Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment
Debate between Jo Churchill and Marcus Jones
Jo Churchill
I gave my hon. Friend an extra £100 million, with the Rail Minister sitting here; I could not have timed that more perfectly.
My hon. Friend also mentioned the Brunswick Street campus, where 80% of the jobs are driven by Government funding, helping people to drive prosperity. We all know that work is the way to do that. I thank him for all the work he does on the APPG for hospice and end of life care. The Government recognise the importance of access to high-quality, personalised palliative and end of life care, which means so much to families and patients. I was pleased to see that, as part of the Health and Care Act 2022, palliative care services were added to integrated care boards to help to drive better regional services. [Interruption.] I am being chivvied to hurry up and shut up—
Jo Churchill
Yes—I usually do this bit to other people! I thank those hon. Members to whom I did not get, who all had the same theme of working for their constituencies, driving results, helping people to prosper and making sure that when lives go wrong, they and their teams deliver.
As we rise for summer recess at the close of business, I offer my thanks to all the staff throughout the House, our own staff, the Doorkeepers, the cleaners, the staff in the Tea Room who keep us fed and watered, the Clerks, the catering staff, the police, the security staff, Broadcasting and Hansard, who all show amazing commitment and dedication to us, and of course to you, Mr Deputy Speaker, and the rest of Mr Speaker’s team. I wish everybody, including my own team, one of whom has worked here for more than four decades—not continuously for me, I would add—and another of whom came here with me in 2015, a happy, peaceful, safe recess, whether they are at work or play. Let us just remember that Sir David’s light remains.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Jo Churchill and Marcus Jones
Mr Jones
The hon. Gentleman mentions a critical area and it is vital that we support veterans who are rough sleeping. I run a cross-party working group attended by a number of Ministers, including one from the Ministry of Defence, and this is certainly a subject that we are eagerly trying to address.
Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)
We have heard about mental health issues and veteran issues, but does the Minister agree that another huge problem is addiction to both alcohol and drugs? What is he doing in that area?
Mr Jones
My hon. Friend makes a perceptive point. The use of drugs, particularly psychoactive substances such as Spice, which seems to be prevalent among rough sleepers, is having a very detrimental effect on getting people off the street. She will have heard that last week the Home Office launched a drug strategy, and we are working closely with it on that because we realise how critical that is in dealing with the underlying issues and making sure that we can help people off the streets.
Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Jo Churchill and Marcus Jones
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Mr Marcus Jones)
As the hon. Lady has identified, the £400 million that the Government have put into the homelessness prevention grant over the last five years has been part of a significant package to keep 935,000 families from becoming homeless. As she knows, a spending review is coming up, and that is one of the areas that we are considering very carefully: she will learn more about it and other policies on homelessness after the 25th of this month.
Jo Churchill (Bury St Edmunds) (Con)
In my Bury St Edmunds constituency, both the district council and the county council have an appetite for building houses. They would like to know what support the Minister will give them for looking at funding arrangements in order to facilitate that growth.