Rachel Taylor MP: speeches

Speeches

• 26 Jun 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Yesterday’s resignation of the Reform leader of Warwickshire county council and his replacement with an 18-year-old will be of real concern to my constituents. We desperately need a functioning council to fill in potholes, deliver our care services and end the crisis in education for those with special education needs and disabilities. While I am sorry to hear about Councillor Rob Howard’s health challenges and wish him and his family well, questions remain about how he came to resign after just six weeks in the job, and about the qualifications of his 18-year-old replacement. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on the need for competent and effective local government that delivers for communities around the country?

• 22 May 2025 · Sports Facilities: Areas of Housing Growth · Hansard source

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  In my hometown of Atherstone, the leisure centre and swimming pool is beyond its useful life. That is the case for more than 50% of swimming facilities up and down this country. When we talk about building new homes, we need to make sure that we are building accessible communities with facilities for people to enjoy sports. As we look forward to a fantastic summer of tennis, I would also like to put in a plea for covered tennis facilities, because half of the time it is raining, and people cannot play tennis in the rain.

• 20 May 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Twelfth sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship again, Ms Jardine. I rise to speak first to new clause 1, which seems to me, as someone who has worked closely with developers, ill thought out. It does not address the need to build more social and affordable homes. Permissions that are granted, particularly on brownfield sites, often contain any number of conditions that are extremely difficult for developers to achieve—discharging conditions around environmental remediation and, for example, looking after bats or newts, which are common where I practise. There is also a lack of local authority staff competent to deal with section 106 agreements. Permissions are often granted to developers before they own the land, and there may be suitable tax reasons why people do not wish to sell the land until the following tax year. It is easy for those things to stretch over way more than three years, and sometimes up to five years. I am in favour of building more social homes, but the new clause would not achieve that objective. It also does not take into account the massive shortage of workers in the construction sector, the skills that we need or the shortage of materials, which has become even more acute in the past couple of years. I also want to talk about new clause 76. The hon. Member for Hamble Valley has entertained us for most of the day with minor matters, but his new clause would have an effect that he has perhaps not thought about. The majority of unauthorised planning that I saw in my practice was carried out by farmers who were not able to make enough money from farming their land, so very often diversified their large warehouse-type structures and started using them for small businesses—perhaps renting them out to local engineering firms and so on. After a period of 10 years, somebody would complain in the local village and they would then apply for an authorised use certificate, and nine times out of 10, it would be granted. The impact of new clause 76—that unauthorised change of use—would prevent those people from developing new homes on their site or opening up more opportunities for new businesses. It needs more thought and attention, because the very people who would be impacted are those who the Opposition say that they stand up for. Very often, they will be farmers who are looking to diversify their property.

• 14 May 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Q2. Thousands of British jobs have been safeguarded by this Government’s trade agreement with the US, including for those in my constituency who work for Jaguar Land Rover, like my next-door neighbour Ollie—proving that when Labour negotiates, workers win. Can the Prime Minister confirm that he will continue to stand up for all workers and our vital motor manufacturing industry as he negotiates a better deal for Britain around the world?

• 13 May 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Sixth sitting) · Hansard source

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  Does the Minister agree that very often the controversial decisions that go to planning committees and are declined by them, leading to an appeal, result in higher council tax for residents, because of the huge cost of appeals, reviews and so on? A national scheme of delegation, where it is clear which decisions can be made under delegated authorities and which cannot, will therefore simplify the process for developers, remove the delays and costs for them, and keep costs down for local residents.

• 12 May 2025 · Immigration System · Hansard source

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  My constituents are sick and tired of broken promises on immigration. Five Conservative Prime Ministers promised to cut arrivals while deliberately letting numbers reach record highs. Can the Secretary of State confirm to the people of North Warwickshire and Bedworth that the broken promises are over, and that when this Government say that we will cut immigration levels and invest in skills and training, and in good jobs for my constituents, that is exactly what we will do?

• 24 Apr 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (First sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I was delighted recently to visit a National Grid substation at Hams Hall, in my North Warwickshire and Bedworth constituency. It is almost doubling in size to accommodate connections for High Speed 2, but people there also talked to me about the massive queue of projects that need connections if there is to be expansion right across the west midlands. Have you carried out an assessment of the backlog of connections? To what extent will these changes enable us to achieve our ambition of net zero by 2030? Beatrice Filkin: I am very happy to take that question. We have had an ongoing process of reform to the approach to the connections queue with NESO and Government for quite a while now. We reached our conclusions last week and made a decision on how the reordering of the queue should work. As part of that, as Charlotte mentioned, we have been looking at how we move away from the idea that we had previously—a first come, first served application process—to looking at what we need as a country and which projects are most ready. The decision we have taken on how that process will work now needs to be implemented by NESO. It will be implemented very rapidly over the next year, with the network operators, to give industry confidence and security that it can continue to invest to deliver clean power targets, as well as all the growth targets that we want. One point that we did not touch on previously was that the demand connections are really important for the growth story. The queue connections reform deems all the connections that are already in the queue as needed, so they pass the first test. That is very important in making sure that we are prioritising access to our network, and that will enable growth in the country. Charlotte Mitchell: Bringing forward the legislation at pace will enable us to move to the new system. It is important that measures in the Bill are brought forward quickly, so that we can move towards the new reordering and prioritisation.

• 24 Apr 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q James, I would like to ask you a question first. We heard a lot on earlier panels about the number of permissions that have been granted but not yet delivered. How do you think your members can be helped by the Bill to deliver those homes? Also, when we talk about affordable housing, how much of that really needs to be socially rented housing to help deliver homes that homeless people need? That second question is more for Kate. James Stevens: On the first element of that question, we really dispute the notion that house builders just bank land and are not interested in building out. Craig Bennett of the Wildlife Trusts cited a figure on Radio 4, I think, of 1.4 million homes that have granted permission but that have not been built out. We strongly contest that. A lot of those things are not counted as a completion until they are actually completed. A lot of those schemes have to work through very complicated discharge conditions. A lot of those permissions can just be outline planning permissions, and not the detailed planning permissions that you need to be an implementable consent. A lot of those figures are just poor figures that do not reflect the true numbers that have actually been built out. Lastly on that, this accusation of land banking has often been levelled at the house building industry over the last 20 years. Consistently, independent studies, including one by the Competition and Markets Authority last year, have given us a clean bill of health on that. There is an issue about absorption rates—the ability of a local market to absorb certain sales—but house builders do not make their money from sitting on land. That costs them money. We make money from the sale of homes. The issue of social housing—I will allow Kate to come in shortly—is very important. The problem is that we have a severe housing crisis. As Kate said, we have many thousands of children in temporary accommodation. Local authorities had to spend something like £2.3 billion last year on temporary accommodation; local authorities would go bankrupt there. Therefore, the tendency is to try to maximise social housing provision—social rented housing. We can understand why local authorities want to do that. However, to follow up on the point I made to Gideon Amos, the problem is that if local authority policies are too prescriptive on the tenure split, that can make it very difficult for house builders to contract with registered providers, to provide registered providers with the type of tenure mix that they need. We need to be a bit more realistic and flexible about that. The key issue is to get houses built—to focus upon the quantity—in order to alleviate the affordability problems that make people so dependent upon social housing in the first place. But absolutely, social rented housing is very important. We are not trying to say that we do not want to build it. Kate Henderson: Social housing is needed in every part of the country. What is really important is that we have objectively assessed needs and that those needs are then incorporated in local plans, and that we deliver mixed, sustainable communities that reflect the needs of those areas. I will just dispute a little bit the point about the London situation and the London plan. London is the only part of the country where we have a strategic development strategy. The reason that we have a crash of supply in London is not because of strategic planning. It is because of a building safety crisis, hugely high inflation, huge land prices, an absolute crisis in temporary accommodation, and huge pressures that have happened across the social housing sector over the last 15 years in terms of cuts and caps to our income. To get out of the situation in London and in the rest of the country, we need a comprehensive planning system that is based on objectively assessed need; a long-term housing strategy that looks at our existing homes as well as new homes; a rent settlement, including convergence, and funding that addresses building safety as well as new supply. Those are all things that the Government are looking at, which is welcome. As for bringing forward those spatial development strategies in the rest of the country, it is really important that they have a focus on social and affordable housing, and that that should be mandated within them. The percentages will need to reflect the context of the areas and the need in those areas, so there will need to be a degree of flexibility in accordance with place, but it is vital that that is mandated as part of the remit of those strategies. We welcome their introduction.

• 24 Apr 2025 · Planning and Infrastructure Bill (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  Q I would like to focus again on local planning authorities. I am acutely aware, from my constituency in North Warwickshire and Bedworth, of the under-resourcing of planning authorities, and this Bill enables us to charge increased fees, but I am also aware of the frustration from local developers and businesses about delays in the planning system. Do you think that the ability to charge extra fees will strike the right balance, and should they be ringfenced to make sure that decisions are made in a timely manner? Victoria Hills: We have been advocating for the ringfencing of fees since time began. It is absolutely essential, and—I am sure that Faraz will pick this point up in a moment for his clients—I have not met a single developer that is not willing to pay for more for a service. The problem is that they are paying more but not getting the service. In some places, they are, but not in others. The opportunity, through this Bill, to strengthen the ringfencing and ensure that the money stays within the planning team to deliver the service cannot come soon enough to help to reduce some of those delays. Having the opportunity for local areas to work out what good looks like for them is absolutely a sensible way forward within that. Again, we do feel that having the right level of seniority within the department to ensure that the money stays there is going to be a key part of it. Faraz Baber: Moving towards this ringfencing idea within the planning service is hugely positive, although when I say the planning service, it may extend slightly to the legal side as well, because you have to get those section 106 agreements signed off to make things happen. The key, though, is that it has to stay ringfenced for that resource to happen. We often see that PPAs—planning performance agreements—are paid up front for meetings, and that there is a very uneven balance in how well those deliver, in terms of the service that the clients receive when they pay those large chunks of change for that service. So, developers are right—applicants are right—to get frustrated when they think they are getting a premier service to help facilitate the bringing forward of an application, then find that it does not move the dial one iota. I think the very basic premise is that instead of the chief executive or the finance director of the council saying, “I’ll take that because I need to put it into social care or into education,” the money actually stays there. Remember, if we keep that money inside the planning service, it will drive the growth that the Government have said that they want to achieve. The devil is in the detail, and we need to see that more, but it is the right direction to take. Hugh Ellis: I would say that it would stabilise issues for development management, but, for the policy officers who we work with, it would not necessarily support their work. Also, a piece of heresy, if it is okay: the private sector complains a lot about delays, despite getting 86% of all its applications approved, but I think that there needs to be more debate about competence in the private sector. When a private sector developer applies for a category 3a floodplain development and then complains that the Environment Agency wants it to go through a flood risk assessment process, my blood boils. Planners are doing life-and-death stuff. For example, no house built after 2009 is part of the insurance compact, so if we get this wrong, negative equity will look like a picnic. Planning is trying to do really complicated stuff and it needs time to do that. Statutory consultees are also crucial to that, and they need to be resourced properly to play that role as well.

• 3 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I am concerned by reports on social media that a disabled person in a wheelchair in Bedworth was stranded because their bus did not show up and several taxis refused to take a wheelchair. I am sick and tired of hearing how my vulnerable constituents are let down by Warwickshire’s buses, which is why I launched my petition to bring buses back into public control. We must look at the issues facing disabled people when using transport. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate on access to taxis for people using wheelchairs?

• 3 Apr 2025 · UK-US Trade and Tariffs · Hansard source

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  Many of my constituents work at Jaguar Land Rover or in the motor manufacturing supply chain, and they are really concerned about 25% tariffs on exports to the US. Can the Secretary of State set out what steps he is taking to get those tariffs reduced and to support west midlands businesses before I meet Jaguar Land Rover later today? Does he agree that a calm and measured approach is exactly what is needed to get the best deal for British businesses?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  I hope the spring equinox has put a spring in your step this morning, Madam Deputy Speaker. Every Saturday, people from all around Bedworth join the weekly parkrun in the Miners’ Welfare park. After the run, the Mayor’s Café and the garden centre, run by People in Action, are often full, but the town centre remains relatively empty. Bedworth is receiving £20 million from the plan for neighbourhoods, so I have launched a survey to see what residents feel their town centre needs. Will the Leader of the House grant time for a debate on support for businesses on our high streets and in our town centres?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Defence Industries: West Midlands · Hansard source

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  I thank my on. Friend and neighbour for securing this important debate. Every year, Bedworth residents show their pride in our armed forces with their Armistice Day parade, which I was privileged to take part in this year. Many of my constituents already work in the defence and security sector in small and medium-sized enterprises around the west midlands. I am glad that this number will only go up with the Government’s increased investment in our defence and security. Does my hon. Friend agree that the west midlands should be proud of the contribution we make towards the defence and security of our nation, and should look forward to seeing more people benefiting from the skills and training that come from joining this industry?

• 19 Mar 2025 · Supported Internship Provision · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour for securing this debate. Several of my constituents with special educational needs are taking part in the supported internship programme at George Eliot hospital in her constituency. I am delighted that they have been able to take up that opportunity to learn important skills and to engage in independent work. I was glad to hear that between 50% and 75% of people who undertake the internships get full employment afterwards. Does my hon. Friend agree that we should continue to support these internships to deliver opportunities for students with special educational needs and disabilities across the west midlands, and will the Minister highlight these excellent programmes, particularly to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions?

• 18 Mar 2025 · Freight Crime · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the recording and investigation of freight crime; and for connected purposes. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Selby (Keir Mather) for being present on the Front Bench today. Shortly after being elected in July, I became the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on freight and logistics, because almost a fifth of my constituents work in this vital sector and I wanted to make sure they had a voice in Parliament. The freight and logistics sector has become the backbone of the local economy in North Warwickshire and Bedworth, with businesses located across the constituency. Since becoming an MP, I have had the pleasure of visiting many of these businesses to see how they are providing varied opportunities for people in North Warwickshire and Bedworth. I want the logistics sector to be something young people in my constituency are excited to be part of, and that means we must tackle freight crime so they can feel safe in their jobs. I am proud that North Warwickshire and Bedworth contributes so much to our national economy by getting goods and medical supplies to the people up and down the country who need them. However, from speaking to drivers and businesses across the country, it is clear that one of the biggest issues facing this industry is organised freight crime. With the Road Haulage Association, the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service and freight businesses, we recently launched our APPG report on freight crime to provide a framework for how the Government can secure our supply chains. Our report highlighted a key misconception. Too many people think theft from a van or lorry is low-level opportunistic crime; this is not true. Freight crime is committed by organised criminal gangs. It is dangerous, and it has cost the UK economy £1 billion since 2020. More action is urgently needed. I thank the Home Office and the Department for Transport for their engagement with our campaign. I know they understand the need to tackle this critical issue, and statistics show that the investment they have made in safe parking has paid off, with a reduction in the number of crimes at truck stops. I hope that demonstrates to the Government that targeted action to combat freight crime is producing results. I recently met the Minister for Policing, Fire and Crime Prevention, and I welcome her recognition that the challenge of freight crime must be tackled if we are to achieve our mission of economic growth. We need to see more action on freight crime. The situation is urgent. Between 2023 and 2024, the total value of goods stolen by freight criminals increased by 63% to more than £120 million. I visited Corley services in my constituency to see how it is tackling freight crime. Even though it has introduced measures to make drivers and parked vehicles safer, it is clear that more must be done. I spoke to Dave Hands, the managing director of LTS Global Solutions, based in my constituency, about how freight crime has impacted his business. The company experienced six fuel theft incidents last year, each of which significantly impacted the business—LTS loses a day of deliveries and must replace the stolen fuel, pay a call-out fee to repair the vehicle and supply fuel to get it to the nearest garage. This has to stop. This type of crime can often be violent, with organised gangs targeting drivers sleeping in lay-bys, as they know that is when they are most vulnerable to theft. In February 2024, five men threatened a driver in an Essex lay-by with a handgun before stealing his cargo, leaving the driver terrified. Despite an extensive area search, the police did not identify any suspects. Similarly, in West Yorkshire, last summer, thieves threatened a driver with a hammer and stole £250,000-worth of products from the vehicle. Once again, no one was caught. Freight criminals are also becoming ever more sophisticated. They target warehouses where they know high-value goods will be stored and have stolen trailers laden with laptops, household appliances and medical supplies from transport hubs right across the midlands. Organised freight criminals seize opportunities of goods shortages to target cargo that is increasing in value, such as baby formula and personal protective equipment during the pandemic. In a particularly cruel case, freight criminals stole more than £1 million-worth of Government-funded laptops meant for deprived children. Luckily, three men were caught and sent to prison. As a House, we must understand that organised freight crime feeds into other organised crime, where gangs have a large underground network of handlers who reintroduce large amounts of stolen cargo for the public to buy. Stolen cargo has even ended up on our supermarket shelves. Staggeringly, in the most extreme and dangerous examples, freight criminals can even steal from moving vehicles. Last year, a heavy goods vehicle was driving to Hinckley, when the driver realised that the lock had been cut while he was driving and that more than £3 million-worth of smartphones, watches and laptops had been stolen. This type of operation, where criminal gangs drive erratically to target and tailgate a moving vehicle, is dangerous to everyone on the road. Police in Warwickshire know that freight crime is becoming increasingly organised, targeted and dangerous, yet they are struggling to track and tackle it effectively because an organised gang stealing thousands of pounds-worth of goods from a lorry and someone stealing a mobile phone from the passenger seat of a car are coded in the same way. I am sure that that does not make sense to anyone in this House. That is why this Bill is needed. The Bill would create a separate crime code for freight theft from a vehicle. With this specific code and classification, large-scale thefts of freight goods would be categorised differently, allowing police to respond to them as organised and targeted freight theft, rather than them being lumped together with domestic car break-ins and other car crime. This change would help police to deal with incidents more effectively in real time. Call handlers would be able to ask specific questions and follow responses and procedures specific to freight crime, allowing police to respond to incidents faster and more appropriately, stopping incidents and patterns slipping through the cracks. It would also mean we could collect meaningful data. At the moment, the majority of data on freight crime is put together by the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Police Service, an organisation that receives no Government funding. Police forces currently do not have to report their freight crime incidents, so there are counties for which we have no data at all on how much freight crime is taking place. A separate crime code would mean all police forces could track freight crime instances, target freight crime hotspots in their county and create a national strategy with other police forces to chase down perpetrators across counties. The Bill will improve police effectiveness when dealing with organised freight criminals and help us to tackle the problem and come up with a national freight crime strategy. Almost 20% of workers in North Warwickshire and Bedworth work in the freight and logistics sector, and they should not have to feel scared and threatened while doing their jobs. Freight and logistics businesses, which quite literally keep our country running, should not have to shoulder regular losses because of cargo theft; the police should not be hamstrung in tackling serious organised crime because they cannot retrieve the data they need to co-ordinate a national freight strategy; and ordinary consumers should not be left to pick up the bill. Organised freight crime gangs have been left to grow for too long, but this simple change should help to stop them in their tracks. It is time we took tougher action on freight crime, introduced a new freight crime code and put these thieves behind bars, where they belong. Question put and agreed to. Ordered, That Rachel Taylor, Shaun Davies, Sarah Coombes, David Burton-Sampson, Kirith Entwistle, Catherine Fookes, Christine Jardine, Antonia Bance, Mrs Sureena Brackenridge, Alex Ballinger, Sarah Edwards and Josh Newbury present the Bill. Rachel Taylor accordingly presented the Bill. B ill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 20 June, and to be printed (Bill 202).

• 25 Feb 2025 · Affordable Rural Housing · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship again, Mr Twigg. In North Warwickshire, private rents grew to an average of £898 in January this year—an increase of 11% from the previous year. Young people are prevented from starting their careers in North Warwickshire because those rent increases are unaffordable, and many of my young constituents are having to move away because of the lack of affordable housing. Does my hon. Friend agree that increased rental costs and a lack of social housing in rural areas prevent local economic growth and pose insurmountable challenges for young families in our rural areas?

• 10 Feb 2025 · Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. There is no doubt that farmers have suffered hugely over the past 14 years, with the damaging impact of botched Tory trade deals and trade barriers doing a huge amount to undermine their hard work. I know that there is so much that the Government can do and are doing to support farmers. I welcome the £5 billion pledged over two years to support farming, which is the biggest sustainable food production investment we have ever seen. That will make a huge difference, but I must be honest: some farmers in my constituency have raised concerns with me about the tax changes announced in the Budget, including the 40 or so farmers that I met this morning in my constituency. That is why I felt it was important to speak in this debate: to give them a voice and convey their concerns directly to the Minister. First, I support Government efforts to tackle the actions of some of the wealthiest people in our society, who are buying up farmland to avoid inheritance tax. Those selfish individuals are not only starving our public services of much needed funds, but are undermining farming by inflating the price of farmland and preventing young farmers from entering the sector. Tackling that fundamental problem is something that many farmers in my constituency support. I will list some of the concerns raised by farmers in North Warwickshire and Bedworth, starting with Robert, from Overhouse farm in Dordon, who asked whether the inheritance tax threshold could be raised beyond £1 million. Joe and Martin Brandreth, famers from Fillongley and Bedworth in my constituency, asked what steps the Treasury has taken to forecast future farmland valuations of how much this tax will raise, to ensure the policy has been calculated on the basis of valuations of properties at the point of tax, and not on historic values. Helen Fisher from Grendon expressed her concerns that changes to inheritance tax will reduce the incentive for farms to invest in improving their productivity. Will the Minister confirm what action is being taken to ensure that farmers are incentivised to make their farms more productive? Chris Corbett from Atherstone raised concerns about the impact that erratic weather is having on the productivity of his farm, with a 30% drop in harvests this year. Will the Minister set out what the Government are doing to support farmers to adapt to the challenge of climate change and improve productivity? Ralph Arnold from Seckington, which is near Tamworth, asked whether the Government could consider rethinking nitrogen fertiliser tax, or exempting double-cab pick-ups from vehicle taxation when they are in use as essential farm vehicles. Finally, Adam Beaty is a tenant farmer who is concerned about the impact on him should his landlord try to sell to cover an inheritance tax liability. I wanted to make a number of other points, but time is short. Farming is fundamental to the fabric of our nation, and is at the heart of my constituency.

• 10 Feb 2025 · Inheritance Tax Relief: Farms · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that, until we improve the living standards of ordinary working people, we will never drive up the profitability or sustainability of family farms? It is the Conservative party, with its Budget choices, that devastated our rural communities, and only a Labour Government will focus on improving living standards for every single person living in my constituency of North Warwickshire and Bedworth.

• 6 Feb 2025 · Financial Education · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew) for securing the debate and for his valuable work on the all-party parliamentary group on financial education for young people. One of my first jobs was working in advice services. Time and time again, people came to us for help after they had stacked up debt. Many people had the same story. It started out with not having a household budget and having to borrow on credit cards or through payday loans on astronomical rates of interest, and eventually they became caught in a spiral of debt and bad decision making. I would like to thank the wonderful staff and volunteers at the Citizens Advice service in my constituency, who do fantastic work trying to help people to get back on their feet after problems with debt. Work by BRANCAB —Bedworth, Rugby and Nuneaton Citizens Advice—and North Warwickshire Citizens Advice demonstrates that debt has changed for people in my constituency. Instead of loans and credit cards, the components of debt have moved, worryingly, to basic housing and utility costs. Before covid, financial capability was at the heart of what BRANCAB did and it won a national award for its work, until a lack of funding put an end to it. My area has the fifth highest rate of insolvencies per 10,000 adults in the country, and 18 to 24-year-olds account for 12% of all insolvencies. This is why financial education is so crucial. Becoming insolvent before the age of 24 will have untold effects on their financial stability for years to come and we need to stop more young people falling into that hole. I support the recommendations of the Education Committee to review the content of the maths curriculum to expand the provision and relevance of financial education. That sentiment is shared by teachers at Polesworth school in my constituency. I support the work done by people such as Rob Boland, who runs Cotswold Independent Financial Services and works with the Personal Finance Society, which carries out important educational work around budgeting and tax, and staying safe from scams. It is staggering that I have people coming to my surgery who have well-paid jobs but had no idea when they went to university about the impact of the debt they were signing up to with their student loan, or even what the interest rate meant. We must also recognise that our young people face new challenges. Social media has fuelled a get-rich-quick mindset, with influencers encouraging young people to try to make money quickly through risky schemes. That is exacerbated by the cost of living crisis. Perhaps if Liz Truss had spent a bit more time in financial education classes when she was at her grammar school in Leeds she would not have plunged the country into economic disaster. Too often we forget that our young people were hit hard by the crisis and are still suffering from financial insecurity. I met sixth-form students at Nicholas Chamberlaine school in Bedworth recently. They talked to me about how much more difficult it was to find work at the weekends or in the evenings, and how they had never received any kind of education or help around personal finances. I am pleased that the Government have commissioned an expert-led curriculum and assessment review to ensure that young people leave school ready for work and ready for life. That, I know, is welcomed by local businesses in my constituency. It is time that we demystified everyday finances, so that everyone can be equipped with the skills they need for everyday life and do not have to turn to an advice service for help.

• 6 Feb 2025 · Coalfield Communities · Hansard source

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) for arranging this debate. We share an office so I know how important this issue is to him and how frequently he speaks about the need for regeneration in coalfield communities—that is, when he is not arguing with my staff about how old he looks. [ Laughter. ] Newdigate, Keresley, Baddesley, Birch Coppice and Daw Mill collieries provided jobs for many in my community until they closed. I am proud to have grown up and lived in a coalfield community that retains many reminders of its mining history. For many years I played tennis at the Grove in Atherstone, which was a former miners’ welfare club. I have also walked through the Miners’ Welfare Park in Bedworth and taken part in the weekly parkrun. My grandfather was a miner and like many other mineworkers in the constituency, he lived in Dordon, which started off as just a row of houses until Birch Coppice pit opened. Coal mines brought opportunity to countless people, and many of my constituents worked hard underground in dangerous conditions throughout their lives. It was therefore crucial they got the pension they were entitled to. Dealing with the injustice of the mineworkers’ pension scheme means that 1,043 former mineworkers in my constituency now have the pensions they deserve. We must do the same for those members of the BCSSS, such as the 93-year-old former miner who called my office today. Like many other coalfield communities, my constituency is still suffering from deprivation that was intensified by the mines closing. The “State of the Coalfields” report reveals that there are substantially fewer jobs in former coalfields than in most other parts of the country. Unfortunately, that is true in my constituency too, with only 63 jobs per 100 residents of working age. The problems that causes cannot be overstated. One in 16 people are in bad or very bad health, one in five are economically inactive due to long-term sickness and one in four have no qualifications. By working with local businesses and schools, I am determined to break that cycle and to ensure that people in my area have local employment opportunities and leave school with qualifications that allow them to take up those opportunities. Otherwise, my constituency will continue to follow the same pattern that many other coalfield communities face, where people must leave the constituency for work and our towns and high streets suffer as a result. I am therefore here today to urge the Government to take further action to tackle the disadvantages and worklessness faced by coalfield communities, and to ensure that we hold ourselves to our promise to deliver the opportunities that our young people desperately need.

• 5 Feb 2025 · English Devolution and Local Government · Hansard source

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  I welcome the statement made by my right hon. Friend. I also draw Members’ attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. In North Warwickshire and Bedworth, my constituents can see the benefits of devolution just over the boundary in the West Midlands combined authority, and I am sure that they want to see those benefits for themselves. I ask her why Conservative-run Warwickshire county council asked to have their elections postponed. Was it because they wanted to avoid public scrutiny of their appalling record on SEND education, on fixing our rural roads and on rural transport? Does she agree that it is better that districts and counties work together to come up with the best solution for residents on devolution, and will she set out the timetable for the second stage of that devolution, so that I can tell my constituents when they can feel the benefits of investment, growth and better transport?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for the Automotive Industry · Hansard source

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  Around 3,000 of my constituents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth work in the automotive sector. I have met representatives of many small and medium-sized businesses that provide engineering and manufacturing services for the sector, as well as Jaguar Land Rover, which has a battery assembly centre in my constituency. A career in the automotive industry should be an attractive prospect to many young people in my constituency. What is the Minister doing to support the sector in upskilling its workforce and providing apprenticeship schemes, so that companies are not left relying on immigration to fill skills gaps?

• 30 Jan 2025 · Support for the Automotive Industry · Hansard source

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  18. What steps his Department is taking to support the automotive industry.

• 30 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My constituent Clare Rogers came to my surgery after she lost her son to a ketamine addiction. Clare told me of the severe pain and neurological damage he suffered. A crisis of ketamine usage among our young people has become apparent, and we must look to mental health and addiction services because they are ultimately the ones that will treat addiction, prevent relapses and give people a chance to turn their lives around. Will the Leader of the House provide time for Members to discuss this issue, which goes across the Home Office, the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care, so that our young people understand the harms of ketamine usage and so that we can put this issue to bed?

• 20 Jan 2025 · Crewe Railway Station · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend often shares that wait at Euston station, waiting for the screen to turn from blue to green when getting on the train to Crewe, which also stops at Atherstone in my constituency. My constituents in North Warwickshire and Bedworth have had to bear the brunt of the works digging the tunnel through from Birmingham to link HS2 to the north. Does he agree that linking the HS2 network all the way to Crewe is essential for opening up economic prosperity to that area? That will make the heartache worth while for my constituents.