Commons
Westminster Hall
27 October 2025
2 contributions
Holidays During School Term Time
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this important debate on holidays in school term time. This issue resonates deeply with families across the country, including in my own constituency of Hartlepool, where 530 residents signed the…
There are a number of mechanisms. The Chair of the Education Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), offered one solution. I am a believer in price controls in this area and that the state can intervene in the market here; it is basic fairness.
Of course att…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Ending Homelessness
Throughout this debate the issue of community has been raised repeatedly. A challenge we face in my constituency is the fact that local authorities in other parts of the country often discharge their homelessness duty by packing families into taxis at short notice and moving them hundreds of miles t…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
20 October 2025
2 contributions
Free Schools: Application Decisions
8. What plans she has for the free school application decisions that were paused in October 2024.
Residents in Wynyard, in my Hartlepool constituency, have waited for far too long, thanks primarily to the mess left by the Conservative party, for their new primary school, St Joseph’s, which has been caught up in this review. Understandably, parents are frustrated by the continued delays, so will …
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 October 2025
2 contributions
Asylum Seekers: Support and Accommodation
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I commend the 1,600 Hartlepool constituents who signed the two petitions that we are debating.
Asylum accommodation is an issue that stirs emotions, and for very good reason. Too often, legitimate concerns are dismissed as being racist…
The hon. Gentleman does know my constituency quite well—I would not say very well, if we are honest about the short time he spent there—and he makes an interesting point. This is the second time that we have interacted on this issue and that he has eulogised the previous Labour Government, and I obv…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I warmly welcome the £21.5 million pride in place investment for Hartlepool, which will go directly into our neighbourhoods. It comes off the back of the biggest deal in Hartlepool’s history of £6 billion for new nuclear and 2,500 jobs, and a brilliant Labour council delivering £150 million of capit…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
14 October 2025
Middle East
I welcome the Prime Minister’s statement and, of course, the peace deal. I also welcome his crystal clear statement that there can be no lasting peace or viable Palestinian state in which Hamas is involved in any way. Similarly, there can be no lasting peace without the reconstruction that is now de…
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace
The appalling attack on Ukraine and the violation of Polish airspace yesterday simply highlight the increasing and devastating use of drones in modern warfare. I have been contacted by Hartlepool constituents today, expressing their anxiety and fear about what this might mean for our shores. Will th…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
Yesterday the Tory Mayor of Tees Valley took to social media to claim falsely that Venator, a brilliant company operating in my constituency, had gone into administration, and that UK tax policy was to blame. I spoke to the company yesterday afternoon, and it made it clear that that is not true. The…
Commons
Proceedings
3 September 2025
Property Taxes
The right hon. Gentleman has talked at great length about taxing the wealthy, but he has omitted one of the suggestions that came forth over the summer, which was to get rid of the punitive council tax system, which taxes poverty and deprivation in this country. The former Conservative leader of Har…
Commons
Debate
2 September 2025
2 contributions
English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
English devolution is a mess. It is a postcode patchwork of opaque systems, varying powers and unclear lines of accountability. That is not just an historical failure, but profoundly dangerous, because when the public cannot navigate their democracy or do not know who holds the pen on planning, tran…
I agree that far greater powers are required to hold mayoral development corporations to account, and that may be one way of doing it.
The changes are not just about planning powers: publicly owned assets are being transferred from the council and other public bodies. When Labour councillors demand…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 July 2025
2 contributions
Beer Duty
The hon. Gentleman is making a persuasive speech about reducing beer duty. One of the other great pressures facing microbreweries—such as the Crafty Monkey Brewing Co. in Hartlepool—is the inability to get their product into tied pubs. That is bad for pubs and microbrewers. Would he support a change…
The hon. Gentleman has argued eloquently in favour of the record of the last Government, but ahead of the last general election the British Beer and Pub Association reported that more than 10 pubs a week were closing under the last Government. That does not seem a record to be particularly proud of.
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
14 July 2025
Planning System: Community Involvement
In Hartlepool, the Tees Valley Mayor’s development corporation has removed planning powers for large swathes of the town from all democratic control. In turn, much of the planning function has been outsourced to a private company with no connection to Hartlepool, which is ruling out any community in…
Commons
Westminster Hall
14 July 2025
Northern Ireland Veterans: Prosecution
It is a privilege to speak in today’s debate and to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank those who signed the petition that has brought us here today.
The petitioners are absolutely clear: the Government must do nothing that would allow Northern Ireland veterans to be prosecuted for d…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
When the Bill started its life, the Government were advocating for cuts for PIP and UC health claimants now and in future. They conceded that now was not right and that it was only for future claimants. Then they conceded that it should not be PIP claimants in future, leaving only UC health claimant…
Commons
Oral Questions
8 July 2025
Topical Questions
The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Act 2025 has now received Royal Assent and I congratulate the Lord Chancellor on her swift action, but it would never have been necessary if sentencing guidelines were not the preserve of an unelected, undemocratic quango in the form of the Sentencing…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
7 July 2025
Giving Every Child the Best Start in Life
I warmly welcome the roll-out of Best Start family hubs. They build on the legacy of Sure Start—one of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government.
The Secretary of State may remember our visit to High Tunstall college of science when she last came to my constituency of Hartlepool. The …
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
18 June 2025
Educational Outcomes for Boys
As a former A-level teacher, one of my concerns—in addition to the disparities between boys and girls in educational outcomes—was the disparity in educational choice. Physics and maths classes were dominated by boys, and English literature and psychology classes were dominated by girls. Those are di…
Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
Victims and Courts Bill (Second sitting)
Q Thank you, Mark, for coming here today. I want to draw your attention to the provisions on compelling offenders to attend their sentencing. First, I am genuinely quite interested in your specific perspective on that. Secondly, we have heard evidence today that the use of force, if it were to becom…
Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
2 contributions
Victims and Courts Bill (First sitting)
Q We have talked a great deal about the changes in definitions around victims. We have also talked about the role of social landlords. Is not one of the challenges in implementing this Bill making the many stakeholders that come into contact with victims clear that they are dealing with a victim, an…
Q In my experience, housing is often at the heart of antisocial behaviour and the related problems and, of course, at the heart of that is usually the tenant. What are your views about how the provisions in the Bill can be effectively communicated to tenants so that they have knowledge of what their…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 June 2025
Child Sexual Exploitation: Casey Report
I welcome Baroness Casey’s audit and the Government’s instigation of the national inquiry, which must leave no stone unturned, lead to convictions and lead to perpetrators and anybody complicit being put behind bars where, as far as I am concerned, they can rot. It is also important that this most s…
Commons
Oral Questions
Energy Security and Net Zero
10 June 2025
Topical Questions
Wasco Coatings in my constituency has invested significantly in its Hartlepool operation in anticipation of the ambitious net zero plans on Teesside. We now learn that there is a possibility that the contract may go abroad, which threatens Hartlepool jobs. Does the Minister agree that British invest…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
9 June 2025
Winter Fuel Payment
When the policy was originally announced, I, hon. Members across the House and constituents of mine all shared the same basic view that means-testing is fair but the threshold was far too low. I therefore welcome the Government’s decision today and the fact that they are listening. Over the last win…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
9 June 2025
New Homes: Minimum EPC Rating
In Hartlepool, 24,000 existing homes have an energy performance certificate rating of D or below. That means too many homes are too cold and have bills that are too high. What can the Minister do to accelerate the improvement of those homes to ensure warm homes for Hartlepool constituents?
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Regional Growth
After 14 years of talk about delivering for the north, it is refreshing that this Labour Government are delivering for the north. I am a passionate believer in devolution, but devolution must come with accountability. What steps can we take to ensure that the £1 billion we have just agreed for Tees …
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
2 contributions
Dementia Care
My dad was a GP in Hartlepool for 33 years. When I was young, I was never more impressed than when he would talk to me about his medical knowledge. The depth of his knowledge was extraordinary, and one of the tricks he used to be able to do at any given moment was take any two numbers I gave him and…
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. In a completely unplanned way, the next sentence in my speech is, “It is essential that the voices of those affected by dementia are at the forefront of these NHS reforms”, so his intervention was very timely and deadly accurate.
We must ensure that the …