Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
9 March 2026
Support for NEET Young People
MYTIME Young Carers in Dorset works to identify and support young people with caring responsibilities, as without information on their whereabouts, it is hard to target them for initiatives. In a recent national youth voice survey, one in three young carers aged 16 to 18 reported that they were not …
Commons
Debate
4 March 2026
Ministry of Defence
Does the Chair of the Defence Committee share my concern that our continued reduction in numbers in the armed forces potentially undermines our ability to maintain our NATO commitments? Does he also share my concern about the huge numbers of people interested in joining the armed forces and the sign…
Commons
Oral Questions
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
3 March 2026
Topical Questions
T10. Last week, the BBC reported the death of Palestinian child Jad Jadallah, shot in a west bank refugee camp while Israeli soldiers watched him bleed to death. Violence against children is increasing around the world, including in Ukraine, Sudan and now Iran. What diplomatic action is the Foreign …
Commons
Ministerial Statement
2 March 2026
Middle East
I want to go back to the original attacks. Last year, Trump told us that he was attacking Iran to destroy any possibility of it getting a nuclear weapon, and told us afterwards that he had “obliterated” the threat for years to come. Given that was the justification for the attacks last week, and now…
Commons
Oral Questions
Education
2 March 2026
School SEND Provision
Unlike maintained schools, independent special educational needs settings are not required to respond to consultation requests from local authorities, leading to long delays, children being out of school for extended periods, and conflict when parents believe that their children are not in the right…
Commons
Debate
23 February 2026
Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
I welcome the language of “belonging”, particularly as the parent of a SEND child who once said to me, “They don’t want me here, do they, mum?” before he was put in specialist provision. We cannot have a broader and more inclusive curriculum if schools are facing cuts, and two of my local schools—Qu…
Commons
Debate
11 February 2026
2 contributions
Police Grant Report
I want to follow on from the hon. Member for Bournemouth East (Tom Hayes) in asking the Policing Minister again: would you agree that it is about time we got—
I can only apologise, Madam Chair. Would my hon. Friend agree that the Policing Minister is long overdue in replying to the calls from Dorset MPs and the police and crime commissioner in November last year to look at the seasonality issue, because we simply cannot go on?
Commons
Oral Questions
10 February 2026
Topical Questions
T7. Much of Dorset is blessed with solid-wall, thatched cottages—you must visit, Mr Speaker. That includes our National Trust village of Shapwick, where Slate cottage sat empty for two years because it would cost £100,000 to bring it up to the minimum energy efficiency standards, and the National Tr…
Commons
Oral Questions
Home Department
9 February 2026
Violence against Women and Girls Strategy
The child maintenance system is being used, as the Minister knows, to abuse women after they have left their relationship. One of my constituents lost her home after she was manipulated into selling it. Her ex-partner put the money into a joint account, and he then bought a new house in his own name…
Commons
Debate
4 February 2026
Lord Mandelson
Does the hon. Member agree that potentially every single working person, retired person and child in this country has paid the price for what Mandelson did? If he did indeed share information relating to the financial crash, it has cost everyone a fortune and he owes everyone in this country an apol…
Commons
Debate
2 February 2026
US Department of Justice Release of Files
The actions of Peter Mandelson are a disgrace, and I support the proposals to remove him without delay, but he is not the only British person implicated in the appalling Epstein files. What are the Government doing to ensure that all those linked to Mandelson, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor and any poli…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Prison Capacity: Annual Statement
Almost one in six of the prison population is on remand, and more than 2,500, which is the population of all three prisons in Dorset plus the prison in Wiltshire, have been on remand for more than the custody time limit, including my constituent Liam. Many of them are not a flight or reoffending ris…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
29 January 2026
Business of the House
Storm Chandra has left the south-west in havoc, including deep flooding in Dorset, with routes blocked, villages cut off and even part of our historic Wimborne Minster underwater. Some residents have suggested that blocked drains are the cause, but the best flushed gullies would not cope. I welcome …
Commons
Oral Questions
Business and Trade
29 January 2026
Modern Industrial Strategy
There is only one rebar mill in the UK—in Cardiff—and it can make enough to meet only a small portion of our needs, which means that we are reliant on imports. Even if we open a new facility, we will not have enough capacity for things like the rail projects and the 1.5 million new homes. The ending…
Commons
Debate
28 January 2026
2 contributions
Education Funding: Distribution
I got some data this week that told me that our local authorities are spending £60,000 a child extra on independent special schools versus maintained special schools. In the south-west of England, only one third of children can go to state maintained schools. Does my hon. Friend agree that as school…
A few weeks ago, I raised some of these very excessive charges, although I had a bit of pushback from some residents saying, “My child needs this very expensive school.” Can the Minister confirm whether the Government are looking at companies that are coming in and making profit at the expense of ou…
Commons
Oral Questions
Women and Equalities
28 January 2026
Access to Work: People with Disabilities
My constituent Becky relies on Access to Work, but her application was denied and it has taken eight months just to receive an acknowledgement of her complaint to the Independent Case Examiner. We cannot progress an ombudsman claim until that is dealt with. What is the Department for Work and Pensio…
Commons
Debate
26 January 2026
3 contributions
Armed Forces Bill
I am absolutely honoured to follow the hon. Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin). I am pleased to see this Bill seek to fill the gaps in the armed forces covenant. I should declare a personal interest as my husband Paul is a Royal Navy veteran, my daughter Abbi is a current Army reservist, I …
I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I have met service children as I have visited my schools, and I always pay special attention to the service they are giving through their parents being away.
It is not just in education; we know that dentistry is in crisis, and Dorset has often been men…
+1 more contribution in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
26 January 2026
Police Reform White Paper
I welcome the commitment to police funding reform. Dorset is the second worst funded police force in the country and has a much higher proportion of local funding, with 50% funded by the precept. Dorset MPs and the police and crime commissioner wrote to the Home Secretary in November, and we want to…
Commons
Oral Questions
Work and Pensions
26 January 2026
Post-16 Education
Samee is a charity working in Dorset to support disabled young adults into self-employment. It has celebrated 10 years and supported 2,700 people, and it has what it tells me is the world’s only supported self-employed internship. Young people who have learning disabilities have great skills for sel…
Commons
Ministerial Statement
21 January 2026
Warm Homes Plan
I particularly welcome the investment in low-cost loans for solar panels, which will really boost jobs. However, the grid is not currently resilient enough to cope when our electric vehicle cars are providing microgeneration and, as the rays become more efficient, hit the target for distribution net…
Commons
Westminster Hall
21 January 2026
2 contributions
Animal Welfare Strategy for England
I thank the hon. Member for South Derbyshire (Samantha Niblett) for securing this fantastic debate. My inbox is regularly more full of animal welfare issues than anything else. I have been contacted by residents such as Becky Wood, who invited me to her home to visit her rehomed donkeys and chickens…
I have to say that that makes me feel a little queasy, but perhaps I will push my own boundaries.
Living on the edge of the countryside, seeing cows and sheep is an everyday occurrence that helps us to understand where our food comes from, and we are all used to mammals in our homes. Fish and sea c…
Commons
Westminster Hall
20 January 2026
ADHD Diagnosis
I think my hon. Friend would agree that the Minister needs to hear that in places such as Dorset whole conditions are being ignored. We have the same situation as Suffolk; shared care agreements for ADHD, bariatric services, eating disorders and gender dysphoria are being cancelled, and whole cohort…
Commons
Oral Questions
20 January 2026
Gaza and the West Bank: Humanitarian Situation
The irony, of course, is that we already have a board of peace, and it is called the UN, but President Trump is undermining it at every step. Five days ago, a group of 22 UN experts deemed the ban on international NGOs to be
“part of a systematic assault on humanitarian operations…and another step …
Commons
Debate
19 January 2026
7 contributions
Disclosure and Barring Service
I am pleased to have secured this debate on the Disclosure and Barring Service. It is my hope that I can shine a light on some of the shortcomings of the current system and that the Minister will consider my proposed improvements so we can help families protect their loved ones, reduce the burden on…
The hon. Gentleman is exactly right: assumptions are being made around the country. As the mother of four children, I assumed, as I dropped off my children, that everybody had to be DBS checked. The idea that that is not strictly the case fills me with dread. When I talked to the people from the Cam…
+5 more contributions in this session
Commons
Ministerial Statement
19 January 2026
Arctic Security
President Trump questioned the Danish right of ownership of Greenland, saying:
“There are no written documents, it’s only a boat that landed there hundreds of years ago”.
Although Trump may today be challenging Greenland, on that basis, what assurance can the Foreign Secretary give that our overse…