Anna Dixon MP: speeches

Speeches

• 11 Jun 2026 · Legacy of Jo Cox · Hansard source

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  I am so moved by my hon. Friend’s words about her sister. I commend her for her amazing bravery and courage in stepping into her sister’s shoes and being an amazing MP for Batley and Spen. I thank her for her words. As some hon. Members may know, I was a contemporary of Jo’s at university; I am just sorry that although we knew people in common, I did not know her. I fear that the division and hate that my hon. Friend is speaking about, which fuelled Jo’s murder, continues to spread, and that if anything abuse and threats against MPs is on the rise. Does she agree that all hon. Members across the House must redouble our efforts to uphold civility in politics, to follow Jo’s shining example? I commend the continuing work of the Jo Cox Foundation to support civility in our politics.

• 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.

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

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  I would love to join my hon. Friend in thanking his local organisation, and I thank him for being such a great champion for sport in this place. I will focus specifically on three areas: the NHS and access to CAMHS—to which I hope the Minister will reply—and youth services and action to tackle online harm. As of late 2025, more than 550,000 children and young people were on NHS mental health waiting lists in England, and more than half had waited for over a year. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has warned about how harmful that is, recently declaring that a lack of prioritisation to treat children with mental illness in England is turning treatable conditions into lifelong recurring illnesses, and that as many as 75% of children and young people who experience mental health problems are not getting the help they need.

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

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  I happily join my hon. Friend in calling on the Scottish Government to address this issue. I believe that waiting lists are too long UK-wide, and that too much rationing is happening. My constituent Joseph, a young man due to start secondary school in September, is an example of that. He has been unable to get assessments for ADHD and autism for 18 months, and his mum is incredibly worried about his ability to cope if he does not have the assessments and appropriate support. I will speak some of her words: “This delay is already having a significant impact on Joseph”, his emotional wellbeing has deteriorated, “he has started to pull out his hair and eyelashes, his ability to sleep, educational functioning, peer relationships, and ability to…interface with healthcare providers has been extremely challenging and traumatic to the point where he has refused treatment.” It is not just about the waiting list to get an assessment; after a diagnosis has been received, children may still need to wait for long periods to get medication and other support. GPs are severely overstretched. One of the GPs at Grange Park surgery in Burley in Wharfedale in my constituency shared their concerns with me about the pressures they face. Again, I will read a short extract from her letter to me: “The mental health services are not working. They are massively under capacity. It’s easy to say we can’t afford more staff but these children are waiting throughout most of their secondary education to be assessed and then helped. It is not acceptable. I no longer can make a difference. I write to everyone I can think of. I complain. I personally find it distressing. I have decided that the only people who can institute a change is the government. There needs to be urgent money put into children’s mental health services. A wait of 2 years for a teenager to see someone is just unacceptable. Think about the effect on the family and on the whole life outcome of the child themselves. We cannot give up on these children.”

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

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  I agree that youth hubs bringing everything together for young people are key to tackling these issues. Poor mental health harms young people’s life chances, and the long-term scarring effects are a major issue. That is why we owe it to our children to stop the harm and heal the wounds. I am not a psychologist or a psychiatrist, but a number of factors seem to be at play: covid causing children to miss out on school and play, more intense pressure at school with testing and exams, living in a more insecure global environment, levels of abuse, discrimination and bullying, exposure to trauma due to family breakdown, insecure housing and homelessness, poverty and, of course, the role of social media and the online world—a very topical issue that I will return to. While the Government cannot address all those factors directly, we can shape a healthier environment for our children to grow up in and ensure that the support is there when they need it. The previous Government’s crippling austerity hit our schools and the NHS. They failed to address the crisis in SEND, narrowly focused school performance on academic achievement and refused to fund the covid recovery recommended by Sir Kevan Collins. Their actions did nothing to help the mental health of our young people. In fact, they did the opposite, and it is noticeable that nobody from the Conservative party is here for this debate. This Labour Government are already doing so much more—an ambitious and comprehensive set of reforms to SEND, an inclusive curriculum, additional funding for youth services, tackling homelessness and ending the use of B&Bs as temporary accommodation for families and children—but there is more to do.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Milburn Review: Interim Report · Hansard source

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  This excellent report makes it clear that exams can lead to early disengagement from school, particularly for children who are neurodiverse. The son of my constituent Danielle repeatedly failed his GCSEs, which left him stressed and undermined his self-confidence. She felt that his opportunities would be limited and doors would be closed for him, but thankfully he was encouraged to get functional skills and has now secured a place at Leeds College of Building to learn bricklaying. Does the Minister agree that early information on and awareness of alternative qualifications and pathways, such as functional skills, can help young people to fulfil their potential?

• 1 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. I recently met defence SMEs in Shipley that want to recruit young talent, including engineers and programmers, to design and build the technologies used in drones. How will we ensure that there are opportunities for young people from all backgrounds who aspire to careers in defence? What are the Government doing to invest in the skills we need to protect these isles and secure our future?

• 29 Apr 2026 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q6. Like many MPs, I will head up to my constituency later to campaign for the local elections. When I am out on doorstep talking to voters in the Shipley constituency, I am proud of the difference that this Labour Government are making. Renters are no longer worried thanks to secure tenure, families are supported by free breakfast clubs and extended free childcare support, and workers are no longer on exploitative zero-hour contracts. What is the Prime Minister most proud of, and what is his message for voters in my Shipley constituency and across the UK?

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

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  I absolutely agree with the hon. Gentleman that the impact of the overpayments on carers is terrible, and I am going to share the story of someone who was affected. I am sure others have heard similar shocking stories. As many as one in five unpaid carers who claim carer’s allowance and work part time were hit with overpayments. Thousands of carers have been left with huge debts and the fear of financial ruin. Helen cares for her son Robin. He was born with a heart condition, respiratory vulnerabilities, developmental delay, mobility issues and Down’s syndrome. Helen gave up work as a teacher to support Robin and she relied on carer’s allowance. She also received some royalties for online resources that she had created as an education provider. She was paid those every six months, but the Department for Work and Pensions considered them as monthly earnings. It stopped her carer’s allowance and informed her that she had incurred overpayments going back over four years. She was charged more than £2,000 and told to pay back £50 a week. In her words, “there was no care of how we would live or survive. It took me three very long years to repay the debt. It hung over like a great shadow, the letters, the fear of what could come. We were devastated by the department’s actions. Carers just don’t have bank balances that can stretch and withstand such pressures…you are so vulnerable…it shouldn’t be this difficult”. As I have said, Helen’s is not an isolated case; thousands of carers are in this position, not as a result of failure on their part to report to and notify the DWP, but owing to a failure of Government. This scandal is a stain on the record of the British state. I therefore commend this Labour Government for asking Liz Sayce to conduct an independent review of carer’s allowance overpayments. She made it clear that overpayments were caused “not by widespread individual error by carers in reporting their earnings but by systemic issues preventing them from fulfilling their responsibility to report.” I welcome the fact that the Government have accepted the vast majority of her recommendations and set aside £75 million to implement them. Among other things, the review called on the Government to reform the earnings averaging processes and guidance, as well as that for allowable expenses, so that there is clarity, transparency and predictability, and it called for a thorough reassessment of cases to right the wrongs and deliver redress. It called for creative short-term solutions to address the cliff-edge crisis, while the DWP works on a longer-term plan. That is vital. If someone earns one penny over the earnings limit, they have to pay back the whole weekly carer’s allowance. The Sayce review found that although the earnings limit cliff edge does not itself cause overpayments, it dramatically increases their scale and impact, negatively affecting people’s health, finances, wellbeing and opportunities to work. Will the Minister update us on progress on the introduction of a taper system? Liz Sayce recommended a whole range of other reforms, from upgrading computer systems to using more empathetic language, improving the join-up between types of benefits and simplifying the system. I thank her and her team for completing this crucial task. I urge the Minister to implement the recommendations with urgency and to set out the timeline for doing so. Turning to those affected, I welcome yesterday’s announcement that the Government have launched an audit of more than 200,000 carer’s allowance cases affected by unclear Government guidance that was in place between 2015 and 2025. The cases will be reviewed, and debts potentially reduced, cancelled or refunded for some 25,000 unpaid carers. That is excellent news and I am sure the Minister will say more. However, I believe that there are several categories of people who have been adversely affected whose cases remain outstanding. The DWP appears to be accepting responsibility only for those affected by the unlawful guidance on average earnings and not for the lack of clear guidance on expenses deductions. Will the Minister ensure, as the audit begins, that the DWP fully addresses all aspects of maladministration? First, there should be consideration of cases in which the DWP held information regarding expenses but did not act on it or make corrections for many years. Secondly, I urge him to ensure that cases in which data has been “lost” by the DWP are dealt with as Liz Sayce recommended, and treated as cases of official error unless the DWP can prove otherwise. Thirdly, in the cases of those affected by the failure to adjust universal credit correctly, Sayce recommended that the DWP should pay UC arrears. I would be grateful if the Minister addressed whether the audit will include reviews for those missing groups.

• 17 Mar 2026 · Youth Unemployment · Hansard source

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  I welcome the support for small and medium-sized enterprises in my Shipley constituency, which will be able to take on young people who have been long-term unemployed and to offer apprenticeships, but the Secretary of State will know that young carers face additional challenges with getting into education, training or work. Shipley college provides excellent training opportunities, but often struggles to find work placements. Will he commit to working with DFE to ensure that all young people, including young carers, can benefit from today’s announcement?

• 16 Mar 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. As the ongoing conflict in the middle east is demonstrating, drone technology is an essential military capability. Businesses around Saltaire and Baildon in my constituency are at the cutting edge of both space technology and radio frequency, which I know the Minister will understand are critical to drone warfare. What support is available to young people in my constituency and across West Yorkshire to gain the skills they need for those vital industries?

• 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.

• 5 Feb 2026 · Road Safety · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered road safety. Road safety is a personal issue for me. My grandfather Herbert Bilsby moved to Ilkley in 1952 to take up a post as a geography teacher at Ilkley grammar school. Aged 62, he was looking forward to retirement: more time to enjoy his passion for hiking; more time to spend time with his grandchildren; and more time to visit family in Australia and Zambia. He never got that time. On 6 December 1969, my grandfather was driving with my grandmother to deliver Christmas presents to her family at the family farm in Cumbria. Just north of Hellifield on the A65, he got stuck behind two lorries—a common experience even today. He saw an opportunity to overtake and pulled out. At that moment, the lorry pulled out, and my grandparents’ car was pushed off the road and into a stone gatepost. My grandfather was killed outright, and my grandmother suffered head injuries. That fatal collision shaped my family’s life. I never knew my grandfather. My grandmother was widowed and disabled. My dad moved jobs, and he and my mum moved to Ilkley where I was born and raised. My mum then continued to care for my grandmother for nearly 30 years. It was a time before seatbelts were compulsory, before sections of the A65 were widened to create overtaking lanes, and before airbags. Today’s cars and roads are safer than they were in 1969 thanks to new laws, investment in our roads and the use of technology in the design of cars. Yet, four people still die on our roads every day and 76 more are involved in collisions that leave them with serious injuries. In my own constituency of Shipley, 180 people were injured in road collisions in 2024 and one person tragically died. Across the country, over 1,600 people were killed and nearly 28,000—yes, 28,000—people were seriously injured on our roads. Road collisions happen in a split second, yet their impact can be life-changing and felt for a lifetime. Parents lose their children; partners lose their soulmates; the unborn miss out on knowing their relatives—the human cost of road collisions is colossal. But it does not have to be that way. A wealth of evidence shows us what the causes of death and injury are—we know what to do. Through the work of road safety groups, researchers and the police, we understand there are five causes of deadly crashes—the fatal five. They are speeding, antisocial driving, mobile phone use, alcohol and drug use, and not wearing a seatbelt. We must continue to tackle the fatal five if we are to reduce the death toll on our roads. Ahead of the road safety strategy, I wrote to the Minister calling on the Government to include harsher penalties for speeding, to strengthen post-test requirements to protect newly qualified drivers, to lower the maximum legal drink-drive limit and to introduce points for passengers not wearing seatbelts. I therefore very much welcome the many measures in the road safety strategy, which the Government are now consulting on. Those measures include a minimum learning period for learner drivers; lowering the drink-drive limit; reviewing penalties for drink and drug driving offences, including—importantly —bringing in new powers to suspend licences for those suspected of committing serious driving offences; introducing penalty points for not wearing a seatbelt; and taking tougher action on those who fail to stop and report collisions, those who drive unlicensed or without insurance, and those with no MOT. The strategy also addresses the growing problem of illegal number plates—so-called ghost number plates—which my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich (Sarah Coombes) has campaigned for extensively. She was sorry to not be here today for the debate, but I am sure she would join me in congratulating the Government on taking action on this issue. The Government’s strategy is the first of its kind in a decade, and it sets out a plan to reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on roads in Great Britain by 65% by 2035. In West Yorkshire, a more ambitious goal has been set as part of “Vision Zero”, striving for zero deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 2040. It was launched in 2023 by our Labour West Yorkshire mayor, Tracy Brabin. “Vision Zero” brings together the combined authority, local authorities, emergency services, National Highways, victim support services and road safety campaigners, and it is producing results. In just the first year of the strategy, 7,500 dangerous drivers were brought to justice, almost 40,000 fixed penalty notices for traffic offences were issued and 13,000 children across West Yorkshire were part of an innovative educational project. I pay particular tribute to Alison Lowe, the deputy mayor for policing and crime in West Yorkshire. Under her guidance, the combined authority and West Yorkshire police have taken a proactive approach to improving road safety. Alison, whose own sister was killed by a speeding driver, has listened to the community and effectively targeted police resources. West Yorkshire has introduced community concern sites. These are locations flagged by local authorities based on data and community feedback that receive greater police attention. This innovative scheme has led to 467 new enforcement locations, and over 46,000 speed offences were detected in less than a year. Another successful example from West Yorkshire is Op Snap, which allows the public to submit dashcam footage of driving offences. There were almost 9,000 submissions just in the second half of last year, and 70% resulted in further action being taken. I hope the Minister can set out how good practice such as that in West Yorkshire can be supported and spread to other parts of the country. This is only the beginning; far more needs to be done to end deaths on our roads. In 2024, young drivers aged 17 to 24 were involved in 11 of the 40 fatal collisions in West Yorkshire—around 20%, despite making up a much smaller share of road users. I would like to see stronger measures to protect newly qualified drivers. I was interested to see that the Northern Ireland Infrastructure Minister recently announced plans to introduce graduated driver licensing. GDL has already been adopted by other countries with success. Victoria, Australia introduced it in 2007 and, by 2013, saw fatal collisions reduced by 30%. I welcome the Government’s proposed mandated learning period for new drivers, but why not be more ambitious? There is good evidence from other countries. Why should young drivers in Northern Ireland get protections that young drivers in the rest of the UK will not? I urge the Minister to remain open to look at other effective measures to support young and novice drivers, such as limits on the number of passengers and restrictions on night-time driving, which we know from evidence have the biggest impact on reducing death and serious injury.

• 5 Feb 2026 · Road Safety · Hansard source

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  I agree that it is important that we consult the public on looking to reduce the drink-driving limit to the lowest possible level, and the Minister has heard the hon. Member’s remarks about a possible zero tolerance to drinking alcohol while driving. I hope that on this measure and others the Minister will agree to meet me, other MPs, campaigners and families affected, particularly on the issue of young drivers, to discuss such additional measures, which have widespread public support. Road safety is also a local issue for residents across the Shipley constituency, who regularly raise road safety issues with me. Residents in Harden and Cullingworth are terrified by rural roads being used as racetracks. Parents in Baildon and Burley in Wharfedale are concerned about their kids crossing the road. School leaders in Cottingley and Wrose are concerned about parking and dangerous driving outside schools. Working with the local police, Bradford council’s highways team, local Labour councillors and West Yorkshire’s deputy mayor, we are making some progress, with new speed cameras on Bingley bypass, local speed watch in hotspots of community concern, the introduction of a 20 mph zone in Menston, reduced speed limits between Bingley and Shipley, and the installation of speed awareness signs. But there is only so far we can go locally, and that is why I am pleased that this Labour Government are taking action to make our roads safer. The road safety strategy is ambitious and comprehensive. It takes a systems approach and includes all road users. I urge the Government to move swiftly to implement the measures they are consulting on, and I hope the Minister will set out in her response which ones will need primary legislation and when she expects parliamentary time to be given to implement them. People up and down the country continue to be killed and seriously injured by dangerous driving. As the campaigning organisation RoadPeace and others have identified, dangerous driving is no longer a rarity but an embedded cultural phenomenon. Many people feel able and entitled to drive dangerously, and do not fear the consequences of their actions. That must change so that other families do not suffer the life-changing impact of a fatal road collision, as my family did.

• 27 Jan 2026 · Women’s Safety: Walking, Wheeling, Cycling and Running · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato) not only on securing the debate but on her fantastic opening speech, which really set the scene. Violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment and assault, affects millions of women across the UK. It affects what we say, what we wear and what we do. It affects how we live our everyday lives and—as we have heard from many hon. Members in the debate—whether and where we walk, cycle and run. In what I think was a national survey, 20% of women said they would never go walking at night. Local research undertaken by the West Yorkshire combined authority and the University of Leeds produced similarly stark findings. In a survey of users of Myrtle Park in Bingley, in my constituency, they found that 48% of respondents would not feel safe at night. According to the Office for National Statistics, over 15% of women and girls in Britain feel “very or fairly” unsafe in parks during the day. It is a scandal that women feel unsafe while walking, wheeling, cycling or running. As we have heard, it is also harmful to our health and wellbeing. Increasing active travel by 50% in England would result in 1.8 million fewer GP visits and 4 million fewer sick days, so it is vital that we provide safe opportunities for women and girls to participate in active travel. The Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, has led the way on this issue, by not only publishing her safety of women and girls strategy but going on to commission and produce specific guidance called “Safer Parks”. The guidance sets out in detail how to address the inequity of access to parks, promoting the need for them to be designed in a way that makes women and girls feel more secure. I have been briefed on the research, and interestingly the most obvious things—such as lighting the path through the park—do not always result in people feeling safer, because they are in the spotlight and fear that attackers are hiding in the shadows. It is really important that we do the research and get the design guidance right. We must also address the different barriers that exist for different groups, and generally increase the number of people using the parks—that is something that makes us feel safer. The guidance was trialled in Bradford last year, and will hopefully inform planning of how we improve safety in parks for women and girls across West Yorkshire and beyond. Like the West Yorkshire combined authority, Bradford council is treating the issue with the seriousness it deserves. I recently met the council to discuss the safety concerns of women who visit Myrtle Park. I will continue to engage with the council, the Friends of Myrtle Park—a fantastic community group—and the local councillor, Susan Fricker, who has been a really strong advocate on this issue. I have also been pleased with some of the initiatives by West Yorkshire police. The Jog On campaign is dedicated to tackling the harassment faced by female runners and joggers. It seeks to raise awareness of inappropriate behaviour, provide education—including through active bystander training—and take enforcement action against individuals who persist in targeting runners with unwanted behaviours such as catcalling, horn-pipping or sexualised comments. At my request, Jog On recently attended the parkruns in both Myrtle Park and Roberts Park in Saltaire, in my constituency, encouraging and advising women who enjoy parkrun, but who may want to go out and run at other times of the day and week. Women and girls must feel confident to get out and about on their bikes. They must also feel safe in our parks and green spaces and along our canals and greenways —I am campaigning for the Wharfedale Greenway in my constituency, and I will highlight that it must be designed with the safety of women and girls in mind, following the excellent points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) about Edinburgh. I hope the Minister will encourage the sharing of these positive initiatives from West Yorkshire and Bradford and, with colleagues, ensure that local authorities have the funding and guidance they need in order to secure the safety of women and girls in all our public spaces.

• 19 Jan 2026 · Sale of Fireworks · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I am sure that the Minister will have heard his plea, along with those made by other Members. To be clear, this is not about stopping anyone enjoying fireworks. I enjoy good fireworks as much as the next person—in fact, the sparkler is my favourite. Bonfire night, new year’s eve, Diwali, Eid—these festivities are part of our social fabric, and celebrating them brings us together as families, friends and communities. This is about tackling the antisocial use of fireworks. I am proud that the previous Labour Government did a lot on this issue. The Fireworks Regulations 2004 imposed curfews on fireworks, restricted their sale to certain times of the year for unlicensed sellers, and outlawed their use in public places. When we were last in power, we made great strides, but further change is well overdue. As many of my Shipley constituents would tell us, the antisocial use of fireworks persists, despite the best efforts of Bradford council, trading standards, the fire service and the police in enforcing the current law. In the run-up to bonfire night, some £10,000-worth of fireworks were seized from rogue sellers by West Yorkshire police. Thanks to the tireless work of the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, along with partners in the community, on prevention and education, most celebrations in Bradford last year went off without incident. Other Members—in particular my hon. Friend the Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Alison Hume)—have spoken with great passion about safety concerns, and I support a lot of what has been said today, but the most important area, where we want action, and soon, is noise. The volume of fireworks available for sale in the UK is 120 dB, and many Members have spoken powerfully about the need to reduce the noise. That could easily be achieved by a simple amendment to regulation 8 of the Fireworks Regulations, which already prohibits the supply, purchase or possession of category 3 fireworks whose noise levels exceed 120 dB. Furthermore, I would support a ban on the general sale of category 3 fireworks and limiting them to authorised events in the same way as category 4 fireworks. I urge the Government to make these changes, and I urge the Minister to work closely with my hon. Friend the Member for Luton North (Sarah Owen), who I commend for all her work, to find a way to change the law to reduce the distress that fireworks cause to people, veterans and pets—and to all of us, so that we can all get a good night’s sleep.

• 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?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Child Poverty Strategy · Hansard source

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  Children across my Shipley constituency see at first hand the impact of child poverty in their schools and communities. I recently visited the Shipley school uniform hub, run by the Salvation Army, which provides pre-loved uniforms to families who can barely afford the essentials. I congratulate my right hon. Friend on the publication of the child poverty strategy. It is bold and morally right, addressing both the causes and consequences of child poverty. Does she agree with me that delivering on this strategy will not only require action across Government, but working in partnership with communities, in particular faith communities?

• 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?

• 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.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome my right hon. Friend’s clarification that charities would still be able to provide these placements. I have a fantastic charity in my constituency, upCYCLE, which teaches bike maintenance skills to help rehabilitate people. Currently, that is done in prisons, but when there are more community sentences, that sort of charity will want to give people skills and meaningful work in the community. I just want to clarify that this is not about excluding charities.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Mental Health Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I am no expert on mental health law, but I do have decades of experience in the health and care sector, and my sister is a psychiatrist. I know that the decision to detain someone with severe mental illness is never taken lightly, and that psychiatrists must weigh up a range of factors and information to come to a final decision. I tabled amendments 43, 44 and 45 and new clause 34 after a number of conversations with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, which has expressed concern about the wording used in the detention criteria. Taken together, the purpose of my amendments is to ensure that the detention criteria are aligned with good clinical practice. It is important that they are reflected in the primary legislation, rather than simply relying on a code of practice. They would remove from the detention criteria mention of the terms “likelihood” or “may be caused” to allow psychiatrists to make a straightforward, holistic assessment of individual risk in the context of significant mental disorder. The risk is that “likelihood” suggests that it is possible for clinicians to predict serious harms such as violence or suicide when it is not possible to do so, while the idea of causation neglects the fact that complex background conditions can be the genesis of a harm. There is a risk, too, that the language may lead to preventive detention—more detention, not less. It is always easier with hindsight, when unexpected harms have happened, to oversimplify causation and ask, “Why was this person not detained?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Further Education Institutions · Hansard source

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  I want to make some progress. There have been recent innovations in further education with the introduction of T-levels. As a member of the Public Accounts Committee, I contributed to the inquiry that found that T-levels are a great option for many students, and it would be great to see them rolled out further, but that there are significant teething problems. T-level students attend three full days at college and, generally, two full days in placement. It is, in my view, far more demanding than three A-levels. However, finding suitable work placements can be challenging. While colleges welcome the greater flexibility that is given in where and how these requirements are fulfilled, there is a clear need for employers to be incentivised to offer such work placements to students. Teacher shortages are also a huge problem for colleges, particularly when trying to attract people from the high-priority skill sectors that we have mentioned, such as digital and construction. The Public Accounts Committee also looked at teacher numbers and concluded that further education teacher shortages put the achievement of the Government’s missions for opportunity and growth at risk.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Further Education Institutions · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent point—I was about to come on to the pay gap between teachers in schools and those in further education colleges. Teachers in further education colleges earn an average of £8,000 a year less than schoolteachers. I was not aware of the gap with higher education, but it is clearly important that there is a level playing field so that they can attract and retain teachers.