Commons
Westminster Hall
8 July 2026
National Youth Strategy
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair this afternoon, Ms McVey. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) on securing this debate.
I welcome this Labour Government’s national youth strategy, and how it recognises the importance of achieving good work and t…
Commons
Westminster Hall
30 June 2026
4 contributions
Financial Inclusion: Young People
I beg to move,
That this House has considered financial inclusion for young people.
It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Sir John. Today, young people are one of the groups most at risk of financial exclusion. Analysis by Fair4All Finance has identified 2 million unsteady starters in financia…
I could not agree more about the importance of financial education for young people, which I will come to in my speech.
We can already see how those overlapping pressures exacerbate a young person’s financial insecurity. Insurance is another area where they are left facing vulnerability to financia…
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
29 June 2026
2 contributions
Youth Hubs
16. What recent progress he has made on the expansion of youth hubs.
There is already much excitement in my community that East Herts will be home to one of the new youth hubs being rolled out by this Labour Government. I represent a semi-rural area where young people often have to make significant journeys across or even outside the constituency to access the servic…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
29 June 2026
Topical Questions
T5. The Child Maintenance Service has told one of my constituents that because the father of her children is claiming benefits, he can pay her only £6.73 a week, even though the CMS is aware that he has an additional hidden income of £97,000. Sadly, that is not an isolated case. Will the Minister se…
Commons
Oral Questions
Transport
11 June 2026
Topical Questions
Residents in Hertford and Stortford tell me that their bus services are too often irregular or delayed, causing unnecessary disruption and stress. I welcome the £19.5 million allocated to Hertfordshire county council through the local authority bus grant last year, but will the Minister say a bit mo…
Commons
Proceedings
8 June 2026
Water Companies
The River Stort is one of our rare and precious local chalk streams, and my residents were rightly furious when they discovered that Thames Water has been pumping sewage into it for hundreds of hours. When I asked Thames Water what it intended to do to remedy the situation, it told me that it had an…
Commons
Oral Questions
19 March 2026
Business of the House
I share my residents’ anger that a Thames Water site has reportedly released over 900 hours of sewage into the River Stort, one of our precious local chalk streams, since the start of the year. I have written to Thames Water and the Environment Agency to raise my community’s concerns about the lack …
Commons
Debate
17 March 2026
Youth Unemployment
I really welcome this Government’s investment in our young people’s futures, but almost half of NEET young people are disconnected from the benefit system and traditional support. I know from my experience of leaving school at 16 just how much of a difference youth workers and trusted adults can mak…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
11 March 2026
Engagements
Q5. Too often, I hear from families of children with special educational needs and disabilities in Hertford and Stortford whose children have been left out of education for months or even years because they cannot get a school place that meets their needs within a reasonable distance. I am campaigni…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
2 contributions
Support for NEET Young People
13. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.
A young person with undiagnosed attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is more likely not to be in education, employment or training. That is driven by a lack of recognition, treatment and tailored support. The expert-led NHS ADHD taskforce estimates that the cost to the UK economy of unsupported …
Commons
Proceedings
5 March 2026
Business of the House
Morrisons has resigned from managing the Thorley Park post office, putting the future of an important local centre at risk. I have joined with a cross-party group of local councillors to write to the local Sainsbury’s and encourage it to host the branch, as the Post Office can only keep the branch o…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
China and Japan
Last Thursday, I held a public meeting with the Hong Kong community in Bishop’s Stortford. We met to discuss the proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain, but there was real strength of feeling about the case of Jimmy Lai and democratic freedoms in Hong Kong, so I was very pleased to hear the …
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
ADHD Diagnosis
A number of colleagues have spoken movingly about the individual circumstances of their constituents. I want to speak about individual circumstances, as I was diagnosed with ADHD last year.
I recently bumped into a friend at an event who had also been diagnosed. I am one of those people with ADHD w…
Commons
Oral Questions
Restoration and Renewal Client Board
15 January 2026
2 contributions
Restoration and Renewal: Member Consultation
8. What recent progress the client board has made on consulting hon. Members on the restoration and renewal programme.
I thank my hon. Friend for his answer and for the board’s engagement with parliamentary colleagues. A full decant from Parliament is among the options for colleagues to consider as we restore this place—it is an option that I support—but will he set out what engagement the board has had on any plans…
Commons
Prime Minister's Questions
Prime Minister
10 December 2025
Engagements
Q8. Of the almost 1 million young people not in education, employment or training, hundreds of thousands are disconnected from the system entirely. Youth workers have a unique ability to bridge young people into support. I would not be stood here today if I had not been supported by a youth worker c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
26 November 2025
Young People not in Education, Employment or Training
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth) for securing the debate.
Of the almost 1 million young people not in education, employment or training, almost 600,000 are economically inactive and disengaged from mains…
Commons
Oral Questions
25 November 2025
2 contributions
Health Inequalities
10. What steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities impacting women in the NHS.
When my constituent Rachel attended numerous A&E departments with severe abdominal pain, swelling, fever and nausea, her fears of a ruptured ovarian cyst were repeatedly dismissed. In her day-to-day life Rachel is a professional advising on antimicrobial resistance around the world, but as a pat…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
5 November 2025
Curriculum and Assessment Review
I really welcome the review’s focus on social justice and the critical skills needed for work and life. We know that young people face an unprecedented mental health crisis. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that young people’s wellbeing will be a material consideration for her Department in im…
Commons
Westminster Hall
29 October 2025
International Baccalaureate: Funding in State Schools
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I thank the hon. Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover) for securing this morning’s debate.
Hockerill Anglo-European College in Bishop’s Stortford is one of the 20 or so state schools across the country to offer the international bacc…
Commons
Debate
15 October 2025
Jhoots Pharmacy
Last week I met staff from Jhoots Pharmacy in Thorley and was shocked when they told me that they had been unpaid for months but were still working. Some were struggling with their mortgages or unable to afford food for their children’s school lunches. Their concern was for their residents, many of …
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 October 2025
5 contributions
Educational Assessment System Reform
I beg to move,
That this House has considered reforming the educational assessment system.
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. Over the summer, another cohort of young people finished their exams, marking the end of a period that left many feeling overwhelmed, anxious or unc…
I could not agree more with the point my hon. Friend makes. I held a number of roundtables with parents and carers in my constituency over the summer as well. We were discussing the SEN challenges we face in Hertfordshire. At every session I held, parents and carers talked about the inflexibility of…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
14 October 2025
Mental Health Bill [Lords]
In the interest of time, I will turn straight to new clause 25, tabled in my name.
The Bill sets out a range of situations where the competence of a patient aged under 16 will be relevant, but it does not set out a framework for how it should be determined. That puts patients under 16 years old at …
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
Neurodivergent People: Employment
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair this afternoon, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane) for securing this important debate. It is a pleasure to be able to contribute.
In my office we are very open about neurodivergence, and I am proud to wo…
Commons
Proceedings
4 September 2025
Business of the House
I am wearing a ribbon to commemorate the life of Norma Symonds, a former Conservative councillor and town mayor of Bishop’s Stortford. Determined, courageous and kind, Norma dedicated her life to supporting those who needed help and serving our community, giving a voice to the voiceless. She set an …
Commons
Westminster Hall
2 September 2025
Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for securing today’s debate. I will focus my remarks on the more than 360,000 children and young people living with an eating disorder in England. What work is the Department undertaking to ensure that the access and waiting time …