Oral Answers to Questions

Carolyn Harris Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right. We will be leaving the European Union on 29 March 2019. There is of course a lively debate going on in this place—that is right and proper, and that is important—and strong views are held on different sides of the argument about the European Union on both sides of this House. What we are doing as a Government is listening to the contributions that are being made and listening carefully to those who wish to improve the Bill, and I hope that we can all come together to deliver on the decision that the country took that we should leave the European Union.

[Carolyn Harris (Swansea East) (Lab)]

Q4. It has been almost a year since I stood in this Chamber, told my personal story and asked for a children’s funeral fund to be established. The Leader of the House recently expressed her sympathy for such a fund, and I have written to the Chancellor and urged him to include such a fund in next week’s Budget. Will the Prime Minister add her voice to mine, and ask her Chancellor to make this provision a reality?

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady has been a passionate campaigner on this issue, and has very thoughtfully shared her own personal experience with this House. We recognise what an incredibly painful experience it is to lose a child, and I know that the whole House is in sympathy with those who do experience such a tragedy each year; sadly, thousands of families do.

We have put in place a piece of cross-Government work to look at the whole question of how we can improve support for bereaved parents in a variety of ways. That work is being led by the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Dr Lee), who has responsibility for youth justice. We are already supporting the private Member’s Bill on parental bereavement promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake). We are making it easier for parents to apply for financial support, and we are also ensuring that support from across Government is brought together so that it is easily accessible for bereaved parents at what we know is a very difficult time.