Digital ID

Andrew Rosindell Excerpts

Thursday 15th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Josh Simons]

Digitising right-to-work checks means two things. First, it will be easier for businesses to check people’s right to work and for citizens to prove their right to work, adding simplicity to the system and taking away the paper-based documents that can often open the way for fraud. Secondly, and crucially, it will allow a record of businesses that have conducted checks. That is the basis of tougher enforcement, which is the ultimate goal: tougher enforcement against those who hire people illegally, which undermines British workers and produces a pull factor that keeps illegal migration coming. That is what we are committed to solving, and why digitising right-to-work checks matters.

[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

This has been a costly shambles, and my constituents see it as an attack on their fundamental freedoms and privacy, so I am glad that the Government have done another U-turn. Will the Minister guarantee, however, that this so-called voluntary scheme is not suddenly going to turn into a mandatory scheme at a later date? Will he absolutely guarantee the British people that that will not happen in the future?

[Josh Simons]

As I said to the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford (Alicia Kearns), there will be strong safeguards in the legislation about how the scheme is used over time, and the hon. Member will be able to scrutinise them. He should feed in his thoughts about how that legislation should be structured to the consultation, which will open in a few weeks’ time.

Future of Public Libraries

Andrew Rosindell Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jas Athwal (Ilford South) (Lab)]

What a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for securing this important debate.

When most people think of libraries, they picture buildings in disrepair—defunct, disused and on the verge of imminent closure. It should not have to be this way, and I am pleased to say that, in Ilford, it is not. In Ilford, we have protected our libraries. We have made them more than just places to borrow books; we made them places for families to come together, residents to exercise and communities to learn about our local history. Across the whole of Redbridge, our libraries are now state of the art, with air conditioning, refurbished reference areas, upgraded stock with 50% new titles, meeting spaces, modern public toilets, free wi-fi, and new computers and iPads. Some are now open from 6 am to 10 pm.

We achieved that in the face of the past 15 years of Conservative austerity, which gutted our local budgets. As council leader, I knew that we had to be bold. From policing to parking, and from youth centres to libraries, we refused to accept decline.

[Andrew Rosindell (Romford) (Con)]

The hon. Member was leader of Redbridge council, which neighbours my borough of Havering, and I congratulate him on managing to keep the libraries in Ilford open. Will he explain, however, why the Labour and Havering Residents Association-run council that neighbours Redbridge has not managed to do the same, such that Gidea Park library, South Hornchurch library and Harold Wood library are closing? Surely we should make libraries community hubs and keep them alive for everyone to use and enjoy.

[Jas Athwal]

Politicians have to realise that they are in control and can make decisions. Nobody comes into politics to manage decline; we come into politics because we want to make a difference. In 2010, when Redbridge council was run by the Conservatives, the first thing they put on the table for closure was Goodmayes library, which is open to this day, because we refused to close it.

To some, what I have described may be small issues, but they are vital to the health and wellbeing of our communities and our children. That is why, despite relentless pressure to retreat and to do less with less, we chose to invest in rather than divest from our library services. We pioneered the co-location model, transforming our libraries into vibrant, multi-user community hubs, as the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) just mentioned.

Our Woodford Green library is also a gym. The library’s health, fitness and diet books are strategically placed so that they are there to greet people as they walk towards the gym, and are there when people come out, so they can take books on all the exercise they have done. Redbridge central library, where I host my surgeries, is a museum and has a busy cafeteria. Hainault library is a children’s centre and community hub. These are models of good practice that could and should be shared under the type of national library strategy for which my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Derbyshire is asking.

In Ilford, our libraries do more than just provide books and study spaces; they are community spaces to meet, learn about our history and exercise. That is what we can achieve when we put our residents at the heart of decision making. Innovative solutions do exist; we just have to be bold enough to deliver them. When we are told to shut down, we have to say that we will invest. That is how we secured the future of our public libraries, and I hope that a similar solution finds its way into a national library strategy.