Infants, Parents and Carers Bill

Antonia Bance Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 4th September 2026 Commons Chamber

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

I thank the right hon. Member for New Forest West (Sir Desmond Swayne), who I think has just stepped out for a moment, and all my hon. Friends who have worked on this matter for so long, not least my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson).

I rise today to speak particularly on behalf of a group of babies who are particularly vulnerable and sometimes forgotten: babies who live with their families in temporary accommodation. There are 177,500 children living in temporary accommodation at the moment—a record level. We all wish that level to be brought down, and yesterday I listened to a statement from my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Housing, who set out plans as to how exactly we will do that.

But for the moment, those 177,500 children remain in temporary accommodation, often in single rooms with shared facilities, living with damp and mould, and with no space to play, crawl or learn. They are often moved repeatedly, and are in a situation where their families lose touch with support networks; services struggle to keep in touch, as those families are far from their GPs, their health visitors and the hospital where their babies were born—multiple bus journeys away from the schools, early years settings and SEND specialists who were previously supporting them.

[Mr Rand]

Would my hon. Friend join me in welcoming the fact that our new Mayor of Greater Manchester, Bev Craig, has agreed to provide free bus travel for children in sheltered accommodation, which will hopefully go some way to making a difference to those children? I hope that this will be replicated in other areas across the country.

[Antonia Bance]

I thank my hon. Friend for that intervention. What a fantastic idea from our brilliant new Mayor of Greater Manchester—one that I will raise with our fantastic Mayor of the West Midlands to see if we can do something similar. I frequently argue with my Sandwell council to ensure that bus passes are provided to families in temporary accommodation.

For some families, though, life in temporary accommodation can be even more devastating. Our friends at the all-party parliamentary group for households in temporary accommodation set out evidence showing that 104 children died in temporary accommodation between 2019 and 2025, and 75 of those were under the age of one. The Lullaby Trust, which does work on sudden infant death syndrome, sets out that temporary accommodation provides the ideal environment for unsafe sleeping. Often, these children are placed with their families in single rooms without cots; in 2023, 4,100 babies under one were placed in temporary accommodation by councils that provided no safer sleep advice to those families, and 903 babies were placed by councils in rooms without cots.

This is personal. Babies in the 10% most deprived areas of the country are twice as likely to die as those in the 10% least deprived areas. My constituency is the 38th most deprived out of the 543 constituencies across England. I am always bound, when I say stats like that about Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley, to say: we are proud, we are resilient, we care about our kids and we want the best for them. But, as our Prime Minister has set out, 40 years of deindustrialisation and 15 years of austerity has put us at the bottom of all the wrong lists, and it is our job to reverse that.

Two hundred and twenty-two families are in temporary accommodation in my borough of Sandwell, with more in the bit of Dudley that I represent—that is 554 children. I am sure that other hon. Members will agree with me that there are some constituents who contact us who we worry about—and we worry about them constantly. We all have our lists. I know my families in temporary accommodation. Every one of them gets a call from my office every two weeks to find out where they are up to. Every one of them has been asked by my office, as soon as I know that they are in TA, “Do you have a cot for your little one?” Please ask families you come into contact with in temporary accommodation if they have cots, and please do your level best to find them a cot if they do not have one, because temporary accommodation is not safe for babies, and we should all be aware of that.

I think of the families I have met. I met Katie in central Wednesbury, pushing her two sons through town, on the first day that I was a candidate. I do not think my agent thought that one of his jobs was going to be childcare for small children, but it was because I needed to speak to Katie. She talked to me about how the council had placed her two bus rides away in Walsall, and she was trying to keep her autistic son in his nursery setting, by hook or by crook, on two buses. Then, quietly, she rolled up her sleeve and showed me the insect bites from the infestation in the temporary accommodation that she was living in. She told me that she was ashamed to show me. The shame is not hers; the shame is all of ours that that was where she was living. It was not for long—we got her out—but there are still families in those situations.

I think of Sarah—these are not their real names, by the way—trying desperately to cook, with three children, in a shared kitchen. How do you cook with three little ones around your feet? You cannot leave them in the single room that is your only private space. Steve, fighting for his family, called me at 20 past 6 about a month ago. He left a message: “Antonia, maybe you can help. We’re going to sleep in my car tonight—me, my missus and two kids.” They did not sleep in their car. I will not let people sleep in their car and my council, thankfully, will not let people sleep in their car, but I worry about our families in temporary accommodation.

That is why I am here to speak on the babies Bill. Although the babies Bill cannot solve the housing crisis that we face for children in this country, it can ensure that babies caught up in that housing crisis are not forgotten. It will mean support for infants and parents put on a stronger statutory footing; a stronger assessment of need; and accessibility of services that families receive. It will help to make sure that our most vulnerable babies are identified earlier and supported better, especially our babies forgotten in hotel rooms, two bus rides away from where they usually live.

The Bill will build on a measure introduced by my right hon. Friend the Member for Houghton and Sunderland South (Bridget Phillipson) in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 that councils must notify schools, GPs and health visitors when a child is placed in temporary accommodation. That means that better access to health visitors, stronger perinatal mental health support and earlier intervention to stop escalation will be more likely to happen for children in temporary accommodation. It means a better chance to thrive for some of our children, despite the challenges that their families face.

I have to end by paying to tribute to my three family hubs—my Tipton family hub, my Wednesbury family hub and my Coseley family hub—because behind every statistic is a child and a family left devastated. We remember every one of the 76 babies who died in temporary accommodation between 2019 and 2025. They should not have died; they should have been safe. The Bill will protect services for all children, especially the most vulnerable, like our babies in temporary accommodation, and I am proud to support it today.

Budget Resolutions

Antonia Bance Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

I am so sorry that the shadow Health Secretary is no longer in his place. After his astonishing speech, I wanted to invite him to the Black Country, where waiting lists of more than a year are down by 45%. I think that the right hon. Member for South West Wiltshire (Dr Murrison) managed somehow to compare a speech he disagreed with to Hillsborough; that is not worthy of him, and I hope he will withdraw it.

This is a Budget to cut the cost of living. It is a Budget to make work pay, raising the national minimum wage and giving 2.7 million workers a pay rise. Work brings dignity, and everyone who can should work, but work alone is not always enough to beat the wolves of hunger, cold and want. In this country, our deal is this: if you do the right thing and work, bring your kids up well and follow the rules, the country will help you in return. In our tradition, we believe in a strong state that helps people to lift their heads from daily struggle and gives everyone the freedom to set their own path. For so many, that means the simple aspiration of having children and building a family, which is why in this Budget we are funding more childcare, free breakfast clubs and free school meals. It is why we will build 1.5 million new homes, end no-fault eviction and ban zero-hours contracts.

With this Budget, we add one more source of security for working-class families. If you get ill or lose your job, if—heaven forbid—your partner dies, if your husband beats you up and you have to grab your kids and run, the safety net of our welfare state will once again catch you and all your kids. No child is responsible for the actions of their parents. The happy event of a little one being born should not tip a family into poverty, and whether a six-year-old eats tonight should not depend on how many sisters and brothers she has. In 2019, many of us watched a “Dispatches” documentary called “Britain’s Breadline Kids” and heard Cameron, then aged nine, say “We try not to eat too much in a day”. It shamed us all. We raged at our lack of power to change it, but now we can, and we will.

Ending the two-child limit at a stroke helps 5,540 children in Tipton, Wednesbury and Coseley and 1.6 million nationally—one in every nine of our kids. Most families who are helped—six in 10—are in work, and loads of them—four in 10—have a disabled member. None of them deserve poverty. So to the mums with three or more kids who are using universal credit to top up low wages and high rents, I say this: “I know how hard you work, and how tough it is out there. I know you love your kids fiercely. This is for you.” To the parties opposite, I say, “Don’t talk to me about how families should plan. You have never met a better planner than a single mum in Friar Park making the money stretch.” To my constituents who are working hard to make ends meet, not always able to afford everything they want, I say this: “I get it, but I will not apologise. Every child deserves a fair start in life.”

This is what a Labour Government do. Not the shame and powerlessness of nine-year-old Cameron telling us that he tries not to eat too much, but, with Labour in government, lower energy bills, higher wages, growth everywhere—not just in London—and lower child poverty. This is a Labour Budget for all our families.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill

Antonia Bance Excerpts

Report stage
Friday 13th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dame Siobhain McDonagh (Mitcham and Morden) (Lab)]

I rise to speak to amendment 12, which stands in my name. I want to be clear that a decision on amendment 12 would not be a vote for or against assisted dying. The amendment is about preventing any Government of any political persuasion from rewriting the very purpose of the NHS, using a small group of MPs in a Committee Room rather than debate on the Floor of the House. The amendment seeks to protect the foundational document of our NHS and ensure that any changes to it are properly debated in open Parliament, as the public should expect. Let me explain why that matters.

In Committee, clause 38 was added to the Bill. The clause gives a future Secretary of State sweeping powers to amend existing health law through delegated legislation. Subsection (4) allows a future Government to change the very purpose of the NHS by amending section 1 of the National Health Service Act 2006.

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is setting out her concerns eloquently. What concerns does she have that the Bill writes a blank cheque for a future Health Secretary to change the nature of the NHS without parliamentary scrutiny?

[Dame Siobhain McDonagh]

That is the whole purpose of my amendment and my speech. Section 1 of the 2006 Act is the legal foundation on which every NHS duty rests, guaranteeing that our NHS will serve everyone, always. The section, which expresses the promise of

“a comprehensive health service designed to secure improvement…in the physical and mental health of the people of England”,

has remained virtually unchanged since 1946. Those words, spoken by Nye Bevan and enshrined in law, set out the purpose of the NHS: a national health service free at the point of delivery.

Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill (Money)

Antonia Bance Excerpts

Money resolution
Wednesday 22nd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

Last summer’s Labour manifesto included the words

“Fully costed, fully funded—built on a rock of fiscal responsibility”,

and they were words on which I was proud to be elected. Money resolutions are normally a formality, but not this one—not today. This resolution asks us to give a blank cheque to this Bill, which makes me nervous, because that sounds like something that we in this changed Labour party just do not do. When we put forward a proposal for public spending, we know how we will fund it.

[Dr Opher]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Antonia Bance]

No, I will not.

In the case of this Bill, we not only do not know how much it will cost or how it will be paid for, but we do not even know what the money will be spent on. Let us think of the questions that we do not know the answers to. What will be the cost of NHS doctors attending the final appointment and waiting while their patient dies? What will be the cost of a second doctor to sign off? What drugs will be used, and how much will they cost? Will assisted dying happen in hospitals, in hospices or in new, purpose-built facilities? How many will there be, and where?

[Daisy Cooper (St Albans) (LD)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Antonia Bance]

No.

How much will those facilities cost? There are even bigger questions, too. Will this be an NHS service, or will we be contracting private providers? If it is an NHS service, which of my constituents will have to wait longer for an operation or a GP appointment because this Parliament will today authorise massive, unspecified spending in our cash-strapped NHS?

[Martin Wrigley (Newton Abbot) (LD)]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Antonia Bance]

I will not—I have only a little time.

It is not just the health system that will take on new costs. Our civil courts are groaning under the strain of years of Tory underfunding, although my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary is doing a brilliant job of putting our court system back to rights. However, this Bill will impose new unfunded and unknown costs on our courts. It blithely assumes that judges and courts will be available, yet the waiting time for a family court case at the moment is 10 months. That just will not work for the Bill. How much will the extra spending on courts cost?

[Daisy Cooper]

Will the hon. Lady give way?

[Antonia Bance]

I will not.

Those are all reasonable questions, and this House deserves to have many more answers than it has so far been able to get. According to the Hansard Society,

“To table a money motion, the Government must therefore assess how much money will be required and have some idea about where the funding will come from, although it is not required to set this out in the motion itself.”

That information is not in the motion, so will Ministers make that assessment available and set out where the funding will come from? I am glad to hear we have a timetable for the impact assessment, but it would be good also to see the delegated powers memorandum, given the scale of powers delegated to Ministers in the Bill.

Alongside others, the Minister is a member of the Public Bill Committee, and I thank him and all members of the Committee for their work on behalf of this House, scrutinising and seeking wisdom. I particularly thank the Minister for upholding the neutrality of this Government and our party towards the Bill in his acts on the Committee and in this House.

Those of us with concerns will not push this resolution to a vote today. I know that colleagues are desperate for there to be procedural game playing, but there is no such thing; there are in principle concerns and questions about practicalities. I do hope for some answers to my questions.

Oral Answers to Questions

Antonia Bance Excerpts

Tuesday 19th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Wes Streeting]

And indeed your very own local hospice, Mr Speaker—I am sure that will appear on the record. I am particularly thankful for the advocacy we have received from Hospice UK and charities such as Together for Short Lives and others that are making their voices heard about the pressures on the system. I say to all hospices across the country that I am taking those pressures into account before deciding allocations for the year ahead, because I want to ensure that everyone, whatever their age, receives access to the timely and good-quality end of life care, palliative care and, of course, support for people with life-limiting conditions that all of them deserve.

[Antonia Bance (Tipton and Wednesbury) (Lab)]

6. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on staff salaries in the care sector.

[The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)]

I was proud that the Chancellor raised the salaries of hundreds of thousands of care workers in the Budget. Last month, the Government introduced legislation to deliver the first ever fair pay agreement for adult social care. While we were giving care workers a pay rise, the Leader of the Opposition was belittling their work as merely wiping bottoms. I gently say to the Conservative party that it is better to be wiping bottoms than talking out of them. This is an important issue, and I am dealing with ministerial colleagues on it.

[Antonia Bance]

According to last month’s Skills for Care report, most care workers are paid only a couple of pennies above the national minimum wage, while the sector cannot recruit and retain the people it needs. Will the Minister set out the timetable for establishing the fair pay agreement and adult social care negotiating body, and will he give the House an assurance that the care trade unions will be closely involved in its design?

[Stephen Kinnock]

We took quick action on the Employment Rights Bill, which includes the fair pay agreement, within 100 days of taking office. The consultation process on the negotiating body can begin only once the Bill has become an Act. We are engaging widely with stakeholders, and I assure my hon. Friend that unions will play a central role in that process, but let us remember that, through the national living wage, we are giving the lowest-paid full-time care workers a pay increase of £1,400 per year.