Liz Jarvis MP: speeches

Speeches

• 2 Jun 2026 · Workplace Exposure to Silica Dust · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered silica dust exposure in the workplace. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I want to begin by paying tribute to my constituent Caroline Hudson and her sister Sandra, who are both here today. I thank them for their determination in bringing this issue to me and the wider public. None of us should underestimate how difficult it is to relive the loss of a loved one in public, but they are doing so because they do not want other families to suffer the same heartbreak. Sandra’s husband, George Elliott, was a keen golfer, a proud Spurs fan and a man deeply loved by his family and friends. He was a highly skilled stonemason who worked on buildings including 10 Downing Street. George died in November 2023 from silicosis, a devastating lung disease caused by inhaling respirable crystalline silica dust. His family did not know that he had silicosis until his post-mortem. By then it was too late. Before his death, George suffered through severe breathing difficulties, constant exhaustion, oxygen dependency and the cruel deterioration that the disease inflicts upon its victims. Silicosis is progressive and incurable. Tiny silica particles become embedded in the lungs, causing inflammation and permanent scarring. Over time, lung capacity is destroyed. Victims struggle to breathe, struggle to work and struggle to live normal lives. It also dramatically increases the risk of other serious illnesses, including tuberculosis, kidney disease, chronic bronchitis and lung cancer. The key thing about silicosis is that it is preventable. The Health and Safety Executive estimates that around 600,000 workers in the UK are exposed to silica dust every year, yet for far too long the Government’s response has not matched the scale or seriousness of the threat. One of my uncles died from mesothelioma. We cannot let silica dust inhalation become another scandal on the scale of asbestos. It is important to note that silicosis is increasingly affecting young workers—people in their 20s and 30s—and that the increase is largely due to engineered stone. The rise in the popularity of engineered stone has transformed modern kitchens, and these products are now everywhere, but many engineered stones contain extraordinarily high levels of silica—in some cases, up to 95%. When dry cut without proper controls, they release enormous quantities of deadly dust into the air. The current system is leaving workers vulnerable. I welcome the recent steps the HSE has taken, following public concern and pressure from campaigners, clinicians and affected families. It has declared the dry cutting of engineered stone to be unacceptable, and introduced new guidance requiring water-suppression techniques, respiratory protective equipment and health surveillance, and a programme of more than 1,000 inspections across the UK. However, there are concerns that the HSE’s current resources, enforcement powers and inspection capacity are not sufficient to deal with what could become a major national occupational health crisis. There is a fear that enforcement remains inconsistent, and that rogue operators continue to evade scrutiny altogether. Does the Minister believe the HSE has the capacity, staffing and resources necessary to effectively regulate the sector? If not, what additional support will be provided? Australia has already prohibited engineered stone, following hundreds of silicosis cases among workers, and last week California took the first step in that direction. There should be absolute agreement on some fundamental principles: exposure limits must be rigorously enforced, proper personal protective equipment must be mandatory, workers must receive proper training, and health surveillance must become vastly more robust. Australia’s national screening programme identified hundreds of cases that otherwise might not have been detected until the disease had progressed to a dangerous stage. Experts there found that one in four screened workers had silicosis. Why are we not introducing a targeted national screening programme here in the UK for workers in high-risk sectors, such as kitchen fitters, stonemasons and construction workers? There needs to be a large public awareness campaign for those potentially at risk and for NHS practitioners. I would like to recognise the journalists who have been campaigning and raising awareness of this issue, including Joe Duggan at The i Paper , and the all-party parliamentary group for respiratory health. Recent analysis provided to senior NHS officials and reported by The i Paper suggests that more than 1,000 UK stonemasons could already have silicosis linked to exposure to engineered stone. The same report estimates that around 4,000 workers in the UK may be operating in informal or illegal parts of the industry, where basic safety protections are routinely ignored. Silica safety should form part of compulsory training in construction, stonemasonry and apprenticeship schemes. Real-time dust-extraction systems should be properly explored and rolled out where appropriate. Occupational health records and GP systems should better identify workers exposed to silica, so that symptoms are not repeatedly missed or dismissed. One of the most alarming aspects of this crisis is that we still do not know its true scale. It beggars belief that silicosis was removed from the official list of notifiable occupational diseases in 2013. As a result, cases are frequently hidden within broader categories such as lung cancer.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  4. What steps he is taking to help reduce household energy bills.

• 24 Mar 2026 · Household Energy Bills · Hansard source

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  Before Trump’s illegal war, we had Putin’s illegal war. Both have meant soaring energy bills for families and businesses in my constituency. Citizens Advice Eastleigh tells me that more than 2,000 households are in fuel poverty. Does the Secretary of State agree that, so long as the price of wholesale electricity is directly linked to volatile gas, we will be at mercy of despots and dictators, and that decoupling is essential if people in my constituency and across the UK are to have energy security?

• 21 Jan 2026 · Dementia Support: Hampshire · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. I heard from a constituent whose wife has Lewy body dementia and has lived in the same care home for several years. She is settled there and knows the staff. They know her needs, her routines and her personality. It is, by any reasonable definition, her home. Yet my constituent has been told that when money for his wife’s self-funded care runs out, she will not be supported to remain there because the home is not on Hampshire county council’s approved list. She will be forced to move away from familiar faces into an unfamiliar environment at precisely the stage when stability and familiarity matter most. Families impacted by dementia frequently find themselves navigating a fragmented system, unclear funding decisions, delayed assessments and a complete lack of continuity of care. One of my constituents told me that his mum, who is in her 90s, has been informed that her savings have now fallen below the financial threshold. He requested a review from the county council months ago. Despite repeated chasing, he has been told that it may be many months before their situation is reviewed. In the meantime he has been placed in the impossible position of having to somehow find the funds to continue to pay care home fees that he cannot afford or risking financial instability for the care provider. That is not how a compassionate system should function. Continuing healthcare funding must be urgently reviewed. Too many families face flawed assessments that fail to recognise the complex needs of people with dementia, leaving them to shoulder enormous financial burdens at the most vulnerable moments of their lives.

• 20 Jan 2026 · Water (Special Measures) Act 2025: Enforcement · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) for securing this important debate and giving me the opportunity to speak on behalf of my constituents, who are utterly fed up with Southern Water and a system that is failing them at every level. My constituents are being hit with a 53% increase in their water bills—the largest rise of any water company in England or Wales—at a time when household finances are already under enormous pressure. What are they getting in return? Outages, sewage dumping, hosepipe bans, leaks and a provider that can act with impunity but cannot get a grip of its failed services. Against that backdrop, my constituents were rightly furious to learn that the CEO of Southern Water received a £1.4 million annual pay package last year—nearly double what it was the year before—despite the company being banned from issuing bonuses, and after zero improvements in service delivery or environmental performance. It beggars belief and is frankly indefensible. My constituents should not have to pay for Southern Water’s failures, yet that is exactly what is happening. Bills go up and services do not get better. There are repeated sewage leaks into the River Itchen, the precious chalk stream that runs through my constituency. In the latest Environment Agency assessment, Southern Water was handed a two-star rating after causing a shocking 269 pollution incidents in 2024, including 15 that were classified as serious. Meanwhile, water outages in my constituency have become commonplace. Just before Christmas 2024, residents in Chandler’s Ford and Eastleigh were left without water after a massive outage, with almost 60,000 homes across Hampshire affected. I raised the issue of outages at Prime Minister’s questions last April and was assured that action would be taken. What exactly has changed? That is why I am so disappointed that the Government’s water White Paper, published today, does not go further and fails to deliver the fundamental change needed to protect rivers such as the Itchen. People in Eastleigh are fed up with tough words from the Government while bills rise, sewage continues to flow and water company executives continue to cash in. We need a new ownership model in which water companies are mutually owned by customers and professionally managed, with full transparency, including the publication of the volume of sewage dumped into our rivers, not just the duration of spills, and a new regulator that can finally get to grips with this crisis.

• 13 Nov 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill · Hansard source

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  I will focus my comments on Lords amendment 38. I have heard from many constituents who are deeply concerned about the potential environmental impact of this Bill and how it might affect the River Itchen, the precious chalk stream that runs through my constituency of Eastleigh. The River Itchen is a site of special scientific interest and a special area of conservation, but despite these designations, it has been subjected to repeated sewage discharges by Southern Water, threatening its delicate ecosystems and putting species at risk. We have incredible natural habitats that are being destroyed because existing protections have failed. Indeed, in the latest Environment Agency assessment, Southern Water was handed a two-star rating after causing a shocking 269 pollution incidents last year, including 15 classified as serious. According to the 2024-25 chalk stream annual review, 83% of England’s chalk streams are failing to achieve good ecological status, which is disgraceful. That is why Lords amendment 38 is so important to my constituents and to communities across the country who live alongside these extraordinary habitats. There is no reason why we cannot have a thoughtful planning process that protects our precious natural environment and delivers the social and affordable housing that our communities desperately need, with the infrastructure to support it. We have an opportunity to show that development and environmental responsibility are not competing interests, but shared objectives. By embedding these principles in the Bill, we can address the housing crisis while simultaneously protecting our rivers, habitats and green spaces. Lords amendment 38 would establish much-needed new protections for chalk streams and impose a responsibility on strategic planning authorities to enhance chalk stream environments. I saw the urgent need to address this issue when I visited with representatives of the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust this summer, when I was able to test the water quality of the River Itchen. With the help of experts, we saw at first hand the very low levels of biodiversity and high nitrate levels. I fully support the proposition that spatial development strategies must list chalk streams in their strategic area, and safeguard them from irreplaceable damage by outlining clear measures to protect from environmental harm. Greater and appropriate consideration for our chalk streams is long overdue. I welcome the fact that, under Lords amendment 38, local spatial development strategies would vary according to the needs of the particular area, allowing strategies to set different balancing points between local conservation and development needs in different places. It is disappointing that the Government are unwilling to retain the amendment. Will the Minister instead commit to strengthening existing planning mechanisms and ensure that water companies are held to account, so that chalk streams are protected? This is such an important issue for my constituents, and anything less than a cast-iron guarantee is not good enough. People across the country deeply value and treasure our natural environment. We need to deliver the housing and infrastructure that are vital for our communities, but let us not treat our chalk streams, wildlife and habitats as an afterthought.

• 4 Nov 2025 · Supporting High Streets · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, which I will address shortly. Independent businesses face an incredibly tough environment. The reduction in retail, hospitality and leisure relief from 75% to 40% effectively leaves small businesses subsidising large chains. We are incredibly lucky to have many thriving independent businesses in Eastleigh, including AC Models, O’Briens, Artisan, the Coffee Cabin and Choices sandwiches. My constituent David, who is the owner of Steam Town Brew Co., told me that higher staffing costs are hitting his business hard. The employer national insurance contributions increase disincentivises businesses from investing in local jobs. I have also spoken with local hairdressers, including Jemma from Jemma George Hair Artistry and Jane from Elite Salon in Chandler’s Ford, about the challenges they are facing. They are worried about structural flaws in the VAT system for labour-intensive businesses, challenges to the employer model within the industry, and the lingering impact of the covid pandemic. Those small businesses enrich our high streets, but they are having to fight so hard and work incredibly long hours to make themselves viable. We should be celebrating entrepreneurship, not putting more roadblocks in their way. The previous Government left business rates unreformed, negotiated a disastrous Brexit deal, and oversaw a massive spiral in energy costs, rents and interest rates, all of which piled incredible pressure on high street businesses. So many of the challenges that those businesses are facing have been caused by policy choices made over the past decade. For all of the Reform party’s showboating, we have seen no coherent plan from it. Indeed, its Members have not even bothered to show up to this debate. The Liberal Democrats are calling for business rates to be replaced with a commercial landowner levy, so that we tax the land value, not the productive investment. That would give struggling high streets the breathing space that they desperately need. It is wrong that households and high streets are being punished while big banks, gambling companies and social media giants get away without paying their fair share. We must shift the tax burden away from small and medium-sized businesses and on to those with the broadest shoulders. Our communities deserve better than short-term stunts and uncosted Tory headlines. They deserve a long-term plan to revive our high streets, restore pride in our towns and put small businesses at the centre of Britain’s economic recovery.