Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Wednesday 15th November 2017 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The hon. Lady has been a passionate campaigner on this issue, and has very thoughtfully shared her own personal experience with this House. We recognise what an incredibly painful experience it is to lose a child, and I know that the whole House is in sympathy with those who do experience such a tragedy each year; sadly, thousands of families do.

We have put in place a piece of cross-Government work to look at the whole question of how we can improve support for bereaved parents in a variety of ways. That work is being led by the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Bracknell (Dr Lee), who has responsibility for youth justice. We are already supporting the private Member’s Bill on parental bereavement promoted by my hon. Friend the Member for Thirsk and Malton (Kevin Hollinrake). We are making it easier for parents to apply for financial support, and we are also ensuring that support from across Government is brought together so that it is easily accessible for bereaved parents at what we know is a very difficult time.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

Q7. Will the Prime Minister join me in praising the work of community transport providers such as CT4TC—Community Transport for Town and Country—in Amber Valley that provide services right around the country? Will she intervene to sort out the threat to the permit they use as not-for-profit providers, which threatens their services? In the meantime, will she issue guidance to confirm that there is no need for local councils to take enforcement action until that consultation is complete?

[The Prime Minister]

We strongly believe that community transport operators provide vital services connecting people and communities and reducing isolation. A number of weeks ago I was very pleased to visit and take a ride on one of the Wokingham Borough community buses that services part of my constituency. The Department for Transport remains committed to supporting community transport operators and has no intention of ending the permit system. To support that, DFT has recently written to all local authorities in Great Britain to explain how they can comply with the regulations without negatively impacting on operators and passengers.