Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
2 contributions
National Youth Strategy
We know all about funding cuts in Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire—they were more than 90% in our local area—so I welcome this investment. However, does my hon. Friend agree that we must ensure we get the revenue funding as well as capital funding? That is what makes activity work on the ground.
On closing that gap, research shows that for every £1 a year spent on a young person in a place such as Stoke-on-Trent or Kidsgrove, £10 a year is spent on a young person in inner London. I welcome all the investment via the national youth strategy, but how can we use the strategy to close the gap, …
Commons
Westminster Hall
7 July 2026
2 contributions
Human Rights in Kashmir
rose—
I thank my hon. Friend for his work as chair of the APPG on Kashmir. In Stoke-on-Trent North, I too have been contacted by residents about people who live on both sides of the line of control, and they are seriously worried. We have had reports of shortages of food, medical supplies and baby milk. D…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 July 2026
Ceramics Industry
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. Ceramics are who we are in north Staffordshire; they are in our DNA. They are in the bottle kilns on our skyline and the names above our factory gates, and they are literally in the hands of the people I proudly represent. Yet for years…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2026
2 contributions
Child Poverty
5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce inequalities experienced by children in poverty.
In Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove, literacy levels among our children and young people fall behind the England average. That can severely impact a young person’s future earnings. Our libraries play a key role in addressing that, yet Reform-led Staffordshire county council has ordered them to remove Pr…
Commons
Oral Questions
24 June 2026
2 contributions
Discrimination against Trans People
5. What steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help reduce inequalities experienced by children in poverty.
In Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove, literacy levels among our children and young people fall behind the England average. That can severely impact a young person’s future earnings. Our libraries play a key role in addressing that, yet Reform-led Staffordshire county council has ordered them to remove Pr…
Commons
Oral Questions
Treasury
23 June 2026
2 contributions
Topical Questions
T1. If she will make a statement on her departmental responsibilities.
Sometimes we do not say thank you enough, so I would like to offer my heartfelt thanks to the Chancellor for listening. She listened to me, my fellow MPs, our pottery workers, our GMB union and especially Sharon Yates by offering a £120 million support and growth package for our ceramics sector. Can…
Commons
Oral Questions
23 April 2026
Business of the House
I recently walked around Ball Green with Sharon Rospendowski, a local champion who helps to keep the fabric of her community together. Residents in Ball Green and places like Norton share a common concern: they have lost vital services over the years, including Sure Start centres, youth clubs, post …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 April 2026
British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme
I am a proud Stoke-on-Trent MP, and the clue is in the name “the Potteries”—we make pots, we always have done. It is my family’s and our community’s source of pride. Sadly, despite the good engagement I have had with Ministers on the matter, this particular scheme does nothing for ceramics companies…
Commons
Oral Questions
16 April 2026
Business of the House
On the doorsteps of Mow Cop, Harriseahead and Newchapel, residents tell me time and again that they are fed up with Reform-led Staffordshire county council ignoring their very real concerns about vehicles speeding through their beautiful villages and putting lives at risk. Will the Leader of the Hou…
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Business of the House
In Stoke-on-Trent, we have had to declare a heritage emergency, which really pains me. Across our towns, we have the most beautiful historic buildings, but they are sitting empty because the restoration costs are so high. That is not down to a lack of local will; it is the result of a funding gap th…
Commons
Westminster Hall
19 March 2026
3 contributions
Banking Services: Accessibility
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Western. I am grateful to the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George) for securing this timely debate.
The debate is particularly timely for me, because only last week the last bank in the whole of my constituency—Lloyds in Tunstall—closed its d…
Will the hon. Member give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 March 2026
Engagements
Q3. As the Prime Minister knows, my mum proudly worked in the pot banks of Burslem and Tunstall, and she is watching at home right now. Tomorrow is International Day of Ceramics and that matters deeply to Stoke-on-Trent, the historic heart of Britain’s ceramic industry. [ Interruption. ] Yes, and Ne…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 March 2026
Rough Sleeping: Families with Children
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison.
I am so grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) for securing this really important debate, at the heart of which is a simple principle: every single child deserves to be safe and warm, with a roof o…
Commons
Oral Questions
Housing, Communities and Local Government
23 February 2026
Topical Questions
T5. I support the Government’s plans to build 1.5 million homes, and families and first-time buyers in Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove really need them. Residents from Packmoor, Ball Green, Norton Green and Talke understand that too, but does the Minister agree that development should be brownfield fir…
Commons
Debate
5 February 2026
2 contributions
Road Safety
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this Backbench Business debate on road safety. I welcome the Labour Government’s new road safety strategy.
In my remarks, I will focus specifically on Sharlotte’s law—a campaign that began with a tragedy in my constituency. Sharlotte-Sky Naglis was only…
I know that my hon. Friend has been campaigning hard on this matter—we have discussed that case. I absolutely encourage Staffordshire county council to take action.
The Government’s consultation on road traffic offences really matters. It gives us a real way to learn from cases such as Sharlotte’s,…
Commons
Oral Questions
5 February 2026
Business of the House
Families in Kidsgrove are understandably annoyed that the playground at Clough Hall park has only recently reopened, having been cordoned off since last May. I raised the matter with the Conservative-led Newcastle-under-Lyme borough council, as did local councillors, yet it took eight months to brin…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
That is really kind of you, after a full morning in the Chamber, Madam Deputy Speaker.
I warmly welcome the road safety strategy, which will save the lives of thousands of people across the next decade. As the Minister knows, because we have had countless meetings, I have been campaigning alongside…
Commons
Proceedings
8 January 2026
Business of the House
People living in Goldenhill and Sandyford have an absolutely brilliant residents association led by the remarkable Tom Simpson. I recently visited a Tesco Express store alongside them to hear from staff who were concerned about having to deal with regular shoplifting. Does the Leader of the House ag…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
2 contributions
Local Bus Services
13. What steps she is taking to help improve local bus services.
Happy new year, Mr Speaker. In Stoke- on-Trent, the Labour-led council has already delivered lower fares and new and improved routes, such as the 9A, which links the communities of Mill Hill, Chell and Bradeley with Hanley and Tunstall. Will the Minister please outline how the multi-year settlement,…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 December 2025
National Plan to End Homelessness
Before entering this place, I spent nearly two decades working for the YMCA. I have to say to Conservative Members, respectfully, that their cuts had consequences. It is no wonder that, as the money was taken away year after year, rough sleeping more than doubled since 2010. I therefore warmly welco…
Commons
Proceedings
11 December 2025
Business of the House
On Tuesday, the leader of Staffordshire county council, Reform councillor Ian Cooper, finally resigned after an investigation into his social media accounts found he was a top fan of a Facebook page that openly promotes white supremacy. Those views are abhorrent and completely incompatible with publ…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 December 2025
Kashmir: Self-determination
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bradford East (Imran Hussain) on securing this vital debate and on his leadership. Many of us present spoke in this place about human rights violations back in March, so I am pleased that we ar…
Commons
Oral Questions
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Low-income Households
1. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of her fiscal policies on low-income households.
Child poverty rates remain far too high in my constituency of Stoke-on-Trent North and Kidsgrove. What assessment has the Chancellor made of how the fair decisions taken in the Budget will address poverty among low-income working families in my constituency and across the country?
Commons
Debate
8 December 2025
Child Poverty Strategy
The removal of the two-child limit is welcome news, and in my constituency it will lift well over 4,000 kids out of poverty. I saw at first hand how 14 years of austerity left families in Stoke-on-Trent and Kidsgrove in crisis. Early support was taken away, and we now have among the highest numbers …
Commons
Westminster Hall
3 December 2025
2 contributions
Advanced Ceramics Industry: North Staffordshire
My hon. Friend makes a really important point about sovereign capability. Does she agree that a nation of Britain’s standing simply cannot depend on foreign powers for materials critical to our defence and our energy security?
I am really pleased that my hon. Friend has talked about tableware as well as advanced ceramics. She mentioned Wedgwood, and in my constituency we have names such as Moorcroft that are known the world over. They have been saddled with high energy costs. Does she agree that the Government must look a…