Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 2nd March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on such a precise question. He asks why we have not tabled a debate on it; it is because that is not usual practice. The hon. Gentleman knows how to apply for one. If he has any further concerns, he can raise them with my office.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Can we please have a debate on children’s access to education? I often have parents coming to see me who are struggling to get their children into school—their children may have complex needs or mental health issues, or are awaiting an education, health and care plan or a mental health referral, if they can get a referral at all. Parents are really struggling with some of those issues. When we hear Cabinet members suggesting that parents should have their benefits dropped if they cannot get their children into school, that shows a real lack of understanding of some of the struggles parents are facing. I think a debate would be really useful for Members to be informed of some of those challenges.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I think the hon. Gentleman is referring to a comment that the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, my right hon. Friend the Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), made at a policy group. I would certainly welcome any debate on the Floor of the House that highlighted the number of children playing truant under a Labour Government. In my constituency alone, I had 600 children who were out of school for more than three months of the school year—that is Labour’s record. When we came in in 2010, a huge effort was made to get those children back in school, and we have had considerable success at doing that, but I am always interested in what more we can do to ensure that all children are getting access to not just education, but the tailored education they need.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 19th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend raises an important issue of concern to his constituents. He will know that Transport questions will be on 2 March. I will certainly make sure that the Secretary of State is aware of the issue that he raises, and I thank him for raising it today.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

My constituent Gary Arnold entered into a business with the Saudi royal family some years ago. Unfortunately, that relationship soured, but rather than this matter being resolved through the courts, he has been subjected to a campaign of unlawful detention and travel bans, and he has been convicted, with a two-year prison sentence, in his absence. When I wrote to the Foreign Office, it said, understandably, that it cannot get involved in legal disputes, but this is far more than that—this is state-sponsored persecution of one of my constituents—and I think we can do an awful lot more than that to protect our countrymen. May we have a debate on what more the Government can do to protect our citizens who are faced with these situations?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sorry to hear about the hon. Gentleman’s case. He will know that Foreign Office questions is on 31 January, but this issue cuts across several Departments; it is about justice and our trade support network as well. I will make sure that all relevant Departments have heard what he has said today. If he wants to pass my office the details of his case, I hope we will be able to give his constituent the support he needs.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 12th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I encourage the hon. Lady to raise the matter with the Department on 17 January. In advance of BEIS questions, I will certainly ensure that the Secretary of State has heard what the hon. Lady has said.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

When we had that extremely cold weather just before Christmas, I was inundated with messages from constituents. They were contacting me because they could not speak to a human being at the organisations responsible for dealing with their emergencies. It was not just one sector; it was housing, water and energy. My constituents were often confronted with phone lines that no one was answering or directed to websites with chatbots that could only take very basic information. It felt as if the whole country was falling apart, frankly.

We are talking about people who are very vulnerable, sometimes elderly and often unable to access the internet. A whole range of services simply are not set up to deal with these situations. We need a much better system to ensure that those who are most vulnerable can speak to a human being, get information across about the emergency they face and make sure that someone deals with it. Can we please have a debate about ensuring that these customer-facing organisations are in a much better place to deal with these situations?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman has raised an extremely important issue, and I think a debate on it would be very well attended. I also think his experiences will be of value to the national resilience teams, which want to ensure that everyone is using good practice. If he writes to either the Cabinet Office or my office with some of his feedback and suggestions, I shall ensure that they are looked at seriously.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 15th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for providing me with the opportunity also to thank the healthcare professionals who work in that sector. We do not have to convince the Prime Minister of what my hon. Friend has said, as he is very aware of the important role that community pharmacies play. Such places play a vital role in ensuring that people stay fit and healthy over the winter months, and I encourage my hon. Friend to raise the issue again at Health and Social Care questions on 24 January.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Today is the fifth day this month that members of the Communication Workers Union are taking industrial action at Royal Mail. Having spoken to a number of superb postal workers in my constituency, I have real concerns about the way the company is being run. It has gone from making a huge profit to losing hundreds of millions of pounds in 12 months. It has prioritised parcels over letter delivery, and it now wants to drop the universal service obligation. If the future of the Royal Mail is for it to become a gig economy courier company, that will have huge implications for the quality of service and the terms and conditions of postal workers. That is something on which this House ought to have an opinion, so may we have a debate about the future of Royal Mail?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman will know that questions to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are not until the second week we are back, so I will write to the Secretary of State on his behalf to ensure that he has heard those concerns.

Standards: Code of Conduct and Guide to the Rules

Justin Madders Excerpts

Monday 12th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am afraid so, and if the hon. Lady would like to know more I can bore her for hours on this. I have been through literally every single Department’s processes and returns, and some of the information takes a while to extract, such as that from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. That is not an acceptable situation and it needs to change. I have set out how we will do that and by when I think we will have been able to do so, but I cannot stand at the Dispatch Box today and say that by March we will have a system where Labour Members of Parliament and Members of Parliament on the Government side of the House, if they are envoys or Ministers, will be able to report on a monthly basis. We can move to that system, and I think for the sake of a few months we should do this properly and get Whitehall in the place it needs to be in.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

I am concerned to hear that the Leader of the House is hiding behind officials, really. Members on the Opposition side of the House have a responsibility to make sure our records are correct; surely that applies to Members on the Government side of the House, whether they are a Minister or not?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for raising this point, because this does apply to those on his side of the House: among his colleagues on his Benches there will be trade envoys and other people undertaking work for the Government, and this will apply to them. I do not disagree that there should be parity between the two systems in access, transparency and timeliness; what I am saying is that the way in which the Committee has suggested this happen in amendment (b) will fail, and in a few months’ time—beyond March, when this system will come in—we will be in a position where we can succeed. That is what I am setting out for the House; it is for Members to decide, and they can vote whichever way they like. I am just apprising them of the facts. Anyone who wants to come and look at the audits I have done will regret it, but they are more than welcome.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 3rd November 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his question. He is right and Tingdene is wrong, but I understand that the Department has to bring forward some more detail about how the scheme will work. That should clearly be done swiftly in order to reassure his constituents, and after this session I shall write to the Department to ask it to bring forward its plans and communicate that to him and other Members of this House.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

On Tuesday it was announced that 132 McColl’s stores were to close as a result of the merger with Morrisons. Three of those are in my constituency—in Great Sutton, Whitby and Elton. I should declare for the record that my son works in a McColl’s store, albeit not one of those affected by the announcement. It is a real blow to the communities that rely on those local stores, but the other concern is that 55 of the stores, including two in my constituency, have post offices associated with then. Certainly, in Elton we waited for over a year for a replacement post office the last time it closed. I think that deserves a statement from the relevant Minister about what we will do to ensure that those communities do not lose their post offices permanently.

[Penny Mordaunt]

The hon. Gentleman is right that those stores, whether or not they have a post office, are desperately important facilities for communities, particularly people who are less mobile, and potentially provide a community hub as well. I will make sure the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy hears his particular concerns about the post office and provides his office with some advice about what he can do.

Replacement of the Chancellor of the Exchequer

Justin Madders Excerpts

Monday 17th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

I am sure the markets will be reassured to see the Prime Minister is not hiding under her desk but is here in the House today. She still has until 10 pm tonight to answer questions that have been asked if she wants to reassure the markets and create some stability. However, I have another question for the Leader of the House. I have been drawn in the ballot for Prime Minister’s questions on Wednesday; can she guarantee that the current Prime Minister will be answering them?

[Penny Mordaunt]

Yes.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

The Home Secretary’s presence might spare me the need to write a letter, but I shall write one anyway. I thank the hon. Lady for the important work she is doing in this very serious area and I will ensure that those discussions take place.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Further to the question raised earlier by my hon. Friend the Member for Wythenshawe and Sale East (Mike Kane) at Transport questions on the progress of the Insolvency Service actions against the directors of P&O for the sacking of 800 workers, the Secretary of State for Transport, the right hon. Member for Berwick-upon-Tweed (Anne-Marie Trevelyan), responded that that is a matter for the Insolvency Service. I understand that it is not the responsibility of the Department for Transport to monitor these prosecutions, but this is a matter of great public interest. Those sackings were unlawful and immoral, and the public want to know where the Insolvency Service is up to in its actions against those responsible. Will the responsible Department make a statement?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I shall pinpoint exactly where this sits in Government and write to those responsible to ensure that they have heard the hon. Gentleman’s request. When the issue was at the forefront of the media agenda, every Member of this House was appalled by those practices, so I will ensure that the relevant Minister hears the hon. Gentleman’s question and gets in touch with him.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I join the hon. Lady in expressing my sympathy to the residents of Riverside Drive. Having your home flooded is a terrible experience. The Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs work together to prioritise schemes to make sure that they get the best value for money. I will pass on her comments directly to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs so that he is aware of her concerns.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Almost a year ago to the day, the Post Office announced that Neston post office was to be closed, but that it would be a temporary closure while it found a commercial partner. I warned at the time that that would be a tough ask, and lo and behold, a year on, the Post Office has announced this week that because it has not been able to find a commercial partner, the post office will close permanently. A town of Neston’s size, with 20,000 people, should have a post office, and it is unacceptable that the Post Office continues with these flawed business models where they rely on commercial support that clearly is not there. Can we have a statement from the relevant Government Minister about what they will do to ensure that the Post Office can serve all communities?

[Mark Spencer]

I am sorry to hear about Neston post office. Post offices are great community assets. The Government set access criteria to ensure that services remain within reach of all citizens. I think that 99% of the UK population is within three miles of a Post Office outlet. It is a great resource. It is obviously a shame that Neston post office will not reopen, but we should celebrate all that is positive about post offices up and down the country.

Business of the House

Justin Madders Excerpts

Thursday 30th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend, because I think he is the chair of the all-party group on motorsport, and to you, Mr Speaker, for allowing the use of Speaker’s Court for some of that amazing technology and for those amazing cars. It was a true privilege to be able to see those motor vehicles.

My hon. Friend is right to pay tribute to the industry, which brings forward amazing technology here in the United Kingdom that is driving world investment and benefiting the UK economy. I do not know whether he had the opportunity to raise this in Transport questions this morning, but I will make sure that his comments are passed on to the Secretary of State.

[Justin Madders (Ellesmere Port and Neston) (Lab)]

Later today, the all-party group on leasehold and commonhold reform, of which I am proud to be a co-chair, will be hosting a reception. Among other things, it will be marking the life of the late Louis Burns, who did so much to campaign on leasehold reform. We will also be marking the introduction of the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. However, the big question that we will all still be asking is: when will ground rents be banned for existing leaseholders? We have had promises now for nearly five years from successive Government Ministers. Can we have a statement, please, with a date when leasehold ground rents will be banned on all homes?

[Mark Spencer]

As I said to the hon. Gentleman’s colleague, the hon. Member for Nottingham South (Lilian Greenwood), a moment ago, the lease reform Bill is coming forward, which is a huge step forward. It will be an opportunity for the House to debate those matters, but the Government are committed to help and support people across all constituencies to get access to housing. We want to see people own their own home, and also to be able to get on to the housing ladder and to access a home to build a future for themselves.