Jayne Kirkham MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Dec 2024 · Future of Farming · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that the best thing the Government can do is give some direction and certainty to farmers with the new land use framework and the new pipeline of sustainable farming incentives, which are upcoming to balance food production, nature recovery and carbon reduction, so that they have the confidence to invest and to return to profit?

• 28 Nov 2024 · Fishing Industry · Hansard source

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  Fishing is such an important part of Cornwall’s history and its future—as you can probably tell, Mr Efford, because half the MPs from Cornwall are here today. We are surrounded by the sea on three sides. Fishing has been integral to us for centuries: Cornish people have fished for pilchards for hundreds of years in Newlyn, St Ives, Mevagissey and Portscatho, among other places in my constituency. Oysters in the Fal have been farmed for half a millennium with traditional methods that are still in use today because of a byelaw dating back to 1876 that outlaws mechanised dredging—an early example of legislation that promotes sustainable fishing. That makes the oyster farms on the Fal one of a kind in Europe, if not the world. Fishing in Cornwall is not just about the past; it is also about the future. Our fishing industry is vital for our food security, jobs and tourism. We need to preserve the knowledge and skills that have been passed down through fishing families in Cornwall for generations. The industry contributes more than £170 million to Cornwall’s economy directly from fish landed, and we have 500 fishermen at sea and 8,000 jobs in the supply chain. There are 15 jobs ashore for every one at sea. It does have a future and it does have profit. We need to make sure that the conditions are right and we protect it. How do we do that? I repeat the points that have been made about the ongoing EU-UK negotiation process to set the fishing quotas for next year. In previous years, reductions to some quotas have been too large for fishers to adjust to: for example, the pollack quota last year was set at zero with no warning, and Cornish fishermen ended up being compensated. The past two years of annual negotiations have led to a £20 million reduction in fishing opportunities for the Cornish fishing fleet, so we need a long-term approach to quotas that is based on scientific evidence and that balances food production with protecting the environment, promoting sustainability and supporting the industry. As a result of the EU-UK trade and co-operation agreement, under Boris Johnson’s Government fishing was basically sold down the river; Boris Johnson’s name is sometimes not spoken kindly in Cornwall. In the renegotiation, we need to be careful to ensure that our Cornish fishers do not lose out like that again. I have mentioned Fal oysters, which are a vital heritage industry in my constituency. To protect the population, there is an ongoing review looking at the size of the oysters that are caught. I would like the Minister to pay close attention to it; I think it was passed up to DEFRA in April or May. Central to that is clean water. Sewage dumping is destroying the shellfish industry. In May 2003, 11 shellfish sites in Cornwall were forced to close because of high levels of E. coli. I welcome both the Water (Special Measures) Bill, which will crack down on water companies that dump sewage, and the coming review. Agriculture will have a part to play as well. Shellfish was an afterthought in the Brexit negotiations. There was extra red tape and there were reduced markets: as the UK is now a third country, we cannot export unprocessed oysters, scallops and mussels to the EU. That is a massive loss of market. In conclusion, we need to look carefully at how we balance fishing, marine protected areas, sustainability, nature recovery, the environment and floating offshore wind. As an MP in Cornwall, I am a great supporter of floating offshore wind and would love to get it off the ground in the Celtic sea. We still have not quite got there; I want it kick-started, but it is important that everything has its space and that consultation is wide and is carried out with all of the industries. Equally, we need a strategy for the ocean. We do not have one at the moment: we have a local plan for the land, but nothing similar for the ocean. It is important that there is a long-term strategy that looks at protecting certain areas and our ambition for zero-carbon electricity by 2030, but that still maintains profitable and vital heritage industries such as fishing, so we can carve out a place for everything as we go forward.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Fishing Industry · Hansard source

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  I do not wish to make too much of this, but looking at the other side of it, Scotland has been lucky enough to get the headquarters of GB Energy. Maybe we could think about the alternative as well.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Sewage Discharges: South West · Hansard source

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  Cornwall is covered with sewage alerts, and proceedings have been taken against South West Water. Does the hon. Member agree that the new water review will be vital to reform regulation and infrastructure?

• 21 Nov 2024 · Bus Franchising · Hansard source

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  4. Whether she is taking steps to support the participation of small and medium-sized local bus operators in bus franchising schemes.

• 21 Nov 2024 · Bus Franchising · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to hear that this is part of the consultation on updating the bus franchising guidance. We have some strong local SMEs in Falmouth that provide a knowledgeable, local and flexible bus service, along with community bus services too. Will the Minister please confirm that she will be supportive of that kind of model when going through the guidance?

• 14 Nov 2024 · Council Tax · Hansard source

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  I am pleased about the support for first and second-tier councils and the commitment to fair funding, which will make a real difference in, for instance, Cornwall. However, in unitary authorities such as ours, where a great many services have been shared, larger town councils have had to step up and take the strain, but have not had the grants and other measures that have been available to those first and second-tier councils. Could the appropriate Minister meet me to discuss the position of larger town councils in Cornwall?

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

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  I will not rehearse the numbers that Members have already given for the south-west, except to say that fewer than half the children in Cornwall have been seen by an NHS dentist in the past 12 months. That is down 13 percentage points from five years earlier. It is just getting worse and worse: people simply cannot get an NHS dentist now in the whole of Cornwall. It is impossible. We are fortunate in that we have a new Government. We are looking at 700,000 new urgent appointments. Everybody recognises that the dental contract needs reforming, and there is a commitment to reform the contract. Obviously that will take time, so in the meantime we may need to look at what can be done locally. In Cornwall, the commissioning of dentistry has been passed down to the integrated care board, which has done some quite innovative things. A surgery in Lostwithiel that was just about to hand back its contract went into bespoke negotiations so that the under-18s, the elderly and vulnerable people could retain their NHS dentist. There is the option, within the contract, for local ICBs to do more, to go into bespoke negotiations and maybe to salvage some things while we are waiting for the large renegotiation of the dental contract. There are other things that I ask my hon. Friend the Minister to consider; I am sure he has done so. Could he say more about health hubs, about having more bespoke contracts and about how much power ICBs have to enter into those contracts? Will he look at things such as emergency dental vans, which I understand are a sticking plaster, but which have been used in some places?

• 12 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  We had a very successful all-party group meeting last week on floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea. I know the Minister is supportive and ask him to consider mechanisms such as ringfencing contracts for difference and investment in ports to kickstart the investment in the Celtic sea.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rural Affairs · Hansard source

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  In my constituency of Truro and Falmouth, housing is a major issue, as it is in many rural communities. Does my hon. Friend agree that we must take action on housing? We should, in particular, consider the impact of second homes in our rural communities.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rural Affairs · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

• 6 Nov 2024 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Finally, after 14 years of patching up, we have a Budget that puts down the first bricks as we start to rebuild our country. With this Budget we will be able to start to put the NHS back on its feet with a £25 billion boost, provide a shot in the arm for our schools with extra funding including £1 billion for SEND, and invest in our transport and energy infrastructure. On a local level, the Budget contains positives for my constituency and for Cornwall more widely. Local transport in rural areas will receive £650 million, and the Chancellor named Cornwall in particular as an area that will benefit directly in terms of connectivity. The freeze in fuel duty, and fixing those potholes, will help people who still have to rely on their cars in rural areas such as ours. We are also getting some solutions for our housing crisis with a stamp duty rise of up to 5% for second home buyers, which should lead to more houses on the market for local people. The Budget provides extra money for councils to build affordable and social housing, as well as limiting the discounts on selling off council houses and changing the rules so that councils can build more social housing with the proceeds. I am pleased that Cornwall Council has been supported with extra funding, although I do want to raise the case of the other councils—such as town and parish councils—that have taken on so many of the services of which the unitary authorities have divested themselves, and as a consequence are often large employers with big budgets. I am also pleased that the important shared prosperity funding for Cornwall has been extended for another year at a national figure of £900 million, so that all the investment in schemes to get people into work and into Cornish businesses can continue. However, I should like to hear confirmation that the funding formula continues to recognise the huge loss that Cornwall suffered when we lost the EU structural funding. The Government are also boosting public investment, and next year will publish a new industrial strategy setting out high-growth areas where the UK has real competitive advantage. Some of the areas ripe for investment will be renewables, technology, food, and the creative industries, in which Cornwall has real strengths. In my constituency we look forward particularly to investment in floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea and in ports such as Falmouth, as well as investment in our vital creative arts. Our Chancellor has chosen the bold path to save and rebuild the NHS, schools and other public services and invest in the country’s infrastructure, while also ensuring that people do not face higher taxes in their pay packets. This is a big Budget of renewal, which will set us on the road to recovery.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcome the commitment in the Budget to our courts after 14 years of neglect. Truro Crown court is facing a temporary cut to Crown court sitting days until the end of the year. I have previously asked about delayed rape and sexual offences cases at Truro Crown court. Can measures be considered to assist?

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

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  In lieu of the dental contract being renegotiated, could something not be done by the local integrated care boards that commission dentistry to make special provision for local contracts when dentists are considering giving up contracts in the short term? That could be done now, in lieu of that renegotiation.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Higher Education Reform · Hansard source

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  I have Falmouth University in my constituency, which is a world-leading arts university. Unlike the Conservatives, this Government have committed to restore the arts as a large part of the economy in this country. Could the Secretary of State confirm that arts degrees will be an important part of the economy in future, and will be supported by this Government?

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

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  Before the election, farmers in my constituency were very concerned about the environmental land management system, which had not worked for a long time but which they felt was just beginning to work. Will the Minister please reassure them that the Government will be proceeding with it?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. My constituency has some brilliant further education colleges and apprenticeship schemes, but some students struggle, retaking GCSE and functional skills maths and English over and over again. Will the Minister consider how the process could be done better, so that those students do not end up feeling like a failure as they retake and retake?

• 29 Oct 2024 · Great British Energy Bill · Hansard source

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  The Bill’s job is to set up a new and unique public energy company, to work within the clear objects set out in clause 3(2)—not simply as an investment bank, but as part of a developing strategy for renewables across the UK. Cornwall, where I am from, is set to benefit hugely from the investment from GB Energy into unblocking floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, which will create jobs. Cornwall was post-industrial a long time ago, and we need the kind of investment that GB Energy can bring. We also have a strong local area energy plan, which is an integral part of Cornwall’s renewable energy offer. It has co-operative, community and local authority energy as part of that plan, and as a Co-operative MP I support the local power plan that the Government are proposing, which will be part of GB Energy. We could have partnerships for deep geothermal energy on council land, which would bring potential for partnerships with local authorities and others. In Cornwall we have had numerous community energy schemes, such as the one in Ladock at the end of last Labour Government, before the Conservatives cut the schemes and the feed-in tariffs. We could invest in infrastructure with GB Energy, in partnership with the Crown Estate, for the cables, the grid and, potentially, even the ports. The Bill offers a huge opportunity. There is so much that GB Energy can do in future as part of a developing strategy to secure clean energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as it says in the Bill. As its ambitions and horizons expand, in partnership with the Crown Estate and others, so too must its object and its strategy be able to expand.

• 24 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Can the Minister confirm that the procurement reforms will consider social value and local impact in contracts of Government and partners, such as the Crown Estate and Great British Energy, in important areas where there are World Trade Organisation non-competition exemptions, for example floating offshore wind contracts in the Celtic sea? They can provide a critical boost to the economies of places such as Cornwall.

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

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  The adversarial system has caused such damage and upset. Can the Minister confirm that she will look towards a system in which expectations are clear and co-produced, and will she also look at the funding formula more generally, because some places have far less high needs and direct funding for students than others even though they have to cover much greater distances?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Independent Water Commission · Hansard source

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  In my constituency this week, as well as having sewage in our bathing waters, we have had sewage on the streets in Penryn. The Conservative party cut funding to the regulator in 2015. Will the Secretary of State please confirm that the review will completely reset the role of the regulator?

• 23 Oct 2024 · Holiday and Second Homes Regulation: Cornwall and Isles of Scilly · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member mentioned some of the solutions. Would it not be a good idea to consider giving a suite of powers to a local authority so they could pick and choose which of those would suit that local authority and those particular circumstances?

• 22 Oct 2024 · Renewable Energy: Cornwall · Hansard source

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  Absolutely—scaling up and providing the skills that are required need to be done extremely quickly. It is a race against time to remove the barriers and kick-start those projects; then, the Crown Estate, the Government and GB Energy must work together to provide a feasible timeline of contracts for difference and leasing rounds, as well as doing the groundwork by investing in the surveys and the infrastructure, such as cabling and the grid, so that investors will come on board. Our Cornish ports and harbours, such as Falmouth, are well placed to support floating offshore wind, with well-established marine engineering solutions, servicing, assembly and maintenance. They also have a huge role to play in decarbonising shipping and defence. This Government have already ended the de facto ban on onshore wind, and have plans for doubling onshore wind, trebling solar and quadrupling offshore wind, as well as reforming the planning system. With Cornish Lithium’s Hard Rock plant recently designated a nationally significant site of strategic infrastructure, planning could be streamlined and fast-tracked. GB Energy has been working with the Crown Estate to invest in the infrastructure that will make floating offshore wind happen and provide the certainty to draw in investment. Our new local power plan will provide £3.3 billion for grants and loans for those local energy projects—the biggest expansion in community-owned energy in history. This will enable communities to own—in the realest sense—the energy they rely on and allow local authorities, such as Cornwall, to exploit the energy sources on our doorstep, like the geothermal assets on council land that could be heating homes.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Renewable Energy: Cornwall · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the development of renewable energy in Cornwall. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. To achieve net zero by 2030, Britain needs Cornwall. If I get anything across in the next 15 minutes, I want everyone in this room to leave with full knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the vast and unique scale of the opportunity in Cornwall for a large-scale, thriving renewable energy sector that creates skilled jobs, brings social value to local people and generates clean energy, helping us to meet that 2030 target. It is a challenge that will require both hands to grasp, but that does not faze the people of Cornwall, who have known a rich industrial past and do not need convincing of the positives of a new industrial future. Our riches are plentiful and unique. They are buried under our rock, under the waves that surround our 400 miles of coast, in our harsh, whistling south-westerly winds and from our come-and-go solar rays. Harnessing those riches has not always been easy, but if industrialism literally runs through the Cornish landscape, in the tin-rich veins that pass through our granite, resourcefulness runs through the blood of the Cornish. Our geography and landscape are unique and fundamental to our potential. We are surrounded on three sides by the sea, in particular the Celtic sea, which has a great water depth—Falmouth is the third deepest harbour in the world. We are sitting on globally significant mineral deposits, and our granite holds the heat of geothermal energy. Around 37% of Cornwall’s electricity is currently generated from renewable sources, and the renewable sector already exists here: it is cutting-edge, thriving and leads the way nationally and internationally. But it is nowhere near the scale that we need to make the most of the opportunities that exist.

• 22 Oct 2024 · Renewable Energy: Cornwall · Hansard source

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  I agree that the opportunities are vast. We have all heard incredible enthusiasm from the Secretary of State for DESNZ in particular about grasping those opportunities for Cornwall with both hands. I am pleased that that will hopefully happen. We already know and recognise the potential for wind and solar in Cornwall. The Duchy benefits from regular south-westerly winds, which would complement those in other parts of the country. Solar has its place as well. Much of it in my constituency at present is comprised of large solar farms that cluster around the spot where the power supply is broken down into smaller distribution networks. That is only halfway down Cornwall at Indian Queens. The community benefits of those schemes are mixed, and developers have tended to focus on agricultural land that has previously been used for crops—grade 3b land, which is used for potatoes, cauliflowers and daffodils among other things. We have geothermal solutions as well, both grid-connected with contracts for difference in place and planning permissions, such as for Geothermal Engineering Ltd, and offgrid, such as Kensa heat pumps, which I mentioned earlier. At present, there are two deep geothermal wells with the potential for three more on council farms. Geothermal is a base source producing energy day and night, and whichever way the wind blows, and the 190° water that comes out of the wells has a great scope to heat homes. It is worth noting that there is significant Cornish capability for developing tidal streams in the UK, Europe and beyond, such as Inyanga Marine Energy Group in my constituency. There is rising demand for clean energy from critical industries such as the tech metals industry and from new communities in my constituency, such as the build of Langarth garden village. Cornwall is blessed to have resources of tin, lithium and geothermal heat that are simply not available anywhere else. Tin is used in the manufacture of virtually every single electrical device that we use, and it is crucial to our transition to a fossil-free economy. Demand for tin over the past decade or so has driven prices even higher —so much so that is now commercially viable to reopen some of our historical mines. Investment is already coming into Cornwall, most demonstrably at South Crofty mine, where pumping out water from the flooded mine chamber is already well underway, and that of course uses an awful lot of energy. Lithium, which is a vital component of electric vehicle batteries, is another critical mineral that we have in abundance in Cornwall. We currently import 100% of our lithium, and yet Cornwall has the largest lithium deposits in Europe. We have enough to extract 50,000 tonnes per year. Those critical minerals are currently imported from east Asia and Latin America, where they are mined in a hugely damaging way. The process in Cornwall is completely different. There is a great story to tell here: we have a way to feed the new battery factory in Somerset and to give a shot in the arm to our automotive industry without being reliant on foreign imports in a more dangerous geopolitical environment. Floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea is the next frontier in the UK’s clean energy transition. We are positioned to unlock up to 4 GW of power by 2035, which is enough to power 4 million homes. There are huge opportunities here for Cornwall, as the Celtic sea is all around us. The ambition to put floating offshore wind in the Celtic sea, where it would complement other offshore arrays, and the opportunities that would arise from it for Cornwall to expand supply chains, the economy and the number of good, skilled jobs are vast. However, to be brutal, ambition is so far all that it is. Test and demonstration models are planned and ready to go—smaller, non-commercial pilot projects that prove the technology works to give confidence to investors— but the most ready is stalled by too low a price from previous contracts for difference rounds, while others are stalled by planning issues.