Anna Sabine MP: speeches

Speeches

• 11 Jun 2025 · Child Poverty and No Recourse to Public Funds · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I congratulate the hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam (Olivia Blake) on securing this important debate—it is also clearly important to her. No child in Britain should grow up in poverty. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, it is nothing short of a political choice that millions of children go without the basics, including food, housing and opportunity. It is a choice that the last Government made repeatedly. Liberal Democrats believe in a fairer society in which every child has the chance of a bright future, regardless of their background, postcode or parents’ immigration status. Look at what happened under Conservative rule—there are more than half a million more children in poverty since 2015. That is not a policy failure; it is policy working exactly as designed. Choices such as the two-child benefit cap, cuts to universal credit and the freeze on child benefit are not abstract figures; they are deliberate decisions that hit the poorest families hardest. Families with no recourse to public funds—those in the UK on visas or seeking asylum—were even harder hit, as the hon. Member for Sheffield Hallam rightly said. It is morally indefensible that a child could go hungry simply because of their parents’ immigration status. Children are children, and they need food, care and opportunity—that should not be conditional. We therefore welcome the Government’s decision to permanently extend free school meal eligibility to children in NRPF households. It is a victory for decency and common sense, and I am proud that the Liberal Democrats helped push for it. However, we must go further. We need automatic enrolment for free school meals so that no eligible child is left behind due to bureaucracy or poor information, because red tape should not be a barrier to feeding hungry children. Although the Government have extended free school meals to families on universal credit, strict income thresholds still apply to NRPF households, and that must change. We must ensure that all children in poverty, without exception, have access to free school meals. Longer term, Liberal Democrats are clear that we want to see universal free school meals for every child—no stigma or barriers, just fairness and nourishment for all. Let us not forget that the NRPF policy was never designed with child welfare in mind. It has grown over decades into a rigid system that denies thousands access to the most basic safety nets, especially during crises such as the cost of living emergency we are facing now. Yes, some families can apply for a change of conditions to gain access to public funds, but that process is far too complex and burdensome, requiring specialist support that many families cannot access. The Government must simplify the system and make it navigable and humane, because when children go hungry, we should not ask their parents to fill out a 40-page form, often in a second language, to prove their destitution. Around 3.5 million people in the UK currently hold visas that usually come with an NRPF condition. We do not even know how many of them are living in hardship, because the Home Office, as we have heard, does not track that data. That is not governance; it is negligence. While local authorities are left to pick up the pieces, they do so with dwindling resources and with impossible decisions pushed on to them by a central Government who wash their hands of responsibility. Liberal Democrats believe it is time to stop punishing children for the immigration status of their parents. It is time to stop hiding behind bureaucracy and to make the moral and political choice to end child poverty once and for all.

• 21 May 2025 · Broadband and Mobile Connectivity: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered broadband and mobile connectivity in rural areas. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I represent the fairly rural constituency of Frome and East Somerset. In February this year, I conducted a survey asking residents in villages such as Lamyatt, Doulting, Alhampton, West Pennard and Witham Friary about their experiences with mobile and broadband signal. The number of responses was overwhelming, and there was a striking consistency to what they told me. The current arrangements for getting a mobile or broadband signal are mismatched, too expensive, frequently slow and, in many cases, simply not fit for purpose. Access to a reliable internet and mobile signal is now a basic necessity of our lives. Whether for work, education, healthcare or simply staying connected, people rely on broadband and mobile coverage every single day. I heard from a number of brilliant rural businesses—wedding venues, farms, ironmongers—who battle with poor connectivity daily. For many, broadband remains one of the biggest obstacles they face as a business, in terms of both the quality and speed of the connection available and the frustrating experience that creates for their customers. One local farm, for example, was quoted more than £250,000 by Openreach just to connect a wire across a relatively short distance to secure full-fibre broadband.

• 14 May 2025 · Future of Public Libraries · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Derbyshire (Jonathan Davies) for securing this debate. I want to talk about the future of public libraries in my fairly rural constituency. In particular, I wish to highlight the role of Radstock library, one of 11 community-run libraries in Bath and North East Somerset. Although the council supports the core service, providing book deliveries and the library system, it is the local community that keeps its doors open. In Radstock’s case, the council provides the staff, premises and IT, but for libraries without council support it is a real struggle. The value of community-run libraries is immense. In Radstock the library is much more than a place to borrow books. People come to use the public computers and printers, which are vital in a digital age. They come to read, to study, to hot-desk and to connect. The library runs events such as Lego club and knit and natter, and hosts Read Easy and employment skills sessions, diabetes workshops and the local food club. In a cost of living crisis, libraries provide something incredibly powerful: a free, warm, welcoming space where people can learn, access essential services and find community. Radstock library relies heavily on volunteers to run it day to day, and it matters now more than ever. We must not forget our rural areas, where mobile libraries remain a lifeline. I would like to make sure that they are considered in this debate and in any future library strategy.

• 7 May 2025 · Educational Opportunities in Semi-rural Areas · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I thank the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this important debate. I represent Frome and East Somerset, also a semi-rural constituency, and I recognise many of the challenges he talked about earlier, particularly around affordable housing and the mental health of our young people. For far too long, young people in rural and semi-rural areas have faced persistent barriers to accessing education, whether due to poor transport links, limited youth services or a lack of training support. The Lib Dems have always believed that education is the cornerstone of a fair society, but we also recognise that not every child is given a fair shot. Geography should never determine opportunity. That is why we have been calling for a £2 billion rural services fund, which would enable the co-location of essential services, such as GP surgeries and schools, in local hubs that make the most of existing infrastructure, helping to revitalise and support local rural communities. In my constituency, the lack of reliable public transport, as mentioned, is a daily challenge for many families. One constituent from Beckington, a village just outside Frome, has two children attending middle school in Frome. Although the school is under three miles away, the only walking route is along a narrow pavement beside a 60-mile-an-hour road. In 2019, the council deemed that route safe, yet almost every parent in Beckington drives their child to school because they quite rightly believe that it is not. If my constituent could not drive, they would be forced to pay £80 a month per child for school transport—an unaffordable cost for many families. That is not choice; it is necessity born out of neglect. While we welcome the introduction of breakfast clubs under the Labour Government, we continue to believe that free school meals would be a more inclusive and effective alternative. In many rural and semi-rural areas, students simply cannot get to school early enough to benefit from breakfast clubs, due to sparse and inflexible bus timetables. There is currently no indication that those would be adjusted to support the policy. Reliable broadband is another area where rural communities are being left behind. The Lib Dems have long championed the need for hyperfast fibre-optic broadband, with priority being given to rural areas. While we welcome the Project Gigabit roll-out across Devon and Somerset, I still await further detail on how it will benefit my constituency specifically. The pandemic laid bare the digital divide. Too many households in semi-rural areas lack the reliable internet access needed for remote learning. In the 21st century, broadband is not a luxury; it is a basic educational need. Students who cannot log on cannot keep up, and we risk leaving them behind. As someone with a teenager who is about to start their GCSEs, I know it makes them very grumpy if they cannot log on. Let us not forget about post-16 education. In rural areas, access to sixth forms, colleges and apprenticeships remains patchy, creating a postcode lottery for young people’s futures. Limited public transport and poor broadband only compound the problem. That is why the Lib Dems want to introduce a young people’s premium, extending the pupil premium funding to disadvantaged 16 to 18-year-olds. Every young person deserves equal access to education, training and opportunity, no matter where they live. When we invest in education, we invest in our economy, our communities and our shared future. Every child in every corner of the country deserves the chance to succeed.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill (Fourth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Broadly speaking, we welcome any effort to reduce knife crime, which is obviously a terrible and growing problem. We note Chief Constable De Meyer’s comment, in the oral evidence last week, that the police felt that the measure would allow them to deliver more sustained public protection, which is a good thing, and to have more preventive power. That is all great. I have two specific questions for the Minister. The first concerns the offence of possessing an article with a blade or an offensive weapon with the intent to use unlawful violence. I represent a fairly rural constituency that comprises some market towns and a selection of villages. Even there, local headteachers tell me that a growing number of schoolchildren, usually boys, are bringing knives into school, because they wrongly think that bringing a knife will somehow defend them against other boys with knives. How do we ensure that no other schoolchildren will get caught up in an offence aimed at the kind of people we might think of as bringing a knife with the aim of committing an unlawful action? My second question relates to the National Farmers Union’s evidence from last week. The NFU talked about the challenge of catapults often being used not just in wildlife crime but in damaging farming equipment. It said that it understands that it is an offence to carry in public something that is intended to be used as an offensive weapon, but with catapults, it is particularly difficult to prove that intent. It wondered if more consideration could be given to listing catapults as offensive weapons.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Access to Dentistry: Somerset · Hansard source

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  We can absolutely carry out more research, and I urge Members to go and talk to their local school teachers. Yesterday, I found that teachers in Frome have a very clear understanding of why certain children are not going to the dentist. Sometimes that might be down to parental choice, and it is really important that we understand why that is happening as well as why there is not sufficient access to dentistry. To catch up with the national average, Somerset needs extra investment, and it needs it quickly. We need more NHS practices that are financially viable and exempt from the NICs rise, and we need more dentists who are remunerated and well treated in their work. We cannot let Somerset slip further and further away from the national average, which is already a low bar, and create more pain, misery and costs for generations to come.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Access to Dentistry: Somerset · Hansard source

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  I was not actually aware that we had those facilities there, and I am happy to know more about them. Yes, I would certainly join any call for more dentistry skills to be brought into the Somerset area. The Health Secretary made a point of meeting the British Dental Association on his first day in office, but the BDA tells me that there has been little follow-up. Could the Minister confirm whether the Government have now entered into formal negotiations to reform the dental contract? If they have not, when do they expect to do so? I am sure the Minister will rightly highlight in his reply the roll-out of the 700,000 extra urgent appointments.

• 1 Apr 2025 · Access to Dentistry: Somerset · Hansard source

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  Yes, I absolutely agree, and I will talk later about how poor access to dentistry impacts other parts of the health sector. Yesterday, I was lucky enough to visit a local primary school in Frome, along with a friend who is a dentist. We started with an assembly about the many superpowers the mouth has, in which I was delighted to be given the leading role of saliva. Then we moved on to taking two reception classes through a supervised toothbrushing session. The school is part of the Government’s supervised toothbrushing scheme, an initiative I welcome. Sadly, of the 30 children in the room, 10 did not have consent for the toothbrushing—some because forms had not been returned, and some because there was a parental objection to the activity or to the use of fluoride. To ensure that they did not feel left out, my dentist friend played a game where they counted their teeth instead. She said that, based on what she could see from that game, that group of 10 children had 50 obviously decayed teeth, and one child had at least 10 teeth that would need to be removed under general anaesthetic. Those children were four and five years old. Although the scheme overall is to be welcomed, I hope consideration will be given to having an opt-out rather than an opt-in, to ensure that the children who most need the scheme are actually benefiting. Somerset used to be well above the national average on access to dentistry. As recently as 2018, 55% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in a two-year period, compared with 50% nationally.

• 28 Jan 2025 · Road Safety: Young Drivers · Hansard source

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  That is exactly right. I am keen that when we discuss this issue, we look at good practice from other places. Graduated driving licences can be set up in a number of ways, but typically might involve minimum periods for learning to drive, and reducing the number of passengers a young person can have in the car. In the UK, we already have a version of this system for motorbikes. We recognise that young motorcyclists probably should not ride the most powerful bikes straightaway, and we restrict them accordingly. Even motoring groups such as the RAC have supported moves towards a graduated driving licence scheme in recent times, and I intend to explore the idea in my own political party. I totally understand why young people might resist or resent the idea of graduated driving licences. I can also see why, in rural areas such as mine or that of the hon. Member for Shrewsbury, really stringent restrictions on driving—such as preventing young people from driving at night—might make it hard for them to get to their jobs or educational settings if buses are not frequent enough. But I think the idea warrants a conversation, because young people have the most to lose if we cannot get this right.

• 22 Jan 2025 · Education, Health and Care Plans · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to contribute to this debate. With limited time, I would like to raise a very specific issue. My constituency of Frome and East Somerset falls under both Bath and North East Somerset council and Somerset council, and there have been instances in which children’s specific cases, claims or tribunals have fallen between two different systems. One of my constituents wrote to me about their child, who is 14 and has central nervous system lupus, epilepsy, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and visual and sensory processing disorder. All the child’s needs were documented by an educational psychologist, who recommended an EHCP. Despite the medical recognition of the need for an EHCP and despite the diagnoses, Bath and North East Somerset council and Somerset council went back and forth for over a year about which local authority should take responsibility for the EHCP, because the child’s parents were separated, with one living in each authority, and the child’s time was split evenly between the two. That cannot be an uncommon occurrence, yet there were delays and stress for the family while they waited for their case to come to tribunal. The child’s mother estimates that he has missed 1,100 lessons in the 15 months that it has taken to resolve this issue. Many local authorities are, of course, under immense financial strain and I cannot see how this situation can be resolved until the Government relieve councils by providing extra funding and by making EHCP applications as simple and straightforward as possible. We are better than ever at diagnosing additional needs, but the system is woefully under-resourced to support children to thrive.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  I am standing up to talk about the important issue of school uniforms, but I will first say that the hon. Member for Nottingham East (Nadia Whittome) was quite right to point out that child sexual abuse takes place across our society. We have just seen the Archbishop of Canterbury and others in the Church of England resign over child sexual abuse. For the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) to deny that it affects all aspects of society is, frankly, for the birds. I am a single parent to two teenagers and, like many other parents in this place, I know how many expenses are involved in sending children to school. As they grow and progress through school, they require different pairs of shoes, sets of stationery and money for school trips. State schools should represent a level playing field for children of all backgrounds, where pupils are treated with the same respect and given the same opportunities. I recognise that a school uniform allows pupils to go into school with the same appearance and not be discriminated against or bullied for what they wear. However, school uniform is one of the biggest costs in sending children to school, and although I welcome the Government’s commitment to limiting the number of branded items students are required to have each year, more needs to be done to support parents during the cost of living crisis, when they are already facing higher energy bills and food costs. From my experience of sending my daughter to state school, branded school uniform items are being sold from monopoly suppliers for an inflated price, compared with the items bought from high street and charity shops. The Bill talks about restricting schools to three branded items of uniform—by the way, I do not read that as excluding primary schools from letting kids wear ties. The bare minimum of three branded items of a jumper, a polo shirt and a skirt for my daughter’s school costs more than double that from a high street shop. For a family with three children to have two sets of three branded items per year costs more than £300, compared with £108 from my local supermarket in Frome—nearly three times as much. That does not even account for a sports kit and shoes, or for the fact that children often require new items each year as they grow. There are also parts of my constituency of Frome and East Somerset that operate a three-tier school system, meaning children move around three different schools with three different uniforms before they are 16. That can mean that parents have to adapt to three totally different uniforms, colours and requirements. We should aim to strike a balance between students looking smart and not making uniforms overly complicated and exclusive. The simpler the uniform, which is based on staple and easily available items and colours, the more reusable it is. We should foster an environment where school clothes can be easily handed down through families, regardless of gender, and exchanged between families, either through the school or through charity shops, instead of focusing on brand new items for each child. That also reduces clothing and textile waste. Will the Minister consider, for example, why three items were chosen rather than one, such as a school tie or jumper, which makes students easily identifiable as being from a particular school, but which leaves maximum options for parents to buy the other uniform elements from other retailers? Will she also consider what other additional measures could be taken to keep down the cost of a uniform? Kitting out a child for a new term at school is an expensive business, and anything the Government can do to support parents in keeping those costs down would be most welcome.