Catherine Atkinson MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend, whose constituency includes five towns; I can understand why public transport is important to ensure their success and that they thrive. We need a number of options and a new relationship with the owners of empty properties. They must understand that if they invest in our centre, they have a special public responsibility. An avoidable eyesore is not acceptable for any period of time. When there is a vacancy, there should be immediate work to ensure that the street scene remains attractive, with advertising displays or local art commissions in the windows of local vacant units. There should be a presumption of meanwhile use or pop-ups. I commend Carley Foster, professor of services marketing at the University of Derby, for her work on pop-up retail. A number of possible solutions should be looked at. As has already been mentioned, community ownership will play a key role. The Government’s community right to buy will help local people acquire valued community spaces if they come up for sale, with support and financing help for community ownership to ensure that communities can use the powers that they will have. The organisation Power to Change suggests a civic high streets accelerator to do that. Another way to get occupancy up would be high street rental auctions. I understand we would need only secondary legislation, so I would be grateful for an update from the Minister on the timing of that and an assurance that the auctions would include protections for vacant pubs so that they are not lost. Partnerships for Better Business Ltd, which supports the business improvement districts, suggests that a penalty could be applied to vacant properties similar to that available to vacant residential property. We should also look at compulsory purchase orders when owners or property agencies completely and entirely fail to engage. On the other hand, there must be a real celebration and appreciation of the owners who do the right thing and keep occupation rates high and our city centres looking at their best. In conclusion, I am so grateful for having been granted this debate to speak about my pride in our heritage, small businesses and plans for regeneration in Derby, and for that opportunity to be granted to other hon. Members here today. I hope the Minister can update us on the Government’s progress on the five-point plan to support small businesses on our high streets. I have called today for a specific strategy on vacant shops and for cross-Government co-ordination of efforts to regenerate our town and city centres so that when it comes to future Remembrance Sundays, we look around not just with absolute pride in the people but in every aspect of the built environment. We want to see city and town centres fit for heroes—yes, those remembered in the war memorials, but also the everyday heroes: our constituents, who work day in, day out for their families and communities. They deserve nothing less.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Access to Primary Care · Hansard source

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  17. What assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of patient access to primary care services.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Access to Primary Care · Hansard source

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  Residents in Mickleover have been queuing from 7 am to get an appointment with their GP, and Healthwatch says that seven in 10 people in Derby find it very difficult to book appointments. That is the legacy of the previous Government. With new homes being built in and around Mickleover, we need even more additional capacity. Does the Minister agree that GP capacity must be a priority?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The east midlands has the lowest level of transport spend per person, at just 56% of the national average. The state of the transport network we have inherited comes nowhere near the level of ambition that I know my colleagues in the east midlands and our new mayor have for economic growth. If the region received the average level of funding across the UK, we would have an extra £1.29 billion every year. May we have a debate about inequalities in regional transport spending?

• 10 Oct 2024 · Midland Main Line: Electrification · Hansard source

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  8. What recent progress has been made on the electrification of the midland main line.

• 10 Oct 2024 · Midland Main Line: Electrification · Hansard source

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  The full electrification of the midland main line would significantly reduce railway operating costs and cut 42,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually. Current work on the line will finish soon. Moving ahead with the rest of the project would retain the multidisciplinary skills and supply chain needed for rail electrification in the UK. The Department has already given us so much good news for rail, so can the Minister give us some more good news on this very important question?

• 5 Sept 2024 · SEND Provision · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 5 Sept 2024 · SEND Provision · Hansard source

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  My constituent, Hayley, wrote on my social media, “After years of being unheard or ignored, I feel a small sense of relief that this is now being taken to parliament and discussed, even though I understand there is a long way to go”. I thank the Minister for her speech. Can I share with her, another time, the testimonies of the many constituents who have contacted me ahead of this debate?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill · Hansard source

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  I will address my remarks to my amendment 7. It is a probing amendment, whose main purpose is to raise and discuss procurement reform. I start with good news: 100 new jobs at Alstom Derby, refurbishing CrossCountry’s Voyager fleet, in an upgrade worth £60 million. Train manufacturing in Derby was at death’s door some months ago, and now it has a heartbeat, with 10 trains for the Elizabeth line in the pipeline. I thank the Transport Secretary and many other hon. Members for their extraordinary support in the dark days some months ago, when hundreds of jobs at Alstom—thousands when we consider the supply chain and agency workers—were being lost. The city came together to demand action. No one wants to see their city or their workplace go through that, so we need to see an end to boom and bust, replaced with consistency and certainty. We need crisis and sticking plasters to be replaced with long-term funding and stable projects. We saw a failure to act in that way when privatisation happened. When British Rail was split up, there was real concern that the upheaval would crush the world-renowned expertise in the supply chain in Derbyshire. According to Hansard on 20 December 1994, in that year alone, 5,000 jobs were lost nationally. That was one of the first unnecessary tragedies of privatisation. In spite of that setback, more than 10,000 workers are employed today in Europe’s largest and most diverse rail cluster, centred around Derby. It covers every aspect of the railway supply chain. Since the Bill’s Second Reading, I have been pleased to visit and meet with rail forum members, including Hübner, Serco, DB ESG, Resonate and Millennium Site Services, which are all enthusiastic about working with this Government to deliver improvements to rail. The Transport Secretary said on Second Reading: “As private operators are brought in, their contracts and supply chains will be considered, to ensure that they are delivering the best possible service for passengers.” —[ Official Report , 29 July 2024; Vol. 752, c. 1074.] My amendment seeks to establish what details publications related to that consideration should include. Specifically, the amendment suggests that details should include the approach towards “technological development…the management of demand and supply…the supply chain…future sectoral planning.” Through better procurement we can also speed up delivery, reduce costs and create social value. That point was made in the Maier rail and urban transport review, which was recently published—I commend the Transport Secretary on commissioning it. One of its valuable recommendations is that the Rail Minister should be given responsibility for working in partnership with business to support the establishment of local supply chain capability. It makes the point that as supply chain capability goes up, costs and skills shortages come down. I started with the good news of 100 jobs at Alstom, but there is no complacency in Derby, because we are looking five and 10 years ahead, and I know there is no complacency from the Transport Secretary. On Second Reading, my hon. Friend the Member for Easington (Grahame Morris) reminded the House that to meet decarbonisation goals, the UK needs to upgrade up to 4,000 rolling stock units. With management of contracts and sectoral planning, there is enough domestic work to create a stable base for train builders and their suppliers, who can then top that up with exports. I therefore look forward to hearing from the Minister how we can get the structure right now for delivery in the future.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  There were nearly 400 offences of violence against women and girls in Derby in 2022-23—shamefully, a fifth of all crimes in the city. I welcome the £83,000 for closed circuit television that will be put into operation by our new Derbyshire police and crime commissioner, but what further support can this Government provide so that women feel safe, and are safe, in our city centres?

• 29 Jul 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  22. What steps her Department plans to take to tackle violence against women and girls.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill · Hansard source

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  This is a historic and significant Bill for the country, for the rail industry and for my constituency. The date of 25 April 2024 is one that I will not forget: it was when the Labour party published “Getting Britain Moving: Labour’s Plan to Fix Britain’s Railways”. The day after that, my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister wrote a piece in the Derby Telegraph pledging that after “200 years…at the heart of our railway industry…Derby will be at the heart of our rail renaissance” with a bigger and stronger version of Great British Railways, headquartered in Derby. That came at what was an extremely difficult time for Derby, with train manufacturing in the city on the ropes. The commitment that publicly owned rail would deliver for passengers, taxpayers and rail manufacturers was huge, because it meant that when rail in Derby came together and spoke with one voice, it was listened to. This legislation is in no way anti-private business. What is anti-private business is privatisation projects doomed to failure. Dynamic private businesses are as important to rail now as they have ever been, with everything from maintenance and testing to digital, data, and finance all part of the east midlands railway cluster, which is the largest in Europe. They will be looking for answers on how, as private businesses, they will work with the public operator. Any more that the Secretary of State can say on that would be welcomed. Those businesses will be partners in modernising the railways. Can we set out in this Bill or the rail reform Bill the need for long-term funding for modernisation? I appreciate that, as the Chancellor set out earlier, this Government are inheriting the worst set of economic circumstances since the post-war Labour Government who last brought the railways into public ownership. One area of savings that will come from this Bill will be on management fees and dividends, which would be better used on new technologies to make our railways greener and safer. The last steam locomotive was still being repaired in Derby in 1963. That was after a man had gone into space and 15 years after the railways were brought into public ownership. I do not want to be looking back, 15 years from now, saying that we did not invest enough in developing new locomotive technologies, losing out on the advantages. Instead, let us take inspiration from when Derby’s prototype high-speed train set a diesel-powered world record of 143 mph in 1973. This Bill is the embodiment of “move fast and fix things”. Once it is in place, we can start bringing services back into public ownership as they expire. I understand that the poor performance of the services could mean that happens faster. Can the Minister tell the House any more about that? I thank the Secretary of State for Transport for her support for the rail industry in Derby. She makes a great champion for the new publicly owned railway and can draw inspiration from Nye Bevan’s role when the NHS was brought into being, fighting off vested interests for the public interest. The public want to get off busy roads and they want to help the environment. What the Government are doing, with a strong champion like the Secretary of State, can be the spark that reignites our passion for rail travel. That will be essential to its renaissance. Improvements that passengers can see and feel are crucial and should be rolled out in tandem with the franchises being brought back into public ownership. Improvements set out in the “Getting Britain moving” document include automatic delay and cancellation refunds, a best price guarantee and better mobile connectivity. The timing of that rail Bill in relation to this one will be important. Can the Secretary of State update the House on when the next Bill will be laid? I want to get this important rail Bill moving, get passengers and goods moving and get our economy moving, so that we can move fast on our journey to a better and greener transport system.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Public Spending: Inheritance · Hansard source

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  For my constituents, this mess goes beyond money. It is about trust in politics. Does the Chancellor agree that the damage goes even deeper than the harm to our economy that she has set out?

• 25 Jul 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Derby is the latest victim of a trend in the publication of unflattering depictions of towns or cities for clickbait. May I invite journalists to visit, with me, the Museum of Making, the Quad cultural hub and the Déda creative centre for dance, take a boat trip up to Darley Abbey, have lunch at Birds and dinner at Darleys, and see the progress that the Labour council is making on the Becketwell performance venue, Derby market hall and the Guildhall theatre? I think that when all that regeneration work is done, Which? should repeat its survey of UK cities in the interests of fairness. May we have a debate about city centre regeneration?

• 24 Jul 2024 · Education and Opportunity · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I congratulate you on your new position, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth) on her first speech. I begin mine by paying tribute to my predecessor, Amanda Solloway, who was a committed advocate for those struggling with their mental health, and part of the generation of parliamentarians who have helped to make it acceptable to talk about. I also want to pay tribute to a woman who has been an incredible inspiration to me for her work representing our city and as the first woman leader of the Labour party and the first woman Foreign Secretary, the right hon. Dame Margaret Beckett. I am very pleased that we will continue to benefit from her wisdom in the other place. Looking out from the top of the Derby cathedral tower, to the north you can see the River Derwent, which wends its way to Darley Abbey and the magnificent mills in the Derwent valley, the birthplace of the industrial revolution. You can see the communities of Mackworth, New Zealand, Mickleover, Littleover, Stockbrook, California, Chaddesden, Breadsall Hilltop, Normanton, Oakwood and Darley, each with their own distinctive character and with a wonderful diversity of faiths and backgrounds. My own background, a mix of Lancastrian and Mexican American, is perhaps an unusual one, but I have never felt out of place—many communities, but one Derby. You can also see the Royal Derby hospital and the medical school that my right hon. Friend the Health Secretary has visited, which will benefit from the doubling of medical school places. You can see some of the sites where building work is regenerating the city, including the new Derby University business school. If you look over to the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker), you can see some of the industries in which many Derby North constituents work. Rolls-Royce, which my right hon. Friend the Chancellor rightly called “the very model of a great British business” when she was there a few weeks ago, is one of the businesses in Derby championing new technologies, excellence and expertise, and it is at the frontline in the fight against climate change. You can see Pride Park stadium, home of Derby County, back in the Championship, ready to bounce back like our city and our country. It is one of this country’s true community clubs that I hope will be protected for the future by the Football Governance Bill. Why have I described Derby North and its surroundings as if standing on top of the cathedral tower? Because I have been there. My nine-year-old son and I abseiled down it a year ago for the children’s hospice charity Rainbows. The reward was that awe-inspiring view, but the feeling was very similar to the fear I am experiencing now. People might assume that, after 17 years as a barrister, speaking in this place would be easy. They would be wrong. Speaking here for the first time, there is a very special sense of responsibility and humility, and neither role would have been possible without the good state education that I had. Wanting to give back is why I used to be a chair of governors at a nursery school and children’s centre. It is why I helped to lead the successful campaign to stop the closure of Ashgate nursery school. It is why I am committed to championing all the nurseries, schools and colleges and the university in Derby North. It is why I am so excited about the children’s wellbeing Bill that will break down barriers to opportunity for all our children and young people. The legendary Derby County manager Brian Clough summed it up: “I think everyone should have a book. I think everyone should have a nice classroom to go to. I think everyone should have the same opportunities…The chance to have a few bob and get on.” Who could disagree? Derby has a deep Labour tradition, returning the first Labour MP in England. Now Labour represents every corner of Derbyshire, and I feel that the voters have sent me not as an individual, but as part of a team. There is also a proud tradition of rail manufacturing that I will champion too. Two centuries of train building in Derby ground to a halt this year. Jobs were lost and, at the train manufacturer Alstom, nearly 1,000 years of welding experience walked out the door in a single day. Workers, their representatives and many others, not least my right hon. Friend the Transport Secretary, called for action. There is now a new order for trains for the Elizabeth line. The Mayor of London called my lobbying for new trains “a little intense.” I am afraid that is something this House may have to get used to. In Derby, Great British Railways will bring rail back into public ownership and help create the conditions for rail to thrive again. With its headquarters in Derby, Derby will be the rail capital of Britain. It is clear that we need an industrial strategy that commits to the midlands. The economy that was broken in Whitehall can only be rebuilt in the regions. The actor Robert Lindsay, who has supported me since I was a candidate in his home town of Ilkeston, is one of many who I need to thank for their enduring support. He congratulated me on my election using the words of his character Wolfie in “Citizen Smith”—“Power to the people.” There is no greater power that you can give to people than through education. It is a power that could ensure that everyone in Derby North fulfils their potential, so it is with pride that I support the Government’s strong emphasis on education, skills and opportunity. That is what will bring real power to the people. I hope to play my part in bringing about the change that Derby North and this country voted for.