Josh Babarinde MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Following power outages at Eastbourne district general hospital that left operations and birth services suspended, hospital bosses submitted a strategic bid for more than £10 million to the estates safety fund to urgently fix the problem, which was rejected. How does the Secretary of State expect our hospital to provide consistent and safe care to patients if the power goes out?

• 20 May 2026 · Digital Inclusion · Hansard source

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  NHS Sussex found that Eastbourne, despite being the sunniest town in the UK, is one of the most digitally excluded patches of Sussex. Great organisations, such as TechResort, run by Liz Crew and Will Callaghan, help bridge the digital divide. However, they will be scuppered by the closing of the digital inclusion innovation fund; its last grant expired last month. Will the Minister commit to reviewing the reopening of that fund, and set out a timeline for that, so that TechResort can benefit?

• 16 Apr 2026 · Women’s Health Strategy · Hansard source

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  I commend the Minister on this women’s health strategy, and particularly on action 59, which is to invest in the women’s maternity and neonatal estate. I am also grateful to the Minister for agreeing to meet me next week about power cuts at Eastbourne district general hospital, which have knocked out the maternity unit at various times. I am really disappointed, though, that although the invitation was originally extended to me and two guests—who included our chief executive—that has been withdrawn. Can the Minister confirm that those guests can attend, so that we can discuss how to put this strategy into action in Eastbourne?

• 5 Mar 2026 · Consular Assistance · Hansard source

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  A statement on consular assistance is no time for party political attacks. That does a disservice to hard-working officials such as Sarah Taylor, who has been doing amazing work, and it does a disservice to our constituents who are stuck abroad. I am pleased to report to the Minister that Cameron, the individual I mentioned to the Prime Minister in the Chamber earlier this week, who was stuck in a hospital in Dubai, is now back home safe in London. However, I want to raise the plight of another constituent, Donna, who I spoke to the Minister about yesterday. Donna has attempted to board six flights from the United Arab Emirates back to London, but each has been cancelled. She has a number of health conditions and has run out of medication. She cannot get that medication or its equivalent in the United Arab Emirates. What can the Minister do to support us, first, to get an alternative to the medication that she needs, and, secondly, to get Donna back home to Eastbourne safely?

• 4 Mar 2026 · NHS Capital Spending · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Mr Western. I was half expecting to hear “Luke Babarinde”, but we got there in the end. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Bobby Dean) for securing this critical debate. I will focus my remarks on Eastbourne district general hospital, where I was born. It is at the core of life in Eastbourne. I want to pay tribute to the amazing staff at that hospital, who deliver for the people of Eastbourne and beyond day in, day out. However, over the years we have lost key services at Eastbourne district general hospital to hospitals such as the Conquest in Hastings, forcing Eastbourne residents to travel even further for the care they need. As well as that, our buildings are falling into a state of disrepair. Indeed, the trust has said: “The age and standard of the current hospital buildings presents challenges for the consistent delivery of safe, effective, responsive and efficient care”. The half a billion-pound maintenance backlog bill that the trust faces is a financial representation of that. We were grateful to be included in the new hospital programme by the last Government—I am very sad not to see more representatives of that Government in attendance at this debate—but of course nothing happened under the Johnson Government. Eastbourne was therefore even more grateful to this Government for making a much more serious commitment to include it in the new hospital programme and to fund the DGH through the programme. It is of grave concern to us, however, that we are in the last wave of that programme, which means that investment will not land with us until 2037 at the earliest. Meanwhile, many of our fears in Eastbourne have materialised. On 6 January, Eastbourne district general hospital suffered a power outage that hit many areas of the hospital. Nurses told me that they were forced to use their iPhone torches to light the way for the several hours that the power cut occurred. Because of that outage, operations were cancelled and our midwifery unit was closed for days. It stemmed from the insufficient power infrastructure that is in need of urgent investment—the very reason, in fact, why Eastbourne district general hospital was included in the new hospital programme full stop. I have appealed to the Minister and the wider Government numerous times to accelerate that investment to Eastbourne and to bring forward our plans—after all, we were ready to go, but we were asked to pause. If the Government will not do that, however, will the Minister at least meet with the trust and me to discuss accelerating the release of the £42 million needed to replace the failing electricity substation that was responsible for the power cut, to ensure that Eastbourne residents get the consistent care and urgent investment that they need and deserve? I really do appeal to the Minister—if I need to, I will beg her—for that meeting so that we can figure out how to unlock that critical investment.

• 2 Mar 2026 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  A 23-year-old Eastbourne lad, Cameron, is currently lying stranded in a Dubai hospital bed after falling very ill during a minutes-long stopover in Dubai over the weekend. During this window, the airspace closed. Cameron’s hospital bills are £1,000 a day, which he is being forced to pay up front despite having insurance. Cameron, who is watching, urgently needs to know the following. First, when will the Prime Minister outline his repatriation plan, if there will be one? Secondly, will he prioritise British nationals who are clinically vulnerable for repatriation, if it is medically safe? Thirdly, will the appropriate Minister meet me and Cameron’s family to ensure that he gets the treatment he needs before money runs out and to make sure that we get Cameron back to Eastbourne safe?

• 24 Feb 2026 · Disabled Women: Maternity Care · Hansard source

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  A matter of weeks ago, a power cut plunged parts of Eastbourne district general hospital, where I was born, into darkness and forced our maternity unit to temporarily close, particularly affecting disabled women. People had to use their iPhone torches to see. Despite that power infrastructure failure, we are way at the back of the queue for new hospital funding. Will the Minister commit to accelerating the unlocking of that cash, so that women can have the services they deserve—

• 20 Jan 2026 · Temporary Accommodation: Out of Area Placements · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady is absolutely right to highlight the plight faced particularly by care-experienced young people. All the evidence tells us that such placements can have a scarring effect on individuals, pervading way into later life, which can set them up for disadvantage before they have even had a proper chance to begin. Another issue is that local authorities do not routinely notify the receiving authority when a placement has ended. That, again, gets in the way of achieving a proper picture of the temporary accommodation landscape. The impact of that dysfunction is profound. Some people placed in Eastbourne from Brighton, who have gone on to live in Eastbourne, have had to make a 50-mile round trip to access support from their local authority, taking sometimes more than three hours by bus. Those people are often ripped away from their GP, mental health support, addiction services and schools, as has been mentioned already by hon. Members. Tragically, we have seen the fatal consequences of the broken system. In January 2023, a 25-year-old man placed in Eastbourne by Brighton and Hove city council was found dead in the accommodation in which he was placed. In the month before his death, no welfare checks had been carried out by Brighton and Hove city council—a scandal. Last year, two more people died in Wilmington Square in Eastbourne within days of each other. In Newhaven in the neighbouring constituency represented by my hon. Friend the Member for Lewes (James MacCleary), 10 people have died in similar circumstances. That is obscene. It is immoral and it is not fair on anyone. There is also a wider out of area homelessness issue in Eastbourne that is important to acknowledge. Alongside formal placements, Eastbourne has seen individuals arriving from outside the area voluntarily, including cases of people travelling from as far as the Isle of Wight to reside on the streets in Eastbourne. Those people often move in search of safety, support and services that they believe will be available to them. The reality, though, is that unmanaged and unsupported movement across local authority boundaries places additional strain on receiving councils and charities, particularly when there has been no co-ordination, information sharing or support from the originating authority. I am very proud that Eastbourne borough council has been at the forefront of responding to the challenge. There are amazing officers like Jaime Wainwright-Jones who has pioneered person-centred, preventive and proactive models of support that are delivering extraordinary results. I am also proud of charities and initiatives such as Eastbourne Salvation Army, Matthew 25 Mission, Kingdom Way Trust, Eastbourne food bank, Warming up the Homeless, Feedbourners, Eastbourne Street Pastors, Change Grow Live in Eastbourne, Southdown, Citizens Advice Eastbourne, YMCA Eastbourne Foyer, BHT Sussex, Absolute Angels and Food4Thought. Those are just some of the organisations that have stepped into the breach. I saw the work at first hand as recently as yesterday when I went to Matthew 25 and spoke with Andrea, Maria and Andrew from the team and volunteers about the impact of out of area placements on the town, on their services and, most importantly, on people. I spoke there with one gentleman who had been placed in Eastbourne by Brighton and Hove city council without the support that he needed. As we were having the discussion he piped up: “They ended up dumping me here”. It is inhumane. And I am concerned that that the issue at national level still lacks the urgency that it demands. I raised the issue in a letter to the previous Minister who committed “to further define where out of area placements are acceptable and expectations on placing and receiving local authorities.” I am profoundly concerned that, despite the amazing work that the Minister has done to bring forward the national strategy to end homelessness, the commitment that the last Minister made has not been not met. I therefore call on the Minister to do four things: first, will she set out a clear timetable for clarifying and strengthening the guidance on out of area placements so that local authorities know what is expected of them, and so that people experiencing homelessness have the dignity and support that they deserve, as hon. Members have mentioned in their remarks? Secondly, I appeal to the Minister to directly consult local government, especially Eastbourne borough council, so that the real experience of receiving councils when it comes to this scandal informs the guidance to come. Thirdly, I call on the Minister to clarify what sanctions exist to course-correct councils who fail in their duty of care and in their duty to co-operate with receiving local authorities. Fourthly, in the meantime, I ask the Government to make it clear to placing local authorities who, I believe, are failing people experiencing homelessness—such as Brighton and Hove city council—that their responsibilities do not end at the point of placement. The duty of care must follow the person. It cannot stop at an arbitrary local authority boundary. Ultimately, this is about fairness to councils, empowering our support services and, most importantly, protecting the dignity of individuals experiencing homelessness. It is on those principles that I urge the Government to act further without delay.

• 4 Dec 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Many people on repeat prescriptions rely on NHS 111’s emergency prescription service to get the meds they need if they have unexpectedly run out. However, I have learned through my own experience that if somebody is in a moving vehicle, NHS 111 will not proceed to have a conversation with them until they are stationary. Many residents on long public transport journeys, for example, are therefore delayed in getting the medication they need. To address this issue, will the Leader of the House help me to arrange a meeting with the relevant Health Minister?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Bus Services · Hansard source

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  Eastbourne district general hospital, where I was born, and the Hastings Conquest hospital are quite far apart. On a good day, it takes 45 minutes to drive from one to the other, and two hours by bus. More and more services are moving to the Hastings hospital, but we need better transport links, such as a shuttle bus, to make things seamless for patients. Can the Minister meet me and local representatives to discuss how we could secure a shuttle bus service to Hastings hospital for our town?

• 22 Jul 2025 · NHS Hospitals: Parking · Hansard source

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  10. What steps his Department is taking to improve car parking provision at NHS hospitals.

• 22 Jul 2025 · NHS Hospitals: Parking · Hansard source

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  Parking at Eastbourne district general hospital, where I was born, is woefully inadequate. The car park is often full, so patients have to park way away up the Rodmill hill, and car park services are crumbling. More than that, lower-banded NHS staff now face a near doubling of car parking charges to cover the cost. Given that the Government have delayed investment in our new hospital and, therefore, in a new car park until the 2040s, what support will they provide in the meantime to upgrade our DGH car parking facilities without our NHS heroes being expected to foot the bill?