Warinder Juss MP: speeches

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Speeches

29 Apr 2025 · Criminal Injuries Compensation · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield (Laurence Turner) on securing this important debate and on his moving and eloquent speech. The fact that he only received £1,000 compensation for the very significant injuries he sustained is an indicator of the inadequacy of the scheme. Throughout my career as a personal injury solicitor before I became an MP, and now as an MP, I have tried to be a steadfast advocate for access to justice so that victims of injury, including victims of crimes of violence, can receive suitable redress. Compensation for injury does not just represent a recognition of the harm inflicted upon victims but provides the support and financial redress necessary so that victims of injury can start to rebuild their lives. I would like to follow on from what my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Northfield said about the criminal injuries compensation scheme. It is a national asset. It is there to compensate people who have been physically or mentally injured due to a violent crime, and those whose loved ones have died as a result of a crime of violence. But the scheme clearly needs reform. Too often, the system is falling short, leaving victims unsupported and failed. Too many are blocked from access to justice by an arbitrary time cap, and many are left behind by the long and confusing claims process. The tariff system for assessing compensation means that victims are simply not properly compensated, and the compensation that they receive is inadequate in comparison with the injuries that they have suffered. They then have the problem of lodging an appeal, which again is very time-consuming and difficult, and yet another barrier to justice.
29 Apr 2025 · Criminal Injuries Compensation · Hansard source
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My hon. Friend makes a valid point. I remember dealing with criminal injuries compensation claims when they were assessed in the same way as personal injury claims. When the tariff system was introduced, it was apparent to us that it was simply inadequate. The Government should commit to review the current two-year time limit, for the reasons I have mentioned. Often, police will recommend that victims wait to apply for compensation until after criminal proceedings have concluded so that trial outcomes are not prejudiced. That effectively means that the victim has no time to make a claim for compensation, because they are out of time by the time the criminal proceedings conclude. The other problem that I hope the Minister will look at is that victims who have suffered traumatic injuries, or abuse such as child sexual abuse, do not come forward with their experiences until many years later, which means that they are automatically excluded from the scheme. Another point that has not been raised so far in this debate is the requirement for the incident—the crime of violence—to have been reported to the police as soon as possible. In my experience, those working in hospitals and schools often report the violent incident to their line manager and believe that that is adequate for the matter to be reported. I totally understand the purpose of the scheme, in which the victim must co-operate with the police to secure a prosecution, but the requirement for the victim to report the matter to the police when the matter has already been reported elsewhere is a barrier. When I dealt with these claims, I often found that a claim was turned down because somebody working in a hospital or a school had reported the matter to their line manager, but not reported it to the police as soon as possible. Although the system has an honourable purpose, it is not doing what it is meant to, because people are missing out on their chance to secure justice and redress for their injuries. In 2023-24, only 8% of injured victims of violent crime in the UK applied for compensation. Compensation for criminal injuries must remain an essential part of our justice system, but the current system is inadequate, slow and inaccessible for too many victims. It is clear that we need reform to ensure that those who suffer from violent crime are given the support and financial redress that they deserve so that they can move on and rebuild their lives.
29 Apr 2025 · Criminal Injuries Compensation · Hansard source
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Does my hon. Friend agree that it is totally inconsistent to have a time limit of three years for ordinary personal injury claims, but a time limit of only two years for Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority claims? There is a reason why there are time limits—memories fade and evidence becomes less reliable—but does he agree that there should be consistency here?
29 Apr 2025 · Climate Change: International Leadership · Hansard source
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I recently received letters from year 4 children at SS Peter and Paul primary school expressing concern over the impact of climate change on their futures, mentioning the extreme weather and the destruction of our natural habitats for our wildlife. The UK’s 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2002, and 2022 was the UK’s hottest year, with temperatures exceeding 40° for the first time. Despite being eight to nine years old, they gave suggestions for how the Government could help by providing cleaner sources of energy, such as making solar panels more affordable. Will the Secretary of State reassure me and those pupils that we are doing everything we can to be a world leader in tackling climate change and to sustain the future for our children?
29 Apr 2025 · Climate Change: International Leadership · Hansard source
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4. What steps he is taking to establish international leadership on climate change.
22 Apr 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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T6. On a recent visit to Featherstone Prison near Wolverhampton, I came across a number of recalled prisoners who were there for minor technical breaches of their probation—sometimes for up to a year. Can the Secretary of State please outline what data is collected on the reasons for prison recalls and how that data then informs policy decisions aimed at reducing unnecessary returns to custody?
8 Apr 2025 · Hospice Funding · Hansard source
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Will the hon. Lady join me in commending Compton Care hospice in my constituency? The hospice, which I visited recently, does great work raising funds, and it really welcomed the £100 million support provided by this Government. However, the hospice emphasised to me that if it was not there to provide social care, therapy and respite care for patients and their families, the NHS would need an extra 100 beds. Hospices provide invaluable services to our communities, which makes it so important for us to continue to support them as much as we can.
7 Apr 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source
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I thank my right hon. Friend for giving way. I want to raise a question that I am often asked. We have spoken about quick fixes. The problem is that we fix a few potholes, but the disrepair reappears. Does she agree that we should focus on resurfacing our roads?
7 Apr 2025 · Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians · Hansard source
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Israel is supposed to be an ally of ours. Does the Minister agree that its treatment of our hon. Friends is not only an affront but a further indication of the Israeli Government’s desire to show no transparency in respect of their actions, and not to respect human rights?
1 Apr 2025 · Sentencing Council Guidelines · Hansard source
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Does the Lord Chancellor agree that the previous Government were consulted on and, indeed, welcomed the Sentencing Council’s new guidelines, and therefore it is totally unfair of Conservative Members to accuse this Government of having a two-tier system? Does she agree that it is yet another example of this Government having to clear up the previous Government’s mess?
27 Mar 2025 · Prevention of Drug Deaths · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing a debate on this serious and important topic. Across England and Wales, there has been a 113% increase in drug-related fatalities in the last decade, and the impact of illegal drugs costs the Government around £20 billion a year. The number of deaths has been rising steadily since 2012, in line with the austerity measures introduced by the previous Government that resulted in a reduction in funding for treatment services. The National Audit Office reports that, between 2014 and 2022, real-terms funding for drug and alcohol treatment in England fell by 40%. Deprivation leads to more drug deaths, but even in Wolverhampton West, which is not as deprived as some areas in the north-east of England, the number of drug- related deaths has risen sharply since 2021 to reach levels above the national average. What funding will be made available to deal with drug addiction? Public Health England recently found that 50% of those dying from opioid use had not been in contact with any support services in the previous five years. We need a holistic approach to the problem of drug misuse that invests in our mental health services, reduces levels of deprivation and encourages those who use drugs to engage with services. Reducing the number of drug deaths would be incredibly cost-effective, resulting in a reduction in drug addiction and crime associated with drug usage. Dame Carol Black, who has already been mentioned this afternoon, found that every £1 invested in harm reduction and treatment services produces a £4 return to the health and justice systems. We must continue to support and fund the amazing work of organisations that focus on the issue of drug abuse. Wolverhampton Voluntary and Community Action provides a service user involvement team in my constituency and throughout Wolverhampton. The SUIT is a peer-led service, led by people with first-hand experience of drug and alcohol abuse. It supports not only addiction recovery, but mental and physical health, wellbeing, homelessness, employment, welfare and housing, and tackling the stigma and discrimination around drug use. We need to invest in and support such organisations.
27 Mar 2025 · Hughes Report: First Anniversary · Hansard source
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I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Before I became an MP, I specialised exclusively in dealing with compensation claims on behalf of women who had suffered from the use of vaginal mesh. My hon. Friend is absolutely right that the mesh was sold to patients as a gold standard, and they were misled. Does she agree that a proper Government-backed compensation scheme will save the NHS money in the long run? As a solicitor, I was always conscious of the fact that, in pursuing these claims, it was ultimately the NHS that had to pay out the compensation and legal costs.
27 Mar 2025 · Hughes Report: First Anniversary · Hansard source
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The Hughes report actually recommends that women affected by pelvic mesh should receive an initial interim payment of £25,000, followed by a main payment. Does the hon. Member agree that that interim payment would be of some comfort to the women she has mentioned, and mean that they could at least begin to try to get redress, and make some improvement in their lives?
27 Mar 2025 · Hughes Report: First Anniversary · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) for securing this important debate and for all the work she does on this issue. As I mentioned earlier, I specialised in pursuing clinical negligence claims on behalf of women who had had mesh implants, and I have seen many examples of the type of life-changing injuries described by my hon. Friend the Member for Leeds South West and Morley (Mark Sewards). As the Hughes report confirmed, these women were in debilitating pain after the implants; they were forced to stop working and faced a lifetime of uncertainty. The implants had a major impact on their relationships. My hon. Friend’s client was lucky in the sense that she had a supportive husband, but I had many clients whose marital relationships had broken down because of the inability to have intimate relationships following the mesh implant. The right hon. Member for New Forest East (Sir Julian Lewis) said that 10,000 women had been affected by pelvic mesh implants, but the campaign organisation Sling the Mesh has argued that that figure could be as high as 40,000. Before the Hughes report was published in February 2024, we had Baroness Cumberlege’s report in July 2020. She said that there should be a Government apology, a scheme to meet the cost of providing additional care and support to those affected, and a network of specialist centres. A patient engagement survey carried out by the Patient Safety Commissioner found that more than half of those impacted by pelvic mesh or valproate said that it had had a very negative impact on their ability to work, and that it affected their financial situation. More than three quarters said that it had a very negative impact on their mental health. It is essential that the Government provide a redress scheme. The right hon. Member for New Forest East said that delay will not help matters, and we have all heard the phrase “Justice delayed is justice denied.” The clients that I dealt with just wanted to move on with their lives. It is essential that we have a redress system that works quickly, so that these women can try to rebuild their lives and move on. The redress scheme must provide not only financial compensation but non-financial compensation. The right hon. Member mentioned PIP. Lots of these women struggled to apply for PIP and other benefits after they had been injured. They had little or no access to mental health services, and they were exposed to an inaccessible and adversarial legal system that was complicated to navigate. There are often delays in legal claims, and we need to move away from that. We need a Government-backed compensation scheme that is similar to the infected blood compensation scheme that this Government are properly pursuing. Only with such a scheme will we have proper redress for these women and ensure that justice is given to those impacted by this tragedy.
27 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Last week and at the weekend, the opening ceremony, group games, semi-finals and finals of the kabaddi world cup were played at WV Active Aldersley in my constituency of Wolverhampton West. The rest of the games were played at other venues in the west midlands. This is the first time ever that the kabaddi world cup has been held outside Asia. Will the Leader of the House please join me, my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Mrs Brackenridge), who attended matches with me, and my right hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton South East (Pat McFadden) in congratulating all the organisers and the England team, who finished runners-up to India, on a wonderful, successful tournament? It was testament to the rich cultural and sporting diversity that we have in Wolverhampton and the west midlands.
20 Mar 2025 · Fly-tipping · Hansard source
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7. What steps he is taking to tackle fly-tipping.
20 Mar 2025 · Fly-tipping · Hansard source
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Although City of Wolverhampton council is to be congratulated on introducing a range of initiatives to tackle fly-tipping, including deploying drones, raising the fine for fly-tipping to £1,000 and rewarding those who identify culprits with gift cards, fly-tipping in my constituency of Wolverhampton West costs Wolverhampton taxpayers around £300,000 a year and involved some 2,714 incidents during 2023-24. Does the Minister agree that we need stronger disincentives to discourage those who fly-tip, so that that £300,000 can be redistributed to where it is really needed?
20 Mar 2025 · Conflict in Gaza · Hansard source
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It is obvious that saying that we strongly oppose hostilities and that we are appalled by Israel’s action is having absolutely no effect on Netanyahu, who said of the death of 400 Palestinians—most of whom were women and children—that it was “only the beginning”. It is not right that the ordinary people of Palestine should suffer because of the actions of Hamas. Does the Foreign Secretary agree that we now need to send a stronger message to Israel and go further, perhaps by suspending all arms licences to Israel and recognising the state of Palestine?
19 Mar 2025 · Miscarriage of Justice Compensation · Hansard source
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It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for securing this important debate. I also declare my interest as a member of the Justice Committee. I read about Brian Buckle’s case this morning, and I want to express how sorry I am for what he went through and the injustice he and his family have suffered. Compensation payments awarded to victims of miscarriages of justice can be life-changing for the individuals involved. As a solicitor before becoming an MP, dealing with negligence cases where I pursued compensation claims for clients who had suffered injustice, I appreciate how important compensation can be for victims of miscarriages of justice. My hon. Friend the Member for Hammersmith and Chiswick (Andy Slaughter) mentioned that such cases are not just about compensation, and he mentioned the Law Commission’s consultation, which I will not repeat here. Just as important as obtaining financial compensation is the need for access to justice, so that those victims of miscarriages of justice can have their names cleared, their experiences acknowledged, and the harm inflicted upon them and their families recognised, together with a commitment to prevent future injustices. Very often in my career as a solicitor, I came across clients who had been very badly injured, but what they ultimately wanted was a proper apology and an acknowledgment that they had been wronged, rather than seeking maximum levels of compensation. Access to justice is something that we, as parliamentarians, should be advocating for. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act means that those wrongfully convicted must not only overturn their conviction but prove they are innocent beyond all reasonable doubt to be eligible for financial compensation. That unfairly reverses the burden of proof, where a person is presumed innocent until their guilt is proven beyond all reasonable doubt. This reversal of the burden of proof makes no sense at all and is contrary to the basic principles and rules of criminal justice in this country. Mr Buckle’s KC, Mr Stephen Vullo, said he believes that the law was changed in 2014 to ensure that money is not paid out to victims of miscarriages of justice, and that it was a policy decision deliberately made to avoid the payment of compensation. It is therefore no surprise that, following the 2014 Act, there has been a huge decrease in the number and value of compensation payments that have been awarded. Between 2016 and 2024, of 591 applications, the Ministry of Justice compensated only 39 claimants, representing a rejection rate of more than 93%. The law needs to be changed because justice and the opportunity for redress must be available for all in our society. A former criminal defence solicitor and specialist in miscarriages of justice at the University of Manchester, Suzanne Gower, says the current system is “inhuman” and “cruel” and sends a message that the state does not accept responsibility when it causes harm—that is clearly wrong. It is essential that proper compensation payments are made so that victims of miscarriages of justice can recover the costs they have incurred in proving their innocence and be compensated for all they have suffered. However, alongside the correction of historical injustices, more needs to be done to ensure that we prevent these incidents from occurring in the first place. We need to learn lessons about why things have gone wrong by investing in investigative processes, ensuring accountability within institutions and promoting a culture of transparency. Those measures would not only save the Government and the taxpayer from a financial burden in the long run but, crucially, they would prevent more people from being harmed and prevent further miscarriages of justice.
17 Mar 2025 · Domestic Abuse Offences · Hansard source
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I congratulate the hon. Gentleman, a Justice Committee colleague, on securing this debate. Victims of domestic violence are often women. Does he believe we would likely give domestic violence more attention if it were classified as domestic abuse? Does he think that might make a difference in giving more attention to domestic violence cases?
13 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source
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Last week I attended the community pub hero awards in Parliament and saw Terry Cole and Keith Fulwood from the Royal Oak pub in Chapel Ash in my constituency receive awards for best community fundraising hero and outstanding contribution for their voluntary work in supporting the NHS by delivering blood and medication on motorbikes, thereby saving lives. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating the Royal Oak pub on its achievement and acknowledge the wonderful contribution our local pubs make to our communities? May I also invite her to have a drink in the Royal Oak the next time she finds herself in Wolverhampton?
11 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source
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Last week, at a Justice Committee hearing, it was confirmed that an effective probation service is essential to the rehabilitation of offenders and to prevent reoffending. However, over the years the service has been under immense strain owing to increased demand. What steps is the Secretary of State taking to ensure that probation officers have manageable caseloads, and that support is provided for their mental health and wellbeing to avoid high levels of stress and burnout, and also to help with the recruitment and retention of staff?
10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source
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Last year, only four in 10 knife possessions resulted in any formal criminal justice outcome. Does the Home Secretary agree that by increasing police powers to seize, retain and destroy knives that may be legally owned but may be used in committing a crime, we will reduce the number of people carrying knives?
10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source
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rose —
10 Mar 2025 · “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission · Hansard source
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10. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to implement the plan for change mission entitled “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity”.

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