Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Tuesday 5th March 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

I have asked the Secretary of State a number of times how she intends to recruit and retain social care staff, particularly with the visa changes coming into effect next Monday, stopping those from overseas coming to fill skills gaps from bringing their spouse or dependants with them. I ask again: how does the Secretary of State intend to improve the recruitment and retention of staff in the social care sector while her colleagues effectively work to undermine her?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Later this month I will be 10 years cancer free, having survived melanoma first as a teenager and again in my early 20s. Can the Secretary of State look me in the eye and guarantee that she is doing all she can to prevent others from getting the same diagnosis ?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Tuesday 23rd January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am a little bothered, because we have a long way to go on the Order Paper. I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

We cannot discuss winter pressures in the NHS without acknowledging workforce shortages. The Secretary of State is having to contend with new immigration policies from her Cabinet colleagues that prevent dependants from coming to the UK, meaning that we are asking people to come and care for our loved ones while they leave behind theirs. I imagine that she is frustrated that that is now another barrier to recruiting staff to our health and care sectors. Has she expressed those frustrations to her Cabinet colleagues?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Cancer Research UK has found that too much UV radiation is the third biggest cause of cancer across these isles. Does the Secretary of State recognise that cost is a barrier for people wishing to protect their skin from the sun, and will she commit to having conversations with Cabinet colleagues to remove VAT on sun protection products, which will help protect NHS budgets and ultimately save lives?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Tuesday 17th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

It has been reported that the Home Secretary plans to tighten the rules for those arriving on a health and care worker visa, to block most from bringing dependents with them—yet another in a long list of her vendettas against children coming to these isles. What recent assessments has the Secretary of State made of how that will impact international recruitment and capacity in our already struggling health and care services?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

I call the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

New research by UNICEF UK has made clear how badly the cost of living crisis has hit the mental health of families with young children. Rising prices and services gutted by austerity have left 60% of parents feeling overwhelmed, anxious, unsupported and lonely all or most of the time. What representations has the Secretary of State made to his Cabinet colleagues ahead of the upcoming autumn statement to support families and to improve health outcomes?

Points of Order

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Tuesday 17th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

This is not the end; this is the beginning. There will be lots of opportunities for this to further be discussed. I want to make sure that this debate starts, and it is important that you lay out the facts. Hopefully during this time, you will have been starting to read the statement of reasons. I want to deal with the point of order from Amy Callaghan, who has quite rightly been waiting. I wanted to separate the two issues, because I believe it is an important point.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I seek your advice on what options are open to correct the record after the hon. Member for Stoke-on-Trent North (Jonathan Gullis), who is no longer in his place, spread misinformation in his question when he said that people in this House and in Holyrood are inciting violence on the issue of the GRR Bill.

[Kirsten Oswald]

That is disgraceful.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Monday 5th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Scottish National party spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

A recent report for the Aberlour children’s charity found that the DWP deducts an average of £80 a month from Scottish families on universal credit to cover debts such as advance payments caused by the five-week wait. Does the Secretary of State think that it is acceptable that 56% of our constituents claiming universal credit have been left with such tiny sums of money that they have been forced to go without food or to eat just one meal a day? Will he consider replacing the advance payment loans with a non-repayable grant?

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Speaker]

We come to the SNP spokesperson.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

Recent figures from the Department for Work and Pensions, acquired from an answer to a written question from my hon. Friend the Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens), show that the Department took £2.3 million from claimants in Scotland, at an average of £250 per sanctioned household. Sanctions against young people in Scotland have almost doubled since 2019, undermining the significant investment the Scottish Government are making in tackling child poverty. Does the Secretary of State stand by the practice of sanctioning the most vulnerable and leaving them hungry?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Monday 7th February 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

What a pleasure it is to see Amy Callaghan. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”]

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP)]

In July 2020, I met my constituent Stacey Conlin—not at a constituency surgery, but in the physically disabled rehabilitation unit at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow. We recovered from our strokes alongside each other, and I got to hear her story.

Too many people like Stacey have survived catastrophic life events only to be let down by this Government’s woeful welfare system—unable to work and unable to pay for basic necessities that many of us take for granted. Will the Secretary of State commit to revisiting the current levels of universal credit so that stroke survivors such as Stacey can fully live their lives instead of barely getting by?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Wednesday 3rd March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We are now heading up to Amy Callaghan, who I welcome back again—good to see you.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP) [V]]

Thank you, Mr Speaker, and I would like to thank you and Members across the House, including the Prime Minister, for your well wishes during my illness.

The Prime Minister previously guaranteed that there was no threat to the Erasmus scheme as a result of Brexit. We now know that charities such as STAND International in my constituency that participate in the programme are set to lose 96% of their funding as a result of the UK Government’s decision to pull the plug on Erasmus+. Can the Prime Minister guarantee that charities will receive match funding under the new Turing scheme, and will he agree to meet me and representatives from STAND International to ensure that no young person in East Dunbartonshire gets left behind as a result of Brexit?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lindsay Hoyle and Amy Callaghan

Monday 1st March 2021 Commons Chamber

[Mr Speaker]

We now go to Amy Callaghan. Can I say how pleased I am to see Amy? Welcome back—it really is good to see you.

[Amy Callaghan (East Dunbartonshire) (SNP) [V]]

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who wished me well during my recent illness.

The UK Government’s decision to withdraw from Erasmus+ has far-reaching consequences, including for the third sector. Can the Minister guarantee that under the Government’s new Turing scheme, charity funding will be matched to that of Erasmus?

[Gavin Williamson]

Mr Speaker, I join you and, I am sure, all Members of the House in welcoming the hon. Member for East Dunbartonshire (Amy Callaghan) back and wishing her the very best.

The Turing scheme offers young people and universities an amazing opportunity to explore amazing opportunities right around the globe, far broader and greater than the Erasmus scheme. I very much hope that universities and the wider education sector—including colleges and schools, which also have access to the Turing scheme as a result of the United Kingdom Internal Market Act 2020—in Scotland as well as in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will really be able to take advantage of this brilliant opportunity. As I say, I wish the hon. Lady the very best.