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Showing every spoken contribution, including 12,832 under 12 words. Hide short remarks

1. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alistair Strathern

   Small Boat Crossings: Removal of Arrivals

   We inherited a situation in which gangs were profiting from our out-of-control borders and hotel operators were ripping us off, making the most of a backlog that had built up far too high. We have taken some welcome steps, but it is clear that more needs to be done. Returning people with no right to be here is a crucial part of that. How can we step up the processing of cases, and form closer links with other countries, so that we get strong returns agreements and finally get the costs of this out-of-control system down?

   Hansard source
2. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex McIntyre

   Antisocial Behaviour

   15. What steps she is taking to tackle antisocial behaviour.

   Hansard source
3. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex McIntyre

   Antisocial Behaviour

   Far too many residents in Gloucester tell me about persistent antisocial behaviour in the city centre, and they are fed up with it. We are seeing a situation where people get off the bus and are immediately confronted by street drinkers, and the local corner shop is selling alcohol to them when they can barely stand up. The police are doing what they can but, given the challenges facing Gloucestershire constabulary, can the Minister outline what more can be done to tackle the antisocial behaviour blighting our city centre?

   Hansard source
4. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Alex Ballinger

   Prostate Cancer Screening

   It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I will begin with testimony from two constituents. Angela Duffill lost her dad to prostate cancer in 2019. She speaks warmly of the 20 years of NHS care he received at Russells Hall hospital, but she also writes of the time before his diagnosis, when he was sitting on his symptoms and suffering in silence, not knowing what was wrong and not going to the doctor to find out. The familiar mix of embarrassment, stoicism and a public-spirited reluctance to waste NHS time is all too common among men of his age. Angela wonders whether a comprehensive, better publicised screening programme would have encouraged her dad to seek help sooner. Another constituent, Mervyn Jackson, wrote to me with his story. As prostate cancer ran in his family, he was encouraged to have regular tests. In 2021, those tests detected the cancer while he was still at an early stage. Mervyn said: “The worrying thing is that I had no symptoms at all from the cancer.” At the time of diagnosis, he felt completely well. There was nothing to tell him that he needed treatment, and nothing to prompt him to get tested, which he would not have done had it not been recommended based on his congenital risk. Following a successful round of radiotherapy, Mervyn is now 78 and in good health, living a full and active life. When we discuss early diagnosis, that is the possibility we are talking about—finding cancer while there is still time to treat it, potentially giving someone decades more of life. I welcome the Government’s decision to introduce targeted screening for men with the BRCA2 gene and a relevant family history of cancer, but many families will still be left asking where current policies leave them. I hope the Minister will recognise the urgency behind these concerns, and the need to keep wider screening under review and give families clear guidance while that work continues.

   Hansard source
5. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

   Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

   Madam Deputy Speaker, you know that I will take any opportunity, whatever time of day it is, to champion my community and our county, as will my colleagues. That is why many of us from Staffordshire are here at this late hour. The House has heard me talk before about the wonderful people who live, learn and work in Newcastle-under-Lyme. They work hard, pay their way and bring their skills and smarts to whatever they do, and they were wise enough to vote for me—for which I am very grateful. Over the centuries, people in Newcastle-under-Lyme and across Staffordshire made things. They built things, discovered things, and they showed a nation how things can and should be done. That is why my Staffordshire colleagues and I are here tonight. We are determined to ensure that our people, particularly our young people, are able to access the jobs and opportunities that they deserve. I am pleased to see the Government Whip, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner), in his place. He will be hearing lots from us about our concerns with the at-times botched and unwanted roll-out of local government reform in many parts of Staffordshire. I look forward to having that conversation with him. Newcastle-under-Lyme is synonymous with workers and working. We are rooted in our industrial heartlands. Our coalfields community and our coalminers were driven by diligence and determination. Mining in our United Kingdom was not just about coal, though. It was about camaraderie, courage and power. It was about families and communities, bound together by shared experiences, overcoming hardships and supporting one another through thick and thin. The worst legacy of Thatcherism was tearing industry apart, destroying communities and our industrial heartlands and not doing anything to replace them. There was no focus on upskilling, no focus on investment and no willingness to ensure that those same people and their families—who they screwed over—were not left and forgotten. It says a lot that some in politics today who pretend to care about working-class people describe themselves as Thatcherites. They are telling us who they are, and we should listen to them. Our people back home made things work. In fact, they powered our country. Without that power, we would not have been able to emerge as a global leader in manufacturing and as one of the biggest economies in the world. As important as it is to look back at our industrial heritage with pride, today we must redouble our efforts to ensure that people in Staffordshire do not fall behind in the race for the jobs of the future.

   Hansard source
6. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

   Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

   I am grateful to my constituency neighbour. She makes an excellent point, which she knows that I agree with. I will come to ceramics. She is correct to raise those points. We hear far too many stories about our young people being lazy and unwilling to put in the graft to get on in life.

   Hansard source
7. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

   Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

   As ever, my hon. Friend puts it as well as anyone else could, particularly when it comes to the sorry state of affairs at county hall. In Newcastle-under-Lyme, we are lucky to have a youth hub, too, but as she says, it is of great importance to ensure that the county council steps up and helps us to deliver those services for our people. I look forward to working with her to hold the county and whoever its leadership is to account in the period ahead.

   Hansard source
8. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

   Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

   I will give way to another neighbour.

   Hansard source
9. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

   Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

   My hon. Friend, who represents the town where my mother was born and raised, makes an excellent point. I could not put it better myself, so I will not attempt to do so. Many of the young people that she and my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth mentioned want to contribute to the communities they live in, and many live with the ambition of having and seeking a meaningful career, but, after being failed for so long by the generations of political leaders that went before us, many of our young people just feel forgotten. Tonight, Staffordshire’s MPs tell them that they have not been. Young people across Newcastle-under-Lyme are facing some of the most profound challenges in the country when it comes to entering the world of work. In my constituency, there are 57 suitable vacancies per 1,000 residents aged 18 to 24, which is 47% below the national average. Those statistics make for sobering reading. We do not just need the vacancies. We need to make sure that our young people have the skills that employers are looking for.

   Hansard source
10. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I will be sure to raise that with the Secretary of State for Education at the next opportunity. As I said, we do not just need the vacancies; we need to make sure that our young people have the skills that employers are looking for. A shortage of quality jobs, or the lack of skills required for the jobs that are available, means that so many of our talented young people feel forced to leave the community they call home to seek and find meaningful work elsewhere. Communities like Newcastle-under-Lyme lose out not just on economic growth, but on the dynamism and skill that bright local people bring to the jobs market. Those who choose to stay in their community face the entrenched inequalities typical of our industrial heartlands. Communities such as Silverdale, Knutton and Cross Heath have higher levels of health inequality and lower levels of life expectancy. So many interconnected factors are at play in communities when it comes to the challenge of ensuring that local people get the jobs they need. In the summer, I welcomed my hon. Friend the Minister to meet the North Staffordshire citizens advice bureau in Newcastle town centre. He had the opportunity to hear all manner of things from the people he met, but particularly from young people who were struggling to deal with their money and to navigate entering the job market. Yes, we need our businesses to employ people, but if people cannot get to work, what is the point? That is the situation facing many traders and their employers in Newcastle-under-Lyme thanks to the sheer incompetence of Staffordshire county council.

    Hansard source
11. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    That is a good point well made by my hon. Friend. She is correct. Like her, I have many rural communities that would absolutely benefit from a sensible approach to transport from Staffordshire county council. In that fight, as in many others, she has my full agreement. My town has been brought to a standstill by road closures on different neighbouring roads at the same time and by delayed works that just do not seem to get finished, and there has been little leadership or communication from those in charge at county hall. I have written directly to the leader of Staffordshire county council and have heard absolutely nothing back. When I have received responses, most of them are nonsense. In fact, I have 22 letters in response to my raising issues that local people have brought to me as their Member of Parliament, and they all essentially say the same thing: “This has been added to the County Councillor’s Divisional Highway Programme or the DHP”. Then we hear nothing more.

    Hansard source
12. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    My hon. Friend makes a good point, and it is not a party point. I suspect that the right hon. Members for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley) and for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge (Sir Gavin Williamson), and the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) would agree with other Staffordshire MPs on the point she has made: the county council is missing in action and is failing to deliver the services that our people deserve—and that they pay for. We are not asking for favours. We are asking for things to be done properly and in a timely way. If the county council cannot fix our roads in a sensible and ordered way, without impacting businesses and stopping people getting to work, school and the hospital, it should get out the way and let others do so. We know the challenges before us, but what do we do about them? There are examples of best practice within organisations such as the King’s Trust, which for half a century has given young people across the kingdom and the Commonwealth the confidence and skills they need to succeed and thrive.

    Hansard source
13. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    It is all in good time when it comes to being neighbours—we will happily expand our boundaries to reach Lichfield. My hon. Friend knows my constituency well—he comes to see us often enough—so he is an honorary Newcastle-under-Lymer. I agree very much with his point about what we need to do to get our people the skills they need to get into work. Last year, I saw the excellent work of the King’s Trust up close at Stoke-on-Trent college in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell). More than 400 programmes have been run there by the King’s Trust over the last three decades, benefiting young people from Newcastle-under-Lyme and right across north Staffordshire and the county. Earlier this month, I joined a number of local institutions and authorities and the Department for Work and Pensions in supporting the north Staffordshire jobs fair, held in our town centre and open to people across the north part of our county and, I suspect, everyone else. It was great to see so many people energised and enthused, demonstrating that there is no lack of ambition or work ethic in our part of the world. Our education institutions help keep us on the right path in ensuring that our people get the job opportunities they need and deserve. Our county is home to two universities: Keele University in my constituency and the University of Staffordshire in my hon. Friend’s constituency. Those two institutions bring young people to our area, and many from our area stay there. I must declare an interest—I probably should have done it when I responded to my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham)—as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Education. In doing so, I pay tribute to Newcastle college and the Newcastle and Stafford Colleges Group. Our local college’s successful bid to become an advanced manufacturing technical excellence college is so important to ensuring that our industrial heritage is respected and that talented young people from across Staffordshire are at the heart of Britain’s industrial future. I would like to extend my very best thanks—I know you will agree with me, Madam Deputy Speaker—to Craig Hodgson, the principal of Newcastle college. He has served in that role for three decades and some. Service of that length just does not happen very often these days, and certainly not in this place.

    Hansard source
14. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    I will see my hon. Friend in 30 years—I will be sitting here and he will be sitting there. Earlier this year, Craig announced that he was retiring after one heck of a stint. We will always be grateful to Craig for his commitment to our community, our young people, our county and our collective future. We must look to our industrial heartlands to make the most of what we already have, ensuring that real growth, as my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister would say, is felt in all postcodes in Staffordshire and that growth is translated into well-paid, meaningful career opportunities for local people. The growth potential that comes from investing in British industry and the skills required is massive in communities across our county, and there is no better place, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent South (Dr Gardner) noted, than our ceramics industry. It provides the building blocks of and for our United Kingdom, and without it we could not manufacture steel, glass, cement, bricks and many other important things. I am grateful to Staffordshire chambers of commerce for its work helping deliver fully funded business start-up training for budding entrepreneurs across the county. By the end of this year, approximately 300 people will have completed that programme in 2026. Later this week, the chambers and I will welcome Baroness Foster and the board of Intertrade UK to Staffordshire, and to Newcastle-under-Lyme in particular, to meet Staffordshire’s businesses and employers to see what more we can do to increase trade between Northern Ireland and our fair county. Like the chambers, my colleagues and I from Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent want to see the establishment of a mayoral strategic authority for our area at the earliest opportunity. It will set us firmly on the path to helping unlock investment and the creation of well-paid local jobs and employment opportunities. I want to let the Minister address some of these points so will skip some of my speech, but I want to raise a couple of further issues. There is a geopolitical need for us to get this right. Our international competitors—we know who they are—are investing in education, training and equipping the workforce of the future with the skills needed for that future, and we must do the same. It is vital that British manufacturing is at the heart of our trade agenda and that we redouble our efforts to buy British, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central would say, every step of the way, and all of that will help job creation in Staffordshire. I ask the Minister to touch on a few specific areas. Staffordshire is home to many rural communities. I am proud to represent a number of them in Madeley, Audley, Betley and Wrinehill and would be grateful if the Minister could set out, as my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford did, what we are doing to ensure that rural communities do not fall behind. Will the Minister also encourage his colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to get on with giving us a mayoral authority and to prioritise that over local government reorganisation, and what is being done in Government to make sure that all relevant Departments are talking to each other? For those who live in a rural area and do not drive and who need a bus—there is some consistency of thought here, because I promise I had not shown my speech to my constituency neighbours—a chance would have been a fine thing over the last decade. So some clarity and inter-Government working would be helpful too. How are we ensuring that Government understand what employers are looking for and ensuring that what they are looking for is reflected in our skills and training? I welcome the billions of pounds of investment in the youth guarantee and the growth skills levy, as well as new youth hubs from, as we have heard, Tamworth to Stafford to Newcastle-under-Lyme, but we need more of that.

    Hansard source
15. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    We are seeing tonight the consistency of view right across Staffordshire, from colleagues up and down, north and south, east and west, who are determined to make sure that all of our people have the skills they need, however old they are, to be competitive in the jobs market, to help fuel growth in our communities and ultimately to demonstrate to the rest of the world what they are capable of. This is Budget week—as you know, Madam Deputy Speaker; you will be in the Chair on Wednesday—and I urge the Minister to send our right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer a copy of Hansard tomorrow, so he can read this speech and all the interventions and ensure that the fight for Staffordshire’s people and their ability to access the jobs and opportunities they deserve runs through his speech on Wednesday because our people deserve nothing less.

    Hansard source
16. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Adam Jogee

    Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

    I am very conscious that we want to hear from the Minister but, as he acknowledges the number of Staffordshire MPs, we hunt as a pack so it is no surprise we are all here together at 10 pm on a Monday on a one-line Whip.

    Hansard source
17. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Abtisam Mohamed

    Topical Questions

    T2. For over 12 months, academics, health workers and care workers in my constituency have been raising concerns with me about the insecurity created by proposals to treble the standard qualifying period for ILR. Can we really call our system fair when people who came here under one set of rules now face a retrospective change to the terms on which they have built their lives? Will the Minister provide clarity on these proposals and give the people affected the certainty they deserve?

    Hansard source
18. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Pete Wishart

    Small Boat Crossings: Removal of Arrivals

    We heard the Home Secretary make the claim that her changes to indefinite leave to remain would somehow act as a disincentive to people who sought to arrive in the UK on small boats, but she has failed to convince her Back Benchers and some of her Cabinet colleagues. Who has the upper hand on this in Cabinet, and would changes to ILR make a scintilla of a difference to people coming on small boats?

    Hansard source
19. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Pete Wishart

    Civil Service Pensions

    I have to say that I found the Minister’s statement extraordinarily complacent and singularly unhelpful. It is a damning indictment of successive Governments’ failure to get to grips with a full-blown pension crisis. It is not good enough to simply criticise Capita. We know how bad it is. People want real and decisive Government action, so will she commit to bringing the scheme in house, ensuring that meaningful emergency payments are paid out to people who are in real trouble, and get to grips with solving this issue, once and for all?

    Hansard source
20. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Securing Scotland’s Future: Defence Skills and Jobs

    I thank the Chair of the Committee and all the team who pooled this together, including the Clerks who assisted on it. It is shocking that, as stated in the report, less than a tenth of 1% of MOD spend is directly for SMEs in Scotland. I have spoken to the Supplier Development Programme in Scotland and not only has it struggled to get the MOD to engage with it but the MOD’s tier 1 contractors have been unwilling to engage with it. The Supplier Development Programme is all about training suppliers in how to apply for tenders. Does the hon. Lady agree that more could be done to encourage those tier 1 contractors and the MOD to engage with programmes such as the SDP so that more smaller contractors can get parts of defence contracts? I am talking about not just welding apprenticeships but cleaners, water fountain repairers and the people who do all the things we do not normally think about but without whom the buildings would fall down.

    Hansard source
21. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    I thank the hon. Members for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) and for Redditch (Chris Bloore) for initiating the debate, and, in particular, I thank the right hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) for his incredibly thoughtful speech. I am not going to get political about this, but our position for ages has been that we should renationalise Royal Mail. When I read that Royal Mail would be delivering second-class mail only every second weekday, I misread it as, “Royal Mail will be delivering second-class mail every second weekend.” I thought, “Oh, thank goodness! My constituents in Bridge of Don will be getting a better service than the one that they currently receive,” because every second weekend would be significantly better than what they are getting now. I have visited the delivery offices in my constituency. There is Bridge of Don, there is Mastrick and there is Kittybrewster. I think there is a benefit in living in Scotland in this regard, because the central comms people do not come to these meetings, so I get honesty from the posties. I am wondering what happens when I send a letter, or rather an email, to Royal Mail—there is no point in sending a letter—saying, “Mrs Goggins is having an issue with her mail delivery. She lives in Bridge of Don. Here is her address.” Does Royal Mail Central actually contact the delivery office and say, “Mrs Goggins is having a problem. Please reply and let us know what is happening”? Or does Royal Mail just send me an email back saying, “Everything is fine, it is all great, don't worry,” without actually speaking to the delivery office? The hon. Member for Lichfield talked about not having all the answers. Well, I will tell the House who has most of the answers: the posties. The posties know what changes need to be made. I went to one of my local delivery offices, and the staff were talking about the design of the cages and the design of the routes. They had asked Royal Mail whether they could change some of the routes and cages. Royal Mail took months to get back to them, but it turned out that they were not allowed to change the design of the cages—they were dangerous, with things falling off them—without the say-so of Royal Mail. It is an incredibly top-down organisation. The posties know how to fix this. The posties know how to improve their routes. They are making these cases to Royal Mail Central, who come back to them with, “I know that that street is off this street, but we are going to keep it on the other route, just because we are in charge and it may look quite good on Google Maps.” I do not understand why Royal Mail is not listening to the posties, who know exactly what they are doing and who know how to improve the routes. As hon. Members have said, the issue is that Royal Mail’s leadership are trying to asset strip the organisation. It feels like they are not trying to improve the service. They do not care about improving the service; they just care about improving profits. We have been fighting on behalf of our constituents, but we have also been fighting on behalf of the posties, who are not being listened to and who feel like they are banging their heads against a brick wall. It is not just about NHS letters, although one constituent got in touch to say that they had not received any mail between 23 September and 14 October. They got nine letters, seven of which were NHS letters, and they have been put at the bottom of a waiting list because they missed their appointment. I can tell which letters are NHS letters when they come through my door or when I see them at the sorting office. I know which ones they are, as do the posties, but they are not allowed to take them out and ensure that they are being put at the top of the priority list.

    Hansard source
22. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    The workaround on barcodes, for example, works only in some areas, and some of the health boards cannot use that workaround. It is absolutely a workaround; it does not ensure that we have a universal service obligation or that the postal service, which people rely on, is actually working. I do not know about the offices of other MPs, but my office often needs to get people’s wet signatures. Organisations such as UK Visas and Immigration or local councils will require us to get someone to sign a form, and many times we have posted that form to people but they have not got it. What are we supposed to do if people do not have a printer at home? A lot of people do not, understandably. If somebody, particularly in the Bridge of Don, does not have a printer at home and we post them a form, they will not get the letter. How can they get a democratic service, or get us to raise a complaint with the city council on their behalf, if they are not getting the letter? We have had too many by-elections this year, and a number of people in Aberdeen told us that they did not get their postal votes—they did not arrive. In a council by-election, it is hard enough to get people to vote, but when someone does not get their postal vote, they just say, “I won’t bother.” People are missing out on the democratic process because of the failure of Royal Mail, which cannot even prioritise those letters. I do not understand how Royal Mail can repeatedly say to each one of us, “Everything is fine,” or “We’re working on improvements,” when this is an absolute disaster. The post is a lifeline. It is a really important public service, and we need Royal Mail and Ofcom to step up, but we need the Government to put on as much pressure as possible to ensure they do.

    Hansard source
23. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    Does the hon. Member share my concern that Royal Mail bosses do not seem to want to improve the service? So many of my constituents are no longer posting anything because they do not believe that it is ever going to get there—the lack of service means that lots of people are turning away from the postal service completely. Does he feel that if Royal Mail continues down the route of putting DM26 in place without the amendments, people will give up on Royal Mail entirely and we will risk losing it totally?

    Hansard source
24. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    I thank the hon. Member for talking about the statistics—it is really important to do that. I am concerned, though, that the statistics, particularly those provided by Royal Mail, are deeply inaccurate. My constituents say they are not getting mail for three weeks at a time very regularly, but Royal Mail has come back to me and said, “Everything’s pretty fine—don’t worry about it.” Is he concerned that Ofcom might not even know the full breadth of the issue, particularly as we have heard Members from Aberdeen, from the Western Isles and from Devon all raising the same issue? It is clearly happening everywhere.

    Hansard source
25. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    On missed deliveries, and I suppose their emotional cost, the Chair of the Treasury Committee, the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), asked the right hon. Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones) about the resource cost for Royal Mail. Does the hon. Member for Wrexham (Andrew Ranger) agree that the potential cost to the economy of Royal Mail not delivering these letters—the cost to public services, with NHS appointments being missed—could be rediverted in order to fund some of Royal Mail, were it to be renationalised?

    Hansard source
26. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    Will the hon. Gentleman join calls for more granular data, so that we can ensure that every constituency is represented in the data? Some Members have talked specifically about towns and villages, where I appreciate that there is an issue, but there is also an issue in cities. A number of us who represent cities have said that we have problems.

    Hansard source
27. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·SNP·Kirsty Blackman

    Performance of Royal Mail

    We know that postal vote letters not being delivered is an issue, and a number of us have seen that in our constituencies. I appreciate that the Minister is being clear with Royal Mail that it is an important issue, but is she aware of or has she asked Royal Mail how many of those letters were not delivered on time? How many complaints have been made? We know that a significant number of people are not even making complaints, because they do not think there is any point.

    Hansard source
28. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Reform·Sarah Pochin

    Foreign National Offenders: Deportation

    3. What steps she is taking to expedite the deportation of foreign national offenders.

    Hansard source
29. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Reform·Sarah Pochin

    Foreign National Offenders: Deportation

    Gift Oladele successfully appealed his deportation, after sexually assaulting a woman in Manchester. He then went on to rape a 19-year-old young woman in Wrexham. Can the Minister explain exactly what changes her Government have made to article 8 of the European convention on human rights to make sure that this does not happen again, and when they will take effect?

    Hansard source
30. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Reform·Sarah Pochin

    Topical Questions

    T10. Many of my communities in Runcorn and Helsby are plagued by antisocial and threatening gangs of youths on illegal e-motorbikes. Will the Minister please give the police the powers and the training to stop them? Most importantly, will the Government back officers when they do stop them, as incidents can happen and injury might occur?

    Hansard source
31. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Reform·Sarah Pochin

    Rough Sleeping and Good Growth Funds

    While the Minister’s statement is laudable, it seems that her Department is working against the Ministry of Justice by moving in what is clearly a different direction. May I point out that when prisoners—dangerous criminals—are released early on to our streets with no fixed abode, they cannot be tagged? If they are sleeping rough, they cannot be tagged. Will the Minister make it a priority to house those criminals, those early-release prisoners, so that the public can be protected?

    Hansard source
32. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Plaid Cymru·Liz Saville Roberts

    Rough Sleeping and Good Growth Funds

    I recently attended a veterans breakfast at HMP Berwyn, the huge prison that serves north Wales and much of north-west England. I was told by representatives of veterans charities that arranging housing across the border—particularly for veterans, many of whom do not have family associations with local authorities—is particularly difficult. Could the Minister look into cross-border issues in relation to prisoner release, particularly across the border between England and Wales?

    Hansard source
33. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Wendy Chamberlain

    Topical Questions

    When the Minister announced new refugee pathways in September, we were told that Afghan women and girls would be prioritised. I have since received correspondence that says there will be no prioritisation. Can we get clarity on what is correct?

    Hansard source
34. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Wendy Chamberlain

    Civil Service Pensions

    In North East Fife, civil service pension delays are not the only issue. I have previously spoken in this House of the “Jobs Forgotten” campaign for retired former police officers who are dealing with the failings of the Scottish Public Pensions Agency, so I found the comments from the hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart) interesting. My question to the Minister is this: one of the things my office is finding is that, just as they manage to sort out somebody’s case, a new one comes in, so I appreciate the interest and focus on complex cases, but are we not just firefighting if we are not stopping new cases emerging in the first instance?

    Hansard source
35. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Vikki Slade

    Road Traffic Collision Reporting: Cats

    I am intervening on behalf of my good friend Sandra, otherwise known as the crazy cat lady of Canford Heath. She is concerned, as I am, that the assumption is that the reason cats are not included is that they are not working animals. I can tell Members that my beloved dogs, Todd and Reggie, are absolutely not working animals—far from it—yet they would be covered. On the question of whether legislation is needed, we had a fantastic animal welfare strategy issued earlier this year, so is now not the moment to bring this issue into a new animal welfare Act?

    Hansard source
36. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Vikki Slade

    Civil Service Pensions

    Pat’s father died in September last year. It took eight phone calls between October and May to be told that everything was in place. It then took another three months to be told that the claim was accepted and literally awaiting dispatch. We are now four months further on. Does the Minister think that it is acceptable for it to take four months to put a stamp on a letter and send it?

    Hansard source
37. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Vikki Slade

    Rough Sleeping and Good Growth Funds

    One in six care leavers experiences rough sleeping, and last week I met representatives of Step by Step, which supports young people in Dorset and across the south. They told me that young people in supported housing and foyers dread the cliff edge of their 18th birthday because it can mean eviction, as benefits assume that young people are living at home. What will the Minister do with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions to specifically support care leavers with the full rate of universal credit, so that they do not end up on the streets at the very moment they achieve adulthood?

    Hansard source
38. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Victoria Collins

    Prostate Cancer Screening

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I appreciate this important debate, because for me this issue is personal. Last Christmas was particularly difficult for us as a family, because my dad had a looming prostate cancer diagnosis. He had been participating in the trial screening programme over the last 15 years, and although that is not always easy—other Members have alluded to how difficult it is—once confirmed, his early diagnosis meant that they caught it and it can be managed. Thankfully, dad is doing well. One of my constituents, Michael from Harpenden, wrote to me ahead of today’s debate. Although he had no symptoms, he was encouraged to ask his GP for a full blood test, which found early stage prostate cancer. He tells me that under the new screening rules, he would not have been diagnosed. He calls himself one of the lucky ones, but no man’s survival should come down to luck. As has been highlighted, prostate cancer is now one of the UK’s most common cancers, and I applaud the survivors, bereaved families and campaigners who have secured a screening programme, but that will only reach about 1,500 men, leaving out many black men and men with a family history of prostate cancer, so it must be just a first step. There are still too many men outside the programme, so I ask the Minister: learning from the stories of my dad, Michael and so many more, how do we ensure that those who need it get the screening they deserve? How can we learn from trial programmes and use new technology to make sure that it is a better screening programme for everyone involved? Will the Government urgently guarantee delivery of the targeted programme across the country and build the infrastructure to broaden screening at every possible level where it is needed? Will they look at writing into law that every cancer patient starts treatment within 62 days? Every man deserves the chance that my dad and Michael had.

    Hansard source
39. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Victoria Collins

    Performance of Royal Mail

    I thank the hon. Members for Redditch (Chris Bloore) and for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for securing this very important debate. As has been highlighted, the post is not a nostalgic luxury. For millions of people it is how the hospital tells them when their appointment is, how the banks send their statements, and how they find out about their benefits. People need to know that their post will arrive on time so that they can go about their lives. As the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) eloquently put it, it is also about that human connection in a world where we feel disconnected. I am sure that many Members know the impact of a handwritten note, especially to constituents who are having a difficult time or facing difficult issues. It really does make a difference. We also know, as so many Members have highlighted, that the posties are working hard to get us our post, but Royal Mail is letting them down. I have so many incredible posties, but I would like to give a special shout out to postman Paul. Members would not be surprised to think that Postman Pat had jumped out of the TV and arrived in Tring with Jess the cat in tow, because Paul delivers not only letters and parcels but joy to residents and visitors alike—a special thank you to him. In Harpenden and Berkhamsted, I have Gordon and Evina from Jersey Farm who told me that they had gone 10 days without a single letter—so many Members have highlighted this—and then their postwoman arrived with a bundle of 12 or 13. Among them was an invite to my local surgery which—just as the hon. Member for North Somerset (Sadik Al-Hassan) highlighted—had already happened. They had already complained about the postal service. They raised the issue with me too and I continue to raise it, but the problem has not been fixed. It clearly goes on. Another constituent in Jersey Farm, Irene, had no post for seven days and then 35 items in one go, including a new debit card. She also had to face severe delays in receiving a letter relating to a recent hospital appointment on how to take certain medicines. When people such as Irene and her husband rely on letters about regular medical appointments, there cannot afford to be delays. A constituent in Sandridge said that they are lucky to get one delivery a week—the House has highlighted that, unfortunately, that is quite a good delivery service—and that should not be happening in 2026. Those are not isolated stories. They are happening up and down the country. Citizens Advice found that over Christmas 16 million people had letters delayed. I cannot remember which Member it was who asked at which Christmas this issue would get sorted out, but it is a very good question. We have 5.7 million people who have suffered serious consequences, including missed health appointments, fines and benefit decisions. A third of people who use Royal Mail recognised exactly what Gordon and Evina described: no post for several weeks and then five or more letters landing at once. The sorry saga of Royal Mail delays has been going on for far too long and people are rightly furious. Royal Mail is simply not delivering the service it is required to provide. It has missed both its first and second-class targets every year since 2021-22. Last year, just 75.7% of first-class letters arrived the next day, against a target of 93%. The regulator has not got a grip. As the Business and Trade Committee put it: “Ofcom is failing as the statutory regulator of the postal service”. It could not even tell Parliament how many letters were arriving late. Instead of holding Royal Mail to account, Ofcom lowered the bar. It cut second-class deliveries to alternate weekdays and relaxed the targets. The Liberal Democrats warned at the time that this was letting Royal Mail off the hook. In the first three months, Royal Mail missed even those lower targets. It now says it will not meet them until April 2027. Somehow, people are paying more for less. A first-class stamp now costs £1.80. In 2022, it was 95p. That is seven price rises in four years for a service that keeps getting worse. Many have highlighted that parcels are getting delivered but I would also highlight, as someone who ran an online business and whose mother had an online business, that products are also sent in letters. Something that has not been touched on much is the impact this situation is having on small businesses. I know this from first-hand experience. The cost is extortionate and with small margins it is killing a lot of businesses. The terrible service is also killing small businesses, when they have to compete with online services such as Amazon. This is a key service for people and businesses, and they do not need excuses; they need action. Will the Minister commit herself tonight to consulting on new powers and teeth for Ofcom? Will she ask Royal Mail to publish performance levels for every delivery office, so that residents such as those in Jersey Farm and the many others mentioned by Members can judge for themselves? We must hold Royal Mail’s owners to their promises and fix the frontline. The Government say that they have secured legally binding commitments from EP Group to invest enough to deliver the universal service. When the Minister does meet Royal Mail, will she put the failing delivery officers at the top of the agenda, ensure that the agreements with postal workers are kept, and report back to the House with a timetable? When post does not arrive, people miss appointments, pay fines that they never knew about, and lose faith that anything works. Christmas, Royal Mail’s busiest time of the year, is only weeks away, so this must be sorted out before then—but we all know that it will not be, and we will keep standing up for residents until it is. Let me again thank all our wonderful posties who will be working so hard to deliver. We must ensure that Royal Mail does not let them or our local residents down.

    Hansard source
40. 26 Oct 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Tom Morrison

    Performance of Royal Mail

    I thank the hon. Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson) for securing this important debate. Six months ago, in a Westminster Hall debate, I talked about how bad the Royal Mail service in my constituency had become. I talked about how residents had missed medical appointments, bills and other important documents because of the service’s inability to get its primary job done. I also mentioned how contacting Royal Mail with these issues rarely led to a satisfactory response, or even a response at all. Members from across the House will be less than surprised to learn that following that debate, I immediately had an email from Royal Mail saying its representatives wanted to meet and were only too keen to engage with the issues that my constituents were facing. I met them and they told me all about Royal Mail’s plans to get the situation fixed, but six months on, clearly none of that has turned out to be true. Since then, over 300 constituents have contacted me to tell me in detail how the problem has affected them personally. Wayne wrote to me about the struggles he has had managing his mother’s probate. He is still missing several documents and is worried about completing before the legal deadline. Susan’s husband has functional neurological disorder and has missed multiple medical appointments because of Royal Mail’s inability to deliver letters on time. Martin tried to remortgage his house, but the documents never arrived from his solicitor. Paul’s son missed a Department for Work and Pensions appointment because the confirmation letter never arrived. He was then sanctioned and will have no income for the month. These are real lives—these people are facing serious situations, all made worse because Royal Mail cannot do the job it is paid to do. How can we resolve this?

    Hansard source