Anna Dixon MP: speeches 2025

231 published records · newest first.

Speeches

4 Jun 2025 · Regional Growth · Hansard source
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I really thank the Chief Secretary and the Chancellor for delivering historic investment that will make a reality of the plans of the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, for an integrated transport network. I understand that it will be called the Weaver Network, to compete with the Bee Network on the other side of the Pennines. I have been actively campaigning for that along with other West Yorkshire MPs. Will the Chief Secretary confirm that funding is included for a new bus station in Bradford? Does he agree that the investment the Government are making in transport infrastructure in the north will improve connectivity for communities in the Shipley area and beyond, bringing social, environmental and economic benefit?
3 Jun 2025 · Dementia Care · Hansard source
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I echo the hon. Lady’s comments about the vital role that family carers and unpaid carers play in enabling people with dementia to live well at home. Does she agree that, in addition to formal respite care, community support from groups in my constituency such as the Wrose Dementia Friendly Community Support Group and Shipley Memories Group is vital to give carers little breaks, when they have an opportunity to get out of the house and meet other carers like them?
2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source
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Will my hon. Friend give way?
2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source
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Much has been made about the decline in bus usage. The pattern is similar in West Yorkshire, where between 2011 and 2022 there was a reduction of some 60 million journeys. There has been lots of mention of Greater Manchester, but West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin’s bus service improvement plan has already seen a 4% increase in bus usage. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that approaches that devolve responsibility and make it easier for mayors and local authorities to take over public control through franchising are the route to improved usage and, ultimately, the delivery of better buses?
2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source
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Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
19 May 2025 · NHS and Care Volunteer Responders Service · Hansard source
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Before I ask my question, I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am an unpaid trustee of Helpforce, a charity that supports volunteering in health and care and works with more than 100 NHS partners to embed volunteering in trusts. As we have heard, volunteers make a huge contribution every day across the country, giving their time and skills to free up doctors and nurses to focus on their clinical tasks. Helpforce runs a scheme called Volunteer to Career, which enables people to try out through volunteering before making the transition into a frontline healthcare career. Does the Minister agree that schemes such as Helpforce’s Volunteer to Career programme could play a huge role in filling some of the vacancies in NHS roles and that volunteers will play a central role in delivering the 10-year NHS plan?
16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source
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I support the hon. Lady’s amendment. As the Royal College of Psychiatrists pointed out, pain from unresolved physical symptoms and the fear of physical pain or death can make a person want to die, and depression, which is also associated with a wish to die, is often missed. Does she agree that it is vital that people are supported to be free from pain by having access to good palliative and end-of-life care, and that the Bill’s provisions should be available only to those whom that cannot help?
16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source
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On a point of order, Mr Speaker. I appreciate that you and the team have had a very difficult day, but as someone who tabled an amendment but has not had the opportunity to speak to it, I would like clarification that if a closure motion is moved, my amendment, as well as those tabled by other Members who have been unable to speak to them, will not receive further debate.
14 May 2025 · Carer’s Leave · Hansard source
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I thank the Minister for his commitment to review carer’s leave and to consider the opportunity for looking at paid carer’s leave. Does he agree that would particularly benefit low-income workers and women? They make up the bulk of unpaid carers, and they find it particularly difficult to take unpaid carer’s leave because they simply cannot afford it.
14 May 2025 · Carer’s Leave · Hansard source
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I note that I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on carers. A lot of employers are already going further than the statutory requirement, in offering some days of paid leave. Members of Employers for Carers have found it has helped with retention of workers. Does she agree that some leading employers are already showing the benefits of providing paid carer’s leave on a voluntary basis?
7 May 2025 · Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People · Hansard source
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Will the Minister give way?
7 May 2025 · Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People · Hansard source
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I apologise for not getting here earlier; I have been listening to carers who have been sharing their stories. I spoke to a woman who is caring for her husband, who has a neurodegenerative disease and currently scores only two points across the board. Their family would be penalised under the tightening restrictions. Does the Minister agree that somebody with a neurological and degenerative disease should be counted as severely disabled and protected from the changes?
6 May 2025 · Parking Regulation · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker), the hon. Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) and other colleagues for securing this important debate, and I thank all Members who have made contributions illustrating something that is a scandal across the whole country. I want to highlight how my constituents in Shipley are being ripped off with a number of cases that are impacting both residents and shoppers. I spoke to a constituent who lives at Victoria Mills, a beautiful residential development in the heart of Saltaire. He has been trying to register his vehicle with the company that operates the residents’ car park, BaySentry. It has him down as owning two cars and two spaces, neither of which has the correct registration details, so every time he enters or exits his car park—sometimes two or three times a day—he is issued with a fine. The website is extremely difficult and confusing to use. Although he has been contacting the company, which keeps saying it will respond in three days, he has still had no response. Having clocked up several thousands of pounds in fines owed, he has decided to move out. He knows that other residents threatened with the same sort of penalty notices have paid up because they are too scared, as we have heard today. Another constituent overstayed slightly at a supermarket car park, but saw that the signage was extremely poor and submitted evidence to that effect. She went down the route of appeal using POPLA—Parking on Private Land Appeals. That pretends to look like an independent appeals process, but, as we know, these are not independent processes; they are paid for by the parking companies. She has got into dispute with POPLA, which is not progressing her appeal. This is really undermining people’s confidence in parking. The third case study is that of Susan, who has a happier story. She was shopping at the new Lidl store—she was there 30 minutes before opening time to use the browsing time before the store opened on a Sunday—and she received a fine from Parkingeye. She paid the fine and went to appeal, but got no joy from the company. It turned out that Parkingeye was not up to date with the store opening times, and it should never have fined her as she was not there out of hours. Thanks to my intervention on her behalf, we got a small victory: the cameras were updated and she got her money back. It should not require the intervention of MPs with these private companies to stop this rip-off Britain. It seems like the companies have a blank cheque and are exploiting law-abiding residents of my constituency and people around the country. I hope the Minister will respond positively to my call and that of colleagues for properly independent regulation and clarity for consumers, and a legally binding code of practice.
6 May 2025 · NHS England: Abolition · Hansard source
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The Lansley reforms were implemented top down by the Conservatives. The idea that the NHS could ever be truly independent, when it is there to serve us—the taxpayer and the general public! Does the Secretary of State agree that it is absolutely the right decision to move funding away from the centre to the frontline to prioritise patients in the NHS’s work?
29 Apr 2025 · Public Authorities (Fraud, Error and Recovery) Bill · Hansard source
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Clearly, many carers have been affected by overpayments. Overpayment comes as a shock to many who are trying to work in order to bridge the gap between carer’s allowance and their family’s costs, and it has a significant impact on their mental health. Does the Minister share my gratitude to Liz Sayce for the work that she is doing to hopefully provide clarity for the many carers who are trying to juggle unpaid family care and work?
28 Apr 2025 · Headingley Incident · Hansard source
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I echo my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds Central and Headingley (Alex Sobel) in expressing my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of this horrendous crime. West Yorkshire police is investigating two recent murders in my constituency of Shipley. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that West Yorkshire police has the necessary resources to investigate not only this most recent incident in Headingley, but serious crime taking place in the area more broadly?
28 Apr 2025 · Child Rape Gangs · Hansard source
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Group-based sexual abuse is among the most heinous of crimes, and our priority must always be to listen to victims and survivors. I recently attended an event organised by West Yorkshire’s Mayor Tracy Brabin and the deputy Mayor and police and crime commissioner, Alison Lowe, where I had the opportunity to meet victims and survivors, as well as fantastic organisations such as Rape Crisis Bradford. I commend the Under-Secretary for her brave and tireless work to get justice for victims and survivors and to challenge those who have failed them, and for her commitment to implement the Jay inquiry in full. Can she assure me and my constituents that, as well as taking action to bring perpetrators to justice, she will support work to prevent such heinous crimes from happening again in the future?
23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source
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Bill payers in my constituency of Shipley are facing an 18% hike in their bills. By 2030, the increase could be as high as 35%. About 19% of those bills already goes towards servicing the debt of the holding company that owns Yorkshire Water. Is it not the case that our customers are paying the price for the failure of the Opposition parties—plural—to address the problems in the water industry during their time in government?
23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source
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I represent a very beautiful part of the Yorkshire dales, in Wharfedale, and Yorkshire Water has been responsible for hundreds of thousands of hours of sewage spills into the rivers. It was fined £47 million by Ofwat for its poor performance in 2023, only for that to be repeated in 2024. Will the hon. Gentleman welcome the action that the Government have already taken through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025—which is more than the previous Government ever did to tackle this disgusting problem—and also recognise that we do see the problems with regulation and the fact that we need stronger regulation of the water industry to protect the environment and public health, and that is the role of the Cunliffe review?
23 Apr 2025 · Hospitals · Hansard source
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Does the Minister share my constituents’ anger at the failure of the Tories to back up any of their promises about new hospitals? Will he reassure me that my constituents who are served by Airedale general hospital will finally get a new hospital to deal with the RAAC in an affordable, deliverable timetable, unlike the false promises of the Conservatives?
22 Apr 2025 · Road Safety and Active Travel to School · Hansard source
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Does the hon. Gentleman agree that schemes such as the Great Northern Railway trail, which provides a secure, segregated green cycleway and walkway linking towns, villages and local schools, are where active travel investment should be prioritised? As the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) mentioned, we must ensure that planning regulations make greenways much easier to install.
22 Apr 2025 · Retail Investment · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend makes excellent points about the older generation and their decision making on what to invest in. At the moment older people are often over-saving, particularly in cash ISAs or very low-risk products, because of the lack of funded social care. They are having to hold on to a lot of cash just in case they need to pay for care. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that better advice is needed for pensioners to make retail investment decisions, and a better range of products is needed that will deliver them security in old age in terms of social care, but also the returns in pension income?
22 Apr 2025 · Retail Investment · Hansard source
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Constituents of mine value the role of the credit union, and the Bradford credit union in particular, for small savers on low incomes. Does the Minister see a role for credit unions alongside building societies in helping to encourage not only saving, but making early steps into investment, as we have discussed in this debate, for some of our poorest constituents?
22 Apr 2025 · Retail Investment · Hansard source
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I recently met representatives of Morrisons, the fifth largest supermarket chain in the country, which is headquartered in Bradford. Since 2021, it has been owned by a private equity firm. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to ensure that we retain family-owned British companies? When they are sold to private equity companies, there is a risk of undermining long-term patient capital and investment in the social fabric as well as the businesses themselves.
3 Apr 2025 · Grassroots Sports · Hansard source
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15. What steps is she taking to allocate funding to local grassroots sports facilities in the north of England.

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