Claire Young MP: speeches

Speeches

• 5 Dec 2024 · Improving Public Transport · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) for securing this debate. Our public transport services have been run down for years because of the previous Conservative Government, and many rural communities across my Thornbury and Yate constituency have seen their vital bus services disappear. To rub salt into the wound, we have seen money spent on gimmicks that are aimed at delivering headlines rather than saving the services we rely on. My constituents were looking forward to the new Government offering them hope, but one of their first actions was to hike the bus fare cap, which is so vital in rural areas, where journeys are long and fractured, and the Government have committed to the cap only for the next year. I welcome the announcement of more funding for services that are subsidised by combined and local authorities, but for it to be effective, it must be targeted at restoring our rural services, rather than being funnelled into already well served urban areas. In the west of England, funding has been prioritised for urban areas such as Bristol, where increasing the frequency of services boosts the number of passenger journeys more. As long as the focus is purely on passenger journey numbers, rather than ensuring that everyone has a basic minimum service that enables access to work, education and health services, our rural areas will miss out. One of the half-baked solutions to the reduction in mainstream, regularly scheduled services has been to roll out an on-demand bus service called WESTlink. Although on-demand services can work, WESTlink is being used locally to do far more than any on-demand service can reasonably be expected to do, and the delivery of the service has been poor. Bad experiences have led to people losing confidence in it, because no one wants to be stranded and to have to pay a fortune for a taxi. People have told me that they have booked the service to get from A to B, only to find that they are the only passenger on board. The situation is even more ridiculous when we consider that some WESTlink services are filling the gap left by the axing of bus routes that children and teenagers used to get to school or college. Parents repeatedly have to call up to book what should be a consistent daily service to get young people to and from their place of learning. It is simply a waste of time and resources to manage the service in this way. To quote one parent, “I know there is a WESTlink available to book every day, but with the WESTlink only able to have a small number of passengers—and it is never on time or takes us somewhere completely different before taking us to school—it’s leaving parents with the fear of being fined.” I have tried in vain to raise this issue with the West of England combined authority, both in my time in this place and in my previous role as the leader of South Gloucestershire council, but each time we are met with the same answer: “There’s no funding.” That shows the core weakness of the system. Routes that are commercially sustainable are run by bus companies, which absorb the profits, and the less-used but equally important rural routes are left in the hands of local authorities. Local government has had its funding cut to the bone during more than a decade of Conservative rule in Westminster, and it simply cannot magic up extra money to keep the buses running. When I raised the issue of using funding to provide minimum service levels for rural areas in the House a few weeks ago, the then Transport Secretary, the right hon. Member for Sheffield Heeley (Louise Haigh), agreed with me; I hope that the Minister will echo that agreement today. I also hope that the Minister will agree that regardless of whether new franchising powers are taken up—my hon. Friend the Member for Glastonbury and Somerton has highlighted the difficulties—local councillors should be involved in decision making. As a councillor for many years, I know how valuable their local knowledge can be in avoiding disastrous route and timetable changes that make sense to those sitting in the bus operator’s office. The Yate and District Transport Forum in my area is a good example of local representatives working with operators, but all too often councillors find out about changes at the same time as residents, when it is too late to intervene. I agree with the hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) about the need to understand that whatever boundary one chooses for transport services, some people will want to cross it—and in the case of the 84/85, it is a significant number of people. I have had similar messages about people’s inability to get to jobs, the impact on people travelling to Katharine Lady Berkeley’s school, and so forth. It is important that the Minister provides clarity on the issue of cross-boundary services. I will finish by briefly touching on railways. We are lucky enough to have some local lines and rail services in my area, but there is no joined-up approach to ensure that people living in villages like Hawkesbury Upton who take a bus to the railway station in Yate will get there in time to catch the next scheduled train. This lack of an ecosystem holds us back. Our services operate disjointedly, which is why people simply do not feel that they can rely on public transport to get around. In addition, we need to increase the number of rail services. I have been pushing for the reopening of stations at Charfield and Coalpit Heath as a new solution for people travelling to the growing number of jobs at Severnside, and have been pushing for the Government to guarantee funding to keep half-hourly trains running through Yate. All in all, we need a clear and connected plan to improve our public transport network in order to fix the rot that has set in after years of Conservative cuts and neglect, and to ensure that everyone has a regular service that they can depend upon.

• 5 Dec 2024 · Improving Public Transport · Hansard source

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  You mentioned infrastructure—

• 3 Dec 2024 · Tackling Stalking · Hansard source

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  I welcome the proposals. I was talking to a constituent earlier today who feels that the family courts are not only enabling her ex-partner to continue abusing her, including following and harassing her, but are undermining the criminal case against her former partner. Will the Minister commit to looking at the role of the family courts in cases where the perpetrator is a former partner so that we can build on the proposals to better support people in those situations?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  Constituents have made me aware of problems when the family courts have not understood that they can be used to perpetuate the abuse of the violent partner. Does the hon. Member agree that we need greater understanding in the family court system so that people fleeing violence do not see that abuse continue?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Rural Bus Services · Hansard source

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  Many of my Thornbury and Yate constituents have been impacted by the loss of the 84/85 bus. I am told that funding is made more difficult because that bus is a cross-border service between Gloucestershire and the west of England. Does the Minister agree that the rules need clarifying, so that they do not get in the way of ensuring that we keep important bus services running?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Rural Bus Services · Hansard source

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  11. What recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of bus services in rural areas.

• 18 Nov 2024 · Bus Funding · Hansard source

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  Many of my rural constituents have commented that the level of the bus cap is irrelevant when there are no buses to use, so I welcome the extra funding today, but does the Secretary of State agree that it should be directed to ensuring a minimum level of service for all users rather than increasing the frequency of services in urban areas that are already well served, as has happened previously in the west of England?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Rural Broadband · Hansard source

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  I also represent a very rural area. Despite the fact that it is a stone’s throw away from Bristol, there are people who do not have adequate services. Does my hon. Friend agree that the timeliness of getting the service is also important? If professionals such as doctors wait a long time for the installation, that is as much of an issue as the speeds once the service is installed.

• 12 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: South-west · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) for securing the debate. Last year, a staggering 58% of children in south Gloucestershire were not seen by an NHS dentist, despite the NHS recommending that under-18s see a dentist at least once a year. When we talk to dentists, however, that is not surprising. As we emerged from the pandemic, one local dentist stopped NHS work for all, including children. When I spoke to those at the practice, they were clear that the contract was at fault, but they also explained that they would have liked to continue NHS dentistry for children but NHS England in the south-west was not supportive. The last Conservative Government failed to fix the broken contract, and the new Government have yet to show that they grasp the scale of the challenge. We are calling for an emergency rescue plan, including the use of the underspends that have been referred to today to boost the number of appointments. I will mention a couple of examples from my inbox. The first I alluded to recently in the Adjournment debate on rural NHS dentistry led by my hon. Friend the Member for Chippenham (Sarah Gibson). A constituent who had to retire from his job due to health and mobility issues is entitled to free NHS dentistry, yet he was unable to find treatment anywhere near where he lives. Facing a dental emergency, he ended up having to seek private treatment, because of the pain he was in. He struggled to afford it, but felt he had no choice. Later, my constituent experienced another painful dental issue. This time, when he contacted the NHS, he was told that there was provision but, because he was now registered, it was unavailable to him; it was available only to unregistered patients. As a result, he had to pay £95 for a small temporary filling at a private practice. He was then told he was not entitled to be enrolled as an NHS patient, as he was registered as a private patient with the practice. I hope the Minister will agree to look into that situation to ensure that everyone can get the care they need. Another issue I will draw attention to is people missing appointments. A constituent of mine got in touch to complain that, although he is one of the lucky ones in the area who is still able to access dental treatment on the NHS, he was shocked to see a sign saying that 39 people had missed their appointment last month. Staff confirmed that that was the number of people who missed appointments at the practice with no warning or formal cancellation—and that is just one practice. They also said that number was actually quite low, and that it was regularly much higher. Because those missed appointments were no-shows, not cancellations, the slots could not be offered to other people desperately in need. That resulted in the equivalent of more than eight days of lost work. That brings us back to the question of the contract and how we can make sure that dentists are rewarded for their time, because it adds to the problem of them not being remunerated in a way that enables them to continue NHS work. It is also a question of making the best use of limited resources. I welcome the Minister’s thoughts on how to ensure that happens. Over 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year. That is more than one in four adults in England, and three times as many people as before the pandemic. I echo the comments made by my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) about the challenges, particularly in rural areas, and look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments on that. We have been warning about the issues for years, yet there has been little decisive action to address the crisis. The British Dental Association has been pushing hard to get the Government to ditch the current failed dental contract and instead move to a more prevention-focused, patient-centred system that rewards dentists for improving the overall health of the communities they serve. In short, I welcome the warm words from the Government on dentistry, but we need more than words; we need action. I urge this Government not to kick the can down the road as the previous Government did.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  That is exactly the point that my local GP was trying to make, and I am not clear from the Secretary of State’s earlier remarks whether this will be addressed. Similarly, the majority of social care providers are privately run companies. They play a huge part in reducing pressure on hospitals, and raising employer’s national insurance will deal a hammer blow to struggling providers. That is why I urge the Government to think again and provide them with the same support they have provided for publicly owned NHS services. They should instead look to raise the money needed by reversing Conservative tax cuts for the big banks, or by asking the social media giants to pay their fair share. I was disappointed that the Budget made little or no reference to social care, and I urge Ministers to start cross-party talks on social care now. The other area that I want to touch on is flooding. I draw the House’s attention to the letter I sent ahead of the Budget about the need to support local authorities to prevent and respond to flooding. My Thornbury and Yate constituency recently endured 50% of its annual rainfall in just one month. The council has had to respond to that within its already overstretched budget. While I welcome the funding for flood resilience projects, it needs to be recognised that years of underfunding under the last Government have left councils struggling to maintain their infrastructure to prevent surface water flooding. Given more time, I would like to cover other topics, including the concern that the additional SEND funding will barely touch the sides, the impacts on farmers, bus users and small businesses, and the ongoing financial crisis in local government. Instead, I will conclude by noting that the unintended consequences lurking in this Budget put at risk much-needed improvements to our public services. I hope the Government will think again and make the right decisions now for the long term, including fixing social care and delivering long-term infrastructure improvements.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  While this Budget has some welcome measures, including adopting Liberal Democrat proposals on increasing the earnings limit for carer’s allowance, others raise serious concerns. The previous Conservative Government left our NHS on its knees. People in Thornbury and Yate are fed up with struggling to get a GP appointment or register with an NHS dentist, so I will be holding the Government to account to ensure that the extra funding actually delivers for patients. On that note, I am deeply concerned about the knock-on impacts of raising employer’s national insurance contributions on those parts of the system that are not in the public sector. GPs and pharmacists play a vital role in preventive health and in detecting serious problems early, yet because many are privately run businesses, they will be left footing a huge new tax bill. I have been contacted by several concerned local GP surgeries. One told me that as it had a large number of part-time workers who were previously exempt but will now be eligible, the national insurance increase alone will wipe 2.5% off its top-line budget. Another told me: “This change will have a significant financial impact on general practices, including my own, and can only serve to directly undermine access and patient care”.

• 5 Nov 2024 · NHS Dentistry: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that it is wrong that patients who have been forced to seek private care in an emergency are then refused NHS registration, because they are considered to already be registered as private patients? Should this not be addressed in any revised contract?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I have previously raised in departmental questions that the farmers I speak to are reluctant to sign up for ELMS due to the complexity, and because they do not want to get locked into a deal when a better one might be around the corner. That may account for the £200 million underspend last year. In the Budget, the Government committed to maintaining the funding at the current level, including the underspend, but said that it would be reviewed in 2025-26 to ensure it is “affordable”. Does the Minister agree that that leaves farmers even more in the dark about their future, at a time when they are struggling to get by?

• 31 Oct 2024 · Cancer Strategy for England · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Betts. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing the debate. Some 2.2 million people are expected to be diagnosed with cancer during this Parliament, and almost one in two of us will get cancer in our lifetimes, so we should all be concerned about the crisis in cancer care that was highlighted by the Darzi report. In my constituency of Thornbury and Yate, just over half of cancer cases are diagnosed early—that is around 2,500 people a year—but just over two thirds of those diagnosed are able to start treatment within two months after being referred. That is far lower than the 85% NHS target. This Government have promised to do more to tackle the delays in cancer diagnosis and treatment, and I think a specific cancer strategy is the way to achieve that. I will illustrate that with two examples from my constituency. The first constituent suffers from a rare cancer condition and sought treatment at Cheltenham general hospital, where they received immunotherapy treatment. However, they have since been informed that their treatment will cease on 31 January 2025, due to financial considerations. It simply is not acceptable to have a situation in which a patient is told that they need a particular treatment and then has it halted part way through, not because it needed to stop for their own best interests but because of financial constraints. That is absolutely appalling, and it is a glaring example of where the system is failing. Everyone who has cancer deserves timely and consistent treatment. That is the first thing I highlight for Ministers: when they are looking at producing a cancer strategy, will they look at the treatment and how it is delivered, to make sure that decisions are being made in the best interests of patients, rather than the accountants? My second example shows how early treatment can save lives. This constituent told me how, in 2021, they were diagnosed with cancer in their eyes. They are one of the lucky ones: it was caught early by their optician and they got an urgent referral. Because they got treatment quickly, they are still cancer-free today. However, it is fair to say that they are not out of the woods; there is a high chance of recurrence and possible metastasisation in the coming years. They told me how that is hanging over their head every day, and made the point that one small change could have meant that, instead of living their life, they would no longer be with us. That shows exactly why identifying and treating cancer as early as possible is vital. It highlights, in particular, the importance of professionals who are not specialists in cancer but play vital roles in identifying possible signs of cancer at the early stage. There are probably people up and down the country who can give examples of how pharmacists, opticians, dentists and so forth have been the ones who set them on the road to that all-important diagnosis. As we know from other debates in Parliament, all those professions are under strain. We know that people cannot get dental appointments, yet we know how important that is for identifying oral cancers. As I raised in the Chamber this morning, we also know about the issue of pressures on community pharmacists. When the strategy is drawn up, will Ministers look at the importance of non-cancer specialists in referring people for diagnosis, and ensure that that forms part of the strategy? My hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham identified Denmark as a good example of a country that had been where this country is, but has managed to race ahead. The point is that it had a series of cancer strategies. Reference has been made to delays, or to the idea that we should make this part of a wider strategy. Let us get something done, as a starting point, and then it can be an iterative process. The strategy can be looked at again, and gradually we can make the improvements we need. A dedicated cancer strategy would complement the Government’s 10-year health plan by offering a clear road map for an integrated approach to improving outcomes across cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment, research and care. That is why we need a dedicated cancer strategy and a wholesale review of the system, to ensure that everyone gets an early diagnosis and the treatment that they need, when they need it, and are fully supported in their journey with cancer.

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

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  Small community pharmacies have been pushed to the brink in recent years. On a visit to Abbotswood pharmacy in my constituency, I heard how the current funding formula has led to a real-terms cut of 30% since 2015, and how it punishes rather than rewards pharmacies for providing extra services. Will the Leader of the House grant a debate in Government time on the role of pharmacies and how we can better support them to do their vital work?

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

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  When the Cineworld in Yate opened in 2015, it was a big day for the town and came as a result of years of campaigning by former MP Steve Webb. Sadly, the cinema has recently closed its doors. It is one of the many cinemas across the country unable to keep up with rising costs. A key burden facing those businesses is the business rates system, which leaves them paying more than they can afford. Will the Leader of the House agree to a debate in Government time on the need to reform business rates, and on how a new system could benefit local cinemas?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Special Educational Needs and Disabilities · Hansard source

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  Data for autumn 2023 and spring 2024 shows that more than a third of children with an EHC plan were persistently absent—more than double the rate for pupils without identified SEND. Persistent absence is a very complex issue, and a multi-faceted approach is needed to tackle the problem. In the light of this damning report from the National Audit Office, does the Minister agree that we cannot have parents facing prosecution for the failings of the system? How will she work across Government to ensure that parents of children with SEND can be sure that their children will get the support that they need to attend school safely and receive the education that they deserve?

• 16 Oct 2024 · Access to Primary Healthcare · Hansard source

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  Given the time constraint, I will skip some examples, such as Thornbury health centre and Three Shires medical practice, which are already safely lodged in the Secretary of State’s inbox. Instead, I want to focus on the inter- dependence in the primary care system—an ecosystem in which strains in one part have knock-on effects in others—and to illustrate that with an example from my constituency. This summer, I met a community pharmacist in Abbotswood, an area with significant health inequalities. He raised the same concerns about the flawed funding formula for pharmacies that we have heard today, but he has an additional challenge: the next-door GP surgery, with which his pharmacy has had a symbiotic relationship for many years, has been incorporated into a larger group. The other surgeries are in another urban area some miles away and difficult to access by public transport, and the local surgery now offers patients only limited hours. Understandably, many of them are switching to surgeries in central Yate, which has an impact not only on the viability of that local GP surgery but on the community pharmacy, which is missing out on the Pharmacy First referrals that it might have expected. Also, once people have travelled into town, generally they will use the pharmacies there. If that pharmacy is unable to continue, people will miss out on its many valuable preventive services: monitoring medications, providing services to those with diabetes and administering vaccinations. That will increase pressure on GPs and our hospitals. The pharmacist also commented on the impact of the dental desert in my area, as in others around the country. People cannot access NHS dentistry, which leads to other health issues not being picked up. I want to stress that the Government cannot fix just one part of the system—they have to look at the system as a whole. That is what the Liberal Democrats recognised in our manifesto. I urge the Government to look at our plan for the NHS and work constructively with us to fix all aspects of primary care.

• 15 Oct 2024 · Renewable Energy Projects: Community Benefits · Hansard source

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  In the last decade, my constituency has seen a wide range of solar schemes with different community benefits, ranging from £20,000 a year for the 25 years of the project’s expected life, which is handed over automatically to parish councils, to just a £30,000 pot, which people have to bid into. Does my hon. Friend agree that there should be equity of treatment, and that there are benefits to having an ongoing relationship, beyond the monetary value it brings?

• 9 Oct 2024 · Maternity Services: Gloucestershire · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson) for securing this debate. Although my constituency is in south Gloucestershire—which I have spent many years as a unitary councillor explaining is a unitary authority, not a district of Gloucestershire—some of my constituents access health services north of the border in Gloucestershire. The serious concerns about maternity services in Gloucestershire are causing people to travel the other way across the border, into Bristol, where many other of my constituents use services, so they have a significant impact on my constituency. I welcome this debate because I know from my own experience the impact that overstretched maternity services can have on outcomes for the mother and baby. I had the misfortune of giving birth in a hospital that had too many simultaneous emergencies. Even now, more than 20 years later, I vividly remember the feeling of abandonment, the horror when my newborn baby was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit, and the panic as I felt myself losing consciousness and a team of doctors rushed into the room to deal with me. It was many hours before I was reunited with my son, six months before he was discharged from consultant care, and more than two years before I was discharged. My experience of early motherhood was blighted by trauma, pain and seemingly endless follow-up appointments for both of us with a huge range of specialists. Five or more years later, doctors still considered my son’s birth relevant to his health. Sadly, for some families the outcomes are far, far worse. I cannot begin to imagine the pain of losing a child or partner in childbirth, but for some that is the tragic reality. How hard it must be to bear if there is the possibility that better care may have changed that reality. Let us not forget the impact on the wider family. The hon. Member for Gloucester (Alex McIntyre) spoke about the support he received from staff when his son was born. The family, too, can be traumatised by what they see family members going through, so I understand how important it is to have good maternity services, and I am deeply concerned about the impact that the current shortage of midwives is having on outcomes for mothers, babies and their wider families. Stroud maternity unit is affected by the shortage, so people are choosing to travel to Southmead, which many of my constituents already use, and that extra pressure will make it harder for staff there to deliver the service that people need. Being continuously supported by a midwife during labour can prevent a situation from escalating dangerously. Proper support after the birth, however it went, can set families up for the early months by helping mothers to recuperate, establish feeding, talk through concerns and get to know their baby in a supportive environment. The hon. Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) made a very good point about the importance of choice. There can be a sense that it is a luxury—people make these choices because they have an idealised view of how birth should go—but, as my own experience demonstrated, the manner of the birth can have significant, long-term consequences for the mother and baby, so choice is not a luxury. It is important to understand that in childbirth feeling comfortable allows hormones to flow, and that promotes the best chances of a successful, uncomplicated birth, which is obviously the ideal. Some people take comfort in knowing that they have the very best, high-tech facilities on hand in case there is an emergency. For others, it is about knowing that they are in a familiar environment—their home or a birthing unit that they feel comfortable in. Choice is important, not because it is a nice thing for mothers to have but because it has potentially long-term consequences on the physical and mental health of the mother and baby. I am concerned that two years after the joint report on safe staffing from the all-party parliamentary groups on baby loss and maternity, staff levels are still frequently inadequate. We want to see a cross-Government target and strategy, led by the Department of Health and Social Care, for eliminating maternal health disparities, providing guaranteed mental health support and establishing a new workforce plan, backed up with adequate funding and an expansion of the maternity and neonatal workforce.

• 8 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T6. To achieve net zero, we will need widespread micro-generation alongside large-scale projects. However, as a local farmer who wanted to install an anaerobic digester told me, grid connections are both costly and subject to long delays. What does the Secretary of State plan to do to address these issues, particularly in rural areas such as my Thornbury and Yate constituency?

• 12 Sept 2024 · Environmental Land Management Schemes · Hansard source

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  2. What steps his Department is taking to increase uptake of environmental land management schemes.

• 12 Sept 2024 · Environmental Land Management Schemes · Hansard source

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  On a visit to a local farm this summer with the National Farmers Union, it was raised with me that some farmers are not signing up for one of the Government’s sustainable farming initiatives, because they fear being locked in when a better deal may be just around the corner. If we want farmers to farm more sustainably, we need to ensure that they are getting the support they need to do so. With that in mind, will the Minister clarify whether farmers who sign up for an SFI will be able to transition to an alternative one, and if not, whether the rules will be reviewed so that they can do so?

• 9 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T9. I draw the attention of the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am still a South Gloucestershire councillor. As last Thursday’s packed debate showed, children with SEND are being let down. Many local authorities are currently locked into safety valve agreements with the Department for Education, which were put into place pre-pandemic and contain unrealistic targets that no longer reflect the situation on the ground. Will the Secretary of State review those agreements, and meet me and local leaders to discuss the situation in South Gloucestershire?

• 5 Sept 2024 · SEND Provision · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Leeds East (Richard Burgon) for securing this debate. Before I start, I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am still a South Gloucestershire councillor. Right across the country, children with special educational needs and disabilities are being let down, and parents are at their wits’ end trying to navigate the system. The SEND funding model is utterly broken, leaving local councils and schools unable to provide the learning environments our children need. I want to highlight three particular problems. The first relates to the safety valve agreements put in place to support local authorities that are struggling the most to deliver these important services. I know as the former leader of South Gloucestershire council that the targets that were set pre-pandemic fail to reflect the massively rising demand we have faced since, meaning they are no longer fit for purpose and need to be reviewed. I look forward to hearing the Minister outline what steps the Government will take immediately to do that. Secondly, I want to highlight the punitive approach taken to school absence in this country. If a child’s needs are not being met at school, it can lead to their being unable to attend. Parents who have been fighting hard to get their child the support they need can then face the added burden of threats of fines or even imprisonment—talk about adding insult to injury. Imagine the impact that has on parents who are already under huge stress, who may be under financial pressure due to their employment being affected by their additional caring responsibilities, and who may feel compelled, against all their parental instincts, to physically force their child into a situation that is harming them. Above all, think of the impact on the child, pressured to go into an inappropriate environment and worried that bad things may happen to their parents. Finally, I want to highlight the increasing use of alternatives to exclusion, such as isolation and temporary moves to other schools—measures that are not recorded and published in the same way exclusions are, and not subject to the same safeguards. A child who is struggling to learn in a classroom with a subject-specialist teacher is highly unlikely to be able to do so when sat in a room with a supervisor and some worksheets. A neurodivergent child who thrives on routine will be distressed by such a change, especially if it involves a move to an unfamiliar school. In some schools the list of behaviour that is sanctioned in this way could easily have been drawn from a diagnostic list for ADHD or autism, so it seems inevitable that children who do not have appropriate support in place will be subject to such sanctions. There needs to be an urgent review of the use of such measures, which can easily go under the radar. In conclusion, we need action now from the Government to fix these problems before the house of cards comes tumbling down, starting with fixing the funding formula and reviewing all existing safety valve agreements.