Social Enterprises and Community Ownership

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Westminster Hall

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. My hon. Friend the Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) said that ownership matters. She is spot on. Ownership affects who makes decisions and who benefits from those decisions. For too long, we have had too little ownership of commercial and community assets by local people, and too much by remote organisations with no real stake in the places they operate in.

Before coming to this place, I worked for years in what is called the social enterprise sector. I have never been keen on calling it a sector. One of my old mates once said to me, “Sectors are where movements go to die.” I think social enterprise is better understood as a movement. It is defined not by business structures, but by an underlying philosophy that business should work in the interests of communities and that wealth should circulate locally rather than being extracted.

I will devote the rest of my speech to the new Office for the Impact Economy, which sits in the Cabinet Office. It is a positive development that shows that there is an understanding that tackling social and economic challenges requires taking a different approach. We already have a good example of the Office for the Impact Economy’s approach in the better futures fund, which currently sits in DCMS. That fund is bringing together public, private and social investment to support early intervention, and it pays for results rather than just for activity. Rather than having the Office for the Impact Economy reinvent the wheel, there is an opportunity to build on the success of the better futures fund. The Office for the Impact Economy would be better placed to take on responsibility for the existing fund from DCMS and further develop it as a cross-Government programme.

The approach that sits behind the better futures fund should not be limited to one programme affecting young people, because the same model can be applied to a much wider set of complex social issues, including homelessness, street drinking, library services, outreach and high street regeneration. In all those areas, we are not suffering from a lack of effort; we are suffering from over a decade of underfunding and from a system that is often too short-term and too tied to the wrong outcomes and outputs.

The better futures approach allows for longer-term investment, focuses on prevention and gives organisations the space that they need to deliver outcomes that work. If the Office for the Impact Economy can take the better futures fund model and apply it more widely to new problems, it could play a significant role in supporting social enterprises and community businesses to tackle some of the most complex problems facing our communities.

We all want economic growth. We all want growth that is felt across the country. But we need ownership of that growth. We need control and investment to be more closely connected to our communities, where people live. That is where the social enterprise movement has an important role to play.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

--- Later in debate ---

[Leigh Ingham (Stafford) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir John. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Leigh—a different Leigh—and Atherton (Jo Platt) for introducing this important debate. Like her, I am low-key obsessed with towns, so it is a genuine pleasure to speak on the subject.

When we talk about ownership, what we are really talking about is power: the power that communities have over the places they live, the services they rely on and the futures that they want to build. Nowhere in my constituency is that clearer than in the story of a pub called the Oxleathers. In 2023, thanks to the efforts of Highfields and Western Downs community group, the Oxleathers was registered as an asset of community value. That is not an obscure, technical planning designation. In reality, it is an incredibly powerful tool. It means that the community stood up and said, “This place matters to us.”

[Patrick Hurley]

I neglected to declare an interest in my capacity as the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on the social, co-operative and community economy. Does my hon. Friend agree that all Members at this debate should attend the annual general meeting of the all-party group on Wednesday 25 March at 5.30 pm? Sadly, it will not be in a community pub, but in Room N in Portcullis House.

[Leigh Ingham]

I encourage everyone to attend that meeting.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

10. What steps his Department is taking to help increase the size of the co-operative sector.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Gareth Thomas)]

The Government are committed to doubling the size of the mutuals and co-op sector. The creation of Great British Energy will help drive a significant expansion in the number of energy co-operatives, while work to modernise co-op, credit union and mutual law to drive expansion was recently announced by Treasury colleagues. We will work particularly closely with the recently established mutual and co-operative business council on this agenda. We will bring forward further proposals in due course.

[Patrick Hurley]

Co-operative businesses can be the life- blood of our towns and communities. In my constituency, I have been working with stakeholders and interested parties to bring about a community co-operative bookshop, following the closure of independent bookshops in Southport in recent years due to the cost of living. May I take this opportunity to encourage new expressions of interest in the bookshop, and to ask the Minister to confirm what more support the Government can provide for our co-operative sector, so that towns like mine can see a thriving high street built around our community?

[Gareth Thomas]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to underline the positive community impacts that co-operatives, mutual businesses and social enterprises can have not only on our high streets, but in our communities more generally. We recently announced a significant increase in the capital available to the British Business Bank, and that has enabled us to give £150 million of additional support to community banks, or community development finance institutions, as they are officially known. That will help drive more lending to community businesses, potentially including the one he set out, but if there is anything I can do to support the initiative, I would be happy to meet him to discuss it.

Fireworks: Sale and Use

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Monday 9th December 2024 Westminster Hall

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell.

I thank the petitioners and the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore) for the opportunity of today’s debate on firework regulation, and I also thank the Petitions Committee for its decision to grant the debate.

Like many hon. Members, I love fireworks and I certainly do not think that they should be banned. In my constituency of Southport, we are proud to host the British musical fireworks championship every year in Victoria park. Often a sight to behold, it always features excellent displays, but that is the point: they are displays, they are specialised and regulated. Many technicians are on hand to ensure safety, and specialised explosive technicians set off the displays.

Neither the petitions nor the Bill proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen) call for a total ban on fireworks. They both celebrate the enjoyment that the majority of people feel from firework displays. However, I am sympathetic to the idea that our current framework does not do enough to protect people and animals, and allows fireworks to be used dangerously and irresponsibly. Look at the current regulations. Allowing unlicensed traders to sell category F2 and F3 fireworks over a month around bonfire night, as well as during new year, Chinese new year and Diwali, is excessive. It means that there are widespread firework displays over an entire month, which disproportionately affects our vulnerable groups in society.

One such group is our veterans, many of whom are suffering from PTSD or other forms of distress from fighting for our country. During the period of remembrance, as it is so close to bonfire night, we put our veterans under further pressure. The charity Combat Stress has recorded a higher rate of distressed veterans accessing its services during the period around bonfire night, due to the whistles, the bangs and all the paraphernalia reminding them of past trauma. I welcome the Government’s support for veterans and attempts to provide more services for veterans’ health through NHS England, but that enhanced distress could be stopped by shifting the balance more in favour of regulating firework sales.

Alongside that, the well documented effects of excessive firework displays on our pets and animals are saddening. Despite us being a nation of animal lovers, according to the Kennel Club, one in five dogs show signs of distress, and Cats Protection reported that in 2024, 64% of cat owners feel that fireworks have negatively impacted their cats.

There is also a serious risk that the current regulations allow the irresponsible use of fireworks. NHS England reported 113 firework-related injuries in 2023-24. Most of those injuries happen at family events and amateur displays, due to the widespread availability of most fireworks. Back in 2020, the chief constable and the chief fire officer for Lancashire, with oversight for part of my constituency, spoke out about introducing regulations similar to those proposed by the petitions, due to police officers having had fireworks launched at them. Our emergency services should be able to go about their lives without fear of being attacked. More recently, police officers had fireworks shot at them in attacks during the riots this summer. One way to clamp down on such extreme attacks on our emergency services would be to reduce the availability of fireworks.

We can minimise the impact on our vulnerable groups in society by supporting some of the regulations suggested in the petitions. We should limit the sale of F2 and F3 fireworks to licensed firework shops only, and encourage those wanting to have displays to be recognised as firework-safe handlers and technicians. Against that backdrop, I welcome the public bringing the issue to Parliament. I also welcome the Fireworks Bill proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North, which would introduce many of the changes we have talked about. I hope that it will get time for debate on the Floor of the Chamber. To conclude, I welcome the Government’s commitment to monitor the situation, and I look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments.

Budget Resolutions

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Wednesday 6th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Conservative Members have said that they would like to see tax cuts in the Budget, but does she agree that they have not spelled out how they would pay for those tax cuts and which public services and investments they would cut to pay for those cuts?

[Kirsteen Sullivan]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. Investment must be paid for. I think that Members across the House are very much aware of the desperate need for investment in our public services and in industry. Investment is required in social and affordable homes across the UK, to offer security and stability to more than one million people who have nowhere to call home. Again, the Scottish Government must grasp the nettle here and deal with the housing emergency throughout Scotland. They have to deliver funding to the councils and the registered social landlords to bring down the shameful levels of homelessness that we see right across the country.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor is delivering the largest budget settlement for Scotland in the history of devolution. As I have said, this money must reach frontline services, struggling families and local communities. No more excuses from the SNP Government. For too long, they have bungled Scotland’s finances and under-invested in public services, with many services, such as the NHS and council-run services, stretched to breaking point, all while crying, “It wisnae me,” and pointing to Westminster. No more. At the election, we said, “Don’t send a message to Westminster; send a Government,” and that is exactly what the people of Scotland did. The Budget makes good on Labour’s commitment to deliver the change that the Scottish people voted for—change that delivers for Scotland and every part of the UK.

--- Later in debate ---

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

When I stand to speak in this House, I often criticise the former Government, and to be fair, there was a lot to criticise, but Liz Truss at least got one thing right. She claimed to make economic growth the driving force behind her plans, but while Truss took a reckless big-bang approach to tackling the stagnation that this country has experienced since 2010, our focus is on long-term investment, not short-term tax cuts. This speaks to one of many big problems with recent Tory Governments—a problem that any business owner in this country could tell you about. It is all about return on investment. Over the last 14 years, there has been too little return because there has been too little investment. To combat that, we have secured £63 billion in private investment, and we have put £2 billion into electric vehicle development. I note, too, that the UK Space Agency says that the space industry is worth £17 billion a year to our economy. It is no doubt helping to ensure that we get early warning of any new super-massive black holes we might not be aware of.

This Budget is the beginning of the change our country voted for. It will make Britain better off; there will be more money in people’s pockets, an NHS that is there when people need it, businesses creating wealth and opportunity for all, the house building that we need, the transport infrastructure that we are crying out for, wages that make work pay, and a state pension that is uprated as it should have been all along. This is a Budget of change, a Budget of investment and growth, a Budget to put more money in working people’s pockets, and a Budget to get our public services back on their feet. It is the most welcome Budget for many years—a Budget in line with the values of the British people. I am proud to support this Labour Budget.

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I call the shadow Minister.

Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Thursday 5th September 2024 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Jones]

No, it has not. The hon. Gentleman is chuntering again from a sedentary position. It has not asked for that. This is something we are monitoring. We will work closely with the industry and do the right thing, and if we need to intervene we will intervene. As I said, the UK’s economy and industry differ very much from those of other countries, and 80% of UK auto production is exported. It is not that we have the risk of EVs in the other direction. The hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith) needs to recognise the part that his Government played in the development of these matters over many years, and be reassured that we are working closely with our colleagues to make sure we do the right thing.

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

[The Secretary of State for Business and Trade (Jonathan Reynolds)]

My Department’s four priorities are to reset our trade relations, deliver a new deal for working people, support small business and implement a mission-focused industrial strategy. In just a few short weeks, we have begun preparing no fewer than four Bills for the King’s Speech. I have attended the G7 trade summit, and set up the Horizon convictions redress scheme. We have ensured UK Export Finance support for the defence of Ukraine, changed the remit of the Low Pay Commission and organised an international investment summit for 14 October. I have spoken to my international counterparts, to all my colleagues in the devolved Administrations and to several hundred business leaders. That is how we will build the pro-innovation, pro-worker, pro-business economy that the British people voted for.

[Patrick Hurley]

I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. This Government were elected on a platform to embed economic growth and break down barriers to opportunity. In the past couple of weeks, I have spoken to colleges and businesses across my Southport constituency, including our rightly famous Silcock’s family entertainment centre, to see how we can develop our skills policy to ensure that for towns such as Southport, the best days lie ahead. How will the Department work to support the next generation of entrepreneurs to ensure that our economic mission is furthered?

[Jonathan Reynolds]

I hope you will allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, to pay tribute to my hon. Friend after what his community has been through, and the incredible way that he stepped up to represent that community. That is something we would all like to acknowledge.

The points that my hon. Friend makes are right: small businesses, entrepreneurs and start-ups are essential to our economic success, in Southport and in every part of the UK, and the support we will give them covers advice, guidance and training. On his point about skills, that is why we have established Skills England. If we want entrepreneurs to take real risks with their own property and income, we must give them stability. We cannot change policy every year; we cannot elect Liz Truss as Prime Minister and expect people to take those risks. The stability and consistency we will bring is as important as the policy environment we will create to do exactly what my hon. Friend says.