Oral Answers to Questions

Cherilyn Mackrory Excerpts

Wednesday 11th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

When it comes to the NHS, it is crystal clear: the Conservatives are on the side of patients, Labour is on the side of its union paymasters. I have laid out my priorities for the country: waiting lists down, inflation down, debt down, growth up and the boats stopped. All the right hon. and learned Gentleman does is flip from one thing to another. That is the difference between him and me. He is focused on petty politics; I am delivering for Britain.

[Cherilyn Mackrory (Truro and Falmouth) (Con)]

Q9. On behalf of my constituents in Truro and Falmouth, I would like to thank all the health and social care professionals in Cornwall for their hard work in a particularly difficult winter. Everybody comes to Cornwall for their summer holidays, which is brilliant, but it means that there is no respite in summer or winter for our health and social care professionals. In addition, when we try to recruit people into health and social care, which is a vocation, the sector is competing with hospitality. Is my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister aware of the extra challenges that places such as Cornwall face in recruitment and retention?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend is right to shine a spotlight on that issue. Like her, I am incredibly proud of all our social care workers and their commitment to their profession. That is why, this spring, many of them will benefit from an increase of nearly 10% in the national living wage, which will put an extra £1,600 on to their payslips. However, we also want to make sure that they feel valued through professional development training and career progression, and our half a billion pounds of investment in the social care workforce will do exactly that for the workers in my hon. Friend’s constituency and for others.