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12,832 spoken contributions under 12 words (interjections such as “Will the hon. Member give way?”) are hidden. Show them

1. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sir Stephen Timms

   Housing Costs: Government Support

   I am delighted to be serving under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) on securing this timely debate just the week before the Budget. Stable, affordable, good-quality housing is fundamental to individual wellbeing, economic stability and public health. That is why the Government have set out, as Members know, the ambition to deliver 1.5 million homes. We are supporting that with a record £39 billion investment in social and affordable homes. That is the programme that my hon. Friend the Member for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff) referred to. We are also supporting that with our £16 billion national housing bank. Securing an adequate number of decent affordable homes is our priority. People have wanted to do that for a long time. We are making sure that the investment is going in to deliver those homes. It is true that delivery will not happen overnight, but delivery is going to happen. We inherited a very serious housing crisis, and we acted quickly in response. Policies in place are having an impact already. There are over 400,000 new homes in England since the start of this Parliament, more than a quarter of the target. New build starts in the year to June were up 15% on last year. We are driving forward big reforms of the planning system. In August, we announced a new planning policy framework with clearer rules-based policies to unlock more homes where they are needed. We are investing in construction skills. My Department spent nearly £38 billion last year supporting renters with housing costs via universal credit and housing benefit. That is an increase of around £3.5 billion over the last decade. No other OECD country spends a greater proportion of its GDP on housing support than we do. I recognise the picture that hon. Members have set out of the impact of local housing allowance in their local areas. Rental inflation across the country varies according to specific challenges in each area. The local housing allowance determines the maximum financial support for renters in the private rented sector. Households in similar circumstances living in the same area are entitled to the same maximum rent allowance, regardless of the rent that they are required to pay. Local housing allowance was never intended to cover all rents in all areas. The rates for that are set annually by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Future decisions will be based on the Government’s priorities, and those are the priorities that the Chancellor will have in mind as he makes his announcements in the Budget next week. The Government provide additional discretionary housing support to local authorities to help tenants to meet shortfalls in their rent costs. In England, that is through the crisis and resilience fund housing payment. I wonder whether, in some of the cases that the hon. Member for St Ives referred to, his constituents would find it worth their while to contact the local council to see whether they could benefit from a discretionary housing payment. The crisis and resilience fund includes support for preventive wraparound help, as well as assistance for people facing a financial crisis. I know that local authorities are increasingly looking at what they can do with those resources to protect people in the kinds of situations that the hon. Member for St Ives describes. Local housing allowance rates are set within broad rental market areas determined by rent officers in the valuation office across England. There are 192 broad rental market areas across Great Britain. As the hon. Member for St Ives said, Kernow West is the one that includes St Ives. A BRMA is an area within which a person could reasonably be expected to live, having regard to facilities and services for the purposes of health, education, recreation, banking and shopping, taking account of the needs of travel to and from those services by both public and private transport. Across each BRMA, rent officers gather a representative sample of private rental data of all property types and sizes from a range of sources, including both new and existing tenancies. They survey rents across the full year to capture current market conditions. That includes collecting a representative sample from all the local authority areas within a BRMA, including any larger urban centres and more sparsely populated rural areas in that BRMA. Perhaps the hon. Member for St Ives might find it useful to have a conversation with the Valuation Office Agency, because he raised perfectly understandable concerns about whether the data it uses is out of date. The process is designed to ensure that that is not the case and that up-to-date data is provided. Of course, it was only just over two years ago that the local housing allowance was uprated to the 30th percentile of the levels of rents in each BRMA.

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2. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sir Stephen Timms

   Housing Costs: Government Support

   The hon. Gentleman reproves me in a very appropriate way. My point is that I think the LHA methodology, which he queried, is sound. When local housing allowance rates are increased, they are implemented in April, based on the latest private lettings data for the 12-month period up to the end of September the preceding year. I do not think there is a problem with the way the LHA rates are calculated—in 2024, all the LHAs were uprated to the 30th percentile of rates in each BMRA—but there have been significant rent rises, even in the two and a bit years since the level was last reset. That, I think, is the phenomenon to which the hon. Gentleman is drawing the House’s attention. There has been a rapid rise in rents in that period, and that will need to be taken into account in deciding what should happen to the LHA for next year. Tackling homelessness is a very high priority for the Government, as the Prime Minister underlined when he took office. The LHA supports those on low incomes with their rents in the private sector, but the causes of homelessness are complex, and the LHA is only one measure to tackle it. We have significant funding targeted more specifically at those who are homeless and those at risk of being homeless, as those in the kind of situation that the hon. Member for St Ives described sometimes are. Sustained cross-Government action to tackle the causes of homelessness is being taken forward through the national plan to end homelessness. We will provide more than £4 billion in funding for homelessness and rough sleeping services from 2026-27 to 2028-29. Councils have £2.7 billion through the homelessness, rough sleeping and domestic abuse grant, which they can use to support people at risk of and experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping, including funding for delivery of support on domestic abuse safe accommodation. That all means that councils can do more to prevent homelessness, reduce reliance on the expensive temporary accommodation that my hon. Friend the Member for Truro and Falmouth (Jayne Kirkham) drew attention to and target resources where they are needed.

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3. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sir Stephen Timms

   Housing Costs: Government Support

   I think we are all waiting to hear what the Chancellor says next week. I can certainly assure the hon. Member that my colleagues in MHCLG and the Treasury are continually talking about these issues and the right approach. Last time the uprating to the 30th percentile happened—April 2024—the cost over the full spending review period was, if I remember rightly, some £7 billion. If we are looking at effective measures to tackle homelessness, the approaches and specific funding that I have just described to address the problem and the risk of homelessness are the effective ways to do that. Those are the kind of factors that the Chancellor will certainly be bearing in mind as he reaches his decisions for next week. To further drive the shift from crisis response to prevention, we are setting a national target to increase the proportion of people supported by council homelessness services to stay in their homes or helped to find alternative accommodation. Our new duty to collaborate will require public services to work together to identify people at risk of homelessness and to consider what action they can take within their existing responsibilities to help prevent that. The Government’s key priority in all this is to secure an adequate number of decent affordable homes. We have announced the new 10-year, £39 billion social and affordable homes programme—the biggest boost to housing grant funding in recent memory. The aim is to maximise supply, with a target to deliver at least 60% of the homes under the programme as social rent. Initial funding allocations via the programme have been confirmed across England, excluding London; 33 providers will receive £9.5 billion to invest in new social and affordable housing and deliver 73,000 homes. Nearly two thirds of the homes built by strategic partners through the programme will be for social rent, and for the first time ever, three councils—Cambridge city council, Eastleigh borough council and Newcastle city council—have been awarded strategic partnership status with Homes England. Councils are increasingly stepping up to meet our bold ambitions. More than £16 billion in funding for outside of London is still yet to be allocated. In allocating that, the Government intend to prioritise social rent homes, particularly council homes, to achieve the Prime Minister’s ambition for the biggest council house building programme since the post-war boom ended in the early 1980s. Directing funding into that programme and others along those lines is the way to deal properly and permanently with the severe housing crisis that we face right across the country, which the hon. Member for St Ives and others have spoken very powerfully about in this debate. The new national housing bank was launched on 1 April, backed by up to £16 billion in financial capacity. We envisage that bank leveraging in billions of pounds of private investment to accelerate house building across the country. It is taking quite a pioneering approach to its role, and its status as a publicly owned subsidiary of Homes England, designated as a public financial institution, gives it a lot of autonomy in working out how to do this job most effectively. My colleagues in MHCLG have launched the national housing delivery fund, which includes £5 billion of grant funding to support housing delivery and address viability challenges, including through the remediation of brownfield sites and provision of unlocking infrastructure. Let me say in the final seconds that my colleagues in MHCLG have taken the view that rent controls would do more harm than good. Motion lapsed (Standing Order No. 10(6)).

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4. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Satvir Kaur

   Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill

   It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair today, Ms Vaz. I thank all Members who have contributed, and in particular the hon. Member for Twickenham for bringing forward this important Bill and for the constructive way in which she has been working with Government. I will not repeat her passionate words on the detail, which is harrowing, and on the importance of tackling this issue, although I will cover some of the questions and concerns that were raised. The Government are fully supportive of the Bill and its central objective of strengthening the law so that child-like sexual abuse dolls can be tackled clearly, consistently and effectively. These items sexualise the appearance of children and raise serious safeguarding and public protection concerns. Like any parent, and as a new mum, I find even the existence of these dolls absolutely harrowing, to the point that I cannot bring myself to see one. The new offences of making, possession, importation and supply will close a recognised gap in criminal law and provide a clear basis for action against this concerning material. I want to reassure the hon. Member for Rutland and Stamford that the Bill will cover parts of a doll or anything that resembles a child, but it will also include any type of robotic or AI-enabled doll, including those that are 3D-printed, and anyone found guilty will of course go on the sexual risk register.

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5. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Satvir Kaur

   Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill

   Yes, of course. My understanding is that it should be, but I will come back to the hon. Lady in writing to confirm it. If this legislation is to close a loophole, we want to ensure that it does so properly and for good. The provisions on entry, search, seizure and forfeiture are essential. They will help the police and other operational partners to investigate suspected offending, to remove items from circulation and to intervene earlier when wider risks to children are identified. The Bill’s penalties and notification requirements reflect the seriousness of the conduct while ensuring that the new framework is targeted and proportionate. Taken together, the clauses will give law enforcement, prosecutors and the courts greater clarity and a more effective set of tools. They will also support the Bill’s wider preventive purpose by enabling earlier identification and intervention when concerning behaviour may indicate a risk to children. My hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft mentioned online harm, and she was right to raise the most horrific crimes that we see online. We saw at an event last night some of the horrific outcomes that online harm can lead to for children. I reassure my hon. Friend that the Government are taking this seriously. The tech world is moving at pace and we must keep up. The hon. Member for Twickenham gave reasons this legislation is so tightly focused, but I would welcome a meeting with my hon. Friend to discuss how we move at pace when addressing online harm, particularly when it is targeted at children. I am keen to ensure that the Bill’s scope remains tight so that we can address this particular loophole when it comes to physical sexualised child-like dolls, but I thank my hon. Friend for raising that. The Government have worked closely with the hon. Member for Twickenham, operational partners and criminal justice stakeholders to ensure that the legislation is clear, robust and workable in practice.

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6. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Satvir Kaur

   Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill

   Yes, that is already covered in the legislation. Naturally, we want to find these dolls and find who is producing, sharing and using them. I thank the hon. Lady for raising that. The Government are satisfied that the Bill strikes the right balance, and we support the clauses standing part of the Bill. I again thank the hon. Member for Twickenham for her leadership and determination in getting the Bill to this stage. The Government are proud to support this important safeguarding measure, and I commend the Bill to the Committee.

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7. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Smith

   Engagements

   Mr Speaker, you will remember that the last Labour Government established children’s trust funds, but sadly around 80,000 children across the country, including my constituent James Gilbert, are unable to access them due to an expensive and bureaucratic courts process for those who lack mental capacity. Will the Prime Minister commit to ensuring that this Government finally fix this problem, which has left our campaigners frustrated for over six years since they first raised it with Ministers?

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8. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Owen

   Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Local Elections) (Northern Ireland) Order 2026 Draft Local Elections (Northern Ireland) (Uprating Election Expenses) Order 2026

   I beg to move, That the Committee has considered the draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026.

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9. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Owen

   Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Local Elections) (Northern Ireland) Order 2026 Draft Local Elections (Northern Ireland) (Uprating Election Expenses) Order 2026

   It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir Edward, for what is my first delegated legislation Committee as a Minister, of which I am sure there will be many. It is also a pleasure to welcome the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds, to his place. We have spent a lot of time together in the Chamber, but we had not yet officially appeared opposite each other. The draft statutory instruments, which were laid before the House on 13 July 2026, introduce certain changes to the electoral system in Northern Ireland. Their primary objective is to expand voter accessibility and encourage participation across the electorate in Northern Ireland. They will align certain rules governing Northern Ireland elections more closely with those of Great Britain. The draft regulations update the list of acceptable forms of ID that can be used by voters at polling stations in parliamentary and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland. The draft voter identification order makes identical changes to the list for local elections in Northern Ireland. The draft local elections order will uprate expenditure limits for candidates standing in local elections in Northern Ireland to reflect rising costs caused by inflation. An equivalent uplift in the spending limit for reserved elections in Great Britain and for UK parliamentary and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland was approved by Parliament in 2023. Before I proceed, I draw the Committee’s attention to the correction slip for the draft voter identification order, which corrects a minor typo. In the last paragraph, on page 1, the words “on him section” have been amended to “on Him by section”, in reference to section 84 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998. I am sure that the beady-eyed on the Committee had already spotted that typo. That section allows Northern Ireland local election rules to be amended by Order in Council, and “Him” is a reference to His Majesty the King. The draft regulations will introduce new identity documents that can be used by voters at polling stations in UK parliamentary, Northern Ireland Assembly and local elections. The documents being added are the Commonwealth passport, the proof of age standards scheme card, the HM armed forces veteran card, and the blue badge from the disabled persons’ parking scheme in Northern Ireland and Great Britain. Those forms of ID are already accepted at polling stations in the rest of the United Kingdom. Expanding the list of acceptable documents will support electoral participation across Northern Ireland. Both the chief electoral officer for Northern Ireland and the Electoral Commission are supportive of the change. Ensuring that those who cast their vote are eligible to do so is vital to uphold trust in electoral institutions and processes. The requirement for an elector to produce ID is an important part of protecting that principle. Producing photographic ID at polling stations has been a requirement in Northern Ireland elections since 2003, and it is a well-understood and established part of the electoral process. Security requirements mean that the list of acceptable IDs in Northern Ireland has historically been more restrictive and updated less frequently than the list in Great Britain. Increasing the number of acceptable IDs will remove barriers to voting and support more people in Northern Ireland, including some of the most vulnerable in society, to participate in our democracy, while retaining important electoral security measures. The draft local elections order will uprate the spending limits for candidates in Northern Ireland’s local elections. The limit will increase from £600 plus 5p per elector registered to vote in the district electoral area in which the candidate is standing, to £960 plus 8p per elector registered to vote in the district electoral area. That will bring the spending limit in Northern Ireland in line with the spending limit for local elections in England. The existing spending limits for local election candidates in Northern Ireland have remained unchanged since they were first set in 2005. Spending limits across all other reserved elections were uprated to reflect the rise in inflation in 2023. Consequently, candidates standing in local elections in Northern Ireland face a disadvantage compared with those standing in parliamentary and Assembly elections in Northern Ireland, or in local elections in England. An effective democracy relies on the ability of political parties, candidates and other campaigners to communicate their views so that voters can make informed decisions. The current limits mean that local election candidates in Northern Ireland are restricted by lower real-term spending on campaigning. The Electoral Commission has been consulted on the changes, in line with the statutory duty of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and it supports the new measures. The draft instruments are necessary to support more people in Northern Ireland to participate in and engage with our democracy. Expanding the list of acceptable voter IDs is an important step in updating electoral processes to reflect the modern electorate in Northern Ireland while preserving the additional security features that are essential to maintaining trust in Northern Ireland’s electoral system. Uprating local election campaign spending limits will ensure that spending limits remain aligned in real terms with the original limits set by Parliament.

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10. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Owen

    Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026 Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Local Elections) (Northern Ireland) Order 2026 Draft Local Elections (Northern Ireland) (Uprating Election Expenses) Order 2026

    I thank the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Bridlington and The Wolds, and the Lib Dem spokesperson, the hon. Member for Wimbledon, for their input. I will respond to as many of their points as possible. To respond to the Lib Dem spokesperson, the lists are not identical between the rest of GB and Northern Ireland, because Northern Ireland requires a photographic form of identification. There is some divergence between the two, but that is a historic and well-trodden path for Northern Ireland. That is the reason why there is some difference. Let me address the points made by the shadow Minister. First, on the veterans card, we totally understand that there will be some sensitivities, and that some people will not feel comfortable using their veterans card or carrying it with them, but the expansion to include it is about choice and ensuring that veterans can, should they wish to do so, present their veterans card at the voting booths. The Government are looking keenly at measures to ensure that we do not lose voters from the electoral register—that is across my desk. The reason we are introducing the measures is to ensure the widest possible participation in all elections in Northern Ireland, and that is what we want to continue doing. At this stage, we do not envisage revisiting the candidate spend. On votes at 16, of course our positions differ. We will revisit that specifically for Northern Ireland when it comes into force. The wider context of reforms has come up time and again in relation to Northern Ireland, but it is not necessarily about what the politicians want to change; it is about what businesses, people and the public sector in Northern Ireland will be crying out for: a wider package of reforms, beyond the scope of what we are discussing today. The Committee will agree that encouraging participation in our democracy is vital. I hope that the Committee agrees that the draft instruments will maintain the integrity of the electoral system in Northern Ireland, respecting well-understood safeguards, while adapting to keep pace with modern practices. I am pleased to introduce the measures and I commend them to the Committee. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That the Committee has considered the draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2026. Draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Local Elections) (Northern Ireland) Order 2026 Resolved, That the Committee has considered the draft Voter Identification (Amendment of List of Specified Documents) (Local Elections) (Northern Ireland) Order 2026.—(Sarah Owen.) Draft Local Elections (Northern Ireland) (Uprating Election Expenses) Order 2026 Resolved, That the Committee has considered the draft Local Elections (Northern Ireland) (Uprating Election Expenses) Order 2026.—(Sarah Owen.)

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11. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Owen

    Car Dealerships

    Ministers and officials are in regular contact with the Department for Transport on dual approvals for passenger vehicles and Northern Ireland’s automotive sector. The Government remain committed to ensuring that vehicle supply remains as seamless as possible across the whole of the UK. This was shown when the Government secured fairness on the tax treatment of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, supporting dealerships and car buyers.

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12. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Owen

    Car Dealerships

    We are continuing to engage with Northern Ireland car market representatives, as well as the broader UK automotive industry, on issues faced by Northern Ireland car dealers. We want to see the sector go from strength to strength, and I am happy to meet with anybody who shares that mission. I also want to address the fact that the hon. Gentleman has raised the lack of response to a particular letter from the National Franchised Dealers Association. I will ensure that that is rectified by the end of the week, and it will get a response.

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13. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Community Policing: Government Support

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) on securing what is a very important debate on a very important topic. As my hon. Friend the Member for Clwyd North (Gill German) said, community policing is about whether people feel safe. It is our first duty as parliamentarians to make sure that our constituents feel, and are, safe. Community policing is the frontline of that work, so I appreciate the opportunity to debate this topic. I, too, express my sorrow at the homophobic, racist and xenophobic abuse described by the hon. Member for Chichester. Obviously, we are all very sorry for that and hope that justice will be done in those cases. I also join many Members who have thanked the police and police staff, who are often forgotten. We should talk about them more often. I want to add my thanks to all the police officers and staff who I have met and worked with. We had some really good contributions. My hon. Friend the Member for Harrow West (Gareth Thomas) asked whether the local council should pay for policing. The council in Harrow should do exactly what my hon. Friend tells them to do. That would be a very good starting point, and I definitely always recommend that. The hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) spoke about Northern Ireland, and as he knows I met the Chief Constable a couple of weeks ago. I was pleased to talk to him and he is obviously doing a very good job in very difficult circumstances. To my hon. Friend the Member for Broxtowe (Juliet Campbell), I say that I spoke to the deputy chief constable following the incident in Nottingham and the awful shooting of a police officer. I will keep in touch with them about what has happened and how that officer, as well how his team, are doing. They were all very affected by what has happened and I know that has been deeply worrying for people. My hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin) talked about doxxing of police, which we talked about earlier in the week and which is very worrying. We are very keen to hear from the Fed, or others, about what more we can do as the Government to help in that space. My hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) was right to talk about the things that he did. The Fed rep that he spoke to has done some really good work to make that case. He is right that, on lots of measures, the force is judged as being really good. I know the frustration and we have talked about it before. We are working on the funding imbalance that follows from that. My hon. Friend the Member for Reading West and Mid Berkshire (Olivia Bailey) talked about e-bikes. They are a scourge. As she says, we have passed a law that means that the police have more powers to seize, which is good, but I am having conversations with hon. Members about what more we can do in that space. It is becoming very problematic. I was talking to my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough (Dr Sandher) today, who has been campaigning on that issue quite a lot, and we were talking about some of the struggles and some of the potential solutions.

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14. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Community Policing: Government Support

    Yes, it is a problem everywhere. This week I have been to Hemel Hempstead, Southall and Newcastle-under-Lyme in a bit of an antisocial behaviour tour in advance of our respect orders coming into force on Monday. Everybody in those three areas, and everybody I speak to, is concerned. There are things that the Department for Transport needs to do and there are things that the Home Office needs to do. I am in the space of looking at what we can do from a policing point of view. I was interested to hear from my hon. Friend the Member for Loughborough that their public spaces protection order has rules about the wearing of balaclavas as well. That is another debate that crosses into the e-bike one, as well as into other areas. That is an interesting innovation that they have introduced.

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15. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Community Policing: Government Support

    We talked about this briefly in a meeting I was in earlier. We discussed what more we can do and the new technologies that can help us to follow some of these bikes and some of the individuals who are stealing them or using them in an illegal way. I am very interested in that. As the hon. Member said, there are already things being done in some parts of the country. One big reason for our reform programme is that we have this frustration: if something is being done in some parts of the country, why is it not being done in others? We need more consistency, so that we have good practice everywhere. I want to point out the reforms we have introduced already as a Government. Some £2 billion extra has gone into policing, including to cover the cost of the national insurance rise, which was raised.

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16. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Community Policing: Government Support

    I reassure the hon. Member that, over the last two years, West Midlands police has had millions more in funding than it had the year before. This Government have given West Midlands police more money year on year since we came to power. As every Member will know, I hope, we are prioritising a number of areas. The first is serious crime and knife crime. We have seen massive improvements in the area of knife crime, particularly knife murders, since we came to power. We are prioritising neighbourhood policing, and we have 4,000-odd extra neighbourhood police in our communities, which is beginning to make a difference. We have passed the Crime and Policing Act 2026, which among other things will introduce respect orders on Monday. That is a new power for police to use to go after persistent offenders in antisocial behaviour. We are calling time on those people. In some circumstances, we know who they are, and we all know from our constituents the trouble that we have with them. When I was in Hemel Hempstead today, the police force had a list of 30 people who they are going to put in to the courts to get a respect order on, and they are hoping to go to court on Monday—on the first day that these orders are introduced. It is a powerful tool for the police to use, which I want to see used widely.

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17. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Jones

    Community Policing: Government Support

    I do. I very much enjoyed visiting my hon. Friend’s constituency. I am aware of the short time I have left. I wanted to touch on all kinds of things—seasonality and rurality are two things that we are looking at in the review of the funding formula. In the reform of policing, we will set up a national police service for things such as organised and online crime, so that we will have a place where these things are done and the local police can focus on what they need to do. New tech will mean less bureaucracy and more time out on our streets. We are working at pace to make sure we deliver the reforms that people want and expect, but I will come back to the starting point, which is that there is nothing more important than good community policing. It makes people feel safe, it makes people safe and it prevents crime, and this Government are committed to increasing, not diminishing, that resource.

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18. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sarah Edwards

    E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

    The hon. Member has rightfully secured a debate on this extremely important topic. In the summer in Tamworth, there was an extremely serious collision between a six-year-old girl and an e-motorbike. She was in a critical condition as a result, but fortunately she did not die. Will the hon. Member be pressing the Government to give more resources to policing and to clarify the legislation for e-bikes and e-motorbikes?

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19. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Samantha Niblett

    Support for Farmers

    Yesterday I had the great delight of meeting with members of Derbyshire National Farmers’ Union. They agreed with my hon. Friend about making it easier for them to access capital, not just to invest in items like tractors, but in buildings and things such as reservoirs, to help them manage the change in climate. Does he agree that meeting regularly with our NFU members is a fantastic use of our time, and that they help to shape the recommendations we make to Government?

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20. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Samantha Niblett

    Support for Farmers

    My hon. Friend is making an incredible speech without any notes, demonstrating his knowledge of this space. It is super impressive. I met representatives of Derbyshire NFU yesterday. One of the things they talked about, as well as their concerns about Brazilian beef, was how often a consumer can go to the shop and think they are doing the right thing because they are buying something that has the Union Jack on the front—our proud British label—but if they turned over the label, they would find that the product is not from this country. Does my hon. Friend agree with me and my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law), who has done a huge amount of work on fair labelling, that we in this country should be doing more to let people know where their food comes from, so that they can make the right decision and buy British?

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21. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Samantha Niblett

    Support for Farmers

    My hon. Friend is talking about recommendations for the SFI going forward. When I met Derbyshire NFU yesterday, there was some concern about a proportion of SFI that was not accounted for—I am sorry, I do not have my notes to confirm the figure. Derbyshire NFU said that one of the key challenges was that when we were part of the EU, there had to be clarity about what money was spent where, whereas now it finds it much harder to get transparency on money that has been invested. Does my hon. Friend agree that this might also be a recommendation to Government?

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22. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Samantha Niblett

    Mineworkers’ Pension Schemes: Nottinghamshire

    While Nottingham born and bred, I have lived in Derbyshire for 20 years and am proud to represent South Derbyshire. Many ex-miners who I have met in this place, in South Derbyshire and in Derbyshire more broadly would like to thank you for your leadership on this matter in our neck of the woods.

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23. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Sam Carling

    Church Appointments (Repeal of Discriminatory Provision) Bill

    I first want to put on record my strong support for this Bill, which removes discriminatory provisions preventing people of the Roman Catholic or Jewish faith from advising the monarch on certain Crown appointments. The Bill is based on the rightful principle that everyone in society, regardless of what faith they follow, or of whether they follow a faith at all, should be treated equally in public life. It is unconscionable that anyone of a certain religion, be they Prime Minister or otherwise, should face legislation that gives them inferior treatment—or, on the flip side, preferential treatment—to those of different faiths, or of no faith at all. Once we have accepted this principle, however, it is clear that there are other areas where work needs to be done to remove differences in treatment in our society based on religion, and I would welcome a broader Bill from the Government on these topics. Census data from 2011 and 2021 showed that we are now an exceptionally religiously diverse country, largely due to the rise in those who report having no religion—they are up 8.5 million to 22.5 million overall, or over a third of the population of England and Wales. I am a secularist, and while I am not religious, many religious people are secularists, too. I believe that politicians with a faith should be free to speak from the perspective that that faith gives them, but that no faith should be privileged. This Bill firmly aligns with that secularist principle. In my view, the logic of the Bill forces us to ask some other questions about religion in public life. Why, for example, do we have guaranteed seats for clergy of a certain faith in the House of Lords? While I have no doubt that many of them are knowledgeable and dutiful in their work—and I know many personally—I do not believe that their religious position should warrant a seat in Parliament. I ask the House how that can be seen any differently from the discriminatory provisions that the Bill rightfully seeks to repeal. That is not unlike certain other things that happen. In collective worship in state-funded schools, children may be forced into religious practices, such as class prayers or singing Christian hymns in the morning, regardless of their faith. That is a matter of law at present. The need to challenge religious discrimination in the public sphere is, I would argue, another subject that arises naturally once we accept the principles of the Bill, so I want to make a couple of brief points on that subject. I want to make it clear that secularist principles are not opposed to religion in any way. I believe, as I am sure we all do, in the freedom to have whatever faith, or lack thereof, one might choose—in freedom of religion, but also freedom from religion. For that principle to be fully realised, however, we need a level playing field. This Bill is based on an idea, and I would welcome further discussion of what logically follows from that in public life as a whole.

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24. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Burgon

    Jackdaw Gasfield

    I am incredibly disappointed in today’s decision on Jackdaw; I believe that it flies in the face of all the evidence and will do nothing to lower people’s energy bills, create jobs or improve our energy security. The Minister has a strong record in making the case for Britain to be a renewable energy superpower, so can he confirm that today’s decision in no way implies or means that the approval of Rosebank will automatically follow?

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25. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stringer. The human impact of the illegal use of e-bikes was powerfully set out by the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) at the beginning of the debate. It is certainly something we are aware of in my constituency, where Peggy Maxwell, who is 94, was mown down by a teenager on a Sur-Ron e-bike. Peggy suffered a broken neck, back, clavicle and ribs, and was hospitalised for three months. Many people would not have expected Peggy to come back from those injuries at her age, but she is determined and formidable, and she did. Last month, she attended a public meeting on e-bikes we held in Lochore with her family, who are now also campaigning for new laws on their use. I add to the calls from right across the Chamber for more action on enforcement, point of sale regulation, and diversion from the illegal use of e-bikes. In Scotland, that requires action from both Westminster and Holyrood. I have been working on the issue with David Barratt, MSP for Cowdenbeath, and I am pleased that he secured a commitment from the Scottish Government that any bikes seized by the police will be destroyed and not sold on. That should be the course of action taken by all police forces. This Government have taken more action to give police more powers to seize e-bikes. It is vital that the Scottish Government take similar action for forces in Scotland. It is important to consider what action we need to take on point of sale. Many people buying these bikes will be unaware that they cannot be used on public roads. Vendors need to provide information to the people who are buying these bikes, often for their children. We also have to consider further action on regulation and registration, and I support the comments by my hon. Friends the Members for Darlington (Lola McEvoy) and for Carlisle (Ms Minns) on that. Vendors need to have more responsibilities for this issue placed on them by Government. Finally, on diversion, we have a great charity in my constituency, Kingdom Off Road Motorcycle Club, which gives people who have previously used e-bikes illegally the chance to use them safely and legally on a purpose-designed track, often on bikes that have been seized by the police. That sounds like a really good approach, and I hope we can see that supported across the country. The enjoyment and convenience of e-bikes and e-scooters for some is now seriously outweighed by the harms caused for many, and it is time for this Government to take further action.

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26. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    Royal Mail: Performance

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) on securing this vital debate and her excellent opening speech. My office has been inundated with complaints from residents, particularly in Glenrothes, about unacceptable delays to Royal Mail deliveries. I therefore put out an appeal for information on social media, and in just a few days around 400 people replied to that one post with their experiences. Even after the revisions to the universal service obligation to reduce the frequency of second-class deliveries, seven in 10 of the people who contacted us said they were waiting a fortnight or more for their mail deliveries. Residents also reported post being delivered in bundles dating back weeks, as the hon. Lady said. That is simply not acceptable.

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27. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    Royal Mail: Performance

    I could not agree more with those important points. They show that, from Cornwall right up to Scotland, the problems are the same and need to be addressed by Royal Mail. I will come to my proposals later in my speech. We heard from people whose credit had been affected by a missed bill, people who missed jury citations and people who were penalised after car tax reminders never arrived. A number of Members have mentioned issues around health service appointments. Most worrying for me, 100 constituents received late NHS letters. Unacceptably, 45 missed an appointment or received a letter after the date. A constituent waited three years to get on to a consultant’s priority list, but she never received the letter and subsequently lost her place. A primary school-age child missed a vital appointed at Edinburgh sick kids hospital. A teenager was struck off the Victoria hospital’s dermatology department in Kirkcaldy for not turning up, although it was entirely outwith their control. Seventeen people managed to attend an appointment only because of a text or call reminder, as the letter was not received in time. Royal Mail has said to us that it has a priority barcode for NHS letters. I have checked with NHS Fife. It is using the code, and the letters are still not arriving on time, so Royal Mail must address the situation urgently. It is obvious to all those who are aware of the situation that the new delivery system, which management said was going to make a big difference, is in fact failing, particularly for second-class mail. My constituents have been told at the counter that more lucrative parcels are being prioritised over letters. It is striking that not a single constituent who has complained or got in contact with us put any blame on our overworked local posties. As many Members said, the situation is putting our postal staff under unacceptable pressure at work. Understaffing and longer routes mean that they are being asked to do the impossible. That drives up absence rates, which only makes the situation worse. According to the CWU, which has done so much work to campaign on this issue, Royal Mail is losing about 400 postal staff a week. I again urge the management to get around the table with the union and end the recruitment and retention crisis. So many of the problems that we face in the service today are caused by the recruitment and retention issues, so we must support our hard-working postal staff. The situation in Glenrothes has improved marginally of late, but only on a short-term basis, because workers were brought in temporarily from Dundee. That is clearly not a sustainable solution, so a root-and-branch change is required, not quick fixes or plastering over the cracks. I urge Royal Mail to listen to the contributions from across the Chamber today and to the thousands of people across Glenrothes and Mid Fife who rely on this lifeline.

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28. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    Support for Veterans

    10. What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Defence to support veterans who served in Operation Banner.

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29. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    Support for Veterans

    Fife is home to more veterans than any other part of Scotland, many of whom gave dedicated service to this country as part of Operation Banner. Can my right hon. Friend assure these veterans, whom many Members spoke of in the debates this week, that their rights and welfare will be not only always protected, but extended through our pledge to the armed forces covenant?

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30. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Richard Baker

    Jackdaw Gasfield

    This decision will be welcomed by skilled energy workers across Scotland and the UK, who will have a key role in making our transition towards renewables successful. For that reason, a positive decision on Rosebank in the future would also be welcome. This project, though, will create and sustain some 300 skilled energy jobs. Will my hon. Friend assure me that he will work with the Scottish Government to ensure we have the right training in place for our energy workers for the future? Could some of the resources within the North sea wealth fund contribute to that aim?

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31. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Preet Kaur Gill

    Antisemitism in Schools and Colleges

    Sir David Bell’s review lays bare the extent of antisemitism within our education system. The Government are funding a partnership between the Archdiocese of Birmingham and the Board of Deputies to help pupils recognise and challenge antisemitism, including conspiracy theories spread through online gaming. Will the Secretary of State commit to publishing its results and explain how successful approaches will reach every school in Birmingham, including in the constituency of Edgbaston?

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32. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Peter Swallow

    Child-like Sexual Abuse Dolls (Offences) Bill

    The hon. Lady is making an incredibly powerful case about something that, I think we can all agree, is utterly abhorrent. I want to ask about proposed new subsection 46D(9), which, as she rightly emphasised, would ban the adaptation of something into a CSA doll. Does the Bill also ban the supplying of parts to allow that to happen? She has mentioned that the Bill would look at banning the supply of CSA dolls. There is also separately a concern about modifying an object into a CSA doll. Is there a potential loophole whereby supplying the parts to enable the modification would not be covered by the Bill, which would address only the supply of entire CSA dolls?

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33. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Peter Swallow

    Support for Veterans

    9. What steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Defence to support veterans who served in Operation Banner.

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34. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Peter Swallow

    Support for Veterans

    At the heart of this lies a really important principle. Can my right hon. Friend set out why those of us on the Government Benches do not believe it is morally acceptable to offer immunity to terrorists involved in killing not only innocent civilians but, as we have just heard, those brave servicepeople who served their country on Operation Banner?

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35. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Pam Cox

    Engagements

    Q9.   Endometriosis affects about 1 in 10 women in the UK, and I have heard from many women in Colchester and north-east Essex who are living in chronic pain with the condition—a pain that is prolonged by unnecessarily long waits for treatment and diagnosis. What steps are the Government taking to speed up access to treatment?

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36. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Olivia Bailey

    Community Policing: Government Support

    I thank the hon. Member for Chichester (Jess Brown-Fuller) for securing this debate. I am the proud daughter of a police officer, and one of the things my dad always instilled in me was the importance of community policing: people knowing who their local neighbourhood officer is, building a relationship with them, and seeing them out and about in their local streets. My constituents also share that view. I am really pleased that as a result of the actions that this Labour Government have taken, there are now more neighbourhood police officers in my community and they are making a big difference. I say a big thank you in particular to Inspector Betsy Palmer, PC Joe Meritt, Sergeant Andy Murray and PCSO Fraser Sinclair, who I met recently and who do a brilliant job, day in, day out, to keep our communities safe. However, they told me that one thing they spend far too much of their time on is tackling the scourge of illegal bikes. I am fed up, and my constituents are fed up with having to pull children out of the way in a park when a bike or a Sur-Ron zooms past them at 30mph, or having to slam on the brakes while driving down the street because someone in a balaclava is doing a wheelie in front of them It is simply not good enough. I was very grateful to the Minister for her recent correspondence with me on this issue and I am grateful to the Government for giving the police additional powers to seize and destroy those bikes, but we need to do more. I ask the Minister—if she would not mind—to think again and to tell me today both how we can do more to regulate the sale of those bikes and close the loopholes that mean those Sur-Rons can be ridden by people gleefully around the streets of my constituency, and how we can support our local police to tackle this problem.

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37. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Noah Law

    E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

    Within my constituency, the communications I recently held with residents on antisocial behaviour highlighted major concerns about e-bikes and other powered bikes being ridden not just around town, but in abandoned china clay pits, on footpaths and along other rights of way. My constituents rightly raised concerns about safety and the impact of antisocial behaviour, where rules are deliberately ignored by riders, on those shared spaces. Those concerns should not be dismissed; our constituents are right to expect the law to be enforced effectively, so I welcome the Government’s additional powers to seize and dispose of dangerous vehicles being used unlawfully, and the wider efforts to tackle the sale of unsafe and illegal products. Those measures should help us to ensure that the enforcement agencies can respond much more effectively. At the same time, however, there is a wider point to contribute to this debate, particularly when it comes to young people. Many young people are drawn to e-bikes because of the freedom, the independence and the sense of community that they offer. That interest in itself is not a problem to be regulated, as strict as we must be in some of the other measures we have described today; it can be channelled into sports, into skills, into training and volunteering opportunities. I highlight the work of the Cornwall Bicycle Project in Par, which provides those vital skills and the volunteering and community engagement opportunities, engaging people from a wide range of backgrounds, including those who have struggled in mainstream education and are looking for routes into employment and training. The model ensures that the enthusiasm for e-bikes can be channelled in a positive way: it can offer a practical route into learning new skills, it can build confidence and responsibility, and it can create connections within those communities. Lastly, I recognise the role that Imerys has played more broadly in supporting access to nature, outdoor recreation and sports within the china clay area—but it should not be down to one company to solve this huge issue in our area. Local authorities, police, business, community organisations and education providers need to be supported by our Government in a strategic manner to play their part.

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38. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Neil Duncan-Jordan

    Jackdaw Gasfield

    Today’s decision feels like a backwards step in our efforts to reduce carbon emissions and our reliance on fossil fuels, but one of our biggest challenges is the £88 billion-worth of UK pensions that are invested in this dying market—some 10 times what those funds invest in clean energy sources. What pressure is the Minister bringing to bear to wean our pension funds off those damaging fossil fuel investments?

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39. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Neil Coyle

    E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

    I congratulate the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire) on securing the debate. I will focus my comments on the cycle hire regulations in Southwark. We should be a success story of more lanes and more users, but—and I have a big butt, which makes me a wobbly cyclist—the number of complaints, increasingly from other cyclists, is colossal and rising. The need to regulate is only too apparent when visiting any transport interchange in Southwark. Last week, dumped bikes blocked the only pedestrian crossing from London Bridge station on to the bridge itself, not in rush hour, but on a Saturday lunch time. I get so many complaints, including from Stephen about bike dumping at Canada Water; from Sacha about bikes in pedestrian areas and local parks; and from Sanjay about insurance after a recent collision. Then there is Whelan’s, a pub in Rotherhithe with a bike bay outside that overflows regularly with dumped bikes, blocking the way of customers and blocking a bus stop, but most worryingly, blocking the delivery of beer to the pub. A pub without beer cannot stay open very long. It is on a red route, so alternatives are limited. I am working with Lime and others to address this issue, and I raised it directly with the City Hall’s cycling commissioner last week, but a business and jobs are at risk through the failure of Lime and others to regulate themselves. Regulations are necessary and welcome. I hope the Minister will tell us this morning when the next consultation on secondary legislation will come forward, but I hope he also recognises that some solutions are available now. Southwark council could replicate Ealing and remove bikes at cost to the providers. Constructively, the council could move the bay outside Whelan’s to the verges on the opposite side of Rotherhithe Old Road. Council inaction is inexcusable, especially under a Green leader who last year filmed a promotional video for Lime inside the council office, breaking council rules. I await the council investigation into that with some interest. Inaction is also inexcusable because the council announced a new deal for discounted bike use three months ago in an arrangement that has delivered no better management of bikes, and not one person has yet had a discounted fare. It is an amateur, premature fanfare of a scheme. Conditions should have been set for clearing bikes with the providers. Lime claims it has 400 staff to clear bays and more need directing to those sites, but it says Southwark council sends no one to them. Council inaction is even more inexcusable because Lime has a £500 million fund to provide bays that local authorities can bid for. Embarrassingly, Southwark has bid for nothing—that is the summit of its aspiration for our community. It seems the Greens and their Lib Dem sidekicks in Southwark are too busy obsessing over Israel and international affairs to get on with helping people in our community. It is frankly incompetent and I will be pushing further to help everyone affected.

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40. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Labour·Neil Coyle

    E-scooters and E-bikes: Regulation

    On the point about Westminster council and data, does the hon. Gentleman support the Mayor of London’s request that the new Government regulations require all providers to share information on how many bikes and vehicles they have on the road in our capital, and wherever else they are operated? I obviously have a London interest.

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