Claire Hazelgrove MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 18 Dec 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Merry Christmas to all, Mr Speaker. Over the Christmas break, many of us across the constituency will enjoy getting out for a good walk in nature. I am particularly pleased that our Labour Government have confirmed that the first new national forest for 30 years, the Western forest, will be planted across our region, making it even easier for more people to do that in future. Will the Minister please set out how the early stages of the programme are progressing, and share more about the plans for this new forest and the benefits it will bring for local people?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Typhoon Fighter Sovereign Capability · Hansard source

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  On the workforce, will the hon. Member commend and welcome the great contribution of others across the country, such as those at Rolls-Royce in Filton in my constituency? Similarly, generations of people work there together, and it is wonderful to see. They have played a big part in helping us to secure the recent deal and will also play a key role in engine production and maintenance.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome our Government’s recent Typhoon deal with Türkiye, which will see the brilliant team at Rolls-Royce in Filton play a key role in engine production and maintenance. Will the Chancellor join me in congratulating them, our local small and medium-sized enterprises and others, and set out how integral she sees defence as an engine for growth?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Those working in our schools in South Gloucestershire do a brilliant job, but they receive the lowest funding per pupil in all of England via a funding formula inherited from the previous Government. Does the Minister have plans to review the formula as part of the impactful wider work to ensure that every child receives the education they need to thrive, no matter where they live?

• 21 Jul 2025 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  Cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas could not be more important. Having served on the Water (Special Measures) Bill Committee, I was glad that our Government have moved so quickly to begin that vital work. I welcome the further measures announced today. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that he will bring in the next changes as quickly as possible?

• 2 Jul 2025 · West Bank: Forced Displacement · Hansard source

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  I completely agree that what we are seeing on the ground in the west bank and in Gaza is horrendous. Does my hon. Friend agree that with the ultimate goal in mind of a lasting peace via a two-state solution, it is crucial that Palestinians are able to return to and rebuild their homes and lives? Does he also agree that to secure that future, there must not be any attempt to annex land in Gaza?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Care Settings: Right to Maintain Contact · Hansard source

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  One of my constituents, Tracy, came to speak with me at one of my first surgeries. Her mum, Doreen, was one of the individuals my hon. Friend is talking about; she was in a care home during the covid pandemic and was cut off from a lot of contact, and she suffered as a result. Would my hon. Friend agree that it is important those stories are heard as the next steps on this issue are considered?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The challenge of finding and keeping an NHS dentist is raised with me time and again across the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, and I welcome the early action that this Labour Government have taken to introduce more than 19,000 urgent care appointments across our integrated care board area. What will be the next steps to help ensure that NHS dentistry is opened up again to everybody?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Last week, my whole community was shocked and appalled to hear about the stabbing of a 15-year-old boy in Cribbs Causeway. Thankfully, he is stable, and I know we will all be thinking of him and his family at this time. Three 16-year-old boys have been charged. Could the Minister please set out what steps the Government are taking to tackle knife crime, including among young people who could have much brighter futures?

• 2 Jun 2025 · Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I will say at the outset that I will not use my full five minutes. I will not take interventions, so hopefully more people can give their speeches, too. Buses are a vital route to connecting people with each other and with opportunity, which is why this Bill, which will improve bus services, is so important. In the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, our story is very mixed. For those who live near a route served by a Metrobus, a Y bus or a T1, it is usually pretty quick to get into Bristol city centre, but problems arise when trying to get across our towns and villages on the outskirts of the city, where many of our places of work and study are based, as are many of our loved ones. For many people, including those unable to drive, getting to Southmead hospital, which is just next door in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Bristol North West (Darren Jones), is all but impossible using public transport, because, like our communities, it is outside the city centre. It is not uncommon for what should be a 10-minute drive to take around an hour on a bus, either because of the route or because one needs to change buses at the University of the West of England or Bristol Parkway. Often these stops are in the wrong direction and the travel times are simply not realistic, so people do not feel that they can leave their car at home, even when they want to. As a frequent bus user, I know how frustrating all this can be when, through no fault of our own, we are made late because of a ghost bus that did not show up, and we are left figuring out what to do at the side of the road. We have also had route changes, including to the No. 73. Instead of taking people to the mall at Cribbs Causeway, where many people work and shop, the bus now stops partway there—and these are the parts of our community that have regular access to a bus. We now have the bizarre scenario in which residents in Winterbourne are finally being served by a bus, but only because buses are being redirected through the village while the motorway bridge is being rebuilt. I am glad that our new Labour West of England Mayor joined my long-standing calls, and those of the community, for a proper solution for people in Winterbourne. I am also incredibly glad that our new Labour Government are giving local leaders and communities the opportunity to take back control of local buses through this Bill, and I was proud to campaign for that ahead of the election. I encourage fellow residents to fill in my latest survey about their experiences of local buses. After years of Tory under-investment nationally and a real lack of understanding of how important buses are, vital routes have been lost, but I am optimistic that if other regions can do this—just look at Manchester, Liverpool, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire, which are all at different points in their journeys but taking great strides forward—so can we. We must, because people in our community deserve the same opportunities as anyone else, anywhere else.

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

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes (Melanie Onn) for securing this debate. Today marks a year since the general election was called. Over the two-and-a-half years before then, I was out knocking on doors and listening to people across the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, as I still do almost every weekend. One of the issues raised with me the most was how hard it had become to find and keep an NHS dentist. Listening and acting on what matters locally, I took that campaign up. I raised those local issues with the then shadow Health Secretary, who kindly raised them here in the House of Commons for us before the election. Still there was no change from the Conservatives, who voted against Labour’s plans to rescue NHS dentistry and, remarkably, continued to do nothing. Conservative failure is far from a deterrent. I ran a survey asking local people what their experiences were— I thank fellow residents who took the time to complete it—and the findings were clear. Only 31% of those who completed my survey had an NHS dentist, but almost everyone without an NHS dentist—97%—wanted one. Notably, 65% of those without an NHS dentist said that it was because theirs went private, and nearly all respondents—94%—agreed that Labour’s plans to open up 700,000 more urgent appointments a year where they are most needed would help. Still no action came from the Conservatives, and local people voted for change. My very first question in this House was about ensuring we have the right infrastructure as our communities grow, including dentists. Living locally, I know how challenging this has become—I do not have an NHS dentist, either. While receiving official designation as a dental desert is not something anyone wants for their community, I am relieved that we finally have a Government who recognise the challenges we face. This Labour Government’s action means that across our integrated care board area we will now have an extra 19,000 urgent NHS dental appointments, and I know this will be just the beginning. The Government will reform the dental contract and examine how we can encourage more dentists to stay within the NHS, getting us back to that place where people can again pop that dentist’s appointment back on the calendar, whether they like going or not. I will not stand for a future where as many as six in 10 children have rotting teeth by the age of five, as they do in the Britain we have inherited. I will not stand for a future where the most common reason why children are admitted to hospital is tooth decay, as it is in the Britain we have inherited. I will continue to campaign for good access to NHS dentists across my community for as long as it takes, and I am glad to finally have a Government who I can work with—rather than have to fight against—to get the NHS dental services we need locally.

• 15 May 2025 · Recalled Offenders: Sentencing Limits · Hansard source

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  Like me, many residents across Filton and Bradly Stoke were rightly appalled last summer to discover the real situation left behind by the Conservative party. When it comes to prisons, does the Minister agree that this is an opportunity for the Conservative party to apologise?

• 15 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Residents across my constituency regularly raise with me the issue of potholes and the state of our roads in general. I greatly appreciate the additional funding provided by the Government to South Gloucestershire council to help with improvements. This is about safety. It also about pride of place and the costs of vehicle repairs—all these things matter—so what will the next steps be to support councils to keep roads up to scratch once the potholes are filled?

• 23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source

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  Indeed. Listening, acting and thinking of future generations: this is clearly a new Government. Our plan for change will build the infrastructure that Britain needs to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good, and I look forward to supporting that every step of the way.

• 23 Apr 2025 · Sewage · Hansard source

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  The future of our rivers, lakes and seas could not be more important, not just for us but for future generations, but after 14 years of Conservative failure to act—for a time, propped up by the Liberal Democrats—their future was looking lost at sea. I am proud that taking action to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas and to hold failing water bosses to account through the Water (Special Measures) Act 2025 was one of the first actions taken by our new Labour Government, and I was proud to serve on the Bill Committee. I know the issue is hugely important to fellow residents across my Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency. Locally, we care deeply about our litter, our environment and the future that we are forging for the next generations. Walks along the River Frome or the Bradley brook should not only be safe and healthy, but enjoyable for all. Our new Labour Government inherited a broken water system, with record levels of sewage being pumped into our waterways in towns, villages and cities across the country and along our glorious coastline. That has impacted health, tourism and how we see our places—declining and unloved by the previous Government, as profits only grew. This Labour Government are taking action and will continue to do so to turn the tide. I find it remarkable how little was actually done—not talked about, but done—when the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats were in government together, yet how willing they are to claim credit for the actions taken by this new Labour Government, while confusingly seeming to say that not very much is being done. They cannot have it both ways. Our Water (Special Measures) Act has introduced new powers to ban the payment of unfair bonuses to water bosses who fail to protect our environment, and to bring tough criminal charges against them personally if they break the law. The work of our dedicated Ministers has helped to open up over £100 billion of private sector investment to upgrade crumbling sewerage infrastructure. On top of all that, I was glad to hear the Secretary of State announce last autumn an independent water commission. The Cunliffe commission is the largest review of the water sector since privatisation. It is worth mentioning that anyone can contribute their views to the commission until 11.59 pm tonight, including people at home and Members of the parties on the Opposition Benches—

• 24 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Those who bravely serve in our forces should never lose their say in our country’s future, so I welcome the Government’s swift action to introduce the ability to use the veterans ID card as voter ID. May I ask the Minister what plans there are to ensure that veterans around the country are aware of this important change?

• 13 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Together with the Startup Coalition, I recently held a roundtable with brilliant local start-ups working out of Future Space at the University of the West of England. Issues that they have been facing for a long time include accessing the same opportunities and support for growth as larger businesses. Would the Minister please set out what support his Department will be providing so that our very smallest businesses can thrive too?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Rural Communities: Government Support · Hansard source

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  The issue of rural crime has come up a bit less in today’s debate, so I want to make sure that we have some moments to reflect on it, as the Minister has started to. Does he agree that the Government’s approach of having a cross-governmental rural crime strategy—it is the first of its kind—will tackle these issues in meaningful and long-lasting ways for rural communities?

• 6 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I declare an interest as a member of the all-party group on political and media literacy. We live in increasingly uncertain times, and we are seeing a real change as the threats we are facing move from the traditional to the digital, with things such as misinformation and disinformation on the rise. Given that, will the Leader of the House consider holding a debate on the importance of media literacy in preventing such misinformation, giving people the tools they need to fight against it themselves?

• 6 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Local people across my constituency have said how much they value and welcome the vast investment that we have seen in our public services, from our NHS to our schools and beyond. Will the Minister please set out what steps are also being taken to reform our public services, working with other Cabinet colleagues?

• 13 Feb 2025 · Ukraine · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know from her many welcome visits, my constituency is home to many defence companies that are playing a vital role in this conflict. Does she agree that it is crucial that we continue to support companies here in the UK to get military kit into the hands of those in Ukraine who need it most?

• 6 Feb 2025 · Financial Education · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew), the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people, for securing this debate. I should first declare not only my interests—I am vice-chair of the APPG, and have been a trustee of Girlguiding Bristol and South Gloucestershire, and of a brilliant local youth work charity, the Foundation for Active Community Engagement—but my deep and long-standing interest in this subject. Improving financial education for children and adults—our focus is on the former this afternoon—was the policy area among thousands of possible ones that I chose to focus on in my public policy master’s degree. Unfortunately, that was not because I thought financial education was going well, and that there could be lessons to apply to other policy areas, but because of how lacking financial education has been, including in my personal experience. There was a real lack of financial education at school in my otherwise excellent state education. Important information on different types of mortgages and the key differences between secured and unsecured loans should not feel new at the point of major financial commitment and, crucially, at the point of risk. In January 2020, the TUC reported that total unsecured household debt—that does not include mortgages, and typically has higher interest rates—rose to £407 billion, the highest ever level in the UK, and that was before the pandemic. Despite financial education having been added to the secondary curriculum in England through PSHE in 2014, the Money and Pensions Service found in 2022 that only 38% of young people recalled receiving financial education at school. It is important to be clear that this quest for better financial education is not about placing a higher value on any particular financial choices above others, but everyone should feel capable and confident to make whatever financial decisions are right for them and their circumstances. That is too often not the case. I believe that a person’s background should not determine their life chances and life choices, and the lottery of financial education quality is a huge barrier to making that a reality. The next generation should always do better than the last. If we act to improve financial education, it will help us to make good on that Great British promise for all young people—for those across the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency, and beyond. I mentioned financial education in my maiden speech and was grateful in recent months to have the chance to raise it in the House with our Secretary of State for Education. I asked whether the independent, and welcome, curriculum and assessment review would consider foundational life skills such as financial education at all key stages, along with the resources needed to teach them with confidence as part of its work. While none of us in the House can pre-empt the conclusions of that important review, I was glad to hear the Secretary of State’s confidence that the review would “carefully consider” what young people need in this area and any support that teachers may need for any reformed curriculum. Reported teacher confidence is understandably low, as we have already heard this afternoon, in teaching a subject that many of them were not taught either. Again, understandably, research shows that teachers struggle to prioritise subjects that are not assessed and are within PSHE. Indeed, The Money Charity’s survey and in-depth interviews with teachers around the country in 2016 found that the prioritisation of assessed subjects was the most commonly identified barrier to delivering financial education, with 80% of teachers citing it. So even when financial education is on the curriculum at secondary level, it does not appear to be there firmly enough. Teachers give so much and have so much to contend with, and I do not believe that anyone in the House would wish to further overburden them, or indeed the curriculum, by adding more stand-alone subjects. In my view, it is important to consider how financial education can be woven through existing relevant subjects such as maths to ensure that all young people receive the most relevant education to support them to thrive throughout life. As the daughter of a retired headteacher, I know better than to delve any further into the day-to-day from these Benches, but the evidence suggests that the current approach is not working for anyone. Yet there is a wider issue, too. The University of Cambridge found that financial habits typically form from around age seven. That strongly suggests that early support is crucial if we are to break down this barrier to opportunity. It is also worth noting that financial education is on the curriculum at both primary and secondary levels in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is in England in particular where we are lagging behind, though implementation remains a challenge more widely. While formal education is of course important, there is also a vital role for other organisations, from financial institutions to community organisations. A number are already playing their part, from GoHenry helping young people to save while taking part in money missions to build their long-term financial knowledge and wellbeing to HSBC and Girlguiding working together to help girls and young women build the two things I touched on earlier: capability and confidence. I was thrilled to speak at the launch of its new “I’m money confident” badge, even if I have no longer my own sash to sew it on to. I will not be able to mention them all, but many more organisations are working in this space, not least Young Enterprise, which provides a diligent and creative secretariat for the all-party parliamentary group. I was also glad to hear recently from Aviva in Stoke Gifford in my constituency about its work with young people. Madam Deputy Speaker, I hope you will not mind if I share my thanks to all the teachers and wider organisations using their time, resources and creativity on financial education as part of our collective pursuit of supporting all young people to thrive. I look forward to hearing other contributions to the debate and continuing to work for change in this important area and for a fairer future for all.

• 29 Jan 2025 · A432 Badminton Road Bridge · Hansard source

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  I welcome the debate of my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young), although I would have appreciated some notification of the debate, given that the bridge also sits within my constituency and impacts my residents every single day in exactly the same way as it does hers. I completely agree with the challenges that have been described. Delays in getting home, to work or to a doctor’s appointment are very real challenges. As the leader of the council at the time the big challenges with the bridge were discovered, when National Highways thought that it needed to intervene to close the bridge because things had got to that stage, the hon. Lady has deep insight into those challenges. I welcome the work that she and others, including Ian Boulton, who was co-leader of the council at the time, have done alongside council officers to mitigate the impact of the bridge closure. I work closely with them and get regular updates, for which I am very grateful as a constituency MP. That close relationship between the council and MPs is what our constituents want. They want us to work together with council leaders in South Gloucestershire, and I am fully committed to that. Although there are delays and we wish the bridge could be opened soon—I echo that desire—I understand that National Highways has brought about this work as quickly as it could. We seek to communicate that to residents —I know that I do as an MP—so that they know the hard and fast work being done. National Highways recognises the importance of this bridge as an artery across and between our communities for people to get to work and see family members. My hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Sadik Al-Hassan), who is sitting beside me, knows the situation well, he having lived just on the other side of the bridge for a long time. He can attest to the delays and the challenges that the situation is causing hard-working families and individuals across our community. A lot of local people recognise not only the challenge, but the ambition being led by the council, alongside National Highways, to ensure that the new bridge can serve our communities in the way that it needs to in the long term—that is positive. The consultation work done over a long while on ways to bring in active travel measures and offer more opportunities will serve our communities well in the long term. I hear and echo the challenges that have been described, which my residents and I share and understand, but I am optimistic about the long-term future of the bridge. I hope that it can be an example of the good types of bridges that we want to see elsewhere across our country. I will leave it there for now. I wanted to share those additional and important factors, as well as the views of local people on my side of the bridge.

• 7 Jan 2025 · Access to Primary Care · Hansard source

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  When I am out regularly knocking on doors and listening to people across the constituency, one of the issues residents raise with me most frequently is the challenge in even being able to book a GP’s appointment. Could the Secretary of State please set out what his plans are for ending that 8 am phone scramble, including for those who do not use apps and websites as confidently?