Fresh and Nutritious Food: Inequality of Access

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Wednesday 5th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Gordon McKee]

The hon. Member makes an interesting point, which I am sure the Minister will address.

It is not just Anna helping the community, but many others. In particular, I would like to mention Maureen Cope, the long-standing chair of Castlemilk community council, who has worked tirelessly for almost 40 years to try to get a supermarket in Castlemilk. Despite “retiring” last year, she continues to fight for access to good food every single day. She is a real community champion. Others include local councillor Johnny Carson, who is in the Public Gallery today, along with councillor Catherine Vallis. They are both fighting incredibly hard for Castlemilk, and have been for a long time.

It is not just adults doing that; it is kids too. The kids at Castleton primary school won an award for their film about the campaign for a supermarket, titled “It’s Just Not Fair.” In it, we follow Annas, a kid at the school who walks to the closest supermarket. In between, there are clips of the kids and parents reading out their biggest challenges: expensive bus tickets, having to eat unhealthy food and being unable to get nappies for babies. Annas finally arrives at the closest supermarket, an Asda, one hour and 15 minutes after leaving his home.

Despite all the hard work by volunteers, as is so often the case, politicians have let the people down. In 2022, the SNP-run council said that a supermarket was “imminent”. It has not been delivered. While SNP councillors were patting themselves on the back for something that would not happen, they were simultaneously cutting the opening hours for the swimming pool, refusing to reopen the indoor bowling club and watching on as the SNP Government closed the police station.

That neglect has consequences. When basic services are stripped away one by one and Governments do not deliver, communities suffer. I am pleased that the Labour Government actually want to fix the problem. There are innovative new solutions, such as tools to direct greengrocers to the worst-affected areas of food deprivation.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

My hon. Friend is making a passionate speech. In a past life, as a cabinet member for health in a local authority, I was active in promoting a voucher scheme run by the Alexandra Rose charity and the Beacon Project, which offered families in need vouchers they could redeem for fresh fruit and veg at the local market. Does my hon. Friend agree that targeted schemes such as that could make a real impact in increasing access to fresh fruit and veg for families who need it?

[Gordon McKee]

I agree with my hon. Friend’s point. The Government have done a good bit of work in looking at ways to support community food markets that provide affordable fresh food to communities. I ask the Minister, when she responds, to commit to visiting Castlemilk with me to meet those on the frontline of the fight against food poverty.

Independent Water Commission

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point. The recommendation that I have accepted will create new regional structures under which water infrastructure investment will align with spatial planning, so that we can guarantee that in the future. However, that legislation is not yet in place, so I have set up a water infrastructure board in the Department. It will ensure that water companies are putting in infrastructure where opportunities for housing development and other forms of economic growth can take place.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I welcome the statement. Residents in Dartford will be impressed by the Government’s ambitious commitment to halve sewage pollution in our lakes, rivers and seas within five years. They have had to put up with the poor performance of Thames Water for too long. Does the Secretary of State agree that, unlike the Conservative party, which had 14 years to fix this, and unlike Reform, which appears to have no idea how to fix it, when the Labour Government say that we will clean up our water and protect the British bill payer, we mean it?

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend rightly points to sewage getting worse and bills rising every year for 14 years under the previous Government. We are turning the tide on Tory sewage today, and over the next five years residents in Dartford and elsewhere will see reductions in sewage until we meet our target.

Oral Answers to Questions

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Commons Chamber

[Steve Reed]

We take border security extremely seriously. That is why we have the BTOM—border target operating model—system, which we are very closely monitoring to make sure it is doing the work that it needs to do, and why we are investing money in the National Biosecurity Centre in Weybridge to ensure it does not fall into dilapidation, which is where it was heading under the previous Government.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

T2. The Conservative party allowed the rivers and lakes in my constituency to be polluted with raw sewage while water bills rose and rose. Does the Secretary of State agree with me that, as he just said, after 14 years of Conservative neglect, things can only get cleaner?

[Steve Reed]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Over the past 14 years, things only got filthier. This Government will turn the tide. Things will get cleaner thanks to the investment this Government are bringing in.

Fly-tipping

Jim Dickson Excerpts

Tuesday 26th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Tristan Osborne]

I thank my hon. Friend for that point. The Labour council in Ilford has very successfully led an enforcement and education campaign, with community hubs and enforcement hubs. Love Medway Hate Litter, in my area, and Love Essex are successful campaigns that challenge litter and fly-tipping, so education is critical. As a former secondary school teacher, I know it is important to get into schools early to raise awareness about the challenges of fly-tipping.

The lack of enforcement is concerning. My hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire and Bedworth (Rachel Taylor) mentioned the reduction in court fines issued. Their value fell in 2022-23 to £785,000 in total, which just touches the tip of the iceberg. To be fair, although there are no Conservative Members here for this debate, the previous Government did act, increasing fines from £400 to £1,000 under the antisocial behaviour plan, increasing court fines by £526 and abolishing local authority charges—so they were aware of the issue.

[Jim Dickson (Dartford) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend and near neighbour on securing this important debate. Fly-tipping clearly affects all parts of our country, rural and urban, and certainly my residents in Dartford. In the second quarter of 2024, there were 476 fly-tipping incidents—an increase of 21% on the first quarter—including in Leonard Avenue in Swanscombe, which has been the scene of no fewer than 26 incidents in the past 12 months. He talks about fines to be levied, and we recently discovered that Dartford borough council has chosen not to levy the maximum £1,000 fines that have been legally allowed since August 2023, unlike the neighbouring councils of Gravesham and Medway. Will he join me in calling on Dartford borough council to get serious on fly-tipping and impose the maximum possible fines on perpetrators?

[Tristan Osborne]

I agree with my hon. Friend that there is a postcode lottery across the country on how councils are managing this issue. I want to celebrate the example of Medway council, my local authority, which has done outstanding work. We have introduced free bulky waste collection for residential waste, working with our contractor, to reduce the quantity of mattresses and other residential waste left on streets across the town. The Love Medway Hate Litter scheme, which followed the Love Essex programme, has raised awareness among the public. We have increased fines to the top level, and it is important that councils send a message by using Government powers to increase fines. It is right that he challenges his council leader on this matter.

We also work across boroughs. Local authorities are not islands unto themselves, so it is important that Medway works with Gravesham, Swale and other local councils on cross-boundary issues. I note that my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) is sitting behind me.

We also have a wall of shame in Medway, to publicise people who are conducting this environmental crime by naming and shaming those who are caught and fined. We work very closely with our probation and community payback service to ensure that those who commit the crime clear up their mess. We have increasingly used CCTV technologies in hotspot locations to catch perpetrators. Those schemes in Medway have resulted in successes in challenging fly-tipping but, as my hon. Friend the Member for Dartford (Jim Dickson) said, that is not the same across all Kent areas.

I have a series of questions for the Minister. The new respect orders that the Government are introducing are extremely welcome. I entirely endorse the approach undertaken by the Home Office and others to curb antisocial behaviour, including nuisance biking and other persistent behaviours. Will the respect orders include those who engage in persistent environmental crimes, or will the Minister look at other enforcement approaches?

Courts can give different fines for fly-tipping, depending on the size, but many councils have a standard fine approach. Will that be reviewed to take into account the size and nature of the fly-tip to dissuade people from commercial fly-tipping? Will the Government monitor the number of fixed penalty notices and court enforcements occurring in each council area, because there is a postcode lottery in this country?