Julie Minns MP: speeches

Speeches

• 25 Jun 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am delighted that Cumberland council is to partner with Carlisle College and the Story construction group to renovate the old keeper’s lodge in Bitts Park in my constituency. The college’s construction students will gain invaluable experience of working on a live construction site, there will be no cost to the council, and a much-loved building will be brought back into public use. Does the Leader of the House agree that this partnership model could be adopted elsewhere to bring back other much-loved buildings, and will he join me in thanking council officer Stephen Dunn, whose brainchild this project was?

• 22 Jun 2026 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I recently visited the Chances family hub— [ Interruption. ] It is indeed a very fine hub, one of several set up by Cumberland council to fill a need left by the Conservatives’ short-sighted decision to abolish Sure Start. Will the Minister please assure Carlisle families that this Government will ensure that all family hubs receive the support they need to give children the best start?

• 16 Jun 2026 · Road Safety in Wetheral · Hansard source

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  I am pleased to present a petition on behalf of residents of the village of Wetheral calling for traffic-calming measures, including a 20 mph zone, to improve the safety of pedestrians and other road users. The issue of traffic calming was raised with me by local residents at a coffee morning I held in Wetheral a few months ago. The introduction of a 20 mph zone and other measures would build on the excellent work of Wetheral parish council, which has recently funded the installation of a speed camera in the village. However, Wetheral residents remain concerned by the speed of traffic through the village, and the lack of pavements on stretches of road. A total of 298 residents signed the petition that local people, members of the parish council and I took door to door around the village. The petitioners “therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to work with the relevant local authorities to introduce traffic calming measures”, including the establishment of a 20 mph zone in Wetheral. Following is the full text of the petition: [ The petition of residents of Wetheral and the wider Carlisle constituency, Declares that traffic calming measures, including the establishment of a 20mph zone, should be introduced to the village of Wetheral. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to work with the relevant local authorities to introduce traffic calming measures in Wetheral, specifically the implementation of a 20mph speed limit through the village to improve road safety. And the petitioners remain, etc. ] [P003207]

• 9 Jun 2026 · Water Safety · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this important and timely debate. Although we have heard about the dangers of open water and the importance of water safety in the summer months, it is also important to recognise that the winter months bring their own risks. One of the ponds in my Carlisle constituency regularly freezes over during the winter months, which is important to remember. I am a cold-water swimmer, so I am very familiar with this subject. I know only too well the dangers of open water, the attendant risk of cold-water shock and the perilous after-drop that occurs when the body’s core temperature continues to fall even after exiting the water. I mostly swim in my county’s beautiful lakes. I have, however, been known to swim in the River Eden, which runs through our great border city, and I am not alone. Tragically, this time three years ago, three young Carlisle boys got into difficulty while swimming in the River Eden. Two of the boys lost their lives. I extend my continued sympathy to their families for their heartbreaking loss. A member of the public, Luke Marwood, risked his life to rescue the third boy and was deservedly awarded a medal for his bravery. I pay tribute to Luke for his remarkable courage. We should not need such tragedies to remind us of the dangers of water and of the importance of young people learning not only how to swim, but how to stay safe and survive in cold and dangerous water—flip, float, live. I praise the work of North Cumbria Search and Rescue, which works with groups such as the Scouts and Beavers to teach cold water and open water safety in my constituency. I also commend Cumberland council for installing throw lines at key points along our city’s three river—and, to the point raised by my hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) about affordability, I commend the council for introducing swimming for 10p during half-terms at a number of our local swimming pools. Key stage 2 swimming is, of course, a statutory part of the curriculum, and schools are expected to teach water safety. Nevertheless, given the relatively limited pool time available for key stage 2, I ask the Minister whether we should now be giving greater emphasis to water safety education rather than the technicalities of learning to swim, and whether a minimum statutory standard for water safety instruction could be established. As our summers become hotter, more and more people will choose to swim in rivers and lakes and on our coastline. The RNLI estimates that almost 49 million people will visit the coast this summer. With that in mind, and given the dangers we have heard about today, I believe it would be timely and right to review the current approach to swimming and water safety education.

• 4 Jun 2026 · Children’s Social Care: Enduring Relationships Strategy · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his statement today, and I also welcome the remarks of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin). I agree that all too often when we debate these topics, it is in the context of a tragedy, and it is refreshing that we are here today celebrating some fantastic news for young people in care. The remarks from both Front Benchers stand in contrast to the disgusting remarks from a Reform councillor last year, who described young people in care as “evil”. I think we can all be unified in condemning that view. The Minister will know, because we share the same local authority, that Cumberland has made great strides in recent years in achieving exactly what we want to achieve, by ensuring that young people have those stable relationships. I commend the work of the Family Rights Group in this area—I should declare that I did some work with it prior to entering this place. Can the Minister share with the House his ambition for how other councils, such as Cumberland under the leadership of Councillor Emma Williamson, can do what Cumberland has done in a few years during this Parliament?

• 3 Jun 2026 · Small Towns: Transport Links · Hansard source

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  The Minister mentions the new pilots, and I place on the record my thanks for the fact that Cumberland is one of those areas. Is he aware that Cumberland council is already using the money that the Government have given it? It has introduced a series of bus links, including the HW1 bus route, which offers visitors the opportunity to visit our historic, wonderful Hadrian’s Wall. May I invite the Minister to join me on that bus? Roman togas are optional.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Community Pharmacies · Hansard source

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  In the meantime, ironically, the shop next door, a former pharmacy, has been refurbed and opened as yet another barber’s and mini-mart. It is simply not good enough. That is why I very much welcome this Government’s prescription for our community pharmacies: not just £3.6 billion in funding for community pharmacies, but the Government’s high street strategy, the recently announced crackdown on dodgy vape shops and mini-marts and the plans to integrate community pharmacies as key local healthcare hubs. These actions are not just vital for the health of local people; they are vital for the health of our high streets, too.

• 2 Jun 2026 · Community Pharmacies · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I thank the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour) for securing this important debate. I also thank the staff at community pharmacies across my constituency, particularly the staff at the Well pharmacy in Denton Holme who have given exceptional care and support to my family for many years. Pharmacies and their staff provide a vital accessible health hub in our communities. However, this year Community Pharmacy England has reported that 55% of pharmacy staff experience abuse, often triggered by medicine shortages, prescription delays, long queues and other issues entirely outside their control. I am sure all hon. Members will agree that, whatever the prompt, abuse of that nature is completely unacceptable. I will therefore be grateful if the Minister can briefly outline what action the Government are taking to protect pharmacy workers from abuse. Sadly, under the previous Government too many community pharmacies were lost. Between 2019 and 2024, 1,633 community pharmacies closed. In the same period, about 400 opened: just one for every four that was closed. In communities such as Carlisle, the closure of a pharmacy has a significant knock-on effect on the remaining pharmacies. Two pharmacies in the Harraby area of Carlisle have closed in recent years, placing additional pressure on the sole remaining pharmacy, on Central Avenue, and resulting in longer waits for prescription collections. It is therefore doubly frustrating that efforts to open a new pharmacy in the same community have so far come to nothing because the premises’ landlord, the Riverside housing association, has failed to respond to representations from both the prospective pharmacist and me since last October.

• 23 Apr 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  For over two years, residents on the edge of Carlisle, in Rockcliffe, Harker and Cargo, have been waging an excellent campaign against the building of a gasification plant—a campaign for which they have my full support. Cumberland council rightly refused the application, but the applicant, who has much deeper pockets than local residents, is taking the issue to appeal. My community is not the only one fighting incinerator plans, so will the Leader of the House arrange for a ministerial statement on the Government’s current position on the building of new incinerators?

• 25 Mar 2026 · Public Baths and Lidos · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend has, and I appreciate it. Steve Yeates was the secretary of Friends of Carlisle Turkish Baths, and he sadly passed away last year. I also thank the Architectural Heritage Fund for the advice and financial support that have enabled the group to evidence the viability of its vision, which will include a community laundry because, as Kitty Wilkinson knew, baths are a community facility that supports public health, and they are open to all. I conclude by inviting the Minister to visit Carlisle, to endorse the work of the friends group and to back its vision of reopening the north-west’s last Victorian Turkish baths.

• 25 Mar 2026 · Public Baths and Lidos · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this afternoon, Mr Efford. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes) for securing this excellent debate. I begin by paying tribute to Kitty Wilkinson, the woman to whom we owe a debt of thanks for giving us modern public baths. In 1842, thanks to her determined advocacy, Liverpool opened the first combined public washhouse and baths in the United Kingdom since Roman times. Crucially, she inspired national interest and, just a few years later, Parliament passed the Baths and Washhouses Act 1846, which empowered local authorities across Britain to build public bathing and laundry facilities. However, as we discuss the impact of public baths, we should remember that they were never conceived as leisure facilities, but as tools to improve the health of working people. Indeed, the 1846 Act does not mention swimming at all. Carlisle’s public baths opened in 1884, funded by the proceeds of the municipal gasworks. However, the funds did not stretch to including Turkish baths, which had become popular—again, not as leisure facilities—thanks to the work of Richard Barter and David Urquhart, a doctor and a diplomat who extolled the therapeutic benefits of hot and cold treatments and drove the expansion of Turkish baths across the UK during the 19th century. Turkish baths catered for the working man, for it was men who were in the factories at the time. After a long shift in the mills and factories, they could be cleaned and cleansed, inside and out, by a Turkish bath. Carlisle’s Turkish baths were finally added in 1909. Sadly, the relocation of the main swimming pools in 2022 forced the closure of not simply the Turkish baths, but a community facility used by a loyal group of regulars—Barry, Iain, David, Richard and Keith, to name but a few—who knew of the baths’ physical and mental health benefits. On one visit just before its closure, I spoke with a young man who explained that, as a recovering alcoholic, his weekends were lonely because he could no longer go to the pub, but a couple of hours in the baths had been filled with the conversation he missed. Another said that the baths had kept him together after he and his wife separated, and another spoke of how they alleviated his asthma. Barry, a regular of more than 50 years, would often say that he could name half a dozen men who had not needed mental health treatment because the baths provided a space to unwind and talk. It has been three years since the closure of Carlisle’s Turkish baths, but the campaign and the charity that I started continue the work to secure a community asset transfer from Cumberland council and reopen them as an expanded centre for health and wellbeing. I pay tribute to Steve Yeates—

• 23 Mar 2026 · Tobacco and Vapes Bill · Hansard source

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  Before I begin my brief speech, may I say how good it is to see my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton) in the Chamber? We owe her a debt of gratitude for both introducing the Bill and piloting it through the House. She leaves behind—I was going to say large shoes, but that seems a bit rude—significant shoes to be filled, but I know they are shoes that the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson), is more than capable of filling, and I am very glad to see her in her place this evening. I wish to speak briefly about Lords amendments 11 and 61, which, as we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Falkirk (Euan Stainbank), clarify what we mean by a “relevant enforcement authority” and, in particular, clarify the duty that will be placed on that relevant enforcement authority to consider annually whether it is appropriate to carry out a programme of enforcement action. As has been said, we acknowledge, and know, that vaping can support adults who want to move away from smoking, but we nevertheless cannot ignore the rapid rise in youth vaping and the growing presence of illegal, non-compliant and counterfeit vapes and cigarettes in all our communities. That is why a robust, mandatory licensing framework is so urgently needed. The Bill will give the Government the power to introduce such a framework, and that can only be strengthened by a requirement for licensing authorities to consider annually the programme of enforcement. Contrary to what the hon. Member for Windsor (Jack Rankin) seemed to suggest, one of the strongest arguments for licensing is its ability to combat the sale of illegal cigarettes and vapes on our high streets. Local authorities and enforcement bodies have warned repeatedly that rogue sellers are flooding the market with untested, high-nicotine, incorrectly labelled or counterfeit products, and my constituency is no exception. Just a few weeks ago, Cumberland council trading standards seized 6,000 illegal cigarettes in raids, and that was in addition to the £20,000-worth of illegal tobacco and vapes seized last summer. The introduction of on-the-spot fines of up to £2,500 and the ability to revoke retailers’ licences entirely are therefore welcome. Mandatory licensing will also make it much easier to shut down dodgy shops that knowingly stock or distribute illegal vapes and cigarettes. Under the new framework, any premises found storing, displaying or supplying unregulated products will lose their licences, because licensing applies not just to the act of selling, but to the possession of regulated products for retail purposes. This means that enforcement officers will no longer have to rely on repeated seizures or warnings; they will have a fast, lawful route to closing down problem retailers for good. In short, mandatory licensing is not just another layer of regulation; it is a powerful tool to crack down on illegal vapes, remove bad actors from our high streets, and support safer and more responsible retailing. More important, it will give local authorities the powers they need to shut down dodgy shops quickly, decisively and permanently. I therefore welcome both the Lords amendments and the Bill as a step forward to cleaning up our high streets and ensuring that we have a healthier, happier country.

• 18 Mar 2026 · Social Enterprises and Community Ownership · Hansard source

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  I would like to add one further example from my constituency. The Rebuild Site, a social enterprise, has identified that in the construction industry a large amount of waste goes to landfill and contributes hugely to our carbon dioxide emissions. It offers a service to developers whereby at the end of a job, it takes the surplus waste back to its warehouse, sells it and donates the money to community projects. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need more examples like the Rebuild Site across the country to engender genuine pride in our towns and cities?

• 5 Mar 2026 · Local Museums · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Thurrock (Jen Craft) for introducing this excellent debate. I am proud to represent a constituency shaped by 2,000 years of history—a history of conflict, dispute, industrial growth, people and, above all, resilience. Nowhere is that story told more vividly than in its museums. At the heart of England’s most northerly city stands Tullie House, Carlisle’s museum, art gallery and community hub. It is a place proudly described as “a home for the eternally curious.” Tullie is run as an independent trust. It has nationally important collections of art, archaeology and natural sciences and, since 2017, it has been undergoing a transformation. The 2017 future plan has enabled the museum to attract more than £14 million of investment to make the museum the heartbeat of the city’s cultural life. The development is being done in phases, and is supported by a broad range of investors including the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Collections and community are at the centre of the transformation strategy. The capital programme that Tullie is undertaking is part of a city-wide investment in Carlisle, with the Tullie initiative being fundamental to supporting communities and driving the visitor economy. Tullie is maximising its heritage to drive more tourists to explore our historic city, which also includes an outstanding Norman castle, a cathedral and the nearby Hadrian’s wall. However, pressure on local government funding is having a direct and immediate impact on Tullie. Tullie’s Carlisle gallery explores the people and organisations that have shaped our city, its industrial heritage, social change and resilience, and our deep connection to the natural world. Beyond its galleries, Tullie has strengthened its role in the community, offering a new space for family activities, school workshops and exhibitions that ensure that heritage is accessible to everyone. It was my pleasure to open the “Colour” exhibition at Tullie last September, which brought together Andy Warhol, bronze-age gold and the Rudd women, who once sold red stone for colouring the doorsteps of house-proud Carlisle residents. Our small local museums’ ability to bring together internationally famous exhibits alongside locally significant artefacts is one of their strengths. As befits a city seeking to be the UK’s city of culture 2029, Tullie is not Carlisle’s only museum. We also have a vintage motorcycle museum and the nearby Solway Aviation Museum—a Duxford for the north. It is volunteer-run, under the inspired leadership of museum chairman Dougie Kerr. There, visitors can see the Blackburn Beverly, a Fairey Gannet anti-submarine aircraft and a recently acquired Sea Harrier. While we are on the subject of military service, no visit to Carlisle would be complete without stopping off at Carlisle castle, where Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life can be found, offering exhibits on more than 300 years of our military heritage. It is all under the expert direction of museum director Jules Wooding, who not only secured a grant of almost a quarter of a million pounds from the National Lottery Heritage Fund last year, but plays an active role in supporting Carlisle’s large veteran population every single month. These museums exemplify the unique contribution that local museums make, not just to keeping the past alive, but to supporting our communities today and into the future.

• 23 Feb 2026 · Firearms Licensing · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough) for introducing the debate. I also thank the 323 residents of my constituency who signed the petition and the many more constituents who contacted me directly about the matter. It goes without saying that our first duty as legislators should be to safeguard the public, but in doing so we also have a responsibility to ensure that any change we make is evidence-based, proportionate and operationally sound. Any loss of life is a tragedy and it is important that lessons are learned; but, most importantly, in responding to tragedy we must be mindful of being led by the evidence. I note in that the response to the petition the Government state: “legally held shotguns have been used in a number of homicides and other incidents in recent years including the fatal shootings in…Plymouth, in…2021…Recommendations relating to strengthening shotgun controls had been made to the Government by the Coroner in his preventing future deaths report issued in May 2023.” I would like to place on the record my deeply felt sympathy for the families and friends of all of the victims of that incident, and all those of other shootings. I have taken time to read the coroner’s report and note that the coroner made several recommendations, including nationally accredited training for firearms licensing staff; proper assessment of medical information; ensuring decisions are made at the correct seniority level; improved oversight, governance and audit systems; clearer guidance and consistent application of national policies; and better communication and information sharing. All those recommendations, I believe, are supported right across the House. However, the coroner was silent on the merging of the two licensing regimes. That is not to say there might not be advantages in doing so. Rather, we need to be clear that the coroner’s report in that case did not necessarily recommend it. Key organisations across the shooting sector, as we have heard, including the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association, the British Association for Shooting and Conservation and the National Farmers Union, have raised significant concerns about potential changes. They argue that merging the two licensing systems is unnecessary and disproportionate and that current evidence does not support the claim that such a merger would enhance public safety. With those concerns in mind, it is also important to note that crime involving legally held firearms remains at historically low levels. At the same time, evidence suggests that licensing departments in our local police forces have been overstretched and inconsistent in applying the guidance as it stands. Adding hundreds of thousands of additional shotgun holders into a system designed for far fewer section 1 applicants risks creating unmanageable delays and increasing the administrative burden and substantial cost to certificate holders and the police. It has consequences far beyond the shooting sports community. Rural economies, pest control, game management, conservation and the businesses that rely on seasonal shooting activity could all be placed under pressure.

• 4 Feb 2026 · Postal Services: Rural Areas · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman is talking about mobile outreach services. One of the things that concerns me is that when the Post Office closes a bricks-and-mortar branch, it is required to carry out a six-week consultation with the community, but when it closes a mobile outreach service, there is no requirement for a consultation, even though that service may have been put in because of a branch closure. Does he agree that, regardless of whether we are talking about bricks and mortar or a temporary desk in a village hall, the Post Office should be under the same obligation to consult with the community?

• 29 Jan 2026 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  The Royal National Institute of Blind People’s 2024 report, “Turned Out”, found that disabled people face significant barriers when it comes to casting their vote, a finding echoed by the Electoral Commission in its report last year. Both those reports informed my ten-minute rule Bill on this subject, which I presented to the House last year. Could the Leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to make a statement on improving accessibility at our polling stations for disabled people ahead of this year’s elections?

• 27 Jan 2026 · Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill · Hansard source

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  I would like to place on record my interest as the mother of an NHS nurse. It is a privilege to speak in today’s debate and to do so on behalf of my Carlisle constituency, which I am proud to say has recently taken a transformative step with regard to medical training, with the opening of the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine. This new graduate school of medicine is being jointly pioneered by Imperial College London and the University of Cumbria, and I put on record my thanks to Professor Martin Lupton, Professor Mary Morrell and Professor Brian Webster-Henderson, whose vision the medical school is, and to Sir Trevor Pears and the Pears Foundation, whose generosity has made their vision a reality. As with the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill before us today, the Pears Cumbria School of Medicine purposefully prioritises home-grown talent. The school also seeks applications from students from non-traditional backgrounds, encouraging applications from groups that are less well represented in medicine. As part of the school’s commitment to widening access, the four-year graduate programme has no GCSE or A-level requirements. The reason for this approach is simple: it provides the best chance, year in, year out and generation after generation, for Carlisle and Cumbria to produce our own doctors. These doctors will often come from the surrounding communities and, in part because of where they are trained, will be deeply committed to the local area and its people. In geographically remote areas such as ours, the ability to train and retain our own doctors is critical. It matters enormously. Cumbria faces some of the most entrenched health inequalities in the country. We have struggled for years with recruitment and retention across both primary and secondary care, and our hospital trust relies heavily on locums. We know all too well that the traditional model of medical education, centred on large metropolitan teaching hospitals, simply does not produce or attract the workforce that rural areas such as mine need. That brings me back to the Bill before us today. The Government are right to prioritise UK graduates for foundation and specialty training places. The Bill represents a significant and welcome step towards restoring confidence in the training pipeline, addressing the growing mismatch between the number of medical graduates and the number of available posts, and ensuring that those who have invested years of training in our NHS are not left without a route on which to progress. It is a sensible, fair-minded reform that will bring much-needed stability to a system that has been under real strain. For Carlisle and Cumbria, however, the issue is not only who gets priority but where the training posts are located. At present, although foundation training can be delivered locally, it can be delivered only where accredited F1 and F2 posts exist. In Cumbria, the number of those posts is limited. The North Cumbria integrated care trust is able to provide places for some foundation trainees, and others will find F1 and F2 posts in primary and community care settings, but further accredited places will be required at foundation level. I ask the Minister to explain, in her response, not just how the new powers will prioritise UK medical graduates and members of the priority group, but how the powers might be used to widen the availability of accredited F1 and F2 posts in areas such as Cumbria, where there is a shortage of doctors. Even if we successfully retain Pears medical school doctors in Cumbria for their foundation programme training, the risk of losing them when they come to their specialty training programme is even greater, because doctors will overwhelmingly choose to settle near to where they complete their training, particularly their specialist training, and Cumbria will never be able to provide every specialty training pathway within the county to retain our home-grown talent. We simply do not have the population size or the case mix to deliver all specialisms in our trusts. However, that does not mean that we cannot design a system that keeps trainees connected to Cumbria throughout their training. I therefore urge the Minister to consider how the regulation-making powers granted by the Bill can address that issue. Pears medical school believes that a new approach to specialist training is the way forward. I recently wrote to the Secretary of State seeking a meeting between him and representatives of the medical school to explore that approach, and I very much hope that he will soon accept that meeting. I also ask Ministers to consider seriously how specialty training can be structured so that trainees who complete F2 in Cumbria are supported to remain based in the region, even if their specialist rotations take them elsewhere for short periods. That could mean funded return-to-base arrangements, rotational models anchored in Cumbria, or formal partnerships between specialist centres in UK cities and community providers in Cumbria. In other words, we need a training pathway that allows people to specialise with Cumbria, not away from it, because if we allow the system to pull trainees out of Carlisle at the very moment they are beginning to put down roots, we will simply recreate and repeat the cycle that has left rural areas like mine short of doctors for too long. The Pears Cumbria School of Medicine is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the medical workforce in Cumbria, but it will fully succeed only if training programmes are aligned with its purpose. In welcoming the Bill, I urge Ministers to ensure that its implementation meets the requirements and needs of remote communities. Prioritisation is important, but place matters too.

• 26 Jan 2026 · Police Reform White Paper · Hansard source

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  Last Friday I held a community meeting with Cumbria’s police, fire and crime commissioner, David Allen. Since his election just 20 months ago, he has been focused on taking those officers who were forced into the back room under the last Government and putting them back on the frontline. Can the Home Secretary please reassure me, and our police, fire and crime commissioner, that the reforms she has outlined today will continue to strengthen frontline policing, particularly in rural areas such as Cumbria?

• 22 Jan 2026 · Emergencies: Rural and Coastal Areas · Hansard source

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  I recently met representatives of Cumbria Council for Voluntary Service and ACTion with Communities in Cumbria to discuss community resilience in Carlisle and north Cumbria. One of the challenges we face in geographically remote areas such as mine is the speed with which local authorities and other agencies are able to deploy staff to close floodgates and shut roads when we have an area affected by flooding. Will the Minister set out what steps the Government are taking to encourage statutory bodies to train and equip community emergency volunteers to carry out those vital tasks?

• 19 Jan 2026 · Local Elections: Cancellation · Hansard source

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  As the Minister has already mentioned, the previous Government postponed elections in 2021, including in my constituency. Does she agree with the words of the right hon. Member for Newark (Robert Jenrick), who was the Communities Secretary at the time—and whom I note is not in either of his recent places in the Chamber this afternoon—that holding elections “in such circumstances”, namely local government reorganisation, risks “confusing voters and would be hard to justify where members could be elected to serve shortened terms”? —[ Official Report , 22 February 2021; Vol. 689, c. 24WS.]

• 10 Dec 2025 · AI Safety · Hansard source

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  On the hon. Gentleman’s point about risk, I want to highlight another area that has been brought to my attention by the British sign language community, which is concerned that the design of AI BSL is not necessarily including BSL users. In a visual language that relies on expression, tone and gestures, the risk of mistranslation is considerable for that particular community. Has the hon. Gentleman considered how we best involve other communities in the use of AI when it is generating language translation specific to them?

• 4 Nov 2025 · Cross-border Healthcare · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship Mr Dowd. I congratulate the hon. Member for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe (David Chadwick) on securing this important debate. As the Member of Parliament for Carlisle and north Cumbria, I represent a region where the realities of geography often challenge the neat lines that we find on maps, and those drawn by policy and practice. For example, earlier this year, during a prolonged power cut that affected the village of Kershopefoot, to the north-east of Carlisle, staff at ScottishPower Energy Networks were somewhat surprised to discover, after I contacted them, that they served customers in England who had a Scottish postcode. When it comes to health, my constituents quite often face more serious issues. For some, their nearest GP might be in Scotland, but the nearest hospital is in England—in my case, the Cumberland infirmary. This can and does lead to issues. I acknowledge the Government’s excellent work to improve healthcare access across the UK and in my constituency. In Carlisle and north Cumbria we have seen real progress: waiting lists have been cut and the urgent dental centre that opened last year is beginning to address many of the challenges we experience with NHS dental care. Those meaningful steps forward were made possible by this Government, but progress must be matched by policy that works for everyone, and especially those who live on the edge of systems, maps and borders. One of my constituents, who lives in the northernmost part of the constituency, found himself facing a deeply troubling situation when he became very ill. He is geographically closer to Scotland and therefore registered with a Scottish GP. However, when he needed hospital care he was told he could not be treated at his local hospital in England—in Carlisle—because he was registered with a Scottish GP. Instead, he was advised to travel to Glasgow, a round trip of over 200 miles, rather than take the 40-mile trip to Carlisle. This is a man who lives in England, pays his taxes here and has his bins collected by an English local authority, and whose nearest hospital is in England, but he was told to travel to Glasgow for care—not because of clinical need or even capacity, but because of outdated guidance. Thankfully, after the intervention of his GP and other dedicated health professionals, he was able to receive the treatment that he needed locally, but his case should not have required such extraordinary effort. It should never have required the negotiation it took and should not have required escalation. It should have been common sense. The English guidance does not adequately cover cross-border scenarios, and I am told the Scottish guidance predates the creation of the integrated care boards altogether. I am very grateful to the Minister for Care for giving me his time a few weeks ago to discuss this issue. I know he recognises that this needs to be urgently resolved. I would welcome any update that I can share from the Minister today on whether the guidance is now to be reviewed and improvements are under way. We must ensure that all relevant healthcare providers are equipped with clear, up-to-date information, because we all want the same thing: a system that works for patients, wherever they live. This is not a question of politics, as we can see from the cross-party presence at this debate—although the absence of the SNP is notable. I am pleased to see my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk (John Lamont), in his place. This is a question of practicality, compassion and, as the hon. Gentleman said, common sense. We must ensure that our healthcare system reflects the lived realities of our constituents, and not the lines on a map. I urge the Minister to take this issue forward with urgency. I stand ready to support any efforts to improve cross-border healthcare.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Sentencing Bill · Hansard source

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  It is nevertheless a suspended sentence. By passing new clause 1, we are saying that serious offences—whether the sentence is served behind bars or under conditions in the community—carry consequences, including the possibility of removal from the UK.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Teresa Mulholland, who earlier this week was named Cumbrian woman of the year? Teresa is director of Carlisle United’s community sports trust and was recognised for her leadership, empathy, courage and determination to help others. In congratulating Teresa, will the Leader of the House take the opportunity to put on the record our thanks to all community sports trusts across the UK, which do so much for our local communities?