First elected: 4th July 2024
Speeches made during Parliamentary debates are recorded in Hansard. For ease of browsing we have grouped debates into individual, departmental and legislative categories.
e-Petitions are administered by Parliament and allow members of the public to express support for a particular issue.
If an e-petition reaches 10,000 signatures the Government will issue a written response.
If an e-petition reaches 100,000 signatures the petition becomes eligible for a Parliamentary debate (usually Monday 4.30pm in Westminster Hall).
These initiatives were driven by Luke Akehurst, and are more likely to reflect personal policy preferences.
MPs who are act as Ministers or Shadow Ministers are generally restricted from performing Commons initiatives other than Urgent Questions.
Luke Akehurst has not been granted any Urgent Questions
Luke Akehurst has not been granted any Adjournment Debates
Luke Akehurst has not introduced any legislation before Parliament
Luke Akehurst has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
Work has already started across Government to deliver on our manifesto commitments. I will be meeting the Mineworkers’ Pension Scheme Trustees shortly to discuss the best way to deliver the proposals.
My Department works with stakeholders including Transport for the North, elected mayors, transport authorities and passenger groups, as well as train operators, to assess the demand for services. Rail North Partnership, through which the Department jointly manages Northern and TransPennine Trains’ contracts with Transport for the North, monitors operators’ planned train deployment to ensure this falls within the requirement on them to match capacity to demand within the constraints of the network.
The government knows that Britain needs a modern transport network to help kickstart economic growth. Good local bus services are an essential part of prosperous and sustainable communities. As announced in the King’s Speech, the government will pass the Better Buses Bill to put the power over local bus services back in the hands of local leaders right across England, to ensure networks can meet the needs to the communities who rely on them, including in County Durham and the North East.
We also plan to empower local transport authorities through reforming bus funding. By giving local leaders more control and flexibility over bus funding they can plan ahead to deliver their local transport priorities. The Department will work closely with local leaders and bus operators to deliver on the government’s ambitions.
The Government has a bold new ambition to raise the healthiest generation of children ever. Launched in August 2022, the three-year Family Hubs and Start for Life programme provides approximately £300 million to 75 local authorities in England with high levels of deprivation, to improve outcomes for families with babies. This includes £100 million for bespoke perinatal mental health and parent-infant relationship support, laying the foundations for cognitive, emotional, and physical development.
Nationally, we will recruit 8,500 additional mental health workers across children and adult mental health services to reduce delays and provide faster treatment, which will also help ease pressure on busy children and young people’s mental health services.
We will also provide access to specialist mental health professionals in every school in England, so that mental health conditions, such as anxiety and depression, can be identified early on and prevented from developing into more serious conditions in later life. We will also roll out open access Young Futures hubs for children and young people in every community. This national network is expected to bring local services together to deliver support for teenagers at risk of being drawn into crime or facing mental health challenges.
The number of community pharmacies has reduced from 11,517 to 10,458 from 2019 to 2024. Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as with any other provider market.
The detail of the pharmacy contract is set out in regulations and in the Drug Tariff. These stand until they are changed. We are looking to finalise the consultation on funding for the sector for 2024/25 with Community Pharmacy England, as a matter of urgency.
Over 95% of pharmacies are signed up to deliver the Pharmacy First Service, and together they have delivered three quarters of a million consultations as of June 2024, taking pressure off general practices. The Department and NHS England are closely monitoring the service and working with Community Pharmacy England to support contractors in delivering this increased access to National Health Service care.
The Department and NHS England are aware of significant outliers in claims submitted through the Pharmacy First programme. These are being investigated through the appropriate routes, as set out in the service outline, and will be handled accordingly. If the investigation leads to concerns about fraud these will be escalated appropriately. Such processes help protect the public and contractors and give us confidence as we look to develop our services in the future.
The number of community pharmacies has reduced from 11,517 to 10,458 from 2019 to 2024. Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as with any other provider market.
The detail of the pharmacy contract is set out in regulations and in the Drug Tariff. These stand until they are changed. We are looking to finalise the consultation on funding for the sector for 2024/25 with Community Pharmacy England, as a matter of urgency.
Over 95% of pharmacies are signed up to deliver the Pharmacy First Service, and together they have delivered three quarters of a million consultations as of June 2024, taking pressure off general practices. The Department and NHS England are closely monitoring the service and working with Community Pharmacy England to support contractors in delivering this increased access to National Health Service care.
The Department and NHS England are aware of significant outliers in claims submitted through the Pharmacy First programme. These are being investigated through the appropriate routes, as set out in the service outline, and will be handled accordingly. If the investigation leads to concerns about fraud these will be escalated appropriately. Such processes help protect the public and contractors and give us confidence as we look to develop our services in the future.
The number of community pharmacies has reduced from 11,517 to 10,458 from 2019 to 2024. Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as with any other provider market.
The detail of the pharmacy contract is set out in regulations and in the Drug Tariff. These stand until they are changed. We are looking to finalise the consultation on funding for the sector for 2024/25 with Community Pharmacy England, as a matter of urgency.
Over 95% of pharmacies are signed up to deliver the Pharmacy First Service, and together they have delivered three quarters of a million consultations as of June 2024, taking pressure off general practices. The Department and NHS England are closely monitoring the service and working with Community Pharmacy England to support contractors in delivering this increased access to National Health Service care.
The Department and NHS England are aware of significant outliers in claims submitted through the Pharmacy First programme. These are being investigated through the appropriate routes, as set out in the service outline, and will be handled accordingly. If the investigation leads to concerns about fraud these will be escalated appropriately. Such processes help protect the public and contractors and give us confidence as we look to develop our services in the future.
The number of community pharmacies has reduced from 11,517 to 10,458 from 2019 to 2024. Pharmacies are private business and decisions to close are made for a range of reasons, as with any other provider market.
The detail of the pharmacy contract is set out in regulations and in the Drug Tariff. These stand until they are changed. We are looking to finalise the consultation on funding for the sector for 2024/25 with Community Pharmacy England, as a matter of urgency.
Over 95% of pharmacies are signed up to deliver the Pharmacy First Service, and together they have delivered three quarters of a million consultations as of June 2024, taking pressure off general practices. The Department and NHS England are closely monitoring the service and working with Community Pharmacy England to support contractors in delivering this increased access to National Health Service care.
The Department and NHS England are aware of significant outliers in claims submitted through the Pharmacy First programme. These are being investigated through the appropriate routes, as set out in the service outline, and will be handled accordingly. If the investigation leads to concerns about fraud these will be escalated appropriately. Such processes help protect the public and contractors and give us confidence as we look to develop our services in the future.
Pharmacies play a vital role in our healthcare system. We are committed to expanding the role of pharmacies and to better utilising the skills of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians, including by cutting red tape. That includes making prescribing part of the services delivered by community pharmacists.
We are currently consulting with Community Pharmacy England on the national funding and contractual framework arrangements for 2024/25.
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has provided more than £150 million for life-saving humanitarian assistance, healthcare, education and support for civil society and local communities in Myanmar. Most recently, the UK Government provided £1.3 million to help address the impact of the severe flooding in September.
The UK takes a multi-pronged approach to improving humanitarian aid and access: i) we work through channels including the UN Security Council and ASEAN to call for funding and unrestricted humanitarian access in Myanmar; and ii) the UK directs funding to local civil society organisations, overcoming humanitarian access restrictions to support the most vulnerable and hard to reach communities.
We do not routinely comment on the detail of operational matters or specific threats. But national security is the first duty of any government, and we take any malicious activity that might pose a significant threat to our security and public safety extremely seriously.
Iran’s malign activity, including the activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. The UK has more than 450 sanctions designations in place on Iranian individuals and entities, in response to the regime's human rights violations, nuclear weapons programme, malign influence internationally and state threats. The UK has also sanctioned the IRGC in its entirety, with the IRGC Intelligence Chief most recently being sanctioned this month.
The National Security Act 2023 provides a significant toolkit for our intelligence services and law enforcement agencies in the fight against state threats. This means that the UK is now a harder target for those states which seek to conduct hostile acts against the UK, including espionage, interference in our political system, sabotage and assassination.
In concert with partners, the UK Government will continue to use all tools at our disposal to protect the UK and its overseas interests against any threats from the Iranian state.
The Government is committed to an investigation or inquiry into the policing of the events at Orgreave on 18 June 1984 and will consider options for delivering this. We will ensure that the House is updated as soon as practicable.
We do not routinely disclose the locations or numbers of these platforms in the interests of security and operational effectiveness.
Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) is cross-government, multi-layered approach, utilising a wide range of advanced capabilities alongside our Allies as an international effort. There has been wide-ranging investment across the full range of IAMD capabilities since 2010, including the Sky Sabre air defence system. However, with this multi-layered, international approach, detailed investment costings for all IAMD capabilities over a fourteen year period are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
In October the UK signed a letter of intent on DIAMOND (Delivering Integrated Air and Missile Operational Networked Defences) alongside six Allies: France, Germany, Latvia, Norway, Poland and Sweden. We are working with these countries to agree the timetable for actions. A priority for the UK is making greater use of training and exercises opportunities, such as Exercise Formidable Shield in May 2025.
The European Long-Range Strike Approach (ELSA) is a multinational framework. Participating nations will consider capability cooperation programmes under the ELSA framework, to be funded on a case-by-case basis. The outcomes of the Strategic Defence Review will determine the UK's future programme choices.
Air and missile defence is a 24/7, cross-Government and international effort. We take a layered approach to air and missile defence deploying a wide range of advanced capabilities alongside our Allies. Without pre-determining the outcome of the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), threats from missiles and drones are advancing and proliferating, and we will explore options to enhance our preparedness for these threats as part of the SDR.
As announced by the Secretary of State for Defence, the British Army will deploy Challenger 3 tanks to NATO’s eastern border along with armoured vehicles in future years. However, details relating to the fielding plan for Challenger 3 are yet to be confirmed.
The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) remains a key component of international export control efforts. The Ministry of Defence continually assesses its effectiveness to ensure it continues to adapt to emerging technological developments in order to remain a relevant non-proliferation tool that strengthens international efforts to combat missile proliferation and frustrate attempts to deploy weapons of mass destruction.
Against the current schedule, it is projected that by end of calendar year 2024, the UK will have taken ownership of 37 F-35B aircraft.
The below table shows the recorded flying hours for the Chinook Fleet.
Year | Chinook Flying Hours |
2019-20 | 9581 |
2020-21 | 9734.7 |
2021-22 | 9283.8 |
2022-23 | 9055.2 |
2023-24 | 8027.1 |
Source: Joint Aviation Command
The second stage of the New Medium Helicopter competition commenced on 27 February 2024 with the release of the Invitation to Negotiate to Airbus Helicopters UK, Leonardo Helicopters UK and Lockheed Martin UK. Only Leonardo Helicopters UK elected to submit a tender.
The New Medium Helicopter competition remains sensitive, and the evaluation and approval process needs to complete before further details, including aircraft numbers, can be confirmed.
The second stage of the New Medium Helicopter competition commenced on 27 February 2024 with the release of the Invitation to Negotiate to Airbus Helicopters UK, Leonardo Helicopters UK and Lockheed Martin UK. Only Leonardo Helicopters UK elected to submit a tender.
The New Medium Helicopter competition remains sensitive, and the evaluation and approval process needs to complete before further details, including aircraft numbers, can be confirmed.
The second stage New Medium Helicopter (NMH) competition commenced on 27 February 2024 with the release of the Invitation to Negotiate and the tender returns are due back on 30 August 2024.
The UK has invested over £2 billion already in Future Combat Air System / Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) and the associated Team Tempest R&D programme, which has positioned us to play a leading role in the GCAP. The Secretary of State this week hosted with his Japanese and Italian Ministerial counterparts to discuss progress made on GCAP, including the skills we are developing in our respective nations and the economic growth potential for the programme.
There are currently no plans to order further E-7 Wedgetail aircraft for the Royal Air Force.
The upcoming Strategic Defence Review will consider the threats Britain faces, the capabilities needed to meet them, the state of UK Armed Forces and the resources available.
The upcoming Strategic Defence Review will consider the threats Britain faces, the capabilities needed to meet them, the state of UK Armed Forces and the resources available. It will ensure a ‘NATO-first’ policy is at the heart of Britain’s Defence plans.
The prime contractor, Navantia UK, is contractually obligated to deliver the Fleet Solid Support ship manufacture contract. The Ministry of Defence is well engaged with Navantia UK and members of their supply chain to monitor the progress of all aspects of the programme.
Shipbuilding supports 42,600 jobs nationwide, adds £2.4 billion to the economy every single year, and is an important pillar of our civil and defence industrial base. We are committed to supporting vibrant and successful shipbuilding and fabrication industries, and our skilled workforces who deliver them, in all parts of the UK.
The new Government is reviewing the adequacy of recruitment, readiness and retention efforts. Our Armed Forces face considerable challenges due to the inadequacy of recruitment and retention in recent years. We have not recruited enough people or retained enough people. This puts pressure on the availability and readiness of units within our Armed Forces and places more burden on those in service. We are determined to change this. The new Government’s work in improving retention and recruitment is part of a package of measures aimed to renew the contract between the nation and those who serve. Strength of our Armed Forces is also being considered as part of the Strategic Defence Review launched by the Prime Minister. We hope to make further announcements about retention and recruitment improvements in due course.
The Armoured Cavalry Programme (Ajax) is due to achieve Initial Operating Capability by December 2025 as planned.
This Government is committed to delivering a five-step plan to support high streets and town centres across the country, including in Chester-le-Street and Stanley. We will tackle anti-social behaviour with 13,000 more neighbourhood police and PCSOs, roll out banking hubs, replace business rates with a new system of business property taxation, stamp out late payments and give communities a strong new ‘right to buy’ beloved community assets to revamp high streets and end the blight of empty premises.
The Government will also work with local partners in the North East to deliver economic growth, supporting local town centres. We will work with the North East Combined Authority on a Local Growth Plan, which will be both locally owned and aligned with the national Industrial Strategy. This is part of our plan to move power out of Westminster and put it in the hands of those with the greatest stake in our country’s future.
This Government inherited a legal aid system facing significant challenges. The Ministry of Justice has recently undertaken a lengthy, evidence-based, and wholesale review of the operation of civil legal aid across all eleven categories of civil legal aid, including welfare benefits, known as the Review of Civil Legal Aid (RoCLA). The Lord Chancellor will consider the provision of welfare benefits legal aid services, together with the overall provision of civil legal services, in light of the evidence that has been obtained through RoCLA and the Legal Aid Agency’s own engagement with providers.
Under the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, legal aid is in scope, subject to means and merits tests, for advice concerning welfare benefits-related appeals on a point of law in the Upper Tribunal, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court, and appeals on a point of law regarding a council tax reduction scheme in the High Court, Court of Appeal or Supreme Court. Where an issue falls outside the scope of legal aid, individuals can apply for Exceptional Case Funding (ECF), where there is a risk that their human rights may be breached. ECF applications are determined by the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) on an individual basis and are subject to a means and merits test.
There are currently 27 providers who offer legal aid services in relation to the Welfare Benefits category of legal aid operating out of 31 offices across England and Wales. The LAA monitors supply across its legal aid contracts on an ongoing basis and, where additional supply is needed, takes action within its operational powers to secure additional provision to ensure the continuity of legal aid-funded services.