Commons
Debate
4 November 2025
2 contributions
Supporting High Streets
I want to raise the concerns of fantastic businesses in the Yeovil constituency. The current Government’s employer national insurance increase will damage high street businesses. Shaun, who runs Lanes Hotel in West Coker, put it better than I ever could:
“At a time when we needed help,”
the Chance…
One reason why house building on some of our car parks is being proposed is because of the Government’s underfunding of rural areas. I agree that parking charges are a problem. We have the same issue in Somerset. They are having to be levelled out because of the unitary council, which the hon. Gentl…
Commons
Westminster Hall
28 October 2025
2 contributions
World Stroke Day
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) for securing this debate and sharing her stories.
I start by sending my best wishes to my constituent John Falconer, who recently suffered a mini stroke. John has been campaigni…
I call on Somerset ICB to run a trial comparing outcomes for patients in the Yeovil HASU and those taken outside the constituency. Staff in Yeovil hospital would welcome that, and it would give peace of mind to know that the decision was based on clear evidence.
When it comes to stroke care, speed …
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Mandatory Digital ID
Does my hon. Friend agree that Labour needs to wake up? This scheme could put our personal data at risk, while costing taxpayers billions and doing little to restore public trust in the immigration service.
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 October 2025
Ending Homelessness
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I thank the hon. Members for Harrow East (Bob Blackman) and for Liverpool Wavertree (Paula Barker) for securing the debate.
Since I was elected, housing and homelessness has been the biggest issue that my team have been dealing with in Y…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 October 2025
Educational Assessment System Reform
It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Hertford and Stortford (Josh Dean) for securing this debate.
With severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia, I struggled at school and hated exams. The current system of exam-based learning ha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 October 2025
3 contributions
Knife Crime
Will the hon. Member give way?
Does the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) agree that knife crime is not increasing just in towns and cities and that we desperately need more funding for community policing in rural areas, such as the Yeovil constituency?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
15 September 2025
4 contributions
Children with SEND: Assessments and Support
Although it is great to see so many Members here to debate this issue, it shows how dire things are in the SEND system. Somerset is one of the 40 lowest-funded education authorities in the UK. I have heard from many constituents, such as Becky, whose son has been denied mainstream education for over…
Will the Minister give way?
+2 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
10 September 2025
Neurodivergence (Screening and Teacher Training)
I beg to move,
That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about screening for neurodivergence in children at primary school; to make provision about teacher training relating to neurodivergence; and for connected purposes.
I thank hon. Members across the House for their support, and …
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Russian Drones: Violation of Polish Airspace
Does the Minister agree that we need to take stronger steps to deter Putin? That starts with seizing billions in frozen Russian assets across the UK and using them to support Ukraine in its fight against Russia, because Putin has shown that if we give him an inch, he will take a mile.
Commons
Proceedings
10 September 2025
Qatar: Israeli Strike
I have said this before, but so many constituents from Yeovil—some as young as 11—have told me that they are so frustrated that Britain is not doing more. Will the Minister reassure my constituents that the Government are doing all they can to make sure that these strikes do not break down the peace…
Commons
Westminster Hall
9 September 2025
Neurodivergent People: Employment
Does my hon. Friend agree that the challenges neurodiverse people face with employment often start at school, and that we need universal screening for neurodivergence, alongside proper teacher training, so that our fantastic teaching staff are given the tools and confidence to identify and support a…
Commons
Debate
9 July 2025
2 contributions
Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill
I wish to speak in favour of amendments 12, 13 and 17, and Liberal Democrat new clauses 2, 3, 6 and 7.
The Bill has been an absolute shambles from the start; there was no consultation with disabled people, and there has been last-minute chopping and changing. The Timms review and the removal of the…
I completely agree with my hon. Friend and neighbour. We will see a huge impact from ICBs having to make a 50% cut. We are already seeing the impact in Yeovil, as hon. Members will have heard me say. The maternity unit has had its funding cut, and is being shut for six months.
The Bill was not prod…
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
2 contributions
Waterloo-Reading Line: Class 701 Trains
Many feel that the railway services in Yeovil are not good enough. Does my hon. Friend agree that in rural areas we need to replace the old trains that we rely on, some of which are more than 40 years old—a lot older than I am—and improve access and staffing at railway stations so that constituents …
Will the Minister and the Government agree that it is vital to try to get more electric trains across the south-west? After meeting with the railways, I know they are concerned that they will find it hard to replace the diesel stock with electric stock down in Somerset. Can we urge them to push and …
Commons
Westminster Hall
1 July 2025
ADHD: Impact on Prison Rehabilitation and Reoffending
I have spoken to people who found out in prison that they have neurodiverse conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which I also have. If they had been supported at school, things would have been different. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to roll out universal screening f…
Commons
Debate
25 June 2025
3 contributions
National Armaments Director
Will my hon. Friend join me in urging the Government to award the New Medium Helicopter contract to Leonardo UK in Yeovil, and to reassure us that a “defence dividend” will include supporting jobs, apprenticeships and the resilience of domestic defence firms across the south-west?
Will the Minister give way?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
25 June 2025
3 contributions
GP Funding: South-west England
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newton Abbot (Martin Wrigley) for securing this important debate.
GPs are the front door of our health service, particularly in rural constituencies such as Yeovil and many others in the south-we…
I spent an evening with one of my local pharmacists, and it was so shocking that people were coming 20 or 30 miles to his pharmacy, because it was the only one open near my village of South Petherton. He was struggling so much because he could not get the medication that people needed, despite the f…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
24 June 2025
2 contributions
Department for Education
I welcome the investment for our teachers, school buildings, free school meals and SEND support, but I remain concerned about SEND provision in Somerset. I know from personal experience and from listening to constituents just how much of a difference giving SEND children the support they need can ma…
I totally agree. It is sorry to see that so many of those centres have gone, and we need to invest more.
The earlier that children’s needs are identified and supported, the more likely they are to succeed. Researchers, for instance at University College London, have already developed a screener tha…
Commons
Westminster Hall
18 June 2025
Businesses in Rural Areas
There are over 3,400 fantastic businesses in Yeovil that provide amazing services for our communities, from big employers such as Screwfix and Leonardo to local businesses such as Ben Russell’s hairdressers or the Somerset Cheesecakery in Ilminster. Thanks to terrible Government Budgets, unfair trad…
Commons
Westminster Hall
17 June 2025
Disabled People in Poverty
One of the most common reasons why people claim PIP in Yeovil is poor mental health. Does my hon. Friend agree that to support vulnerable people’s mental wellbeing, the Government must urgently change course on the proposed cuts to PIP and introduce proper staff and accessible mental health hubs in …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
11 June 2025
Spending Review 2025
I heard very little about Somerset, which is facing huge pressure on GP practices, affordable homes, SEND provision, reliable bus services and access to affordable energy. Can the Chancellor promise my constituents that Yeovil will not be overlooked, and does she believe that the decisions announced…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2025
NHS Funding: South-west
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) for securing this vital debate.
I start by thanking the amazing NHS staff across Yeovil. The NHS makes me so proud to be British, but our NHS in Somerset has been left on its …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
10 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
An 11-year-old constituent wrote to me, and simply said,
“why are we not doing more?”
That sums up the outrage in Yeovil at the crisis in Gaza. Can the Minister tell my constituent what steps he has taken with allies to ensure that all aid routes to Gaza are reopened, and what consequences there w…
Commons
Westminster Hall
10 June 2025
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder
I thank my hon. Friend for securing this vital debate. Does he agree that one fantastic way to support young people with ADHD and their teachers is to have universal screening for neurodiverse conditions at primary school and to increase teacher training on such conditions?
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
5 contributions
Yeovil Hospital: Maternity Unit
I start by thanking the fantastic staff at Yeovil district hospital’s maternity unit and paediatric staff across the country for their hard work. I also thank the Minister for Secondary Care for coming to the Chamber this evening to respond to the issues raised, which are important for Yeovil and So…
I agree with my hon. Friend and I will come to that point later in my remarks.
In letters and at meetings, I have directly asked senior leaders at the trust for reassurance that the service will reopen after six months, but they have been unable to give it. My No. 1 priority is my constituents’ hea…
+3 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Business of the House
In January, the Care Quality Commission warned that paediatric care at Yeovil district hospital requires significant improvement. The maternity unit has suddenly closed, initially for six months, creating real fear. This follows the closure of the hospital’s hyper-acute stroke unit. May we have a de…