Commons
Westminster Hall
10 March 2026
2 contributions
Adult Cerebral Palsy: National Service Specification
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the national service specification for adult cerebral palsy in the NHS.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Jardine. I am grateful to secure this debate. Approximately 130,000 adults in the UK have cerebral palsy. Although the NHS now of…
I absolutely agree. Between the APPG’s 2022 recommendations and the example the hon. Member gave of the analysis in Northern Ireland, it is clear that the evidence is there, and hopefully we will hear from the Minister about how we can continue to progress some of those matters.
I would welcome a c…
Commons
Debate
3 March 2026
SEND Provision: Local Authorities
I declare my usual interest, as my wife is a special needs co-ordinator and one of our children has an EHCP. I thank the hon. Member for Dorking and Horley (Chris Coghlan) for bringing forward this debate. My constituents have seen our London borough of Bexley council have a safety valve agreement a…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
3 March 2026
2 contributions
Hong Kong: Human Rights Situation
11. What recent assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the human rights situation in Hong Kong.
In addition to the situation on the ground in Hong Kong, there remains evidence of transnational repression against Hong Kong nationals living overseas, including here in the United Kingdom. Will the Minister update us on the work being done on that issue across Government Departments, and on the me…
Commons
Oral Questions
25 February 2026
Electronic Travel Authorisation: Dual Nationals
My constituent Steve Bainbridge is a dual UK-Greek national. He has raised his experience of a delay in receiving his UK passport forcing him to have to use his Greek passport to attend his daughter’s wedding in the UK. He also highlighted bureaucratic issues faced by women travelling from Greece, s…
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 February 2026
Student Loan Repayment Plans
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell.
As has been said, this is an issue of generational unfairness. My wife and I had plan 1 loans. At that stage, in our early 30s, having paid off our loan, we felt we could start career progression, work our way up the housing ladder and have…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
I declare an interest, as my wife is special educational needs co-ordinator and one of our children has an EHCP. As the parent of twins, I have had to fight for virtually none of the education of one of my children, but for every single aspect of my other child’s education because she is disabled. W…
Commons
Proceedings
12 February 2026
Business of the House
This coming Monday, I will be honoured to join my long-standing friend Tom Jones, who also happens to be my eldest constituent, for his 108th birthday celebration. Tom joined the Labour party under the leadership of Sir Clement Attlee, and has supported our party under every subsequent leader. This …
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
12 February 2026
Topical Questions
Last month, my Conservative-controlled council in the London borough of Bexley issued a press release stating that DFT data showed that it has the seventh best roads in England. Will the Secretary of State confirm that the data shows that it has an amber rating and does not say that it has the seven…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 February 2026
Hughes Report: Second Anniversary
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the hon. Member for Chesham and Amersham (Sarah Green) for securing the debate.
I spoke in last year’s debate to raise the experience of my constituents Paula and Gillian, who had experienced the impact of having pelvic mesh fit…
Commons
Westminster Hall
4 February 2026
Civil Service Pension Scheme: Administration
I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. Like her, I have received a litany of complaints in recent weeks from constituents—including Antoni, Catherine, Christopher, Kevin, Mike and Robert—with similar heartbreaking stories. Does she agree that it is important we take urgent action to ensure …
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
4 contributions
Railways Bill (Tenth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse.
I hear what was said about amendment 63, and I will wait to hear what the Minister says. I have sat on a passenger watchdog, although not this one, and worked in that role alongside Passenger Focus, as it was back then—it is now Transpor…
If the hon. Gentleman looks at the clauses in the group, he will see that there are significant issues that the passengers’ council needs to take into account for all passengers, which come to the door and—as I know, having sat on a watchdog for four years—come in the form of casework and meetings. …
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Committee Stage
3 February 2026
4 contributions
Railways Bill (Ninth sitting)
Does the shadow Minister accept that in recent years, when Transport for London was negotiating its fare settlements, the previous Government dictated the level of fares that should be charged not just for the congestion charge, but for passenger rail services? The Conservative Secretary of State an…
I will briefly respond to some of the comments that have been made. First, the Greater London Authority Act 1999 does not have many of these components. Yet the Mayor of London allows a number of discounts, including for veterans, care leavers, apprentices and people who are unemployed and seeking w…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Business of the House
Last Sunday, I joined the congregation at St Augustine’s church in Slade Green to celebrate the retirement of Rev. Jim Bennett. Jim has been a long-standing pillar of our community in Bexleyheath and Crayford, having worked for Greenwich and Bexley community hospice for 16 years, starting as a fundr…
Commons
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
Railways Bill (Eighth sitting)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Hobhouse. I will briefly speak to clause 18 stand part. At the outset, I remind Members that I am the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on wheelchair users, and one of my children is a wheelchair user.
I do not believe that some of these …
Commons
Committee Stage
29 January 2026
Railways Bill (Seventh sitting)
I thank the hon. Member, who is advocating for her constituents. Within London, Transport for London operates at least four lines—the Elizabeth, Central, Lioness and Metropolitan lines—all of which leave the London boundary. They would therefore potentially enter the boundaries of strategic authorit…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
26 January 2026
2 contributions
Young Disabled People: Support into Work
11. What steps he is taking to help support young disabled people into work.
Too many young people with education, health and care plans are being kept on them until they are 25 years old due to the complexities involved in offering them the specialist support required to place them into apprenticeships or work placements. Will the Secretary of State therefore provide an upd…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
19 January 2026
2 contributions
SEND: High-quality School Places
13. What steps she is taking to ensure high-quality school places for children with SEND.
I draw attention to the fact that my wife is employed by our local authority as a special educational needs co-ordinator. At the start of this school year, my local authority, the London borough of Bexley, rolled out a number of new resource provisions, adding an additional 122 SEN places in mainstr…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
8 January 2026
Road Safety Strategy
I thank the Minister for her statement. Over the past 17 months, I have supported my constituents Nevgül and Bora Bicakci. In August 2024, a bus mounted the pavement in Bexleyheath and killed their nine-year-old daughter, Ada. The driver of that bus was subsequently found guilty of causing death by …
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
8 January 2026
Topical Questions
As chair of the all-party parliamentary group for wheelchair users, I warmly welcome the Department’s announcement this week that it is consulting on its review of the law on powered mobility devices. Will the Minister confirm that the Government are now consulting on changing the current maximum we…
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Future of Thames Water
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon (Layla Moran) for securing the debate and for her comments. As she said, the issues have been caused by many years of under-investment. In my corner of south-east London, constituents in …
Commons
Westminster Hall
6 January 2026
Poverty and Welfare Policies
I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. One of the most important ways to support people is to help them back into work, and we have seen that in my constituency—as my hon. Friend knows, I have worked closely with disabled people and carers. Locally in Bexleyheath, we have seen specialist su…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
17 December 2025
Local Government Finance
Five years ago, the Conservative-controlled council in the London borough of Bexley found itself in such a dire situation that it sought a capitalisation order, made 15% of staff redundant and had to sell a building because it could not even fund the redundancy notices. [ Interruption. ] For the Con…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
16 December 2025
Electoral Resilience
I echo colleagues’ comments regarding social media sites. In Bexleyheath and Crayford, we have seen more and more examples of anonymous users, particularly on Facebook, spreading disinformation not just at election time, but also to undermine trust and faith in public bodies outside election time. A…
Commons
Debate
9 December 2025
2 contributions
Railways Bill
Southeastern was nationalised under the previous Government, and it remains nationalised under this Government, but this year, it has been brought into one organisation with Network Rail, and there has been the best customer satisfaction for my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford, and the best …
I draw attention to my role as chair of the all-party parliamentary group for wheelchair users. I rise to support the measures in the Railways Bill. I know that the measures will be supported by my constituents, who predominantly travel from the four train stations of Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, Slade …
Commons
Proceedings
26 November 2025
2 contributions
Grove Park Railway Station
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Like Hither Green, Grove Park is a station that my constituents in Crayford need to change at to reach Bromley North, so they would welcome improvements. Will she join me in calling for a national rail accessibility app that people could use when plan…
Southeastern serves the stations in my constituency, like those in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East, and those enhancements include a number of Changing Places toilets for people with disabilities who require them. I therefore reaffirm the point I made to my hon. Frien…