Health and Social Care Update

Laura Trott Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Dr Coffey]

We are actually on track with getting the extra 50 million appointments already.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I welcome the statement today. The majority of GPs—75%—now work part time. That is an understandable choice for them, but we need to be honest about the impact it is having on the availability of appointments and the cost of training. Will my right hon. Friend look at what she can do to address the barriers to more GPs working full time?

[Dr Coffey]

It is a choice for GPs whether they work part time or full time. I am conscious that some of the different things we are doing, including on pension flexibilities, should help, as should diverting people so that they do not have to go to GP appointments but can use pharmacies and other approaches.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Laura Trott Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

It is a privilege to hear the incredible tributes we have heard today.

Her Majesty touched the lives and hearts of everyone in Sevenoaks and Swanley. When I went to sign the book of condolence yesterday, it was full of incredible stories and tributes, but I thought I would reflect today on Her Majesty’s relationship with one of my more famous former constituents, and her first Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. Describing Her Majesty on the day of her coronation, Sir Winston said she was

“a Lady whom we respect because she is our Queen and whom we love because she is herself.”

I think that sentiment is shared across the House today.

Chartwell, Churchill’s country home for more than 40 years, is filled with his most cherished possessions. One photo stood out on my most recent trip there and it has been on my mind since Thursday evening, when we heard the statement from Buckingham Palace that we all dreaded. In Churchill’s bedroom, among many pictures of horses, is a framed photograph of Sir Winston on Buckingham Palace’s balcony on VE Day. He is standing next to the then King and Queen, and Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret. The photograph is signed by all four members of the royal family and celebrates one of the most important moments of Churchill’s life and career, as well as in the history of Britain. For Churchill to hang this picture on his bedroom wall, in his inner sanctum, shows just how important it was to him. The photo symbolises not only victory against tyranny but the vital role the royal family played in his wartime leadership and the strength of the relationship between Parliament and the Crown, a relationship that has never been more evident than in the past few days.

On behalf of everyone in Sevenoaks and Swanley, I say, “Thank you, ma’am, for everything. We owe you so much.” May she rest in peace. God save the King.

UK Energy Costs

Laura Trott Excerpts

Thursday 8th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

My thoughts and prayers, and the thoughts and prayers of everyone in Sevenoaks and Swanley, are with Her Majesty the Queen and the royal family at this time.

I warmly welcome today’s announcement. It will relieve a huge amount of anxiety for my constituents, for businesses such as Donnington Manor that are worried about being crippled by prices, and for schools such as Dunton Green Primary School whose energy bills are going up by 500%.

I am glad that heating oil and heat networks are included in the announcement, although I question whether those prices will be frozen. The prices have gone up extensively this year and have tripled in some cases, such as for the Bourchier Court heat network, so it would be helpful to have clarification on whether that price will be frozen or whether it will be allowed to go up, with compensation provided later.

I have previously spoken in this House about how it is illegal to cut off a household’s water supply. A water company can recoup its costs through the courts, but it cannot cut off a household’s water supply for reasons of non-payment. We should consider extending that to energy supply. There are some protections in place, and energy companies are not allowed to cut off a customer’s supply during the winter months if they live on their own, if they are of state pension age or if there is a child in the house.

However, there is not enough protection. Ofgem has shown that one in seven households on a prepayment meter disconnected in 2019, so we should look at this seriously. We cannot have that number of disconnections, and the number is likely only to go up, when there is something we can do to send a very clear message that energy consumers will be safe this winter, so they do not need to worry, if it really comes to it, that their energy supply will be cut off. There would still be the mechanism by which costs can be recouped, but there would be a safety net for everybody. I think that would go a huge way towards reassuring people.

I welcome today’s announcement, as it will really help my constituents. I hope to see further effort and work on ensuring the energy supply to households.

Ukraine

Laura Trott Excerpts

Thursday 24th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady raises a very important point. What we are seeing now, tragically, as I am sure the House knows, is people moving west out of Kyiv, with columns of traffic, and people already moving into south-eastern Poland. There is going to be an influx. As I said to the Prime Minister of Poland as well, we are there to help.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I thank the Prime Minister for his statement today and for his strong package of sanctions. I want to ask him about preventing sexual violence in conflict. In November last year, we issued a strong statement that said that the use of sexual violence as a weapon in conflict is a red line akin to the use of chemical weapons. Will he reaffirm that commitment today, and will he send a strong message to Russia that the international community will not tolerate the use of sexual violence in conflict?

[The Prime Minister]

Yes; I thank my hon. Friend for all the work she has done on that issue. It is something that the UK Government have campaigned on for a long time and have indeed raised, very rightly, in international consciousness. I think it should be treated as a war crime like any other, and people who perpetrate sexual violence in conflict can expect to be tried in those tribunals.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Tuesday 14th December 2021 Commons Chamber

[Gill Furniss (Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough) (Lab)]

17. What steps his Department is taking to tackle violence against women and girls.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

19. What steps he is taking to protect women and girls from violent and sexual offenders.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Tom Pursglove)]

We have introduced legislation to tackle crimes including stalking, forced marriage and female genital mutilation in the Domestic Abuse Act 2021. The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill will also introduce measures to crack down on serious violent and sexual offenders, including by ensuring that the most serious sexual and violent offenders spend longer in prison; to reform pre-charge bail to better protect vulnerable victims and witnesses; and to enable positive obligations to be imposed on those who pose a risk of sexual harm through sexual harm prevention orders and sexual risk orders. The victims Bill consultation has also launched, which will ensure that victims feel properly supported.

[Tom Pursglove]

I am very grateful to the hon. Lady, who raises this very important issue for all Members of this House. As she would expect, this Government take incredibly seriously the issue of violence against women and girls, and all our thoughts are with the families of those affected. Of course, I welcome the measures that we are taking on sentencing that I set out in my earlier answer. On misogyny specifically, we are grateful to the Law Commission for the detailed consideration it has given to its review of hate crime laws. We are of course giving that proper consideration, and we will respond as soon as we can.

[Laura Trott]

Can the Minister assure me and the women and girls of Sevenoaks and Swanley that funding for Kent’s Nightingale court will continue past March next year? Kent’s Crown court case load stands at 93% above pre-pandemic levels, and we know that sexual violence crimes are most likely to be dropped due to delays. We urgently need this court to continue.

[Tom Pursglove]

I am very grateful to my hon. Friend, who is a very passionate advocate for her constituents on these matters. It is worth pointing out that more than £1 billion has been allocated to boost capacity and accelerate recovery from the pandemic in courts and tribunals, and we have been able to reopen more of our existing court estate. The Nightingale courts provide additional capacity for the Crown court either directly or by hosting other work, which makes space for jury trials on the existing estate. These temporary courts supported our recovery, and that is why we extended their use until the end of March 2022. Decisions on future spending will be subject to ongoing spending review allocation discussions, but her point is very much heard.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 20th October 2021 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

My right hon. Friend is right. This is just another example of the UK leading on climate ambition. We remain fully committed to global action to tackle international aviation and shipping emissions through the international processes at the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the International Maritime Organisation.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The COP26 President (Alok Sharma)]

When the UK took on the COP26 presidency, less than 30% of the global economy was covered by a net zero target; that figure is now 80%. Under the UK’s G7 presidency, for the first time every G7 country has committed to ambitious near-term emission targets aligned with net zero by 2050. However, to keep 1.5 °C within reach, every nation, particularly the biggest emitters, has to step forward in what needs to be the decade of ambition.

[Laura Trott]

The Government are setting ambitious five-year carbon budgets and we have set out how we are going to meet those, but will the Minister consider setting interim targets to reassure my concerned constituents that we are on track?

[Alok Sharma]

The net zero strategy has committed to provide a public update every year from 2022 on progress against the delivery pathway to net zero set out in the strategy, and this will include an update on progress against the targets and ambitions that have been set out.

G7 and NATO Summits

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 16th June 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

For the hon. Gentleman to talk about profit-hungry pharmaceutical companies, in view of the efforts made by AstraZeneca to distribute 500 million vaccines around the world at cost, is utterly disgraceful, and he should withdraw his remarks.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

I hugely welcome the Prime Minister’s focus on gender equality at the G7, and I note that the Leader of the Opposition, in his opening statement, did not mention girls or women once. Can the Prime Minister, who set some very ambitious targets on girls’ education and ending violence against women and girls, come back to the House before 2026 to reassure us that progress is being made on that very important topic?

[The Prime Minister]

Of course, Mr Speaker; the project will be scarcely off my lips.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 26th May 2021 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman. It is great to see him in his place—it is always great to see him in this place. Actually, I have had conversations on that very matter already with Kristalina Georgiera.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

One of the many awful things about the past year has been the inability to visit family and friends in hospital. It has caused immense anguish for many of my constituents. We are seeing some progress locally and I hope that, with the brilliant roll-out of the vaccine, we will see more, but can the Prime Minister inform the House when normal visiting hours will resume for all hospitals nationwide?

[The Prime Minister]

I know that my hon. Friend speaks for many millions of people who have wanted to visit loved ones and I know the anguish that they have felt. We need to balance those wholly legitimate feelings with the need to manage the risk of infection, as I know my hon. Friend understands very well. We will update the guidance as soon as it is possible to do so.

Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con) [V]]

The first and most important thing that we need to do today is to focus on the real-world impact that the measures in this Budget will have. Jenny Pollard lives in Otford in my constituency. She runs a nail business. She is self-employed, and her first year of trading was 2019-20. The announcement today means that she can access full support for the first time, which will be a lifeline for her and for her business. The Royal Oak pub, Marco’s and the Danish Collection are all brilliant businesses in my constituency whose trading has been affected through no fault of their own in this pandemic. The restart grants are exactly what they need to help them to reopen, and exactly the type of support that we have been asking the Chancellor for.

This comprehensive and welcome package of support comes at a cost, however, and we must be honest with the British people about that. Labour Members talk a lot about fiscal responsibility, but they have not set out anything that is fiscally responsible. In contrast, what we have done today is put forward a clear plan for how we are going to start to pay for this support. It is a plan that provides much-needed certainty for business and protects those who need it the most. I particularly welcome the plan to shelter the smallest companies from the corporation tax rise.

More than that, we know that the best way to recover is to grow. My hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami) and I have published a proposal for accelerator zones to encourage regional growth. The paper talks about the need for high-skill visas, incentives for investment and networks of support, and I was delighted to see many of those themes being picked up today. We know that this country has a long-term issue with productivity, so these measures will help to address the structural barriers that have been holding our country back.

I was surprised to hear the Leader of the Opposition complain about a lack of a credible plan to tackle unemployment. The OBR has been clear that our interventions have led to 1.8 million fewer people being out of work than would otherwise be the case, but the right hon. and learned Member for Holborn and St Pancras (Keir Starmer) seems to be confused about how to tackle unemployment. It is businesses that create jobs and it is businesses that support employment. To tackle unemployment, we must support businesses and business investment, and with the super deductions, the restart grants, furlough and the business rates holiday, we are doing exactly that—proof, if any more were needed, that this is a Budget for the recovery, now and also beyond.

Oral Answers to Questions

Laura Trott Excerpts

Wednesday 10th February 2021 Commons Chamber

[Rob Roberts (Delyn) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to ensure that children throughout the UK have equality of opportunity.

[Laura Trott (Sevenoaks) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to ensure that children throughout the UK have equality of opportunity.

[Henry Smith (Crawley) (Con)]

What steps she is taking to ensure that children throughout the UK have equality of opportunity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Kemi Badenoch]

My hon. Friend is correct that education is a devolved matter in Wales. However, it is important that we work closely together to ensure that every child receives the best education, wherever they live in the UK, and to give them the best start in life. For example, our UK-wide safeguarding policy is essential to allow children to concentrate on their learning without fear of negative influence. Our equality data programme will seek to use data from across the UK to help inform future policy, making equality of opportunity a reality for all.

[Laura Trott [V]]

I thank the Minister for her reply and the initiatives contained within it. We know school closures have had a very unequal impact on children. Does she agree that the best way to address that is to safely reopen schools as quickly as possible?

[Kemi Badenoch]

We are committed to getting all pupils and students back into schools and colleges as soon as the public health picture allows. In doing so, the Government will be guided by the scientific and medical experts. When Parliament returns from recess in the week commencing 22 February, we intend to publish our plan for taking the country out of lockdown, including plans for reopening education. We hope we will be able to commence the full reopening of schools from Monday 8 March. We have committed to providing schools, parents and young people with a minimum of two weeks’ notice for that return to on-site provision.