Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Hughes Excerpts

Wednesday 5th February 2025 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank the hon. Member for raising this issue in that way, and I pass on to Agnes and Jim how impactful what he has said is, and how important it is that he continues to raise this issue. Far too many children and young people are waiting far too long to receive the mental health support that they need, and we are determined to ensure that more children and young people can access high-quality mental health support in a timely manner.

[Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) (Lab)]

Llandudno is a beautiful seaside town and a wonderful place to visit, but businesses are struggling with a rise in shoplifting. In many cases, thieves are stealing in full view of staff because they just do not fear the consequences. The recent funding boost for neighbourhood policing is very welcome, but will the Prime Minister please tell my constituents what more the Government are doing to tackle retail crime and deter repeat offenders?

[The Prime Minister]

For far too long, crimes such as shoplifting have been written off as “low level.” That is wrong; such crimes are devastating. The Conservative party left us with rising crime and effectively told the police to ignore shoplifting of under £200-worth of goods. We have got rid of that shoplifters’ charter, and we are working hard to ensure that we take a grip where they lost control.

Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Hughes Excerpts

Wednesday 13th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle violence against women and girls.

[Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to tackle violence against women and girls.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department (Jess Phillips)]

This Government are committed to using all the levers at our disposal to deliver our mission to halve violence against women and girls. We have already announced our intention to embed specialist domestic abuse advisers in 999 control rooms, launched pilots for the new domestic abuse protection orders, and implemented a duty on employers to anticipate occasions when sexual harassment may occur and take responsible steps to prevent it.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jess Phillips]

I thank my hon. Friend for question. The first march was in 1977 and, frankly, progress has been too slow if we still need to march. We will use a cross-Government, transformative approach to halve violence against women and girls, and that will be underpinned by a new violence against women and girls strategy, to be published next year. That will include drastically improving the police and criminal justice response. Prevention and education are also absolutely fundamental to our approach, and we will work across key Departments, including the Department for Education, to tackle the root causes of these crimes.

[Claire Hughes]

Pupils in my constituency are benefiting from pioneering workshops that are designed to increase awareness of sexual violence and misogyny through a project called “Don’t Steal My Future”. Does the Minister agree that raising awareness of sexual violence in an age-appropriate way is vital to keeping young people safe? If so, will she come with me to meet the team at the Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre North Wales?

[Jess Phillips]

The simple answer is yes, I do agree. As somebody who has written and delivered such programmes in schools, I know that brilliant work is going on across the country in local authorities, multi-academy trusts and more widely, with voluntary sector organisations doing a lot of the work. I would be glad to explore with officials the best way to learn from those who work with children and young people, because we have to work out what will work in our schools and then make sure that we put it out everywhere.