Darren Paffey MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  I absolutely share my condolences with Junior’s family. I cannot imagine what they will be feeling this week, but I hope this debate will bring forward ideas on how we can prevent drownings. On the suggestion that my hon. Friend made about providing more for our young people to do, it is partly about that, but it also about having points of contact in addition to school, the family and public campaigns. Youth services, youth engagement and more activities will allow us to perhaps better educate our young people of the risks of drowning and how to deal with the other pressures that they face. By every measure that the NHS uses to prioritise public health action—scale, preventability, health inequalities—drowning prevention belongs on that list. My second ask is that we take water safety as a priority at the heart of Government. The National Water Safety Forum is preparing to publish updated national drowning prevention strategies in the coming month, but there is no single lead for co-ordinating that work within the Government. Water safety is fragmented across multiple Departments and does not have a single accountable Minister in the same way as, for example, flooding or fire prevention. Ministerial responsibility for water safety and drowning prevention could be added more explicitly into existing roles, or covered by creating a new ministerial brief altogether. I am grateful to the Minister for responding today. This is not about her as an individual, because I know that she is deeply committed to these issues—but any occupant of her role would not have specific responsibility for water safety. I therefore ask the Government to consider that proposal urgently. One of the new—or the current—Minister’s first tasks should be to convene an urgent, cross-Government roundtable this month, or certainly before the school summer holidays. I know that the National Water Safety Forum and the Royal Life Saving Society have written to the Prime Minister, and I ask the Minister to speak to No. 10 so that we get a swift response to their call. My third ask is that we give our fire and rescue services in England a statutory responsibility for responding to water rescue emergencies. We all know that they are likely to be the ones who come out to such a 999 call, but it is not their statutory responsibility. We are asking our firefighters, who are already in the water saving lives, to do that job without giving them all the tools. That must change. My fourth and final ask is for a public awareness campaign. We need one now. Our media, social media, schools, colleges, universities, councils, charities, landowners and water companies must all get behind it before another summer of drownings hits the country. We also need a year-round public awareness and education campaign. I will not repeat the valid points that others have made on that; we can all see the value that it would bring. I welcome the Daily Mirror ’s campaign, which I am sure we will hear more about in this debate, and the way that it is bringing this issue to the public’s attention. I want to speak directly to anyone watching the debate, because the words of the campaigns that the Royal Life Saving Society, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and others have all got behind could save a life this summer: “If someone gets into difficulty in the water, ‘Float to Live’. Fight your instinct to panic and thrash about. The advice is to roll on to your back and float—it buys you time. If you see someone else in trouble, the advice is ‘Phone, Float, Throw’: phone 999, shout to the person in the water to float, help them to stay calm and throw them anything that might help them to float—a rope, a jacket or anything else that is buoyant. ‘Float to Live’ and ‘Phone, Float, Throw’—please remember those six words this summer.” In conclusion, I come back to the 19 victims of drowning in just one terrible week in this country. Among the many, I come back to Mackenzie Swift, who was just 11 and the youngest in that spate of drownings—younger than two of my children, and younger than the children and grandchildren of many hon. Members. The summer is just beginning. If we leave this Chamber today without a clear plan to act, we will face another debate like this one and we will read out more names. I do not want that. I know that the Minister does not want that. No one wants that. Let us agree today that drowning is preventable. The tools exist, but action must now follow.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is absolutely right and makes an important point. Following a debate during drowning prevention week last year, I was pleased that it was confirmed that water safety education, including the Royal Life Saving Society’s water safety code, would be added to the national curriculum. We need to see the effect of that in time. I hope that this will be a pivotal moment for our country to act and do more to prevent such tragedies. Those who died recently are the catalysts for today’s debate, and their names deserve to be heard in Parliament. They are: Declan Sawyer, aged just 15; Reco Puttock, 13 years old; Lillianna Tomlinson, 17 years old; Muhammad Secka, who was just 16; Phil Crow, 68 years old; Junior Slater, 12; David Tita Junior, 17; Rushabh Patel, 28 years old; Samuel Murphy, aged 14; Baltazar L’Quy, 14; Panashe Muchenje, 19 years old; Charlie Noble, 16; Chiedza Nyanjowa, 15 years old; Mackenzie Swift, the youngest at just 11 years old; Greg Howes, 44; George Cuckoo, 15; Palwasha Akbar, 13; and two women who have not yet been named, one aged 60 in Thornton-Cleveleys in Lancashire and another aged 72 who died in West Angle Bay beach in Pembrokeshire. We mourn their tragic loss here. I am sure the whole Chamber will join me in sending our deepest condolences to their families and friends, who have been left heartbroken by their deaths. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] Now we must act. It is already devastating enough that in an average year about 30 children might drown in open water in the UK, but 13 in one week? What happened? In many cases, we may never fully know. We do know that, understandably, in the intense heat, it is a pleasure to go for a swim, go out with friends, take a picnic, have a laugh and try to cool down. But we also know, as the hon. Member for East Londonderry (Mr Campbell) said, that there are risks—hidden risks and risks that are not necessarily well known—that could have contributed to those tragedies. Even when the air temperature is hot—we got up to 34° in parts of the country that week—water temperatures, particularly inland, open water, are still very cold, especially this early in the year. When someone jumps innocently and enthusiastically into the water, seeking relief from the heat, their body can experience cold water shock, which can cause an involuntary gasp, drawing water straight into the lungs. It can paralyse the muscles and stop the heart. Even the strongest swimmer has seconds, not minutes, to react. It is not just the physical response; it is the lack of knowledge of what to do when they get into difficulty that could have led to such an unprecedented number of drownings during that week. Joe Abbess from my Southampton Itchen constituency drowned three years ago. He was a strong swimmer, a fit and healthy 17-year-old, swimming in a designated area of Bournemouth beach, but he was caught in a very intense and sudden rip current. His mum Vanessa, who has become an incredible campaigner on water safety since, has said that training and educating people so that they know what they might do in those circumstances can make all the difference.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Ms McVey, for your skilful chairing and ensuring that everyone got to have their say. I thank every Member for bringing to life the devastation that drowning causes across this country. We do not and should not accept it as just something else that will rumble on. It is preventable with the right education, the right skills and the ability to swim, but there are clearly barriers holding us back that we must work together to break down. There is more to do. I appreciate the Minister’s response, and there is more to follow up on this, which I will do. I thank every hon. Member for their contribution and appeal once again for us to tackle this as a national emergency. Let us tackle it for every victim whose name was heard in this Chamber this morning, and for the many hundreds more whose names we did not hear and yet whose families and friends have been devastated by their loss after their drowning death. Let us give drowning prevention the urgency that it deserves, and let us do it for them. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered water safety.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered water safety. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this morning, Ms McVey. I thank the Minister for attending to hear the points to be made. I declare an interest as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on water safety, and I acknowledge the support and co-operation of my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher), who has been campaigning with me on this issue. The recent heatwave took many of us to the most beautiful spots in our country: rivers, beaches and lakes. Over that May bank holiday and half-term, many sought to enjoy the unusual weather. As we know, what started as days to enjoy with fun in the sunshine, has since been overshadowed by the unprecedented tragedy of new fewer than 19 deaths. I hope this debate provides a timely opportunity to explore the issues we must firmly grip: water safety education, policy interventions, public awareness campaigns, access to swimming and lifesaving skills, and many other actions that Government can and must take, alongside local authorities, emergency services and water operators, to prevent drownings. I turn first and most importantly to the catalyst for today’s debate. Each year, on average, drowning claims the lives of more than 600 people in the UK. That is nearly 12 people every week of every year. Hon. Members who have seen such tragedies in their constituencies will know that each one is a beloved family member, friend or colleague. Each one mattered profoundly to those around them, and their deaths have caused deep pain to those left behind. Too many of them are children: 196 children drowned in open water in the past six years alone. That is a classroom full of children every year. What we saw during the recent heatwave was particularly shocking. Many welcomed the early summer weather and went out, across the country, to make the most of it. We now know that in just over a week, 19 people were confirmed dead, the vast majority—13—of them children.

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman raises some important points about the gaps that still exist in the jigsaw of different services, support and funding; I will return to that later. The Royal Life Saving Society is producing a report on the last six years of child drowning deaths data, which will be released next week, Drowning Prevention Week, at our APPG meeting. I encourage everyone to look at that report; it will help us to learn the lessons that we need to. The Government must play their role in preventing further drownings. I recognise the Government’s decision to include water safety in the relationships, sex and health education guidance last summer. I was grateful that the Minister for School Standards, my hon. Friend the Member for Queen’s Park and Maida Vale (Georgia Gould), visited to meet campaigners, including Vanessa. However, as people who spend our time creating laws and guidance, we know that guidance without some sort of enforcement or support is an aspiration, not a policy. Will the Minister and the Government accept and recognise that drowning is a preventable public health issue? It kills more than 600 people in the UK every year. It disproportionately effects children. It is demonstrably preventable.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Murder of Henry Nowak · Hansard source

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  I thank the Secretary of State for her statement. Henry was a popular and much-loved student at the University of Southampton, and his murder has horrified our city. Both I and my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Test (Satvir Kaur) commend everyone at the university for their response and their support for the university community following this tragedy. Like many, I have watched the bodycam footage, and it is both heartbreaking and infuriating. It makes it plain for all to see how Henry posed no threat that would warrant being handcuffed, yet he was treated as a criminal based on the lies of his murderer. No one in their right mind thinks that one Sikh represents all Sikhs or that one or two police officers represent the entire police force; as Henry’s father has said, this is about murder, our response to it and our prevention of it. As such, I have two questions for my right hon. Friend. We have a knife problem in this country. That is why we have taken early steps to ban zombie knives and crack down on knife sellers, but it is obvious that that is not enough and we have to go further. Will the Secretary of State commit to clarifying a set of tough and consistent knife laws with the resources to enforce them, so that we can actually move on? Secondly, I echo the words of Henry’s dad, as the Secretary of State did, and ask her to guarantee that the IOPC will have “the resources, authority and independence it needs to conduct a full, fearless and transparent investigation.” Will she guarantee that? The catastrophic errors that were made when police officers got to Henry must never happen again.

• 27 Apr 2026 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  It would be most welcome to hear the Minister’s reassurance about who this Government are acting for. The 21-month process may not serve young people growing up in Britain, or their parents, carers or teachers who are crying out for help. Will the Minister acknowledge that any delay past that minimum timeframe for action will only serve the very companies that my hon. Friend referred to—the social media companies who even to this day deny all responsibility and make absurd claims, as they did in the Education Committee last week, that social media is not inherently addictive? It is not good enough to let them get away with making such ludicrous claims. Will the Minister give an assurance from the Dispatch Box tonight that, regardless of whatever temper tantrum the tech companies probably will throw when this Government do take action, their policy and commitment is to act in the weeks and the months following the consultation, and to bring in laws now, in 2026, to protect children and young people?

• 11 Mar 2026 · Commonwealth Day 2026 · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. He will know that in the history of the Commonwealth, many have gone to it and come from it through the port city of Southampton. As he speaks about the future value of the Commonwealth, does he agree that port cities like Southampton will play a key part through local benefits to culture, education and the sharing of ideas?

• 3 Feb 2026 · Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill · Hansard source

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  Consistently wrong, and they have made a consistent and desperate attempt to be divisive. They are trying to split the country into those who pay tax and those who receive welfare. These generalisations around the “deserving” and the “undeserving” poor are not only crass but factually wrong. Many contribute through work for years. They fall on hard times and rely on the safety net that they have paid into—my hon. Friend the Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett) made that point eloquently. The Conservatives ignore the fact that many receive universal credit while they are working. That is the state topping up poverty wages. The Conservatives might be happy to ignore that, but Labour is taking action on the minimum wage—what a contrast. This Bill removing the two-child limit is a vital step, but—to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Reading Central (Matt Rodda)—it is not a stand-alone measure. It sits alongside this Labour Government’s wider work, such as opening free breakfast clubs, which will transform life chances, with early adopters in St John’s, St Patrick’s and Hightown primary schools in my constituency. It also sits alongside the £20 million Pride in Place investment in the Weston estate and the expansion of free school meals. A third of pupils in my state-funded schools are eligible for free school meals, and more are set to get that support, making a material difference to their lives and breaking down some of the barriers to learning that still exist. Labour is investing in more childcare to help those parents who face barriers to getting into work. We are strengthening some of the universal credit work allowances, and delivering a comprehensive child poverty strategy aimed at giving every single child a fair start. I commend the Secretaries of State for Education and for Work and Pensions for the work they have done on leading that vital change. We all dream of a future where these kinds of benefits might not be as necessary as they are now. We dream of, and Labour is working towards, a world where work pays well and pays better, which our Employment Rights Act 2025 moves us closer to achieving. We dream of a world where the cost of living crisis is less acute, as our action on warm homes and freezing rail fares, VAT rates, income tax rates and fuel duty will help to achieve. Add to that the creation of opportunities through the youth guarantee scheme and more apprenticeships, and we can see that a lot is happening, but that there is still much more to do. The Bill recognises a very simple truth: children do not choose the circumstances into which they are born. Supporting the Bill and scrapping the arbitrary failed cap is not only the right economic decision; it is the right moral decision.

• 3 Feb 2026 · Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am proud to support the Bill and do so with the families of Southampton firmly in mind. Those are families who fell foul of the last Conservative Government’s mission to make Britain Dickensian again. Child deprivation in my city is among the worst in the country—worse than more than 83% of local authorities. Here, that is a potentially abstract statistic; there, it is reflected in the lived reality of my constituents. More than one in five working-age adults in Southampton are on universal credit. That rises to an average of one in three in our most deprived neighbourhoods. As colleagues have said, many of those people are working hard but are still falling short. What was the last Conservative Government’s answer to that? It was to count the children and punish the whole family. No doubt tonight Conservative Members will traipse through the Lobby and vote to keep a lid on the 450,000 children who are about to be released from poverty. The two-child limit simply did not work. If anything, it compounded the pressures on families—families who repeatedly tell me that the universal credit they receive barely covers the rent, let alone food, heating or school essentials. That is the Tory legacy, and that is the deeply entrenched poverty that this Labour Government are having to undo bit by bit. It is therefore no surprise that an estimated 10,000 children in Southampton still live in households with absolute low income and that 25% of children live in households with relative low income. These realities demand clear action, and this Bill is part of that action being led by the Labour Government.

• 19 Jan 2026 · SEND Support: Access · Hansard source

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  We all know that early support for children with SEND depends on getting the co-ordination right among parents, schools, local authorities and the NHS, but we also know that is not always happening. Some of the children I have been supporting in Southampton Itchen are spending months out of education and taking years still to get an EHCP, all of which compounds the challenges for them and their families. What can my right hon. Friend do to ensure that SEND families across the country will not have to wait until the end of the White Paper process to see better joined-up working for children who need that support now?

• 12 Nov 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q4. This is Care Leavers Month, when we remember the resilience and brilliance of our young people who have grown up in care, and I was delighted to welcome a group of Southampton’s care leavers to share their views with the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), recently. But while this Labour Government are taking real action to support care leavers, a Reform councillor has disgracefully described children in care as “downright evil”— [ Interruption. ] He said it. Will the Prime Minister and, I hope, the whole House join me in condemning Reform’s vile rhetoric, and will my right hon. Friend reassure us that this Labour Government will continue to support the protections and opportunities for all our care leavers?

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  I will listen to the experts before I listen to the Front Bench any day—the Opposition Front Bench. [ Laughter. ] If the right hon. Member listens, she will hear that. Will the Secretary of State please look at the overall load throughout school, not just in GCSE year, and comment on how she sees the introduction of an additional year 8 diagnostic panning out? On my second question, I declare an interest as the vice chair of the all-party parliamentary group on modern languages. We broadly welcome the Government’s response, which goes further than the recommendations, and the recognition of importance. It is right to scrap the EBacc, which has never really been taken seriously by professionals, but will the Secretary of State please say how she will stop uptake from dropping immediately? What other incentives will there be? When will she deliver the feasibility review of the new qualification based on languages ladder expertise, which is welcomed by the sector ?

• 5 Nov 2025 · Curriculum and Assessment Review · Hansard source

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  I welcome a curriculum review that will break down barriers. It opens up so much of the digital and financial literacy that the Conservatives seem to think is unimportant to all, but which we know will raise aspirations by equipping young people from all backgrounds. I have two questions that I would like to ask the Secretary of State. One is on examinations. We know that this country has an examination overload and I welcome the proposed reduction by 10%.

• 30 Oct 2025 · Children’s Social Care · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank and commend my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), the chair of the Education Committee, for leading the inquiry, securing the debate and making an incredibly powerful case as to why, particularly as we begin National Care Leavers Month, we must see action on children’s social care. I welcome the Minister to his role, commend his work on the independent review of children’s social care, and congratulate him on being in the most powerful position possible to deliver on something that, tragically, was shelved for several years, until the new Government picked it up. I am not only a proud member of the Committee that carried out this work, but as some know, I have a particular interest in this issue. For a number of years before being elected to this place, I was the cabinet member for children’s services and education in Southampton City Council. With help from many others, I tried to transform services that literally had life or death consequences for many children. It was a pleasure to do that, because I was once there myself: I grew up in foster care, and happily I was adopted. I am a big advocate of the life-transforming difference that the right care at the right time in the right circumstances can make, because had that not been the case for me, thanks to my parents, social workers and others along the way who made decisions on my behalf, I would not be standing here today. In my maiden speech, I said that, of the many things we get involved with in Parliament, the one thing I want to do is be able to say to those to whom this report speaks, whose lives and circumstances it seeks to make better—those who are going through some of the most challenging times in life, who suffer the stigma of still being more likely to end up in prison than in university or in this place—that we will ensure they have the right support. I want that experience to forge in them a steely determination to achieve their full potential. Many of these recommendations are in that vein. I was proud to bring a group of care leavers to Parliament earlier this week. I thank the Minister again for making time at the last moment, with no notice, to meet them, so that they could share their aspirations. Their voices were not only heard in this place; they went to the very heart of decision making—the Department for Education. I want to talk about three key issues: the importance of getting early intervention right, foster carers, and care leavers themselves. The Government have committed to early intervention and help. In Southampton, I saw the power of shifting from reactive services to preventive services, with early help and intervention. That can reduce the number of children entering care, the amount of time they spend in care, and the damaging impact that being in care for too long can have. For many, it turns them around. Unfortunately, the damage can be compounded by the experience of care, so there is a great need for support. I think I am preaching to the choir when I say that early intervention is absolutely key. The Government’s response points to the existing grants and the local government finance settlement, which deals with some early interventions, particularly around things such as housing support. Will the Minister please say a bit more about the conversations he is having with MHCLG ministerial colleagues? Will he ensure we seize the opportunity to make a difference? When council funding is announced later in the year, it will be welcomed not only by cabinet members like I was, leaders in this area and people who work in it, but most importantly by young people themselves, who will see that we are taking this issue seriously. On the recruitment and retention of foster carers, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood made a powerful case setting out why what we are doing is not working. We need to do more. I believe that a national fostering strategy is needed to bring together the good will and the good practice. We know that there are pockets of excellence across the country, and there moments when a particular campaign works well. In Southampton, we were delighted to have one of our former Saints players engage with us on this issue—we could at least win at something, even if it was not football in that season. That joint working to promote the benefits not just to children, but to families who welcome young people into their homes for however long is needed, was a real success. None the less, recruitment numbers go up and down, and I am sure that is replicated across the country. I hope the Minister will take on board the need to consider again a national fostering strategy that is properly resourced and brings together the comprehensive measures needed for progress. That would help to bring clarity and far greater awareness of the current crisis, and crucially, it would bring hope. As I believe the Minister said the other day, we want there to be choice. We cannot simply say, “Well, we have a foster carer, but they happen to be 20 or 30 miles away and that is the best fit we can get for an individual.” I think we know that we can and should be doing better than that. On care leavers, our report concluded that it is rightly absolutely unacceptable that young people are left to support themselves financially when they turn 18, particularly if they are in full-time education and have to face either reducing time spent in education or dropping out completely to support themselves. I do not know if anyone has read the book by Ashley John-Baptise about the decision he faced almost 20 years ago either to accept a property that a council had finally been able to offer him as a care leaver, or to take up his place at university. That is not a position we want anyone to be in. Thankfully, the intervention of an MP at that point made a difference. The system should be making the difference, not forcing young people to choose between opportunities that, in most cases, those who are not care-experienced would not even have to consider. There are things that no responsible parent would allow, and the state—councils—are in loco parentis. Therefore, as this Government are committed to breaking down barriers to opportunity, we must keep the most life-changing opportunity, education, open to all care-experienced young people. Where finance is the barrier, we need to remove that, and where the risk of a placement breakdown is a barrier, we must get extra support for stability. As has been recommended, we need to look at extending corporate parenting to all public bodies that are required to support our children in care. A national care leaver offer, as in recommendation 75, should still be on the table; it would go hand in hand with the local care leaver offer that the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill is bringing in. As argued strongly by my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank), designating care experience a protected characteristic is another tool in our box that we could use to make a difference for children and young people. That is recommendation 78, and I would be grateful if the Minister elaborated on what the Government are doing there. Work is ongoing in Parliament, and the hon. Member for Dundee Central (Chris Law), Baroness Longfield and activists such as Terry Galloway and Chris Wild are working on it. We would be pleased to meet with the Minister on an ongoing basis to ensure that we are working towards it. Finally, I will list a few of the things that Atlas, Mac, Ethan and George told us when they visited this week about what would make a difference to their experience of being in social care, and in particular leaving social care. They are asking for more funding and focus on mental health and wellbeing. That is in recommendation 49. We know that child and adolescent mental health services are in a poor state, whether someone has been in care or not, and urgently need to be fixed. The Government said in their response that they will take a multidisciplinary approach and that they will review statutory guidance. Can the Minister say when we can expect that? The crisis is ongoing. We cannot continue to wait much longer. Children want more placements closer to home. They want that stability. They want more affordable housing. As has already been outlined, that speaks to the wider challenges in society that the Government have to tackle: child poverty, relieving financial pressures on families, and having better support for parents, which we know will be given through the new Best Start family hubs. I am glad that parental pay and parental leave are under review so that in the earliest, most crucial days we might see stronger bonds in children. For some, that may remove the likelihood that they have to go into care. There are risks outside the home that we need to fix, and there are risks in the home such as social media and smartphones. Many things impact the stability of our young people’s experience, particularly when they go on to leave care. We need training and experience for the young people themselves, but young people told us that they also want their social workers to be as well trained as possible. Some of them want someone, as they put it, a bit older. They probably mean someone with the deep experience to be able to coach them through the upheaval that many of them face, particularly as they become independent. They want to feel like they are part of a normal family, as much as possible. I again commend the Chair of the Education Committee for leading this inquiry. It was the first priority of the new Committee. I ask the Minister to make it clear to us and, more importantly, to foster families, to children who are care-experienced, and to those who are leaving care that it is the first priority of this Government. I welcome the many responses that have reassured us of that commitment to make change happen where it is desperately needed, but the Government must not allow this to be a wait and see moment. The Minister must assure us that decisive action will be taken on those recommendations because, as the Chair of the Committee has said, he will be able to count on the Committee’s full support if he does.

• 4 Sept 2025 · Early Education and Childcare · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement. As schools and early years providers start the new term across Southampton this week, we have two new nurseries—at St Mary’s Church of England primary school and at Valentine primary school—which will add to that provision thanks to the investment of this Labour Government. That is going to make an enormous difference to families in an area where one in four children are growing up in low-income families. Will the Minister join me in thanking everyone working across all Southampton early years settings to give children the best start in life, and in urging parents to ensure that they take this support and all the other support that has been mentioned that is also being delivered by this Government?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend paints the picture of the crowning glory of the previous Labour Government, in the Sure Start centres, not just because they were a nice feelgood thing but because of the strong evidence of the benefits they brought. What a disgrace that year after year the Conservatives cut council budgets and shut those very centres. Despite Tory austerity that hit Southampton hard—we lost 60% of our Government grant at Southampton city council—we made the often tough decision financially but the right decision in purpose, to keep those buildings open across the city, because they were crucial centres of support for local families. I cannot pretend that the range of services offered in those centres was the same as it was a quarter of a century ago when the previous Labour Government set them up under our admired and much-missed colleague, Tessa Jowell, but those buildings still served a purpose. That meant that when the Conservative Government, having shut so many Sure Start centres, experienced an amazing epiphany—a revelation that, actually, they were a really good idea—and reinvented them under the badge of family hubs, our former Sure Start centres were there and ready to be built back up again. I would gently remind the shadow Minister that the family hubs, while welcome, were not new, either. In the lost years between those Conservative budget cuts to children’s services and their later U-turn, far too many families in my constituency and across the country were left without those crucial services. The Government are also investing in school improvement, particularly in areas with long-standing underachievement and where attainment gaps have remained stubborn. My view is that the upcoming curriculum and assessment review is a huge opportunity to introduce a refreshed and inspiring curriculum with manageable assessments, rather than over-assessment and high-stakes exams, and links to exciting training opportunities in the reality of jobs in the 21st century economy into the future. As other hon. Members have said, the special educational needs and disabilities system is absolutely broken. I commend the Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), who is no longer in her place, for leading our Committee’s inquiry on this subject. As I am sure is the case for other Members, I hear a lot from constituents in surgeries and through my inbox about situations that are in many cases avoidable, and which we must certainly work hard to avoid in the future, with children’s needs not being met because of a system that needs to be fundamentally rebuilt, described by its own architects as “lose, lose, lose”. A reformed SEND system must give every child the support they need to access school and ensure they are not excluded from the potential for success in life that every single child deserves and is capable of. Numerous schools have fantastic and innovative practices going on, including Bitterne Park secondary school, which I visited last week, which is establishing a variety of units, specialist rooms and particular provisions within the mainstream, working towards a truly inclusive school. In reforming the SEND system—I do not underestimate or envy the task of my hon. Friends on the Front Bench here—I have asked Ministers to consider how we can scale up the good practice in many of our constituencies to end the postcode lottery and guarantee consistency across our country. These are the kinds of policies that have been announced—these are the building blocks of a much better future for children in my constituency and across the country. If we are serious about change, we must not only welcome and consolidate the significant changes this Government are making, but commit to continual improvement. In the wind-up, I ask the Minister to address the Government’s commitment to prioritising areas like Southampton Itchen. As I have said, we may be located in the south—often assumed wrongly to be a magnet for wealth—but child poverty is entrenched and multi-generational. We must not have a blind spot to need that is based on geographical assumptions. Will Ministers ensure that our new Best Start family hubs are truly integrated with schools, NHS services and local councils so that they do not simply replicate past silos? Will Ministers also guarantee long-term funding? I think I know the answer, but it is always worth asking. Long-term funding that goes beyond a single Parliament—the Prime Minister has spoken for a long time now about a decade of national renewal—is not just desirable, but absolutely necessary. We need investment that ensures change is deep, not just fast. Will Ministers have regard to support for the families that children are growing up in? We have heard from hon. Members about better parental leave. I commend the work of The Dad Shift, among others, in raising awareness of that issue. Will Ministers also ensure that they look well down the line to not just the early years, which are a crucial foundation, but the years ahead? We must ensure that our children and young people who grow up in care have long-lasting support to thrive in life, guaranteed by meaningful and strong corporate parenting responsibilities in our public services and a national care leaver offer to close the attainment gap experienced by those who are care experienced, even up to support into training or university. In closing, children growing up in Southampton Itchen can be hopeful about the building blocks that are going in under this Labour Government. However, they do not want or need just charity; they need a chance—a chance to thrive in life. If we get this right, and I believe that we are absolutely setting out in the right direction, we will change not just individual lives, but the future of whole communities. Therefore, when we are giving every child the best start in life, that has to mean in every single postcode in this country.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), although I feel I am breaking a run of excellent speeches from the Staffordshire massive. I very much welcome this debate on giving every child the best start in life. I think one thing we can agree on across all the Benches is that that is not just the title of the debate, but a moral duty. It is the measure of a Government’s values, and it is also the foundation of a thriving and fair society. In my constituency of Southampton Itchen, the unfortunate truth is that too many children are still being held back—not by the lack of potential, but by the lack of opportunity. It is high time that that changed, and I am proud to be part of a Labour Government who are making that change happen. My constituency is in the much vaunted London and the south-east, which we usually hear about for its wealth and prosperity, but the reality is often different in Thornhill and Weston, where one child in every three is growing up in poverty. That is not the picture of wealth that we are often lumped in with. Many children arrive at school already behind in language, health or emotional development. There are dedicated teachers and early years professionals who do everything they can. I pay tribute to all those I have met and worked with over a number of years, first as a councillor and then in the past year as an MP visiting schools. I do not face the same height challenge as my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central when visiting those schools—indeed, in some secondary schools the pupils are taller than me these days. Dedicated teachers and professionals—I know colleagues across the Chamber will also be meeting them—are working against a legacy of underfunding and fragmentation of services. That is why I welcome the Labour Government’s plan for change and our focus on a number of policies that will help to give every child the best start in life. They include: expanding high-quality early years education; the new nursery places for children aged two to four; and the schools-based nurseries in my constituency launched at St Mary’s Church of England primary school and at Valentine primary school. I am grateful to see policies like the rolling out of free breakfast clubs in every primary school. The pilots established at St John’s primary and nursery school and St Patrick’s Catholic primary school are hugely welcome. I have visited and helped to serve breakfasts to the children. I have seen the benefits they are already enjoying of a solid start to the day. Yes, that is through the food, but also through socialising, being with their friends and getting ready to learn.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I am delighted to hear that each of these Best Start family hubs will have a fully trained and professional SEND co-ordinator to support families. Could the Minister say a bit more about how she envisages those co-ordinators working in partnership with local education, health and local authority partners to avoid silo thinking?

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention and I wish him every success in his constituency with the pilot breakfast clubs. We have all welcomed in the last week a restoring—let us be honest—of Sure Start-style family hubs which will provide wraparound support for parents. From the hubs I have seen in my constituency over recent years—I know that work will build back up again—the potential for mental health support, childcare advice, toy libraries and work support are all there in those places.

• 16 Jul 2025 · Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life · Hansard source

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  I agree that it is crucial to measure the progress of our children in key subjects to give them the best opportunities in life, but does the shadow Minister not accept, as I and many others do, that the climb up the international league tables was caused by restricting the breadth of the curriculum? That has come at the detriment of many opportunities for children over recent years.