Anna Dixon MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  No, that was not something that the Committee specifically looked at, but I totally agree that many victims wait far too long. The length of time it often took to set up compensation schemes, and their complexity—often resulting in cases taking a long time to reach a decision and therefore compensation taking a long time to be awarded—were things that repeatedly came up in the Committee. We urge the Government to make sure that is much more timely in future.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for being such a champion for those in her constituency who suffered from the decisions that impacted on the Windrush generation. She is absolutely right. We heard significant evidence, not least from the Windrush commissioner, about the poor treatment and the difficulties people were having in seeking redress, in particular the complexity and, as she points out, the lack of legal support. The report recommends that, where possible, it should be clear from the start whether victims would have access to legal support and also that that should be more consistent. I agree with my hon. Friend’s suggestion.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Gentleman, and I guess I return the compliment—although I am not sure I always enjoy his contributions to the Public Accounts Committee! However, I certainly recognise that on this and other issues, it is also important to get behind the reasons why these scandals happened in the first place. That obviously was not the purpose of our Committee’s inquiry—it was to look at compensation schemes—but valuable lessons must also be learned about why these scandals occur, whether in relation to the Post Office, infected blood, or the treatment of LGBT veterans in the armed forces. I do appreciate those points.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  I commend my hon. Friend for all her years of work on the Public Accounts Committee and for her leadership and foresight in making sure that the work was done by the National Audit Office. We did hear some examples. In particular, the infected blood compensation scheme is not run by the Department of Health and Social Care, but has a degree of independence from being run out of the Cabinet Office, and that makes a difference. There were some examples where there had been some co-design with victims, but those examples were too seldom. Unfortunately, across the examples we looked at, there were simply too many examples of things that went wrong. In learning those lessons, we need to make sure that the emphasis in any future Government compensation scheme is on co-design, timeliness and fairness for victims.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  As an officer of the all-party parliamentary group on patient safety, I am very well aware that the Hughes report is still in the Government inbox, awaiting a response. I also have constituents who are victims of the pelvic mesh scandal, which obviously particularly impacted women, and I hope that we will soon hear the Government’s response to that report. Hopefully, they will be able to bring forward more swiftly a Government compensation scheme that works, co-designed with the victims, as our report recommends.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to be giving this statement on behalf of the Public Accounts Committee, of which I am a member. Before I turn to the findings of our report on Government compensation schemes, I want to begin by recognising the individuals and families whose lives have been profoundly affected by the events that gave rise to these compensation schemes. Behind every application, every claim and every payment is a person who has experienced loss, injustice or harm, often through no fault of their own. No amount of money can ever fully restore what has been taken away. Compensation cannot return lost years, repair damaged health, rebuild broken trust or erase the suffering that many have endured. Nevertheless, where mistakes have been made, public bodies have failed, or citizens have been harmed by the actions or omissions of the state, compensation represents an important acknowledgement of that injustice. It is one of the clearest ways in which the Government can accept responsibility, recognise the experiences of those affected and demonstrate a commitment to making amends. Properly designed and delivered, compensation is not simply a financial transaction; it is an expression of accountability and, crucially, compassion. It signals that those who have suffered have been heard, that their experiences are believed and that society recognises the wrong that has been done to them. For many people, the true value of a compensation scheme lies not only in the financial support it provides, but in the recognition and dignity it can offer. That is why it is so important that such schemes are fair, accessible, timely and centred on the needs of those they are intended to serve. It is against that backdrop that the National Audit Office conducted a review of the way that compensation schemes have been handled, and the findings of the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry were published last Wednesday. I want to recognise the sub-postmasters and their families affected by the Horizon scandal; the victims and bereaved families of the infected blood scandal; the Windrush generation denied the right to remain in the UK; and LGBT veterans, including Victoria from my constituency, whose service to her country was repaid with imprisonment and dismissal from the Royal Navy because of her sexuality. All those experiences have informed the Committee’s work. I particularly thank everyone who responded to our survey and everyone who gave evidence to our inquiry. Many of the testimonies we received were deeply moving, and all were invaluable. If the Government are to improve how compensation schemes operate in future, they must listen carefully to the experiences of those who have already been through them. Our inquiry found that, too often, people experience lengthy delays, complex processes and uncertainty about what will happen next. The vast majority of respondents to the Public Accounts Committee survey felt the schemes they had experienced were unfair. Three quarters told us that the claims process itself had been distressing or retraumatising. One respondent told us: “It has become a lumbering, slow bureaucracy. It is failing in its duty to get payments to people quickly.” Another said: “After decades of fighting for recognition, we believed we were finally at the finish line—and instead we are being treated with suspicion, as though we are trying to defraud a system rather than seeking acknowledgement of a wrong done to us by the state.” One of my own constituents, the wife of a postmaster, told me that the stress from the Horizon scandal caused alopecia and a blood clot. On applying for compensation, she was told that her suffering was irrelevant, despite being the co-owner of the post office. The compensation was paid to her husband, from whom she is now divorced. These experiences highlight why the quality of scheme design matters so much, and we heard many similar stories. Compensation is not simply about the final payment; it is about the journey that people make to reach that point—a journey that must be fair, transparent and humane. We heard from Sir Alan Bates, whose work was instrumental in exposing the Horizon scandal. He told us that schemes often end up reinventing the wheel. He argued for the creation of an independent organisation that is capable of carrying expertise and experience from one scheme to the next, which is what our report recommends. Peter Gibson, the chief executive at Fighting With Pride, which represents LGBT veterans, highlighted the importance of making realistic commitments that can actually be delivered. Kate Burt, representing those affected by infected blood, emphasised the importance of meaningful engagement with communities and of ensuring that lessons from previous schemes are genuinely applied. Victims have lost trust in the bodies administering Government compensation schemes—bodies that they view as responsible for the initial harm caused. The Committee therefore recommends—I am pleased to see the Cabinet Office Minister on the Front Bench—that the body administering compensation should work with individuals and organisations representing victims. Many claimants told us that they found it difficult to trust the processes administered by organisations that they associated with the original harm, which is why witnesses repeatedly argued that independence is essential if schemes are to command confidence. The answer is not to choose between independence and expertise; it is to combine them and establish an independent body that is capable of developing specialist expertise, preserving institutional memory, promoting good practice and earning the trust of those it is there to serve. A key recommendation of the report is that the Government should establish an independent body to design and administer Government compensation schemes. We should remember that, for many people, the compensation process is not simply an administrative exercise. Making a claim often means revisiting some of the most painful experiences of a person’s life. It means being asked to recall events that they have spent years trying to come to terms with, gathering evidence from decades ago, and recounting—often to complete strangers—experiences of injustice, discrimination, illness, loss and trauma. The Committee heard repeatedly that the process itself can reopen old wounds. Witnesses spoke of victims feeling as though they were having to fight the same battle all over again. That is why good scheme design matters so much: it is not simply about how much compensation is awarded; it is about ensuring that the process to get to the outcome is compassionate and designed around the needs of those who have suffered. I believe that this report highlights the unique role of the Public Accounts Committee. Our role is to look across Government to identify recurring challenges, to bring together evidence from different Departments and to ask what lessons can be learned. One of the clearest conclusions from our report is that the Government require stronger mechanisms for retaining and sharing knowledge across compensation schemes. Every compensation scheme is inevitably different, but the fundamentals of good scheme design are not. The Committee concluded that the Government need a more systematic approach to applying what has been learned. Reverend Clive Foster, the Windrush Commissioner, told us it is critical that impacted groups are involved in designing schemes from the outset, and that design is aligned with trauma-informed principles that consider how the claim process can be traumatising for people. Compensation schemes exist to provide redress, but they should also provide confidence that people will be treated fairly, confidence that lessons have been learned and confidence that future schemes will be better than those that came before. All those who shared their experiences with our Committee have given the Government a valuable opportunity to improve, and we should not waste it. Our responsibility now is to ensure that the lessons are not lost, stored away in reports or revisited only when the next scandal emerges, but that they are permanently embedded into how the Government approach redress. The Committee’s recommendation is therefore clear: the Government should establish an independent body to design and administer Government compensation schemes—a body that is capable of retaining expertise, carrying lessons forward and delivering redress swiftly, fairly and with the confidence of those it serves. Above all, it must be a body that is capable of restoring trust. The victims whose experiences informed our inquiry deserve nothing less.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Public Accounts Committee · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend—another colleague on the Public Accounts Committee. The report is very clear that much more needs to be done to try to reach victims; there is a concern that the LGBT veterans scheme is closing while victims remain. It is important that institutions use the data they already hold to reach people directly, and that the evidential burden is as low as possible while still maintaining protections against fraud.

• 15 Sept 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Jimmy, the son of two of my Shipley constituents, was given an IPP sentence with a tariff of two and a half years in 2007. He remains in prison with no set release date, despite having passed his mental health tribunal. I strongly welcome the Prime Minister’s recent announcement to review these unjust sentences, but can the Secretary of State assure me that prisoners with autism, like Jimmy, will get the support they need to start a new life?

• 14 Sept 2026 · Water Sector: Public Ownership · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Barker. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Colne Valley (Paul Davies) for opening this petition debate so well and for representing the petitioners and campaigners here today. My constituency of Shipley is fortunate to be home to two beautiful rivers: the Aire and the Wharfe, where people walk, exercise, enjoy nature and spend time with family and friends. The rivers should contribute enormously to residents’ quality of life, but from Bingley to Burley in Wharfedale, residents are afraid to let their children paddle or swim in the rivers because of the health risks created by the illegal dumping of human waste. Just last summer, one of my constituents in Bingley, a boy of seven, was left fighting for his life with E. coli poisoning. He suffered multiple organ failure, and he needed emergency operations and kidney dialysis to beat the infection. It is absolutely disgraceful that, so much time after the first tragic death that was vividly depicted in a Channel 4 documentary, private companies are still allowed to abuse our rivers and put profit before people and nature. Why are we in this terrible situation? As others have said, in 1989, the Tory Government did what no other country has done—there is no international precedent for this—and put the stewardship of our most precious natural resource into the hands of private companies. We were told that private ownership would bring investment, efficiency and innovation. Instead, we have seen rising debt, rising bills and more pollution in our rivers. It is claimed that there is no evidence that public ownership leads to better outcomes, yet in Paris, where there has been remunicipalisation, there has been improved service quality and water quality, and a reduction in price. In fact, water bills in Paris are about a third lower than they are for my constituents under Yorkshire Water. We must act now to prevent further harm being done to children like the boy in my constituency by the likes of Yorkshire Water and Thames Water. I join others in urging the Government to put Thames Water into special administration and to be bold in bringing forward a water reform Bill that goes beyond the Cunliffe commission and sets out a legal framework that will enable us to build back a publicly owned water sector.

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I chair the all-party parliamentary group on hospice and end-of-life care, and I wonder whether my hon. Friend shares my concern. Given that an estimated 170,000 people die in this country each year without access to palliative and end-of-life care, there can be no choice until hospice and end-of-life care are properly funded.

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?

• 11 Sept 2026 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 8 Sept 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the ethnic inequalities we see in cancer outcomes and access to cancer treatment such as radiotherapy should also be included in the suggested review?

• 7 Sept 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  I worked as a civil servant for the coalition Government, and I saw at first hand some of the duplication and confusion caused when NHS England was set up, so I welcome this Bill and the decision to abolish NHS England. However, reversing the fragmentation caused by the Tories’ failed reforms of the NHS will not on its own create a more integrated and joined-up service for patients and carers. That is why I have tabled new clause 106, which would require the Secretary of State to report to Parliament within six months of the Act passing on how well NHS bodies and local authorities are working together to integrate health and social care in England. Having worked in the health and care sector, I know how vital it is to have integrated services, and I know as an MP, as I am sure do others, and from personal experience how devastating unco-ordinated care can be for patients, their families and our NHS. One of my constituents, Ellerie Carroll, was diagnosed with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, an inoperable brain tumour, in September 2024. Very sadly, she died in May this year, aged just nine. Ellerie and her parents, Freya and Christian, suffered in ways that are unimaginable, but it was a lack of co-operation between services that added to their suffering. To give just one example, after going for a MRI scan at Great Ormond Street hospital, Ellerie had to endure a repeated scan at Leeds General Infirmary in Leeds due to an inability to share results between hospitals. I hope that the single patient record, which the Bill also creates, will help to join up systems and reduce such problems. We see disjointed care within the NHS between hospital and community services, but also between health and social care. Another constituent, Roger, in his 90s, had a fall and serious head injury last year. After the acute hospital treatment in Leeds, there was a failure in the NHS to join up his care with Bradford social services, resulting in delays to his discharge. He developed infections and delirium. After nine months of being moved from one hospital to another, and despite his wife fighting to get him home with support, he died in hospital. These are the consequences when our health and care systems are not integrated. It is also expensive. Around one in 10 hospital beds in England are occupied by someone who does not need to be there, often because community care or social care are not available. Any reform of the NHS will ultimately fail unless we simultaneously reform adult social care. That is why I welcome the priority given to this issue by the Prime Minister and the commitment he made to bring forward the conclusion of the Casey commission. But even if we build a national care service, which we must, there is a risk if it does not work in sync with our national health service. It is essential that we place very clear obligations on all parts of the NHS to co-operate and integrate with social care. I ask the Minister to set out in her closing remarks how she and the Secretary of State will monitor the Bill’s impact on integration, and how they will ensure co-operation remains a critical priority for the NHS—not just on paper, not just in law, but in the way that we all experience health and care in a joined-up way.

• 7 Sept 2026 · Health Bill · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend and others on the Select Committee who did the work on strengthening local authority representation on integrated care boards. Does he agree with the sentiments of my new clause 106, which says that we need a stronger duty to co-operate, both within the NHS and between the NHS and local authorities?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Building Homes and Renewing Communities · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to see my right hon. Friend back in her role, and I am really pleased that the Government have committed to fast-track developments close to transport hubs. It is a fantastic opportunity to build housing around Shipley station, which is close to the recently refurbished Shipley market. High-quality and affordable housing would help increase footfall and bring regeneration to the high street. Will the Secretary of State join me and the West Yorkshire Mayor, Tracy Brabin, on a visit to Shipley to see the opportunity for herself, and will she help to accelerate house building in Shipley?

• 3 Sept 2026 · Global Biodiversity and Ecosystems: National Security · Hansard source

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  I was with the hon. Gentleman at the national emergency briefing, and like him I have many constituents to whom I am grateful for organising local screenings. Does he agree that climate change is not only an emergency, but a public health emergency? That is clear not only from the heat deaths in the UK, but the global impact on public health of water scarcity and the spread of malaria to new regions. Does he also agree that we should continue to support the likes of the World Health Organisation in efforts to tackle what is both a climate and public health emergency?

• 2 Sept 2026 · Representation of the People Bill · Hansard source

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  I very much support my hon. Friend’s work to ensure that voting is accessible to blind and visually impaired people. Does she agree that other groups, such as those with learning disabilities, also face barriers in participating in elections, and that further work should be done to ensure that everybody has a free vote?

• 2 Sept 2026 · Representation of the People Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Lady for speaking about the security of candidates. That is the motivation behind my new clause 81, which would automatically make all candidates’ addresses anonymous. Does she agree that we need to take further steps to ensure that all candidates feel secure and able to stand for public office at all levels?

• 2 Sept 2026 · Representation of the People Bill · Hansard source

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  I add my congratulations to my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) on becoming a Minister. It is great to see her on the Front Bench. I really welcome this Bill. We can go back in history and look at the amazing enfranchisement that happened with the Representation of the People Acts 1918 and 1928, when suffrage was extended to women and those with no property. When I have visitors in Parliament, I love showing them the stained-glass windows where, here in this place, we celebrate giving more people the vote. I hope that when this Bill becomes an Act of Parliament, we can celebrate the enfranchisement of 16 and 17-year-olds. I am really proud that this Labour Government are extending the vote and reversing the Conservatives’ measures that disenfranchise people without voter ID, and that we are also going further with automatic voter registration. These are all really great strides forward in enabling more people to vote. I hugely support a lot of other provisions in the Bill that ensure that our elections are free and fair, but I want to speak specifically to new clause 81, in my name. One part of a free and fair democracy is that it is essential that candidates and elected officials feel safe. My new clause would take forward a recommendation from the Speaker’s Conference on the security of MPs, candidates and elections, and put an end to the publication of candidates’ home addresses. Today, the default option is for a candidate’s home address to be published. In the increasingly hostile and toxic political climate in which we operate, that is clearly a cause for concern, and I believe it has a chilling effect on our democracy. I echo my hon. Friend the Member for Southend West and Leigh (David Burton-Sampson) in remembering our dear colleagues Jo Cox and David Amess, who were both tragically murdered, and we think of the family of Ann Widdecombe as her horrific murder continues to be investigated. It is a travesty that death threats are now seen as part of the job, and as we know, it is women who are more at risk and more likely to be threatened. It has been reported—so, Madam Deputy Speaker, no worries—that a constituent of mine has recently received a suspended custodial sentence and a lifetime restraining order for a threat to kill me, in which he wrote: “If I see you in public, I will try my best to kill you. I will work hard to find out where you live, and I will kill you there.” That is why this amendment is personal to me. As things stand, if a candidate does not want their address to be published, they must actively request it. Thankfully, I had the foresight and I did, but it does put people like me who choose to do that at a disadvantage to other candidates by creating the impression that we do not want to be open and transparent. If this new clause were implemented, the requirements for those who decline to have their address published would become the default for all candidates, giving everyone confidence that, at least in their own home, they and their families would be safe. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Chester North and Neston (Samantha Dixon) for her earlier engagement, and I look forward to and hope that the Minister will continue to work with me and the Jo Cox Foundation, as this Bill progresses through to the other place, to ensure we can put in safeguards and protections for candidates, their families and others, such as agents, who support them. I am not going to push my amendment to a vote, but I do hope that we can take measures to protect all those who put themselves forward for elected office at all levels. I add my thanks to my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel), who is no longer in his place, for his leadership of the APPG for fair elections, of which I am a member. Others have commented on just how unfair, unrepresentative and unsustainable our electoral system is at the moment, so I do hope—even though we are not considering it—that, in summing up and her wind-up comments, the Minister will give assurances about the steps the Government may take to further protect our democracy and ensure that every vote counts by looking at further measures of electoral reform in the future. It is vital that we protect our democracy against foreign interests and others who wish to undermine it, and I hope the Minister will consider my amendment and some of those of other hon. Members.

• 13 Jul 2026 · State of Climate and Nature · Hansard source

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  I commend the organisers of the national emergency briefing, which I attended last year, as well as the local organisers of the people’s emergency briefing in Shipley. The climate and nature crisis is an emergency. We see the consequences; in particular, wildfires are becoming more common on the upland moors in my constituency, such as Baildon moor, Harden moor and Rombalds moor. What further action is the Minister taking to protect upland peatland moors in areas like mine?

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. She has spoken about some of the impacts of this issue. My 80-odd-year-old mum was recently admitted to Airedale hospital with acute respiratory issues. She had to wait in a chair for over 12 hours, alongside my dad, in a very undignified way. Does my hon. Friend agree that ideally we should be preventing admissions for older and frail patients, and does she believe that the stronger proactive primary and community care services proposed by the Government with neighbourhood health teams could help to prevent some admissions for older and frail elderly people like my mum?

• 8 Jul 2026 · NHS Corridor Care · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that it is not about fixing the problem at the front door; it is about fixing the problem at the back door. Does she agree that closer integration of health and social care is part of the answer to enable that flow through hospitals out into the community? During the summing up, I hope the Minister might carefully consider my amendment to the Health Bill on health and care integration—my hon. Friend might also look at that.