Jess Asato MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 11 Dec 2024 · Dental Healthcare: East Anglia · Hansard source

  More

  Does the hon. Member agree that it is appalling that my constituents have had to resort to pulling out their own teeth because no NHS dentists in my constituency are accepting new patients, and that we need urgent action now?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Pimping websites and paying for sex · Hansard source

  More

  I rise on the fifth day of the UN’s 16 days of activism against gender-based violence, to present a petition on behalf of my Lowestoft constituents on commercial sexual exploitation. Pimping websites facilitate the trafficking and exploitation of women, yet remain readily accessible. These companies make millions of pounds out of extremely vulnerable women and are a core part of the business model of sex trafficking in the UK. The petitioners therefore request “that the House of Commons urges the Government to outlaw pimping websites and paying for sex, and provide support, not sanctions, to victims of sexual exploitation.” Following is the full text of the petition: [The petition of residents of the constituency of Lowestoft, Declares that demand from the minority of men who pay for sex is driving the prostitution and sex trafficking trade, and this sexual exploitation is being facilitated by pimping websites that operate with impunity. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to outlaw pimping websites and paying for sex, and provide support, not sanctions, to victims of sexual exploitation. And the petitioners remain, etc. ] [P003024]

• 29 Nov 2024 · Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill · Hansard source

  More

  After spending almost a decade working to protect women and children from harm, my focus with any piece of legislation is the potential it creates for abuse and coercion. While I would once have been supportive of the principle of assisted dying, and might wish that option for myself, I have been increasingly unable to reconcile my desire to safeguard the most vulnerable with putting that principle into practice. I am concerned that if the Bill passes we will see people coerced, either by an abuser or by societal expectation, into ending their own lives. We do not want to think about it, but abuse surrounds us—2.3 million victims of domestic abuse in the last year. One in six older people experience abuse. The definition of coercive and controlling behaviour includes behaviour that repeatedly puts someone down, telling them they are worthless. Victims describe this as a “drip, drip” effect, and it goes unnoticed. Not just because we do not want to think about it, but because it is hard for professionals to identify it without proper training and with the lack of specialist support. There is no mandatory training for judges on coercive and controlling behaviour, nor is there effective training for medical professionals. In a 2019 survey, 50% of healthcare professionals said that they did not feel they had received adequate training to identify a victim of domestic abuse. It is also hard for victims themselves to realise they are being coerced until they have got free. We know that older people, especially those who are disabled, are particularly susceptible to abuse by a family member and less likely to be able to escape their abusers. Those who are coerced are often isolated from friends and family. If people are not required to tell friends and family they are opting for assisted dying, who will raise the alarm? How would any concerns be reported? Will judges be able to investigate the police records of those around a person who has requested assisted dying—family or carers? I will always remember a conversation I had with a hospital-based independent domestic violence adviser, who was called to the bed of a lady in her 80s in her last days living with cancer. The lady disclosed to the IDVA that she had been abused by her partner of 50 years, and said “Thank you. I have never told anyone before, but now I am finally free to die, and I am grateful for the release.” We know from the Monckton-Smith report that a third of female suicides could be linked to domestic abuse, and from the Killed Women campaign that as many as 130 women each year could be murdered by a partner or relative but have their deaths are recorded as suicide or accident. Every week, we hear of family court judges failing to spot coercive and controlling behaviour. In one case, a judge found that a man repeatedly calling his partner worthless and telling her to die was not controlling conduct. Where is the discretion of gender in the Bill? Out of 60 documented cases around the world of euthanasia and assisted dying for people with anorexia, 100% were women. I have come to the view that no Bill, however drafted, could adequately sift those with a genuine desire to end their own lives from those doing it for all the wrong reasons. For that reason, I will vote against.

• 27 Nov 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I congratulate the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum) on securing this important debate. Having worked for charities supporting women and girls for the best part of a decade, I am undeniably passionate about this issue. All of us who are present know why it is so important. We have all met victims and survivors—those abused by the ones they love, the girls who shake off the unwanted sexual images sent to them on the way to school, and the women who are trafficked and pimped into prostitution. We know the situation we face, and I am glad that the Government have made a landmark commitment to halve violence against women and girls. I am conscious of time, so I wish to raise just two issues that I hope the Minister can address. First, I remain concerned that vulnerable women who have fled their abusers and found a new home in a refuge continue to have their addresses disclosed through court documents. That opens them up to be tracked down by their abusers and can force refuges to close. I believe this was a measure that the previous Government, to their credit, tackled; but the problem appears not to have gone away entirely. Secondly, I am concerned about the financial situation facing local specialist charities, many of which have been forced to close due to lack of funding, and the huge gaps in support as shown by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s mapping report in 2022, which found that most victims could not access the support they wanted. We need a new statutory duty to commission services for domestic abuse and sexual violence victims, both adults and children, in order to end the postcode lottery and ensure that vulnerable people are not left to fend for themselves. The same applies to interventions for perpetrators. To halve violence against women and girls, we need to focus on the root cause: men’s violence against women and girls. I know how dedicated the Minister is and for how long she has campaigned to end VAWG. I look forward to working with her, the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse who obtained this debate, and colleagues from all parties to make our commitment to halving VAWG a reality.

• 26 Nov 2024 · Online Safety: Children and Young People · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to speak under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I welcome this debate, brought forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Lola McEvoy). Prior to being elected as an MP, I spent almost a decade working in organisations supporting vulnerable women and children. My experience in that area over those years was very much a case of one step forward, two steps back. Efforts to make our children’s increasingly online lives safer have been constantly outpaced by technological change. The law, the police and the courts have been unable to keep up with that change, and in its wake children have been the unwitting guinea pigs in a huge social experiment. The Online Safety Act has the potential to reset the relationship between children and the internet if the principles of safety by design are truly followed by tech companies and our regulator Ofcom. Of course we welcome age verification, which will finally come into force next year and will prevent children from accessing violent and harmful pornography. There remains much more that we need to do in this space. That is why I am pleased to co-sponsor the safer phones Bill—Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill—sponsored by my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister). Smartphones, and social media in particular, are clearly negatively impacting on the mental health of our children, as well as their sleep and learning. Only last week, in an evidence session hosted by my hon. Friend, we heard that smartphones are contributing to a significant increase in short-sightedness among children, who are glued to their phones and seeing a decline in outdoors activity. We risk creating a generation suffering from myopia, and yet—perhaps because as adults we are also glued to our phones—we have not yet acted in the best interests of our young people. We regulate the toys we give to children so that they do not contain harmful lead and are age appropriate, yet no such regulation applies to smartphones. What international board of child psychologists was consulted? What paediatricians? What parents? What children? A particularly worrying new trend that is outpacing our ability to counter it is the rise of nude deepfakes, or AI-generated sexually explicit images. They are becoming an increasingly worrying issue in schools and more than half a million children already have experience of them, according to new data from Internet Matters. Despite the fact that creating and sharing nude deepfakes of children or non-consenting adults is illegal, the programs that make them are still readily accessible. We would not ban the possession of zombie knives without banning their sale; that is why last week I called on the Government to ban nudifying tools and apps. We seem to be setting up our children to fail, to be harmed and to be criminalised. Some 99% of the images created are of women and girls—indeed, the apps often do not work on boys. The Government have an ambitious target to halve violence against women and girls within a decade, a target that can only be achieved if we tackle the root cause by looking online. I would be grateful if the Minister could look at how nudifying apps could be banned as part of this Government’s commitment to keep women and children safe.

• 20 Nov 2024 · Flood Preparedness: Norfolk · Hansard source

  More

  I congratulate the hon. Member for North Norfolk (Steff Aquarone) on securing this debate. Next door in Suffolk we share the same coast and many of the same problems, being so low-lying. I am sad to say that in Lowestoft we are not adequately protected against severe flooding such as we experienced, to devastating effect, in 2013. Prior to the installation of flood wall protection measures last year, Lowestoft was the only coastal town without any formal tidal flood defences, and we remain very much at risk. We had a flood barrier project ready to go, one that would have protected 1,500 residential properties and 800 businesses and was an excellent example of partnership bidding. However, East Suffolk council was forced to abandon those plans earlier this year because the Conservative Government had delayed and delayed a funding decision for so long that it was no longer possible to continue. They avoided paying £100 million to complete a project that would have protected our town for 100 years and seen a return of £700 million a year in gross value added. The previous Government ran out the clock on the scheme and kicked the can down the road, as they did with so much else. With Lowestoft due a flood on the scale of 2013 every 20 years, residents are rightly worried. Resurrecting that scheme immediately is sadly not possible, but I am determined that we find a viable way forward. Without our flood barrier, the advanced plans we have for the regeneration of the area around Lake Lothing are jeopardised, hugely increasing costs for the redevelopment of the former JELD-WEN factory site, which would help us to meet the Government’s ambitious house building targets by adding up to 500 homes. However, the growth benefits of flooding protection measures are not reflected in how our flooding funding formula works. The formula as it exists now effectively protects wealthier areas and leaves poorer areas such as ours to fend for themselves. As such, it essentially bakes in inequality. I would be grateful if the Minister could look into a review of the current flooding funding formula. We need to factor in the potential for growth, for unlocking house building and for industrial progress when it comes to allocating funds. If we are able to do that, not only can we save what we already have, but we can build for a better future.

• 16 Oct 2024 · City and Town Centres: Regeneration · Hansard source

  More

  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Vickers. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson) for securing this debate. We have all heard about the challenges facing our high streets, and, in Lowestoft and Beccles in my constituency, the difficulties are all too real. Last year, a survey found that out of the 366 premises in Lowestoft, 96 were empty. In Beccles, our last remaining bank for business, Lloyds, is set to close, forcing businesses that rely on it to travel to Lowestoft on gridlocked roads to do their banking. Poor mobile connectivity in Beccles is also hampering our residents’ ability to do business effectively. We also lack a real plan to support Lowestoft’s nighttime economy, which includes our wonderful theatres, the Marina and Players, our cinema—the most easterly in the UK—and our excellent restaurants such as MarkG. We lack buses that run into the evening, and later trains from Lowestoft to Ipswich. I am glad, however, to say that in Lowestoft we have seen signs of life returning to the high street. Our heritage action zones have breathed new life into beautiful old buildings. Plans such as the £24.3 million cultural quarter and the £4.8 million creative hub in a former post office are incredibly exciting. Those investments are not just about buildings; they represent a belief in the future of our town. We are reimagining our future as a green energy gateway to the east of England and as a cultural destination, led by the excellent team behind the First Light festival. Meeting with businesses in the town, I see that belief, and I am confident that Lowestoft has what it takes to bounce back fully. I made a pledge during the election to open a parliamentary office on the high street should I win, and I am delighted that soon I will do just that. Lowestoft is a beautiful place with potential that is beginning to be unlocked by entrepreneurs, community leaders and the fantastic people behind Lowestoft Vision. The momentum we are gaining needs to be sustained. That is why this Government’s plans to boost business and build back the high street, whether by tackling antisocial behaviour or giving communities the power to revamp their high streets, are so important. I hope that the Minister can reassure us that the Government are working at speed to review business rates so that our small high street business are not disadvantaged compared with the online giants. I am confident that there is a way forward, so that our high streets are once again not just surviving but thriving.

• 14 Oct 2024 · Veterans: Support · Hansard source

  More

  7. What steps he is taking to support veterans.

• 14 Oct 2024 · Veterans: Support · Hansard source

  More

  The Lord Kitchener Memorial Holiday Centre is an extraordinary charity in my constituency, set up more than 100 years ago after the great war to provide convalescence for returning soldiers. Today it provides much-needed short stays for veterans and their families across the country, as well as a drop-in and information centre for veterans locally, but sadly its funding situation is precarious. Does the Minister agree that investing in our locally valued veterans’ charities is essential if we are to provide the best support for our brave service personnel?

• 8 Oct 2024 · SEND Provision: East of England · Hansard source

  More

  I agree with the hon. Member that early diagnosis helps that child and their family, and we also save ourselves money in the long term. I also welcome the curriculum review, which I hope will bring about a broader curriculum that allows everyone the opportunity to flourish. I am glad the Government have made breaking down the barrier to opportunity a key mission, ensuring that all children get the best possible start in life. It is such an important task. I look forward to hearing more from the Minister about the Government’s ambitious plans and to hearing contributions from Members from across our region.

• 8 Oct 2024 · SEND Provision: East of England · Hansard source

  More

  I beg to move, That this House has considered SEND provision in the East of England. Thank you, Sir Mark, for the pleasure of serving under your chairmanship. I thank colleagues from across the region and beyond for attending today’s debate. I have a personal interest in this discussion: one of my children has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and, like other Members, I have first-hand experience of the problems of our system. I am sure that other Members have been contacted by many constituents who continue to be failed by the special educational needs and disabilities system. It is not right that constituents come to me in tears after being unable to get their child into a school that can support them, fearful for their child’s future and completely tied down by the need to care for them all day, often without support. We seem to have a particular problem in the east of England. Nationally, half of all education, health and care plans were issued within the 20-week statutory period in 2023, but in the east the figure was just 34%. That is a low number, but it also masks inequalities in the region: 90% of EHCPs were issued within the time limit in Bedford, but in Suffolk—my county—it was only 4%, and in Essex it was only 1%. It is shameful that two thirds of children in need of support in our region, and 96% in my county, are being left without it, and in many cases are forced out of the education system entirely during some of the most formative years of their lives. The rate of severe absences for SEND pupils is triple that for other students. Long waits that keep children out of school compound other problems relating to mental health, social development and life outcomes. I have a constituent who is still waiting for a school to send their child to and is extremely concerned about the behavioural changes she has begun to witness due to a lack of structured learning. Absences further divide those with and without SEND. They isolate the children most in need and hamper their development. I am also concerned about the overly punitive way in which we deal with absences, particularly for parents of SEND children. Given my background of working with vulnerable women and children, I was alarmed to find out from the charity Advance that the majority of parents imprisoned for truancy are women. It is of course hugely important that children are in school, but for that to happen we have to support children and their parents, rather than simply add fines or the threat of prison to the already traumatic situation. We seem to forget that education is a right, as well as a legal requirement. Where is the right to education for children with SEND? Where is the legal imperative to provide a decent education for all children, particularly our most vulnerable? The delays parents experience serve only as a “how high can you jump?” barrier, and send the signal that children with SEND are second- class citizens. The SEND system is creaking at the seams: there has been an explosion in demand, and the supply has not caught up. Even for parents and children who have waited and received an EHCP, life does not get much easier. I have a constituent whose daughter experiences a range of health conditions and, despite having an EHCP, is forced by council delays to stay in her mainstream school, where she has been repeatedly held back a year. Another constituent’s son’s transition from school to college, and from disability living allowance to personal independence payments, was complicated by errors introduced by the county in his EHCP. The SEND system is broken, but we knew that: it was highlighted by the SEND review published under the previous Government in 2022. Parents and children have been asked their views again and again, but very little has changed. What would first steps look like for the Government? First, delays to the issuance of EHCPs require work to combat the national shortage of educational psychologists. Indeed, solving that issue and being able to invest in those professionals can also save us money. The Association of Educational Psychologists has found that, on average, an EP costs £234 per day, whereas agency and locum staff cost £600. Secondly, preventive programmes are key, which is why I welcome the Government’s swift announcement to extend the Nuffield early language intervention into next year. That is particularly important, given that children with speech and language challenges make up the single biggest group within SEND. Thirdly, it is my hope that the Government look to extend the funding for the early years SEND partnership led by the Council for Disabled Children, which comes to an end in March next year. I also hope the Government work to ensure that health visitors have adequate training around the ELIM—the early language identification measure—as part of the two to two-and-a-half-year review. The Government’s new core schools budget grant for special and alternative provision schools and the announcement that the Department is looking into the national funding formula are to be welcomed. After 14 years of Conservative Government cuts, the system needs to be rebalanced towards prevention and early intervention, which is more cost-effective in the long term.

• 8 Oct 2024 · SEND Provision: East of England · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the Chair, the Minister, the shadow Minister and all hon. Members for their contributions. I cannot do them justice in such a short time, but I hope that this issue will continue to command cross-party and cross-regional support. I just want to talk about the so-called “over-energetic” child, who faces exclusion for consistent poor behaviour. I want to see that child get access to the diagnosis and support that they need to stay in school and flourish, and to support our struggling families. As one mum told me: “I didn’t want to have to become a lawyer; I just wanted to be a loving mum”. I thank hon. Members very much for the debate today. Question put and agreed to. Resolved , That this House has considered SEND provision in the east of England.

• 10 Sept 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  T7. Today, the first tranche of prisoners will be released early under the Government’s emergency measures to address the prison overcrowding crisis. It is welcome that this Government have excluded some domestic abuse offenders from the scheme. However, not all domestic abuse perpetrators can be excluded. Will the Secretary of State consider extending the victim contact scheme to all survivors of domestic abuse and violence against women and girls, regardless of the length of time that their perpetrator spends in prison?

• 3 Sept 2024 · Healthcare Provision: East of England · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) for securing a debate on such an important issue, which I know is close to the hearts of all our constituents. The NHS is clearly in crisis. Those who can afford to go private do so, while everyone else is forced to linger on long waiting lists. My constituents are frustrated, sometimes to the point of giving up waiting for urgent operations—and sometimes just for GP appointments. Lowestoft hospital in my constituency was closed a decade ago. The building now lies empty without a replacement, and we continue to wait for a long-term solution that benefits the community. As has been mentioned, the James Paget University hospitals rebuild is desperately needed. It is one of the two hospitals worst affected by RAAC—reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete—in the country. It seems clear that the crisis in the NHS is no longer just an issue of funding and that investment must be coupled with reform to fundamentally improve health outcomes. I have been impressed, for example, by East Coast Community Healthcare, a staff-owned social enterprise that provides community-based NHS healthcare across Norfolk and Suffolk. ECCH demonstrates that things can be done differently, and that technical solutions and the freedom to innovate can allow providers to do more with the same funding and operate a system that is able to absorb rises in demand. We sorely need to improve experiences of NHS care. For many, it has become something of a nightmare. I will focus on dental health. My constituents are particularly concerned about their inability to access NHS dentistry, and rightly so. Over the past 14 years, as we have heard, areas such as mine have become so-called dental deserts. As it stands, east Suffolk ranks seventh out of the 39 districts in the east of England for the lowest number of dentists. Even where dentists are practising, residents find it impossible to get an appointment. In 2022, it was found that not a single dental practice in Suffolk was accepting new NHS patients. I have talked to far too many of my constituents who have been forced to rip out their own teeth. As we have already heard, that is happening right across East Anglia, and that is why I made improving access to dentistry one of my six election pledges. Although some progress has been made by the formation of the Norfolk and Waveney integrated care board, it is the dental system itself that is holding the NHS back from making improvements to accessibility. We currently have a system that does not work for patients or dentists. A survey by the Dental Defence Union of its members found that 41% are looking to reduce their hours and 31% are planning to leave the practice or retire early because of the sheer pressures of the system. As NHS dentistry crumbles, I am particularly concerned about the impact on our children and young people. Data shows that almost a third of the 100,000 people who are admitted to A&E with tooth decay each year are children. It is the most common reason for children aged six to 10 to be admitted to hospital. Analysis from the British Dental Association found that on average, 116 children had to have their teeth extracted each day in 2022. In that same year, it was revealed that 40% of children—4.4 million—had not seen a dentist in the previous 12 months. This is clearly an issue of inequality. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds suffer from worse oral health than their more affluent counterparts. It is a significant gap: 34.3% of children from deprived areas had dental decay in 2019, compared with 13.7% in less deprived areas. Poor health contributes to poor life outcomes. For example, teacher surveys have shown that poor oral health contributes to social exclusion, leading to children missing school. Breaking that vicious cycle is essential. If we cannot improve people’s health, how can we improve their lives? Instead of ensuring children get the best start possible in life, we are handing them rotten teeth and rotten chances to succeed. I am glad that the Government have set their sights firmly on revolutionising dentistry in this country. Rebuilding NHS dentistry will be a difficult job but, unlike the previous Government, this Labour Government will not kick the can down the road. I am delighted that we have said we will create an extra 700,000 urgent and emergency dental appointments each year, including 100,000 for children. I welcome the financial incentives for new dentistry graduates to work in dental deserts such as mine. We will ingrain the importance of good dental health practice in children from a young age and crack down on the prevalence of hospital admissions for rotten teeth by introducing supervised tooth brushing for three to five-year-olds in schools. Most importantly, we will reform the dental contract, which is not fit for purpose and pushes dentists into private practice. With an active Government willing to attack issues at the root—sorry for the pun—of the issue, I am confident that we can make significant process in this and all other areas of healthcare. Ultimately, the NHS is the way in which most people interact with the Government. If we can rebuild trust there by delivering improvements, we can also rebuild trust in politics and the ability of the Government to improve lives. If we can get the basics right, then all the other issues become easier to solve.

• 29 Jul 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

  More

  The situation facing specialist charities is acutely difficult. Many local services have had to close their doors due to a lack of funding, including, sadly, Suffolk Rape Crisis. Long-term sustainable funding is crucial if women are to be supported after abuse and kept safe from future harm. Could my right hon. Friend confirm that Labour’s mission will include a review of funding for these life-saving services?

• 29 Jul 2024 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

  More

  19. What steps her Department plans to take to tackle violence against women and girls.

• 26 Jul 2024 · Making Britain a Clean Energy Superpower · Hansard source

  More

  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and congratulations on your elevation to the Chair. It is such a great honour to be in this place. My thanks for that must, of course, go to the people of Lowestoft, Beccles and the villages, who put me here. They have placed their faith in me to do what is best for them, to be their voice here in Westminster and to champion them nationally. And they have placed their faith in the Labour party to lead a Government worthy of this great country, to do away with the decline of the past 14 years and work to bring about a brighter future for all. As I begin my role in making that happen, I would like to pay tribute to my predecessor, Peter Aldous, and his contribution to East Anglia’s position as a green energy leader, his defence of our local fishing industry and his campaigning for the WASPI women—Women Against State Pension Inequality Campaign. I thank him for his many years of public service and wish him all the best for his future. I also pay tribute to his predecessor, Bob Blizzard, who very sadly passed away in 2022. He served the people of my constituency for more than 20 years, in local government and in Parliament, and his decades-long fight for a third crossing will see its fruition with the opening of the Gull Wing bridge later this summer. Finally, I must mention Dame Tessa Jowell, my mentor, who was much loved and is much missed. I would not be in this place if she had not encouraged me to follow my passion for change. In her maiden speech, she implored Members to always “ask themselves whether what they are deciding is what they would want for themselves or for their families.” —[ Official Report , 14 May 1992; Vol. 207, c. 791.] I aim to channel her dedication to public service and, as she called it, the human-sized picture each day that I have the honour of representing the people of Lowestoft in this place. For me, politics is personal. I grew up near Lowestoft. I was a young carer for my grandmother and managed our precarious life on benefits. As a child, the daily struggle I faced was my normal, but it should not have been, not for any child. That is why I joined the Labour party 27 years ago. I know that when we are bold, we bring real and lasting change, such as the introduction of Sure Start. I know that when we are focused, we can eliminate the barriers to success; we can make people’s aspirations more than a dream; we can pull children out of poverty. I represent the most eastern constituency in the UK, and for many people there it can at times feel as though they are at the end of the line, not just on the railway map but when it comes to political priorities. If politics is not about making those at the periphery central, it is nothing. We have failed if our focus is only on those who are most visible to this place. My job, and the mission of this Government, is simple: to bring those who have not been served well by politics back into the fold, proving to them that politics can work for them; that it can be a force for good. It is a job that I am relishing, and one that I am deeply humbled to be able to do. Lowestoft is a special place to represent, with incredibly friendly people and our wide, sandy beaches and beautiful broads, which are a real hidden gem that I recommend colleagues visit. We are home to some great sights: for the thrill-seekers, there is Pleasurewood Hills, arguably the UK’s best theme park; Africa Alive, for those wanting a taste of safari without leaving the country; fascinating maritime and transport museums; the majestic Somerleyton Hall; and, whatever the weather, Beccles lido. Indeed, Members looking to book their next holiday should contact my office. However, that beautiful scenery and the really close sense of community we find in places such as mine have been let down. Talking to constituents over the past 18 months, I heard the same issues again and again: people are disgusted by sewage in our rivers and the sea. They are concerned about the lack of flood protection and about coastal erosion, not least because of the devastating impact of the 2013 flood in Lowestoft and the precarious nature of homes on Pakefield cliff threatened by the sea. Most worryingly, they are concerned about feeding their children—a quarter of children in Lowestoft are growing up in deprivation, and 18,000 people have had to turn to Lowestoft food bank in the past year. One of the most pressing issues for many residents is access to NHS dentistry. We are a serious dental desert —a 2022 investigation found that not a single dental practice in Suffolk was taking on new NHS patients. I met one constituent while canvassing who told me that he had grown so fed up with the pain, with no obvious remedy in sight, that he had pulled his tooth out with a pair of pliers in his garden shed. I think we can all agree that that is not a state of affairs we want to carry on with. Labour’s promised increase in emergency dental appointments will be a huge relief for local residents, and incentives for dentists will be crucial to attracting them to work in dental deserts such as mine. Our plans to introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools will also be essential for children’s future oral health. Making sure that all children are able to seize all of the opportunities in life, challenging childhood inequalities and, importantly, addressing childhood trauma are central to my vision for politics. I am incredibly proud of my record outside of this place, campaigning for women and children alongside life-changing charities such as SafeLives and Barnardo’s, but I knew that, being on the outside, I could only do so much. That is why I am here to stand up for vulnerable people, and to make sure that our coastal towns and rural communities feel the benefits of Labour in power. That is why policies like GB Energy are so important. They mark a break with the failures of the past. They demonstrate a true ambition and commitment to righting many wrongs. When the question is asked, “How do we make Britain a clean energy superpower?” my answer is: Lowestoft. My answer is: by unlocking our capacity to grow our offshore wind. The partnership announced yesterday between GB Energy and the Crown Estate represents a massive step forward for the country and a huge opportunity for my constituents. From a lack of housing to polluted rivers and seas, and from high energy bills to antisocial behaviour and much more, this Government have set their sights firmly on the issues that matter to people in Lowestoft, Beccles and the villages. I am very glad to support them in that.

• 25 Jul 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

  More

  Areas such as mine in Lowestoft and Beccles have become so-called dental deserts in the last 14 years. We have one of the lowest numbers of dentists in the east of England, and none were accepting new patients in 2022. I welcome the range of measures that the Health Secretary has outlined, but I ask for a debate on this pressing topic.