Debate on the Address

Tracey Crouch Excerpts

Monday 14th October 2019 Commons Chamber

[Tracey Crouch (Chatham and Aylesford) (Con)]

It is a great privilege to speak at the start of this debate celebrating a new parliamentary Session, especially after the paralysis of the domestic agenda since the last Queen’s Speech. While I recognise that we still have to deliver Brexit, and, contrary to what the Scottish National party leader, the right hon. Member for Ross, Skye and Lochaber (Ian Blackford) was just saying, it is refreshing to have the opportunity to talk about other issues that mean a great deal to people outside this place.

There is much to welcome in the Queen’s Speech, including further protections for our police officers, a possible ban on the import of hunting trophies, the continued passage of the Domestic Abuse Bill, the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill and the Commonwealth games Bill, making sure that Birmingham can deliver a spectacular event in 2022.

[Chris Bryant]

The hon. Lady mentioned the police. As she knows, in the last Session of Parliament, we brought forward—on a unanimous, cross-party basis—new legislation to protect the police and emergency workers. I hope that any new measures in the Queen’s Speech that might affect the police might also affect all emergency workers, because the number of attacks on emergency workers is still growing, but my anxiety is that the legislation that is already on the statute book is not being fully enforced. Do we not need to do that as well?

[Tracey Crouch]

I was very pleased to support the hon. Gentleman in that piece of legislation—the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act 2018—and I now have a vested interest, in that my nephew has joined the police. It is very important that we protect not only our police officers but all our emergency workers, who do an absolutely fantastic job as first responders, so I support the hon. Gentleman very much in that initiative.

As someone who is working on a project to green a school in one of the most polluted parts of my constituency, as a signatory to The Times clean air pledge and as a member of the Conservative Environment Network, I very much welcome that the environment Bill will set out binding clear air targets as well as cutting plastic use, protecting biodiversity, reducing our carbon footprint and investing in better, cleaner technology. I hope that the Bill will get full cross-party support to make its passage through Parliament swift for the benefit of those—such as some of my constituents—who live in unacceptably highly polluted areas, as well as for the future generations of this country.

[Geraint Davies]

The hon. Lady will know that 2.6 million children go to polluted schools. Does she accept that if we are to meet the World Health Organisation guidelines by 2030, we will have to ban the sale of new diesel and petrol cars by 2030 and not 2042, as has been agreed in Sweden, Ireland and many other countries? Does she agree that it should be 2030 if we are serious?

[Tracey Crouch]

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on the work that he has done on the Clean Air Bill, and I was pleased to attend an event he sponsored in the House to sign up to the pledge in The Times on that. I agree with him about how we can protect children, especially around schools, from high pollution. One school in my constituency is planning a protest to stop parents driving their children to school, and that is something that he has campaigned on as well. I appreciate that a lot more work remains to be done.

I also welcome plans in the Queen’s Speech to update the Mental Health Act, but I hope that it will include measures to ensure that no person can be discharged from residential care without a care plan, as unfortunately I have several such cases in my constituency. It leads to heightened pressure on the families of those suffering from severe poor mental health.

[Luciana Berger (Liverpool, Wavertree) (LD)]

Does the hon. Lady agree with Sir Simon Wessely, who carried out the Mental Health Act review on behalf of the last Prime Minister, that the issue is not just about legislation change but needs resources too? If we are seriously to address the mental health challenge in this country, we need £800 million extra to go into our mental health services, according to Sir Simon Wessely.

[Tracey Crouch]

I congratulate the hon. Lady on all the work that she does on mental health and the changes that have happened in our time in this place: we have seen some real progress. I recognise the issue of resourcing, but we also need to put the right resources in the right places. I work closely with clinical commissioning groups and other partners in my constituency to ensure that we are getting the right mental health support to those who need it most.

Unfortunately, there are some real gaps in mental health provision. For example, children under 11 in my area get some really good support, but there is a gap in the support for those aged between 11 and 18, which can be an acute time. Nor do we necessarily have the right mental health support for men who are suffering from poor mental health. We certainly do not have the right level of trained support for those who have been in the armed forces and have a different type of mental health condition that requires specialist care. It is incumbent on all of us to look at the detail of the mental health proposals in the Queen’s Speech and, if required, work cross-party to ensure that we have a significant and good piece of legislation.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

The hon. Lady mentioned veterans and mental health. There are many good charities that do a lot of good work with the Ministry of Defence, but every week in my office—and perhaps in hers—we find that many people slip under the radar. Does she agree that the legislation and the Government’s strategy should ensure that we capture those people and make sure that they are helped, rather than their falling between stools and disappearing, meaning that their problems are never sorted?

[Tracey Crouch]

I agree entirely with the hon. Gentleman. One of the issues that we have is making sure that people do not slip under the radar. Now that we are talking more about mental health than ever before, I hope that we will have other ways of capturing those people and getting them into the support systems. As I have said, one concern I have is that those in the system who have a particularly severe mental health condition and have spent some time in a residential unit are discharged without the right care plan or home visits. That is not fair on the person suffering from poor mental health or on their families and loved ones who are trying to support them.

Another Bill in the Queen’s Speech that I very much support—but again I look forward to seeing the detail—is the new offences Bill. It is right that we increase the prison sentences for those found guilty of serious violent and sexual offences, but I hope it will also include reforms relating to the misuse of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, bringing sports coaches in line with the rules relating to teachers, and will finally increase the sentences for those who cause death by dangerous driving. I have been lobbying for an increase, having had a desperately sad case—unfortunately not a unique one—raised with me by local residents who tragically lost their son. We made a commitment in that regard in 2017, but as yet it has not had parliamentary time. I hope that we can now do that. I can only imagine how difficult it must be to deal with the loss of a loved one in such horrendous circumstances. Knowing that justice has been served must be an important part of coming to terms with that loss, and after such a welcome announcement two years ago and the subsequent delay, I very much hope that the Government can finally present the legislation to Parliament as soon as possible. I am sure that it will have broad support across the House.

Those measures could easily have been set alongside others relating to, for example, road safety, and I should have liked to see more work in that area of domestic policy. After a constituent’s partner was killed while recovering another vehicle from the M25, I, along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (Sir Mike Penning), have been campaigning for greater protections for people who work to rescue those who have broken down on our road network. They include minor changes in traffic regulations, such as allowing recovery vehicles to go through red lights rather than just amber, but they also include a full-scale review of our smart motorway network.

I have actively campaigned against the roll-out of a smart motorway on the M20, because I am not convinced of its safety. I have seen and heard the statistics from Highways England, but I share the view of the Birmingham Solihull coroner—who was presiding over the inquest into the sad death of an eight-year-old boy killed in an incident on the M6—that there needs to be greater clarity about the safety of the smart motorway network, including a vastly improved system to recognise stranded vehicles. I feel deeply uncomfortable with the concept of smart motorways, as they effectively strip a driver of the option to pull over. Given the higher proportion of heavier vehicles on motorways, even a collision at a slower speed between a large vehicle and a stranded smaller vehicle can have fatal consequences. The announcement of a review in the Queen’s Speech would have been greatly welcomed by drivers, recovery workers and, of course, the families of victims, and I hope that it will be considered as part of a future legislative programme.

However, the Bill to replace the rail franchising system is very welcome. Long-suffering commuters in Kent have been left in limbo in respect of the future of the Southeastern franchise, as the competition was delayed and delayed again by the Department for Transport, and was eventually cancelled altogether in August this year. It does not seem all that long ago that the franchise timetable was torn up following the Brown review in 2013, which resulted in a 50-month extension of the current franchise. Ultimately, it is the passenger who loses out from all the uncertainty created by a chaotic franchising system. Kent Members of Parliament have lobbied hard for improvements in the service, and welcome much of what was included in the new franchise proposals—including greater capacity—but given that passengers face ever-increasing rail fares, it is time that those improvements were actually delivered.

Let me raise a specific matter related to my constituency. Since becoming an MP in 2010 I have lobbied, along with colleagues in west Kent, for improved services to the City on the Maidstone East line. They were due to be introduced in December this year, with a new Thameslink service, and we wrote to the Secretary of State in May and again in September asking for assurances that they would be delivered. It was therefore desperately disappointing to be told that the roll-out would not take place in December as planned, and, incredibly, to be given no concrete assurances about when it would happen. While that is bitterly disappointing for passengers, it is, unfortunately, entirely in keeping with the complete shambles of our rail franchising system. Anything that will create more transparency and, critically, accountability, including stricter penalties, is to be welcomed. It is about time we had a rail franchising system that worked for the passenger and not the rail industry.

However, rail is just one part of our creaking infrastructure. One area of domestic policy on which I would have liked to see legislation relates to roads. I shall be lobbying the Chancellor hard for more funding for Kent roads, including major investment in junction 3 on the M2 and junctions 5 and 6 on the M20. With the prospect of the lower Thames crossing coming on stream, it is essential that we invest now to minimise the negative impact of increased traffic going through my constituency and, indeed, the county as a whole.

It is important for us not to forget that there is a world beyond Brexit. I welcome our new domestic agenda, and I hope that it is passed next week so we can get on with delivering on our pledges to improve the lives of our constituents.