Gagan Mohindra MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Jan 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour: Hertfordshire · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member’s party has been in government for over six months now. What has changed in that time?

• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  Will my hon. Friend give way?

• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this timely debate. As he will know, Dean Russell, the former Member of Parliament for Watford, was a keen advocate for Watford general hospital. He continued to make sure that we progressed the project for that hospital, which has a real impact on my constituency of South West Hertfordshire. Does my hon. Friend share my disappointment that Watford general is now not likely to get spades in the ground until 2032 at the earliest? Furthermore, some of the figures being bandied about are concerning. I know that the Minister has uploaded draft costs, but £1.5 billion to £2 billion seems a bit high for what was initially proposed.

• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  For Watford general hospital, we have a window between 2032 and 2034. Given the certainty that the Minister is trying to give to the programme and to the rest of the country, what assurances and assumptions has she made for that two-year window? How can she assure me and my constituents that there will be no further delays?

• 22 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme · Hansard source

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  It is very gracious of the Minister to allow me to intervene again. In the interests of full transparency, can she assure us that if the development of the new hospitals gets delayed, all MPs will be informed, not just those in the relevant constituency? Work on Watford general is meant to begin between 2032 and 2034. Will the Government communicate any further delays as quickly as possible? That will certainly be critical to our constituents.

• 20 Jan 2025 · High Street Rental Auctions · Hansard source

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  Rickmansworth high street in my constituency is a thriving hub for the community, supported by its fantastic local businesses. Having spoken to many of those dedicated business owners, I know the challenges they face. What steps is the Minister taking to support local authorities in delivering initiatives, such as high street rental auctions, to help high streets like the one in Rickmansworth?

• 20 Jan 2025 · New Hospital Programme Review · Hansard source

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  As the Secretary of State will be aware, I and MPs from surrounding constituencies wrote to him at the beginning of December to talk about Watford general hospital. I am sure that I speak on behalf of the two Labour MPs, one Lib Dem and a Conservative colleague when I say we are disappointed that he has decided to delay reconstruction of Watford general until at least 2030. Notwithstanding my public disappointment and given that all six of us campaigned actively on investment in Watford general, the statement says that further details will be provided in the hospital building programme. If there are assumptions there that we wish to challenge—such as build cost—do we go to the Secretary of State or the Minister of State with those questions?

• 13 Jan 2025 · Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan · Hansard source

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  I welcome this action plan, which mentions data centres. As the Secretary of State may be aware, the Deputy Prime Minister is currently reviewing the need for a data centre in Kings Langley in my constituency. Both the report and the Secretary of State talk about ensuring that the infrastructure is in the right place. I am working alongside my constituents in Kings Langley, because the proposed site is prime green belt. If there is a need to build on and develop the site, housing would make better sense, because energy—a huge requirement for data centres—is not available nearby. How can the Secretary of State ensure that we are not encouraging the building of white elephants in the wrong places? [ Official Report , 15 January 2025; Vol. 760, c. 4WC.] (Correction)

• 13 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Several of my constituents in South Oxhey have unfortunately been the victims of burglary or attempted burglary. Will the Home Secretary outline the measures her Department is taking to allow the police to invest in technologies such as live facial recognition, which can make crimes such as burglary easier to solve?

• 17 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. My constituents were promised £300 off their energy bills by the Labour Government. Instead, they are having to fork out additional money for Great British Energy and to pursue net zero, while the Government take the winter fuel payment away from millions of pensioners. How can the Secretary of State justify increasing spending on net zero projects while his Government let pensioners go cold this winter?

• 16 Dec 2024 · English Devolution · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister to his place; this is the first opportunity I have had to do so. As the Department will be aware, both Dacorum borough council and Three Rivers district council in my constituency do not have a local plan in place. They are both controlled by the Liberal Democrats. Will the Minister confirm what would happen in the case of his proposed plans? Separate to that, we have local county elections next May. What are his intentions for them? Do they still go ahead? There is a lot of uncertainty. In 2026, how many mayoral elections does he anticipate?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know, Three Rivers district council, which has been controlled by the Liberal Democrats for many years, does not have an up-to-date local plan, and there is already a presumption for development. What would the Minister say to councils that either choose not to have a local plan or are unable to meet the housing targets?

• 11 Dec 2024 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  The disastrous record that the Labour party has in healthcare in Wales over the past 25 years is cold comfort to residents in South West Hertfordshire if that is the template the party intends to use across the whole of the United Kingdom. Does the Secretary of State agree that the key to reducing waiting lists in Wales and South West Hertfordshire is investing in our healthcare infrastructure and particularly new hospitals?

• 11 Dec 2024 · NHS Waiting Lists · Hansard source

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  4. What steps she is taking with the Welsh Government to help reduce NHS waiting lists in Wales.

• 9 Dec 2024 · Planning Committees: Reform · Hansard source

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  As the Housing and Planning Minister will be aware, both Dacorum borough council and Three Rivers district council in my constituency are Lib Dem-controlled; Three Rivers has been for over 20 years. Both councils do not have an up-to-date local plan. Can the Minister advise the House about what would happen if the Government imposed a local plan on an authority? Would those decisions be delegated to officers? If so, the process would have no democratic mandate at all.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  The dangerous proposed reforms to the NPPF are among the many things that the Labour Government have rushed through in the past five months. How will those reforms ensure that villages such as Kings Langley, and South West Hertfordshire, retain their individual character and identity, and do not have their green spaces re-banded as grey belt, concreted over and absorbed into an ever-increasing Greater London?

• 2 Dec 2024 · Planning Reform · Hansard source

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  5. What changes her Department is making to the national planning policy framework.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T5. Given that the Government are already doing another relaunch, would the Secretary of State reconsider the fairness of housing targets, whereby poor delivery by Labour in London is awarded with lower targets to the detriment of areas such as South West Hertfordshire?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. It is unusual for the shadow Whip to say anything during Committee, but I want to make a declaration of interest: I am one of the vice-chairs of CPA UK and a director and trustee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association UK branch. This is a non-pecuniary interest.

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

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  My hon. Friend is spot on. [ Interruption. ] I hear comments from Government Members that it is not a reduction. My Government and my party’s manifesto committed to 2.5%. I look forward to the Government committing to that level in future spending reviews, and ideally going higher. The second local issue is independent schools. I believe that this is a policy of envy. When the Government are burdening independent schools with VAT and increases in business rates, they are forcing families who are just about affording current tuition fees to make the choice to go to the state school sector. Now, if there was capacity in the state school sector, I would happily applaud that, but when a shadow Minister confirmed during the general election campaign that class sizes would increase, that for me was a warning that the Labour party knew what it was doing. Unfortunately, residents of South West Hertfordshire will come to feel that in things such as SEND support—helping those who are most in need—which are subsidised by the private sector. Finally, on Watford general hospital, I look forward to the Health Secretary coming back in the spring with his review. Following on from my question at Prime Minister’s questions in October, that is critical for my constituents.

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

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  I start by welcoming the fact that this is the first Budget presented by a female Chancellor. The House should be proud of that. I also send my thanks to the Prime Minister for acknowledging the former leader of the Conservative party and his heritage as a second-generation Indian. This place is symbolic not just here but around the world. I am going to shift tone, if I may. [ Laughter. ] The Budget is incredibly punitive for small businesses. I come from a small business background, and I applaud those who are brave enough to set up their own business. A lot of the time, those small businesses are one-man bands, reliant on family members or friends to support them. Today, I probably would not set up a small business, because off the back of this Budget we have destroyed ambition in our country. The Budget absolutely feeds into supporting public sector workers, but as Sir James Dyson said in The Times today, how can we encourage the entrepreneurs of tomorrow to start their businesses today? Politics is about choices. My party spent the summer trying to convince the electorate that Labour was going to raise their taxes—we thought that it was, and indeed we told the public that. The Budget raises taxes on working people, on pensioners, on wealth creators and on farmers. I think that farmers and the NFU knew there would be an issue when only 87 words of the Labour manifesto referred to farming. The Budget sends a message that ambition is something not to foster. With regard to the tax burden, we see an increase in capital gains tax and inheritance tax, the removal of stamp duty support for first-time buyers and the unfreezing of income tax bands. This is a Budget that penalises ambition. I am conscious of time, so I want quickly to focus on three local issues in South West Herts. On defence spending, I am lucky enough to represent Northwood NATO base in my constituency. While I applaud the Government’s investment in defence and supporting our Ukrainian allies, I gently point out that the Budget will actually see a decrease in the percentage of GDP spent on defence, let alone a pathway to spending 2.5%.

• 28 Oct 2024 · Leasehold Reform · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister to his place. The Labour party has proposed several reforms to the private rental sector, including to the leasehold system, which will only punish landlords, more of whom will sell up. At a time when people are struggling to get on the property ladder, why are this Government determined to drive out landlords and reduce the supply of available rental properties for those who rely on them?

• 21 Oct 2024 · Small Boat Crossings · Hansard source

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  As the House will be aware, there have been recent crossings. Is the Home Secretary considering reopening hotels to house asylum seekers, and if so will she commit to keeping the House informed about the methodology for choosing those hotels and ensuring that constituency Members are informed at the appropriate time?

• 17 Oct 2024 · Government’s Childcare Expansion · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for giving me advance sight of his statement. Labour Members may take this opportunity to create a fictitious narrative about the alleged failures of the former Government on early years and childcare, but it will not wash with us and it will not wash with the British public. That is simply because our record on childcare is strong, so let me take this opportunity to remind the Government and the House exactly what it is. In 2010, we extended the three and four-year-old entitlement, commonly taken as 15 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year. In 2013, we introduced 15 hours of free early education a week for disadvantaged two-year-olds. In 2017, we doubled the three and four-year-old entitlement to 30 hours per week for working parents, as well as introducing tax-free childcare, which meant that for every £8 people paid in, the Government would automatically add £2 to support childcare costs—on top of the free-hours entitlement. In March 2023, we announced the biggest expansion of childcare by a UK Government in history. It was intended to give working parents access to 30 hours of free childcare a week, from when their children were nine months old until they started school, and to save families an average of £6,900 a year. Our reason for doing that was simple: childcare is one of the biggest costs facing working families today, as well as one of the biggest barriers to parents returning to work if and when they wish to do so. I want to take this opportunity to thank early years providers, local authorities, membership bodies, and other key partners who have made delivering this possible. I welcome the fact that the Government have finally agreed that rolling out our childcare expansion will empower parents to make the choice that is best for them, and are committed to doing so. I am, however, disappointed that they did not do more to spread awareness among parents of the childcare entitlements that became available in September. Will the Minister tell us whether there was any unspent budget for this, and will he now commit himself to increasing the publicising of childcare roll-outs so that parents are rightly aware of their entitlements? Of course the Opposition welcome the expansion of childcare and support the idea of utilising unused space in schools, which provides a single point of contact for parents with multiple children, but will the Minister tell us how many childcare places the first 300 new or expanded nurseries will provide? The Government previously pledged to deliver 3,000 nurseries to support 100,000 childcare places. What will be the timeline for the delivery of the rest of those nurseries, and are the Government still committed to the creation of 100,000 childcare places across the country in the long term? The Education Secretary has confirmed that early years and childcare are her No. 1 priority, which I wholeheartedly support. However, the Government’s education tax will mean that children in classes in which one child is five years old, or is due to turn five by the end of the year, will be subject to the Government’s retrograde education tax regardless of their age. Will the Minister confirm that that is indeed a broken promise? How can the British public trust the Education Secretary’s word that she will prioritise early years and childcare when she has already broken a promise within the first 100 days of a Labour Government?

• 14 Oct 2024 · UK Defences · Hansard source

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  As the Minister will know, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary industrial dispute is putting our national security at risk. Does he think it is a betrayal of our defence that Labour puts generous settlements for their rail paymasters over the small number of seafarers who keep us safe?