Commons
Westminster Hall
29 October 2025
2 contributions
International Baccalaureate: Funding in State Schools
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) on obtaining this debate. I myself applied for a debate on this subject, so I am pleased to be here today.
Torquay boys’ grammar school in my constituency has …
My two sons both went to Torquay boys’ grammar school. One undertook the international baccalaureate. The other went down the A-level route and got three A*s. Universities do not like students taking more than three A-levels. We often joke with him that perhaps he should have stretched himself and u…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
World Stroke Day
In Torbay, in Devon, we have the third highest prevalence of strokes in the United Kingdom, and yet, within the last 12 months, we have seen cuts to support for the local stroke association. That has left people who are suffering from strokes feeling isolated and abandoned. Does my hon. Friend agree…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
27 October 2025
Topical Questions
The Government have made a promise that those transferring from legacy benefits to universal credit will find themselves no worse off, yet Liberal Democrat colleagues from all over the country are finding that people are worse off. Will the Minister share evidence of how the Government are supportin…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
27 October 2025
Child Poverty
I note that last year the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions said that it is open to debate as to whether the two-child limit is harmful. I note also that this policy has been the most impactful in driving children—more than 730,000 of them—into poverty. Will the Minister acknowledge that …
Commons
Proceedings
23 October 2025
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
Brixham has the highest-value catch in England, yet it is in Torbay, which is the most deprived local authority in the south-west of England. How will local levels of deprivation colour the allocation of funding for England?
Commons
Oral Questions
Cabinet Office
23 October 2025
Topical Questions
T10. I have recently been contacted by International House Torquay, a language school, which has welcomed the opportunity for German foreign students to use ID cards to travel as a group. Can the Minister advise what further opportunities there will be for other European countries such as Switzer…
Commons
Oral Questions
21 October 2025
2 contributions
New Hospital Programme
5. What progress his Department has made on the implementation of the new hospital programme.
The Conservatives still have not apologised for the appalling state that they left our NHS in. Torbay hospital is the third oldest hospital in the United Kingdom. It has a tower block wreathed in scaffolding to stop bits of it falling off rather than it being under repair, and it has sewage leaks th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Ending Homelessness
Thank you for chairing this debate, Mr Efford, and I congratulate the hon. Members for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) and for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) on securing it.
Homelessness—what we see on the streets across the United Kingdom—is just the tip of the iceberg of the crisis in our housing …
Commons
Debate
20 October 2025
Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy
Torquay Boys’ grammar school has long delivered the international baccalaureate. My own eldest son, George, has benefited from that and, under the scheme, has volunteered in a care home. He is now on the cusp of becoming a registrar for care of the elderly. During my meeting with the head of Torquay…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
15 October 2025
Pride in Place
I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and welcome the core principle that she described: giving our communities the power to decide how to put money to best use. I am delighted that Torbay has been awarded two tranches of pride in place funding. However, it is a perverse badge of honour, be…
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
On funding, the Devon partnership NHS trust looks after people with mental health challenges in the Torbay community, where levels of depths of despair are particularly high. The trust is facing a £21 million cut, so does my hon. Friend agree that changes will be irrelevant if we do not have adequat…
Commons
Debate
13 October 2025
Digital ID
I congratulate the Secretary of State on her new position. I am mindful of her previous position, where she masterminded the personal independence payment reforms, so with her proposals before us today I am concerned that she is fast becoming the Minister for lost causes. In my constituency, we have…
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
2 contributions
Police: Professional Standards
Professional standards set the tone and the culture for the whole organisation. I pay tribute to Roy Linden, who is the commander of South Devon police, the old F division. There is a significant challenge relating to the lack of knowledge within the police. There are lots of new officers, and if we…
I alluded to the fact that we have sadly lost an awful lot of police officers with deep knowledge, and many of our police officers are relatively new to the position. Will the Minister reflect on how we can build that long-term knowledge back into the police force, because that can drive better stan…
Commons
Debate
16 September 2025
Sentencing Bill
The police in Torbay tell me that in Paignton and Torquay town centres a number of habitual offenders see a call back to prison as just a professional risk. Does my hon. Friend agree that after years of a lack of investment by the Conservatives, we need to see investment in rehabilitation to help ke…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 September 2025
Consumer Affairs
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I congratulate the hon. Member for Warwick and Leamington (Matt Western) on securing this important debate. What we have heard from hon. Members has been extremely wide-ranging. I will focus the vast majority of my speech on ticket to…
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
In Torbay, which is sadly one of the most deprived constituencies in the south-west of England, bus travel is the primary form of public transport. The £2 price cap was valued by young people and by those of working age in navigating Torbay. Does my hon. Friend agree that its reinstatement would hel…
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace
I understand that Ukraine holds approximately €190 billion in frozen Russian assets. Press reports today suggest that there is a level of flexibility in the stance on releasing them, as long as there are some legal guarantees from the European Union around the risks that may be faced. Are the Govern…
Commons
Proceedings
8 September 2025
2 contributions
Remote Coastal Communities
When I visit teachers in Torbay secondary schools, I reflect on how there is often a bay mentality and a lack of aspiration for youngsters. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that often in our local coastal communities there is a lack of aspiration compared with many metropolitan areas, where there is gr…
I am concerned about the Getting It Right First Time NHS template that the health service applies to our health services in Devon and Cornwall. It is a system that is very much drawn from the metropolitan experience of health provision and does not account for sparsity and the fact that we have seas…
Commons
Debate
8 September 2025
Renters’ Rights Bill
In Torbay, we have almost 50% more people who rent in the private sector than the national average. While the vast majority of landlords are good landlords, sadly there are some rotten apples out there. Pushing against Lords amendment 26 is essential, because we need to ensure that local authorities…
Commons
Debate
8 September 2025
Defence Industrial Strategy
I am sure that the Minister, as a fellow Devon MP, will be only too well aware of our thriving high-tech cluster and the support it provides to the defence industry from its base in Torbay. What assurance can the Minister give our high-tech cluster in Torbay that it will be taken account of as this …
Commons
Debate
3 September 2025
Hospitality Sector
First—strangely for this debate—I would like to directly address part of the motion that is before us this afternoon. I am concerned that the harassment of people in the hospitality sector would be made worse under part of the motion. However, I strongly support the motion as a whole. As somebody wh…
Commons
Proceedings
3 September 2025
Property Taxes
Many tourism industry businesses in Torbay raise concerns about the impact of Airbnb, both on safety and legality. Surely the Government should publish their long-awaited short-term let registration scheme as a matter of urgency.
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 September 2025
Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse
Grooming gangs are entirely abhorrent, as are all forms of grooming leading to sexual exploitation. This summer I met a Torbay resident whose 15-year-old adopted son had been groomed online and then prostituted online. Can the Minister please tell us how she intends to tackle all forms of grooming t…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
1 September 2025
Middle East
The war in Gaza is horrific on a number of different levels. I would like to focus on one particular level: it is the deadliest conflict for journalists, who often act as our window into atrocities. Will the Secretary of State please explain why we are selling any arms to Israel?
Commons
Oral Questions
1 September 2025
Topical Questions
The Government are right to want to see more people with disabilities and long-term sickness get into work. Sadly, this was used to justify the savage cuts to benefits that were proposed earlier this year. My colleagues and I are hearing reports of cuts to current awards through Access to Work, and …