Business of the House

Debate between Lucy Powell and Kieran Mullan

Thursday 3rd July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I thank my hon. Friend, a Liverpool MP, for mentioning the tragic loss of Diogo Jota in that terrible car accident.

My hon. Friend is a champion of children who live in temporary accommodation and highlights the blight it casts on their lives. We absolutely have to tackle the very high number of children living in temporary accommodation, and she is right to raise some of the ways we can do that, but I am sure she would agree that the best way is to provide people with a long-term stable home. That is why we are committed to the biggest social housing programme in a generation.

[Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

Those of us who have been involved in the mishandled transition of post offices from directly managed branches to franchises, as has happened in Bexhill, have seen how poorly the Post Office has responded to local businesses that want to run those branches and the MPs who support them. Will the Leader of the House agree with me, on the record, that it really matters when businesses like the Post Office pay lip service to MPs’ views but ignore us on matters of substance?

[Lucy Powell]

I agree absolutely. I have seen at first hand as a constituency MP what happens when we lose a Crown post office and have instead a franchised service that does not match the one it is replacing. It is vital that MPs are able to play their role as champions of their local communities and the services they receive, including post offices. Post Office Ltd should pay more heed to them.

Business of the House

Debate between Lucy Powell and Kieran Mullan

Thursday 18th July 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her election as the new MP for Darlington; I know she is going to provide a very strong voice for the people of Darlington on these important matters. She will know that the green industrial revolution is absolutely at the core of the delivery of this Government’s missions—not only on growth, but on job opportunities and making the UK a clean energy superpower by 2030. Transport and the railways are a core part of that, which is why we saw the announcement yesterday of our railways Bill and our rail franchising Bill, which will be debated at the end of the month. She may want to raise these issues in that debate as well.

[Dr Kieran Mullan (Bexhill and Battle) (Con)]

In one of her first acts, our new Deputy Prime Minister cut “Levelling Up” from her Department’s title. The Leader of the House will know that there are dozens of town boards up and down the country that are populated by community leaders, business leaders and charity leaders. Whether it was intended or otherwise, the change has genuinely caused anxiety among many of them about whether their funding might also be cut in future. Can we have an urgent statement in the House so that the new Deputy Prime Minister can reassure them that the levelling-up funding they are due to receive will still be delivered?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. As a former MP for a northern constituency—I think he has travelled some way south since then—he will know that while the previous Government had strong rhetoric on levelling up, the reality was very different. There were small pots of money that were not transforming communities, and one of the biggest issues at the election was that large parts of the country, especially in the midlands and the north, felt that the previous Government had failed on levelling up. This Government will get growth in every part of the country, and we are committed to doing that.