Rachel Hopkins
Main Page: Rachel Hopkins (Labour - Luton South and South Bedfordshire)Department Debates - View all Rachel Hopkins's debates with the Leader of the House
(1 year, 3 months ago)
Commons ChamberI think the whole House would want to congratulate the hon. Gentleman’s daughters and everyone else in that team on all their dancing achievements.
The hon. Gentleman may know that the Home Office now has surgeries to assist colleagues in getting answers on outstanding matters such as he raises. My office can be in touch with his office to make sure they have all the information, but those surgeries can be virtual, they will be specific to the cases he wishes to raise and can be organised quickly.
Labour is now the largest party in local government and I am pleased that Luton held on to a strong Labour council. Importantly, just like the parliamentary Labour party, Luton now has a majority of Labour women as councillors. Can we have a debate, though, on tackling the barriers that many women and young people from diverse and working-class backgrounds face in trying to serve their communities in local government?
Those are important issues and I know the Local Government Association is focused on ensuring that any barriers that exist are removed, tackled and addressed. I would say, because we often hear about the negatives of serving in elected roles, whether in this place or in local government, that the good far outweighs the bad. If people feel that they want to step up and serve their community, the chances are that they are going to be good at it and we should all encourage them.