Business of the House

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Mark Spencer

Thursday 26th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office questions will take place on 21 June, but the hon. Lady is right to point out that the UK has a fantastic track record of compassion and support for those who find themselves in difficult circumstances. We are proud of having introduced the aid target of 0.7% of GDP to support the Department for International Development. We take pride in our record, and it will continue.

[Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

May I ask the Leader of the House again if he will back an independent inquiry into why allegations of child sexual abuse were ignored?

[Mark Spencer]

I am aware that the case to which the hon. Lady has referred is ongoing, but the Conservative party takes very seriously whom it chooses as candidates and how those candidates behave. There are now systems in the House that support victims, and the House has made a huge amount of cross-party progress in supporting those who come forward. The one thing that we can take from some of the terrible events we have seen is that if someone is a victim of abuse their allegations will be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated, and those who have committed abuse will be held to account.

Business of the House

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Mark Spencer

Thursday 19th May 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

The creation of the integrated care system represents a huge opportunity to make sure that children’s services are more joined up. The SEND review Green Paper published in March recognises the challenges with the current arrangements and includes a proposal to legislate to introduce new local SEND partnerships to ensure effective local delivery. Health questions on 14 June will be an opportunity for my hon. Friend to raise these matters directly with the Secretary of State, but he may want to pursue an Adjournment debate as well to explore them further.

[Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

Can we have a Government statement on what checks were made on an individual’s background, including allegations made against them, before they were put on to the Home Office panel to advise the Home Secretary on how to deal with grooming gangs and child exploitation?

[Mark Spencer]

I have Mr Speaker’s advice ringing in my ears and I do not want to talk about—

Business of the House

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Mark Spencer

Thursday 21st April 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

Such a debate would be very timely, given the upcoming local elections. We hope we will have Lords amendments to the Elections Bill next week, and there may be an opportunity for my hon. Friend to raise the matter directly with Ministers during that debate.

[Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

I have visited the local food bank in Barnsley, which has seen record levels of demand in recent years, with the main reason for referral being low income. As bills and prices rise, can we have a debate in Government time on how this Government are failing working people and failing to tackle the cost of living crisis?

Business of the House

Debate between Stephanie Peacock and Mark Spencer

Thursday 10th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mark Spencer]

I do not know whether hon. Members are allowed two business questions, but my hon. Friend managed to sneak two in there. He is clearly a huge champion for his constituents. Those who are fortunate to be housing developers have a responsibility to their customers to make sure that the properties they build reach the required specifications and are fit for housing. There are authorities out there that hold to account rogue landlords or those who are making products that are not fit for purpose, and I encourage him to engage with them.

[Stephanie Peacock (Barnsley East) (Lab)]

The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency still has significant backlogs. A number of constituents have applications stuck in the system and they are spending hours on the phone. This is not just inconvenient but is impacting on people’s livelihoods. A man who needs to send off medical records yearly has sent in his evidence—he works as a minibus driver—but he is still waiting, and it is often not clear whether people can still drive while they are waiting. Can we have a statement in Government time on the action that they will take on the DVLA backlog?

[Mark Spencer]

I, too, have constituents who have suffered from slow responses from the DVLA. The hon. Lady will recognise that, during the pandemic, there was an outbreak of covid in the DVLA at Swansea, which caused a number of problems. However, there was also substantial industrial action from the unions, which caused huge backlogs, and the Secretary of State for Transport has been working hard to resolve them. I encourage her, through her connections, to talk to the unions to make sure that no further industrial action takes place.