Heritage Public Houses Bill

Debate between Sarah Hall and Anna Dixon

Friday 16th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Anna Dixon]

I totally agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of communities being able to take over important buildings of community value, including heritage pubs, which is what we are talking about today. In the centre of Bingley we have Bingley pool, the old swimming pool, which is really important to local people. The Friends of Bingley Pool want to take it over as a community asset, but they are getting little support from the Reform-led council. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need supportive local government to help to implement these policies?

[Sarah Hall]

Absolutely, and I am a big advocate for communities taking over things like leisure centres. In Warrington South, the community is taking over sports pitches as well, because they are better able to access the funding they need, and they know what the demands are in the area and are best placed to support and reinvest in those things. I encourage all local authorities to get behind this incredibly powerful provision.

As we have said, the Bill could represent a substantial change in the opportunities available to communities seeking to acquire their local pub. The purpose of the legislation should be to make it easier for residents to save a valued pub, not leave them navigating an unnecessarily complicated set of rules. For Warrington South, that means listening to residents, community groups, publicans and local businesses about what would genuinely help them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Sarah Hall]

I echo those comments. Our event has been supporting incredible charities in our town such as St Rocco’s hospice and the homelessness charity Room at the Inn, as well as many international charitable projects.

[Anna Dixon]

I wish to put on the record one of our fantastic local beer festivals. The Bradford beer festival run by CAMRA takes place in Saltaire town hall. One particularly noteworthy thing is that it links up with local heritage pubs around Saltaire so that they are part of the wider festival. The Bradford beer festival not only celebrates our fantastic locally brewed beers from Goose Eye Brewery and Bingley Brewery but makes sure that heritage pubs such as Fanny’s Ale House and the Beehive in Shipley benefit from the people coming for the festival.

[Sarah Hall]

Yes, that is a wonderful thing. It is also a great way for the local community to see what is on offer locally that they might not otherwise know about.

Our event is organised and hosted by rotary members and volunteers; there is no large paid workforce behind the scenes. Its success depends on people giving their time and energy to support their community. That is something worth celebrating.

Warrington rotary will soon mark its centenary, reflecting a century of service to the people of Warrington and beyond. Oktoberfest is a powerful example of that spirit of service in action. The festival illustrates that beer and hospitality are not simply about what is served across the counter; they are about volunteering, local identity, charitable fundraising, entertainment and friendship. It also demonstrates the connection between brewing and the wider community. A brewery supports suppliers, distributors, retailers and pubs. A pub provides a place where those relationships become part of everyday life, and events such as Oktoberfest bring people together and demonstrate how hospitality can support wider charitable and economic activity. The festival also highlights the important distinction that heritage needs to be sustained, not just celebrated. Its success depends on organisers, volunteers, sponsors, customers and a programme that people actually want to attend.

A historic pub faces the same basic reality. If we want pubs to remain part of our communities, we must consider how heritage protection fits alongside measures that help businesses trade successfully. The objective should be a living heritage: buildings that are cared for, businesses that can operate, and communities that continue to use and value their local spaces. All that matters because a pub’s survival can depend on the relationship between its rent, turnover and operating costs. If a business faces a period of weaker trading, an inflexible rent review mechanism can make an already difficult situation harder to manage.

NHS Corridor Care

Debate between Sarah Hall and Anna Dixon

Wednesday 8th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)]

Let us be clear from the beginning: corridor care is unacceptable. No patient should be treated in a corridor. No family should watch a loved one receive care without the privacy and dignity that they deserve. No member of our brilliant NHS staff should be put in the impossible position of delivering care in an environment that they know is not right. I know how deeply my constituents feel about this, and hardly a week goes by without someone contacting me about their experience of Warrington hospital. They tell me about the kindness of the staff despite incredibly difficult circumstances; others tell me about the length of time that their loved ones have waited to be seen, and those experiences are reflected in the figures.

In May this year, Warrington hospital recorded the second-worst 12-hour A&E performance in the entire country. Those figures are deeply concerning, and it would be wrong of me to pretend otherwise, but if we only talk about A&E waiting times, we miss the bigger picture. Corridor care does not begin in a corridor: it begins when patients are medically fit to leave hospital but the care or support that they need at home is not yet in place. It begins when patient flow slows down, leaving emergency departments carrying pressures that they were never designed to absorb. It begins when a town like Warrington grows significantly without its infrastructure keeping up.

[Anna Dixon]

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that it is not about fixing the problem at the front door; it is about fixing the problem at the back door. Does she agree that closer integration of health and social care is part of the answer to enable that flow through hospitals out into the community? During the summing up, I hope the Minister might carefully consider my amendment to the Health Bill on health and care integration—my hon. Friend might also look at that.

[Sarah Hall]

I absolutely agree; the NHS system as a whole is very fragmented, and the lack of connectivity is a big issue. Social care is a core component and it needs to be a priority going forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Sarah Hall and Anna Dixon

Monday 20th January 2025 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Hall (Warrington South) (Lab/Co-op)]

3. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold system.

[Anna Dixon (Shipley) (Lab)]

6. What steps she plans to take to reform the leasehold system.