Clive Jones MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Secretary of State for Health made a promise to the House that the Government will recruit an extra 1,000 GPs. In a recent statement, he said they have already recruited hundreds of GPs. We have asked for evidence of that claim, but the Minister of State for Care has not been able to provide us with a specific figure. Will the Leader of the House inquire with her colleagues as to whether hundreds of new GPs have been hired, so that we can see what progress the Government are making?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Proportional Representation: General Elections · Hansard source

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  I thank the Members who secured this debate. They have brought to the House a very important issue that I and many of my constituents care deeply about. The UK’s history of electoral reform is one of slow, gradual change. There is much frustration now with our politics, and I am sure that soon it will lead to greater demand for electoral reform. British history is full of us taking the right and necessary steps, only for people on the wrong side of history to decry them as the end of the world as we know it. Examples of that are giving Catholics the vote in 1829, making the ballot private in 1872, and granting women suffrage in 1928. When we look upon the past, we laugh at how silly the country used to be. Who is to say that the way we view the past is not the way future generations will view us? As a young teenager in the February 1974 general election, I was—and continue to be—filled with frustration and a sense of unfairness by our electoral system. The Liberal party won 19.3% of the vote—more than half the votes the Conservatives got—but it won only 14 seats, versus the Tories’ 297. Under proportional representation, the Liberals would have won 123 seats, the Labour party 236 and the Conservatives only 240. This obvious unfairness in our system still drives my personal politics today. We need to fundamentally change our electoral system. It is undemocratic that under the UK’s electoral system, not all votes count in the same way. First past the post feeds public disillusionment in politics because it leaves millions of people feeling that their votes are irrelevant, just like those in our past. Although the injustice may not seem as obvious as the injustice of withholding the right to vote on the basis of faith, wealth or gender, the system essentially withholds the right to vote based on geographic location. With so many voters now so disillusioned with the first-past-the-post system, will the Minister commit to being on the right side of history, and deliver the change in our electoral system that the nation really needs?

• 30 Jan 2025 · International Investment · Hansard source

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  I declare an interest: a family member has shares in a medical company. In the United States, President Trump created chaos by freezing funding for the National Institutes of Health, and his nominee for US Health Secretary is an anti-vaccine conspiracy theorist. The United Kingdom has the perfect opportunity to seize this moment and make ourselves a beacon for global research investment. Already, Wokingham has many pharmaceutical businesses, such as Becton Dickinson and Hollister. What steps is the Minister taking to ensure we attract global life sciences sectors to the UK?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for High Street Businesses · Hansard source

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  R Young Art Gallery is the last art gallery in Wokingham town centre and a proud feature of our high street. However, political inactivity on business rates reform means that it is on the precipice of closing. I was shocked to learn that it is the impending cuts to business rate relief, with no measures in the short term to provide financial support, that have led the owner to fear for the survival of his business. High streets across the country continue to struggle. What is the Minister doing to ensure that small, independent businesses such as R Young Art Gallery are supported?

• 29 Jan 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q11. I declare an interest as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital, and a family member has shares in a medical company. In the Public Gallery today are patients who use the Royal Berkshire hospital. Parts of its estate are crumbling as we speak and it urgently needs a rebuild, but we will have to wait until at least 2037. Can the Prime Minister please explain to those visitors and to the House why he thinks it is acceptable that staff and patients will have to dodge buckets collecting rainwater from leaking roofs for another 18 years? Will he meet them and explain that to them face to face?

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 27 Jan 2025 · Creative Industries · Hansard source

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  Shinfield studios, in the constituency of the hon. Member for Earley and Woodley (Yuan Yang), has created jobs for many people in my constituency of Wokingham and has been singled out in the Financial Times as having high ambitions for growth this year. It is using the UK’s tax credit scheme for film and TV production, and it is a great domestic skills base. Will the Minister visit Shinfield studios with me and the hon. Member for Earley and Woodley, and have a conversation with the owners?

• 27 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Wokingham borough council often struggles to find schools, including specialist schools, that can meet the needs of SEND pupils. As a result, many children are receiving education other than at school, or are reliant on alternative provision. Even so, there are often instances in which some needs identified in the EHCP are not met. Will the Minister—

• 23 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I declare my interests as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital and as having a family member with shares in a medical company. My constituents are heartbroken by the Government’s decision to push the start date of the Royal Berks’s reconstruction to 2037. That decision will disappoint many patients and staff. There is a £400 million total of maintenance backlogs, statutory improvements and other capital expenditure that the Royal Berkshire hospital requires over the next 10 years. Will the Leader of the House ensure that there are future opportunities, in Government time, to debate the progress of the campaign so that maintenance issues caused by the delay to the rebuild can be raised?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Education, Health and Care Plans · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. Well done to my hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) for securing this debate. The cost of SEND provision for Wokingham borough council is incredibly high. This has a huge impact on our council’s budget and frequently contributes to parents’ expectations and, sometimes, elements of the EHCP not being met, with all the consequences that come with that. Despite costs rising, Wokingham borough council is set to lose another £1 million of funding under the current draft local government settlement scheme, when Wokingham is already the lowest-funded unitary authority in England. What are Ministers’ thoughts on how the Government can help councils like Wokingham? Will the Minister meet with me and representatives from Wokingham borough council to discuss the challenges we face locally when it comes to funding SEND provision? Are there any plans to review the process of producing EHCPs to make them more user-friendly, thereby leading to greater efficiency and effectiveness?

• 22 Jan 2025 · Competition and Markets Authority Chairman · Hansard source

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  The Government are right to say that bold and ambitious steps are needed to get our economy growing again, especially after the damage caused by the previous Conservative Government, but we must also recognise that fair competition is the lifeblood of our market economy, which helps to drive innovation and ensures that economic benefits reach consumers. Does the Minister agree that ensuring proper competition in the economy is vital to achieving sustained growth? I also note that the new interim chair’s prior experience includes running Amazon’s UK business. Will the Minister guarantee that the digital markets unit within the CMA will be backed to hold powerful tech giants accountable, for the benefit of customers in Wokingham and across the UK?

• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  I declare my interest as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital, and that a family member has shares in a medical company. My constituents are heartbroken by the Government’s decision to push the start date of the Royal Berks’s construction to 2037, which will disappoint patients and staff. The hon. Member must recognise the role that his party played in creating that situation, so does he agree that his party needs to reflect on its part in the delayed new hospital programme, and will he apologise for it?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank the hon. Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) for securing this important and timely debate. Not a single stretch of river in my constituency is in good overall health—what a damning indictment of the Conservatives’ failure. Instead of fixing the sewage scandal, they passively allowed it to persist. It is interesting that only one Conservative Member is present. Last month, Ofwat permitted Thames Water—the company responsible for sewage in Wokingham—to raise water bills by 35%. Thames Water has been a disaster for our water quality in Wokingham. In 2023, it was responsible for 130 sewage spills, which lasted for 943 hours. It is failing Wokingham’s rivers, which includes the beautiful River Thames and the River Loddon. Ofwat has allowed Thames Water to charge my constituents 35% more on their water bills for the next five years, and for what? This morning, the Financial Times reported that Thames Water intends to circumvent Ofwat’s cap on bosses’ bonuses by gifting its executives huge pay rises. Neither I nor my constituents will stand for our water bills being hiked during a cost of living crisis only for our money to go into the pockets of the most well-paid company directors. Does the Minister honestly expect us to trust Thames Water to behave responsibly with even higher bills, when it feels like a new story is published every day about its mismanagement of our waterways? Will the Minister make it clear to the Secretary of State that a special administrative regime is absolutely needed—and needed now—to reset this unsalvageable mess; to ensure that the existing situation, where more than a third of customer bills go towards paying interest on Thames Water’s debt, ceases; and to ensure that the money is instead spent on infrastructure improvements? For too long, customers have been asked to pay the price for the company’s failures. That has to stop.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Health and Social Care: Winter Update · Hansard source

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  I declare my interest as a governor of the Royal Berkshire hospital, and I have a family member who has shares in a medical company. The Secretary of State has a really tough job of clearing up the mess left in the NHS by the Conservatives, but some of the Royal Berkshire hospital estate is not fit for purpose and especially not fit to cope with the winter crisis. Can he confirm that a proper level of funding will be available to rebuild the Royal Berkshire hospital and that there will be no increase in the seven-year delay announced by the Conservatives in April this year? That will help with future winter crises.

• 13 Jan 2025 · Children’s Social Media Accounts · Hansard source

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  Ellen Roome has gone through the unimaginable; I am absolutely amazed at her ability to continue fighting for answers for her son Jools. Does the hon. Member agree that social media companies are not in the wild west of the internet age any more and have become an integrated part of our society with certain responsibilities? Does he also agree that one of those responsibilities is ensuring that children in Wokingham and across the UK are protected from harmful content?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  The roads in Wokingham, like everywhere else in the country, have deteriorated in the last few years. We need to stop potholes, not just fix them, and that means regularly resurfacing roads. The unfunded backlog of resurfacing left by the Conservatives in Wokingham is about £16 million and getting bigger; nationally, it is £14 billion. When will the Minister’s Department deliver proper funding for Wokingham’s roads?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Young cancer patients are subject to a three-month qualifying period before they can even apply for disability living allowance or personal independence payments, on top of a 20-week delay for the processing of disability benefits. Children have often died before the benefits have been awarded, due to bureaucratic inertia by the Department for Work and Pensions. Hugh’s law, proposed by Ceri and Frances Menai-Davis, would seek to remove the three-month qualifying period for DLA and calls for day 1 financial support. Will the Leader of the House provide Government time for a debate on the merits of Hugh’s law?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Public Finances: Borrowing Costs · Hansard source

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  I recognise that the Chancellor has a very difficult job. She inherited an economy on its knees, following the Conservatives’ mismanagement of the economy, from their terrible trade deal— [ Interruption . ] That extends from their terrible trade deal with Europe, which is holding back businesses in Wokingham, to soaring inflation, stagnant growth and the Liz Truss mini-Budget, which hit so many mortgage holders across the country. However, the Government seem to be repeating some of the same mistakes. Last night, the Treasury issued a statement saying that “meeting the fiscal rules is non-negotiable”. Will the Chief Secretary reassure this House that protecting the NHS and care is also non-negotiable, and will he rule out any cuts to those services as the Government try to balance the books? Will he work to repair our ties with Europe and cut trade-related red tape, especially in the face of Donald Trump and his oligarch allies such as Elon Musk?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  I apologise for leaving the Minister with only a few minutes. I have no idea what he is going to say, but I would like him to make some comment about Hugh’s law, and whether or not he supports it, because it would make a huge difference to every single family.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is absolutely right that there are huge costs, especially for children when they have to face cancer, and for the parents of children, because they have to take time off work to look after the children. There is not always the necessary support. Research from Young Lives vs Cancer highlights that on average, a cancer diagnosis for children and young people delivers £700 of additional costs every month for a patient and their family. Those additional costs come alongside significantly falling household income, with an average drop of over £6,000 a year; for at least one in three, that drop is over £10,000 a year. Cancer does not have the decency to allow people to consider the implications of what happens next, but instead forces people to immediately start spending more. For example, it adds £250 extra a month on travel to hospital, £144 extra on food, often due to specialist requirements and extra hygiene caution, and £68 extra on energy to ensure that the home is always warm and clean, due to young cancer patients being immunocompromised. Those examples and many more all take place from day one.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of welfare for children and young people with cancer. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Lewell-Buck, and to discuss an issue that is important to me. As a society we are aware of the cost that cancer has on our lives: it deprives us of a future with our loved ones; it leaves us tormented with constant hospital visits; it forces an anxiety on us about what will happen next; and it causes us relentless emotional, physical and mental pain. It is a pain that does not go away, even when the cancer does. I regret, however, that society fails to understand the literal costs of having cancer not just to us as individuals but to children, young people and their families. Lest we forget the cruel reality of cancer for young patients, which is often different from that of adults, the cancers that they experience are often faster-growing, less common, have unique emotional and mental health impacts, and have significant long-term treatment effects. The support that they require is therefore quite distinct, and has specific financial implications that make it especially hard.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. If a child can try to have a normal life, which includes still going to school, seeing their friends and being educated, that will help them and their family to cope with their treatment. Schools and local authorities should work hard to ensure a normal life for that child very quickly. One family supported by Young Lives vs Cancer received their first DLA payment only in January, after their child was diagnosed in July. In another case, a delay of four months from the start of a DLA application meant that a young cancer patient’s mother was left with no financial support, because her statutory sick pay ended before the DLA started. How the Government expect people to manage with those extra costs is beyond me. This is the very worst form of bureaucratic inflexibility, and it leads to some people not applying for benefits because they see a system stacked against them, quite apart from the burden of applying during the most disruptive time of their lives. People are not going to prioritise form filling when they or their child needs radiotherapy. The process takes so long that sometimes children and young people have either finished their treatment or, most concerningly, passed away before the benefits have been awarded. A child being treated in Leicester sadly died before a DLA decision was made, leaving their family to go through the challenging conversation of wanting the claim form still to be reviewed because the family were owed a back payment. That is unacceptable. The Minister responded to a parliamentary question by arguing that those nearing the end of life can apply for special rules. However, this simply does not work very well, because situations can change quickly and some who are not terminally ill can rapidly deteriorate. Some may still receive potentially curative treatment even if the risk of death is high, or some may wish not to know their prognosis. The Minister needs to urgently assess the benefits of changing to a medical evidence-based eligibility for these patients. There is a precedent for medical evidence being used to expedite access to benefits. The existing special rules process for those with terminal illness definitions means that they do not need to meet the three-month qualifying period with medical evidence. That principle should be applied to all children and young people with cancer, to facilitate immediate access to benefits.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children and Young People with Cancer · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is absolutely right: we could save the NHS a lot of money, because a lot of appointments will be cancelled because people are getting used to the fact that their child has cancer, and that they have to make alternative arrangements in order to take them to the hospital where they will be treated. If they were able to get a payment straightaway, that would save the NHS money in the long term. The money that it might cost to make those payments could be recouped further down the line, so the hon. Member is absolutely right.