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
A Bill to give police powers to enter a private dwelling for the purpose of seizing an off-road bike that has been driven in an anti-social way or without insurance; and for connected purposes.
Luke Akehurst has not co-sponsored any Bills in the current parliamentary sitting
The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of risks. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years.
The scale of these capabilities is driven by classified planning assumptions derived from the United Kingdom’s National Security Risk Assessment. The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025
GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.
The United Kingdom has well-developed contingency plans to respond to a wide range of eventualities. The plans and supporting arrangements have been developed, refined and tested over many years. This includes continuous reviews of the risk landscape through specific assessment and updating of NSRA risks. Plans are developed in line with the risk landscape and scalable to these risks.
The Government sets out some of the main risks and emergencies that drive this common consequence planning in the National Risk Register, the latest version of which was published earlier this year: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-risk-register-2025
GOV.UK/prepare, the Government’s website for resilience and emergency planning, is designed to help people plan for potential hazards and equip themselves with the necessary knowledge and resources to respond effectively.
The Procurement Act 2023, which is due to come into force on 24 February 2025, establishes a new public procurement regime, creating a simpler and more transparent system that will deliver better value for money.
Alongside this, a new National Procurement Policy Statement is being introduced aligned to the Government’s strategic priorities including growing the economy, creating high-quality local jobs, driving innovation and opening up opportunities to small businesses and social enterprises.
Contracting authorities are encouraged to consider how their procurement strategies can support domestic supply chains, including the vehicle manufacturing sector, while ensuring value for money for taxpayers.
This Government will take a consistent, long term and strategic approach to managing the UK’s relations with China. We will co-operate where we can, compete where we have different interests, and challenge where we must. As an open economy, we welcome foreign trade and investment where it supports growth and jobs in the UK and meets our legal and regulatory requirements. We work closely with industry to build secure supply chains and back UK businesses. The government has also established Great British Energy to drive forward greater investment in clean, home-grown energy production and to build supply chains across the UK.
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.
I refer my hon. Friend, the Member for North Durham to the answer of 17 January 2025 to Question 24633.
The Government Fleet Commitment states that 100% of the central government car and van fleet will be fully zero emission by 2027. This represents a major opportunity for UK-based manufacturers, and the Department is working with them to ensure they can take advantage.
All drivers must have the correct insurance cover for the purpose they are using their vehicle for, and the police may check this when stopping a vehicle.
The Government takes uninsured driving seriously and tackles this through Continuous Insurance Enforcement (CIE), a scheme where the Motor Insurers’ Bureau and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency collaborate to identify uninsured drivers; police enforcement on the road and through Operation Tutelage.
An assessment suggested Chester-le-Street calls on Trans Pennine Express be increased to hourly services, which have now been implemented. As well as the LNER London to Newcastle trains be increased from two trains per hour to three trains per hour, now scheduled to start from December 2025.
Darlington should retain its two trains per hour to London by LNER and Durham should retain its one train per hour to London by LNER, both of which have been confirmed.
Other benefits to the North-east identified for introduction include more local trains north of Newcastle.
Network Rail is modelling the timetable to enable industry to focus on actions to ensure the timetable can be delivered reliably.
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.
We published new analysis alongside the Get Britain Working White Paper which shows that there are 45,000 young people out of work, education and training across the North East.
Those young people are being failed.
The data is not robust enough to be broken down further at constituency level, but our Youth Guarantee will ensure everyone aged 18-21 in England can access quality training, educational opportunities or help to find work - wherever they live.
Primary progressive aphasia is a rare type of dementia where the recommended treatment is usually speech and language therapy, which is carried out by a speech and language therapist. NHS England is committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia, and central to this is the provision of personalised care and support planning for post diagnostic support.
Local authorities are required to provide or arrange services that meet the social care needs of the local population under the Care Act 2014.
Provision of dementia health care services is the responsibility of local integrated care boards (ICBs). NHS England would expect ICBs to commission services based on local population needs, taking account of National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines. It is the responsibility of the IBC to work within their geographical area to offer services that meet the needs of their population.
The Government has pledged to reform the National Health Service so that it better meets the needs of patients. This includes the current engagement exercise, which will help to shape the 10-Year Health Plan. This will be published in spring 2025 and is expected to underline the large shifts in how healthcare is provided.
The NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) has begun a programme of work with our partners to consider the future efficiency requirements and potential areas of investment for the future. While a Tourette's syndrome service may be considered within this process, it is likely that we will review the alignment of specialist support within the wider children and young people's mental health service pathways, including the links with local authorities on special educational needs and disability provision.
As commissioners, the ICB also undertakes an annual planning exercise to identify pathways that may require review. The pathway for the diagnosis and management of Tourette's syndrome, not only in County Durham, but across the North East and North Cumbria, will be identified through this exercise as an area for potential review in 2025/26. This will help us to understand where there are gaps in the provision of this specialist service that may potentially need to be addressed across the region. This planning exercise will require a prioritisation exercise to consider the clinical and cost benefits of a range of potential investment opportunities.
We are working closely, and at pace, with NHS England on this once in a generation funding boost. We will set out the details of the funding allocation and dissemination in the coming weeks.
In 2023, the Centre for Perioperative Care published revised National Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures (NatSSIPs2). The standards were designed to reduce misunderstandings or errors, and to improve team cohesion. The NatSSIPs2 include a requirement for providers to have a local fire safety policy, in order to minimise the risk of surgical fires, and a management plan in the event of one occurring.
The NatSSIPs2 should form the basis of improvement work, inspections, and curricula. The standards support National Health Service organisations in providing safer care, and to reduce the number of patient safety incidents related to invasive procedures in which surgical fires can occur.
At this time, the Department has no plans to make training mandatory or to introduce further policies in relation to surgical fires
We understand that cancer patients are waiting longer than they should for the care they need, and we are taking action to address this. The Government is committed to improving cancer care and reducing waiting times for treatment, including for radiotherapy. We will also be spending £70 million on new radiotherapy machines, to ensure that the most advanced treatment is available to patients who need it.
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.
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.
We continue to call on the Myanmar military to allow full, unrestricted humanitarian access in Myanmar and to respect fundamental humanitarian principles, including in Rakhine state. One in four households in Myanmar are in acute food insecurity. The UK has reached over 650,000 people with humanitarian food support in 2024, through our humanitarian programme. We will continue to maintain a spotlight on the humanitarian situation in Myanmar and will continue to provide vital humanitarian assistance and support.
Since the coup, the UK has provided over £170 million to Myanmar in lifesaving humanitarian assistance, including healthcare provision through the Access to Health (A2H) Fund. The UK is the largest donor to A2H, which has supported vulnerable populations with critical nutrition services, maternal and child health interventions, and immunisation services since 2021. In 2024, UK-funded support provided essential health services to approximately 1.2 million people.
The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for people affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar, including £2 million to the (A2H) Fund. So far, UK funding has reached over 48,000 people with healthcare services following the immediate aftermath of the earthquake.
The UK has announced up to £25 million in life-saving support for those affected by the recent earthquake in Myanmar, including up to £5 million to match public donations to the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal. So far this support has provided food, water, healthcare, and shelter supplies to over 300,000 people. The UK funds local actors who can directly access affected populations, overcoming humanitarian access restrictions to support the most vulnerable communities.
The UK does not fund the military regime in Myanmar, and the regime has no involvement in directing our programmes. To manage the increased risk of aid diversion due to security and access constraints, we contract a third party to monitor our humanitarian programmes, verifying activities have taken place and flagging any allegations of aid diversion or other malpractice.
This Government takes a consistent, long-term, and strategic approach to managing the UK's relations with China, rooted in UK and global interests. Upholding national security and keeping the public safe is the first duty of this government. This underpins not just our relationship with China, but all our international relationships. In recent years we have seen China rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal with more warheads and a larger number of sophisticated delivery systems. We regularly engage China on these issues, including as part of discussions among recognised Nuclear Weapons States (the 'P5 'process'), and continue to urge China to engage in strategic risk reduction discussions and promote stability through transparency.
Education is an essential component of the humanitarian response in Gaza, and critical to building the foundations for a sustainable and lasting peace for the Israeli and Palestinian people, grounded in a two-state solution. It is therefore essential that partners delivering education services across the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) uphold the highest standards of neutrality. The majority of education services across Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem are delivered by the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) or the Palestinian Authority. Catherine Colonna's Independent Review of Mechanisms and Procedures to Ensure Adherence by UNRWA to the Humanitarian Principle of Neutrality notes the most recent UNRWA Rapid Review of textbooks from the Palestinian Authority (2022/2023) "found that 3.85 per cent of all textbook pages contain "issues of concern to UN values, guidance, or position on the conflict," either because they are deemed "educationally inappropriate" or because they are not in line with UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) standards." The UK supports the Colonna review's conclusion that "the presence of even a small fraction of problematic content in textbooks, supplemental material and teaching content remains a serious issue." We welcome the initiatives launched by UNRWA to ensure neutrality of its educational material and teaching, in addition to its longstanding work with UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority to reform curricula and educational materials. £1 million of UK funding to UNRWA this financial year has been earmarked for the implementation of the Colonna review's recommendations. We also welcome the Palestinian Authority's commitment to enriching curricula and supporting development of educational material in its Education Sector Strategic Plan (2024-2027), with the support of UNESCO. On January 22nd, I met Marcus Sheff, CEO of the Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education (IMPACT-se), to discuss opportunities for further educational development.
This Government stands firm on human rights, including China's repression of the people of Tibet. We raise our concerns at the highest levels: the Prime Minister, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor all raised human rights recently with their counterparts (President Xi, Foreign Minister Wang and Vice Premier He respectively). We also continue to coordinate efforts with our international partners to hold China to account for human rights violations, for example, joining a statement on the situation in Tibet led by Australia at the UN General Assembly last October.
The Government would refer to credible external sources, including those from the United Nations, in relation to the impact of China's Kamtok Dam project. For example, in July 2024 a letter was issued from 13 UN Special Rapporteurs finding the project risked the "forced displacement" of Tibetans from their ancestral villages, with "irreversible destruction of important cultural and religious sites" alongside "irreversible or significant environmental impacts." It also noted the widespread crackdown on Tibetan individuals peacefully expressing their opposition to the project.
We continue to monitor the escalation of the conflict in Myanmar closely, including the use of drones by the Myanmar military. The UK strongly condemns the military's use of airstrikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure, including schools, hospitals, and places of worship. The UK is exploring a range of measures to disrupt the military's ability to use air capabilities to target civilians. In October 2024, the UK announced sanctions targeting companies involved in the procurement of aviation fuel and equipment for the Myanmar Armed Forces.
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.
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is operationally independent from the Home Office and as such the Home Office does not hold any demographic information about the subjects of DBS checks in England and Wales. The DBS itself only holds demographic information that is mandatory for the processing of disclosure checks and barring referrals.
Whilst the right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy, this right does not extend to activities that promote violence or criminal damage.
The decision to investigate potential criminal activity is a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of government. Home Office Ministers cannot interfere in operational decisions of this nature, as to do so could undermine their independence.
However, the Government will always support the police in using their powers as robustly as possible to prevent crime and maintain public order and safety where appropriate.
Whilst the right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy, this right does not extend to activities that promote violence or criminal damage.
The decision to investigate potential criminal activity is a matter for the police, who are operationally independent of government. Home Office Ministers cannot interfere in operational decisions of this nature, as to do so could undermine their independence.
However, the Government will always support the police in using their powers as robustly as possible to prevent crime and maintain public order and safety where appropriate.
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.
UK and Germany are considering several concepts and technologies to address emerging threats and have defined a joint range requirement of over 2,000km. Specific characteristics, in-service dates and launch platforms are to be confirmed.
As outlined in our December 2024 AUKMIN Joint Statement, the UK and Australia agreed to explore enhanced collaboration on Land Mobility Platforms. We are doing just this with our Land Mobility Programme which includes a recognition of Australian land mobility capabilities and how cooperation could mutually benefit our defence industries. This programme is currently underway and is informing investment considerations and decisions, subject to cross-Government approval.
Given the strength, breadth and depth of the bilateral defence relationship, The Defence Secretary and Defence Ministers regularly engage with Australian counterparts. Australia will hold federal elections no later than 17 May so I hope the hon. Member will understand, as is normal in any election period, all engagements are under review until Australia has held its election.
The Ministry of Defence regularly monitors risks and issues facing the defence sector as part of our supply chain resilience work.
A number of UK Defence companies have reported that they have incurred costs through installing additional security measures in responding to the threat of actions from groups such as Palestine Action. It is also recognised that there are a small number of defence companies, and associated supporting businesses, who have been targeted by Palestine Action with criminal damage and intimidation of their staff. At an individual level these businesses have incurred costs and disruption through the damage caused and we are working with the Police to deal with such offences and mitigate potential future such action.
However, the overall impact to Defence has been limited and there have been no significant reported impacts to the Defence supply chain.
The Department does not have a mechanism in the current lease vehicle procurement contract (Phoenix II) which would allow us to specify the country of manufacturer of our vehicles.
This Government is committed to delivering a thriving shipbuilding sector across the UK, supporting the whole supply chain, from design to repair, systems and integration. The Type 83 Destroyer is one element of the Future Air Dominance System (FADS) programme, which has commenced its concept phase. FADS will replace the UK’s present Maritime Air Defence Capability vested in the Type 45 Destroyer Programme.
It is not yet possible to confirm where these ships will be built as it is subject to due commercial process, but the build of the Type 83 will secure work until at least the mid-2040s, depending on the number of platforms built. Analysis of supply chain involvement and social value will be conducted during this phase. Social value and sovereign considerations will inform any subsequent investment.
The Gravehawk system is a rapidly developed bespoke air defence system, jointly funded by the UK and Denmark. This innovative system, which is able to retrofit air-air missiles for ground-based air defence, can use Ukrainian missiles already in their armed forces' possession. With Ukraine under constant Russian bombardment, the Gravehawk system will boost Ukraine's air defences, allowing them to defend their cities, troops and critical infrastructure. Two prototypes of the air defence capability system were tested in Ukraine in September 2024, and a further 15 will follow this year.
The Wasp system is a new uncrewed maritime system, which has been rapidly developed specifically to support Ukraine. The system is currently undergoing final testing and further details will be set out in due course.
The Snapper system is a new uncrewed maritime system, which has been rapidly developed specifically to support Ukraine. The system is currently undergoing final testing and further details will be set out in due course.