Warinder Juss MP: speeches

Speeches

• 9 Jan 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  I also welcome my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to her place. Many of my constituents in Wolverhampton West complain not only about the number of potholes in our roads but about the standard of repairs, with some potholes reappearing shortly after they have been repaired. While the £1.6 billion of funding for councils is very welcome, will she please confirm what other steps the Government are taking to ensure that our roads are always well maintained to avoid the risks of injury to people and damage to vehicles?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Road Maintenance · Hansard source

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  13. What assessment she has made of the adequacy of the condition of local roads.

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

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  I have a large Sikh population in my constituency and have received many letters from constituents expressing concerns over transnational repression and political interference by the Indian Government, creating risks to safety and security for Sikhs not only travelling to India, but in this country. They have referred to the mysterious, sudden death of Avtar Singh Khanda in Birmingham in June 2023, days before the assassination of the Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada. Will the Leader of the House ensure that UK Ministers make representations to their Indian counterparts on the need to respect and comply with the rule of law and the UK’s sovereignty, for the safety and security of Sikhs in this country?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Public Finances: Borrowing Costs · Hansard source

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  This Labour Government have been in power for six months, and we are having to deal with 14 years of Conservative chaos. Does the Chief Secretary agree that the Government’s plan for change, which aims to provide a stable economy and raise living standards in every part of the United Kingdom, and has economic growth as the No. 1 mission, is the right approach to ensure that the United Kingdom can weather the global uncertainty that we face?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Debt Advice Services · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, the Whitmore Reans Welfare Centre, a voluntary organisation, signposts individuals to the debt advice that they need. In the past, the centre received funding for a part-time or full-time caseworker, but it is finding it increasingly difficult to provide the kind of one-to-one advice mentioned earlier, which is so useful for residents. Can the Minister give any advice on how to help organisations of that nature so that constituents can be signposted to, and given, one-to-one advice?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  I commend all the speeches made this afternoon, particularly those made by the hon. Member for Lagan Valley (Sorcha Eastwood) and by my hon. Friends the Members for Luton North (Sarah Owen), for Milton Keynes Central (Emily Darlington) and for Rochdale (Paul Waugh). I have to confess that I felt quite shocked by some of the statistics and stories I heard, even though this is something I have been involved in for quite some time as a trade unionist. I also find myself warning my daughter to be careful when she goes out in a way that I would not with my son, even though they are of a similar age. That is unacceptable in this day and age. Data published by the National Police Chiefs’ Council in July 2024 found that over 1 million crimes of violence against women and girls were recorded by the police in 2022-23, equating to nearly 3,000 offences every single day, and that violent crime against women and girls increased by 37% during the five-year period between 2018 and 2023. Using data from the crime survey for England and Wales, the Office for National Statistics has found that domestic abuse-related crimes represented 15.8% of all offences recorded by the police last year. Domestic violence is something that affects all cultures and societies, as was acknowledged by the hon. Member for East Grinstead and Uckfield (Mims Davies). In my constituency of Wolverhampton West, we have the headquarters of the Haven Wolverhampton, a charitable organisation that provides practical and emotional support services to women and children who have suffered domestic violence, abuse and homelessness. The Haven has been established for more than 50 years and is one of the largest refuge providers in the UK, but like other charities it requires financial support to assist these women and children. As a society, we need to maintain and increase such provision throughout the country, and ensure that these organisations get the financial support they need. We also need to safeguard victims of domestic violence in other ways. Currently, a survivor of domestic violence may be eligible for a debt solution to clear the debt accumulated during their abusive relationship, but once a debt solution is approved, their home address is published online on the individual insolvency register, which anyone can see. That is obviously terrifying for those who have been victims of domestic abuse, because it makes them vulnerable to further harm from their ex-partners, who can find their address online. There is an option to have their details hidden by obtaining what is known as a person at risk of violence order, but this requires them to pay £308 and attend court, which can be very difficult for traumatised survivors who are already in debt. I think that we should look at abolishing the fee for PARV orders. I am very proud that this Labour Government have already taken steps to halve violence against women and girls within a decade by, for example, introducing Raneem’s law, which from this year will see domestic abuse specialists placed in 999 control rooms, and launching the pilot of domestic abuse protection orders, as well as rolling out the independent legal advocates for rape victims. However, having heard everyone this afternoon, I am sure the House would agree that we all need to strive to do even more.

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  Reported figures for 2022 and 2023 show an increase in the proportion of children living in low-income families, and no change in the proportion of children living in absolute low-income families. Does the Secretary of State agree that the Bill will improve the household finances of families and the life chances of children in my constituency of Wolverhampton West?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Hospice Funding · Hansard source

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  Merry Christmas to you and your team, Mr Speaker. Compton Care hospice in my constituency provides specialist palliative and bereavement care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Having previously discussed the lack of funding with the hospice, I am sure that it will welcome the extra funding that has been announced today. Will the Minister please join me in thanking Compton Care hospice and its incredible staff for the care that they will continue to provide throughout the Christmas period?

• 19 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Christmas is the time for musical festivities. One of my constituents in Wolverhampton West runs Revolver Records, which is Europe’s oldest indie rock label, having signed acts such as the Stone Roses, the Scorpions and Tony Hadley. It has released 7,000 albums over the past 42 years. My constituent has highlighted the problem of independent music publishers not being paid for the use of copyright music material. Does the Leader of the House agree that we need to support our businesses, including those in the music industry, so that they receive the payments that they are due? Will she please make time for a debate in the House about supporting our independent music publishers?

• 18 Dec 2024 · Employment Rights: Terminal Illness · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Edward. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Corby and East Northamptonshire (Lee Barron), whom I have known for a long time, for securing the debate. I declare an interest: I am a member of the Justice Committee, a solicitor and a member of the GMB executive council. The GMB was instrumental in running the “Dying to Work” campaign, and the TUC subsequently adopted the charter. As of March 2024, over 1.5 million workers in the UK have employers who have committed to the charter, which requires employers to “Review sick pay and sickness absence procedures and include a specific statement that they will not dismiss any person with a terminal diagnosis because of their condition”, as well as take other steps to support the terminally ill employee at work. There is very little employment law that deals with terminal illness, but we do have laws relating to disability discrimination and laws under which an employer has a duty to make reasonable adjustments for employees at work, and those laws will apply to employees who are terminally ill. The NHS defines a terminal illness as a health condition “that you’ll most likely die from”. Under the Equality Act 2010, people with disabilities are protected against discrimination at work. Disabilities are defined as any impairment that has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out “normal day-to-day activities”. Terminal illness will be classed as a disability, at least from the point where the illness begins to have an impact on the person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities; so the Equality Act will give the employee the right not to be treated less favourably at work, and the right to reasonable adjustments to enable them to stay at work. People with cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis will automatically be considered to have a disability, regardless of their symptoms. Correspondingly, anyone who is terminally ill should also be considered to have a disability regardless of their symptoms. Under the Equality Act, the employer must make reasonable adjustments so that disabled employees, including those who are terminally ill, can continue in their job if they wish. The employer may, for example, change the employee’s working hours and working patterns, reduce their workload, reallocate duties, grant time off for treatment and medical appointments, and allow working from home. An employer must consider an employee’s terminal illness and symptoms when deciding what reasonable adjustments should be made to retain them in employment, rather than dismiss them in accordance with a sickness absence policy. A lot of workers with a terminal diagnosis will decide that they want to continue working for as long as they can because they need the financial security, or to avoid losing any death in service benefits, as my hon. Friend the Member for Corby and East Northamptonshire mentioned, or because they find that work is a helpful distraction from their illness. Parliament recently gave Second Reading to a Bill that would give people a choice to die with dignity. Surely we can give those who are dying the dignity of work for as long as they need it.

• 16 Dec 2024 · Victims of Sexual Violence: Court Delays · Hansard source

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  It is estimated that the number of rape victims who pull out of prosecutions before trial has more than doubled in five years. One reason given is a shortage of lawyers—for both prosecution and defence—willing to take on rape and serious sexual assault cases, because they say that cases are becoming increasingly complex and that they are poorly paid in comparison with other areas of the law. Does my hon. Friend agree that it may be time for us to look at whether the lawyers doing this kind of work should be properly paid?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Israel and Palestine · Hansard source

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  Does the hon. Member agree that to stop the atrocities being committed, allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, ensure the return of the hostages to Israel and have the sovereign state of Palestine, together with a safe and secure Israel, we need to do what we can to urgently achieve a mutual and permanent ceasefire?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Dementia is the leading cause of death in the United Kingdom. In my constituency of Wolverhampton West, it is estimated that nearly 30% of dementia cases are undiagnosed. Will the Leader of the House make time for a debate to give dementia the political priority it deserves, so that there is earlier diagnosis, with timely social, medical and nursing care for sufferers, as well as mental health and other support for carers, and so that positive steps are taken to find a cure for dementia?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Building Homes · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister’s statement. Last week, I met my constituent Mr Anwar Hussain, who lives with his wife and five children in a two-bedroom house. Doctors have told him that his eight-year-old autistic daughter needs her own bedroom. Mr Hussain tells me that he has been on emergency banding for a larger house with more bedrooms for two years, and he is still waiting. Does my hon. Friend agree that we desperately need to improve our social housing, and can he please confirm that the Government’s plans will help people such as Mr Hussain?

• 9 Dec 2024 · Fireworks: Sale and Use · Hansard source

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  Like my hon. Friend, I have grown up enjoying fireworks in the garden, especially with my children. Does she agree that the solution may be to reduce the noise levels from 120 dB to 90 dB, as is the case in New Zealand, to better enforce the rules relating to the times during which fireworks can be let off, and to increase the age limit for firework sales? That would enable people to enjoy a family firework occasion while ensuring safeguards are in place.

• 5 Dec 2024 · Detained British Nationals Abroad · Hansard source

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  I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for bringing the debate to the House. I want to talk about Jagtar Singh Johal, a Sikh activist and blogger from Dumbarton in Scotland. He is not a constituent of mine, but very soon after I was elected as the MP for Wolverhampton West, I received many emails from my constituents raising concerns about his detention in India, which has been ongoing for seven years. My constituency may have one of largest Sikh populations in the United Kingdom, but a lot of the emails that I received were from non-Sikhs. That shows that people, whoever they are, wherever they are, are concerned about human rights breaches. Jagtar is a British citizen who travelled to India in October 2017 to get married, and it is said that three weeks later he was abducted by plain-clothes police officers, who tortured him with electricity to get a false confession linking him to an alleged conspiracy to murder. Over time, further charges were added, some as lately as 2021. Jagtar continues to be held in a Delhi jail. In November 2021, a United Nations working party stated that Jagtar had been arrested because of his Sikh activism, and in May 2022, a UN working group on arbitrary detention found that Jagtar’s detention was arbitrary under international law and lacked any legal basis, and that his fair trial rights had been gravely violated. UN experts call for Jagtar Johal to be released immediately. The campaign seeking Jagtar’s release has received cross-party support from MPs in this House. In July 2023, 100 parliamentarians wrote to the then Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for Richmond and Northallerton (Rishi Sunak), asking him to call for Jagtar’s release when he travelled to India for the G20 summit. Leaders of both the Labour and Conservative parties have previously suggested that there is no legal basis for Jagtar’s detention, which is arbitrary, and moreover, that this Government must act decisively to negotiate his release. I particularly commend the Prime Minister for raising Mr Johal’s case with Prime Minister Modi in India on 18 November, and our Foreign Secretary for meeting Mr Johal’s brother, his MP and the NGO Reprieve to discuss Mr Johal’s case on 30 October. We need to do more. What has happened to Jagtar Johal is against all the rules of natural justice. We have a British citizen who, by all consensus, has been detained in a foreign jail arbitrarily for seven years. We are therefore right to be concerned and right to want to know what is being done to secure his release. We have a right to know on a regular basis what is happening with Jagtar Johal.

• 5 Dec 2024 · Plan for Change: Milestones for Mission-led Government · Hansard source

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  The Conservatives have always claimed to be the party of law and order, but they took police officers off the streets. Knife and youth crime, antisocial behaviour and local drug activity are some of the most common complaints in my constituency. I welcome the Labour Government’s urgent action to recruit more neighbourhood police officers. My right hon. Friend knows my constituency well, because it adjoins his in Wolverhampton. Can he confirm that this action will make a real difference to my constituents?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Public Services Reform · Hansard source

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  Under the Conservative party, too much taxpayers’ money was wasted on projects and schemes that simply did not work. Does the Minister agree with me that in order to improve healthcare services, including mental health services, educational opportunities and social services, as well as transport provision and public safety in my constituency of Wolverhampton West, it is vital that the Government continue their tests and refine their policies to ensure they are effective, and continue to be effective?

• 5 Dec 2024 · Public Services Reform · Hansard source

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  15. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to reform public services.

• 3 Dec 2024 · International Day of Persons with Disabilities · Hansard source

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  I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate on International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Does she agree that a lot of the disabilities that we need to be aware of are hidden disabilities such as autism, depression and other mental conditions? We do not see those disabilities directly, but we need to be aware of them, and to deal with issues such as unconscious bias that we sometimes come across.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Homelessness Reduction · Hansard source

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  21. What steps her Department is taking to support councils in reducing homelessness.

• 2 Dec 2024 · Homelessness Reduction · Hansard source

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  Although in my constituency we have the City of Wolverhampton council’s homelessness prevention strategy, which has had some success in tackling homelessness, last week I was contacted by a constituent fleeing domestic violence and finding it difficult to get permanent social housing for herself and her daughter. Crisis, the national homelessness charity, reports a 15% increase in children living in temporary accommodation—the highest on record—and we know that issues such as substance misuse and lack of proper employment also cause homelessness. Will the Minister please confirm how her Department is helping councils to deal with the societal and economic issues that can cause homelessness?

• 29 Nov 2024 · Men’s Violence against Women and Girls · Hansard source

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  In Wolverhampton last year, it was estimated that more than 6,000 women were subjected to domestic abuse. Will my hon. Friend commend the “Orange Wolverhampton” campaign, which runs from 25 November to 10 December every year? The campaign involves the Wolverhampton safeguarding team, the Safer Wolverhampton Partnership, and the City of Wolverhampton council working together to highlight the issue of men’s violence against women, including domestic abuse and the violence against young women that is sadly so prevalent these days.

• 28 Nov 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last week, I attended the citizenship network launch at Parliament organised by Citizens UK and met people from my constituency who came to this country years ago to build a better life. They have lived and worked here, raised their families here and contributed to society and the economy, and having spent a considerable amount of money they still find themselves unable to become British citizens. Will the Leader of the House please make time for a debate in the House to discuss better routes to citizenship so that those who are legally entitled to be in this country can become British citizens like the rest of us?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Primary School Breakfast Clubs · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that in a constituency such as Wolverhampton West the provision of breakfast clubs for primary school children targets a number of issues? First, it gives children a nutritious meal so that they do not go to school hungry. Secondly, it allows them to socialise with other children before the school day starts. And thirdly, it enables parents to go to work knowing that their children are well provided for in a safe environment.