Daniel Francis MP: speeches

Speeches

• 1 Jul 2025 · Parental Leave Review · Hansard source

  More

  As the father of twins, I saw the impact of that, with increased complexity from children being born early or with disability and the mental health aspects of leaving your loved one at home with multiples when you go back to work. In the wider review, could we look at the mental health aspects for mothers, particularly in cases of multiple births?

• 26 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T7. I was disappointed to see the findings of yesterday’s Civil Aviation Authority airport accessibility performance report, which outlined that three airports—Edinburgh, London Heathrow and Glasgow Prestwick—received a “needs improvement” rating for accessibility. Can my hon. Friend provide an update on when the aviation accessibility task and finish group’s recommendations will be published, and when the Government will be able to outline how they plan to introduce measures to support disabled people who wish to access air travel?

• 25 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T2. As the Government produce their strategy to support the development, validation and uptake of alternative methods in scientific procedures, what steps will the Minister be taking to ensure that that includes specific commitments to phase out the use of dogs in scientific and regulatory procedures, replacing them with modern, human-specific technologies?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government · Hansard source

  More

  I start by paying tribute to officers and councillors in the London borough of Bexley for all they do. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) for securing today’s debate. For the record, my wife is employed by our local authority as a special educational needs co-ordinator in a local authority school. I will briefly touch on three things. First, I welcome the record investment in housing, but I remain deeply disappointed that my Conservative-controlled council sold off its housing stock 26 years ago, has no housing revenue account and, through its own development company, has built 126 homes on three sites and has not supplied a single affordable home on any of those sites. The council has used viability assessments to argue that it cannot build affordable homes. In the housing plans that come forward, I hope we can find ways for my local authority to begin to deliver the affordable homes that we desperately need. Hopefully, that will be through the election of a Labour council next year, but we will wait and see—it has been a long time since we have had one in my patch. My local authority is complaining about the ever-dwindling stock of private rented properties that it can purchase, but it needs to turn its attention to the moneys coming forward so that it can finally deliver affordable homes. Secondly, on local government funding, my council cut 15% of its staff in 2021. It had to sell a building in order to issue redundancy notices and, at the same time, had to come to the previous Government for a capitalisation order. We hear fantasy economics from the Opposition, but let us be clear: the cuts that were made to local authorities happened under a Conservative council and a Conservative Government in my patch. I hope that the fair funding review will lead to some investment, and I know that my council is lobbying hard. There have been demographic changes in my patch, and I hope that we begin to see some investment in local services. Lastly, as I mentioned in the education debate—and, again, we have heard it before—we need guarantees about the safety valve that will be ending next March. My council did sign a safety valve agreement, but it continues to overspend, despite the commitments my Conservative council made to the previous Conservative Government, and that is a ticking time bomb for my council. On those points of how we can invest in housing, begin to have a fair funding review and look at the safety valve hanging over my council, I would welcome the Minister’s comments.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I know that this House, alongside my constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford, welcomes the sanctions taken against two Israeli officials earlier this month. What discussions are the UK Government holding with our international partners regarding further actions that could be taken in relation to the incitement of violence against Palestinian citizens?

• 24 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T1. If he will make a statement on his departmental responsibilities.

• 24 Jun 2025 · Department for Education · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to speak in this estimates day debate. I will first declare my usual interest, as my wife is employed as a special educational needs co-ordinator in our local authority in the London borough of Bexley. I will start with three points about the impact on my constituency. First, I welcome the condition improvement funding, which will see investment in Fairford academy in Barnehurst, Peareswood primary school in Slade Green and Townley grammar school in Bexleyheath. Two specific Department for Education-led issues impact on my Conservative-controlled local authority in the London borough of Bexley. I was pleased to see in its recent representation that my council welcomes the “fix the market” pillar in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. It had the highest overspend of any local authority in London for children’s social care in the previous financial year. My local authority welcomes that move in the Bill, because it wants the market for children’s service placements to be not-for-profit, as seen in Scotland and Wales. Will the Minister comment on departmental funding for social care settings and how the measures being brought forward in the Bill can help local authorities? My main point is that I support what my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) said about SEN funding. My local authority signed a safety valve agreement with the previous Government because of the rate of our dedicated schools grant. In its recent submission to the Chancellor, the council said that although it is grateful for the current funding, the statutory override for the deficit ends on 31 March 2026, while the DSG is not planned to come out of deficit until 2028-29 at present. That safety valve agreement, which my local authority signed, continues to be overspent, which continues to put significant pressure on the council. It believes that the statutory override needs to be extended by up to three years. Despite having agreed that with the previous Government, the council’s position is that the statutory override is, at best, only a temporary solution to a more fundamental and long-term challenge for SEN funding. I know the Minister will be bringing forward proposals in this area after the summer break, but some comments later today and some assurances about SEN funding going forward would be deeply welcomed by my local authority and by me.

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

  More

  I agree with the hon. Member that people in those circumstances should be able to seek an assisted death. However, the Bill allows someone to say to a doctor on a panel, “I want to go because I do not want to be a burden,” even if they are not suffering at that point in time. It also allows them to say, “I want to go now, so that my family have a larger inheritance.” Why should we support a Bill this afternoon that allows those things?

• 17 Jun 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T5. It is 16 months since the publication of the Hughes report, but those patients harmed by sodium valproate continue to await the outcome on the redress that the Government will provide. Will the Secretary of State please provide an update on when they can expect an announcement on the redress that will be made available to them?

• 12 Jun 2025 · SEND Funding · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. I declare my usual interests: my wife is a special educational needs co-ordinator at a local authority school in our patch, and my daughter has an EHCP and a complex set of disabilities, so I have absolutely fought this battle myself. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that what he has just described is a broken system that needs reform, and that whatever we see in the White Paper in the autumn, we will hopefully see reform that relies in particular on more training for all teachers across the profession? I think that is some of what he has just described.

• 11 Jun 2025 · Spending Review 2025 · Hansard source

  More

  I know that my constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford will welcome the investment that the Chancellor has announced today for new and affordable housing. The Government have set an ambitious target of 1.5 million homes, including 88,000 across London. To reach those targets, we will need investment not just in affordable homes, but in new transport infrastructure. Projects such as the docklands light railway extension to Thamesmead, for example, is forecast to unlock up to 40,000 new homes in brownfield sites across two of the most deprived boroughs in London. Will the Chancellor reaffirm the Government’s support for this important project and commit to providing funding for it?

• 10 Jun 2025 · Mother and Baby Institutions Payment Scheme: Capital Disregard · Hansard source

  More

  I pay tribute to the fantastic work carried out by Irish Community Services in Bexleyheath in my constituency. It is supporting a number of survivors who are in those circumstances and would lose their means-tested benefit. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to look at disregarding the rules, so that survivors can keep both their compensation and any benefit that they are entitled to?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Police Presence on High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the cuts from the previous Government have resulted in my local authority, the London borough of Bexley, having to make every one of its CCTV staff redundant, so that the council is no longer able to assist the police in fighting crime?

• 5 Jun 2025 · Police Presence on High Streets · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) for securing the debate. It is a great honour for me to represent Bexleyheath and Crayford in Parliament. I was a councillor in the last Labour cabinet in Bexley, 20 years ago, when Ken Livingstone and Tony Blair launched neighbourhood policing in our borough. We saw the great impact that had on communities on the ground in the area I represent. It is also a great honour for me because my first job during my 11 years in frontline retail was in the Marks and Spencer branch in Bexleyheath in my constituency. In my latter days in Marks and Sparks as a store manager, believe me, I saw and experienced many of the things that we have heard about today at first hand, including wrestling shoplifters to the ground. When cuts to public services are made, as they were under the Tory Government when I first started at M&S in the early ’90s, and when there is rising poverty, that is when shoplifting and those frontline issues increase. It is an absolute mission of this Labour Government to restore neighbourhood policing, and we have been elected on a manifesto commitment to do so. My constituency has two main town centres in Bexleyheath and Crayford, and a smaller neighbourhood centre in Northumberland Heath. In Crayford and Northumberland Heath, we now rely on smaller ward teams, of course, due to the cuts of the previous Mayor of London, who reduced the size of our teams. In Bexleyheath, I am lucky still to have a town centre team because of the size of shops, the night-time economy and the four secondary schools located in the town centre. I was pleased that we secured two more PCSOs for that team last November. Our teams have had a number of recent successes. Live facial recognition saw three arrests in Bexleyheath town centre last week. Also last week, our team worked with the local authority on a closure order for a shop in Bexleyheath town centre that was selling illegal tobacco and vapes. Unlike the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), they have had great success in making shops report shoplifting again, and have managed to secure action against a number of individuals. In Crayford, they have taken action against drivers, predominantly from the large retail takeaways, which has led to 10 vehicles being seized and five arrests—two for shoplifting and three for immigration offences. I pay tribute to the work of my police on the ground in Bexleyheath and Crayford. There is clearly pressure on funding, but we made a commitment to introduce extra police officers on the ground. We did that when Labour controlled Bexley council 20 years ago, and I am sure the Government will work with our Mayor of London to restore those numbers, because they are absolutely crucial for retailers in my constituency.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Cyber-security · Hansard source

  More

  2. What steps he is taking to strengthen cyber-security.

• 5 Jun 2025 · Cyber-security · Hansard source

  More

  In recent weeks, we have seen a series of cyber-attacks on retailers, including on my former employer, Marks & Spencer, and on Government services such as the Legal Aid Agency. Will the Minister update the House on what discussions he has had with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and others to ensure that these incidents are dealt with as swiftly as possible and that more is done to prevent such attacks succeeding in the future?

• 3 Jun 2025 · Thames Water · Hansard source

  More

  My constituents, like those of my colleagues, are gravely concerned about the increase in their water bills, but I am also as concerned as them about the impact on business. Crayford town centre was closed again last month—the third year on the trot—because of rotting infrastructure. What assurances can the Secretary of State give to my constituents that no matter what happens, we will continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure that those kinds of closures finally end?

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I will not, because of time constraints; I am sorry. Like a small number of other Members in this House, I know the daily concerns of being a parent of a child with complex disabilities, including a learning disability. That concern lives with you every single day of your life: that concern about what will happen to your child when you are gone—about who will assist your child, because of the help they require due to their level of mental capacity and the difficulties they have communicating and interpreting information. The concern that haunts me every single day is, “Who will make, and how will they make, those decisions to support my daughter when my wife and I are gone?” That concern, shared by thousands of others, led me to the conclusion that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was not written for this scenario. The parents of someone with a learning disability become accustomed to supporting them in their decision making. We understand their sight and communication difficulties, and the language needed to help them make a decision. The Mental Capacity Act rightly has a low bar to allow individuals to live a fulfilling life, because we would not want individuals to have their capacity assessed to purchase a coffee or withdraw money from the bank. I raised countless times in Committee—it was never challenged; in fact, it was accepted in some exchanges—that it would absolutely be possible for the following scenario to occur. An adult with a learning disability discovers that they have less than six months to live. They have a level of mental capacity that allows them to make many decisions in life. They have enough capacity to understand that they could be a burden on their elderly parents. Their elderly parents might take the view that their son or daughter requires support to make the most complex decisions, yet because their son or daughter is assumed to have capacity under the first principle of the Mental Capacity Act, they could go through the entirety of this process—and the first time that the parents were aware of it would be when they were informed that their child had been assisted to die. For the same reason, I support amendment 8, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson), and amendments 10 and 33, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato), which relate to family members’ awareness of the process. The second principle of the Mental Capacity Act is: “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success.” It was accepted in Committee that doctors would have to assist individuals in this scenario to make the decision about an assisted death. From my lived experience, I would query how some aspects of the Mental Capacity Act are being carried out, given that I often have to deal with professionals who deem that my daughter has less or more capacity than she actually does. I have accepted that she would not have enough capacity to go through the process, but the Bill Committee heard from Mencap in oral evidence that the vast majority of people with a learning disability in this country are not in the same position and could apply for an assisted death. The Bill Committee heard from many people. Dr Rachel Clarke raised her concerns about capacity. Baroness Falkner, giving evidence on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that “capacity is a very serious consideration in our concern.” –– [ Official Report, Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Public Bill Committee, 29 January 2025; c. 178, Q232.] Dr Jamilla Hussain gave evidence about one palliative care team deeming that someone had capacity, while another palliative care team deemed that they did not. We heard from Professor Gareth Owen, from Dr Annabel Price and from Dan Scorer of Mencap, who all raised concerns. In the last week, the Law Society has said that Parliament should fully consider how the Mental Capacity Act would operate under the Bill before any legislation is passed. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has said that although it is neutral on the issue, it opposes the Bill as it stands—particularly the mental capacity aspect, because, as it is written, it does not correlate with the Mental Health Act. Over the last few days, the Royal College of Physicians has also come out in support of that position. Over the last six months, I have heard a lot about choice, compassion and dignity, but what about choice, compassion and dignity for the people I have described? I fundamentally believe that it is my job, and the job of all of us, to protect the most vulnerable—but the Bill, as it stands, fails to do that. I have every sympathy with somebody at the end of their life, as I have said; I believe that they should have the right to go on their own terms, at their own time. But are there sufficient safeguards to ensure—in response to those who have links to the press and Parliament to make their voice heard—that we fully consider every scenario and safeguard those who do not have those links and who do not have a voice? If that choice comes at the price of one person, in a borderline capacity decision, being presumed to have capacity, that will be one death too many. My view is that it is not a price worth paying to allow others to have that choice. For that reason, I implore colleagues to support my amendment 24.

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  As my hon. Friend knows, having been on the Bill Committee with me, I had the same advice from Ministers: they disagreed with the wording of some of my amendments, yet they were accepted by the Bill’s promoter and the Committee and are now in the wording of the Bill. The position of the promoter and the position put to this House will now be that those amendments are not in line with the Government’s position. What is my hon. Friend’s view on the fact that we will be asked to support that?

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Gentleman, like me, sat on the Bill Committee. He heard, as I did, that if somebody had a learning disability, they were five times more likely to have a “do not resuscitate” order placed on them during the pandemic. Did he hear that evidence? Why does he not agree with it?

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 16 May 2025 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  I rise to speak to amendment 24 in my name, and I will start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for inviting me to be a member of the Bill Committee. I accept the principle that somebody given the devastating news that they have six months left to live should be able to choose the moment that they die, with their loved ones around them, but this is not a vote on the principle. We are not being asked to make an arbitrary yes or no choice, for we are legislators, and my experience on the Bill Committee tells me that this Bill, as written, still requires additional safeguards to address the concerns of so many people in this country. For me, it was death, and my thoughts and concerns about what happens when I die, that drew me to my conclusions on this matter.

• 15 May 2025 · Safeguarding Vulnerable Claimants · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for what was a very distressing statement. How might the plans for safeguarding DWP claimants apply to current Government policies?

• 15 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  In 2022, the previous Government cut a significant number of Southeastern services that my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford rely on. My constituents continue to raise concerns that direct services from London Charing Cross to Barnehurst and Bexleyheath should be reinstated during the evenings and weekends. Could the Minister provide an update on progress to reinstate those services?

• 7 May 2025 · Personal Independence Payment: Disabled People · Hansard source

  More

  As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy and complex disabilities, I know what it is like to be a carer—I am a carer every day and I will be a carer until my dying day. It is therefore incumbent on me to speak on behalf of carers in this debate. I am now privileged because of the income I earn, but I have been there: worrying every day about the struggle of caring and the cost of paying the bills and mortgage. I know how many of my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford are stuck in the bubble that you get yourself into—stuck on a mixture of carer’s allowance and PIP, often becoming disabled yourself because of the mental or physical cost of that care. According to analysis by the Carers Trust, 28% of carers are already living in poverty; it has particularly asked for a detailed impact assessment specifically on the carers community. Will the Minister comment on that when he sums up? I believe that this policy is driven by the DWP and Treasury alone. It is incumbent on us to ensure that other Government Departments—the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and the Department for Transport—come up with proposals that also support the measures. I ask the Minister to comment on that because if we are truly to get disabled people to access work, and if we are truly to support carers, we need a strong cross-Government departmental strategy.