Business of the House

Mark Sewards Excerpts

Thursday 28th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Powell]

My hon. Friend is right to say that broadband is now a vital utility, as important as electricity, water and all the other things on which people rely, especially in rural communities like hers. I empathise with her on the battle for broadband bandwidth at home. I am afraid that this Government inherited quite a slow roll-out of full-fibre gigabit broadband. We need to accelerate the programme to make sure that rural communities like hers have the broadband access that they need, so that they can download a few more recipes, and maybe win the bake-off competition that the House is looking forward to.

[Mr Mark Sewards (Leeds South West and Morley) (Lab)]

My constituent Nicola Holdsworth sadly lost her mum a few years ago and struggled with grief. She was told that it would take eight months to see a grief counsellor, so she set up the Morley Grief Group. The organisation has gone from strength to strength in helping people in our community, and it now has more than 800 members. Local GPs refer people to it, and it recently won the community award at the BBC Radio Leeds “Make a Difference” awards. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute to Nicola and the Morley Grief Group, and will she allow Government time for a debate on the need for more grief counsellors—and, of course, the need to support volunteer organisations like Nicola’s?

[Lucy Powell]

I thank Nicola for setting up the Morley Grief Group at what must have been a very difficult time. She turned her grief into an award-winning voluntary group that supports others. My hon. Friend is right to raise the importance of grief counselling. Provision of these services is too slow, which is why many people rely on voluntary and charity organisations. I am sure that this would make a very good topic for a debate.