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1. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Access to Culture

   Nobody brings good vibes to the Chamber more than my hon. Friend. Portsmouth holds an important place in our national story, with its strong maritime history, thriving cultural sector and iconic sites such as the historic dockyard. The UK city of culture competition gives all bidders, win or lose, opportunities to deliver on their ambitions to use culture as a catalyst to make transformative change for their people and place. The competition has an independent panel of judges, chaired by the wonderful Sir Phil Redmond. I wish Portsmouth and all bidding places the very best of luck, and I thank my hon. Friend, who does so much for her constituents, for her lobbying.

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2. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Access to Culture

   I commend the Gatehouse theatre in Stafford for all that it does for young people; it is a fantastic initiative. The DCMS understands that people in rural areas face additional challenges in accessing culture. We know that transport challenges make accessing touring productions and after-school activities more difficult. Indeed, that was something we discussed on Staffordshire Day in this place. Arts Council England is committed to responding to the specific needs of rural areas, such as working with artists, improving access for rural audiences and building partnerships for growth. Access to culture should not be a postcode lottery, either due to transport restrictions or availability, and that is what our arts everywhere programme is all about.

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3. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Access to Culture

   Absolutely, and I commend the hon. Gentleman for the work done in his constituency, including at Castle Ward. Encouraging everyone to go and visit would be the best thing for me to do as the Minister. Transport connectivity for those attending cultural and music events and historic and heritage places came up at the Select Committee sitting I attended this week, so we are working hard to resolve these issues.

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4. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Access to Culture

   In the interests of time, I will just say that I am happy to meet the hon. Lady to discuss that issue in more detail.

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5. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Access to Culture

   I congratulate the hon. Lady on her position and welcome her to her place. I look forward to the many discussions the ministerial team will have with her shadow ministerial team. I am sure that she will do a marvellous job. It was the 60th anniversary of Notting Hill carnival. Everyone is concerned about the 636 arrests. It is a carnival that has been enjoyed by tens of millions of people over the past 60 years. Its policing is the responsibility of the Mayor of London, and we will work closely with the Mayor of London on what will happen over the next 60 years of the Notting Hill carnival. It is something that we should celebrate and enjoy, but that has to be done safely, without discrimination for anyone and without fear or favour for anyone.

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6. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Ian Murray

   Topical Questions

   I thank my hon. Friend for bringing this incredibly serious question to DCMS questions this morning. There is no place for homophobia or prejudice in our society, and the media has a duty to uphold the highest standards, not polarise or divide. I understand that Ofcom is investigating whether the programme has breached broadcasting code standards, and I expect it to do so without fear or favour. Through our media Green Paper, we are considering how to ensure Ofcom has the right powers to protect audiences and regulate TV services in the future. We have a proud free media and free press in this country, but that does not come without responsibilities, and GB News should be thoroughly ashamed of itself.

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7. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Graeme Downie

   Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields

   I think we need a pragmatic approach on oil and gas—one that is focused on people and prioritising British businesses and communities. I want to see a positive decision on both Rosebank and Jackdaw, but does the Minister agree that we are in this position—with less clarity and less security about what is going to happen—because of the Conservatives’ abject failure to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and to run a properly managed decision process on Jackdaw and Rosebank in the first place, all while overseeing an absolute failure to effectively transition to a low-carbon economy, and the loss of over 120,000 jobs in the industry?

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8. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Gordon McKee

   Topical Questions

   T7.   Football is not the private property of Gianni Infantino or a handful of rich and powerful men; it belongs to the billions of people who watch it, play it and enjoy it. Given that UEFA is proposing to make a criminal complaint about the conduct of FIFA’s leadership, will the Minister join me and others in calling for a genuinely independent investigation into FIFA’s decision to try to sell off the world cup?

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9. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Gordon McKee

   Sporting Events Bill [Lords]

   I am privileged to represent Hampden Park in Glasgow, which will be one of the stadiums that hosts Euro 2028. It is a huge opportunity, and it attracts investment, as the Minister has said. Does she agree that when we have these major sporting events, it is important that the right legislation is in place for the communities around the stadium, and that the Government work with the council and police to ensure that there is no antisocial behaviour, littering or other disruption to those communities?

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10. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Gill German

    Access to Sport: Poorer Families

    This summer, Denbigh Town football club did itself proud as the host of four UEFA under-19 championship games, including a Spain versus Germany match that saw record attendance of almost 2,000 spectators. Thanks to significant investment in Central Park, including a £300,000 Cymru Football Foundation grant funded by this Government, not only is the club now match fit to host international games, but it has top-class facilities all year round for the whole community. Does the Minister agree that the inspiration and opportunities that that brings to children from all walks of life are immeasurable? How are the Government ensuring that facilities like those are available across the country?

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11. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Fleur Anderson

    Business of the House

    The impact of flights going over my constituency is enormous—one goes over every 90 seconds—so lots of Putney residents got involved in the Government’s consultation on the Heathrow expansion national policy statement during the summer, which closed on Monday. The consultation being held in the summer was concerning, because it limited public participation. Will the Leader of the House provide Government time for a debate on the Heathrow expansion proposals, before decisions are made, so that we can raise constituents’ concerns and inform Ministers’ decisions?

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12. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Euan Stainbank

    Business of the House

    Following years of closures of community spaces, places of worship have become increasingly precious to communities across my constituency, especially across the Braes villages. The SNP learned 20 months ago that it was responsible for support grants for places of worship, but has only now delivered a paltry scheme, with seemingly half the resource proportionately as that committed to the scheme down here, top-sliced from the already significantly reduced Historic Environment Scotland budget. Will the Leader of the House support a debate on the importance of places of worship to our communities?

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13. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Simon Opher

    Lidos

    7. What steps she is taking to support lidos.

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14. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Simon Opher

    Lidos

    In Stroud I celebrated the reopening of our lido by making a splash, jumping in fully clothed next to a woman dressed as a lobster. I want to thank Save Stroud Lido, the Friends of Stratford Park Lido and the whole community for working to reopen the lido. As the Secretary of State knows, most of our lidos were built in the 1930s and are in financial difficulty, so I really look forward to meeting the Minister and maybe establishing a lido fund to support our lidos nationally.

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15. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Scott Arthur

    Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security

    The hon. Lady makes a really good point. When I speak to farmers in Edinburgh South West, they often feel that they are the problem when it comes to protecting biodiversity; in fact, they are the solution. We should be doing all we can to support the Government to support farmers to help protect our environment.

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16. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Rupa Huq

    Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security

    Biodiversity loss in my own constituency has happened with Thames Water dumping sewage into the River Brent. I am glad that the clean water Bill will bring an end to that, but does the hon. Member agree that we need greater assurance that vital ecosystems that have been ravaged will be built back?

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17. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Peter Prinsley

    Vaccination Rates: England

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I thank the members of the Health and Social Care Committee for securing this debate. Doctors like me do not need any convincing about vaccination, but some of our political opponents do not agree. It is incredible to think that a platform was given at last year’s Reform conference to someone claiming that vaccinations had caused cancer in the royal family, and that the head of the United States Health Department is a vaccine sceptic. That is quite pernicious and wrong—very, very wrong. Doctors like me do not need convincing. Nor do wives like mine who are Rhesus-negative and whose mothers had multiple miscarriages before the discovery of anti-D injections to prevent baby loss, which was first tested in the famous Sing Sing prison experiments. When I was young, every county had a school for the deaf, but they had all closed by the time I was a senior ENT surgeon. Why was that? Maternal rubella, or German measles, in pregnancy had been abolished by simply vaccinating all girls at puberty, just like that—brilliant. There was no longer a need for so many schools for the deaf. A landmark 2026 Lancet study reported no cervical cancer deaths among women aged 20 to 24 between 2020 and 2024: a dramatic drop from the previous five-year period directly credited to the national human papillomavirus vaccination programme. We will see the same fall in the number of deaths from oropharyngeal throat cancer in boys as a result of HPV vaccination. We all know that the national response to the pandemic was not a glorious one. There were costly errors in personal protective equipment and test and trace, but the one thing we did get right was vaccination, which saved countless lives. I recall myself vaccinating the first very elderly patients in Great Yarmouth. Just lately we have seen reports of increased life expectancy in patients with malignant melanoma due to personalised cancer vaccines—brilliant. Doctors like me, unlike some politicians, need no convincing of the crucial importance of vaccination, but there must be a warning here, for we are short of clinical academics who lead medical education and research. We need to incubate the next generation of scientists who will lead these discoveries, for this is the country of Jenner, who discovered vaccination; of Lister, who discovered antisepsis; and of Fleming, who discovered penicillin. We have a great legacy, and we must secure a great future.

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18. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Peter Prinsley

    Business of the House

    I apologise, Madam Deputy Speaker. This morning I met Julie, the mother of Heather, whose tragic death was featured in Channel 4’s “Dirty Business”. She is an incredible campaigner. With all the debates and discussions about the terrible state of the water companies, does the Leader of the House agree with Julie and with me that public health must be this House’s top priority?

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19. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Marie Tidball

    Family Hubs and Community Cohesion

    Mr Speaker, it is good to see you after recess. Over the summer, I attended a packed meeting about saving St John’s church in Dodworth in my constituency, a grade 2 listed building that has been at the heart of my community for over 180 years and wants to serve that community by providing more services to children and young people and to older adults to prevent loneliness. However, it is currently temporarily closed and under threat of permanent closure due to urgent structural building work being needed. Those in our community want to save it, and I am working with them to reopen it and secure its long-term future to serve our community and our community groups, including by fundraising £250,000 and finding ways to meet the building’s ongoing costs. Can my hon. Friend advise me on how we can access funding and support from the Church of England and any other relevant funding pots for St John’s to ensure that this vital community space has a bright future.

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20. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Marie Tidball

    Family Hubs and Community Cohesion

    indicated assent.

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21. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Allison Gardner

    Business of the House

    I have been supporting the excellent North Staffordshire Pensioners’ Convention in its campaign for an older persons’ commissioner who would champion later-life issues. This is also a recommendation by the Work and Pensions Committee in its report on “Pensioner Poverty” and in the report by the all-party parliamentary group for ageing and older people on older people’s rights. Would the Leader of the House make time in Government time for a debate on the need for an older persons’ commissioner in England?

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22. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dr Allison Gardner

    Large-scale Development Masterplans

    I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this debate on the role of masterplans in large-scale development. This debate will be of particular importance to many of my constituents in Lightwood and surrounding areas, where some 3,000 homes have been allocated through Stoke-on-Trent’s emerging local plan under site BL1. I want to begin by making my position clear: I oppose development of this scale in Lightwood. It is the largest single housing allocation in the entire local plan and would, in practice, create a substantial new community on the edge of the city. Like many constituents who have contacted me, I do not believe that the existing infrastructure, public services and transport network can accommodate development of this scale. I have consistently raised objections to the scale of this proposal. However, I recognise the reality that development is likely to proceed, particularly given that elements of the site are under council ownership. I also believe that the centrally determined housing target for Stoke-on-Trent of 948 homes a year is a little too high, given the site’s tight administrative boundaries and limited land. It is concerning that we have reached the regulation 19 stage of the local plan process without residents having any meaningful detail about how the strategic allocation of 3,000 homes would be delivered. There remains no comprehensive framework setting out infrastructure requirements, no clear understanding of how cumulative impacts will be mitigated and no shared vision about how a development of this scale will integrate with both existing communities and the wider area. What makes this particularly difficult to understand is that residents elsewhere in Stoke-on-Trent have been afforded precisely that opportunity. The council prepared a masterplan for the strategic site at Packmoor, despite it being around a third of the size of the proposed Lightwood allocation. That process provided a clear vision for the site and enabled residents to engage with the overall shape of development before individual planning applications came forward. By contrast, residents in Lightwood are being asked to comment on a strategic allocation of 3,000 homes without the benefit of a comparable masterplan, and without the same level of consultation on how the site will ultimately be delivered. It is a clear example of inconsistency in the planning process. Residents should not receive different levels of engagement, transparency and certainty about the future of their communities simply because they happen to live in different postcodes. When a development is large enough to create an entirely new neighbourhood, it should not be allowed to emerge through a series of disconnected planning applications. It should be planned from the outset through a comprehensive masterplan that establishes a clear vision for the area and provides a framework for future development. In Lightwood’s case, the local planning authority should be taking a proactive role in preparing and co-ordinating such a masterplan. Masterplans are not simply about determining where houses will go. They are about creating successful places and sustainable, accessible communities, both new and existing. They provide the strategic framework that brings together housing, transport, education provision, healthcare capacity, utilities, mains water provided by water companies, environmental enhancement and design principles into a coherent vision for long-term growth. Most importantly, they ensure that supporting infrastructure is planned alongside development, rather than treated as an afterthought once planning applications have already been submitted. In that regard, masterplans are entirely consistent with the ambitions of the national planning policy framework, which seeks to promote sustainable development, effective placemaking and infrastructure-led growth. While national policy recognises the value of masterplans and design codes, their use remains largely discretionary. The experience of Lightwood and Packmoor demonstrates the inconsistency that can result. That is why I believe there is a strong case for a clearer national requirement that developments above an appropriate scale should be supported by a comprehensive masterplan. I am not suggesting that every housing development requires such a masterplan. A scheme involving a few dozen homes is clearly different from a strategic allocation comprising thousands of properties. However, where development may be delivered over many years, involve multiple landowners or developers, and have substantial implications for infrastructure and existing communities, the case for master planning becomes clear. In such circumstances, a comprehensive masterplan should be established before individual planning applications are determined. Without a clear overarching framework, there is a real risk of piecemeal development. Individual planning applications may appear acceptable in isolation, but collectively they can create unintended consequences for transport networks, public services, drainage systems and environmental assets. Opportunities for integrated transport links, co-ordinated infrastructure and high-quality placemaking can easily be lost when development comes forward parcel by parcel. A masterplan provides the framework that ensures every proposal contributes to an agreed vision for the site. It should establish how movement through the site will work, where community facilities will be located, how public transport will be integrated, where drainage infrastructure will be provided, and how development will connect with surrounding neighbourhoods. It should also identify how environmental assets will be protected, enhanced and connected across the site as a whole. That brings me to a particularly important issue: green infrastructure. Green space is often treated as a residual element of development, fitted into whatever land remains after housing numbers have been maximised. A proper masterplan takes the opposite approach; it recognises that accessible green spaces, recreation areas, tree planting and biodiversity corridors are fundamental components of healthy communities. They contribute to physical and mental wellbeing, create opportunities for recreation and social interaction, improve climate resilience and flood mitigation, and help maintain a connection between communities and the natural environment. Green infrastructure cannot be viewed as an optional extra; it is essential and ensures that growth enhances rather than diminishes the places people call home. Infrastructure planning is equally important. Questions about road capacity, public transport provision, walking and cycling routes, school places, healthcare services, utilities and drainage cannot sensibly be addressed on an application-by-application basis. They must be considered collectively, and in the context of both future residents and the communities that already exist around the development. That is particularly important in relation to mains and water infrastructure. I remain concerned that the mains water companies do not upgrade their systems to match the new developments. My village of Upper Tean has frequently had that problem. The developers meet their requirements on mains water, sewage and flood mitigations, but when something hits the mains systems, we get manhole covers blowing out and flooding happening all over. People’s homes get flooded, as well as businesses and play areas, with the ensuing environmental problems. A masterplan should also ensure, if we are serious about creating inclusive communities, the development of accessible homes and communities, including bungalows, so that they meet the needs of those who are ageing and have disabilities or are frail. The English homes study found that 91% of homes do not meet the necessary requirements for wheelchair users to visit, let alone live in them. Data by Habinteg Housing Association, which provides thousands of accessible social homes across the country, shows that wheelchair users could wait up to 47 years for a suitable accessible property to become available. Masterplans can be a valuable way of ensuring that future housing developments meet existing local housing needs, including the estimated 20,000 wheelchair users nationally on local authority housing waiting lists. Currently, fewer than 2% of newbuild homes are bungalows, meaning that most are not fully accessible. Sites such as Lightwood are not a blank canvas. People already live there. They rely on local roads, footpaths, public transport, schools, healthcare services and community facilities. As we work to deliver the homes that this country needs, we must make full use of the planning tools available to ensure those homes become successful communities, accessible to all. I ask the Minister to consider strengthening national planning policy, so that large-scale developments, above an appropriate threshold that can be discussed, are required to have a comprehensive masterplan in place before individual planning applications are brought forward.

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23. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Deirdre Costigan

    Building Homes and Renewing Communities

    The Secretary of State is right to say that the reasons people sleep rough are complex, and Ealing Southall is almost unique in that many of our rough sleepers do not have the right to stay or work in the country, so the council cannot legally help them off the streets. Will she meet me to find ways of making it easier for this group of rough sleepers to reconnect with family abroad and return home with dignity?

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24. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·David Williams

    Business of the House

    Last month, a devastating wildfire ripped through Sandyford and Goldenhill in my constituency. Four homes were completely lost and 13 properties and gardens were badly damaged. Six of our heroic firefighters ended up in hospital having battled with exceptionally difficult conditions. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute to our Staffordshire fire and rescue service, Goldenhill community centre, the Goldenhill working men’s club, the local residents association, local businesses and the volunteers who all rallied around to help their fellow residents?

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25. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·David Pinto-Duschinsky

    Business of the House

    On Christmas day last year, residents of Beaufort Park in Colindale in my constituency received an unwanted gift: their freeholders, the Berkeley Group, doubled their ground rent to £800, clearly trying to squeeze leaseholders for every penny before the Government rightly introduce the ground rent cap. It is simply unacceptable. I have written to the executive chair of the Berkeley Group and asked to meet so that we can discuss this rise, but either I have been fobbed off or my letters have gone unanswered. This clearly shows why the Government’s reforms and change to leasehold is so important. Will the Leader of the House join me in calling on Berkeley Homes to meet me, and will he allow for a debate in Government time so that we can discuss how to hold unresponsive freeholders to account?

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26. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Danny Beales

    Vaccination Rates: England

    I beg to move, That this House has considered vaccination rates in England. It is an honour to serve under your chairship today, Mrs Barker. I am pleased to co-sponsor this debate alongside colleagues from the Health and Social Care Committee who are also here today. It is very easy, from the vantage point of the 21st century, to forget that about half of children used to die before the age of 15 from infection and disease. Thankfully, we now have vaccines and our routine vaccination schedule providing protection against 15 preventable infections across our lifetimes. For decades, our system was one of the best in the world. The childhood diseases that used to cause so much suffering—measles, polio and others—sound like things from history books. I am sure we all have memories of our early school-based vaccinations and flu jabs in the winter period, and the joy of the discovery of the covid-19 vaccine and the hope it brought of a return to normality. So why have this debate today? Because, despite a seemingly continued record of progress and innovation since 2012, our vaccination system has been sleepwalking into a crisis. The percentage of eligible people getting the major vaccines has been falling year on year, dropping below the 95% coverage recommended by the World Health Organisation to prevent onward transmission. We have now undoubtedly hit a crisis point. Across England as a whole, the 95% target is not being met for any routine childhood vaccination programme and many adult programmes. For example, in 2024-25, only 83.7% of five-year-olds in England had both doses of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine. In my own constituency, the figure is even lower, at 74%. We are now seeing measles outbreaks in our cities and, shockingly, we have lost our measles elimination status nationally. Tragically, three children died this year from measles—a totally preventable illness. When questioned about these issues at the Health and Social Care Committee, officials assured us that actions were under way and the tide was turning, but the most recent vaccine stats, released at the end of August, unfortunately show a continued downward trend. The 6-in-1 vaccine dose three coverage is down, the meningitis B dose three coverage is down, and the rotavirus dose two coverage is also down. This is also a serious equalities issue. Children who grow up unprotected are disproportionately those living in poverty and from ethnic minority communities, and the gap in vaccination status is growing across the country. How has that been allowed to happen in modern Britain? The 2023 vaccination strategy under the last Government was intended to halt the decline, but it is clearly failing, with vaccination rates continuing to fall in the three years since. The WHO target of 95% coverage for all routine vaccination programmes was removed from NHS planning guidance in 2025-26, with the Secretary of State at the time saying, “If everything is a priority, then nothing is”, but the choice not to explicitly prioritise vaccinations is incredibly short-sighted. My colleagues and I on the Health and Social Care Committee held a short inquiry into vaccination rates earlier this year, and we were, to be frank, shocked by the apparent complacency of leading NHS officials. There was no understanding of when it is hoped rates will return to WHO levels, or of whether and when our elimination status will be reached again. There is no target. This debate must be a call to arms to prioritise rebuilding our vaccination system as a matter of utmost urgency and to restore vaccination rates to 95% as soon as possible. Developing an effective vaccination system is not rocket science. Much of the existing strategy is relevant and positive, but we must acknowledge that we are off track. The debate about what is wrong tends to focus on two key issues: access versus hesitancy. The access argument focuses on systemic, practical barriers that make it harder for people to get vaccinated, such as poor appointment availability, ineffective call and recall systems, lack of data linkage and fragmented health systems. On that argument, recent coverage decline is the sign of a system under strain, rather than a loss of confidence. Most patients and parents do trust vaccines: 85% of people polled by Ipsos in 2025 said that vaccines were safe. But people are busy—moving home, switching GPs—and they do not have endless time to navigate a confusing and increasingly fragmented NHS system. The gap between MMR 1 and MMR 2 uptake is stark evidence of this failure, with MMR 1 coverage at five years at 91% and MMR 2 coverage at only 83%. The loss of contact is a system failure. Missed appointments should be chased, and families should retain close contact with trusted health professionals to guide them through the childhood vaccination schedule.

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27. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Danny Beales

    Vaccination Rates: England

    I agree. Those issues are clearly intertwined and cannot be separated. Every contact should count. Shared digital records should identify, at the next GP appointment, pharmacy check-in, health visit or hospital appointment, where vaccines are missing. The system should be enabled, encouraged and paid to act, but this is currently not the case. The hesitancy argument focuses on the growing prevalence of misinformation around vaccines and falling trust in vaccines and health institutions more broadly. Polling shows that these are not the most important factors numerically, but for the 15% of parents who have concerns, they matter. Evidence from the University of Manchester shows that this is especially important for certain population groups. As my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) just said, the barriers are multifaceted: poor trust and poor access go hand in hand, because the best way to build trust is through regular contact with known, trusted professionals. To maximise vaccine coverage, we need a system that can reliably identify and locate every child or patient missing their vaccination, repeatedly invite them for appointments and make attending appointments as easy as possible, with clear lines of responsibility when targets are missed. To do that effectively, the vaccination system needs adequate resourcing, accurate data and explicit accountability for meeting targets. Currently, we have none of that. The Government have been acting. We are piloting health visits and community pharmacy delivery, although roll-out has been slow and it is unclear when national roll-out will be possible. Parents are now given access to their child’s records through the NHS app, work is under way to improve the consent process for vaccinating children in school. More is being done, and all of that is positive, but the Select Committee is not convinced that that will be enough to restore our vaccination levels to WHO standards, and neither are officials, who are unable to say whether and when levels will be restored. Moving forward, what do we need? We need resourcing. Data I have obtained through parliamentary questions shows that in 2023-24 NHS England spent 0.51% of its total budget, or £852 million, on vaccination, down from 0.65%, or £989 million, in 2022-23. The very year the strategy released, funding was cut. We also need to be honest about what improvement will cost. Vaccinating the last 10% or 15% of any population is not the same task as vaccinating the first 80%, because of deprivation, language barriers and housing instability. All families affected by those factors need more contact with clinicians, and GPs simply do not have the resources to do the necessary outreach. We need to fund not just new medicines and drugs, but their roll-out. We should be using lifetime parental consent to increase uptake of school-age vaccinations, and developing efficient, convenient and ongoing catch-up opportunities in schools, shopping centres, nurseries and family hubs. The school-age immunisation service should be operating a check-and-offer approach at every contact. For the last 15%, we should be willing to fund what actually works: explicit payments to GPs for outreach programmes for underserved communities, including funding for multiple contact attempts, data cleaning, and non-responder tracking, with incentives linked to real outcomes. We should be training healthcare professionals and community groups to have difficult conversations with confidence and making far better use of our community pharmacy network, which is rooted in local areas. We also need clear accountability; the buck has to stop somewhere locally and nationally, with clear vaccination leads at both levels. Since the Lansley reforms in 2012 and the subsequent austerity cuts, lines of accountability have become blurred. From April 2027, integrated care boards will have greater responsibility for commissioning vaccination programmes locally, but who is overseeing the national strategy? That remains unclear. Who will require corrective action when that is deemed to be necessary? That is not clear. The removal of national targets was clearly a step backward for the system. Health officials and clinicians tell us that it is not always clear who is responsible when vaccination rates fall at delivery level in a given neighbourhood. We need a new national action plan that sets out concrete steps that will be taken to return coverage to our WHO targets. We do not have all the systems in place to tell us reliably who has and has not been vaccinated. Data challenges run right through the system. Vaccines given in maternity settings, community pharmacy settings or school often fail to make their way back to the child’s GP surgery because the systems do not talk to each other. How can we expect call-and-recall strategies to work if clinicians do not reliably know which children need to be called? Lastly, on hesitancy, we need to tackle misinformation, regulate it online and hold the peddlers of harmful and potentially deadly misinformation to account. Social media companies must step up their game in bringing down anti-vax information and providing clear, evidence-based health information instead. I know much of this is not easy, but that is why it requires genuine commitment and prioritisation. I thank the Minister for listening; will she outline whether the Government accept that the situation is unacceptable and that urgent action is needed, and whether a clear timeline for meeting the WHO targets can and should be agreed by the NHS? If we are to set a timeline, will a clear action plan be outlined to set us on the path back to 95% of all children being vaccinated, so that we can all see a welcome and vital return of our measles elimination status? We must ensure that every child is safe, that people of all ages get the vaccines they need, and that the UK is once again a global leader in vaccinations.

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28. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Danny Beales

    Vaccination Rates: England

    Thank you, Sir Desmond, for chairing the end of the debate, if not the beginning. I thank the Minister for her response. I and the rest of the Committee welcome her commitment to get back to us and to work with us. I just politely point out that the very good measures that she has outlined are measures that the Government and the strategy have been undertaking for many years, and we have still seen the decline continue. I encourage her to go back to her officials and press them for a timeline to regain elimination status and reach the WHO targets. If they are unwilling to put a target on that, I would suggest that perhaps they are not confident in the measures that they have so far been taking to achieve them, but I thank the Minister for her commitment to work with us. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered vaccination rates in England.

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29. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Danny Beales

    Topical Questions

    T4. This summer, 1.5 million people attended London Pride, a celebration of love, freedom and diversity. At the same time, though, discussions on GB News compared Pride and LGBT people to bestiality and even paedophilia. There have now been 12,000 complaints to Ofcom about this. Does the Minister agree that these sorts of comments have no place on an apparent news channel? Will she assure me and those who have complained that Ofcom will be effective in challenging hate speech on television?

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30. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dame Diana Johnson

    Vaccination Rates: England

    It is a pleasure to serve under you today, Mrs Barker. I am grateful to the Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran), and its members for securing this important debate and am grateful to all hon. Members who have spoken this afternoon. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Danny Beales) for his passionate opening statement. I also welcome the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Sleaford and North Hykeham (Dr Johnson), back to her place after the reshuffle; I congratulate her on surviving for so long. I know that Members across the House are very concerned about this issue. I have been struck by the knowledge and expertise around the Chamber this afternoon. Many questions have been posed. If I do not get to every question that Members have asked, I will write to them with an answer. After clean water, vaccination is the most effective public health intervention for saving lives and promoting good health. It protects individuals, protects families and protects communities. One vaccination can change the whole course of a life for the better or, if it is missed, for the worse. I am very conscious of that as a Hull MP, because in October 1961 we were the first city to mass-vaccinate with the new oral vaccine. When we faced a polio outbreak that threatened the city, over 350,000 people were vaccinated in two weeks. That led to the national roll-out soon afterwards, helping to virtually eliminate the disease nationwide. Over generations, vaccinations have made diseases that once killed or disabled thousands of children rare and have eradicated smallpox worldwide. Vaccination is central to this Government’s wider shift from sickness to prevention. In terms of the diseases we protect against, we deliver at the moment what I still believe is a world-class vaccination programme, backed by expert advice from the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation. But the benefits depend on high uptake, and childhood vaccination rates have moved in the wrong direction. Falling vaccination rates are a very serious challenge. Despite our programme achieving more than 90% coverage for babies’ first doses against diseases such as polio and measles, we are not hitting our targets. There is no single cause and there is no quick fix. We know that some families struggle to get an appointment that works for them or have not received clear, trusted information in a way that works for them. Services also vary across the country. The pandemic put further pressures on the health system and misinformation can add to these problems. [Sir Desmond Swayne in the Chair] We are therefore acting on four fronts: clearer NHS organisation, more flexible services, better public information and joined-up digital records. I will deal with each in turn, but first I will address targets, as well as funding and delegation to ICBs. Let us be clear: the Government have not dropped vaccination targets. To summarise, our targets are 95% for routine pre-school immunisations and 90% for routine school-age immunisations. Our targets remain in force and are based on standards set by the World Health Organisation. We have simplified the NHS planning guidance to avoid duplication, but we did not lower our ambition. We are also backing targets with better accountability. Coverage of MMR vaccinations for young children will form part of how the performance of NHS ICBs will be assessed as they take on responsibility for vaccination services from April next year. We have not cut funding for vaccination services. We have confirmed funding for the next three years, giving the NHS certainty as responsibility moves from the NHS regions to ICBs in April 2027. Excluding covid-19 vaccinations, that is a real-terms increase and will help ICBs and vaccination service providers to plan service improvements further ahead. On delegation, ICBs are best placed to improve vaccination coverage because they understand the needs of their local communities. That matters because the reasons for low coverage vary from place to place. ICBs can shape these services around local needs and barriers, whether that means more convenient appointments or clearer information from trusted sources. This is devolution in action. I reassure hon. Members that national bodies will continue to set standards, monitor performance and hold the system to account.

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31. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dame Diana Johnson

    Vaccination Rates: England

    I will carry on because I have very limited time, but I am happy to write to the hon. Gentleman or talk to him afterwards. I know there are concerns about the cuts that have been made to ICB running costs. These are planned reductions that relate just to administration, not the funding that will be used to provide frontline vaccination services. Turning to pre-school access, flexible services are critical. Vaccination rates are lowest in the most deprived communities, so improving uptake means making services easier to use. Pre-school children will continue to receive their vaccinations through their GPs. We have increased the payment to GPs for each routine childhood vaccination from £10.06 to £12.06 and changed the GP incentives to reward improvements where uptake is lowest. However, we recognise that GP services will not reach every family and are therefore testing vaccinations through health visiting teams, including through 12 pilots across England, four of which are in London. Health visitors have brought vaccines to family homes to ensure that the most vulnerable families are offered these lifesaving interventions. We have also been expanding the use of community pharmacies and are evaluating that. We are looking at supporting targeted local outreach as well. The aim is simple: to reach those who might otherwise miss out. School-age vaccinations are also a priority. The joint school-aged vaccination programme of work with my Department and the Department for Education is now overseeing actions to improve coverage in schools by resolving local delivery problems. The NHS is also rolling-out new digital technology to make it easier for busy parents to provide consent. It has published revised guidance for schools and the NHS and there are regional support forums to tackle any problems that are present. We also have the Mavis—manage vaccinations in schools—scheme. That is a new digital system that allows parents to give consent online and helps NHS teams to keep records up to date. By September 2026, it will be used by 72% of school vaccination teams, covering more than 13,800 schools, with further expansion planned for April ’27. Turning next to awareness, most parents want to do the right thing for their children. Our job is to ensure that they can easily find the clear and trustworthy information that they need. That means stronger public campaigns and confident healthcare professionals giving that advice. We think that it could also be provided by schools and better start hubs, as well as trusted local organisations. We all agree that false claims online can cause huge concern and worry. As a number of hon. Members have said, the actions of politicians have consequences. We all share the responsibility to base our comments on science and evidence. We have seen the damage that misinformation can cause. The entirely discredited and morally repugnant claims linking MMR and autism in the 1990s led to a substantial fall in coverage, so experts now monitor emerging misinformation and respond with accurate information. I hear the calls today for stronger action against social media companies, but we do not want to mistake misinformation for the whole problem. To improve coverage, many families simply need vaccinations to be easier to understand and to access. I will conclude with the issue of digital and data. We are improving vaccination records. At the moment, information is held in different NHS systems and does not always follow a patient between services. Through new digital systems, we are joining those records together. That will help healthcare professionals to see which vaccinations someone has had, allow the NHS to identify communities where uptake is low and give families clearer records, reminders and information about where to get vaccinated. Over time, families will also be able to access more of this through the NHS app. Vaccinations have protected generations from serious disease, and all of us have a vested interest in ensuring that they continue to do so. That means clear accountability, easier access, trusted information and better record keeping. As I have set out, we are acting on each of those fronts. Rebuilding coverage will take sustained effort, but we will monitor progress closely and take further action wherever it is needed. I note that the House of Lords Childhood Vaccinations Committee is due to report shortly. As the new Minister in this post, I will be looking very closely at the recommendations that come out of that report. I have had the chance to look at the letters that the Health and Social Care Committee wrote to one of my predecessors, and I can assure all hon. Members in the room today that I will go back to the Department and redouble my efforts to ensure that we see the increase that we all want in the number of vaccinations, particularly for children. I thank all hon. Members for their contributions this afternoon.

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32. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Dame Chi Onwurah

    Frontier Artificial Intelligence

    My Select Committee’s report “Science diplomacy: Sovereignty, strategy and the global race” highlighted the risk of the UK being cut off from frontier AI models at the whim of other countries—one country in particular comes to mind. What assessment has the Secretary of State made of the impact on the UK’s society and economy if we were unable to access those models?

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33. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Clive Efford

    Business of the House

    I welcome my right hon. Friend back to his post, but I must say to him that not all the rewiring of the new Government is welcome. I understand that the Cabinet Office intends to move responsibility for the Infected Blood Compensation Authority to a Minister in the Lords. We all have constituents who are raising serious concerns about that process, and we want to be able to come to this House and hold to account the Minister responsible for that agency. I urge my right hon. Friend to take the matter up with the Cabinet Office—and, if the Government do intend to make that change, can we have a statement?

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34. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Clive Efford

    Building Homes and Renewing Communities

    It was a pleasure to join my right hon. Friend at Greenwich council’s development of 435 council properties in my constituency for the launch of the social and affordable housing programme. Some 70,000 homes are planned, and that is welcome and overdue. However, my constituency and ones like it have a lot of sports grounds, and as we push for more land, the temptation is for owners of those grounds to lock the gates, in the hope that they will make a windfall from developing those sites. Will my right hon. Friend reassure my constituents that that will not be allowed under the programme to build the housing that we need?

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35. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Ward

    Jackdaw and Rosebank Oil and Gas Fields

    Given the climate emergency that we are already living through, this is obviously a hugely significant decision for the Secretary of State. While I respect that the Minister cannot comment on the merits of each proposal, surely she can comment on how the House will be able to scrutinise any final decision. When a final decision is taken, can she confirm from the Dispatch Box that there will be a chance to debate and vote on it in the House?

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36. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Kane

    Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security

    I thank the hon. Member. As a former journalist, I am acutely aware of the need to communicate the risks clearly, as do the many hundreds of my constituents who got in touch with me about this. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I highlight that the need to share knowledge and best practice within the devolved nations of the United Kingdom is incredibly important. Although we need to look at this as a worldwide endeavour, does the hon. Member agree that the way in which the devolved nations also share best practice and knowledge is important? If we do not get it right as the UK as a whole, we are already getting off on the wrong foot for getting it right across the world.

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37. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Kane

    Business of the House

    The city of Stirling football hall of fame was launched last week, with local legends Billy Bremner, Alex Smith, Duncan Ferguson, Jimmy Ryan and Jimmy Bone its first inductees. Their names will now be etched on the new wall of fame at Forthbank stadium. Will the Leader of the House join me in recognising our inaugural inductees, congratulate the Scottish Football Supporters Association for this initiative and make time for a debate on the remarkable contribution that Scotland has made to the beautiful game, not just through our footballers but through the tartan army, whose exploits at this summer’s world cup once again showed the very best of Scotland to the world?

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38. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Bloore

    Business of the House

    With Redditch suffering the worst mental health illness rates in Worcestershire, and with child referrals doubling over the last five years, I am sure that the Leader of the House will join me in welcoming the Government’s intention to spend £343 million on opening 100 community walk-in mental health centres and 59 emergency mental health centres in our hospitals. Would the Leader of the House add his weight to my campaign to ensure that our local integrated care board ensures that the money goes where it is needed most, which means a centre in Redditch?

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39. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Chris Bloore

    Redditch Police and Fire Station

    I am presenting a petition concerning the West Mercia police and crime commissioner’s decision to spend £20 million of taxpayers’ money on a new police and fire station that, despite that significant investment, has neither a permanent front-counter service nor holding cells. I would like to thank the thousands of residents who have signed this petition, both on paper and online. Their support demonstrates the strength of feeling in our community and sends a clear message that a town the size of Redditch deserves a fit-for-purpose police station. The petition states: The petition of residents of the constituency of Redditch, Declares that the lack of a publicly accessible front desk at Redditch Police and Fire Station prevents members of the community from accessing a vital public service. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to review the provision of a publicly accessible front desk at Redditch Police and Fire Station to ensure adequate and accessible policing is available to the people of Redditch. And the petitioners remain, etc. [P003229]

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40. 3 Sep 2026·Parliament·Labour·Catherine Fookes

    Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security

    I thank the hon. Member for raising the big importance of the Joint Intelligence Committee report and shedding light on it. Does he agree that citizens must be brought up to speed on what they are facing with climate change? Does he agree that we must have a televised national emergency briefing across the UK?

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