Dr Danny Chambers

Party affiliation

Register of interests

Register on Parliament's site

Latest on this tracker 464

1. 3 Nov 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

   It is worth noting that 13% of NEETs are university graduates. I meet many people who have just graduated with good degrees from good universities, who are applying for more than 300 jobs and not even getting a response. There is very little talk about support for graduates, and we are disappointed that in the Budget there was no mention of reforming the student loan system that is adding pressure on them. Will the Minister assure us that the Government are looking at the student loan system?

   Hansard source
2. 2 Nov 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Social Media: Ban for Under-16s

   For a long time, big tech companies in silicon valley and China have dictated what it is like for children to grow up in the UK. On self-harm, chatbots are often integrated into social media, and some of them give unregulated medical advice. Sometimes, people with eating disorders learn about low-calorie diets or how to access weight-loss drugs. Does the hon. and learned Member agree that any regulation on social media companies must include chatbots, whether they are integrated into social media or stand-alone?

   Hansard source
3. 28 Oct 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Budget Resolutions and Economic Situation

   It was slightly disappointing that the Budget made no commitment to restoring the mental health investment standard. There is an economic imperative in that as well. Millions of people are on waiting lists for mental healthcare, but if we could get them off waiting lists and back into work, that would help to grow the economy. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that we should restore that mental health investment standard?

   Hansard source
4. 21 Oct 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Support for Farmers

   I heard from many farmers in Winchester and Hampshire who desperately wanted to apply for the SFI, but most of them had to work during the day and it had closed by the time they got back. One of them compared it with trying to get Oasis tickets. As my hon. Friend says, the process clearly favours very large businesses that have full-time managers and admin staff. It puts family farms at a disadvantage, because individual farmers have to work outside.

   Hansard source
5. 13 Oct 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Youth Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Support

   It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Mr Wishart. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) for giving such an eloquent speech at the beginning of this difficult debate.<span id="124WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="124WH"></span> When I became an MP two years ago, there were half a million children on waiting lists for mental health services—about two months ago, that number has risen to a million. That is a million children needing help and a million families who are probably stressed beyond belief, worrying about the impacts of being on a long-term waiting list. The Darzi report showed that mental health accounts for 20% of the NHS caseload, yet at the time, in 2024, it was receiving only 10% of funding. We are really disappointed that the Government removed the mental health investment standard, which ensured that the proportion of money spent on mental health increased in line with the money spent on physical health. As a result of the standard being broken, NHS mental health services now receive 8% of funding. The proportion is dropping while we have record waiting lists. The cuts to mental health services are not limited to NHS services. Last year, the Government cut the VCSE grant—a vital fund that contributes to many charities and organisations, such as Samaritans, men’s sheds, young farmers’ groups and youth groups. One such organisation was Papyrus, which many Members have spoken about. It offered support for children and young people experiencing suicidal thoughts, and its loss is devastating. Organisations like Papyrus and the amazing Winchester Youth Counselling in my constituency are vital because they give children support before they need clinical NHS services. That support is early, targeted and often self-referred. They offer counselling and talking therapies, which not only helps children to maintain their mental health but saves the NHS money, because young people are less likely to end up in extreme cases that lead them to A&amp;E, which is probably the worst place for them.

   Hansard source
6. 13 Oct 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Youth Suicide Prevention and Mental Health Support

   I totally agree with the hon. Lady. Those organisations are so important. Some politicians from some parties have been using mental health and children’s mental health as a bit of a political football, such as by calling young people struggling with mental health “snowflakes”. That is absolutely shameful, and those comments affect families who have lost children, and children who have lost brothers and sisters. When there is one less child in the school football team, when there is one empty chair at the dining table and when there is one fewer pair of shoes at the front door, the loss affects families for the rest of their lives—forever. I pay tribute my constituent Martyn Pond in Alresford, who lost his son Archie at only 19 years old. Martyn got a bench put in, made by an amazing organisation called Legends on the Bench. The bench is solar-powered and has a light on at night time. There is a QR code, through which people can read a memorial to Archie. There is also support and signposting to organisations such as Samaritans, so that anyone who comes across the bench at a time of crisis, feeling alone, can get support. It is an amazing tribute to an amazing young man.<span id="125WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="125WH"></span> I want to finish by urging the Government to restore the mental health investment standard. Politicians overuse the word “crisis”, but it is really hard to think of another word to describe the state of children’s mental health and mental health services at the moment.

   Hansard source
7. 15 Sep 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Topical Questions

   There has long been a proven link between people deliberately harming animals and then committing domestic abuse. The Links Group has researched and highlighted that link for 25 years and is having a special conference later this year to mark this. Will the Minister agree to meet me and the Links Group so that we can draw on its 25 years of expertise to help prevent avoidable harm to women, children and even animals?

   Hansard source
8. 15 Sep 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Sepsis Awareness Month

   I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood) for so vividly highlighting his personal experience of sepsis. He gave a very emotional speech and it is good to see him in the Chamber looking so healthy. Around one in five deaths worldwide are associated with sepsis—that is 11 million deaths a year. I recently met Ron Daniels, founder and chief medical officer of the UK Sepsis Trust, to discuss the new sepsis modern service framework. I very much welcome its ambition to reduce deaths, life-threatening complications and the long-term impact of sepsis by at least 25% over the next decade, but if we are serious about achieving that, we need to get much better at detecting infection early. Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to infection, whether viral, bacterial or fungal. It can cause organ failure, permanent disability and death. Crucially, patients can deteriorate incredibly quickly. There is no single diagnostic test for sepsis; its symptoms overlap with many other conditions and clinicians are often having to make decisions with incomplete information. That is why rapid diagnostic tests are so important. I recently held a meeting at Winchester hospital for local GPs, the local authority, laboratories and manufacturers of various rapid diagnostic tests to look at the barriers to implementing rapid diagnostic tests, and at how people can have them in the community for earlier diagnosis and the prevention of hospital admissions. Better diagnostics mean earlier treatment. They mean being able to use the right antibiotic for the right infection; they mean preventing patients deteriorating into sepsis; and they mean using fewer unnecessary antibiotics, which ultimately can result in antimicrobial resistance developing and is another huge growing public health concern. Prevention matters too. We must reverse the falling vaccination rates that we have seen in recent years to prevent infections occurring in the first place, as well as ensuring that hospitals have the facilities to isolate and care properly for infectious patients. Crucially, it also means tackling corridor care and long waits in A&amp;E, because when somebody is deteriorating in those conditions, every hour matters, as we know. In the case of corridor care and long waits, that means that diagnosis and treatment is more likely to be delayed. I wish to talk specifically about one group of patients—cancer patients. We rightly focus on treating the cancer itself, but infection, often sepsis, is the second-biggest cause of death for people with cancer. That may seem surprising, but cancer can cause a reduction in people’s immunity. Chemotherapy and various treatments cause people to become immunocompromised, weakening their immune system and making them more prone to getting infections. That also means repeat infections, which means that they are more likely to have repeat uses of antibiotics and to have antibiotic-resistant infections. The consequences of infection for people with cancer can be even more serious. That is why I find one omission from the Government’s national cancer plan <span id="1676" class="column-number" data-column-number="1676"></span>quite striking. It is an 86-page strategy setting out how we are going to transform cancer care by 2035, yet infection is mentioned only once, and that is just in the foreword. That is not a minor oversight; it is a glaring omission that risks undermining the entire cancer strategy. We would never produce a cancer strategy that treated radiotherapy, chemotherapy or surgery as peripheral to cancer care, so we need to ensure that we are treating infection, which is the second-biggest killer of cancer patients, as integral to cancer care. Infection prevention, rapid diagnostics, antimicrobial stewardship and surveillance need to be absolutely central to cancer care, not an afterthought. If we fail to address infection properly, we are setting the entire new cancer strategy up to fail. Sepsis contributes to tens of thousands of deaths in the UK each year, as well as leaving many survivors with life-changing physical and psychological consequences. I have one specific request of the Government. Will the Minister commit to updating the national cancer strategy to incorporate infection control, sepsis and rapid diagnostic tests as being absolutely integral to cancer management? We welcome the new sepsis modern service framework; we just need to deliver it.

   Hansard source
9. 14 Sep 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

   Water Sector: Public Ownership

   I congratulate the hon. Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) on his eloquent speech, and I thank everyone who signed the petition and the people in the Public Gallery—it shows how much interest there is in this issue. Since the water companies were privatised, they have paid out billions in profits, taken on billions of pounds of debt, paid out millions of pounds in bonuses and put up bills. We have had hosepipe bans and sewage is being discharged into our local streams, beaches and waterways.

   Hansard source
10. 14 Sep 2026·Parliament·Dr Danny Chambers

    Water Sector: Public Ownership

    I completely agree with my hon. Friend. All the issues that I just highlighted were the result of a failure of regulation over decades, and it is absolutely time that we reform the way water companies are structured, owned and run.<span id="477WH" class="column-number" data-column-number="477WH"></span> We have sewage pouring into the chalk streams in Winchester—we have the River Itchen and the River Meon, and next door we have the beautiful Test valley—which are unique habitats with unique biodiversity. They are sites of special scientific interest. The salmon in southern chalk streams are genetically distinct from the salmon in the Atlantic ocean. The destruction of this type of habitat by sewage and pollution is ecological vandalism. Businesses are also affected. A farmer contacted me because sewage discharged by Southern Water was ruining his crops. He had to get me and my office involved just to enter into a conversation with the water company to get the compensation he deserved. People’s health is affected. I heard just last week from a mother whose three-year-old baby has been hospitalised with potential liver failure because he was playing in a stream and she was unaware that sewage was being discharged into the waterway. I heard from a woman who got very sick after paddleboarding in a stream; she was unaware that sewage was discharged upstream. This is affecting businesses, health and our local environment. Before I finish, I want to pay tribute to the dedication of the amazing citizen scientists who have worked to gather data so that we can hold water companies to account and know the situation on the ground. To name a handful, there is the Winchester Downs Cluster, the Upper Itchen Restoration group and the Environmental Farmers Group. One of our amazing local councillors, Margot Power in Alresford, has for decades been taking samples of invertebrates in the river to measure their health. I also pay tribute to the Southern Water crew who work on the ground when there is a flood or a discharge, or a drain needs unblocking, often in terrible weather and often late at night. Those guys are doing a brilliant job. They work in companies that are not fit for purpose, in a system that needs to be reformed. We need to ensure that they have all the support they need to make sure we have fresh water and a clean environment, and that people’s bills do not go up while directors get huge bonuses.

    Hansard source