Future of Public Libraries

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Wednesday 14th May 2025 Westminster Hall

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) on securing this debate. The Chamber is very well attended, and rightly so; libraries remain at the heart of our communities.

Libraries are more than just books. They offer computer and internet access, host local community groups and provide safe spaces for those who need it. Library staff, supported by volunteers, are pillars of the community. They help those who are most vulnerable, such as the elderly, children and jobseekers. Even throughout the pandemic, libraries adapted to lockdown, and began to provide online services and activities, including e-books. Those services will have supported many families throughout those difficult times, and many would have struggled without them.

I am passionate about all children having access to a quality education, and libraries help to provide that. They provide the environment for children to be curious and have imagination. I am lucky enough to have Harry Potter world in my constituency. JK Rowling’s ability to read previous authors, like the Enid Blytons of the world, would have driven the imagination that allowed her to create the vision that we all enjoy today. Statistics show that about two thirds of children aged 15 visit the library each year in London. They use them in multiple ways by borrowing books, or using computers, printing facilities or study spaces. Nowhere else can offer all those things.

I am lucky enough to have six libraries in my constituency of South West Hertfordshire: Abbots Langley, Chorleywood Community, Croxley Green, Kings Langley Community, Oxhey and Rickmansworth. I am a regular user of those libraries, hiring meetings rooms at Croxley Green to meet constituents and to discuss a library link scheme. Croxley Green is a tier 2 library, meaning it is a community-focused, small library. Its library link scheme allows residents to request specialised research from a librarian. It also ran a slipper project, encouraging elderly people to bring in their old slippers to be replaced with new ones to keep them warm in the winter.

Rickmansworth library has unfortunately been closed for a number of months due to a refurbishment following a fire. Understandably, locals are concerned because they do not have access to the library services. I know that the county council is providing some of those services off site, but I will continue to work with Hertfordshire county council, whoever the new leader is, to ensure that my community keeps the services that it has had over many years. I do not want Rickmansworth library to be one of the 2,276 libraries that have closed since 2016.

Instead of seeing libraries close, we should be seeking plans to open new ones—for example, in Leavesden in my constituency, which does not have a local library. In England and Wales, only 78% of the population are within a 30-minute walk of a public library. We should be investing to increase that percentage. The Conservative Government committed to publishing a public library strategy, which the election unfortunately prevented.

[Chris Kane]

On the location of libraries, certainly in Scotland, there is a statutory duty is to provide a library service. That means that only one library could be provided for my constituency of nearly 2,500 sq km. Does the hon. Member agree that access and proximity to the library in terms of travel time is important to any strategy?

[Mr Mohindra]

I wholeheartedly agree, especially for some of our more rural communities. There are modern ways of solving that problem, including mobile libraries, which allow communities to have access for a few hours each week to a van that drives around, and books can be pre-ordered via an online system.

Will the Minister commit the Government to publishing a public library strategy? I am sure that members of the wider community would be keen to hear the direction of travel.

I congratulate Hertfordshire library services, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary. We should support all counties to continue offering these services, so that libraries can remain the strong community hubs they have been for so long.

United States Film Tariff

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Wednesday 7th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Bryant]

I have already made the point that we think there is a win-win situation. A strong US movie industry will benefit a strong UK movie industry. I believe in fair trade and free trade. In fact, over recent years, it has been worrying that more and more countries have wanted to put up protectionist measures around a whole series of industries. It has tended not to happen in services, and to be more about goods, which is one of the other issues. The hon. Member is right about Scotland. I am very keen on working with all the devolved Administrations to make sure that we remain the best place in which to make films and high-end television. I do not know whether anybody has watched “Havoc”—[Interruption.] Sorry, I was not referring to the Conservative party. Returning to my point, “Havoc” was all filmed in Wales, but it looks as if it is an American dystopian city.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

Warner Brothers Studios Leavesden is in my constituency and a genuinely world-class film and TV production centre. It provides thousands of jobs, generates significant wealth for the UK economy, and earns South West Hertfordshire the reputation of Hollywood in Hertfordshire. Major international blockbusters, including “Barbie”, “Mission: Impossible”, “Paddington” and the Harry Potter franchise have been filmed there, and the recently confirmed HBO Harry Potter TV series is set to be filmed there this summer.

Leaving aside the decisions that the Chancellor has made and the impact that they have had on the economy, can the Minister reassure us that he will continue to update the House and the industry more widely about how the Government will mitigate these tariffs if they come to fruition?

[Chris Bryant]

We are working on making sure that we have a proper trade deal that would not just mitigate the tariffs, but mean that we would not end up in the situation that the hon. Gentleman has just described. I know Leavesden well, and, for that matter, Warner was in touch very quickly—actually I think I was in touch with it very quickly on Monday morning. I am very hopeful that it will be part of our discussions when I gather the industry together tomorrow afternoon, but the hon. Gentleman makes a good point none the less.

Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Monday 13th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

My hon. Friend makes the most important point. I am determined—I have said this publicly numerous times—that equity will be built into the technology and the policies of this Government from the outset. When she reads the reports, when she hears the words of this Government and when she listens to the Prime Minister, I hope she is reassured that this Government want to ensure that everyone from every background not only feels the ability to connect with and work within the tech sector here to create the technology of the future, but benefits equally from the products that come out the other side, including being able to use products intuitively and benefit from the wealth that is created from them. When it comes to using public data, I realise that there are communities in parts of this country that need to be taken on a longer journey and to be more reassured, and I fully commit to doing so as we go forward.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

I welcome this action plan, which mentions data centres. As the Secretary of State may be aware, the Deputy Prime Minister is currently reviewing the need for a data centre in Kings Langley in my constituency.

Both the report and the Secretary of State talk about ensuring that the infrastructure is in the right place. I am working alongside my constituents in Kings Langley, because the proposed site is prime green belt. If there is a need to build on and develop the site, housing would make better sense, because energy—a huge requirement for data centres—is not available nearby. How can the Secretary of State ensure that we are not encouraging the building of white elephants in the wrong places?

[Peter Kyle]

I can assure the hon. Gentleman that the energy and other constituent needs of data centres are, at last, being taken into account in strategic planning in our country. We have created the AI Energy Council, which is jointly chaired by the Energy Secretary and me, and the planning reforms will mean that we can expedite investment in data centres.

The hon. Gentleman should be aware that data centres are not a singular investment, but that other innovations, industries and businesses often cluster around them. He mentioned heat, and community heat networks often stem and flow from such investments, if there is the right local leadership, if there is planning in place and if there is the vision to make sure that our country benefits the most.

We have that vision, and I implore the hon. Gentleman to start getting involved with the local issues to shape what unfolds for the digital infrastructure of the future, so that it benefits absolutely everyone. This is a potential source of sustainable, good-quality wealth creation and job creation into the future. I suggest that his party gets on board and grabs it with both hands, rather than talking down the agenda we are putting forward today.

Oral Answers to Questions

Gagan Mohindra Excerpts

Wednesday 3rd May 2023 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Mr Speaker, 98% of people already possess a suitable form of voter ID, and the Government made available free alternative ID for those who do not have it. The pilots have demonstrated that it has not significantly impacted turnout, and indeed, this was a policy that was introduced by the Labour party in Northern Ireland all those years ago. It is common in European countries, it is common in Canada, and it is absolutely right that we introduce it here too.

[Mr Gagan Mohindra (South West Hertfordshire) (Con)]

Q14.   Ever since being elected in 2019, I have been inundated with correspondence from my constituents in South West Hertfordshire, rightly complaining about huge speculative developments on our beautiful green-belt land. Lib Dem-controlled Three Rivers District Council continues to dither and to delay its local plan. Does the Prime Minister agree that the choice tomorrow is simple: vote Conservative to protect our green belt, or vote Lib Dem for massive developments on unspoilt land?

[The Prime Minister]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is always the same with Liberal Democrats, saying one thing and doing the other—we have all seen it. It is the Conservatives that are the party of local decisions taken by local people, and it is only the Conservatives that will protect the green belt.