Stephen Kinnock MP: speeches 2025

Speeches

• 20 Nov 2025 · Unpaid Carers: Inequalities · Hansard source

  More

  As a ballpark figure, we are looking at 50,000 residents, but we will be open to developing multi-neighbourhood infrastructure that would cover closer to something like 250,000 residents. It will depend, to some extent, on how it works in the 43 pilot sites in our neighbourhood health implementation plan. We do not want to have too many top-down diktats like the disastrous 2012 Lansley reforms; this is much more about a bottom-up, organic approach to developing a neighbourhood health service. Approximately 50,000 residents will be the starting point.

• 20 Nov 2025 · Unpaid Carers: Inequalities · Hansard source

  More

  There is a consistent message that comes through in my conversations with carers about the importance of respite and regular breaks. We know that they are not a luxury. When carers reach exhaustion, the wellbeing of the carer and the person they support is compromised. We are working with local authorities and integrated care boards to ensure that they meet their statutory duty for carers’ breaks and that provision is transparent, fair and personalised. I absolutely take my hon. Friend’s point: that duty is clear, written down and statutory; the question is about making it happen in practice. We must monitor that closely. Addressing the inequalities faced by unpaid carers requires a cultural shift as much as a policy one. We must build a society that values care, where caring is recognised as a shared responsibility rather than a private burden, and where employers, communities and public services all play their part. Changing culture takes time, but we have already seen encouraging progress. Businesses are increasingly recognising the value of carer-friendly workplaces. Schools are becoming more aware of the pressures faced by young carers. Health professionals are finding new ways to involve carers as genuine partners. These changes—these shifts—matter, as they represent the foundations of a more compassionate and inclusive society. As we continue this vital work, I remain committed to ensuring that the voices of carers young and old inform every stage of policy development. It is only by listening attentively, engaging meaningfully and responding boldly that we can continue to deliver the change that carers rightly expect. I hope that today’s debate has given everyone a sense of what the Government are working on and, once again, I pay tribute to all hon. Members who have spoken.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely agree. This is a human challenge, and humans need to take it on. That is what we will do. There is nothing more human that going to a premier league football match, so I hope that that will be a good way of raising awareness, just as my hon. Friend says. As we reflect on the lives lost and the families forever changed, we reaffirm our commitment to tackling stigma, improving support and ensuring that everyone feels able to speak up, ask for help and be heard. I thank the hon. Member for Richmond Park again for raising this crucial issue.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is right. I do not know whether there is a connection, but it is possible that some of the perhaps more macho attitudes in some sporting environments are connected to the difficulties that some men—particularly men in those environments—have in reaching out, talking and being honest and open about their feelings. There may well be a connection. However, I hope that other sporting federations—the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union or whichever sporting association it might be—will look at what the Premier League is doing, and that we will perhaps see a blossoming of these initiatives across other sports and sporting disciplines. The Premier League’s reach is unmatched. The partnership will engage men who are less likely to seek help and more likely to suffer in silence, meeting them in spaces that they trust, rather than waiting for them to access traditional health services.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  Absolutely—we believe the sky is the limit. As I mentioned to my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly, we are clear that we see this as the first step. Clearly, premier league clubs are high profile, so hopefully people will look at the partnership, learn from it and say, “Yes, that is something that we can do.” Fingers crossed that it takes off. As part of the men’s health strategy launch, we also announced the suicide prevention support pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. The programme will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men face the greatest risk of suicide. It will support new ways of embedding effective, tailored support for middle-aged men and create clearer, more joined-up pathways into existing local suicide prevention systems. For over a decade, middle-aged men have faced the highest suicide rates of any age group. They account for around a quarter of all deaths by suicide in England. That is a shocking statistic, and it is why middle-aged men are identified as a priority group in the suicide prevention strategy for England. It is important that we do not simplify the picture. The national confidential inquiry into suicide and safety in mental health found that of men aged 40 to 54 who died by suicide, 67% had been in contact with health and partner agencies in the three months before they took their own life, and 43% had been in contact with primary care services in the three months before they died. That tells us something vital: a significant proportion of men do reach out, presenting an opportunity to make the most of every interaction with men who may be at risk of suicide. Our responsibility as a Government is to ensure that when men take that step, the services they encounter are accessible, joined up and genuinely equipped to meet their needs. That is what the pathfinders programme will do. By improving engagement with healthcare and improving access to the right support, we can begin to dismantle the stigma that continues to cost too many men their lives. In April this year, NHS England published its “Staying safe from suicide” guidance, which strengthens the approach to suicide prevention across mental health settings. It promotes a holistic, person-centred approach, rather than using stratification tools to determine risk. The guidance directly aligns with the aim of our suicide prevention strategy and reflects our commitment to continually improving mental health services, particularly by identifying risk assessment as an area where we must go further. The implementation of the guidance has been supported by a new NHS England e-learning module, which launched in September, to help ensure that staff across services are confident and equipped to apply the guidance in practice. The NHS medium-term planning framework, published last month, states that in 2026-27, integrated care boards must “ensure that mental health practitioners across all providers” undertake the e-learning “and deliver care in line with the Staying safe from suicide guidance.” The Minister with responsibility for women’s health and mental health, who sits in the other place, wrote directly to crucial stakeholders across the sector—including the chief coroner, the Charity Commission, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, and the British Psychological Society—to promote the guidance and the e-learning module, and I am pleased to say that the response has been overwhelmingly positive. By way of example, the Charity Commission circulated information about the e-learning to around 5,000 charities involved in suicide prevention or mental health support—an encouraging demonstration of the sector’s commitment to improving safety and support for those at risk. More widely, we are improving mental health services so that people are met with the right support. We recognise that expanding and equipping the workforce will take time, but I am pleased to say that we have hired almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024. Mental health remains a core priority for the NHS. That is why we are investing £688 million to transform services, including £26 million to support people in mental health crisis. As part of the 10-year health plan’s commitment to transforming how the whole health and care system works, we are introducing neighbourhood mental health care for adults, which will bring community, crisis and in-patient care together in a single, seamless offer. Six neighbourhood mental health centres are already operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, offering open-access support to anyone who needs it. Co-delivered with primary care, the voluntary and faith sectors, and local specialist services, the centres make it easier for people to seek help in their own communities, without judgment or barriers.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) for securing this debate on such a vital topic. I pay tribute to her constituent Philip Pirie, who has been such a strong advocate on this issue. His campaigning and advocacy has absolutely helped us to shape where we are today. I am also very grateful to other hon. Members for their valuable and profoundly moving and honest contributions. We heard many examples, some very high profile and in many cases household names, such as Ricky Hatton and Gary Speed, and others heroes from people’s local communities. Their heroic families have done so much to reach out and campaign on these issues. I knew Hefin David very well. The tragedy of Hefin is impossible to put into words, but my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) really did pay a fitting tribute to him. and I am sure his family greatly appreciate that. Every suicide is a profound tragedy, leaving families, friends and communities devastated. As we work to improve prevention and support, we must also confront the stigma that too often stops people seeking help, speaking openly or being met with understanding. That is why we are committed to delivering the suicide prevention strategy for England, which aims to address the risk factors contributing to suicide and ensure fewer lives are lost to suicide, as well as working across Government to improve support for those who have self-harmed or who are bereaved by suicide. Our manifesto committed to a renewed focus on preventing suicides, as one of the biggest killers in this country. Poor mental health is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide, but we know that suicide is complex and that there are a range of other influencing factors outside the mental health system that we also need to address, including those identified in our suicide prevention strategy: financial difficulty and economic adversity, substance misuse, harmful gambling, domestic abuse, physical illness, and social isolation and loneliness. These are complex pressures, and we are working across Government and beyond to better understand them and deliver on our commitment to tackle them. Beyond the risk factors and priority groups, one of the key visions of the suicide prevention strategy is to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health, so that people feel able to seek help, including through the routes that work best for them. That includes raising awareness that suicide is not inevitable. Around a quarter of people who take their own life are in contact with mental health services. Through the delivery of the 10-year health plan, we will transform the mental health system to ensure that people are accessing the right support at the right time. Nearly three quarters of people who take their own life are not in contact with NHS mental health services, but many are in contact with wider services. We will ensure that our delivery of the 10-year health plan, which focuses on intervening early so that people can access high quality and compassionate support at an earlier stage, also considers how we can support those at risk of suicide when they are not in contact with those services. Our cross-Government approach to suicide prevention will help us to make the most of key interaction points both within and outside public services and address risk factors for suicide for everyone, not just those in contact with the NHS. Steady progress has been made through joint working with our colleagues in the NHS, the voluntary sector and academia and with a wide range of other partners, all of whom play a key, crucial and valuable role in prevention, early intervention and support.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  There are 11 premier league clubs that have signed up so far. The most visual way in which the partnership will manifest itself is through the advertising hoardings, which will be given over for periods of the game to advertise our Every Mind Matters campaign. That will offer talking therapies and an online mental health tool that we have developed. Anybody in the stadium—often there are 50,000, 60,000 or 70,000 spectators—can see that information flashing up. In some stadiums, there will also be mental health experts—wearing visible materials to show who they are and what they do—who people can come and talk to. The scheme is quite devolved, so each club will do things in a slightly different way. The Premier League is covering all the costs, so this is an entirely Premier League-funded partnership, with us providing the content, the steering and the opportunity to engage with the programmes, and the clubs are looking after the rest.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Rugby borough council. That sounds like an excellent initiative that we should explore in other parts of the country, if that is suitable. He is right that there is almost an ecosystem of different groups now. In my constituency we have the Men’s Shed and a fantastic walking group for men called Mal’s Marauders, which does fantastic work. That is great to see, and I am a huge fan and supporter of what it does and stands for. A lot of this is about having that organic development at the grassroots, because that is where it is best placed; it is not always for the Government or the authorities to come in—in some ways, that might not be appropriate. We should do whatever we can to encourage these things, and our £3.6 million programme and our £3 million programme are absolutely about being co-designed with these groups; they are not a top-down process at all, but something that should be organic and from the bottom up. It is important to highlight the fact that this debate falls on Wednesday 19 November, which is both International Men’s Day and the day when we are launching the first ever men’s health strategy for England. Despite huge progress over the past century, men still live too much of their lives in poor health and die too young. Our vision for the strategy is simple yet ambitious: to improve the health of all men and boys in England. The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare; provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices; develop healthy living and working conditions; foster strong social, community and family networks; address societal norms; and tackle health challenges and conditions. By addressing the broader barriers that prevent men from accessing support, including the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide, we can take meaningful steps towards reducing avoidable deaths and ensuring that every man feels able to seek help when he needs it most. Today, through the men’s health strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve health literacy, building on the Premier League’s Together Against Suicide campaign.

• 19 Nov 2025 · Suicide: Reducing the Stigma · Hansard source

  More

  I am very tight on time, but I will give way briefly before wrapping up.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the right hon. Member for that question. Security of supply is obviously of importance to the entire Government. My portfolio includes pharmacy, which is a very important part of that. I would be very happy to meet her to discuss further the matter she has raised.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I absolutely agree. It has been very interesting to see that all the rhetoric of many Reform-led councils has come crashing down as they face the reality of the situation. Adult social care plays an absolutely vital role in the shift from hospital to community, and I am very happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss the matter further.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  Through a £160 million investment in the additional roles reimbursement scheme, we have recruited more than 2,000 new GPs nationwide, but we recognise the inequities in funding that can exacerbate regional inequalities in access to services. I have launched a review of the GP funding formula to ensure that funding follows the needs of the population. The National Institute for Health and Care Research has begun a review of the Carr-Hill funding formula, which will conclude in six months’ time.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I do not know the details of that case, but if the hon. Gentleman writes to me, I can certainly come back to him on it. That sounds like a vital service that needs to be protected.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  As my hon. Friend will know, the consultation closed on 19 August. We are now considering the outcomes, and expect to publish a response very shortly. These reforms will improve support for patients with complex or urgent needs by better incentivising dentists to deliver this care on the NHS.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the hon. Member for that question. He will have seen that, in the 10-year plan, we have committed to tie-ins. Once the current cohort is through its studies, new cohorts will be tied into doing NHS dentistry for a period after graduation. I am sure that he welcomes that very important measure.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  As I have pointed out, we are providing unprecedented levels of funding for hospices, but there is clearly a challenging fiscal position. I note that in their manifesto the Liberal Democrats proposed to spend only an extra £8 billion on health and care, whereas we have invested £26 billion. Before calling for more spending, they should tell us what they would cut.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

  More

  I did not hear the hon. Gentleman welcome the fact that we provided £100 million—an unprecedented amount—in capital funding for hospices, and £26 million a year and £80 million over three years for children’s hospices. We recognise that hospices benefit from being rooted in their communities, with amazing charity and philanthropy support, but of course we know that the Government need to do their bit as well, and that is precisely what we were doing. I was very pleased to visit Noah’s Ark children’s hospice in Barnet last week and to speak to the chief executive, who warmly welcomed the stability and certainty that the three-year allocation has provided.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Hospital to Community Care · Hansard source

  More

  The Darzi investigation found that NHS resources are too focused on hospitals at the expense of community care. Our reforms will turn the NHS into more of a neighbourhood health service. We have already recruited an extra 2,000 more GPs, we are rolling out 700,000 extra dental appointments, and we have agreed a new contract of investment and reform for community pharmacy. As part of our 10-year plan, we will be rolling out neighbourhood health centres across the country, starting with the places that are in the greatest need.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Hospital to Community Care · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and congratulate him on his work campaigning on this issue. Regular support and advice from a Parkinson’s disease nurse specialist is highlighted as a key intervention in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on Parkinson’s disease in adults. The forthcoming 10-year workforce plan will support the 10-year health plan by addressing workforce shortages and skills gaps. This will be crucial to delivering quality and accessible care for those with Parkinson’s.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Hospital to Community Care · Hansard source

  More

  I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his question. I am not familiar with the details of that case, but if he would not mind writing to me, I would be very happy to take that issue forward. He is right that there is a mountain to climb, not least because of the mess that was left to us by the previous Government, but we are climbing that mountain step by step. The 10-year plan is a big step in the right direction; it is now all about delivery, and that is what we are doing every day.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Employer’s National Insurance: GPs · Hansard source

  More

  Thanks to the decisions taken by the Chancellor at the Budget, we are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practice—the biggest increase in a decade. That funding has allowed us to recruit an extra 2,000 GPs, agree a contract for the first time in four years, and introduce online access. Does the hon. Member welcome that investment, or would she cut it?

• 21 Oct 2025 · Employer’s National Insurance: GPs · Hansard source

  More

  Again, I find it extraordinary that Conservative Members have the brass neck to ask those kinds of questions. They created the mess, and now they are criticising us—it is a bit like the arsonists heckling the firefighters. Patient satisfaction in general practice has risen from 67% last year to 75% this year, and the proportion of patients reporting difficulty contacting their practice has fallen from 18.7% in July 2024 to 10.6% in May 2025. We are just getting started, and I did not hear the hon. Lady welcome the investment.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Virtual Wards · Hansard source

  More

  I welcome the Chair of the Select Committee back from parental leave and greatly look forward to working with her again. Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care in the comfort of their own home, speeding up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for the patients who need them most. We are rolling out virtual wards further, so that they become the norm for managing many conditions at home.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Virtual Wards · Hansard source

  More

  The hon. Lady makes a very valid point: this is about the shift from hospital to community, which we have to drive forward. In September 2025, 12,522 virtual ward beds were available—an increase from 12,497 in September 2024. Slowly but surely, we are increasing the number of virtual ward beds and the capability of virtual wards, but there is still a long way to go. I absolutely accept the point that the hon. Lady makes.

• 21 Oct 2025 · Children’s Hospices: Ringfenced Funding · Hansard source

  More

  Children’s hospices provide crucial support, but for too long they have faced the cliff edge of annual funding cycles. I am really proud that we have provided certainty with a three-year funding settlement of £80 million, giving children’s hospices the stability and predictability they need to plan properly and focus on caring for seriously ill children and their families and loved ones. I am sure that the hon. Member will join me in welcoming the certainty that we have delivered for the sector.