Caroline Johnson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 13 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  I do not have much time and I do not want Madam Deputy Speaker’s cough to return. [ Laughter. ] If one examines the litany of drugs involved in other jurisdictions where assisted dying is legal, it makes for troubling reading. It is often an ad hoc cocktail of lethal substances, including sedatives, analgesics, cardiotoxic agents, neuromuscular blockers and antiemetics. There is no internationally agreed drug regime. Jurisdictions such as Oregon, Canada and the Netherlands use varying combinations of barbiturates, sedatives, opioids and antiemetics. In 2020, the official Oregon report stated that, compared with single barbiturates, “All drug combinations have shown longer median times until death”. As the Bill currently stands, doctors will have to consider prescribing untested drugs or drug combinations, which could potentially breach the General Medical Council prescribing guidance that a doctor must be satisfied that the drug serves the patient’s needs. To address some of those concerns, I have tabled several amendments. Amendments 96 and 97 ensure that no drug can be approved under the Act unless there is a scientific consensus that it is effective and does not cause undue pain or side effects, and that it has been specifically licensed for that purpose by the MHRA. I cannot really understand why anyone would disagree with that. Amendment 98 clarifies that the Secretary of State is not compelled to approve any drug if, after consultation, it is concluded that no substance is appropriate or safe enough to meet the standard. Amendment 99, alongside amendment 100, mandates that before any regulations are laid before Parliament, a comprehensive report must be provided. That report must include time to death, possible complications including pain, and any likely side effect of the proposed substances. Again, I cannot see why that would be controversial, because surely we all want everybody to be fully informed and make fully informed decisions, and that is part of making an informed decision. Amendment (b) to new clause 13 requires any medical devices for self-administration be approved by the MHRA and that the Secretary of State consult the MHRA before making any regulations. That is a basic safeguard that we would expect in any medical intervention, and it should be a non-negotiable condition here. Finally, amendment 42 removes a time limit and therefore the pressure on the Secretary of State. I understand other people’s concerns about that. There is often a narrative that it will lead to patients being able to die at a time and in a place of their choosing. However, the regulations in the Bill require the doctor to stay with the patient from the moment the drug is given until they are dead. We have heard that that could take quite a long time. Do we really have enough doctors to do this at people’s homes at a time of their choosing? At the moment, I do not think we do, and I do not see how, in a short period of time, that will be achievable either.

• 13 Jun 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

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  The advocates of the Bill talk about the point of choice and autonomy in the decision about when and where a person will die. Can the Minister confirm whether we have enough doctors to provide a service for people to die at home at the time of their choosing?

• 13 Jun 2025 · Flood Prevention: Sleaford and North Hykeham · Hansard source

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  When I went around looking at the different areas of flooding in my constituency, I got a consistent message: that the EA had not performed as well as the IDBs and that it was costing more money per activity. In her final few minutes, can the Minister touch on how the IDBs can do more of the work and engage more local people in doing it for themselves?

• 13 Jun 2025 · Flood Prevention: Sleaford and North Hykeham · Hansard source

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  Before I start my remarks, I will make a declaration of interest: my husband is a farmer, and we have a small stipend to pay to the internal drainage board in relation to flood risk. My constituents in Sleaford and North Hykeham enjoy some of the most beautiful countryside that the United Kingdom has to offer. Our hard-working farmers reap the benefits of some of the best agricultural land in the country for their crops. Unfortunately, living in this area brings some environmental risks. Many Lincolnshire MPs centuries ago held the office of commissioner of sewers in the county. The job sounds unglamorous but was very important, bringing with it responsibility for managing the county’s waterways and drainage and for protecting lives and livelihoods from the risk of flood damage. I am not suggesting that I take on that role myself, but that historical flood risk has only become more acute in recent years. Land usage has intensified, our climate has become more volatile and greater pressures have started to affect our natural resources. Our county has suffered from flooding caused by overwhelmed drainage systems and excessive river levels. The effects on people have magnified too. Some people whose homes were flooded lost not just possessions, but the ability to live in their home for a long period of time; some did not return home for more than a year. Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting Heighington Millfield primary academy as it formally reopened following significant flood damage last year. The closure had major effects on the children there, who had to be bused to different schools around the county within the trust, and significant measures had to be taken to restore the school. I put on record my thanks to everybody involved in that work. The community really pulled together for those children, and the Department for Education and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs worked very hard together to ensure not just that the school was repaired, but that flood measures were put in place to try to prevent those things happening again. The school now has flood doors in place so that it can prevent flooding coming in through the doors, and it is having work done over the summer in preparation for the autumn rain to protect the outside environment, which includes bunding around the playing fields and a special garden at the back of the school on higher ground, which will absorb some of the water if the rain overtops the back again. Unfortunately, at the same time that that great work has been going on, new councillors under the direction of Reform have chosen to abolish the county council committee dedicated to managing flood risk. I will have more to say about that later. In opening this debate, I want to make a simple point. My constituents deserve to live in safety and to go about their work and education without severe disruption from climate events. We need to ensure that we are doing everything we can to protect their lives and livelihoods, and that recommendations are being followed up and maintenance work is being done on time. We also need to make the most of local expertise and experience, and not undo the good work started under the previous Government towards fostering collaboration between agencies and local people. Many communities across my constituency have been affected by flooding in recent times, and they deserve to have their experiences shared. In North Scarle, for example, residents faced huge disruption in 2024 when heavy rainfall on to already wet ground caused flooding at Mill Dam dyke. The local authority report on the event found that poor maintenance of the local watercourses had contributed to the flooding, as did problems with the surface drainage system. As I saw when I visited North Scarle in December that year, co-operation among different agencies is key in tackling these kinds of events. Lincolnshire county council is responsible for cleaning gullies and maintaining drainage, while the Environment Agency has responsibility for ongoing maintenance at Mill Dam dyke. Meanwhile, local groups such as Flood Action North Scarle contribute valuable local knowledge and experience. The EA has upheld its end of the shared responsibilities set out in the flooding report, and has engaged the local community by providing maintenance updates. It spent around £71,000 on maintenance in 2023-24. However, since the spending review published this week revealed a 2.7% cut in the DEFRA budget over the review period, can the Minister assure my constituents that the EA will still have the money to continue maintaining these dykes going forward? And what will the Minister do to ensure transparency from councils? Updates from the EA are relatively easy to access, but Lincolnshire county council’s flooding project website simply lists its own actions following each flood report as “ongoing”. My residents need more clarity than that. In Sleaford, residents faced similar problems when Field beck was overtopped in October 2023 and drainage systems again became overwhelmed. I welcome the work that the EA has done here too, with the business case for a major capital scheme approved on 2 June. I am pleased about this investment, which is projected to avoid £188 million in economic damage, deliver £74 million in people-related benefits and protect 604 properties from repeat flood damage. In Leasingham, more work needs to be done. Residents suffered flooding twice in quick succession, including in the school, in October 2023 and January 2024, when agricultural ditches overtopped and Leasingham beck exceeded its capacity. The council’s flood report recommended that the EA and Lincolnshire county council work together to carry out channel condition assessments at Leasingham beck, with the results to be reported back to the Lincolnshire flood risk and water management partnership. However, the inspections have not yet happened. Worse still, even as reports into historical flooding are calling for closer collaboration, the Reform council is undoing the successful partnerships already established. The Lincolnshire flood and water management scrutiny committee did vital work in bringing together key agencies involved in flood management and prevention: the EA, internal drainage boards, Anglian Water, district councils and other key experts. Three weeks ago, Reform abolished the committee, folding it into the generalist environment committee, which does not have the same specialist remit to cover the most important and complex environmental issue facing the county. By rejecting the valuable contributions of IDBs, district councils and local experts, Reform councillors are saying that they know better than local people who have tended the land for generations. All the main parties have opposed the committee’s abolition and have seen it for what it is: politicking with people’s livelihoods. If the Government see these reckless actions being wrought on local communities in Sleaford and North Hykeham and elsewhere in Lincolnshire, what can they do to ensure that councils uphold their responsibilities to residents? Instead of cancelling initiatives, we should be creating new ones. I was encouraged by the excellent work done under the previous Government to advance the water maintenance pilot scheme, which was designed to foster collaboration between farmers and the National Farmers Union, local drainage boards and the EA. The scheme enabled greater co-ordination and common-sense flexibility in the management of waterways—for example, by training local landowners in how to manage watercourses, and then allowing them to carry out their own minor channel clearance and maintenance work for themselves. The scheme helped to avoid the ludicrous, heartbreaking situation in which local people can see a problem with a local watercourse, are aware it is going to flood their farm, land or their home, and have the equipment and the know-how to do something about it, but the law prevents them from doing so. It is illogical. Public sector co-operation agreements already exist to help streamline those schemes and place participants on a clear legal footing. One of the great local successes under that framework was the 2018 silt dredging of the South Forty-Foot drain, a farmland drainage channel dating from the 17th century, under a PSCA between the Black Sluice drainage board and the EA. Why have the lessons of those schemes not been applied more widely? Since the last election, the scheme in my own constituency has ground to a halt, and with it have gone the benefits that were already accruing. Will the Minister commit to supporting those schemes and encouraging their wider roll-out? As she looks to her budgets, it is worth recognising that it is much cheaper for the IDB to clear drains and ditches than for the EA to do so, since the EA’s procurement process is so cumbersome that it becomes significantly more expensive. One of the things that frustrates many local people in my constituency is that they could do the job and get it done much quicker. They are waiting, and places are flooding while it is not getting done. Another thing that the Minister could discuss with the Treasury is that the IDB has been prevented from using red diesel in its pumps. The IDB has told me that the problem is that the pumps are placed in isolated places, and believe it or not, people are stealing the diesel. It is white diesel—it is expensive, so it is worth something—and people are stealing it from the pump, which is putting everyone at risk. The IDB feels that if it were red diesel in those pumps, theft would be much less likely. Brant Broughton is an area in which a number of houses flooded. We have had a less promising update from the Environment Agency in that respect; it says that it was expecting to receive a model of the river system around the summer of 2025.

• 13 Jun 2025 · Flood Prevention: Sleaford and North Hykeham · Hansard source

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  The Minister is nodding—I do not know whether she has an update on what the Environment Agency means by “the summer”. We were expecting the health plan in the spring, and that has been and gone, so if she could help with that, that would be really great. There is some concern about the overall cost-benefit ratio, given the number of houses. I encourage the Minister to remember that although the people who live in rural areas may live in areas that are less densely populated, they have as much right to a safe environment as anybody who lives in a more densely populated part of the country. There are more examples of communities in my constituency that have suffered the impacts of flooding and are crying out for a joined-up and proactive approach that will protect them from repeat occurrences in the future. In Washingborough and Timberland, a familiar story happened in recent floods: heavy rain, overwhelmed drainage and excessive water runoff led to communities being left to suffer. While the EA has carried out some channel clearance and vegetation management, flood reports make clear that responsibility falls between central agencies, the county council, landowners, and stakeholders such as Anglian Water. Once again, it is vital that open communication is at the heart of the strategy, and that politically motivated meddling is not allowed to get in the way. I took the chair of the Environment Agency and the former Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore), to visit the Delph at Washingborough when it was full. It was very clear that the EA’s priority had been to protect the small creatures living in the dyke by not clearing the vegetation out, but of course, once the floods came, those small creatures were no more anyway. It would have been much better for the creatures, the environment, and the wider countryside and the people who live there if those dykes had been cleared properly in the first place. Trees were literally growing in that dyke when we went to see it. There are two final communities facing specific future threats that I would like to highlight. In Ruskington, residents endured flooding in 2023 and 2024 caused by the overflow of Ruskington beck. I understand that the Environment Agency has been conducting bimonthly maintenance and debris removal, and is investigating a capital programme for defences in Ruskington as part of the next five-year funding period. Any scheme will have to meet economic viability criteria and defined cost-benefit metrics, despite future house building plans that will see more land covered, more people in at-risk areas, and more demand on drainage systems. As of December 2024, under the Government’s new targets, the central Lincolnshire partnership—of which North Kesteven forms a part—faces a house building target of 1,552 houses per year over the course of this Parliament, an 47% increase on the previous target. Can the Minister assure me that the cost-benefit analyses deciding the fate of future flood defence schemes will take account of the Government’s rampant house building plans, and will account for all the ways in which flooding impacts a community such as Ruskington, from work hours lost to home damage, insurance claims, watercourse repairs and drainage clearance? Finally, Anwick suffered in the floods of 2023, when the River Slea and its tributaries experienced very high water levels. The EA and Anglian Water have been engaged in positive liaisons to manage risks at the River Slea, Farroway drain and Anwick catchwater, but residents in Anwick contacted me in September 2024 when a sewage processing plant flooded, causing discharge and polluting smells across the area. I met Anglian Water to discuss those constituents’ concerns, but their bigger concerns are now about a biogas digester that may be built immediately next door. In this case too, it is vital that lessons are learned and that we avoid repeating mistakes that will lead to more disruption for local people in the future. Addressing the risks requires the careful allocation of money. A glance at the most recent funding allocations under the flood and coastal erosion risk management grant in aid scheme shows that many dozens of projects appear in the bidding process but receive no funding. The allocation data for the Upper Witham internal drainage board in my constituency shows 15 intended projects listed for completion between 2023 and 2040, but none has any grant funding at all allocated this year. Lincolnshire county council, meanwhile, is due to receive £103,500 in grant funding over 2025-26 for year one of the property flood resilience project. Two smaller projects will receive a total of £52,500 from non-grant public contributions, but 19 other projects will receive no funding at all. The Government have made much of the £2.65 billion in funding for flood defences that was announced in February, but as I have said before, governing effectively is about making choices. Can the Government clarify for my constituents how the EA is expected to prioritise its funding among the many equally important projects that need support, especially in light of cuts to the DEFRA budget? How much money is spent on developing schemes that subsequently do not come to fruition? What is the estimated cost—in household damage, lost output and broader economic terms—of deciding not to act? As I mentioned earlier, the hard-working farmers in my constituency do so much for our local and national economy and for this country’s food security, and it is vital that we remember them. What will become of agricultural productivity in areas left with inadequate flood defences? What will happen to food security when some of our best-quality agricultural land is lost to frequent inundation, and how are farmers meant to prepare for this uncertainty–—in economic and practical terms—when they already face such a heady mix of threats to their livelihoods? Just as farmers have been left to face the family farm tax instituted by the Labour party and have suffered the sudden loss of the sustainable farming incentive, they will also face the threat of flooding, without the help and support they need, if this Government fail to act in the long-term interests of rural communities. We have reached the time for action on flood prevention and resilience. As I noted earlier, the way to manage the risks is with local knowledge, collaborative and long-term management strategies, and proper funding—essentially, with basic common sense. First, we must keep the valuable expertise of local people within the decision-making system. IDBs, local farmers and expert local committees know their land best, and we must give them the tools and authority to manage their own environments. Secondly, we must build on projects such as the water maintenance pilot to foster long-term planning and inter-agency working. We can do more: the creation of a Lincolnshire rivers authority, for example, would provide a structured platform for long-term flood planning that could be tailored to the needs of local people, rather than to the nationwide EA or DEFRA frameworks. Finally, we must ensure that vital projects receive the necessary funding, without being held up by central agencies’ cost-benefit frameworks. Local authorities should hold budgetary power as well as decision-making power to make sure that interventions are made where they are needed most, and in a timely and efficient way. With these measures, we can make sure that local people have control over their own local environment and give them the tools they need to prevent the devastating impacts of flooding, which have blighted some areas of Lincolnshire for too long.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Long-term Medical Conditions · Hansard source

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  There is a question that I have been wondering about. Baroness Casey is doing a report for the Government on social care, but she is also doing a report on child abuse. We were told initially that those reports would run consecutively, but they appear now to be running concurrently. I do not necessarily expect the Minister to be able to answer the question now, because she is standing in for somebody else, but it would be helpful if she could get us a written answer on what proportion of Baroness Casey’s time is currently devoted to the Home Office, and what proportion to healthcare.

• 12 Jun 2025 · Long-term Medical Conditions · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I congratulate the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket (Peter Prinsley) on securing this important debate. I declare an interest as an NHS consultant paediatrician. In my clinical work, I have seen at first hand the impact that chronic conditions can have not just on the health of individuals but on their families, their carers and their wider communities. These are conditions that can shape daily life in profound and enduring ways. In some respects, the increased prevalence of long-term conditions is a success story for the medical fraternity, because some conditions that previously would have led to a patient’s death can now be managed effectively for a longer period of time, and people can continue to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives. There is no silver bullet for tackling such conditions, but effective interventions and systems can improve quality of life, enable independence —we have heard about the importance of that—and reduce avoidable healthcare costs. Such interventions require a co-ordinated, whole-system approach, bringing together local authorities, NHS trusts, public health, education, social care and the voluntary sector. I am glad that the Government are talking about a move away from reactive and acute-based care towards prevention, rehabilitation and supported self-management in the long term. I note that the hon. Member talked about care on Teesside some years ago. As someone who grew up on Teesside, I remember the Carter Bequest hospital—I do not know whether his father had anything to do with that—which was the local community hospital providing community care for many local residents. We increasingly see patients living with not just one long-term illness but multiple long-term illnesses, known as multi-morbidity. That provides challenges, because sometimes the medication that one would ideally provide a patient for condition A is complicated because they also have condition B, for which they are taking something else that would interact with that medication. A patient might also need an operation but not be able to have it because another condition makes the anaesthetic risk too high, so the management of the second condition might have to be suboptimal as a result of the first condition. Some people have more than two conditions. One of the challenges that people with long-term conditions will face is staffing and workforce. I notice that the Government have decided to cancel, or at least significantly reduce the availability of, level 7 apprenticeships, which train our specialist nurses in advanced clinical practice, our district nurses and our community nurses. Will the Minister talk to her colleagues in the Department for Education about how there can be a move towards community care and prevention if they are going to make it more difficult to train the people who would provide that care? The hon. Member for Eastbourne (Josh Babarinde) talked about the delay in follow-up appointments. I have seen that myself. One of the challenges is that when one is under pressure to meet the 18-week pathway and there is no similar pressure on follow-up appointment timings, the consultant’s clinic inevitably ends up with more new patients and fewer follow-ups. The follow-ups get pushed back, often for many months. How will the Minister’s team ensure that the pressure to meet the 18-week pathway does not cause chronic illness to be covered less well than it is now? I was also interested in what the hon. Member for Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones) had to say about exercise and lifestyle. I see a lot of children with varying conditions in my clinics as a paediatrician, and I have been amazed by how fresh air and exercise, diet and hydration, sleep, and not spending hours on computers, particularly in the evening and through the night, can make a whole range of medical conditions better. We know that the same is true of adult care in some cases. While it is not the cure for all conditions—of course it is not—in some cases it can help people to live better with the conditions that they have. I am interested that in some cases people are allowed only a few physio appointments before they get referred back to their GP. Perhaps longer courses of physio treatment could help people a little more. Multimorbidity was recognised as a priority in the previous Government’s health and care White Paper in 2022. Community diagnostic centres opened in order to play a vital role in providing quicker access to essential tests, dealing with the backlog left by the covid pandemic. There are two centres near my constituency, in Grantham and Lincoln. I visited the one in Lincoln recently, which has had very good feedback from constituents and is providing a great service. Can the Minister confirm that community diagnostic centres will continue to be well funded following the spending review? The previous Government launched a major conditions strategy in 2023, aiming to address six key areas—cancer, heart disease, musculoskeletal disorders, mental ill health, dementia and respiratory disease—but the current Government have paused work on this strategy. They came to power saying that they had a plan. They stopped the plan that we had, because they wanted to think of their own, which is fair enough. But we are now three weeks out from the first anniversary of their election, and still this magic plan has not appeared. I say to the Minister that this is too long to wait for people who are unwell. Can she, at the very least, commit that the 10-year plan will be published before we have lost one year in which the Government could have started delivering it? Musculoskeletal conditions are particularly common long-term conditions, affecting around 20 million people in the UK—that is a third of women and about 30% of men. They are the second most common cause of economic inactivity after mental health, and take a considerable toll. I thank advocacy organisations such as Versus Arthritis for their tireless campaigning on this issue. They have highlighted how these conditions disproportionately affect women and those living in deprived communities. The recent cuts to the personal independence payments proposed by the Government have disproportionately affected people with MSK conditions. Have the Government conducted an impact assessment? My concern with the PIP changes is that they were announced to meet an economic target, rather than being properly thought through. Can the Minister confirm whether they have been properly thought through? Has an impact assessment been conducted, and if so, will she ensure that it is published so that we can all study it in some detail? Mental health should be treated as a core component of long-term care. People with long-term conditions are two to three times more likely to experience mental ill health. Research shows that people who are confident in managing their long-term conditions have not just fewer A&E visits and hospital admissions but better mental health. What concrete steps are the Government taking to improve mental health provisions specifically for those with long-term conditions? Rehabilitation can be just as important to health outcomes as medicine and surgery. As was mentioned earlier in the context of strokes, some people have very good stroke rehab care, but for others that is less of the case. Rehabilitation, particularly early rehabilitation, is very important. Providing timely rehab and self-management advice would significantly reduce the number of people diagnosed with health conditions in their 40s and 50s, for example, being pushed out of the workforce, which drives both income and health inequality. Is improved access to community rehabilitation for people with long-term conditions part of the Government’s plan to shift from hospital to community care, keeping people out of hospital and in work for longer? I know that the plan is not published yet, but perhaps the Minister knows. Long-term conditions will define the health and social care agenda of the next decade. That requires a joined-up strategy across healthcare, the Department of Work and Pensions, and social care, and for the Government to support the most vulnerable and maximise the quality of life for all our constituents who suffer from long-term conditions.

• 11 Jun 2025 · NHS Funding: South-west · Hansard source

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  I would need to look at that separately and come back to the hon. Member on it, although he should perhaps direct his question to the Minister, as she has control at the Department at the moment. The problem with cutting both the ICBs and NHS England is that it risks destabilising the very structures that are designed to deliver care simultaneously. The chief executive of NHS England has stated that legislation will be required to change the duties on ICBs. When do the Government intend to introduce the health Bill and, when they do so, can the Minister rule out the removal of the duty in the Health and Care Act 2022 requiring integrated care systems to commission dental services? In paragraph 5.12 of the spending review, the Government say that 92% of patients will start consultant-led treatment for non-urgent health conditions within 18 weeks, but The Times has reported that the figure is closer to 80%. Can the Minister please clarify where the 92% figure has come from, and if she is unable to do so today, will she write to me? Much of this debate has been about infrastructure. Since the last general election, Ministers have pledged to deliver the new hospitals programme in full, without caveats or conditions. However, in Torbay, for example, the rebuilding has been pushed back, with construction now expected to begin between 2033 and 2035. Thanks to the efforts of my hon. Friend the Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith), Ministers have given the greenlight to rebuilding Derriford hospital’s new accident and emergency facility. Can the Minister confirm if there are plans to bring any of the other projects forward? Let me turn to national insurance contributions. The Royal College of General Practitioners has described the national insurance increase as, “the straw that breaks the camel’s back, forcing them to make tough decisions on redundancies or even closing their practice”. The Government’s promise to recruit more GPs is welcome, but hiking national insurance puts that pledge in jeopardy, as GPs will have no choice but to cut staff numbers. This is a false economy, so will the Minister use any of the money allocated today to help those services, such as GPs, air ambulances, hospices, pharmacies and others, that are affected by the national insurance contribution rise? It will not have escaped Members’ notice that, despite the Chancellor promising that the NHS plan would arrive by spring, we are now at the start of summer—indeed, the Government promised that they had one before the election last year. Will the Minister provide some clarity on when we can expect this long-awaited plan?

• 11 Jun 2025 · NHS Funding: South-west · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq, and a privilege to contribute to this important debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) on securing the debate at such a timely point, following today’s spending review. The focus on NHS funding, particularly in underserved regions such as the south-west, is welcome, so that every area of the UK is properly equipped to meet the healthcare needs of all communities. I, too, represent a predominantly rural constituency, so I am keenly aware of the unique challenges in healthcare provision facing remote areas. Geography should not be a barrier to treatment, but for many in the south-west and beyond, it still is. We heard in the spending review today that the NHS will receive a substantial cash uplift. We must ensure this money is spent in the most effective way possible. We do not have the allocations yet, but can the Minister enlighten us on whether there will be an amount allocated particularly for rural healthcare. The spending review document talks about efficiencies of £9 billion to be achieved by the Department of Health and Social Care. Can the Minister elaborate on how those efficiencies will be achieved? Much has been said already about the financial pressures facing integrated care boards. The Government’s proposal to restructure NHS clusters in the south-west into larger conglomerates is presented as a move towards greater efficiency, but care must be taken that this does not come at the expense of local responsiveness or patient outcomes. NHS England is legally required to assess the performance of each ICB annually and publish its findings. However, the Government have decided at the same time to abolish NHS England—a decision they took without a proper impact assessment.

• 10 Jun 2025 · Nuclear Power: Investment · Hansard source

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  Happy birthday, Mr Speaker. Energy security is important, so I welcome this investment in nuclear. One more small modular reactor can power a million homes using just two football pitches-worth of land, while solar needs 2,000 acres of good-quality farmland to power 50,000 homes. Will the right hon. Gentleman consider the importance of food security as well as energy security, reconsider the use of good-quality farmland for solar, and concentrate instead on producing nuclear?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Lady agree that car parks and rooftops might be a good place for solar, but this country’s prime agricultural land is not?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Non-stun Slaughter of Animals · Hansard source

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  When doing research for this debate, I found that the RSPCA states that 65% of all halal meat is pre-stunned; the rest of it, presumably, is not. Can the hon. Gentleman explain the difference, and why some meat would be classified as halal when it has been stunned and some would not?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Non-stun Slaughter of Animals · Hansard source

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  The Conservative Government had a consultation on food labelling, which was completed last May. The current Government said they would respond, but they have now had more than a year to do so. Does my hon. Friend agree that they need to get on with it and ensure they respond as quickly as possible?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Non-stun Slaughter of Animals · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman says that this is a long-standing practice for faith communities in the UK. I looked back, and there is UK legislation on this issue from the 1920s and 1930s that supports what he said. It looks like this Government have no intention of changing that. However, I have many constituents who would prefer not to eat animals that have not been stunned, because they are concerned about the pain that those animals may suffer. Would the hon. Gentleman support changes to legislation so that labels are placed on the food so that people know whether an animal has been stunned before slaughter and can make their own choices?

• 9 Jun 2025 · Winter Fuel Payment · Hansard source

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  The Minister talks about the NHS, and I wonder whether he recognises the number of elderly people who had to use the NHS as a result of having been cold because of his policies. I want to ask him a very specific question. He said: “All pensioners with incomes up to and including £35,000 will benefit from support”. He also said: “Individual pensioners with taxable income above £35,000 will have any winter fuel payment automatically recovered” through the tax system. Where a household has two individuals over the eligible age, what happens when one earns more than £35,000 and the other earns less? Will they get some, all or half of the winter fuel payment?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Free School Meals · Hansard source

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  I am delighted that more children will have school meals at lunch time. It is great for pupils to be well fed—as a paediatrician, I see the value of that. However, I want to ask about transitional protection and money. The transitional protection will take 1.2 million children out of this category; some may go back into it with UC. However, the robbing of the money from pupil premiums will leave schools £1.5 billion short. How does the Minister intend to replace that £1.5 billion for schools so that children can get a good education as well as school meals?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Government Announcements · Hansard source

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  It is not just by giving statements to the media that this Government disrespect the House. Just before we went into recess, we had a farcical situation where the shadow Secretary of State for Education had to bring forward an urgent question asking for a written statement to be made earlier in the day. The Government very clearly decided to make a written statement later in the day, and sent a Minister to come here, not answer hon. Members for the whole urgent question and refuse to say what the content of the written statement was—a statement that the Government had already written and intended to publish later that day. That was done simply to avoid scrutiny. What representation did the Leader of the House make on that day to ensure that information was given to the House in a timely fashion so that it could be scrutinised, rather than the Government hiding away?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Strategic Defence Review · Hansard source

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  Sleaford and North Hykeham is home to RAF Cranwell, RAF Digby, much of RAF Waddington and Beckingham training ranges. This defence review will be read with interest across the constituency. Many of my constituents serve in the armed forces, are veterans or work in the defence industry. Will the right hon. Gentleman give a commitment to the expansion of RAF Digby that is planned? Will he ensure that he supports the Greater Lincolnshire regional defence and security cluster, which was established in 2023?

• 22 May 2025 · Access to NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I will not because there is not much time at all. I met Eddie Crouch from the BDA recently, who talked about the national insurance costs. Before today’s announced pay rise, dental practices were facing a 9.5% increase in staff costs, again pushing more of them further to private practice. Will the Minister ask the Chancellor to exempt NHS dentists from the national insurance contribution rise? There has also been discussion about compelling dentists to do a proportion of their work in the NHS, either by compelling dentists who are newly trained or by incentivising with the use of student loan repayments. Have the Government considered that? We have many overseas trained dentists—some are British students who were trained overseas, some are foreign nationals—but the overseas registration exam has 2,000 people on its waiting list. Somewhat bizarrely, those who pass can work in the private sector, but not in the NHS without supervision. That seems somewhat incoherent. Does the Government have confidence in the exam or not? It is illogical to allow a person to practise as a private dentist but not in the NHS. It is also a clear disincentive to NHS practice. What good discussions have the Government had with the General Dental Council about this issue? My right hon. Friend the Member for Herne Bay and Sandwich (Sir Roger Gale) has repeatedly raised the issue of Ukrainian dentists. There are 200 Ukrainians dentists in the UK. Why not assess them and allow them to work? It is better for them and for us. Dentists form part of a wider team of hygienists, nurses, technicians and therapists. What are the Government doing to help people in each of those roles practise at the top of their skill range to provide greater dental care? What are the Government doing to support rural areas since they cancelled the mobile dental vans? What are they doing to ensure they deliver the 700,000 promised appointments a year, since they have delivered hardly any of them so far?

• 22 May 2025 · Access to NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I will not give way because there is very little time. It has been clear today that the NHS is not fit for purpose when it comes to dentistry. The Government need to get grip of this, and soon.

• 22 May 2025 · Access to NHS Dentistry · Hansard source

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  I congratulate the hon. Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) on securing this debate. Dentistry is important. Dentists do not just deal with our teeth; they deal with our mouth and gums, they identify physical diseases that include cancer and they prevent sepsis. Last month, I visited The Dental Design Studio in Sleaford to celebrate its 20th anniversary of great dentistry and I met some fabulous, committed professionals. Somewhat unexpectedly, given the venue, I was asked to help judge a cake competition. Members and my dentist will be pleased to know that I brushed my teeth very well afterwards. Access to NHS dentistry has been a problem for a very long time. When I moved house in 2001, there was no NHS dentist available and I travelled two hours to Redcar to see the wonderful dentist Mr Dixon for many years until he retired. After that, there was no dentist at all. Are we therefore short of dentists? No, we are not. The Conservative Government increased the number of new trainee places and the number of new dentists, and although the population increased, there are still more per capita than in 2010. As the Minister for Care has said, “The issue is not the number of dentists…but the paucity of dentists who are doing NHS work.” —[ Official Report , 25 March 2025; Vol. 764, c. 766.] I encourage the Minister for Secondary Care to consider more dental places, because we see that one in 15 of the youngsters who want to become a dentist is turned away and, as such, they go overseas to train or train to do something else. Will she commit to a dental school not just in Norwich, but in other underserved areas, such as Lincoln? The main problem, as many have identified, is the 2006 contract with the UDA bands for procedures, and there are several issues with that. First, the amounts vary between practices based on historical volume data; secondly, there is a disincentive to treat new or high-need patients; and thirdly, the UDA simply do not cover all the costs. The Conservatives improved that a little bit, ironing out some of the bizarre UDA contract terms and setting a new, higher floor for minimum UDAs. Yet there is much more to do, as we have heard today, to reform it completely. How are the Government getting on with that? Will the Minister give us an update, please? As the Public Accounts Committee notes, “NHSE and DHSC do not yet know what that reform might look like or to what timescales it can be delivered”, beyond a vague assertion that some reform is imminent.

• 22 May 2025 · School Teachers’ Review Body: Recommendations · Hansard source

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  For the Government to come here today, fulling knowing their pay rise intentions but refusing to say so until this afternoon to avoid scrutiny, is disrespectful to this House, to every Member, to every constituent and to every teacher. If I may say so, it is somewhat cowardly. Schools across my constituency find themselves short of money to cover national insurance bills. Five schools in my constituency that have approached me are £176,000 short between them. Does the Minister know how many schools are short of money to pay their national insurance bills?

• 22 May 2025 · Independent Sentencing Review · Hansard source

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  Crimes against children are among the worst crimes humanity can commit. There is relatively little, if anything at all, about offences against children in this review. Could the Lord Chancellor confirm that those who have abused children will not be allowed out early?

• 22 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Billinghay swimming pool in my constituency is a much-cherished local facility, which has sadly fallen into disrepair and been unable to open for the community this year. A very good local group is trying to raise funds to restore it. What can the Minister do to help?

• 21 May 2025 · Immigration · Hansard source

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  I visited Rwanda, and I was impressed by the facilities being built for the migrants due to go there. Does my right hon. Friend agree that, had the Rwanda scheme not been cancelled by the current Government, the people due to go there would be being cared for and would be setting up new and successful lives, and we would not have people dying in the channel?