Business of the House

Dave Robertson Excerpts

Thursday 23rd January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I have to gently say to the hon. Gentleman that the failures were under the previous Conservative Government, who left local government on its knees, with years of austerity moving money away from areas of high need, such as his Bradford constituency, to areas of lower need. He will know that the cost of children’s services has gone up and up in recent years, with a huge rise in demand, but central Government failed to provide any of the funding or support that local authorities needed to get a grip of the situation. That is why we introduced our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill—a Bill that I think he voted against the other week—which will begin to address some of the chronic costs for local authorities in providing children’s services. It is also why the Government are putting local government finances back on an even keel and ensuring that we deliver on the basis of need, not of politics.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

Yesterday I received one of the best emails that I have received since becoming a Member of Parliament. It came from my constituent Gareth Stewart and related to his son Hugo, who has finally secured a place at the Royal School for the Deaf in Derby. Hugo is deafblind, and it took two years for his parents to secure an education, health and care plan for him. It had to go to tribunal because it was consistently blocked. Even though the school had agreed to Hugo’s place, ready for September, the county council continued to fight his parents, so the resolution came only yesterday.

I have spoken to Gareth several times about his case, because it is so serious. He was content with me raising it on the Floor of the House on the condition that, in his words, I used it to speak about the wider problems that we have in Staffordshire with the special educational needs and disabilities system. Too many parents face the same challenges. They often use the phrase “delaying tactics” to me regarding the need to go to tribunal, and the consistent arguments at every step of the process. Will the Leader of the House update us on her discussions with Cabinet colleagues about introducing a Bill to fix our broken SEND system, and will she bring forward a debate on the shocking number of wrongful council decisions on SEND support that end up being overturned at tribunal?

[Lucy Powell]

Receiving that email from Gareth Stewart about his son’s place at the Royal School for the Deaf is an early reminder for my hon. Friend of how fulfilling the job of being a Member of Parliament can be; it does not happen all that often, but hopefully it will happen often in his case. He and his constituent are right to raise the chronic challenges faced by our special educational needs system, which a recent National Audit Office report found was at the point of crisis. Costs and demand are rising, yet outcomes continue to fall. This really is a broken system, and the Government are committed to addressing that. As an initial step, we put an extra £1 billion into SEND in the recent Budget. There have already been seven debates in this Session on SEND, which reflects the great importance of these matters to the House. I will ensure that the House is constantly updated on our plans.

Business of the House

Dave Robertson Excerpts

Thursday 9th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I will relay my hon. Friend’s concerns about what Hillingdon council is proposing for special educational needs and support for schools. This Government have allocated an extra £1 billion for special educational needs. We have also allocated significant extra money for local councils. There really is no excuse for Hillingdon council to behave in this way.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

Earlier this school year, the Friary school, a secondary school in my constituency, held a school-wide referendum, which included parents and the wider community, on lowering the voting age to 16. I am proud to say that this will be the topic for the Litchfield schools speaking competition, thanks to the sponsorship of Arthur Price and the Rotary Club of St Chad. Will the Leader of the House join me in commending the organiser of that referendum, head girl Emma Mackenzie, and agree that it is high time that we followed Emma’s lead and had a debate on the topic in this place?

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate Emma, and all those involved at the school, on highlighting these issues. As my hon. Friend is aware, votes at 16 is a Government manifesto commitment. We will bring forward legislation to make that a reality when parliamentary time allows—likely in a future Session. I am sure that he will want to report that back to his school.

Business of the House

Dave Robertson Excerpts

Thursday 31st October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

Since 2011, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has lost 437 full-time equivalent firefighters. More than that, the number of on-call and retained firefighters has dropped by more than 60% from 483 to just 189. That is a significant drop in the amount of fire cover, and the cuts have been 1.5 times deeper than in any comparable rural fire service. Does the Leader of the House agree that it is a pressing issue, and will she consider a debate on the adequacy of fire cover across the country?

[Lucy Powell]

I know from my own constituency that such matters are raised all the time. Fire cover, and having adequate fire officers, is very important to local communities. Budgets have been cut in recent years and I know that Home Affairs Ministers take that very seriously. Home Office questions are coming up shortly, and I am sure that my hon. Friend would get a good response.

Business of the House

Dave Robertson Excerpts

Thursday 17th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I think the hon. Gentleman said that one of the winners was What the Fork. What a forking good idea his competition was. I congratulate the winners, and all his constituents on taking part. I look forward to a bacon butty, a cup of tea, and maybe a piece of cake in Hinckley and Bosworth at some point in the future.

[Dave Robertson (Lichfield) (Lab)]

I commend the work of five volunteers in my community who run Lichfield Community Media CIC. By operating a news website, they have prevented our area from becoming a news desert. Unfortunately, their posts are being blocked because algorithms on social media sites highlight them as spam. Does the Leader of the House agree that the issue of how independent publishers can access their audiences through social media would be a good topic for a debate?

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend raises a really important matter, not just for independent publishers but for national news publishers, who are subject to the whims of tech giants when it comes to algorithms, and finding important journalistic work and news. I think the topic would make for a very well attended debate.