Local Government Reorganisation

Debate between Alison McGovern and Alison Griffiths

Thursday 18th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

A merry Christmas to him, too! I feel disappointed that he is disappointed to see me here. In any case, as I have said to other Members, what has happened is that local councils have raised concerns with us, and we are attempting to get in touch with them—the letter is going to them today—so that they can say what the circumstances are in their boroughs. As we have discussed, if they wish for elections to go ahead, that is fine.

[Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

This is a disgraceful decision that damages our democracy and sets a dangerous precedent. To borrow a phrase, is the Minister afraid? Frightened? Frit? What does she say to my constituents whose fundamental right to have their say at the ballot box is now being taken away?

[Alison McGovern]

I am sure that the hon. Lady’s council will have heard what she has said and understood her views—and it is right that it has. Having stood in one local council election and five general elections, I am not afraid of democracy.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Alison Griffiths

Monday 24th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison McGovern]

With Cornwall Labour Members of Parliament standing up for Cornwall in this House as they are, I feel assured that Cornwall will be in a much better place. I look forward to working with my hon. Friend to make sure that that is the case.

[Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

T9.   Flooding costs the UK economy up to £6 billion a year. Aviva estimates that 2,000 more homes will be at risk of surface water flooding by 2050 in Bognor Regis and Littlehampton alone, as well as 115,000 of the Government’s planned 1.5 million new homes. That is why flood resilience is a growth issue. Will the Minister tell me what he is doing to ensure that new homes are flood resilient, to protect both my constituents and the UK economy?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Alison McGovern and Alison Griffiths

Monday 1st September 2025 Commons Chamber

[Alison Griffiths (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

1. What assessment she has made of trends in the level of unemployment.

[The Minister for Employment (Alison McGovern)]

The unemployment rate is 4.7%—well below the historic high of 11.9% in 1984—but no one should ever be complacent about unemployment, especially considering the significant jump in economic inactivity under the Tories. That is why I am pleased to tell the House that employment is up by 725,000, to 75.3%, since July 2024 and inactivity is down by more than the rise in unemployment—a reduction of 400,000.

[Alison Griffiths]

On the House of Commons dashboard, the data for my constituency shows that universal credit claims increased dramatically by 20% in just one month. Claimants increased by over 2,000—from 10,344 to 12,415—from May to June this year. Given this recent increase in economic inactivity, what evidence does the Minister have that the Government’s employment support programmes are successfully moving people from out-of-work benefits into sustained employment?

[Alison McGovern]

The Conservative Government unified in-work and out-of-work benefits, so universal credit is also an in-work benefit. As I mentioned some moments ago, the legacy of the Tories on economic inactivity is now seeing a welcome reversal, with economic inactivity down by 400,000.