Banking Hubs

Liam Conlon Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Economic Secretary to the Treasury (Rachel Blake)]

I am grateful to the hon. Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter) for securing this debate and for setting out the concerns of not only of his constituents but, as he made clear, those of the many Members who are in the Chamber this evening who want to talk about this topic. I congratulate him on gathering people from across the country and from across different political persuasions to talk about access to banking services—I know how important it is to people.

Let me start by acknowledging the important work done on this issue by my predecessor, my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Lucy Rigby), particularly in relation to the announcement of the independent review on access to banking services and the Financial Services and Markets Bill, which was introduced yesterday. I will return to that later in my speech—in fact, I will probably be referring most hon. Members’ interventions to the access to banking services review.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

The Minister mentioned interventions, so I congratulate her and welcome her to her place.

I welcome this Government’s commitment to ensuring that people up and down the country have access to banking services. In my constituency, Mr Jignesh Patel has made an excellent application to open a banking hub in his post office in Anerley, with the support of local Labour councillors for Crystal Palace and Anerley as well as residents. With an experienced team already handling sensitive financial transactions daily and existing infrastructure already in place, his post office is fully equipped to deliver a banking hub with minimal disruption. Does the Minister agree that the application process must ensure that the merits of excellent applications such as that of Mr Jignesh Patel are fully considered, giving him and others the best chance of success?

Railways Bill (First sitting)

Liam Conlon Excerpts

Committee stage
Tuesday 20th January 2026 Public Bill Committees

[The Comptroller of His Majesty’s Household (Nesil Caliskan)]

As outlined in my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, I am a member of the trade unions Unison and GMB.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

As it says in my entry in the register, I am a member of the unions ASLEF, Unison and GMB.

[Sarah Smith (Hyndburn) (Lab)]

As it says in the register, I am a member of GMB, the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, and Community union.

Oral Answers to Questions

Liam Conlon Excerpts

Tuesday 9th December 2025 Commons Chamber

[James Murray]

The hon. Member is happy to criticise tax decisions taken by this Government, but where does he think the largest spending review settlement since devolution began came from? Where does he think the £820 million announced at the autumn Budget came from? He needs to support the tax decisions we take if he wants the investment to go into Scotland.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

10. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support patients in the NHS.

[Dr Simon Opher (Stroud) (Lab)]

19. What fiscal steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support patients in the NHS.

[The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (James Murray)]

The spending review 2025 provided record investment in the NHS, including the largest ever health capital budget. That investment has enabled a reduction in waiting lists of 230,000, with an extra 5.2 million NHS appointments. At autumn Budget 2025, the Chancellor protected NHS investment by allowing it to retain and reinvest efficiency savings in 2028-29, as well as making available up-front funding to abolish NHS England: a move that will unlock £1 billion in savings by the end of the Parliament, which can instead be used to support frontline care.

[Liam Conlon]

I thank the Minister for his response. When I was in sixth form at the end of the last Labour Government, I became one of the youngest people in Britain to have a hip replacement. I will always be grateful to the incredible NHS staff who cared for me. But between 2011 and 2024, because of savage Tory cuts, the waiting list for hip replacements at King’s College hospital trust, which serves my constituency of Beckenham and Penge, more than doubled. The Tories left thousands of people waiting months on end, but thanks to record investment from this Labour Government, those waiting lists are starting to fall. Will the Minister commit to continuing that investment in the NHS?