Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 23rd May 2024 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for his kind words. All the issues raised in these sessions are very important, but so is morale, and I hope that we have all contributed to it in these sessions. He is right that these sessions quite often show the best of this House, not just this week but in previous weeks. I hope that that encourages people to consider whether they might be able to serve in this place.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I would be remiss if I did not thank members of the all-party group on post offices for the huge support that they have given me in my time as chair. I thank especially the right hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson), the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones)—who I do not think is a member but has been a huge help to me in my time—and the right hon. Member for Orkney and Shetland (Mr Carmichael). The APPG is a prime example of cross-party working in this place.

I cannot go without mentioning Lord Arbuthnot, who has sought to amend the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences Bill during its passage through the other place. He introduced me to Sir Wyn Williams, who chaired the inquiry. All Members—me especially—will follow what is happening closely. Paula Vennells, the former chief executive officer, faced questions yesterday—and will again today and tomorrow—and some of the absolutely awful things coming out should make us all greet.

I lost my fight in this place to have Scotland included in the Horizon Bill, but I am sure that it will go through, as it is included in wash-up, for which I am grateful. I assure Scottish postmasters who were affected and have not yet been exonerated that once the Bill is officially passed in this Parliament, the Post Office (Horizon System) Offences (Scotland) Bill will go through the Scottish Parliament, although they may have to wait a day or two, because that is how Parliaments work. I thank the Leader of the House for the help she has given me personally when I have been at her every week on a certain topic. I just add that what is said in this place is not personal, and from my point of view, it never has been.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for all the work she has done on many issues, but in particular on the matter of the Post Office, and for getting her thanks to her colleagues on record today—chief among them my noble Friend Lord Arbuthnot, who has been a fierce champion for all those who fell victim to the Horizon scandal. She will know that Scotland needs to legislate on this issue, and I am glad that she has been able to get on record some comfort about the timeframe once the Bill receives Royal Assent here and what will follow in Scotland, for the benefit of those who may be watching. I also thank her for the fact that she has never played the man, and always the ball, which is very much appreciated by all Members of this House.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 19th October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

As my hon. Friend knows, we are going to change local authority planning guidance to raise the profile of primary care facilities when planners are considering how developer contributions and funds from new housing developments are allocated. He has brought this important matter to our attention many times, and I will be happy to write again on his behalf and make a formal representation ahead of the Chancellor’s autumn statement on 22 November.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

This year’s wear red day for Show Racism the Red Card is tomorrow. I cannot think of a more apt day in the light of recent circumstances. Will the Leader of the House join me in encouraging all Members and folk across the four nations of the UK to take part in this important day and reinforce this year’s theme of “change hearts, change minds, change lives”?

[Penny Mordaunt]

On behalf of the whole House, I thank the hon. Lady for publicising this important day. For the benefit of Hansard, there were many nods in agreement with what she said. We should all ensure that we take part.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 20th July 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sorry that the hon. Member has not been able to secure a debate on this matter. He is sat next to the Chairman of the Backbench Business Committee, who is forever announcing opportunities to secure a debate. Perhaps if he would write to me in more detail about what he has done to secure a debate, I can advise and assist him further.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

On 18 May, the Leader of the House told me that she would again take up the matter of redundancy modification orders with the Department and chase up officials for me and perhaps suggest that the Minister meets me. I know that the Leader of the House can carry a great big sword. I do not agree with her on nuclear weapons, but will she use that great big sword and poke the Department, because I have had no response?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am sorry to hear that the hon. Lady has not had a response. What I will do is contact the Department again on her behalf. In such cases where the Department is just not responding, we will also call in the permanent secretary, and I will do that on this occasion. I will follow up this afternoon, as I know the House is rising today, to urge them to contact the hon. Lady at least to give her an update on the matter.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 22nd June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

My question is about redundancy modification orders again, I am afraid. On 3 May, I received a response from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities saying:

“Announcements will be set out in the usual way.”

Will the Leader of the House explain what that actually means, considering that I first raised the question of redundancy modification orders in this place on 22 March 2018?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question, and also for her diligence in pursuing this matter. My team works very hard with Departments and parliamentary teams to ensure that they understand what Members need and why. The moral of the story is that if you send a one-line reply after a Member has been contacting your Department for many months, the Leader of the House will insist that an official from your Department meets with the hon. Lady so that she can be properly briefed on the matter.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 15th June 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am very sorry to hear about the ongoing issue in my hon. Friend’s constituency. I understand that the company to which he refers has signed the developer remediation contract. I will ensure that the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has heard what my hon. Friend has said, and will ask his officials to advise my hon. Friend on the best course of action so that he can achieve what he wishes for those residents.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

Tomorrow is Wear Yellow Day, although some of us are a day early. It is a very important day, on which people will wear yellow to raise awareness of cystic fibrosis and raise funds for research on life-changing treatments that can work for everyone with CF. I have reason to be grateful to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lanarkshire and their CF specialist teams, for their care for my granddaughter, Saoirse Grace Fellows. She is very fortunate to be able to be treated with Trikafta, which involves taking one pill a day, but many other CF sufferers are not so lucky, and their condition limits the way in which they live from day to day. I pay tribute to them and their carers for this CF week, and for Wear Yellow Day tomorrow.

[Penny Mordaunt]

On behalf of all Members, I thank the hon. Lady for reminding us of the important week that is coming up, and for encouraging us all to play our part in raising awareness and also learning more about emerging treatments and people’s access to them—and let us all say hello to her granddaughter. I echo her sentiments about all those who are living with this condition.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 18th May 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising the matter, and I am glad to hear that those facilities are being put to good use in her constituency. We encourage all forms of physical activity through funding that we provide to Sport England. The Bowls Development Alliance, a partner of Sport England, receives just shy of £2 million to support a wide range of provision across the country. My hon. Friend will know how to apply for a debate, and I encourage her to do so.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I thank the Leader of the House for her help with the redundancy modification order. Although I trust her, I also submitted a written question to ask the relevant Secretary of State for his timeline for completing it. I received a response remarkably quickly—in about two weeks—and it said:

“Announcements will be set out in the usual way.”

I have been chasing the matter for eight years, and it was a problem before then. How much longer does the Leader of the House think my constituent will have to wait to get her organisation added to the list?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for her kind remarks. I will take the matter up with the Department again and chase an answer for her, and perhaps suggest that the Minister meets her.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 27th April 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising that issue, and for knocking heads together. It sounds as though the council and Peel Ports need to sit down and work this out for the benefit of all. If my hon. Friend’s question today has not had that result, he will know how to apply for an Adjournment debate, but I hope that that will not be necessary.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I am about to have an “Aw, mum” moment; when I go on about something, my children always use that phrase, and today I am going on about the redundancy modification order again. The Leader of the House very helpfully told me on 9 March that she and her noble Friend Lord True had

“met all the permanent secretaries…to make very clear the level of service we expect from their Departments”—[Official Report, 9 March 2023; Vol. 729, c. 424.]

I said on that occasion, “Let’s cut to the chase—it’s 10 years since this was looked at.” The addition of different organisations to the order has still not happened, and there are people all over the country waiting for it to, because it will affect them and—as always happens—their pensions. Please can we get this sorted?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for her tenacity and determination on this issue. I will ensure that the relevant Secretary of State and perm sec have heard her concerns, and I shall also ask the Pensions Minister to contact her.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 9th March 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am very sorry to hear about this situation. Given that Transport Question Time is some way off, as I said, I will write to make sure the Secretary of State has heard my hon. Friend’s concerns. We will not have to draft a new letter, just change the date, because he has raised the matter many times in this place. I hope it is swiftly resolved for his constituents.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

On 22 March 2018, I said:

“For the past two years, I have been helping a constituent with her ongoing attempts to have her former local government employer rightfully added to the redundancy modification order.”—[Official Report, 22 March 2018; Vol. 638, c. 401.]

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities recently sent an email saying

“the Redundancy Modification Order was paused due to resource pressures”

and that the Department is

“currently unable to provide a view as to the timescale for completion of a revised consolidation order.”

Does the Leader of the House agree it is ridiculous that people have been waiting more than 10 years for this to happen? This is a non-contentious issue, so will she please use her good offices to get the Department to pull out its finger and get this done?

[Penny Mordaunt]

That is not a satisfactory situation, and I will be happy to raise it with the Department after this session. The next Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Question Time is on 27 March, and the hon. Lady may be interested to know that my noble Friend Lord True, the Leader of the House of Lords, and I met all the permanent secretaries yesterday to make very clear the level of service we expect from their Departments.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 12th January 2023 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this important and timely matter. As someone who was a representative in the NUS, I know that this issue has plagued that organisation for many, many years. I hope that, having published the report, it will actually do something about it. I am sure that any debate applied for on this matter, whether through the Backbench Business Committee or other means, would be extremely well attended.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

Over two years ago, my constituent, a single mother with two young children, was diagnosed with stage 4 terminal cancer. As a result, she subjected herself to punishing treatments to gain more time. Unfortunately, she has not yet been transferred to Social Security Scotland, whose policy is based on dignity, fairness and respect, so she was subjected to a reassessment for her personal independence payment claim, during which she felt she was having to justify why she was still alive. May we have a debate in Government time to discuss these really important issues for people right across the United Kingdom who are still subject to Department for Work and Pensions rules?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I am very sorry to hear about the experiences the hon. Lady’s constituent and her family have had. She will know that the Department has done a huge amount of work looking at a pathway for people who are terminally ill. There are campaigns at the moment on other asks for people who are terminally ill. We owe it to them and their families to constantly improve the systems they have to deal with. Many of these issues sit in Scotland, both on benefits and the interaction with social care, but if she gives my office the details of this lady’s case I will take it up this afternoon with the Department to see whether there is any further advice we can give her.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 20th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising that issue, and I will certainly ensure that the Department for Education has heard what he said. He will know very well how to secure a debate, and I thank him for raising that.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

I wish I could take the Leader of the House’s advice to keep calm and carry on, but in my role as SNP spokesperson on disabilities, I meet regularly with organisations representing disabled people. This week in Parliament, Muscular Dystrophy UK had a drop-in, to which my young parliamentary assistant went, and he came back visibly shocked at the amount of electricity that one young person needs to use to stay alive.

Given the U-turn by the Chancellor and the news we have just received that the leader of the Conservative party has stood down, will there be a statement on 31 October? I know that it is not in the gift of the Leader of the House to tell me, but if there is to be a statement by another Chancellor or the same one—I do not really care which—can we have a guarantee that there will be extra help for people like this? This is life and death for these people and for their carers.

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that, because it affords me an opportunity to provide reassurance to people. This was raised last week as well, and I have already written to the Department of Health and Social Care and other Departments on the matter. We want to ensure that people are looked after, taken care of and supported throughout this winter. We are very aware of the additional costs that people with certain health conditions and disabilities face. I know that this issue is being looked at, and I assure her that I understand people want reassurance fast.

Business of the House

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 13th October 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank my hon. Friend for raising this appalling issue. I am sure all Members of this House would have been appalled to read some of the details of these cases involving very young girls having to go through the ordeal of not only sexual assault and rape, but it being done repeatedly, by multiple men. It is appalling. I encourage him to apply for a debate in the usual way, but I will also write to the Home Secretary and urge her to update the House on what more can be done to tackle this appalling situation.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

This is National Work Life Week, and the Business Disability Forum recommends that all businesses should embed this ethos into their organisations, to reduce stress-related absences, enhance employee wellbeing and improve workforce inclusion. May we have a debate in Government time on the benefits of work-life balance and the principle of work-life balance in its entirety?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I thank the hon. Lady for raising that important issue, in a timely week. She will know that the Government have focused very much on occupational health, on halving the disability employment gap and on ensuring that the welfare state and disability benefits, in particular, are very much more focused on mental health issues. So much of this is about prevention and wellbeing, and learning the lessons that we have learnt throughout the pandemic. I thank her for raising these issues and I will raise them with the Department of Health and Social Care.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 20th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

A lot of work needed to be done in all areas of Government, including trade, to roll over legislation to our statute book and move trade agreements to a new statutory footing. The opportunity has come for what we can do next. It is not just about the big economic benefits that we usually discuss in our meetings and sessions, but about what we can do to help developing nations. Many of the economic partnership agreements that have taken a long time to make, for example with countries in Africa, will not only provide economic benefits to the UK but lift millions of people out of poverty.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

Talks on steel and aluminium tariffs have started, but Washington has still to confirm the apparent virtual plan. The British economy, instead of becoming global post Brexit, is not. My constituents at the Dalzell works in Motherwell want to see progress on the punitive tariffs so that they can sell to the Americans. The relationship between President Biden and the current Prime Minister is not particularly rosy, but can the Secretary of State confirm that whoever is Prime Minister in the upcoming time, she will ask them to intervene and get this sorted?

Future Relationship with the EU

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Thursday 10th December 2020 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

If we have to go on those terms then that is what will happen and we will prosper, but it is clearly not our first choice. The key factor in this is whether the EU is going to place above its own political interests, the interests of the citizens and businesses in its member states. Fundamentally, that is what is at the heart of this, and if the EU does not do that, that will be a very serious mistake.

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP) [V]]

The EU is the source of 26% of the UK’s food. The next highest country of origin for food imports to the UK provides only 4%. Considering that we are not acceding to any new markets on 1 January, never mind that we are leaving one with which we have unfettered access, will the Minister finally come clean with consumers and shoppers that no deal will mean increased costs for putting food on the table and that it is the actions of this Government that are directly responsible for this?

[Penny Mordaunt]

The future is not yet written and I invite the hon. Lady to consider at this critical moment for Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom what she might do to assist the UK Government in achieving the objective that she wants.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Penny Mordaunt and Marion Fellows

Monday 20th May 2019 Commons Chamber

[Marion Fellows (Motherwell and Wishaw) (SNP)]

1. What joint military exercises UK armed forces personnel have conducted with Saudi Arabian armed forces in the last three years.

[The Secretary of State for Defence (Penny Mordaunt)]

I would like to pay tribute to Guardsman Mathew Talbot of the Coldstream Guards, who was killed on duty on 5 May in Malawi while taking part in a counter-poaching patrol. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends at this difficult time. I also wish to pay tribute to my predecessor for all the work he did for our armed forces, and to draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

In the past three years, UK armed forces have conducted four exercises with Saudi Arabia: in 2017 and again this year, Exercise Desert Soldier; and in 2018 a Gulf Co-operation Council exercise, Gulf Shield, and an exercise, Saudi-British Green Flag.

[Marion Fellows]

May I associate myself with the Secretary of State’s remarks and welcome her to her place? Saudi officers are being trained in the UK. Any UK steps to stop Saudi committing further human rights abuses must be seen in that context. Thousands have already been killed by Saudi forces—the UK influence did not stop them. Does she agree with me and with her colleague , the right hon. Member for Rutland and Melton (Sir Alan Duncan), who is the Minister for Europe and the Americas, that Saudi actions are “deplorable”? Will she review our training and co-operation with Saudi armed forces?

[Penny Mordaunt]

I would say that all we do with the Saudi military is in compliance with and promoting compliance with international humanitarian law. I would ask the hon. Lady: does she think the world would be a better place if we did not do that?