Catherine Atkinson MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Sept 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  Madam Deputy Speaker, put yourself in the place of a victim of crime. You want to go out for a walk with your family, out to the park or to the other side of town, but you are worried that the perpetrator might see you there. You want to go for a night out or to support your football team, but you are worried about what they might do or how you might react if they are there too, so you do not. They are the one who was convicted, but you still feel like the prisoner. They received the sentence, but you are being punished. It happens too often, and I have come across cases like these not just as an MP but in my time as a barrister. This is a Bill whose time has come, because it turns that injustice on its head. Currently, some offenders can be excluded from certain limited areas, but under this Bill, they can be restricted from all areas apart from a limited one. Whether it is the pub, the match or driving around, expanding community punishments and licensing conditions will ensure that it is the offenders who face restrictions on what they can do and enjoy, not the victims. I do not need to tell my constituents in Derby North about the situation inherited from the Conservatives—a broken justice system, prisons full and in crisis, severe criminal court backlogs and decaying infrastructure—because too many of them live the reality of having to deal with the thousands of antisocial behaviour incidents that we see in our city every year. There is a need to tackle prolific and persistent offenders with strict monitoring and co-ordinated support. The expansion of intensive supervision courts is designed to do just that, and it is hugely welcomed by those I have spoken to who work in our criminal courts. They have said to me, “Roll this out as fast as possible.” The additional £700 million that this Government are investing in our Probation Service—with the recruitment of 1,000 trainee probation officers already and 1,300 more to be recruited in the next six months—is rebuilding that service. We are rebuilding after the Conservative Government’s vandalism, their failed experiment in privatising probation, which pushed it to crisis, and their having to bring it back into public hands. Probation officers work incredibly hard to keep our communities safe, and I am grateful that this Government are investing in their essential work. May I also take this opportunity to thank those who work in our prisons? The number of prisoners will, of course, still go up. The Government are building more prison places—something that the previous Government all but failed to do—and more offenders will be behind bars than ever before under this Government. We therefore need to turn prisons from creating better criminals to creating better citizens. The earned progression model rewards good behaviour and punishes bad behaviour in our prisons. It is an important tool to break the cycles of offending that we have seen for far too long, and when offenders stop offending, our communities are safer. The Minister of State for Prisons, Probation and Reducing Reoffending—a businessman who throughout his career enabled offenders to turn their lives around and to break those cycles—knows better than anyone how to make this work. I recently visited HMP Ranby to see how it is increasing the type of work that the prisoners there undertake, from creating furniture and doing laundry for prisons and other public services, saving taxpayers’ money, to working on reading and writing, or undertaking work for the private sector, giving offenders the skills to secure work on release. Utilising and increasing the opportunities for offenders to work in prison can build on the important measures in the Bill, reducing reoffending by giving them purpose and skills, while instilling a work routine. I will make that case in an Adjournment debate on 15 October. I am grateful for the opportunity to highlight these three aspects of the approach: the intensive supervision to tackle antisocial behaviour and prolific offending; measures to help end the revolving door of offending; and new restriction zones and community punishments to give freedom back to victims. The Bill was born of necessity, because of the mess in which the Conservatives left our prisons and criminal courts. While born of necessity, though, I am excited about the transformative difference that the Bill will make, so that fewer offenders reoffend, victims are where they must be—the focus of our criminal justice system—and our communities are safer as a result.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I think we can all agree that the better the technology and the real-time information that is needed, the more people will be encouraged to use our buses. We absolutely need to encourage more people to use our buses. Over the 15 years up to 2023, we saw a massive loss of bus services. Where the cuts hit has varied, but hardest hit was the east midlands region where we lost 60% of our bus services. The Transport Committee highlighted that decline in our report on buses that was published over the summer. We must not forget on whom bus investment impacts the most: the young, the elderly, those on low incomes and the disabled. Hon. Members will be shocked that I have got this far into my speech without mentioning trains, because I talk about rail quite a lot, which is entirely understandable as a Derby MP. Derby will be the home of Great British Railways. It is the city at the centre of the largest cluster of rail companies in Europe, and arguably globally. It is the city that a few weeks ago hosted the Greatest Gathering—the world’s largest ever gathering of historical and modern rail vehicles, which was described as a “Glastonbury for trains”—to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the modern railway. However, despite this rich rail heritage in the region, there are just over 100 rail stations for 5 million people. The region has the lowest proportion of people living within a 15 to 20-minute walk of a rail station in England, and about three quarters of those stations are served by just one train or fewer per hour. The capital of rail will be the region with the lowest train station usage per head in England. Our midlands main line that runs through the east midlands is the only main line route in England that is not yet fully electrified. It is electrified to Wigston, south of Leicester. East Midlands Railway will be putting on new bi-mode trains by the end of the year, so those living alongside the route up to Wigston will benefit and the 9 million passengers who use the line will get that far using electrified tracks. After Wigston, however, the trains will revert to diesel, and the rest of the densely populated line will continue to be exposed to more noise and tens of thousands of tonnes of CO 2 every year. Hundreds of people have written to me supporting the call for electrification.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered regional transport inequality. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate. It was originally due to take place on the first day back from the summer recess, but there was not time because so many people wanted to speak. I am grateful to those in attendance today. The importance of transport is completely understandable. Whether for travel to work and to healthcare appointments, meeting family and friends, or getting goods to the businesses that need them, transport keeps our country running, keeps life moving and keeps us all connected. This Labour Government are committed to opening up opportunities across our country, so it is important to address the historic and long-standing inequalities between regions when it comes to transport. Those of us who had the chance to go on holiday in the UK during our hot summer, which already seems quite a long time ago, have returned better acquainted with the transport infrastructure in each other’s constituencies—those who heard, “Are we there yet?” on repeat from the back seat are perhaps too acquainted. One of the benefits of being on the Transport Committee —as well as having esteemed colleagues, a number of whom are here today—is that every trip can be an unofficial fact-finding trip. We can compare, sometimes enviously, the newest tram extension, charging network or bus lane. Colleagues across the country are advocating for transport projects their constituencies. When we are successful in securing transport investment, that change brings people together, cuts costs for our businesses and allows people to access new opportunities, but when transport breaks down or gets cut, constituents suffer the consequences, often daily. One example in my constituency is the Darley Abbey Mills bridge, which was found to be unsafe and was shut, leaving people and businesses cut off and isolated. A temporary bridge was put in three years ago, but thanks to the new East Midlands Mayor, Claire Ward, funding has been secured to progress towards a business case for building a permanent bridge. One of the reasons that I was so keen to be on the Transport Committee was that transport is essential to economic growth and decarbonisation. The connectivity that transport brings is equally important up and down the country, but the amount of investment that regions get for transport has historically been miles apart. Transport is the most unequally distributed of areas of spending, including education and health. There are many colleagues here from the east midlands, which has the lowest transport expenditure per head of all the regions and nations in the United Kingdom. In 2023-24, it was £368 per person—just a quarter of the amount for London, and about half the average for England. If the east midlands had been allocated the UK average in the five years between 2019 and 2024, we would have received an additional £10 billion. To ensure prosperity reaches all corners of our country, more equal investment is vital, so I welcome the direction of travel in the spending review, including the £15.6 billion of investment in local transport projects for England’s city regions over the next five years—more than double the previous capital spending rates. That includes £2 billion of funding secured by our excellent East Midlands Mayor, Claire Ward. For years, there have been concerns that the UK Green Book—the Treasury’s official guidance for appraising public investments—is skewing how areas of need are identified. There has been an over-concentration of investment in high-GDP areas, neglecting the potential of other regions, which creates a vicious cycle. I welcome the Chancellor’s review, and I look forward to the new Green Book next year. To secure the transformational change that we need, this Labour Government are investing in areas that have been neglected and forgotten. Speaking of neglect, when it comes to potholes and the need to better maintain and improve our roads, this Government have increased capital funding to £24 billion over three years. That is particularly important for Derbyshire, which, according to the RAC, had the worst potholes in the country. With the better buses Bill, the Government have recognised the importance of bus travel.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for the support that my hon. Friend, alongside many colleagues, has shown for electrification and the benefits that it can bring. It would be a fitting celebration of 200 years of the modern railway to continue the electrification of the midland main line, which would bring jobs, skills and hundreds of millions of pounds in economic benefits particularly to the east midlands. I love my region, and like so many in this Chamber I know my region’s strengths and can imagine the possibilities if investment were genuinely equitably distributed around our country. If our regional transport was more equal, it would create more prosperity, economic growth, social equality, regional development and carbon reduction as well as better air quality. Our transport infrastructure is the country’s circulatory system: it connects and enriches wherever it reaches. If someone’s circulation is not great, they feel the cold a little more in their fingers, as I well know. If it is restricted more, their arms and legs get fatigue, numbness and pain. In the extreme, it eventually leads to organ failure. That is where we had been heading for far too long, but over the last year the Government have been getting the blood pumping again.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting the debate. I thank my many colleagues who spoke passionately and persuasively for better transport options for their regions, but also raised fantastic examples of new investment. The number of contributions shows how important transport equality is, and it is hugely heartening to hear the progress being made by this Government, backed by actual funding. I thank the Minister for his response. When it comes to regional transport equality, some of us may sit behind the Minister and echo my children’s oft-used refrain, “Are we nearly there yet?” but now we have a Government who have us driving in the right direction, on track to unlock the economic potential across the whole country. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered regional transport inequality.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Regional Transport Inequality · Hansard source

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  I am just about to finish. If the UK is a body, Derby is geographically at its heart and is asking to have the same chance as everywhere else to be connected. We need to maintain our change of direction to reduce the inequality in the spend per person on transport, stay on track towards the reduction, and ultimately the elimination, of regional transport inequality, and deliver fair funding for transport.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Defence Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  This morning, I was at the Nuclear Skills Academy in Derby. It is a partnership between Rolls-Royce and the University of Derby that teaches the skills needed to create the reactors that power our submarines, and it delivers 200 apprenticeships a year. The defence industrial strategy delivers the biggest investment in defence skills in decades. Can the Minister tell us more about how it will help smaller defence suppliers to secure the skills that they need, too?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths · Hansard source

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  I strongly endorse what my hon. Friend says. The majority of the people First Steps ED support are children and young people, but sadly demand is at a record high, outpacing the support available. I welcome the additional funding that the Government are giving to these services, but does my hon. Friend agree that ensuring early support for young patients is vital and cannot be left to charities alone?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse · Hansard source

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  The crime of group-based child sexual exploitation is probably the most heinous imaginable. It is so brave of victims to speak out, seek justice and drive change so that other young lives are protected from such crimes. Can the Minister tell us more about how the national inquiry will engage with victims and survivors and ensure that their voices—and the voices of those who previously bravely contributed to investigations and inquiries—are central to the recommendations? Unlike the criminal law, the criminal injuries compensation scheme does not recognise that children cannot legally consent, and excludes those who have been deemed to consent from compensation. Will the Minister work with the Victims Minister—the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones)—to right that injustice?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  More than 60 year 4 pupils from Walter Evans primary school in Derby wrote to me and the Secretary of State worried about sewage dumping and plastic pollution in our rivers. I thank the Secretary of State for his clear commitment that the Government will halve pollution in our rivers by 2030. Does he agree that had the Conservatives taken action of that kind when they came to power 14 years ago, my nine-year-old constituents would have known cleaner rivers all their lives?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Further Education Estate · Hansard source

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  6. What steps she is taking to help improve the condition of the further education college estate.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Further Education Estate · Hansard source

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  The oldest surviving locomotive roundhouse in Britain is in Derby, and what was once at the forefront of Victorian engineering is now a cutting-edge learning environment for local young people who will build the homes of the future. But the site is full to bursting—Derby college needs more space. Does the Minister agree that if it became a construction technical excellence college, it could extend its site, increase its capacity in brickwork, carpentry and joinery by 50%, and teach more students the construction skills we desperately need?

• 15 Jul 2025 · Afghanistan · Hansard source

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  My husband served in Afghanistan and has always felt keenly the debt that our country owes to those who worked alongside and supported our forces, and I know that many of my constituents who served there feel the same. If we fail to honour our debts, why should people in future conflicts trust us and support our troops? Does the Defence Secretary share that concern? Does he also agree that it is right that we offer a warm welcome to the Afghans who come to our country seeking sanctuary?

• 14 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We are seeing massive investment in the regeneration of Derby city centre, including the opening of a new entertainment venue and the reopening of our market hall, which is bursting with small and independent businesses. Regeneration also means ensuring that our city feels safe, welcoming and inclusive. Will the Minister tell us how the Department is working with the Home Office to ensure that our cities and towns are thriving and safe?

• 9 Jul 2025 · Trial by Jury: Proposed Restrictions · Hansard source

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  After 14 years of Conservative government, victims of rape and serious sexual crimes are waiting years to see justice. It appears that the shadow Justice Secretary has recently discovered that our criminal justice system is broken. When does the Minister think he will discover who broke it?

• 8 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Derbyshire Victim Services does really important work supporting victims, including those who have experienced sexual assault and domestic violence, but given the court backlog inherited from the Conservative Government, the service has told me that many of the victims are in need of support for longer, with many having complex needs that public services can struggle to meet. What steps is the Department taking to help support services to provide support to victims with complex needs that are exacerbated when justice is delayed?

• 1 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Backing Rolls-Royce, a brilliant Derby business, to deliver small modular reactors with £2.5 billion of investment shows what Labour’s new industrial strategy is about—backing British business, creating more skilled jobs and delivering clean, secure energy. Does the Chancellor agree that, after years of chaos under the Conservatives, Britain is unashamedly open for business?

• 26 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I met taxi drivers in Derby, at a meeting organised by the GMB, who are proud of the work they do. They want high standards across the board; what actions is the Minister taking to review taxi licensing, so that everyone can have confidence that the taxi and private hire industry is reliable, sustainable, and safe for passengers and the drivers themselves?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Department for Transport · Hansard source

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  Mayor of the East Midlands, Claire Ward, has secured £2 billion for transport to and between Derby and Nottingham. Considering that the east midlands has languished at the bottom of the list for transport spend per person, does my hon. Friend agree that this Government are taking strides to ensure that the growth that comes through transport is felt in every corner of the country?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Department for Transport · Hansard source

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  In the east midlands, we saw our bus routes cut by 60% under successive Conservative Governments. Does my hon. Friend agree that buses have a huge impact upon people’s lives and their ability to access opportunities in training and work, to get to health appointments and to connect with family and friends? Does my hon. Friend agree and welcome this Labour Government’s focus on enabling better bus travel, which is the right direction to go?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Criminal Justice · Hansard source

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  With 80% of offenders being reoffenders, does that not show that our current system is really broken and that we need a different approach? Does my hon. Friend agree that we have an opportunity with the sentencing review to keep our communities safer by properly addressing reoffending?

• 25 Jun 2025 · National Armaments Director · Hansard source

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  My husband was an Army reservist who served in Afghanistan. He has not told me a great deal about what his job entailed, but he has told me about taking flights in helicopters that hugged mountains on which the burned-out remnants of Soviet tanks stood ghostly guard; about his interactions with the people in the Afghan army and the civilians who worked with us; about buying bread from locals; and about visiting the children being treated in the hospital on the international security assistance force army base. Our armed forces are the best in the world. That can be a throwaway phrase used by politicians, but it is one that I stand by, and I know that many families of our armed forces, both in Derby and across the country, stand by it too. As we celebrate Armed Forces Week in Derby, I will be thinking of them. It is essential that our armed forces have the kit, the arms and the technology that they need, and in my view, those who serve our national security by working in the defence industry and their families should have their contribution celebrated, too. We are in a new era of threat that demands a new era for UK defence, so it was absolutely right for this Government to announce the largest sustained increase to defence spending since the end of the cold war, and to have already boosted defence spending by £5 billion this year. As the Government increase defence spending, they are making defence an engine for growth, boosting prosperity, jobs and growth in every corner of the UK. Over the last few weeks, Derby has been mentioned many times in this Chamber. It is one of many cities benefiting from the Government’s commitment to defence and security, which is creating the skilled, secure jobs that we see in our city and across Derbyshire and the east midlands. Under the new defence industrial strategy, UK-based firms will be prioritised for Government investment, and that will drive economic growth, boost British jobs and strengthen national security. Under the last Government, small businesses often felt locked out of defence, and just 4% of Government defence spend went to small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government’s specific support will open the door to small businesses. Derby has a large part to play in this, because we make things there. Rolls-Royce in Derby is known for having created the Merlin engine, first produced in 1936 and used in Lancaster bombers, Spitfires and Hurricanes, but we also have Rolls-Royce Submarines, which builds the nuclear reactors that power our at-sea deterrent. The UK’s submarines are the most awesome and lethal machines in the world’s history. I believe in the power of politics and the power of negotiation to preserve peace, which we all desperately want. However, we have to acknowledge that our submarines, with their sheer size and power, have spoken louder than words for more than 60 years, and they help to underwrite our security. We cannot wish away the threats that are growing; we have to deter them. Time and again, our Prime Minister has confirmed that security and defence are the first duty of Government, and that priority can be seen in the investment that is being made. From submarines to drones, Derby has a major role to play in supporting the Government in making and keeping Britain safe, so that it is secure at home and strong abroad.

• 23 Jun 2025 · UK Modern Industrial Strategy · Hansard source

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  Worryingly, only 9% of secondary vocational learners are studying engineering, manufacturing and construction compared with the OECD average of 32%, so I warmly welcome that this industrial strategy confirms a £100 million investment to support engineering skills in England. Will the Secretary of State outline how that funding will help to meet skills shortages and deliver growth across the country, including in engineering cities such as Derby?

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

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 18 Jun 2025 · HS2 Reset · Hansard source

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  The Conservatives announced that they were scrapping the northern leg of HS2 in a former railway station, summing up their attitude to the railway and sending shockwaves through the industry, including in Derby, a rail city that will be building the HS2 trains. Will the Transport Secretary ensure certainty and timeliness going forward, so that the industry can have confidence that we will not see further delays, which have already been so damaging for the supply chain?