Parental Bereavement (Leave and Pay) Bill

Debate between Kevin Foster and Antoinette Sandbach

3rd reading: House of Commons & Report stage: House of Commons
Friday 11th May 2018 Commons Chamber

[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

There was a degree of shock among the members of the Bill Committee at the evidence of employers who were not prepared to give employees leave if they were pregnant and then lost their child. I and many other Members were horrified by the lack of compassion and understanding being demonstrated by some people towards their employees at a deeply personally distressing time. I welcome my hon. Friend’s amendments that address the issue, which is an important reason for why we are being forced to legislate in this area.

[Kevin Foster]

My hon. Friend is right. The vast majority of employers will be considerate and understanding and will look to support their employees. At the end of the day, they will generate a lot of loyalty in an employee that might well be repaid in a positive way at a later date. It is not a burden for an employer to be good to their employees. Reducing staff turnover can actually be a huge boost for a business. Employees can get experience and develop skills and will stay if they feel that the situation is more of a partnership than a “them and us” relationship.

Unfortunately, however, there is still an undoubted need to legislate. The majority of people would not discriminate against others based on their gender, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, but there are some who would, which is why we have the law and the relevant sanctions in place.

NHS (Charitable Trusts Etc.) Bill

Debate between Kevin Foster and Antoinette Sandbach

Friday 6th November 2015 Commons Chamber

[Kevin Foster]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. In my constituency, for example, we have many people over the age of 60 who have retired from professional careers. They reach the point in life where they wish to retire from full-time work, but they still have skills and abilities that they want to offer, and might be thinking about a social rather than a financial reward. Having more flexibility in the charities’ structures means that they can bring in more of those people. People who might be slightly reticent about being appointed by the Secretary of State, perhaps because of their previous job, might be delighted to be involved in an independent charity that is committed solely to its objects.

[Antoinette Sandbach]

The risk attached to the appointment by the Secretary of State is the perception that it might be a political appointment when it is actually an independent appointment. That is what the Bill removes.

[Kevin Foster]

I could not have put it better myself. My hon. Friend is right that although the Secretary of State might appoint someone independent with skills and abilities such that they become a trustee by another route, the fact that they are appointed by the Secretary of State makes it appear that they are the Government’s person, even if they are diametrically politically opposed to the Government of the day. I am sure that the Minister will be able to think of examples of Government appointments who are not the most supportive of the current Administration.

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[Antoinette Sandbach (Eddisbury) (Con)]

I am grateful for the opportunity to take part in the debate. I am pleased to follow my hon. Friend the Member for North East Somerset (Mr Rees-Mogg), who spoke with characteristic authority, certainly educating the newer Members, among whom I count myself.

I support the Bill introduced by my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton). She cited the hospital that serves my constituency in Eddisbury, the Alder Hey hospital, as an example of successful independence from the NHS trust. To show how valuable that is, the hospital moved in October to new premises and became Alder Hey in the Park, a brand new £237 million hospital with 270 beds and 16 brand new operating theatres equipped with state-of-the-art technology. It treats 275,000 children across the north-west and north Wales, and is as important a centre for children’s health, medicine and research as Great Ormond Street in London.

The charitable part of Alder Hey became independent in the way proposed by the Bill in April. The charity has contributed £20 million for equipment in Alder Hey hospital, and because it is independent it is separate from the hospital board. In my previous role, I had experience of cases in which the hospital board and the NHS charity were integrated, and in which the charity did not have the independent thinking that is clearly demonstrated by the Alder Hey charity and the other six charities referred to by my hon. Friend in her eloquent explanation of the Bill. It is clearly a vital step for those bigger charities to achieve perceived independence.

[Kevin Foster]

It will be not just independence but the flexibility to bring in different skills and talents that will benefit the charity, its objectives and, ultimately, patients.

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend. One important step being taken by Alder Hey is in ground-breaking research, and the charity allows it to get funding that will help in those aims.

The new facilities at Alder Hey are extraordinary, designed in part by former child patients. A group of children aged 10 to 22 who had stayed in the hospital contributed towards the design of the new Alder Hey in the Park. I invite Members from across the House to consider visiting the hospital to see the invaluable work that it does. As my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills said, funding from NHS charities contributes to innovation and research.

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[Antoinette Sandbach]

I am so grateful to the hon. Gentleman for making that point, because health services that my constituents access are affected by decisions taken in Wales. The threat to maternity services in north Wales will have a direct impact on the resources of the county of Cheshire and Leighton hospital, yet they have no say in those decisions—even the hon. Gentleman has no say—because they are taken in Cardiff.

[Kevin Foster]

It is very tempting to go down that path and discuss various issues relating to devolution, but I am conscious, Madam Deputy Speaker, that to do so would not be in order. Does my hon. Friend agree that the benefit of the Bill is that it would make the charities independent so that they can select who is best to be on their board of trustees from the whole area, regardless of politics or boundaries?

[Antoinette Sandbach]

That is precisely why I support the Bill, and it is no doubt why my hon. Friend the Member for Aldridge-Brownhills has attracted support from so many Members today. The crucial matter is independence. Unfortunately, in my previous role I had experiences that went the other way when independence was lacking, and that had a negative impact on outcomes for my constituents.

Defence Expenditure (NATO Target) Bill

Debate between Kevin Foster and Antoinette Sandbach

Friday 23rd October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I wholeheartedly agree with my hon. and gallant Friend. My constituents are hugely proud of that.

The role that the British Army and our forces play is key in protecting not only the realm but overseas. My hon. Friend the Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) refers to the diverse threats we now face and it is clear that those threats are varied and appear suddenly out of the blue in places where they were not anticipated. We have seen, for example, the rise of Daesh and the threat that that poses to our country.

I know that the Minister appreciates that investment in defence leads to skills that come back into our civilian community, particularly in vital areas such as engineering, communication and cyber-skills. That investment represents an investment elsewhere in our economy and gives a return to us as a country. I urge the Government to support the Bill, as that investment in our country’s future is key. It is not just about the defence of the realm but about the economic benefits that can be gained from the huge skills that that investment provides to the British economy.

My constituents raise the question of the 2% commitment with me regularly, and they do so because they have seen the 0.7% commitment. I agree that we need to support countries that need our assistance, but they do not understand why that commitment can be made to international aid but not to defence.

[Kevin Foster]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech and a powerful point about the economic benefit of the skills people acquire in the military. Does she agree that it is even more pressing when we consider the potential expansion of civil nuclear power, given that virtually every senior nuclear engineer in this country has been trained by our nuclear Navy?

[Antoinette Sandbach]

I wholly agree. In the context of the north-west and Wales, the new Wylfa B power station is planned and those nuclear skills will be key in securing the energy future of our country. My constituents specifically asked me to be present for this debate and to make the point that they urge the Government to stick to the minimum commitment of 2% to be spent on defence and to consider increasing the budget. For them and their families, the security and defence of the realm is hugely important. They understand and appreciate that that investment in defence leads to broader economic benefits. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Aldershot (Sir Gerald Howarth) for introducing this Bill so I can support it today.