Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 7th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. As part of the Government’s health mission, we are producing a five-point plan for prevention, and alcohol harms is one of those areas. I hope to be able to update her and the House in due course on the actions we will be taking to drive down the prevalence of alcohol harms and other addictions, because they are costing lives and causing misery in communities. That is why this Government are determined to tackle these public health problems.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for his answers. While there are community addiction services for those over the age of 18, worryingly, across this great United Kingdom, those under the age of 18 are succumbing to alcohol addiction, too. There does not seem to be any provision for them. May I ask the Minister genuinely and helpfully what provision there will be for those under the age of 18, because addiction problems are rising among the younger generation?

[Andrew Gwynne]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. This Government are committed to having the healthiest generation of children ever. That means we will have a concerted effort on a whole range of health issues that determine the health and wellbeing of young people, which will hopefully ensure that they become healthy adults as a consequence. Alcohol harms are certainly one of the considerations we will be looking at.

Healthcare: Hampshire

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Wednesday 20th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

I hear loud and clear what Conservative Members say about the leadership of their ICB. I hope that the ICB management will obtain a copy of today’s Hansard and read not only those comments, but the Minister’s reply. I expect them to make decisions in a timely fashion, so that there is some certainty for the local population about the new make-up of health and care services in that area—not just for the sake of patients and the local population, but staff. As we redesign services and change towards more preventive, community-focused care, some parts may become obsolete, and it is absolutely crucial that we take the workforce, as well as the population, on that journey of change in services. I very much hope that the hon. Gentleman’s ICB leadership will have heard the message from the Minister at the Dispatch Box, which is that they really need to crack on, make a decision, communicate it and work with Members of Parliament, the public and staff on whichever changes they propose.

I return to primary and community care. As I said, our manifesto commits to moving towards a neighbourhood health service, with more care delivered in local communities, so that problems are spotted earlier. We will bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so that ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively. In doing so, we will improve continuity of care, which is associated with better health outcomes for patients, and our plan will guarantee a face-to-face appointment for all those who want one; we will deliver a modern booking system that will end the 8 am scramble. That is crucial in improving access to general practice.

The hon. Member for Winchester rightly raised the huge problems with dentistry in his area, which are not that uncommon across the whole country. I do not believe that the previous Government’s dentistry recovery plan went far enough; too many people were still struggling to find an NHS appointment. We are working to ensure that patients can start to access additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, and we will target the areas that need the most—the so-called dental deserts. Integrated care boards have started to advertise posts through the golden hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receive payments of £20,000 to work in the areas that need them most for three years. The common reason why children aged five to nine are admitted to hospital—this is absolutely shocking in the year 2024—is tooth decay. We will work with local authorities to introduce supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds in the most deprived communities. These programmes are proven to reduce tooth decay and boost good practice at home.

To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focusing on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. To be fair, this has been an issue for all Governments, going back to the Labour Government who introduced the dental contract. They did so for the right reasons, but in 2010, we recognised that the dental contract was not working in the way we envisaged, and that it had to change. It is shocking that 14 years have passed since then with no real action having been taken—we are determined to fix that. At the same time, we will not wait to make improvements to the system to increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more NHS care. We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition of improving access for NHS dental patients.

I have to say that the statistics for Hampshire and Isle of Wight integrated care board make sorry reading. Only 36% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in the 24 months to June 2024, compared with 40.3% across England, and 54% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the 12 months to June 2024, compared with 56% across England. In 2023-24, there were 46 dentists for every 100,000 people in the hon. Gentleman’s trust, whereas the national average across all ICBs in the same year was just under 50 dentists, and in 2024, the general practice patient survey success rate for getting an NHS dental appointment in the past two years in the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB area was 72%, compared with 76% nationally. They are not great statistics nationwide, but they are certainly not brilliant in the ICB of hon. Members present, and we look for real improvements there.

Turning to the pharmacy sector, we want to take pressure off GPs by increasing the services offered in community pharmacies. There is so much more that our pharmacists could and should be doing to deliver basic healthcare services on the high street and in the community, as part of the shift from hospital to community. That would free up thousands of GP appointments in cases where people do not really need to see a general practitioner for their condition. We are committed to looking at how we can further expand the role of pharmacies and better use the clinical skills of pharmacists as more become independent prescribers—that is where the potential gets really exciting. Now that the budget for Government has been set, we will resume our consultation with Community Pharmacy England shortly. I hope Members will understand that I am unable to say more until that consultation has concluded. Suffice it to say that Pharmacy First and community pharmacies have a huge role to play in improving health outcomes in the community.

[Jim Shannon]

In my former role as an Assembly Member back home, we had a very close relationship with pharmacies. The consultation process that the Minister is outlining for England would be very much welcomed in Northern Ireland, so can I ask the Minister a favour? When that consultation concludes, will he share his findings with the Northern Ireland Assembly, and particularly with the Minister in Northern Ireland? What the Minister is hoping to achieve is what we would also like to achieve.

[Andrew Gwynne]

The hon. Gentleman raises an important point. No part of the United Kingdom holds a monopoly on wisdom, and if we are doing something good or if there is innovation in one part of the United Kingdom, it is incumbent on Health Ministers across the devolved Administrations and here in Whitehall to share best practice—to work together and, where possible, take a four-nation approach. I hope I can reassure the hon. Gentleman that since this new Labour Government came into power, we have really tried to reset our relationships with the devolved Administrations and with the various Ministers. I have had several meetings with Mike Nesbitt on a range of health issues that appertain to the whole United Kingdom on which we want to ensure there is consistency of approach. I am more than happy to communicate further with Mike Nesbitt and colleagues in the Northern Ireland Executive on how we reform our health and social care services in England to see whether things can be taken by them in Northern Ireland. Vice versa, if there are good ideas from Northern Ireland, I am more than happy to consider them in how we transform NHS services in England.

The hon. Member for Winchester mentioned social care, and he is right to raise winter resilience. I have spoken about fixing the front door to the NHS through primary care reforms. We also have a serious job to do to fix the back door and ensure that patient flows through the system are not held up because of a lack of social care. On winter resilience, I hope he will understand that we are working to ensure that there are no crises and that we tackle the issues of social care. Getting beds in appropriate places is a key part of our plan.

In the long term, there are no quick fixes. The Dilnot reforms were announced by the previous Government, but it is fair to say that, when we came into office, we found that the money apparently set aside for the Dilnot reforms had already been spent on other NHS pressures. Laudable though it may have been to spend that money to try to get waiting times and waiting lists down and to fix some of the problems that that Government had created, it left us with a bit of a social care issue, given that the reform money had gone, had disappeared and was no longer there to be spent.

Over the next decade, this Government are committed to building consensus on the long-term reform needed to create a national care service based on consistent national standards, including engaging across the parties. It is good to see the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Melton and Syston (Edward Argar), in his place, and I am sure he will be very willing to work with us, as indeed will the Liberal Democrats. We genuinely want to make sure that we get cross-party consensus on the future of our adult social care, so that we can finally grasp this nettle once and for all, and to fix it without it becoming such a contentious issue, as it became, sadly, in 2010 and 2017. Neither of the two main parties has a good story to tell on this, because we have both shamefully used it as a political football from time to time. It is now appropriate that we set aside those politics and get on with fixing social care. I hope that, in due course, we will be able to move forward on that agenda.

I assure the hon. Member for Winchester that we are acutely aware of the problems with mental health services. We both agree that waiting lists are unacceptably high. Indeed, the people of Hampshire and most of England are not getting the mental health care they deserve. He has spoken previously about Lord Darzi’s report, which has shone a searing spotlight on the waiting lists that young people face, in particular. I am immensely proud that this Government are intent on tackling the issue head on, with specialist mental health professionals in every school in England. That is our aim. These NHS-funded mental health support teams in schools and colleges will work with young people and parents to manage mental health difficulties and to develop a whole-school approach to positive mental health and wellbeing.

Infected Blood Inquiry

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Gwynne]

I hope that I can reassure the hon. Lady that although health is devolved across the four nations, and I can speak only on behalf of the NHS in England on a number of the recommendations, both the Department of Health and Social Care and the Cabinet Office are working closely and collaboratively with Ministers in the devolved Administrations. Indeed, I and my right hon. Friend the Paymaster General recently had a meeting with Ministers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales to talk about how to take forward the recommendations, on a four-nation basis where possible, and with mutual support across the four nations where there are individual recommendations pertinent to the devolved parts of the United Kingdom. I hope that that reassures her that we are working together. Although I cannot comment on the changes that will be needed for health services in Northern Ireland, which are a matter for the Minister of Health in Northern Ireland, Mike Nesbitt, I am quite certain that those services will carefully and closely consider our work here in England, and the work in other parts of the United Kingdom.

We have waited too long for these actions. People have waited too long for compensation. Indeed, right hon. and hon. Members have waited too long for this debate. More than 3,000 people died before they saw justice; families and our country were let down. There was a level of suffering that is so difficult to comprehend, because questions were not asked at the time, institutions did not face up to the failings, and facts were covered up. Now we know the truth. As we reflect, we are making a concerted effort to improve, because that loss need not be in vain.

I will respond to some of the questions raised throughout the debate, and will refer to other questions directly in the relevant part of my contribution. Should I miss anything because of time constraints, I will write to Members. In opening for the official Opposition, the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire talked about destigmatisation of HIV and hepatitis C. I hope that he understands that the Labour party made a clear manifesto commitment to ending HIV transmission in England by 2030. Officials at the Department of Health and Social Care, the UK Health Security Agency, NHS England and a broad range of system partners are now working together to develop a new HIV action plan, which we aim to publish by summer next year, and destigmatisation will be a key part of that plan.

My hon. Friend the Member for Blyth and Ashington asked about psychological support for family and friends. I reassure him that NHS England has established the infected blood psychological support service in England, which supported its first patients in late August. That includes supporting not just the infected, but the families and friends affected.

I want to turn to departmental failings. The report outlines a comprehensive condemnation of the organisation of blood services, licensing decisions, blood safety and patient safety, with harm compounded by the reaction and handling of Government. I again recognise humbly the criticism of the Department that I stand at this Dispatch Box to represent and its predecessors, and I am committed to ensuring that a tragedy such as the infected blood scandal can never happen again. This Government will prioritise patient safety to ensure that the NHS treats people with the high-quality, safe care they deserve.

Repeated inquiries and investigations have highlighted significant issues with patient safety, which has caused a deterioration in public confidence, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Alex Baker) in an earlier intervention. We must absolutely fix that. The Health Secretary has been clear that we will not tolerate NHS managers who silence whistleblowers. A culture of openness and honesty is vital to ensure patient safety. We want NHS staff to have the confidence to speak out, and we will give them that.

The hon. Member for Eastleigh (Liz Jarvis) raised the question of the safety of blood products. While no medical treatment can be completely risk-free, current safety standards for blood donation and transfusion are rigorous, and England’s blood supply is one of the safest in the world. Processes are in place throughout the blood donation journey to ensure the safety of blood and blood products, including the donation safety check form, testing for specific infections, donor deferrals, regulations and informed consent. According to Serious Hazards of Transfusion, the risk of serious harm because of blood transfusion in the United Kingdom is low, at one in 11,000 blood components issued.

Turning to timelines, so far more than £1 billion has been paid in interim compensation payments to victims of the infected blood scandal. As we heard earlier, applications opened on 24 October for interim payments of £100,000 to the estates of deceased people whose deaths have not been recognised. Parliament has now approved regulations that give the Infected Blood Compensation Authority the powers necessary to pay compensation through the core route to the infected, both living and deceased. The Infected Blood Compensation Authority has begun to process its first claimants under the infected blood compensation scheme.

[Jim Shannon]

In my intervention on the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart), I asked about the siblings who qualify. One sibling seems to be worth more than another sibling, and that seems absolutely wrong. I understand that there has been no reply to that in the Minister’s summing up. Maybe he is coming on to it—if he is, I apologise—but I would love to have a response, because my constituents have asked me to ask that question and ensure that we have a response.

[Andrew Gwynne]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the Minister for the Cabinet Office is carefully considering this matter. If the hon. Gentleman would like, the Minister for the Cabinet Office will write to him, but he is considering it.

We expect the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to begin making payments to people who are infected under the infected blood compensation scheme by the end of this year. Payments to the affected are expected to begin in 2025, following a second set of regulations.

Turning to a question raised by the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire about the independence of IBCA, it is rightly operationally independent. Parliament would clearly expect the Government to have oversight of a scheme of this size and for there to be proper management, given the amount of public money going into the scheme. It is true that there are only two non-departmental public bodies that are independent of the Government: one is IBCA and the other is the National Audit Office. It is absolutely right for IBCA to have that independence.

Glaucoma and Community Optometry

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 30th April 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered glaucoma and community optometry.

First, a special thanks to the Backbench Business Committee for selecting the debate for this morning. I am my party’s health spokesperson—it is no secret—and am particularly interested in health issues. As such, I secured this debate off the back of a number of people who had contacted me. What I am particularly pushing for—I am sorry for the short notice; I put the request in the Minister’s hand only two minutes ago—is that we do something now so that we can save sight further down the line. If I were pushing for one thing only, that is the one thing I would wish to have.

Optometrists in my Strangford constituency—I will send them a copy of this debate in Hansard afterwards—asked me to secure this debate. A number of bodies here on the mainland asked me the same thing. That is my purpose, but the issue of sight and sight-loss problems affects every constituency equally throughout this great United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Therefore, the approach to making the system more fit for purpose must also be UK-wide.

I am pleased to see the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Denton and Reddish (Andrew Gwynne), in his place. We are sparring partners, although when I say that I do not mean that we hurt each other—we fight things together. I am also especially pleased to see the Minister in his place. He has a deep interest in this subject, as well as a deep interest in Northern Ireland, which I much appreciate. He has told me about his times in Northern Ireland in the past month or so, and how much he loves going there. Indeed, every MP who visits Northern Ireland—including you, Dame Caroline—always comes back with the most wonderful memories of the occasion and of the people they meet. Just this morning, a Conservative Whip was telling me that he was in Hillsborough two weeks ago, and about how much he enjoyed it.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

I want to place on the record the fact that a month ago I made my first visit to Belfast. I had an incredible time meeting Members of the Assembly at Stormont, and going to Harland & Wolff, around Belfast and to an inclusive school. It is a remarkable place, and I just wanted to add, as the hon. Gentleman is putting on the record that everyone else has been to Northern Ireland, that so have I—although I know that is not the subject of our discussion, Dame Caroline.

--- Later in debate ---

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

I start by passing on the apologies of my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Edgbaston (Preet Kaur Gill), who leads for the shadow health team on the issues we are focusing on today. She is otherwise detained on the Tobacco and Vapes Public Bill Committee, which is taking place at the same time.

I sincerely thank my hon. Friend the Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon)—I know that the custom in this place would be for me to call him “the hon. Gentleman”, because he is not of my party, but he is a friend—for securing this crucial debate and for the positive spirit he always brings to these proceedings. Glaucoma is a common yet serious condition that, if left untreated, can cause real damage. Anyone is at risk of developing glaucoma at any age, but it particularly affects people as they get older.

I declare a bit of an interest here: my grandmother had glaucoma. Because my mum died at the age of 50, they do not if the condition was hereditary, so every time I go to my opticians I have to have the glaucoma test in case it is hereditary. However, it is really important that people are tested routinely, because it is a serious condition that, if left untreated, can cause real damage.

Several factors increase an individual’s risk of glaucoma, including a family history of the condition; being of African, Caribbean or east Asian origin; and having long or short sight, diabetes or blood pressure problems. Glaucoma tends to develop gradually, and it is often entirely symptomless for a long period. As a result, many glaucoma patients are diagnosed only during routine eye tests. The impact of glaucoma can vary greatly, ranging from misty or blurry patches in vision to struggling to complete day-to-day tasks such as reading, and permanent sight loss.

When it comes to accessing basic care, many glaucoma patients face significant challenges. Across eye care, more than 600,000 patients are currently on waiting lists for treatment. Given the risk that glaucoma poses if left untreated, such extensive waiting lists are a serious threat to patient outcomes. Sadly, that statistic shows no sign of changing, and demand for ophthalmology services is set to increase by more than 40% in the next two decades. Given an estimated annual cost to the economy from sight loss of more than £25 billion, the case for action could not be clearer.

I have a degree of frustration with the Government’s approach to the issue. Given the statistics, I would like to see the Minister commit today to turbocharge access to ophthalmology services and make eye tests more commonplace for people who do not routinely test their eyes, but also to get people access to eye care services once conditions have been diagnosed.

The next Labour Government are committed to reforming the system so that those with glaucoma and other eye health conditions can access care when and where it is needed. We will provide 2 million more operations and appointments on evenings and weekends, paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers, so that patients can be seen on time again. We will have a laser-like focus on prevention, tackling the social determinants of ill health and ensuring that eye conditions such as glaucoma are tackled at source. We will ensure that the NHS shifts from an analogue to a digital service, embracing the latest developments in technology and artificial intelligence to provide the best possible care and deliver the best possible patient outcomes.

Again, I declare an interest: being a bespectacled Member of Parliament, I obviously have routine eye tests. I am short-sighted, although age is catching up with me, and this is the first time that I have had varifocals for reading and for distance. However, my optometrist, Dr Shen of Boots opticians in Denton, has brought in and embraced some of the latest technological advances for testing different eye conditions. At my last eye test, I was amazed at the wizardry and machinery they have brought in, revolutionising the way they can diagnose.

[Jim Shannon]

The hon. Gentleman is speaking very powerfully and I endorse those comments. What I have seen with optometrists in Newtownards in my constituency of Strangford is the amount of money and investment that they have put in. They have not asked for any help from the NHS for those things. They are doing it themselves. I think there is a wonderful opportunity for a partnership with optometrists who are investing money—all they need is the people to come in for testing—and that, I believe, is a role for Government.

[Andrew Gwynne]

I could not agree more with the hon. Gentleman. Boots Opticians in Denton is a franchise, and the owner of that franchise has invested in this remarkable technology. I have now seen parts of my eyes that I never believed it would be possible to be able to see. It is incredible digital technology, and it allows opticians to diagnose eye stroke. That is particularly important for people with diabetes, glaucoma, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. The technology can also be used to diagnose diabetic retinopathy, in which people’s retinas are leaky, which can lead to temporary vision loss, and age-related macular degeneration. That detailed eye care allows other eye problems, which ordinarily would have gone unchecked, to be found and the appropriate treatments to be provided. I have seen how transformative the use of modern technology by my own optician can be for testing for a whole range of conditions and eye health.

That is why this debate is relevant and why changes across the system are clearly needed. That is most evident in community optometry. There is a real potential to utilise, as the hon. Member for Strangford has said, the existing capacity on our high streets and in our town centres—crucially, where people are—to get a firm grip on the crisis in eye care. That is why the next Labour Government have committed to seeking negotiations with high street opticians to strike a deal to deliver more NHS outpatient appointments. That partnership, which the hon Gentleman was rightly discussing, will underpin Labour’s eye care policy.

With 6,000 high street opticians serving communities across the country, we cannot afford to sit back and waste their incredible potential. We will work with high street opticians to beat the backlog and to get the system moving again. By utilising community capacity, we can free up specialists in the NHS to support those patients with the greatest need, providing greater accessibility, convenient care and, most importantly for all of us taxpayers, better value for money for the public purse.

This approach is backed up by evidence, proving the tangible impact of community-based eye care and eye health services. A 2014 study of the introduction of minor eye care services in Lewisham and Lambeth showed how significant that impact is. GP referrals to ophthalmology specialists in Lambeth decreased by 30%, with an even greater reduction—75%—in Lewisham. Costs in areas without minor eye care services increased, while there was a drop in costs in Lewisham and Lambeth of 14%.

Given that the sector is in clear need of reform, with patient outcomes continuing to suffer, will the Minister back Labour’s plan to unlock the potential of community optometry? With more than 550 patients suffering sight loss because of delays in the NHS since 2019, does the Minister accept that further inaction is simply not an option? These are people whose lives, and those of their loved ones, have been fundamentally changed through no fault of their own. We owe it to them to fix this system once and for all, working in partnership with the devolved Administrations across the United Kingdom, as the hon. Member for Strangford says, so that there is not a postcode lottery on these services, and we get the best outcomes for all British citizens across the United Kingdom. We owe it to them to ensure patients with glaucoma and other eye health conditions get the care they need, when they need it, and where they need it.

We will support the Government in the remaining weeks or months that they have to get this policy right, but mark my words: the next Labour Government see this as a priority and we will act.

State Pension Changes: Women

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 12th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Jim Shannon]

Absolutely, and we all say hear, hear to that.

The WASPI women also contend that they have been discriminated against on the grounds of sex and age and that they have been disproportionately impacted by the changes, compared with men and younger women. On behalf of those in the audience today, I very much agree with that assertion.

Actions to inform the women are felt to have been inadequate—I am using very gentle language in saying that—and did not go far enough. The changes to the state pension age were primarily enacted through legislative measures such as the Pensions Acts of 1995 and 2011. The Government claim that those changes were publicised through official Government publications in the belief that those were accessible to the public, but the fact is that they were not.

[Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)]

I too commend the hon. Gentleman on securing this really important debate. He puts his finger on the nub of the unfairness here: it was not just one Pensions Act that affected these women; many were subsequently affected by a further Pensions Act in 2011, so they were hit twice by the same injustice. It is all fine and well for the Government to say they do not accept that unfairness, but the reality is that the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman has already ruled that there was maladministration in the functioning of the policy. Is it not time that the Government just accepted that and did what is right by these women?

British Property Owners (Cyprus)

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 27th October 2015 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Gwynne]

Not only have my constituents done that, but I have done so as their MP. The response we got back was less than satisfactory. I am still taking that up with the various authorities, but my constituents feel that one form of redress is to place on public record the real injustice that they feel they have endured over the past few years.

Mr T.C. said that when he pointed out that the solicitor had stated it was not possible to sue the bank without the European enforcement order having been overturned, the solicitor changed his statement and said it would be possible, but with difficulty. The new date for the hearing in Cyprus was set for early January 2015, but that was postponed until late January, and the case was finally heard in February 2015.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

People from my constituency have had problems similar to those of the hon. Gentleman’s constituents; the problems do not relate just to Cyprus, but to Turkey, too. The majority of them are law-abiding citizens who want to get some property to use, in most cases as a holiday home, but they find the legal system difficult. The hon. Gentleman is outlining the problems of his constituents. Does he feel, as I do, that the British consulate could have given better or more advice on what was best to do in a foreign country where they do not speak the language and are unaware of the legalities?

[Andrew Gwynne]

There is a lot that could have been done differently, and I have some sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman says. That is based on my experience not only with this case, but with several cases that my constituency office has been dealing with. No doubt other Members’ offices are dealing with similar cases, too. I again commend the work of the all-party group and the Minister in trying to bring some kind of resolution to these matters. We are where we are, and it is a far from ideal situation for many of our constituents.

As I said, the case was finally heard in February 2015. In January, Mr T.C.’s brother-in-law was out of the country dealing with a family matter and he told Cubism Law that he had insufficient funds at that time to settle up his latest bill, but would settle at the end of January or early February when Mr T.C. returned to the UK and after the European enforcement order court case in Cyprus was settled. Mr T.C. says Mr McNair replied saying he no longer represented them and again implied that they may not be represented in Cyprus. However, the Cypriot solicitors later assured them that they would be represented.

The European enforcement order was overturned with reservation at the hearing. Mr T.C. feels incredibly let down by the representation he received and believes a lot of the costs were avoidable and totally unnecessary. He has complained through the firm’s complaints procedures and received what he and his brother-in-law considered to be a derisory offer of redress, which they refused, as they did a subsequent offer.

As I said in response to the hon. Member for Stone (Sir William Cash), the matter has been referred to the authorities, including the Law Society and the ombudsman. Mr T.C. feels that he has suffered real injustice in respect of both the property purchase and how his case has subsequently been handled. I appreciate that the Minister can do little to answer my constituent’s specific concerns, but I would be grateful if he could update Members on the progress being made in general on the matter and on what the Government are doing to support Mr T.C. and all constituents caught up in this sorry situation.

School Food

Debate between Andrew Gwynne and Jim Shannon

Tuesday 19th July 2011 Westminster Hall

[Andrew Gwynne]

My hon. Friend is correct, which allows me to move neatly on to the next part of my contribution. As she has rightly said, showing and informing children about nutritious and healthy meals will clearly help in the battle against childhood obesity. Education and the health of our children are hugely important. It is estimated that obesity and associated conditions such as diabetes cost the NHS £3.5 billion a year, and that figure is set to rise. This is therefore a cost worth paying to save money in the long run. Even at a time when the deficit needs to be cut, we cannot forget the social implications of the Government’s decisions. If we want to reduce the attainment gap, as my hon. Friend the Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood) has said, we must ensure that all children at school are given an equal chance. We know that free school meals contribute enormously to reducing attainment gaps, because they help children from low-income backgrounds, who may not have good nutrition, to concentrate more in the classroom.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing this subject to the Chamber. He has clearly outlined the issue for those in the poverty trap, which is part of the cycle. Another issue is those of perhaps a different build, who are eating the wrong foods. He has indicated that education can address that issue. How does he see that balance being achieved between those who need that square meal every day and those who are, perhaps, eating the wrong food?

[Andrew Gwynne]

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Education is the key here. People need to learn about nutrition, and what is right for one child is not necessarily right for another. I hope that one of the long-term benefits of a scheme such as Sure Start is that those families start to understand the nutritional value of different foods and the need to have a balanced diet, with the need for healthy eating as part of that balanced diet, alongside other factors such as physical education and physical activity. There is no magic wand. There is no answer to one aspect. I am really concerned about some of the cuts to Sure Start that we are starting to see, because some of those very early age healthy eating programmes are now being targeted by local authorities facing the squeeze on their budgets. Some of the work done with very early years, which would benefit through to school age and beyond, is starting to be scaled back, too.

One of the perks of this job, as I am sure that you are aware, Mr Dobbin, and as all hon. Members from both sides of the House will agree, is the chance to visit schools in our constituencies. I have spoken to not one head teacher or teacher in either the Tameside or Stockport part of my constituency who is not tremendously supportive of the free school meals programme, because they know just how much it benefits the children whom they teach.