Warinder Juss MP: speeches 2024

Speeches

• 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.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Household Support Fund: Extension · Hansard source

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  11. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of the extension of the household support fund in 2025-26 on low-income households.

• 11 Nov 2024 · Household Support Fund: Extension · Hansard source

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  I agree that the payment of winter fuel allowance should be means-tested, because many pensioners who receive the winter fuel allowance simply do not need it. However, there are pensioners who are not entitled to pension credit who will struggle to heat their homes. Can the Minister please confirm the extent to which the household support fund will assist those pensioners in my Wolverhampton West constituency?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  Last week it was reported that the Crown court backlog is 71,000 cases, which could hit 100,000 unless radical action is taken. Some cases have not proceeded at all because of delays, includes those involving victims of serious offences such as rape, reinforcing that justice delayed is justice denied. I welcome the Chancellor’s Budget, confirming the significant financial investment in prison expansion and the Ministry of Justice funding settlement, which will increase Crown court sitting days. Does the Minister believe that the measures will be sufficient to reduce the Crown court backlog to an acceptable level, or does she envisage that further action will be necessary, such as increases to criminal legal aid?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Crown Court Backlog · Hansard source

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  11. What steps her Department is taking to reduce the Crown court backlog.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  The Chancellor’s Budget last week finally ended the Conservative party’s austerity. It is a Budget that fixes the foundations to deliver real change, by fixing the NHS, cutting hospital waiting lists, reforming public services and rebuilding our country. As the Chancellor said, this Budget is about “investment, investment, investment”. This Labour Government are investing over £25.5 billion over two years in the NHS. That will cut waiting times, so that patients do not have to wait longer than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led treatment; provide 40,000 extra appointments; put in place new surgical hubs and diagnostic scanners, building capacity for more than 30,000 additional procedures and over 1.25 million diagnostic tests; and provide new radiotherapy machines to improve cancer treatment. We are investing in NHS technology and digital, to run essential services and to drive NHS productivity improvements, freeing up staff time. We are providing a dedicated capital fund to deliver upgrades to GP surgeries, boosting productivity and enabling the delivery of more appointments. We are investing £26 million to open new mental health crisis centres. At last, we have a Government who are committed to tackling the root causes of mental health problems and to supporting people to remain in work and to return to work. We are supporting social care through at least £600 million of new grant funding to be able to increase local Government spending, alongside an £86 million increase to the disabled facilities grant to support more adaptations to homes for those with social care needs, thereby reducing hospitalisations and prolonging independence. This Government are cutting down barriers to opportunity for all by increasing the core schools budget by £2.3 billion, supporting the recruitment of 6,500 teachers in key subjects and tackling retention issues, to prepare our children for life, work and the future. We are providing a £1 billion increase to improve SEND provision and to improve outcomes and an additional £300 million for further education to ensure that young people are learning and developing the skills they need to succeed in the modern labour market, which will help the City of Wolverhampton college in my constituency. We are increasing investment in children’s social care reform, and it is great to see a real-terms funding increase for local government spending. We are taking all of these decisions, while also taking tough decisions on spending and welfare, eliminating fraud and error in the welfare system—

• 4 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  I welcomed the Budget last week, in which the Chancellor confirmed the recruitment of 6,500 teachers. Will the Secretary of State please confirm how those extra teachers, including specialist teachers, will be recruited, and how issues such as workload, working conditions and support for the training and development of new and existing teachers and school support staff will be addressed?

• 28 Oct 2024 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement to the House. We have been calling for a ceasefire for some time, but innocent civilians continue to die and to be maimed in Gaza. The situation has got worse, not better. Does the Foreign Secretary agree with me that now is the time for us to do more and go further?