their futures, and those of these great cultural institutions, remain uncertain, so may we please have a statement from the Culture Secretary outlining what the Government will do to help save these jobs and protect our rich musical heritage?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady and all Members who have raised the matter particularly of the BBC Singers, which is the BBC’s only choral group; the campaigning and concerns of Members of this House has greatly contributed to the BBC pausing that decision. The hon. Lady is absolutely right to continue to raise her concern about this; she will know we have just had Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport questions and I will make sure the Secretary of State has heard her continuing concern.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 16th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I feel that there is consensus from hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber, so I anticipate an Adjournment or Backbench Business debate on the subject soon. On the wider issue, the Chancellor yesterday reaffirmed the Government’s support for classical music, alongside other cultural sectors, by extending the higher rates of theatre tax relief, orchestra tax relief and museums and galleries exhibition tax relief for a further two years. I also put on record my immense pride at the Music Man Project, which is a wonderful choir and orchestra in my hon. Friend’s constituency. It played at the Mountbatten festival of music at the weekend and received a standing ovation from everyone in the Royal Albert Hall, led by His Majesty the King.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Four years ago, my constituent was made homeless following a no-fault eviction. She was placed in temporary accommodation—just one room in a dilapidated hostel—with her two children. Unable to afford soaring rents and with council waiting lists at a record high, four years later she is still there. She is a teacher in a local primary school. Can we please have a debate in Government time about the housing crisis in this country?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sorry to hear about the situation that the hon. Lady raises. I would hope that there is more that can be done in this case, and I am sure that she has raised it with the local authority. I will certainly send her some information that might be helpful, to make sure that her local authority is giving her constituent all the assistance that she needs. The hon. Lady will know that the next Question Time for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is on 27 March, and she may wish to raise the case there.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 26th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent suggestion. As I said, Backbench Business time may be available soon, and the merit of such a debate would be that we could look at the disparity between how certain areas operate their GP services; indeed, right down to a practice level. There are areas that are still managing to offer good access to a GP in a timely way, with face-to-face appointments where necessary, and in terms of the hours that they are operating. In others, that is not the case. Sharing good practice is an important part of getting services right for everyone everywhere.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Water companies are dumping sewage into our rivers. They have failed to fix leaks in the summer, when we had a hosepipe ban, and the winter, when the water is turning into hazardous ice on our roads and pavements. Thames Water gave its chief executive a bonus of £720,000 on top of a £2 million salary. May we please have a debate in Government time about whether our water companies are fit for purpose?

[Penny Mordaunt]

This is an issue of huge concern to many Members across the House. That is why, in 2018, we fired a shot across the water companies’ bows that led to the legislation and other measures brought forward to ensure that the infrastructure plans needed to end storm overflows are in place in a timely way. We are also monitoring those overflows. When we came into office, only 6% of them were monitored, but it is now 100%. We take the matter very seriously indeed.

Some of Thames Water’s work formed part of the arguments used to reassure Members of this House that the costs of those infrastructure plans would not be astronomical—they would be affordable—so that we could press ahead with an ambitious timetable for delivering them. I thank the hon. Lady for raising that matter, which is of huge concern to all Members.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 17th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

Gabriel Stoyanov was stabbed to death in Lewisham two weeks ago. He was just 21 years old. I knew Gabriel and I knew his mum’s hopes and dreams for his future—a future that has now been senselessly taken away from him. Will the Home Secretary make a statement about tackling the scourge of knife crime and youth violence?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am very sorry to hear about this tragic incident. I am sure that all Members of the House will want to send their condolences, thoughts and prayers to Gabriel’s family. The hon. Lady will know that my right hon. Friend the Home Secretary takes the issue very seriously. She is encouraging the Mayor of London to do further things. We have introduced new conditions on knife crime, brought back stop and search measures and increased sentences, but there is clearly more to do. Every community needs to have peace of mind that their young people can go out without fear, and I will certainly pass on the sentiments that she has expressed today to the Home Secretary.

Business of the House

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important constituency matter, which I will be happy to raise with the Secretary of State for Health, but he is right: we owe whistleblowers a huge debt, and they need to be protected.

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

There used to be two trains an hour from Penge West and Anerley stations in my constituency to London Bridge. Now there are none, and the number from Sydenham and Forest Hill stations has halved. Govia Thameslink tells me that, due to a reduction of Government funding in the 2021 spending review, it has had to cut capacity, but that is having a huge impact on my constituents’ ability to access employment, education and healthcare. Can we please have a debate in Government time about support for regional rail networks?

[Penny Mordaunt]

This Government have done a huge amount, not just to support existing rail but to build new schemes and help our towns and cities to connect in ways that they have not before. I would urge the hon. Lady to raise this at the next Transport questions, on 13 October.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Ellie Reeves and Penny Mordaunt

Thursday 8th July 2021 Commons Chamber

[Ellie Reeves (Lewisham West and Penge) (Lab)]

What assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of the Government’s civil contingency plans and (b) preparedness for a potential future pandemic.

[The Paymaster General (Penny Mordaunt)]

We regularly assess contingency plans and preparedness for major risks, including pandemics. In December 2020, we updated the national risk register to include new risks. We are currently reviewing the Government’s national risk assessment methodology with external partners ahead of refreshing the internal national security risk assessment early next year.

[Ellie Reeves [V]]

Exercise Cygnus, carried out in 2016, found:

“The UK’s preparedness and response, in terms of its plans, policies and capability, is currently not sufficient to cope with the extreme demands of a severe pandemic”.

Key recommendations from the exercise on surge capacity, school closures and protecting care homes were not acted on, which ultimately led to the Government’s chaotic handling of covid-19. Given that the warning signs had been identified in this report, why did the Government handle the pandemic so woefully, and what is being done now to prevent this from ever happening again?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The flaw with Exercise Cygnus was with regard to the risk methodology that sat behind it, and I have given evidence to a number of Select Committees on that basis. The hon. Member will know that we have rectified that now by changing the methodology, so rather than just focus on high-risk situations that would have an incredible detrimental impact and are likely to happen, we also look at situations that would have such an impact but are less likely to happen. It is not just pandemics we have to prepare for; it is a whole raft of possible events. I think that methodology and the new risk register put us in a much stronger position.