Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(6 days, 1 hour ago)
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Lucy Powell
Community pharmacies, as the hon. Lady rightly says, play a very important part in ensuring that health services are in the community and provide preventive support for local communities. That is why the Government are rebuilding our NHS. Community pharmacies will play a very important part in that. There is a debate next week on fixing the NHS, where I am sure the Health Secretary will be keen to hear her thoughts about community pharmacies.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
In Sudan, 25.6 million people are facing acute hunger, 10.7 million people have been displaced since last year, and the World Food Programme is saying that it is a race against time to stop the famine from escalating. It is a very grave situation, so can we have a debate in Government time to put a spotlight on what is happening in Sudan and the UK’s response?
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend raises a really important matter and I think that is why Mr Speaker granted an urgent question on it earlier this week. There is a lot of interest in this House and it was raised with the Prime Minister yesterday at Prime Minister’s question time. We continue to monitor the situation very closely. I will ensure, as I always do, that the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Minister and Secretary of State do come to the House regularly to update us on these matters.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(2 months ago)
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Lucy Powell
This is a Government of service, and we are working hard to turn the page on an era of scandal and sleaze under the previous Government. We expect the very highest standards of all those in government, which is why we quickly brought in measures such as raising standards and expectations for MPs, raising standards and expectations for Ministers, being completely transparent about declarations, and ensuring that all the proper processes for appointments are followed at all times. We will continue to do that.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The Government have stated and rightly continue to state that prevention will protect our NHS and protect lives. Being cold at home can lead to stroke, heart attack, hypothermia, pneumonia and other such illnesses. Will the Leader of the House encourage the Government to read the work of Professor Sir Michael Marmot and Sir Chris Whitty in this area so that we can take a public health approach to people being warm at home to mitigate the cost that could come without the right mitigations on winter fuel payments?
Lucy Powell
I thank my hon. Friend for that question and for continually raising these important matters. The decision to means-test winter fuel payments was not one that any of us wanted to take. It was a decision that we had to take to balance the books. As we have just discussed, it is those on the lowest incomes who pay the heaviest price when the economy crashes and the real cost of living goes through the roof. That is why delivering on living standards, getting growth in our economy, delivering lower energy bills and getting energy independence are core to the Government’s agenda. That is what we will see over the Parliament.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(3 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
I welcome my hon. Friend to her place, and I am sorry to hear of the tragic circumstances in her constituency. This Government are committed to tackling issues around firearms—not just the symptoms, but the root causes, as she says—and there will be ample time to discuss these matters. Of course, there will be Home Office questions next week, where she may want to raise these matters further.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Hundreds of thousands of people will be visiting my fantastic city of York over the summer. However, many of them will be staying in short-term holiday lets, with one in 10 properties in the city centre being Airbnbs. Can we have a debate about how this Government will not just register Airbnbs, but license them, so that local authorities can control their housing stock?
Lucy Powell
My hon. Friend raises an important issue that affects many cities, such as my own and hers. This Government have a manifesto commitment to look at these issues and take action as soon as we can, and I am sure that she will be able to raise them with the Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary in oral questions as soon as we come back on 2 September.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(3 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Lucy Powell
I think the hon. Member may misunderstand the policy in this area. This Government have made it clear that we are unashamedly pro-house building. We have to tackle the housing crisis in this country and meet the target of 1.5 million new homes over the course of this Parliament, and I think that his party also pledged to deliver that target in the election campaign. As he knows, the Conservatives in government withdrew the house building targets, which then reduced figures. What we are not proposing here is a developer free-for-all. This is about good, sensible, clear local plans being drawn together and then expedited with things moving more quickly. I can reassure him on that, but frankly we will take no lectures from the Opposition on dealing with the housing crisis.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
When it comes to children with special educational needs, children who have experienced trauma in their childhood or children with anxiety, local authorities carry all the risk, but do not have the resources. Our academy system is out of control and our health services are insufficient. Can we have a debate on children who experience such challenges in their early years to ensure that we address this issue early on in this Government?
Lucy Powell
May I welcome my hon. Friend back to her place? She was always vocal and committed in the last Parliament, and I have no doubt she will be so again in this Parliament. As she rightly points out, our education and care systems are not meeting the needs of children with special educational needs, often leaving them without the support they need to thrive. That is one of the issues being tackled in our children’s wellbeing Bill, announced by His Majesty the King yesterday. As she will have heard this morning, there will be a debate on education in the business next week.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(5 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I could not agree more with my right hon. Friend. As he knows, there has been a huge focus in our food strategy on ensuring that we do that, and some of our colleagues have provided additional innovation: people can now ensure that they are buying British produce when they shop at a supermarket, or order from a supermarket online. I cannot promise him a statement, but I will ensure that the Department hears what he said. I thank him for being a champion of all things British, including British produce, and for supporting our farmers.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
May I wish you a happy retirement—from this place, at least, Madam Deputy Speaker? I am sure we will see you in many other guises in times to come.
We are so grateful to our constituents for holding our feet to the fire and raising their greatest concerns. Housing injustice has been the issue at the top of my constituents’ list in York Central. However, the legislation to try to change the environment around housing does not seem to be progressing. Can the Leader of the House say what exactly is happening to the Renters (Reform) Bill, which would have a significant impact on my constituents? Furthermore, after my championing of my Short-term and Holiday-let Accommodation (Licensing) Bill, what is happening to the regulations to put controls on Airbnbs and other short-term holiday lets? Those regulations were promised by this summer, and as we enter the holiday season, 2,000 properties in my city are being used for holiday homes, as opposed to family homes.
Penny Mordaunt
The hon. Lady mentions some very important legislation, and she knows that it will be partly the subject of the negotiations that are going on. I hope to be able to update her soon. I will ask the Department to provide her office with an update on the regulations, so that she knows where the Department is in that process.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(6 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I am extremely sorry to hear about those decisions in my right hon. Friend’s constituency, and I am sure many Members of the House who have visited the air show previously and are very fond of Bournemouth as a consequence will also be disappointed to hear about the choices his council is making. He has done the right thing in asking the Secretary of State and the council’s scrutiny committee to look at this issue; I will also make sure that the Secretary of State understands its urgency, and I hope we can get some common sense.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
In February, after much waiting, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up announced that regulations would be put in place to curb the growth of short-term holiday lets. The summer season is already here; the Secretary of State said that those regulations would be in place before the summer, so when are we going to see the necessary regulation to stop the growth in short-term holiday lets, and to stop landlords coming in and purchasing properties that should be used for family housing in places such as York?
Penny Mordaunt
The hon. Lady has raised this issue before. As she will know, a careful balance is needed between enabling economic regeneration and ensuring that people can have a good, secure home and get on the property ladder. I will make sure again that the Secretary of State has heard the her request, and will ask him to update her.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(10 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
My right hon. Friend is right that any such proposal should really be developed with input from the local community, and something has gone wrong if the community is so galvanised against a scheme that is due to come to the area. The next Transport questions are not until 8 February, but I will make sure that the Secretary of State knows about her concerns. I am afraid that the Mayor of London is the decision maker, and I hope he will listen to her and her constituents.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
When we ask written questions and when our offices require information from Government Departments, our constituents expect a comprehensive response. However, we are getting standardised responses from UK Visas and Immigration, in particular. We have desperate people who fear for their future, so will the Leader of the House talk to the Home Office about how we can have comprehensive responses so that we can know the timelines, the details and the reasons for the delays in processing cases?
Penny Mordaunt
I am sorry to hear that the hon. Lady and perhaps other colleagues are not getting the quality of replies that they need. She will know that we took some measures with the Home Office to try to improve its correspondence services to this House, including getting the permanent secretary to come in to see me. She will also know that Home Office surgeries are available for hon. Members, but I will certainly make sure that the permanent secretary has heard again what she has said. I will also make sure that my teams who work with the parliamentary clerks in those Departments have heard what she has said and will pass that back.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(11 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I thank the hon. Gentleman for bringing this to the House’s attention and mine. I will certainly raise it with the Secretary of State. It is incredibly important for the general public that staff are able to answer their inquiries. There may be more we can do in this place in providing swift answers to people in the DWP who will want to know what recent announcements mean for them, and I think we can also provide a great deal of reassurance to members of the public in that respect. The next Work and Pensions questions will be on 18 December, and he can raise the matter then, but I shall also write on his behalf.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
Punitive disciplinary policies in schools are significantly harming children’s mental health, particularly neurodivergent children. It seems that multi-academy trust leaders are not accountable for their actions and are impossible to hold to account, not least at South Bank MAT, where children are experiencing significant harm, school refusal and an escalation in issues with their mental wellbeing. Can we have an urgent debate on calling the leadership of multi-academy trusts to account and ensuring that governance structures are fit for purpose?
Penny Mordaunt
The hon. Lady raises a very important point. On the general point, I shall make sure that the Secretary of State has heard what she has said, and she can raise it directly with her next week. If the hon. Lady wants to pass on to me the specific details of the academy trust she is speaking about, I shall make sure that the Secretary of State has also heard about that. There are mechanisms for holding trusts to account on certain things, and ensuring that they are meeting children’s special educational needs is one of those things. I shall make sure that the Department has heard about it.
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(11 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I am very sorry to hear that. I shall certainly put pen to paper this afternoon and write to the relevant parties on the hon. Gentleman’s behalf, but I hope that Ofgem will have heard what he has said today and will be in touch with his office directly if there is anything it can do within the parameters in which it is required to operate. If he wants to give me further details about the specifics of the case, I shall also explore with the Department whether there are any other avenues of redress for his constituent.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
The rise in the number of neurodivergent children is a cause of serious concern. In 2018 there were 42 diagnoses in York, but last year there were 118, and the number will exceed that this year. Moreover, the number of education, health and care plans has more than doubled. May we have a debate on the support that is there for families, the staffing that is there to expedite diagnosis, and the ongoing support of children in schools?
Business of the House
Rachael Maskell Excerpts(1 year, 4 months ago)
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Penny Mordaunt
I thank my hon. Friend for highlighting the work of his local air cadets, whom I visited in a former role—they are absolutely wonderful and amazing. I also thank him for reminding us that this is Armed Forces Week—Saturday is Armed Forces Day and yesterday was Reserve Forces Day—and I hope that all Members will take this opportunity to celebrate and thank our armed forces and, critically, their families for their work.
Rachael Maskell (York Central) (Lab/Co-op)
York has long had one of the greatest local housing allowance disparities, and now that mortgages are going up and prices are going up for private renters, many people are having to leave their homes. Can we have an urgent statement on the setting of the broad rental market areas and the disparity that it creates in setting LHA levels?
Penny Mordaunt
I thank the hon. Lady for raising that matter. She will know that she can raise it with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on 10 July, and I encourage her to do so. I will also ensure that he has heard her concerns about the matter and encourage his officials to get in touch with her.