Commons
Committee Stage
17 June 2025
9 contributions
Victims and Courts Bill (First sitting)
Q Which areas of the Bill, if any, do you think will pose challenges for the Crown Prosecution Service?
Sarah Hammond: As always, there is a collective challenge when a Bill becomes law just to work out how things will work in practice and how implementation will work. Take the restriction on paren…
Q What impact do you think broadening the potential pool of prosecutors will have on the backlog in the court system?
Sarah Hammond: It will enable us to recruit more. As I have said, it is quite a competitive market out there. There will be more people eligible to become Crown prosecutors. That wi…
+7 more contributions in this session
Commons
Westminster Hall
16 June 2025
2 contributions
Farmed Animals: Cages and Crates
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Mundell. I thank the Petitions Committee for calling this important debate and the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell) for introducing it.
The call to end the cage age of animal farming is clear. It comes not just from Parl…
It is key that if we are going to demand higher standards here, we must apply the same standards to food that we import.
If the Minister truly believes that food security is national security, that needs to be backed up with real investment—not empty slogans or cuts on a spreadsheet, but real suppo…
Commons
Debate
13 June 2025
2 contributions
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill
Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
I take issue with some of the language being used. We have heard the words “murder”, “killing” and “suicide”. Twenty-three years ago next week, my husband died of terminal cancer. He was in extreme pain and was given morphine to relieve it. As the pain got worse, he was given more morphine so that h…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
12 June 2025
Spending Review: Health and Social Care
Like my hon. Friend the Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers), I welcome the increased investment, and the attention that the new Government are giving to the NHS. I would like to turn our attention to dentistry. My constituency of South Devon is a dental desert. I welcome the announcement of 700,000 …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
12 June 2025
Support for Entrepreneurs
Recently imposed general product safety regulations have added yet another layer of cost and complexity to exports to the European Union. That is particularly hitting entrepreneurs and microbusinesses, many of which have had to end exports to their EU customers. Did the Department have any discussio…
Commons
Westminster Hall
12 June 2025
Humanist Marriage
I thank the hon. Members for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) and for Morecambe and Lunesdale (Lizzi Collinge) and my hon. Friend the Member for Henley and Thame (Freddie van Mierlo) for securing the debate.
I declare an interest: in September 2011, I had a humanist wedding. We chose a beautiful setting in…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2025
NHS Funding: South-west
Does my hon. Friend agree that it is much more expensive to provide services in rural areas than in urban areas? An example is the pharmacy funding model, which relies on footfall. On a recent visit to Modbury pharmacy, staff told me that they are really struggling to stay afloat because they do not…
Commons
Westminster Hall
11 June 2025
2 contributions
Outdoor Education
Will my hon. Friend give way?
My hon. Friend is making a powerful argument about the mental health benefits of outdoor education, which I wholeheartedly support. Does he agree with me that if we are to inspire the next generation to appreciate, understand and love nature and promote nature recovery, we need to introduce them to …
Commons
Debate
9 June 2025
Planning and Infrastructure Bill
I have tabled new clause 65, which would require housing development applications to include provision for green space within 15 minutes of new homes, supporting nature and helping people to lead happier, healthier lives. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government have missed an opportunity to re…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Hundreds of my constituents have written to me expressing their desperation and horror at the hellish scenes coming out of Gaza, so I speak here on their behalf. It is clear that the Israeli Government aspire to wipe Palestine off the map, as they expand their settlement ambitions with impunity. The…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
4 June 2025
Regional Growth
The Chief Secretary rightly says that stronger transport links are crucial for creating opportunities for jobs and economic growth, and it is great to see so many happy Labour MPs in the Chamber. I heard what the Minister said to my hon. Friend the Member for St Albans (Daisy Cooper) about being pat…
Commons
Debate
3 June 2025
13 contributions
Dementia Care
I beg to move,
That this House has considered dementia care.
I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting time for this important debate and Members for supporting it, as well as the charities and organisations that have provided material. Dementia is undoubtedly one of the most urgent he…
I thank the hon. Member for her contribution, and I agree that community groups such as the one around the Yealm are vital in caring for people with dementia.
Devon as a whole is falling worryingly behind. As of March 2025, our county’s dementia diagnosis rate stands well below the national average…
+11 more contributions in this session
Commons
Oral Questions
3 June 2025
2 contributions
Prisons: Rehabilitation
24. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of increasing support for rehabilitation programmes.
The former chief inspector of prisons said that LandWorks in my constituency
“provides one of the best examples in the country of how we can reduce reoffending, turn lives around and prevent future victims.”
Its reoffending rate is just 6%. The Government have announced £2.3 billion towards prison…
Commons
Debate
2 June 2025
Bus Services (No. 2) Bill [Lords]
Buses are often seen as a service for the elderly, and they are vital for older residents, especially in rural areas where isolation poses a serious threat to health. Buses can be a social lifeline, but in those rural communities they are also a vital connection to education, healthcare and work. Th…
Commons
Debate
22 May 2025
Access to NHS Dentistry
NHS dentistry is in crisis, and South Devon is no exception. According to the Nuffield Trust, it is now at
“its most perilous point in its 75-year history.”
Parents are pulling out their children’s teeth at home. Pensioners are travelling abroad for basic dental treatment. Hundreds of people in th…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
22 May 2025
Independent Sentencing Review
The national average reoffending rate for people who have done a short-term sentence is 54%. Among those who graduate from a prisoner rehabilitation programme in my constituency, the average reoffending rate is just 6%—and the programme is still in touch with every single graduate, after operating f…
Commons
Proceedings
22 May 2025
School Teachers’ Review Body: Recommendations
I think we would all agree that education is the best investment that any Government can make; it raises people out of poverty, improves social mobility and improves health outcomes. Sadly, it was not a priority for the last Government, and I welcome the change in tone from the new Government, altho…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 May 2025
11 contributions
Broadband and Mobile Connectivity: Rural Areas
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stuart. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Frome and East Somerset (Anna Sabine) for securing this debate.
Too many people in South Devon are still being cut off by poor digital infrastructure. Airband promised to deliver, but was allowed t…
I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I totally agree. It is outrageous that a company like Airband is allowed to pick off the easy bits and then walk away when it comes to the more expensive bits of the contract.
In Staverton, most residents have no mobile signal at all. Although mobile pro…
+9 more contributions in this session
Commons
Debate
20 May 2025
Victims and Courts Bill
The hon. Member is talking about the length of time it can take for victims of sexual violence to get over their trauma and seek help. Does he agree that organisations such as Rape Crisis do absolutely vital work in helping survivors of sexual abuse and rape to move past what has happened? Does he a…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
20 May 2025
UK-EU Summit
I welcome the SPS part of yesterday’s agreement, as I am sure will all the farmers of South Devon and those exporting fish and shellfish from Brixham. The Prime Minister may not know the answer to my question, but perhaps one of his Ministers will. Will bivalve molluscs that are fished in grade B wa…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 May 2025
3 contributions
Adoption and Kinship Placements
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Harris. I congratulate my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) on securing this debate and on her excellent speech.
We know that adopted children are often the most traumatised in our society. The abuse, …
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend.
When children like Leo receive the right early help, they are more likely to thrive in school, avoid crisis services and grow into adults who contribute positively to society. Supporting those children gives them a second chance at life, and ultimately it als…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Proceedings
13 May 2025
3 contributions
UK-EU Summit
On that point, it is possibly worth noting that the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) attended only one of 42 European Parliament Fisheries Committee meetings that he could have attended, thereby never speaking up for British interests, and that is potentially why the common fisheries policy wa…
The hon. Member talks about people losing their trust in politics. Does he agree that the promise of £350 million a week to go to the NHS, which was broadcast on the side of a big red bus during the referendum, might have somewhat reduced trust in his party?
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Debate
12 May 2025
Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill
I would like to focus on new clause 21. We can all see that the asylum system is broken and expensive, and the horror of people arriving in a desperate state on small boats is causing division and anger across our country. However, turning to a populist party that throws out soundbites that appeal t…
Commons
Debate
12 May 2025
2 contributions
US-UK Trade Deal: Northern Ireland
The Secretary of State says that free trade is essential for growth. What a shame that the trade across the UK is still so badly affected by us not being part of the customs union. When Labour was in opposition, he called for
“a proper role for Parliament in how trade deals are ratified”,
and argu…
Will the Minister provide reassurance that Members of this House will be given the opportunity to fully scrutinise and vote on the new trade deal with the United States?