Anna Dixon MP: speeches

Speeches

• 3 Jun 2026 · Youth Mental Health Support · Hansard source

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  I am very sorry to hear about the hon. Gentleman’s experience as a young person. I am very glad that he is with us, and that that support made a life-changing difference. I will come on to say more about the importance of youth services. Behind the statistics are children and young people who are struggling, families who are stressed and teachers and doctors who are overwhelmed. Many of us will have a personal story of someone we know. My niece suffered with anxiety as a teenager and struggled with the transition to secondary school. She refused to go to school, and her absence was treated as truancy. After years of trying to get support from CAMHS, it was only when she was at a crisis point that she was seen. It took a further two years and several therapists before she was assessed and diagnosed with autism. That was a turning point, and the understanding it gave to both her and the family enabled her to recover and manage her mental health, but those lost years while she was waiting for support are impossible to get back. Although neurodiversity is not a mental health issue, it can cause mental health issues if undiagnosed and unsupported. One of the top issues raised with me across the Shipley constituency is concern about children and young people’s mental health and the lack of support. As an MP, I am frequently contacted by desperate parents looking for help, particularly parents of children with special educational needs and disabilities. Poor mental health impacts not just the lives of children and their families but wider society. I was shocked by the recent interim report by Alan Milburn on young people and work. It found that nearly 1 million young people are not in education, employment or training—equivalent to one in eight. Long-term sickness was the primary driver of the increase in youth economic inactivity, and mental health conditions were the most common cause.

• 14 May 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  On Monday I attended the Bradford City football club fire disaster memorial service. We remembered the 56 football fans who died in the tragic stadium fire 41 years ago. Young players from the club attended alongside fans who had survived and families of those who died. Will the Leader of the House join me in paying tribute to the club for keeping alive the memory of those who suffered, and will he find time to celebrate the role that football plays in bringing communities together?

• 13 May 2026 · Debate on the Address · Hansard source

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  I do join my hon. Friend in welcoming that measure. I recently saw Bradford City play at Valley Parade. The team has an important championship play-off match, and I hope that there will not be ticket touts selling extortionate tickets for that much sought-after match. There is still time to make the fundamental and radical changes that we desperately need. We need to show the public that we are not going to let privatised water companies profit from polluting our rivers and seas. Above all, our most urgent priority must be to renew our democracy. I welcomed the speech by my hon. Friend the Member for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) about how we clearly need to protect our democracy against threats. From my point of view, the local election results show clearly that two-party politics is dead. The vote has fragmented, and people have stopped tactical voting. Therefore, I urge the Government as part of the Representation of the People Bill to set up a democracy taskforce that will look at electoral reform for both local and Westminster elections. In conclusion, I sat today in the Royal Gallery amid much pomp and ceremony and plenty of bling. I can honestly say that it seemed a world away from the realities of my Shipley constituents: the single mom who is working two jobs and struggling to make ends meet at the end of the month; the pensioner who, despite a modest private pension, is having to cut back; and the young person living with their parents, unable to get employment, training or a place of their own. The Labour Government have begun the work of rebuilding Britain after the failures of the past. We must now push on and be bolder and more ambitious in delivering for people across every community of this country and delivering a fairer society for all.

• 14 Apr 2026 · Carer’s Allowance Overpayments · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of Carer’s Allowance overpayments. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I thank Members for joining me here in Westminster Hall. I have committed my career to securing better care and support for older people and their family carers, and I continue that work here in Parliament as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on carers. This year marks a significant milestone for carers: it has been 50 years since carer’s allowance was first introduced. It was known originally as the invalid care allowance, and it was the first benefit to recognise the financial sacrifices of unpaid carers. It has made a huge difference, providing vital financial support to those who give 35 hours or more per week in unpaid care. I am proud that it was a Labour Government that introduced carer’s allowance back in 1976, and I am just as proud that this Labour Government and Chancellor increased the earnings threshold from £151 to £196 per week—the largest increase since the benefit was introduced—and again this month to £204 per week, as promised. The world has changed a lot since Harold Wilson was Prime Minister, but some things remain the same, and Labour is still putting its money where its mouth is and standing up for carers. Supporting carers should be a moral mission of any Government. There are 5.8 million unpaid carers in the UK, and the economic value of their contribution is some £184 billion per year, which is more than the entire NHS budget in England. However, despite the value that carers bring to our society, we often fail to value them. According to Carers UK, 1.2 million unpaid carers in the UK live in poverty, and around half of carers cut back on essentials in 2025. There is a multitude of reasons for carer poverty. Many carers give up paid work, but many juggle paid work and unpaid care, often reducing their hours, harming their careers and impoverishing themselves. It is for all those reasons that the carer’s allowance overpayment scandal is hard to stomach.

• 14 Apr 2026 · Carer’s Allowance Overpayments · Hansard source

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  I had understood that we were also looking into opportunities to alert carers of potentially having breached the earnings limit. Is there anything in place to help communicate information from His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs or the DWP to carers?

• 11 Feb 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q7. Last week I met Lleyton, a T-level construction student at Bradford college. He was working on the remediation of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete at Airedale hospital. In the last few years, Bradford has made tremendous progress in reducing the rate of young people not in employment, education or training, so will the Prime Minister reconfirm his commitment to vocational and skills training and set out how this Labour Government are ensuring that young people like Lleyton have career opportunities in construction and other critical industries?

• 10 Feb 2026 · Independent Water Commission: Final Report · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. I congratulate the hon. Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) on securing this important debate. My constituents in Shipley, with the lovely River Wharfe and River Aire flowing through, have been outraged at the levels of water pollution in them. They face high bills, while leaking infrastructure causes damage to roads and homes. Companies such as Yorkshire Water have been failing us for years now. We suffered last year from a failure to invest in new reservoirs, with an almost year-long drought starting in the spring. I very much welcome the fact that this Labour Government have come in with a determination to tackle those issues. I was pleased to vote for and support the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, which made sure we took immediate action to clamp down on the obscene bosses’ bonuses, including those that the chief exec of Yorkshire Water was receiving. Very sadly, the Kelda holdings company, which owns Yorkshire Water, also paid her a sort of behind-the-scenes £1.3 million extra payment, which I and others have been urging her to donate or give back. I hope that in future the companies meet the spirit of the legislation. I welcome the work of Sir Jon Cunliffe in bringing forward the Independent Water Commission. I put in a submission to the review, setting out some actions that I felt were necessary for fundamental reform of the water industry, so that it works better in the interests of customers and the public by clamping down on the illegal discharges of sewage, which are all too frequent. I am pleased to see that the Government have addressed quite a number of those issues in the water White Paper. I put on record my thanks to the People’s Water Commission, a group of campaigners, researchers and experts who came together to engage the public on their views about water. I particularly thank Becky Malby, a local resident who is involved in the Ilkley Clean River Group. I sit on the Public Accounts Committee; I do not know whether that is part of my entry on the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The Committee has recently undertaken two reports, the first on water regulation and the second, not yet published, on environmental regulation. I will briefly quote findings from the first report: “Ofwat has failed to prevent companies taking excessive dividends, increasing levels of debt and setting up complex company structures, all of which have reduced their financial resilience. The sector’s risk profile has risen and customers must now pay investors higher returns as a result.” To illustrate the point, my own Yorkshire Water bill shows that 23% is just to finance debt, while 17% is spent on infrastructure investment. How can that be? Unfortunately, there is no end in sight for the bill payers being made to pay that debt. I urge the Minister to say how she will change the gearing of those companies that are so indebted. Despite the figures of £104 billion in investment and, for Yorkshire Water, £8.3 billion, it does not seem as if the shareholders are actually putting their hands in their pocket. It is the customers who will have to pay for the infrastructure upgrade and for the past failure of companies to invest. I would like to draw attention to a couple of other points on which I would welcome the Minister’s reassurance. I warmly welcome the creation of a new regulator, as the Public Accounts Committee has recommended. How will we ensure that it has the right skills and resources? The previous Government cut funding to the Environment Agency, which meant that it failed to do its job of prosecuting some incidents; I am pleased that under this Government we now have many cases in hand. The regulator needs skills to take action on the finances, given the complex structures. How will we ensure that customers’ money is going where they want? How will the regulator take action on pollution and work with the Environment Agency on how farmers, who face many regulations, can play their part in cleaning up our rivers and seas? I urge the Minister to take all the actions in the water White Paper to make sure that companies such as Yorkshire Water are properly held to account in future.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) not only for securing this important debate, but for her excellent opening speech, which set out comprehensively and with passion the impact that this issue is having on our constituents all across the country. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I am well aware of the problems with the civil service pension scheme and contributed to the report that was published on it in October. In that report, we highlighted a range of issues that we have heard about already in this debate: poor customer service and staff retention at MyCSP, long waits for pension options to be set out for those wishing to withdraw pensions, a failure from the Cabinet Office to manage transitions between suppliers, and concerns about Capita’s readiness to take the scheme over and about whether the scheme administration overall was delivering value for money. The Cabinet Office’s response, in the Treasury minute published at the beginning of December last year, reassured the Committee that, yes, everything was in place for the success of the transition, that Capita had sufficient staffing, and that the Cabinet Office had sufficient penalties for poor performance in the contract with Capita. Does the Minister agree that the Cabinet Office underestimated Capita’s ability to take on administration and that it should indeed face consequences for severe failure? Those issues are evident in my own constituency; I can briefly talk about a couple of them. One constituent has been trying to claim civil service pension since May 2025; they have faced long waits on the phones, emails unanswered and documents going missing. Since Capita took over, they have had new problems, such as the portal not allowing log-ins and eventually getting through on the phone only to be cut off. My constituent is suffering from financial hardship, and still waiting for the lump sum. Another constituent, approaching 60, wanted to claim a deferred pension from January this year. The forms were posted in August. He was told he would receive a quote in November, did not receive it, and was unable to speak to Capita despite persistent attempts to contact it. The deferred pension would allow him to remain financially secure. Instead, he has reduced his hours and is now facing financial hardship. A third constituent is waiting for a lump sum to be paid on partial retirement. Again, the correct forms were sent in, but the lump sum was not received and there have been no communications. Such examples are rife. Given the terrible hardship and worry that this fiasco has caused, I urge the Minister to explain what urgent action she is taking to rectify the situation and ensure that Capita, and not our public service pensioners, pays the price.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  I warmly welcome the Chancellor’s announcement in the Budget on scrapping the energy company obligation scheme, which will bring down energy bills by £150 on average and support some 5,000 households living in fuel poverty in my constituency of Shipley. The disastrous Tory-designed scheme, ECO4, cost £1 billion per year, yet 98% of the external wall cavity installations were faulty. What further action are the Minister and Chancellor taking to reduce energy bills and ensure that energy companies put people over profit?

• 14 Jan 2026 · Northern Powerhouse Rail · Hansard source

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  As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, which did an inquiry into HS2, I must warmly welcome the Secretary of State taking such a disciplined and clear approach to ensuring that this scheme is delivered, and delivered on time and with value for money, as the trans-Pennine upgrade was. As a Bradford MP, I would like—with others, I am sure—to join in thanking her for backing Northern Powerhouse Rail, but particularly for backing Bradford. The new station and the improved link to Leeds will make a massive difference not only to the city of Bradford, but to the wider district. Will the Secretary of State assure me that the transport investments by this Labour Government will deliver not only better connectivity, but jobs and new homes to the whole of Bradford district?

• 7 Jan 2026 · UK Town of Culture · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) on securing the debate. Being from and representing a constituency in the Bradford district, I would like to take the opportunity to share some of the amazing highlights of our year as the city of culture. I particularly hope that some of the impacts I describe will be useful to those who are considering applying for the town of culture competition or hoping to be successful in it. It is a fantastic development. Although we talk about the city of culture, it was really the whole district. Towns in my constituency of Shipley and Bingley were very much part of the Bradford 2025 experience, which celebrated both our rich history and the dynamic contemporary culture found across the Bradford district. Some people may not be aware that it is already designated a UNESCO city of film. It also hosts a wonderful collection of works by Bradford-born artist David Hockney at Salts Mill. That is a brilliant example of culturally led regeneration, which some hon. Members here may be interested in. Salts Mill is in Saltaire, which is also a world heritage site and which now hosts the Peace museum, a fantastic historical collection. The year started in Centenary Square—it was minus 10° —with a celebration called RISE, showcasing some amazing spoken word poetry, as well as acrobats. It concluded in Bingley in my constituency with Brighter Still and fantastic stories of hope celebrating the diversity of people who are born and raised in Bradford or who have moved there and made it their home. In the few minutes I have, I want to highlight the sense of community that that generated. With more than 5,000 events across the whole district, audiences in excess of 3 million, 650 local artists and organisations, and participatory projects that brought in some 87,000 people, there was something for everyone. We had Our Patch co-ordinators on the ground working with community organisations to involve them in everything from creating skate park murals to rap songs. That has resulted in eight in 10 residents now saying that the city of culture programme made them feel proud of where they live. On top of that, we had a national profile. Great collaborations with the likes of the BBC meant that we hosted the “Antiques Roadshow” and “Songs of Praise”, and at some point in the year 38% of the UK population watched part of something featuring Bradford. Furthermore, the Turner prize 2025 exhibition is in Cartwright Hall—outside of London for the first time—and it has not quite closed yet. Being the city of culture also brought huge economic and social benefits. With more than 2,700 volunteers involved as youth ambassadors, the hope is that the legacy of the city of culture will be the opportunities it gives our young people to gain skills in the creative industries, which West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin has made a critical priority in the West Yorkshire industrial strategy. I conclude by asking the Minister to support the legacy of the city of culture in Bradford, and to congratulate the directors, Shanaz Gulzar and Dan Bates, who were honoured with MBEs in the new year honours for their fantastic work. I wish all colleagues here much success with their bids.

• 6 Jan 2026 · Net Zero: Local Authorities · Hansard source

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  Happy new year, Mr Speaker. I hope that the Minister will join me in commending another council, Bradford council, for its ambitious climate action plan 2025-2028. The plan sets out a pathway to net zero for the Bradford district, including really innovative projects such as a district heat network, new investment in a low-carbon hydrogen industry, creating fantastic jobs, and a massive conversion of street lighting to LED. When it comes to pathways to net zero, does the Minister agree that other councils should learn from councils such as Bradford?

• 18 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  A very happy Christmas to you, Madam Deputy Speaker. This weekend, Bingley’s Myrtle Park will host the closing event of Bradford 2025. I hope you will agree that it has been a fantastic year for Bradford, with so many brilliant events. There have been thousands across the whole district throughout the year, with audiences in the millions, since the opening ceremony, Rise, in Centenary Square back in a very chilly January. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating all those involved in making the city of culture year such a success, and grant time for a debate on the legacy of Bradford 2025?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  When I have talked to small and medium-sized enterprises in my constituency of Shipley, they have welcomed the announcement that there will be free apprenticeship training so that they can help the next generation of young people get into higher-skilled jobs and have careers. Does the hon. Lady agree, and does she support the Government’s announcement about apprenticeships as part of the youth guarantee?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  Perhaps the hon. Gentleman would like to come and walk with me down the high street in Saltaire, where property valuations mean that many businesses will have lower business rates in absolute terms. Has he explained to his local pubs that that property revaluation has been hanging around for many years, but his Tory Government did nothing to implement it? That is the main reason why some of his pubs might be experiencing increases—it is due to property valuation, not business rates.

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  Like many of my Labour colleagues, I was out talking to small high-street businesses at the weekend, specifically in Saltaire, in my constituency. For many of them, the permanent reduction in business rates announced by the Chancellor is very welcome. They are not being hit by property re-evaluations and they will be getting those business rate reductions, and they welcome the levelling of the playing field with the online giants. How does the hon. Gentleman propose to pay for his party’s unfunded proposals?

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  I draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on carers and a member of the Public Accounts Committee. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank) for speaking so much about his personal experience of working in the hospitality industry. Like him, I started out in the industry. I worked as a waitress in a hotel in Ilkley for just £1.70 an hour, so I am pleased that the Labour Government are doing all they can to raise the minimum wage for our youngest workers. Under the guise of wanting to support seasonal workers, the Opposition are actually looking to scrap the biggest uplift in workers’ rights in a generation, which this House recently voted on. The Employment Rights Bill is a landmark Bill that delivers on this Labour Government’s promise to put an end to insecurity, poor productivity and low pay for working people. The Conservatives, along with Reform and the Liberal Democrats, opposed ending exploitative zero-hour contracts, ending fire and rehire, day one rights on paternity, parental and bereavement leave and giving statutory sick pay to 1.3 million of our lowest-paid workers. I would therefore like to focus my remarks on the benefits of the Employment Rights Bill, and what it means, particularly for adult social care and unpaid workers. While care workers are not necessarily seasonal, they have a lot in common with seasonal workers: low pay, insecurity and variable hours each week. It was a tragedy that during covid so many of our hard-working and dedicated care workers feared staying at home when they were ill because they were not entitled to statutory sick pay. I am therefore proud that this Labour Government are strengthening those care workers’ rights. What is good for workers is good for business, so I do not see this as a choice between the two. Take unpaid and family carers. Flexibility is hugely important to many of those who juggle care and work. The Bill will ensure that unpaid family carers, many of whom are women, can apply for a job, confident that they will have rights from day one. Workers with guaranteed hours will not have to worry about whether they can feed their kids or pay their bills. Keeping people in work, reducing recruitment costs and absenteeism, and boosting productivity—those of the results of giving security to workers. Healthy workers and a healthy workplace are better for workers, business and our economy. The Employment Rights Bill makes good on the promise of a fair pay agreement for care workers. The Health Foundation’s analysis has found that one in five residential care workers live in poverty. I find that to be an absolute travesty, given the vital work that care workers do, looking after older and disabled adults, day in, day out. It is perhaps not surprising, then—given that the public recognise what great work those care workers do—that 77% of the public believe that care workers are paid too little. Not only are the Government delivering on the fair pay agreement for social care workers through the Bill, but they have already ensured a fairer funding formula for local authorities, and I hope that as that gets negotiated, it will result in a fairer package of terms and conditions. Many not-for-profit providers already pay the national living wage, but it is important that care workers feel that they have a career, and that caring is a good job for them. Hopefully we can attract more young people into those sorts of jobs, and give them a more secure career in care work. They should have not low pay and zero-hour contracts, but guaranteed work and better pay, so that they can take that first step in a career in health and care. Those changes will make a huge difference to those who provide amazing care and support for disabled adults and older people. The second issue that I want to highlight is the introduction of a fair work agency. Members may be wondering what that has to do with care workers, but sadly, under the Tories, the decision taken, with no plan or preparation, to open up the skilled worker visa to care workers resulted in the horrific exploitation of care workers. Overseas agencies were charging extortionate fees. New businesses were set up and registered here solely to employ overseas workers. I have heard of cases in which those workers were given tied accommodation and zero-hour contracts, and were expected to travel far away to get care work. As a result, they got into debt. If they complained, they were sacked. With no sponsor, they could not take any other job in the economy here. That is verging on modern slavery, and that is why I am glad that the new fair work agency will have powers to crack down on those unscrupulous employers that leave workers so susceptible to abuse.

• 10 Dec 2025 · Seasonal Work · Hansard source

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  Clearly, the package of changes that the Chancellor brought in are a huge boost to the economy and jobs. There is investment going into businesses, and support for scaling up businesses. I have brilliant businesses in my constituency, like Jack Pennington Ltd, which is investing in a whole new warehouse. It has the confidence to base its business in Shipley, and to expand. Some of the capital funds will go a long way on this. There are also the apprenticeships and the youth guarantee, and we are already seeing youth unemployment coming down; I am confident that will continue. We still have too many vacancies and unfilled posts in care work, and a lot of that is because it is a very hard job, both physically and emotionally, and many people working in care found that they could get a better paid job at Aldi. We have to lift up the value of care work and value it more as a society to attract people. There are jobs there, and we need to encourage young people into vital jobs like care work. The Public Accounts Committee was highly critical of the lack of assessment of the exploitation risks that led to vulnerable migrant workers facing debt bondage and unfair conditions, so as I say, I am pleased with the creation of the fair work agency. I hope that—perhaps the Minister could address this—it will also help tackle the problem of overseas recruitment fraud. Care workers are exploited in other ways, too, like other part-time workers. They are often not paid for travel or for night sitting, even though there have been legal cases to say that they should. Again, the fair work agency, as I understand it, will address that issue for those underpaid workers who are not even receiving the minimum wage. In conclusion, I support the Government amendment to the Opposition motion. I believe that Labour is pro-business and pro-worker. The care sector is a major part of our economy. It employs some 1.6 million people, as well as providing vital care and support to millions of people. I hope that these reforms will be the beginning of us creating the foundations for a national care service.

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  I represent a constituency on the other side of the Pennines. Does my hon. Friend agree that this investment in transport in the north, linking across the Pennines to great cities like Leeds and Bradford and delivering on Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, including a station in Bradford, is necessary?

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Last week, I went to Shipley college in my constituency and met some of the students. They asked what the Labour Government were going to do to provide them with training and employment opportunities. Does my hon. Friend agree that giving free training to SMEs to take on apprentices will help to deliver better opportunities for our young people?

• 1 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend speaks with passion about child poverty. The fact that we have so many children in poverty is clearly a legacy of Tory economic mismanagement. Does my hon. Friend agree that the removal of the two-child benefit cap is a victory for compassion, justice and evidence-based policymaking?

• 26 Nov 2025 · Home Insulation · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the impact of home insulation on energy bills. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. Across the country, 12 million households are in fuel poverty, with almost 5 million of them spending over 20% of their income on energy. Like many other people across the country, my constituents in Shipley face a cost of living crisis, and energy bills are a huge part of that crisis. Increasing the energy efficiency of our homes is a crucial way in which we can reduce bills, yet the rate of home insulation installations declined under the previous Government. I am pleased that this Labour Government have taken positive steps to reverse that decline with the warm homes plan. In addition, I particularly welcome today’s Budget announcement by the Chancellor to scrap the disastrous Tory energy company obligation scheme, which cost more than £1 billion per year and cost many families more money than it saved. All of this will bring down energy bills for the average household by £150 from next April, reducing the cost of living and lifting more people out of fuel poverty. However, there is an urgent need to upgrade our homes. The UK’s housing stock is among the least energy efficient in Europe. According to research by Imperial College London, homes in the UK lose heat up to three times faster than homes in the rest of Europe. Perhaps that is not surprising, given that almost a quarter of properties in Great Britain with cavity walls have no cavity wall insulation.

• 26 Nov 2025 · Home Insulation · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree that home insulation is essential in tackling not only rising energy bills but climate change. I hope the Minister will confirm the Government’s ambition to upgrade 5 million homes by the end of the current Parliament; it is a fantastic goal that will reduce energy bills. We are also expanding the warm homes discount. I was pleased to see that 2.7 million families across the country will get £150 off their energy bills this winter, doubling the number of people able to access vital support. Around 900,000 families with children, and a total of 1.8 million households in fuel poverty, will receive extra support thanks to this Government, in addition to the winter fuel allowance being reinstated for those with incomes up to £35,000. Upgrading our homes not only puts money in people’s pockets but helps us tackle what is perhaps the biggest challenge of our age: climate change. According to the Northern Health Science Alliance, if all homes had an EPC standard of C or higher, emissions could be reduced by an estimated 97 million tonnes of CO2. It is deeply concerning to see the political consensus around climate change fracture, and both the Tories and Reform jumping on board with Trump and climate sceptics, against all scientific evidence and sense. I welcome this Government taking climate action seriously. Labour’s clean power mission is right for both people and planet. It is the long-term solution to tackling energy insecurity. It is vital, however, that the public can trust any support they receive to install energy efficient measures in their home. Recently, I have been contacted by two constituents who had cavity wall insulation fitted under the Government ECO4 scheme. The work was faulty and caused serious damage to the properties. My constituents then hired the solicitors firm SSB Law, which had gone door to door to look for business in particular areas of the country where problems with faulty cavity wall insulation were discovered. This law firm operated on a no win, no fee basis and took the construction firms’ insurers to court on behalf of the individuals. The firm went ahead with the cases, often without the likelihood of winning, and did not have the appropriate litigation insurance for when it lost. This meant that, when the cases were lost, the construction companies’ insurers counter-sued for their legal costs, which led to the collapse of SSB Law, whose insurers would not pay out. In response, the construction companies’ insurers directly sued the people who engaged SSB Law. Not only were my constituents let down by shoddy workmanship done under these eco-schemes; they were then chased for large sums of money by disreputable law firms and insurers. I am a member of the Public Accounts Committee; we held a hearing on the last Government’s ECO4 scheme that was frankly jaw-dropping. Some 98% of external wall insulation done under that scheme was faulty, and oversight outsourced to the private sector meant that companies got away with shoddy work and left people, including my constituents, in damp and mouldy homes. It is utterly shocking. At the hearing, we pushed Government officials from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and Ofgem, the regulator, on how they would fix the problems and ensure that faulty work was put right, without its costing my constituents. Can the Minister please confirm what the Government are doing to address the issue of faulty insulation installations? How will they restore faith in schemes designed to insulate homes, as well as other energy-saving measures? It is vital that the Government rectify the mistakes of the disastrous ECO4 scheme and, more broadly, restore trust in Government-backed insulation schemes. To conclude, poor-quality housing is a huge problem for my constituents in the villages and towns across the Shipley constituency, and for people up and down the country. It leads to higher energy bills, higher personal debt and higher levels of destitution. It also leads to increased health problems and increased excess deaths. Home insulation is a critical tool to mitigate those issues, and I am incredibly proud of the work that the Labour Government have begun to do, from the warm homes plan to establishing Great British Energy. In the run-up to last year’s general election, colleagues and I pledged that voting for a Labour Government would lead to a reduction in household energy bills. I am confident that, with the Chancellor’s announcement today in the Budget, we are going to deliver that; I would like to hear from the Minister about how ensuring that our homes are properly insulated is perhaps the best way to deliver that pledge.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Unpaid Carers: Inequalities · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his response. Given what we know about carer burnout and the need for short breaks, and given the data that suggests local authority funding cuts have resulted in less support being available, will there be work between the NHS—with its increased budget—and local authorities to look at how we can get back to having more breaks for carers?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Unpaid Carers: Inequalities · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered inequalities faced by unpaid carers. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. First, I will note my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests: I am chair of the all-party parliamentary group on carers, which is supported by Carers UK—an organisation that celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this important debate to take place on Carers Rights Day, which was established 25 years ago to raise awareness of the rights to which carers are entitled. It does an excellent job of drawing attention to the rights that carers have, as well as helping carers to navigate those rights and be able to exercise them. I have committed my career to securing better care and support for older and disabled people and their carers. I was privileged to serve as chair of the Archbishops’ Commission on Reimagining Care. As part of that work, I heard loud and clear how carers face unrelenting demands and can feel isolated, unsupported and undervalued. The system that carers face is complex, time consuming, rigid and confusing. Getting care and support is often a fight, and many carers are exhausted. As an MP and together with colleagues, some of whom I am pleased to see here today and others of whom were not able to make it, I have sought to speak up for carers and have enjoyed welcoming carers into Parliament to share their stories. Just yesterday, Anna—another Anna—came down; she is a Bradford City fan and she shared some nice stories about her caring experience, which I may come to later. I have also had the pleasure of visiting Carers’ Resource, which is my local carer support organisation. I am sure that colleagues here will want to join me in thanking it and other organisations across the country that provide invaluable support to carers. Of course, many people who work in Parliament as MPs and staff are carers, and it is great that more people are speaking up about their own experiences. Caring is personal for me, too. My grandmother suffered life-changing injuries in a road collision. My mum cared for her for nearly 30 years, never returning to her own career as a doctor. My mum did my grandma’s shopping and banking and took her to the doctor’s, to church and on days out. Thankfully, there were others who helped out; they brought meals, played Scrabble and kept her company. Thanks to the care and support that she received, my grandmother Freda lived a full and fulfilling life. I have seen at first hand the incredible work that unpaid carers do, often unnoticed and at great cost to themselves. Carers are often invisible, unheard and unappreciated. I pay tribute to the 5.8 million carers in the UK. I hope that, through this debate, we can let the millions of unpaid family carers up and down the country know this: we recognise you and we are grateful for all you do. This matters to us all. At some time in our lives, we will need either to provide care or to be cared for. According to Carers UK, the average person has a 50-50 chance of caring for a family member or friend by the age of 50. Indeed, almost half the UK population have provided unpaid care at some point in their lives. Yet many people do not identify as carers. They see it as part of being a parent, wife or daughter—as looking after someone or helping out a loved one. I have met carers at every age and stage of life and from all cultures and races. They include Ruth, a parent carer whose child has special educational needs; Nussrat, who cares for her mum with dementia; Michael, who cared for his wife with Parkinson’s until she died and well into his own old age; Ann, in her 70s and caring for her adult son with learning disabilities; and Farzana, a young carer who cared for her mum throughout her time at school, but was recognised as a carer only when she got to university. Sadly, there is often a cost to caring. Unpaid carers face inequalities in their health and finances, and often also additional barriers to work. I will briefly set out some of those inequalities and what I hope the Minister will say about how the Government will address them, because they need to. I will take health inequalities first. Unpaid carers face significant health inequalities as a result of the mental and physical toll of providing care. They are more likely than non-carers to have experienced a long-term physical or mental health condition, disability or illness. In addition to caring often being physically and emotionally demanding, carers also find it more difficult than most people to access care for themselves. In the words of one woman who is a long-term carer for her parents: “It was great seeing Dad improve, but it came at the expense of my own physical health and emotional stress…We always put ourselves right at the bottom when it comes to our own needs.” All these issues are not only harmful to individual carers; they also put a strain on the NHS. What can be done? First, it is vital that the NHS identifies carers and helps them to access healthcare for themselves as well as for their loved ones. I hope that the NHS, through the delivery of its 10-year plan, takes the opportunity to transform how it interacts with unpaid carers. Improvements could include: better data linkage with the Department for Work and Pensions to identify carers; using digital technology and remote consultations to make it easier to access healthcare from home; investing in a programme to improve carers’ mental health; and preventing carer burnout and breakdown by funding short-term breaks for carers. Unpaid carers also face significant financial inequalities. According to Carers UK’s “State of Caring 2025” report, published today, 1.2 million unpaid carers across the UK live in poverty—400,000 in deep poverty—and four in 10 carers do not know what benefits they are entitled to. About six in 10 unpaid carers provide a staggering 50 hours or more of care per week, so they often have to give up work and rely on benefits to make ends meet. Research also suggests that the employment gap between working-age carers and non-carers was 13%. In the words of one woman who gave up her career to become a full-time carer, “My finances are shot to pieces…and there’s no end in sight.” We know that carer’s allowance is a very important benefit. However, it is too low—just £83.30 per week if someone provides at least 35 hours of care a week. Moreover, my understanding is that those carers in receipt of a state pension do not receive additional financial support as a carer, despite their having additional costs. Sadly, many carers who have been juggling work and care have fallen foul of complicated benefit rules about the earnings limit, and they have built up debts due to overpayments by the DWP. I hope that the Minister will be able to provide reassurances today that the independent review into carer’s allowance overpayments, led by Liz Sayce, will be published soon, together with the Government’s response to it. I hope that the Government say in their response that they will implement swiftly and in full the recommendations of the report. I also hope that those recommendations will include writing off overpayment debts, clear, transparent and accurate information about earnings rules, and a less complicated system for claimants in the future. I was really pleased to see that the Minister for Social Security and Disability, my right hon. Friend the Member for East Ham (Sir Stephen Timms), delivered on the commitment he gave me during a debate on the Universal Credit Bill: that carers will be represented in the review of the personal independent payments working group. Given that PIP is a gateway benefit to carer’s allowance, carers must have a voice in shaping the proposals to reform it. It is vital that we value the contribution of unpaid carers and ensure that their own financial security is not jeopardised by their decision to care. I will touch briefly on work, which is the third main area of inequality for carers. Unpaid carers encounter significant barriers in the workplace. It is estimated that 5 million people juggle work and care in the UK, which equates to one in seven people in every workplace. Balancing work and care can be stressful, so it is perhaps not surprising that one in six carers give up work or reduce their working hours so they can care for others. For a former headteacher who was a carer for his wife, the support from his employer was crucial. He said that “without the support I received from my employer, it would have meant finishing work. The immediate financial situation of losing both our incomes would have been devastating.” Earlier, I mentioned Anna, who works for HSBC. She has talked about the difference that the support she received at work made to her when her husband had a stroke, and her and her family’s lives were turned upside down. She is now a carers champion in the workplace, supporting others in a similar situation. Her bosses at HSBC recognise that that was not just a kind thing to do; it also made business sense, as part of a strategy to retain talent and enable people to perform at their best. It was great to see the “Keep Britain Working” review, the so-called Charlie Mayfield review, recognise the significant impact that providing unpaid care can have on employees’ health, wellbeing and ability to remain in work. I hope that the Minister can assure me that the Government will take it forward. A statutory entitlement of five days’ unpaid care leave was secured through the Carer’s Leave Act 2023, for which I give credit to my colleague, the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain). Some employers already go further, such as TSB, a member of Employers for Carers, which is now a network of over 200 organisations. TSB provides its employees with up to 70 hours of paid leave each year. One in 10 employees with caring responsibilities has taken advantage of that. Employees who are carers know that they can take that time off if they need to and have the confidence to stay on in work. Katie, one of the TSB employees who is a carer, said: “I know of carers who don’t have policies in place at their workplaces and are faced with the additional stress of considering unpaid leave. I’m grateful that TSB supports me with flexible solutions to help me find balance between work and caring for my lovely mum.” Not only do carers benefit from this policy, but TSB does. It says that the policy has had a positive impact on its bottom line and on retaining staff who have caring responsibilities in the workplace. I want to turn to some of the things being done to support workers. I was pleased to speak with the Minister for Employment Rights and Consumer Protection, my hon. Friend the Member for Halifax (Kate Dearden), about the barriers that low-paid workers face in taking unpaid leave. I welcome the fact that the Government yesterday published the terms of reference for their review of carer’s leave. I hope that one of the practical things that comes out of that review is a new statutory right to five days of paid carer’s leave a year to support more people balancing employment and unpaid care to remain in work. In the meantime, I urge the Government to work with employers to maximise take-up of the existing right to unpaid carer’s leave and to continue to promote good practice with regard to supporting carers in employment. The door must be kept open for the carers who leave work to care full-time to return to work. Caring responsibilities are the second leading cause of economic inactivity among the over-50s. As the Government deliver their reform in the “Get Britain Working” White Paper, they must ensure that tailored employment support for carers is available through jobcentres. Closing the carer’s employment gap will ensure that carers are better off and provide a huge boost to economic productivity. I hope that I have made it clear that unpaid carers face inequalities in health, wealth and work, sometimes with devastating consequences. Carers need more support. I am proud of what the Government are already doing for carers: the rise in the carer’s allowance earning limit in last year’s Budget, setting up the independent review into carer’s allowance to hopefully right that past wrong, and the Employment Rights Bill, with its increased rights to flexibility and enhanced rights to sick pay. As I have just said, I welcome the announcement of the review of unpaid carer’s leave. I hope that the Minister can tell us more about the activities of the inter-ministerial group on carers, which I believe is now up and running again. However, there is more to do. As part of the independent commission into social care, led by Louise Casey, I would like to see a more ambitious new deal for carers—one fit for the 21st century that recognises the enormous contribution that millions of people make each day by providing the unpaid care that their family and friends need. I would like to hear how the Minister will ensure that the NHS, local authorities, social care providers, employers and the benefit system will work together to deliver a bolder package of support for unpaid carers. Let us show the millions of unpaid carers that we care about their health, financial wellbeing and ability to work. We care enough not only to say, “We see you and we thank you”, but to take action and provide meaningful support so that they can care as an act of love and not of necessity and give without suffering consequences themselves. This Carers Rights Day, I urge the Government to commit to tackling the inequalities that affect millions of carers across the UK, without whom many of us would not be able to live a full and happy life or be surrounded by love as we reach the end of our lives.