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1. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Bobby Dean

   Business of the House

   I join the whole House in congratulating the England team, in particular Tottenham Hotspur academy product Harry Kane for his heroics last night. I am also grateful to the Conservatives for their lecture on sanctimony, though I note that self-awareness was never their strongest trait. This week my community was rocked by the news that Coughlan’s Bakery—a family-run business that been operating in the local area for 89 years—will close its doors for the last time. In their announcement, they say: “This was so devastating as March was a fantastic month, as was a lot of last year with our growth with new stores opening, but as soon as April’s new Government rules kicked in on national insurance, wages and rates, it instantly hit the high street”. That shows that Government policy is directly killing long-term, family-run businesses. We warned the Government about this, and when we did we were told that they could not fund public services without the rises in business taxes, but let me make it clear to them: the Government will no longer receive any tax income from this local business anymore, and I fear that the revenue loss will continue to grow over the course of this year. Will the Government organise a statement from the relevant Department explaining what they are going to do about small businesses in distress, outlining how many are at risk and how many have already closed since April?

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2. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Ben Maguire

   Business of the House

   I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for dairy. I welcome the fact that the Government’s farming road map explicitly designates food production as an issue of national security, but I am deeply concerned that their water White Paper proposes a blanket extension of environmental permitting, from poultry and pig farms to the dairy sector, despite animals in the former being kept mostly indoors and cattle mostly outdoors. My North Cornwall constituents and National Farmers’ Union delegates estimate that this could cost around £10,000 per farm and produce much more paperwork. Can we please have a debate in Government time on the need to support farmers to produce food for this country, rather than deterring our farmers from actually farming?

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3. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Andrew George

   Hospitality Sector

   As welcome as that is, and I am not crying wolf, the hospitality sector faces a very high risk of substantial business failure in the next 12 months as a result of the tax burdens that it has to face simply for attempting to survive, rather than a tax burden to help it succeed—in other words, shifting from VAT and business rates to corporation tax. Will the Minister look again at this issue before real catastrophe comes to the sector? Will she talk to Treasury Ministers and find a way out of this extremely serious situation?

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4. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

   It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this afternoon, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Ribble (Mr Foster) on securing this important debate and thank him for sharing his story. Like so many families across the country, mine has its own history of heart disease, either with tragic, early death or, for my father, a triple heart bypass in 2012. He celebrated his 80th birthday this year. Reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke is one of the defining public health challenges facing our country. It is also one of the greatest opportunities. We know what works and where the risks lie; the question is whether this Government are prepared to invest in preventing illness rather than simply responding to it once people become sick. Cardiovascular disease remains the second biggest cause of death in England; every day, around 390 people die from a heart attack or stroke. Heart and circulatory diseases are responsible for one in four premature deaths, while more than 6.4 million people in England are living with cardiovascular disease. It is particularly concerning that progress has stalled. After years of improvement, premature mortality from cardiovascular disease has begun to rise again. The latest figures show that rates have returned to around where they were over a decade ago. Behind those statistics are families who have lost loved ones far too early; many of those deaths could have been prevented. Perhaps the greatest injustice is that outcomes are not evenly distributed. People living in the most deprived communities are twice as likely to die prematurely from cardiovascular disease as those in the least deprived areas. If we are serious about reducing premature deaths, we have to be serious about prevention. Too often, prevention is spoken about warmly but funded poorly. We hear Ministers say that they want to shift healthcare from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention. Those are welcome ambitions, but ambitions alone do not reduce blood pressure, identify atrial fibrillation or prevent strokes. The reality is that the NHS and local government continue to struggle to fund many of the programmes that are proven to save lives. Freedom of information data published earlier this year reveals that more than 70 local authorities are limiting the number of NHS health checks that GP practices can carry out because of financial pressures. The programme designed to identify people at risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, which is credited with saving hundreds of lives every year, is being rationed because councils simply cannot afford it. That is the direct consequence of years of underfunding in public health. A straightforward first step would be restoring the public health grant to its 2015 level, which would give local authorities the resources they need to expand NHS health checks and deliver wider prevention programmes that reduce smoking, improve physical activity and help people to manage the risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease. The Liberal Democrats have also proposed widening access to blood pressure checks by making them routinely available in community settings such as pharmacies and libraries. An estimated 7 million people are living with undiagnosed high blood pressure. Many of them have no idea that they are at increased risk of suffering a devastating stroke or heart attack. Detecting hypertension earlier is one of the simplest and most cost-effective interventions available. However, prevention is about much more than screening alone. If we want to tackle heart disease properly, we must also be far more ambitious in addressing obesity and the wider causes of poor health. The evidence is clear that obesity is closely linked to deprivation. A poor diet often begins in childhood, and families facing food insecurity are more likely to rely on cheaper foods that are higher in fat, salt and sugar. That contributes to stark inequalities in health outcomes later in life. That is why we believe that more children living in poverty should receive free school meals. We would also do more to protect children from the relentless marketing of unhealthy food, including supporting councils to restrict outdoor junk food advertising and maintaining stronger protections on television advertising. For those already living with heart disease or recovering from a stroke, continuity of care is equally important. The Liberal Democrats want everyone living with a long-term condition to have a named GP. Continuity improves outcomes, reduces unnecessary admissions and ensures that patients receive co-ordinated care over many years, rather than fragmented treatment from multiple clinicians. Recovery following a stroke also deserves much greater attention. Around 60% of stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability. Rehabilitation cannot be treated as an optional extra. Every stroke survivor should have access to personalised, high-quality rehabilitation services that help them regain independence and improve their quality of life. Finally, I want to touch on emergency care. When someone has a stroke, every minute matters. Rapid assessment and treatment can mean the difference between a full recovery and lifelong disability. I pay tribute to Olivia, the wife of the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), for the work that she and her team do at Queen’s hospital. I pay tribute to all practitioners carrying out the same work across the country. Ambulance delays and overcrowded emergency departments continue to place patients at unnecessary risk. We know that too well in my village, where, a few years ago, we lost a dear friend far too young as a result of a slow ambulance response time. We need action to reduce ambulance handover delays, expand staffed hospital bed capacity, improve social care so that patients can be discharged safely, and ensure that every A&E waiting room has a qualified clinician able to identify patients whose condition is deteriorating while they wait. Preventing premature deaths from heart disease and strokes will require action across the whole health system. It means investing in prevention rather than allowing it to become the first casualty of financial pressures. It means tackling the inequalities that leave poorer communities carrying the greatest burden of disease. It means strengthening primary care, community services, rehabilitation and social care rather than focusing solely on elective waiting lists. The Darzi review warned: “Care for cardiovascular conditions is going in the wrong direction.” That warning should not be ignored. If the Government are serious about achieving their ambition to reduce deaths from heart attacks and strokes, they must match warm words with sustained investment in prevention, public health and community care. The best way to reduce premature deaths is not simply to become better at treating illness; it is to prevent people from becoming ill in the first place. I look forward to hearing the Minister’s response.

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5. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

   For the record, my request was that the public health grant be restored back to 2015 levels, not 2010 levels.

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6. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations

   6. Whether his Department has provided guidance on the potential impact of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (Fees) Regulations 2026 on small businesses providing arbitration services.

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7. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Alternative Dispute Resolution Regulations

   I thank the Minister for that response. Caroline from Lindfield owns a small business that provides arbitration services. Since the introduction of the one-size-fits-all fees set down earlier this year, her business model and that of so many other small ADR providers has become nigh on impossible to sustain. Has the Minister considered the impact on the sector from the fee changes? Can she explain why no impact assessment has been done? In particular, has she received feedback from trading standards since the legislation came into force?

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8. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Business of the House

   Cellnex estimates that Mid Sussex is ranked 499th out of 650 constituencies for quality of mobile signal strength. The current obligations on mobile operators are clearly failing to provide the coverage that my constituents deserve in villages like Cuckfield, Bolney and Fulking. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the merits of changing these mobile operator obligations, so that we can have the coverage that we so badly need?

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9. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Lib Dem·Alison Bennett

   Historical Forced Adoption

   The apology today is so welcome, and my heart goes out to all those people who have campaigned and been hurt by the failings of the state. In his statement, the Prime Minister said, “These harms were compounded by the actions and failures of the state.” Just this week in this Chamber, we have heard of that happening to women—when they are pregnant, labouring, or have just had a baby and are vulnerable. The Adjournment debate on Monday night was about diethylstilbestrol—DES—and justice for women who, over the decades, were prescribed a drug long after it was known that it was harmful. Baroness Amos’s report this week says that this is not just a historical problem of misogyny in the state; today, women who are having children are ridiculed and not listened to, and are hurt as a result. I ask the Prime Minister: how can we unwind misogyny from the state?

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10. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Green·Siân Berry

    Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents

    I thank the Chair of the Select Committee, the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), whose motion, report and recommendations for the Bill I support and welcome. Thorough and fair leasehold reform is long overdue. My inbox as MP for Brighton Pavilion is littered with horror stories from constituents about their experiences as leaseholders who are forced to fork out extortionate service charges with no value for money, poor maintenance and no transparency on how that money is spent, as well as awful communications. My leaseholders continue to suffer from a lack of agency in solving the building safety scandal, which has left too many leaseholders in Brighton’s many high-rise and mid-rise blocks stuck in unsafe homes. Some of my constituents tell me that they believe freeholders are still trying to cut corners and do this work on the cheap. Just last month I was contacted by multiple constituents about developer Barratt Redrow’s plans to remediate their blocks, built in the early 2000s, to a B1 standard, rather than to an A2 standard as they had understood would happen. This type of dispute, nine years on from the avoidable Grenfell disaster, is commonplace, and it is so worrying for too many of my constituents. I, too, want to talk about property management agents. A large number of leaseholders in Brighton and Hove are in a nightmare situation right now of not being able to access money paid into accounts managed by just one large property management company in sudden crisis. Under current leasehold regulations, when a managing agent’s client accounts are frozen, or irregularities are identified that suggest mismanagement of accounts, leaseholders are left exposed to very big financial losses. In the private rented sector, there is a Government-backed tenancy guarantee scheme, but for leaseholders there is no equivalent guarantee on service charge accounts and reserve funds. Section 42 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987 does require property management companies to hold service charge contributions in trust and with a financial institution authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Yet the flexibility of how leaseholder money is held in reality means that the sums of money in property management company accounts may far exceed the maximum amounts guaranteed under the financial services compensation scheme. Section 156 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 adds a requirement for managing agents to hold service charge funds in designated separate accounts, but it is not yet in force. This lack of enactment seems to leave wide open the potential for managing agents to hold leaseholder money in a way that falls outside of compensation schemes. It cannot be right that leaseholders are left exposed to risk in that way. To conclude, there is no doubt that the feudal leasehold system is broken and must be abolished in favour of commonhold. The regulation of managing agents to end their exploitation is very, very urgent. The promises that the Government made in opposition, to end the system within the first 100 days, were missed long ago, but we need full reform now, without delay, to ensure an end to leaseholders being ripped off, living in unsafe homes or being exposed to avoidable financial risk and losses.

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11. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Green·Hannah Spencer

    Access to Further Education

    Too often, the voices of people who come through routes like apprenticeships, working people or tradespeople are missing from these debates, but I am really proud of my education and of my route through as an apprentice. On apprenticeships, at the moment we are asking too many small and medium-sized businesses to carry the responsibility of training up the next generations of people without the funding and recognition that they deserve. I have met with small businesses across my constituency that want to take on apprentices, but tell me it is too expensive and too complicated; and it is not a lack of lack of willingness—it is a lack of support. We have to make it easier for small businesses to recruit apprentices by simplifying levy transfers, reducing administrative burdens wherever possible, and providing long-term funding certainty for their rising costs. Apprenticeships need to be made easier for young people and families to understand and access, and to be recognised and respected as the meaningful route into essential skilled work that they are, with support for apprenticeship wages that better reflect local labour markets and the removal of unfair practical barriers. We want free bus fares for under-22s so that no young person is held back from getting to their apprenticeship. We want equal access to funded childcare and the scrapping of disincentives such as those within the benefit system. Finally, we need economic policy that focuses on spreading opportunity and investment more fairly across the country, so that young people in places like Gorton and Denton are no longer left behind. In places like Gorton, Denton, Abbey Hey, Burnage, Longsight—all the places in my constituency—our young people have never lacked talent or drive, but we must stop wasting it, give them a chance and properly back further education and apprenticeships as the national assets that they are.

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12. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Green·Dr Ellie Chowns

    Topical Questions

    Small rural businesses in villages such as Pembridge in my constituency tell me that the combination of high business and VAT rates and rising national insurance contributions means they are facing a struggle for survival. Small rural businesses face greater pressure than their urban counterparts, with lower footfall and seasonal fluctuations in trade, so they operate with very tight margins. Does the Minister recognise the additional pressures faced by such businesses and that existing support schemes simply are not enough, and what more will he do to support businesses in constituencies such as mine?

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13. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Stuart Andrew

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Ribble (Mr Foster) on securing this important debate and talking about his personal circumstances. It is always a very moving moment when colleagues talk about things that are so very personal to them. I also pay tribute to the wife of my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois) for the work that she and her team do. It was fascinating to listen to my right hon. Friend. There may have been a bit more detail than I would have wanted to hear, but it told us a lot about the importance of that treatment. I share an ambulance region with the hon. Member for North West Leicestershire (Amanda Hack), so I know exactly what she is talking about and how important it is. I thank her for her work with the APPG, and particularly for highlighting the issue for young people. It is important to remember that heart disease and stroke affect all age groups. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for his work on the APPG and for his kind words. I visited his constituency when I was a Minister. If only I could have as much love as he gets from his constituents—he is hugely respected. I feel like we will all have to club together to get a bat-phone for the hon. Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley). He made some incredible points, particularly about smoking. I confess that I gave up smoking in February. It was hard, but I know how important it is. I declare an interest. I, too, want to pay tribute to the British Heart Foundation, which was the first charity I worked for in my charity career. I saw at first hand the incredible work it does, particularly on research. I thank it and all the other charities and organisations that are active in this space. As we have heard so often today, heart disease and stroke continue to take people from their families far too soon. The hon. Member for Strangford spoke so powerfully about the 350 people in his area who are no longer around the table. Behind every statistic is a life cut short and a family left grieving, in too many cases in the knowledge that earlier action might have changed the outcome. A person’s chances of surviving heart disease or stroke should not depend on their postcode, income, sex, ethnicity or ability to navigate the health service. If we are serious about reducing premature deaths, the focus must be on prevention, earlier diagnosis, timely treatment, reducing inequality and proper support after the patient leaves hospital. We must begin with prevention, because high blood pressure and high cholesterol can exist without obvious symptoms. People may feel perfectly well while living with a condition that substantially increases their risk of heart attack or stroke. By the time somebody becomes seriously unwell, an opportunity to intervene may have already been lost. Prevention cannot simply mean advising people to live healthier lives. It means identifying those at risk, ensuring that NHS health checks reach the communities that need them most, and making full use of GPs, primary care teams and community pharmacies. Those services need the workforce, the time and the technology to identify risk and manage it properly. Detecting and treating high blood pressure and raised cholesterol must be regarded as core NHS work. The Government inform us that the NHS health check programme prevents about 500 heart attacks and strokes each year, which really is welcome, but the question is whether it reaches those at the greatest risk, including people in deprived areas. We must also recognise the close relationship between cardiovascular disease and kidney disease. Kidney disease affects an estimated 7 million people in the UK. About 60% of kidney patients are diagnosed only in the later stages, when their cardiovascular risk is highest. About 20,000 kidney patients die from cardiovascular disease each year. Early testing for people with diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease can identify kidney damage before it progresses. Indeed, Kidney Research UK suggests that less than one in five patients with chronic kidney disease receive SGLT2 inhibitors, despite their potential to reduce major cardiovascular events. Will kidney disease therefore be explicitly included in the modern service framework? What action will the Government take to improve early diagnosis and equitable access to proven treatment? Early diagnosis is just as important for heart valve disease. In the UK, 1.5 million people live with that condition. Again, however, symptoms such as breathlessness, fatigue and dizziness are too often mistaken for the ordinary effects of ageing. That can mean that diagnosis comes only after the disease has become severe, and after irreversible heart damage has begun. Listening to the heart with a stethoscope remains a simple and low-cost first step. Where heart valve disease is suspected, patients need timely access and a clear route to specialist services. Will heart valve disease be explicitly included in the framework? And will the Government consider a single point of access for referrals to specialist valve services? We must also confront the inequalities experienced by women. Cardiovascular disease kills more than 80,000 women in the UK each year, yet women are less likely than men to have their risk factors assessed, slower to receive a diagnosis, less likely to be referred to a cardiologist and also less likely to receive cardiovascular medicines or interventions. Women’s symptoms may simply be dismissed or attributed to stress, hormones or ageing, and women have been consistently under-represented when it comes to cardiovascular research. The Government’s renewed women’s health strategy recognises some of those problems, and the commitment that publicly funded research should properly consider sex-based differences is really welcome. However, such recognition must translate into practice. Will the framework include measurable action to reduce sex-based inequalities in prevention, diagnosis, referrals, treatment and outcomes? And will women’s specific cardiovascular risk factors, including pregnancy history, gestational diabetes, menopause and autoimmune disease, be considered more consistently in NHS health checks and other assessments? As we have heard, every minute matters for stroke patients. The speed of recognition, ambulance response, brain scanning and access to thrombolysis and thrombectomy can profoundly affect a person’s chances of survival and recovery. However, 24-hour coverage has still not been achieved, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford mentioned. The Government say that progress is being made, but patients need to know when every part of England will have reliable access to this life-changing treatment. Will the Minister set a firm date for that full 24/7 coverage, and will she explain how progress will be maintained while NHS England’s responsibilities are being transferred?

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14. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Stuart Andrew

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    My right hon. Friend is so right. When he was describing its importance, I was thinking about one of my very dear friends who suffered quite a debilitating stroke. I thought, “If only that had been available for him, how different his life might be now.” I thank my right hon. Friend for raising that. Care should not end when a patient leaves the acute ward. Someone who has survived a stroke might need to relearn how to walk, speak, eat and carry out other basic daily tasks. Rehabilitation and continuing community support are essential if people are to regain their independence and reduce the risk of another stroke. The same is true after a heart attack. Cardiac rehabilitation, medication reviews and support to manage risk factors can prevent further illness and save lives, yet access to rehabilitation remains uneven and too many patients experience a cliff edge between hospital and community care. The Government have committed to reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke by 25% within a decade. That is a serious ambition, and, where they are taking practical actions to achieve it, they will absolutely have our full support, but it is important that that ambition is matched by a credible plan. In a letter dated 28 May, the Minister said that the framework we are expecting would be published in the spring. That deadline has now passed, so, like others, I again ask when that will be published. Will it contain clear milestones against which that 25% commitment can be judged? Will the Minister commit to regular, transparent reporting to Parliament so that Members can see whether earlier diagnosis, access to treatment and premature mortality rates are genuinely improving? There is much on which Members across this House should agree. We all want fewer families to lose someone they love before their time; we all want patients to receive help before a manageable risk becomes a medical emergency; and we all want NHS staff to have the tools and capacity to provide the care their patients need. Reducing premature deaths from heart disease and stroke is achievable, but only through earlier identification of risk, faster diagnosis, timely treatment and rehabilitation that is available wherever a patient lives. Targets matter, but patients will judge success by whether they receive the right care in time, and that must be the measure of genuine success. They and their families deserve nothing less.

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15. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Sir Julian Smith

    Historical Forced Adoption

    May I thank the Prime Minister for the incredibly powerful statement? I was lucky enough to bring forward legislation for victims of institutional child abuse in Northern Ireland. As part of that legislation, there was an apology. Those people, like the victims in this case, waited decades for people in important positions to properly listen to them, and I think what the Prime Minister has done today is a massive step forward. Even when the apology took place in Northern Ireland, though, the churches could not bring themselves to move away from the script provided by their lawyers, so I urge every institution that has been involved in these horrendous crimes to properly say sorry. We have heard about the processes that will follow this statement, but may I urge the Prime Minister to use the considerable power that he will have as a former Prime Minister to stay involved in this issue?

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16. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Sir Julian Lewis

    Business of the House

    May we have a statement from a Work and Pensions Minister on the lack of routes through which right hon. and hon. Members can contact the Department on behalf of constituents who, as in the case of one chronically ill lady whom I represent, have lost universal credit and wish to challenge that? She has been struggling for more than a year, whereas we have been struggling only for the last six months, to get an answer out of the Department. When the Leader of the House sends on that request, as he always assiduously does, may I include a summary sheet about this case for him to include with his letter to the Minister?

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17. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Sir Julian Lewis

    Historical Forced Adoption

    The Prime Minister has done a good deed today, and he is deservedly getting the united response from the House that he requested. He mentioned the admirable idea of putting the documentation online; will there be a facility on the website for people to upload their own stories, if they wish to do so? One aspect that is being somewhat skirted around is why this happened in the first place. The answer appears to be that there was too much state respect for dogmatic and fundamentalist interpretations of religious doctrine. Can we look at our society today and say that there is not still, in some parts of that society, too much religious repression of women, and too much respect for cultural sensitivities, which are preventing us from tackling that?

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18. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown

    National Audit Office

    I thank the Prime Minister very much for making this appointment. As Chair of the Public Accounts Committee and the appointments panel, I warmly welcome the motion to appoint Michael Jary CBE as the next chair of the National Audit Office. Michael Jary brings extensive experience in Government, leadership and organisational transformation, together with independence and judgment, to this important role. May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the current chair, Dame Fiona Reynolds, for her distinguished service? The Public Accounts Committee has long benefited from the NAO’s outstanding support and we are grateful for her stewardship. Michael has the skills and the leadership needed to ensure the NAO remains a high-performing, innovative and digitally-enabled organisation, supporting Parliament’s detailed scrutiny of public spending and helping to secure value for money for taxpayers. For these reasons, I am delighted to support this appointment. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That an Humble Address be presented to His Majesty, praying that His Majesty will appoint Michael Jary CBE to the Office of Chair of the National Audit Office from 10 January 2027.

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19. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Sir Edward Leigh

    Historical Forced Adoption

    I agree with everything that the Prime Minister has said, and I join him in his apology. Of course, while historical misdeeds—and these are misdeeds—have got to be condemned, individuals have to be judged by the standards and morality of their own time, not ours. We have to bear that in mind. But I will say this: those of us who claim to be of religious persuasion should remember that our religion should be one not of judgment but of love, and that love should extend to everybody—young mothers, babies, and every frail person—from the very beginning of life to the very end.

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20. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Robbie Moore

    Air Pollution

    It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I commend the hon. Member for Brent West (Barry Gardiner) on securing this important debate. He has spoken about the issue many times in this place, so I know it is one that he cares deeply about. Air pollution is one of the greatest public health and environmental challenges facing our country today: it contributes to thousands of premature deaths every year, worsens respiratory diseases, harms our natural environment and, as was outlined in the contributions of many hon. Members, places an enormous amount of pressure on our NHS. All of that reduces productivity and participation in the workplace, costing the UK economy about £27 billion annually. That is largely due to healthcare costs, productivity losses and reduced quality of life. When wider impacts such as dementia are accounted for, the economic cost of air quality not being addressed may be as high as £50 billion. Air pollution also disproportionately affects the most deprived communities—13% of people in the most deprived neighbourhoods in the United Kingdom live in the 10% of areas with the highest air pollution, compared with only 7% of people in the least deprived neighbourhoods. The health impacts of that are seismic, as exposure to air pollution can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease and cancer. It can also cause damage to the reproductive and central nervous systems, as has also been mentioned by several Members. In particular, exposure to air pollution in childhood can have lasting, lifelong effects and can affect cognitive development or increase the risk of developing a chronic disease. Health risks from exposure to air pollution should not be a postcode lottery. I would be grateful if the Minister could inform the Chamber what targeted action the Government will be taking to address that gap in exposure to poor air quality. The Conservative party has a proud record when it comes to improving air quality, but there is much more to be done, as outlined in today’s contributions. Air quality in the UK has continually improved since 2010. The levels of all the key pollutants, bar ammonia, have fallen by over 70%, with levels of PM2.5 and PM10 falling by 27% and 20% respectively between 2014 and 2024. The previous Government’s 2019 clean air strategy was described by the World Health Organisation at the time as “an example for the rest of the world to follow”. The strategy set out the comprehensive action required to meet the legally binding targets to reduce emissions of the five key pollutants by 2020 and 2030 respectively. The previous Government also passed the Environment Act 2021, which introduced statutory targets for PM2.5 to achieve at least a 35% reduction in population exposure by 31 December 2040. Furthermore, the previous Administration’s 2023 environmental improvement plan set out a direction to support clean air, with measures including reducing the maximum emissions for domestic burning appliances in smoke-controlled areas by promoting best practices, challenging local authorities to rightly improve air quality, continuing to support the move away from petrol and diesel cars, and consulting on an extension to the existing North sea emission control area to cover the Irish sea, reducing emissions from shipping. The roll-out of any strategy, legislation, guidance or regulation that focuses on improving air quality must also take into account the economic, social and environmental impact, so that the best strategy is adopted and there is the best buy-in from residents and businesses. Without their buy-in, air quality is simply not improved at the rate that we would all like to see. It is no good bringing out legislation that then has a wider detrimental effect. That is why, as the official Opposition, we oppose the Government’s restrictions on wood-burning stoves. For many people living in rural areas, wood burners are an affordable, reliable and often essential source of heat where mains gas is unavailable and the alternatives are impractical and expensive to put in place. We also committed to scrapping the zero emission vehicle mandate to reinvigorate the car manufacturing industry in Britain. There should still be a transition to cleaner transport, but it must be driven by affordability, practicality and technological progress. It should not be dictated by unrealistic mandates or the weakening of domestic manufacturing. Again, a balance must be struck if we are to improve air quality. That is why a strategy of simply taxing motorists is just not the right approach. The Mayor of London’s expansion of ULEZ is having hugely damaging financial consequences on some of the poorest and most deprived residents and communities in London, as well as on many motorists and trade-related businesses.

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21. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Robbie Moore

    Air Pollution

    I would like to explore what the Mayor of London is doing for those travelling on the tube—the hon. Member for Stratford and Bow (Uma Kumaran) may be able to indicate this in her intervention, because I know she was involved—because there has been hardly any focus on that in the mayor’s strategy.

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22. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Robbie Moore

    Air Pollution

    I will specifically address that point, but I will use one further example before I do. The same approach as the ULEZ has been applied to the Bradford district, in which my constituency sits. A clean air zone has been rolled out in Bradford, but it is a strategy that is again taxing motorists and some of the hardest-working people in our communities—including some of the most deprived communities, who are simply not able to afford the levels of tax imposed on them. Of course there are other ways of doing it, but before I come on to them I want to address the fact that if a resident or someone with a business on the outskirts of Bradford wants to travel into Bradford in a light goods vehicle, it now costs them £9 a day. That has a detrimental impact on business growth. It costs a coach driver, a heavy goods vehicle driver or a bus driver £50 a day to take their vehicle into Bradford. That is also having a huge detrimental impact. Since the scheme was launched in 2023, £26.7 million has been raised. Of that, £9.8 million was raised through entry fees but £16.4 million was raised through penalty charge notices, the vast majority of which were for people who could not afford to pay, and who therefore had to go to court for that money to be extracted from them. My point is that we cannot simply have a strategy that charges people if we want complete buy-in. That is why I use the example of the roll-out in Manchester. It will be interesting to see what the strategy of the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Andy Burnham) will be, because when he was Mayor of Greater Manchester he opposed a chargeable clean air zone tax across Greater Manchester. Indeed, at the time, all five local authorities that make up Greater Manchester also heavily lobbied the Government for a non-charging approach to be adopted. Such an approach was therefore signed off, which resulted in investment in electrification, upgrade grants and traffic control measures. Those were all rolled out in Manchester—approved by the former Mayor of Greater Manchester, the right hon. Member for Makerfield—and they had buy-in at the local level. I would therefore simply say in response to the hon. Member for Stratford and Bow that there are other ways of doing it, rather than simply having a taxing approach. Will the Minister outline whether he has had discussions with the right hon. Member for Makerfield, who is likely to become the Prime Minister, about what the future clean air zone strategy will be under the new Administration? Will the Minister also outline the cost to the taxpayer of all the infrastructure that was put in place but not used for the roll-out of that clean air zone—a tax to the motorist—across the Greater Manchester area? It is therefore vital that when we consider how to tackle air pollution and improve air quality, the Government work across Departments to ensure that there are no unintended adverse impacts on businesses and indeed on our rural communities. I absolutely agree with the point made by the hon. Member for Brent West: we cannot have a siloed approach across Government. I therefore ask the Minister to provide an assurance that any forthcoming strategy will not be siloed just within DEFRA but will instead take a co-ordinated approach across Government. Communities across the country continue to breathe polluted air every single day. It is an unfortunate thing to say, but that is the reality. We must do much more, with buy-in from businesses and residents, and only if it is not detrimental to driving local growth. Parents worry about children walking to school alongside congested roads and elderly residents and those living with asthma or heart disease face unnecessary health risks. Those are not abstract narratives; they are everyday realities for millions of people. We must, therefore, work together to ensure that all of our constituents breathe cleaner, healthier air. To have a clean air strategy, we have to have buy-in from all and not just use a one-size-fits-all approach by taxing those in our communities who are most deprived. They are the ones who need to benefit from the clean air zone strategy because of where they live.

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23. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Robbie Moore

    Business of the House

    Back in 2022, the Keighley Cougars were awarded over £2 million to replace the Danny Jones stand, which is in dire need of repair, but Bradford council has still not made a decision on releasing this money, despite it having been awarded to the team. Can we have a debate in this place about how we unlock this money, which had been allocated through the Keighley towns fund, so that we can get these projects underway for the benefit of my residents in Keighley?

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24. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Robbie Moore

    Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents

    I congratulate the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) on her opening remarks, and on the work her Committee has done to produce its report. It was an exceptional read—I thank her and her Committee. I am seeing increasing numbers of cases where leaseholders experience a range of problems, including high service and administration charges, a lack of transparency, overcharging, disproportionate costs to extend leases or buy freeholds, poor actions by managing agents, a slow and costly sales process, and imbalanced dispute mechanisms with leaseholders potentially liable for the freeholder’s legal costs. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the retirement village up in Ben Rhydding in my constituency. For the past year, I have been working with the Clevedon owners group, who have experienced real-life examples of how the current leasehold framework governing the integrated retirement sector falls well short of the standard that should be expected. The Clevedon owners group is made up of a group of leaseholders at the Audley Clevedon retirement village in Ben Rhydding. They have experienced repeated failures by their landlord to fulfil some of the most fundamental obligations contained within their leases, while the landlord continues to collect substantial service charges. The owners group estimates that the Audley Group collects approximately £30 million of annual service charges a year across its whole estate, with £3.5 million of deferred service charges, yet its residences are falling into disrepair and the freeholder is not updating its commitments or undertaking its responsibilities. The owners group has highlighted to me that its biggest concern is around the legal definition of the service charge and, crucially, whether certain mandatory payments in retirement leases fall within the statutory definition of a service charge under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. The experiences of those residents in the Audley retirement village demonstrate exactly why this seemingly technical issue has profound and real consequences. Leaseholders have paid substantial monthly management charges and deferred management charges on the understanding that the funds would maintain their homes, safeguard communal facilities and ensure the long-term sustainability of their residential community. It is clear from the meetings that I have had with my constituents that that simply is not the case. Instead, their properties have gone unserviced, which presents serious questions about how the annual service charge and those funds are being used. Following years of expansion, heavy borrowing and financial difficulties, maintenance across the Audley Clevedon retirement village has reportedly declined significantly, despite leaseholders continuing to pay increased service charges. That needs to change, and I respect some of the recommendations in the report on that point. Does the Minister have any intention of commissioning an independent forensic audit of major retirement community operators to examine corporate governance, financial arrangements, service charge accounting, deferred management charges and compliance with lease obligations? Can he confirm that leaseholders in retirement housing, including integrated retirement communities, will not be excluded from the protections of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024? The current legal framework has failed to keep pace with increasingly complex corporate structures. If confidence in retirement housing is to be restored, residents must be given the protection, transparency and accountability that they rightly expect.

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25. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Ms Nusrat Ghani

    Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents

    Minister Pennycook has agreed to give a short speech to accommodate the next debate.

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26. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Ms Nusrat Ghani

    Access to Further Education

    Order. This debate has to conclude at 5 pm. For me to accommodate all Back Benchers, there will be a speaking limit of two minutes.

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27. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Ms Nusrat Ghani

    Access to Further Education

    I now call the shadow Minister—I believe it is his first time. Congratulations and welcome, shadow Minister.

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28. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Ms Nusrat Ghani

    Access to Further Education

    Order. Minister, I am not sure exactly what you are trying to achieve, but the best colleges are in my constituency of Sussex Weald.

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29. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Peter Bedford

    Employment Rights Act 2025

    The Government’s impact assessment puts the costs of the Employment Rights Act at up to £5 billion, which will hit small and medium-sized businesses since they lack the human resources teams and the expertise to absorb the additional burdens. What advice does the Minister give to small and medium-sized businesses in my Mid Leicestershire constituency on how they should deal with that?

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30. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Mark Francois

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    It is a pleasure to speak in this important debate about preventing premature death from heart disease and stroke. I congratulate the hon. Member for South Ribble (Mr Foster) on securing the debate and introducing it so ably. It is courageous of him to talk about the medical challenges that he has faced, and I am sure that the whole House wishes him the very best of luck on his journey. It is also nice to be with him in Westminster Hall, having spent five months debating with him in the Armed Forces Bill Committee. Stockholm syndrome kicked in, and we even started to like each other by the end, so it is doubly pleasurable to follow him in this debate. It is great to see the shadow Health Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew)—a man I have always respected—in his place, and to see the Minister, whom I also respect. I have bumped into her in the Portcullis House lifts many times down the years, and it is wonderful to see her in a ministerial position. I wish to declare two interests. First, I am a long-time supporter of the British Heart Foundation, which does great work to research heart disease and improve the technology and techniques to combat what is still, I am sad to say, one of Britain’s greatest killers. I pay tribute to that wonderful charity. I also wish to pay tribute to my wife Olivia, who has worked in the NHS for some two decades now, and who revels in the title of lead neurointerventional radiographer. That is a bit of a mouthful, but if someone has a stroke, she is the girl they need. I say that because she works in the specialist neurointerventional radiography department at Queen’s hospital in east London. As the Minister will no doubt know, there are 26 specialist units around the country, and her team at Queen’s is very ably led by Mr Tufail Patankar, an internationally recognised surgeon and an absolute expert in his field. He has built up that team over time at Queen’s, and, from what I hear, he leads it very well indeed. The technique that the team uses is called mechanical thrombectomy. It is an emergency procedure for treating acute-onset stroke caused by a blood clot blocking a large artery in the brain—that is effectively what a stroke is. During the procedure, the interventionist neuroradiologist —the surgeon—passes a thin tube through an artery. It usually enters the body through either the groin or the wrist, goes up into the brain, finds the blocked blood vessel and then extracts the clot, which can sometimes be a couple of millimetres long—not an easy target to find. When it is withdrawn, blood flow is restored to the affected area of the brain, helping to reduce permanent disability, particularly if the procedure is performed quickly. The department has a mnemonic: “Time means brain”—the quicker the operation can be performed, the more damage is averted and the greater the likelihood of recovery without complications. This was, admittedly, an exceptional case, but the team performed one of those operations on a man in his 20s within 90 minutes of the stroke occurring. He lived locally, and he basically walked out of the hospital a few hours after the stroke none the worse. That is what that relatively new technique can achieve. As the radiographer, my wife guides the surgeon to the target. I call her the “bomb-aimer”. Last year, Queen’s had a “bring your hubby to work” day, and I was taken to work. The hospital has two operating theatres back to back, with an observation area in the middle, so we could stand there and watch the operation taking place on a large screen. We could see the instrument going up into the brain towards the clot, at which point it attached itself to the clot and withdrew it. I have to say that it was not for the faint-hearted; I was there with the hon. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell), and we stuck it out and saw the whole thing. It is a very odd procedure to watch, because the patient is lying anaesthetised on the operating table. One would think that all the activity happens around their head, but it does not. The surgeon stands by their groin, where they have gone in, and then uses a very fine guiding device—almost like a gaming console—to control the instrument, taking their lead from the image on the screen that is provided by my wife, the bomb aimer. That is how it works. Last year, the department at Queen’s performed something like 300 of those operations. It operates 24/7, so over the weekend the staff are on a cover rota, or on call, as they say in the NHS. If my wife is at home and the bat-phone—as I call it—goes, she has an hour to get from our home to Queen’s, get scrubbed up, fire up all the equipment and be ready to receive the patients, some of whom may be coming from as far as Norwich and some of whom arrive by air ambulance. When the bat-phone goes, there is no time to grab a cup of tea and a slice of toast; she is in the car and gone. Can I just say that the sooner they finally sort out the chronic mess at Gallows Corner, the quicker and easier that journey will become? But I digress. There are only 25 hospitals in the country that perform the procedure. The reach of the department covers Essex and goes out some way into East Anglia, at which point it hands over to Addenbrooke’s in Cambridge. The department also has friendly rivals who do the procedure at the Royal London hospital in Whitechapel, which tends to cover Kent and south London, but that is on a rota. When the Royal London is off for a given week and Queen’s covers all the areas, it is responsible for a potential patient population of over 5 million. That is a tremendous responsibility, which is why we obviously need to have 24/7 cover. The service is also growing. Anecdotally, I can say that the bat phone rings more than it used to. On one level that is a good thing, because the technology is advancing all the time and patients can now be treated who could not have been treated a few years ago. However, that obviously puts pressure on Olivia, Dr Patankar and the team. I will make a plea to the Minister, if I may. I understand that the Government are evolving their strategy for stroke, as part of the 10-year plan for the NHS. Olivia and her team are keen to see that work evolve, but they are particularly keen to know what role there is for mechanical thrombectomy in the overall strategy. I have literally seen it at work for myself. It is a wonderful, lifesaving technology and technique that the NHS has been doing for barely a decade, and we are getting better and better at it all the time. I pay tribute to the team at Queen’s, as well as all the other teams that do this work around the country, including, for the record, at the Royal London. Most of all—I hope the House will forgive my indulgence—I pay tribute to my wife. Being a Member of Parliament can sometimes be a time commitment, but being the husband of a woman who does this work can be a bit of a time commitment, too. Sometimes, when we are making plans to see people or go to dinner parties, I am not the long pole in the tent. I am very proud of what she does, I am very proud of what her team do, I am very proud of what all the people who work at Queen’s do and I am very proud of the national health service. For the record, I am also proud of the stroke unit at Southend hospital, which provides a very good service, although it does not do mechanical thrombectomy; it defers to Queen’s on that. Well done to everyone who works in this area. I thank the House for its patience and indulgence. God bless all the people who work to save lives from stroke.

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31. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Mark Francois

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    I am sorry to disappoint the hon. Gentleman, not least as he is being so kind to me, but for the record it is my wife’s bat-phone, not mine.

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32. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Mark Francois

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    For many years, stroke units have had access to thrombolysis—or “the shot”, as it is known in the trade. However, that is a very rough way of doing it, and it can have side effects and impede a patient’s recovery. Mechanical thrombectomy is a far more accurate way of solving a stroke problem, and with far less risk of subsequent side effects. That is why we are so keen to see its use grow, and I second my right hon. Friend’s request to the Minister.

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33. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Mark Francois

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    I am sure that the potential new Prime Minister will have noted very carefully the commitment of the hon. Member for Southport (Patrick Hurley), who mentioned that he lost 4 lbs during the by-election; I have a pound coin, and I am happy to make it up to a round fiver to help him get his money back, if that helps.

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34. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Mark Francois

    Heart Disease and Stroke: Premature Deaths

    Yes—don’t tell my wife! I thank the Minister very much for what she says about Olivia, her colleagues and all the others who work in the NHS in that field. I will chance my arm and say that they are based about an hour from London; if ever the Minister had time to pop along and see what they do in person, I think she would be both very welcome and incredibly impressed.

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35. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Gagan Mohindra

    Youth Employment

    7. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the creation of jobs for young people.

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36. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Gagan Mohindra

    Youth Employment

    I recently met people from Mission Employable, an incredible charity based in Chorleywood, which offers supported internships for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. It was deeply concerning to hear that in England only 6% of adults with learning disabilities are in paid work. Will the Secretary of State outline how he is working with other Departments to ensure that the youth jobs grant does not disincentive employers in hiring people from supported internship backgrounds who are not claiming universal credit?

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37. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Mr Gagan Mohindra

    Topical Questions

    Micklefield Hall in Sarratt is a great example of a small business that has survived covid, only to be repeatedly hit by this Labour Government. Its representatives have contacted me to say that they are keen to borrow money for long-term investment, but fearful of yet more taxes on business. What reassurances can the Secretary of State give to small businesses that want to invest for future growth, such as Micklefield Hall?

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38. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Martin Vickers

    Business of the House

    The Chairman of the Committee sends his apologies, Mr Speaker. In addition to the business that the Leader of the House has announced, the Committee has agreed two Select Committee statements: one next Thursday from the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee and one the following Thursday from the Work and Pensions Committee. In addition, in Westminster Hall next week, there will be debates on UK aid policy in the context of global funding trends and on the humanitarian impact of conflicts on older people. On Thursday, there will be a debate on Government support for the Lobular Moon Shot Project. The following week, there will be debates on isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities, on the impact of the national planning policy framework changes and on capital funding for Changing Places. I urge Members to take part in the Sir David Amess debate, which the Leader of the House mentioned. It is an opportunity to raise any constituency matters and perhaps to avoid having to come to the Backbench Business Committee, where we have to find more time for those debates. In addition, will the Leader of the House give the Committee early notice of debating time in September, particularly if it is on the first day back? Moving on to my own question, I am sure the Leader of the House will be aware of the long-running campaign by the National Association of Retired Police Officers in respect of the injustice to widows and widowers, who can be deprived of their pension if they remarry. I have raised the matter in the House previously. Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Minister to come here and outline the Government’s plans? I know that would please many of my constituents and others across the country.

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39. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Lewis Cocking

    Commonhold and Leasehold Reform: Managing Agents

    I commend the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) for securing this important debate, and for her continued strong and effective leadership of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee. I have spoken several times in this House about the problems with the current leasehold and property management system, more recently from the Opposition Front Bench. Like so many of my constituents and people across the country, I am a leaseholder and I know at first hand the horrific situation they face. However, in today’s debate I would like to focus on property management companies, which are bringing misery to the lives of both leaseholders and those living on freehold estates in so-called fleecehold properties. Apart from the law as it currently stands, it is the poor performance and, quite frankly, the total incompetence of companies such as the Residential Management Group and FirstPort that are at the root of so many of the issues facing leaseholders across the country. Since my election, I have not come across one property management company that residents are happy with. Whether it is High Leigh in Hoddesdon, Academia Avenue, Robinia Road and Watery Lane in Turnford, Aldermere Avenue and Magnolia Way in Flamstead End, or Eleanor House in Waltham Cross, it is hard to think of one part of Broxbourne that is not affected. The Minister, with whom I get on well, has promised to strengthen the regulation of managing agents, but how much longer will my constituents have to wait? His Department has already held a consultation on measures to help leaseholders challenge unfair fees and charges, and introduce qualifications for managing agents. In fact, the consultation opened nearly one year ago and closed in September 2025, and the Government are still analysing the feedback. That is what the people out there get fed up with. The Leasehold and Freehold Act 2024 is on the statute book and the present Government clearly want stronger regulation of managing agents, as that is what they have told this House, so why the delay? We need to get this sorted. I welcome the fact that the Government have brought forward a Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill and allowed my Committee to scrutinise it in its draft form. That is a positive sign that the Government want to get the right legislation in place for our constituents, but I feel they should commit to giving more powers to the Department, so that Ministers can hold managing agents to account, specifically with enforcement powers. Managing agents that break the rules should be fined, and ultimately stripped of their licence to operate. This means that management companies would have to start to care about the interests of the residents they are supposed to look out for. In my constituency of Broxbourne, we have had to put up with poor service charges and increasing bills for years. Residents have nowhere to turn when something goes wrong. They feel that managing agents have all the power. I know the Minister wants to change that, and I hope he will reflect carefully on what has been said across the House. I urge the Government to get a move on, and solve this issue for millions of people across the United Kingdom.

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40. 2 Jul 2026·Parliament·Conservative·Joy Morrissey

    Employment Costs: Impact on Recruitment

    15. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of employment costs on levels of business recruitment.

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