Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Tom Gordon

Monday 7th July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

I am delighted to hear about the experience in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I will do my very best to come and visit, but if not, I am sure one of my ministerial colleagues would be able to join him and see the services directly.

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

Some of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children are those who have been adopted or are receiving kinship care. Will the Best Start family hubs provide any specific help for those who have lost out on access and support as a result of the cuts in the adoption and special guardianship support fund?

[Bridget Phillipson]

The extra investment that is going into Best Start family hubs runs alongside the additional £500 million that we are committing to early support and preventive services along with our colleagues at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. A number of other Members have asked about the adoption and special guardianship support fund. We recognise its importance, which is why we have provided a budget of £50 million for the next year. We have had to make decisions to ensure that more children can benefit from such support, but that goes hand in hand with the kinship allowances and improved support for foster carers that we are determined to deliver as part of our wider reform of children’s social care.

“For Women Scotland” Supreme Court Ruling

Debate between Bridget Phillipson and Tom Gordon

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Bridget Phillipson]

My hon. Friend will understand that I am not in a position to comment on ongoing cases, but I can say to her that I agree that the Supreme Court ruling demonstrated that the Equality Act introduced by the last Labour Government is the basis on which single-sex provision based on biological sex should be delivered.

[Tom Gordon (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)]

The Minister says that the ruling provides clarity, but for the trans constituents I met and corresponded with over the weekend it provides anxiety and fear. Last week, a local media outlet, The Stray Ferret, published an article documenting a 60% increase in trans hate crime in the last decade in North Yorkshire alone. I and many others worry that the rhetoric and language around this issue will only fuel that. Can the Minister confirm how the Government will ensure that trans people, who are already disproportionately targeted, are not marginalised further and that the upcoming EHRC guidance addresses safety and inclusion as seriously as it does this legal clarity?

[Bridget Phillipson]

The Supreme Court ruling was clear, but the hon. Member is right that there can be no place for hate or for people to be targeted on that basis. It is important that action is taken against those who perpetrate hate crime.