The statement made by Matt Hancock, the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 7 March 2023.
What’s being accused here never happened, demonstrating the story is wrong, and showing why such a biased, partial approach to the evidence is a bad mistake, driven by those with a vested interest and an axe to grind.
The right place to consider everything about the pandemic objectively is in the public inquiry.
The comments made on Twitter by Sir Jake Berry, the Conservative MP for Rossendale and Darwen, on 7 March 2023.
This is an absolute disgrace.
Hancock should be dragged to the bar of the House of Commons first thing tomorrow morning to be questioned on this.
The parliamentary question asked by Cat Smith, the Labour MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.
Cat Smith (Lancaster and Fleetwood) (Lab)
6. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the fall in the level of single-parent employment between 2019 and 2022. (903873)
Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Slough) (Lab)
15. What assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the fall in the level of single-parent employment between 2019 and 2022. (903882)
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mims Davies)
We are committed to helping parents to increase their income through work. We have cut the earnings taper on universal credit and increased work allowances, meaning that families are, on average, better off by £1,000 a year. Additionally, eligible parents can claim up to 85% of their childcare costs through UC, and further assistance is available through the flexible support fund, Jobcentre Plus and work coaches.
Cat Smith
On Friday, I visited my local citizens advice bureau at its new offices on George Street in Lancaster, where I heard at first hand of the challenges that single parents are having with the amount of the childcare element of universal credit being capped at the level set in 2005 and with its being paid in arrears. What steps has the Minister taken to ensure that benefits go up in line with the cost of childcare and to look at paying this element up front?
Mims Davies
I thank the hon. Lady for that question. The UC childcare element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and more childcare is required. We also use the flexible support fund to support those up-front costs, as we heard earlier. However, I would like to take this opportunity to talk about employers; this is not solely about what the Government can do on our own to help lone parents. Job design, the opportunity to progress and flexible work are really important too, as is the opportunity to return and progress. We cannot do this on our own.
Mr Dhesi
It is alarming that last year the employment rate for single parents had the biggest annual fall on record, and it is all the more worrying because the single parent employment rate has been on an upward long-term trend since the mid-1990s. Surely the Minister would agree that the eligible cost limit on childcare in universal credit needs to be uprated to reflect the ground reality of today’s soaring childcare costs.
Mims Davies
I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. Under this Government since 2010, we have seen a significant increase in lone parents in work, with the rate going up from 56.1% in 2010 to 65.5% in 2022. However, the reality—and I think he describes it—is that there are too many challenges for lone parents, and it is absolutely right that we look at this. As we have heard from the Secretary of State, we are hoping to hear more: the Chancellor is ever present in our minds. As a lone parent, I again make the plea to employers to help people come back to work, because we know it is more than just a pay packet; it is really important to see the whole of society represented in the labour market.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Ms Karen Buck (Westminster North) (Lab)
Figures published today by the Centre for Progressive Policy show that the lack of affordable childcare prevented a quarter of parents of children under 10 from working more hours, with all the implications that has for family finances, but also for economic productivity. In fact, parental underemployment is estimated to cost this country over £20 billion. With expectations having been raised again this afternoon that next week’s Budget will do something about the cost of childcare, can the Minister tell us how long it will be before she expects the level of lone parent employment to rise again to where it was three years ago?
Mims Davies
I thank the hon. Lady for her question. I think we have some amazing childcare out there and some brilliant opportunities for lone parents, as I have described. It is important to let people know that, on universal credit, they can claim back 85%. It is better than legacy benefits, and they should please look at the benefits calculator on gov.uk and use the flexible support fund. We should also recognise that it is not right for everybody to go straight back to work—this needs to be individualised—and that we should support the lone parent and make sure they can get the skills and the opportunity to always be better off in work.
The parliamentary question asked by Mick Whitley, the Labour MP for Birkenhead, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.
Mick Whitley (Birkenhead) (Lab)
4. What estimate he has made of levels of economic inactivity in towns and cities. (903871)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)
The Office for National Statistics regularly publishes statistics relating to estimates of local inactivity. I have been leading work across Government with a further piece on participation, and the Chancellor and I will shortly be setting out more details of our plans.
Mick Whitley
Some 2.5 million people are economically inactive as a result of long-term illness, and half a million have left the labour market due to ill health since 2019. Does the Secretary of State accept that tackling health inequalities and improving health outcomes in deprived communities such as Birkenhead is essential to achieving equitable economic growth? Can he inform the House what conversations he has had with colleagues across the Cabinet about the need for a holistic economic strategy that recognises that health and wealth are inextricably linked?
Mel Stride
It is important that we take into account the issues of poverty and regional variations to which the hon. Gentleman refers. They lie right at the heart of all the decisions we have taken. We have come forward in recent times with significant cost of living support measures. My hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Mims Davies) will be taking through the remaining stages of the Social Security (Additional Payments) (No. 2) Bill this very afternoon to address the people to whom the hon. Gentleman refers.
Ben Bradley (Mansfield) (Con)
I do not know whether my right hon. Friend saw my article in The Times a few weeks ago, but it discussed opportunities for towns, such as Mansfield, that have specific local requirements when it comes to tackling economic inactivity, the opportunities of building bespoke local schemes with local employers and training providers, and the opportunities from those relationships on a local level as part of a wider strategy within the region. What is his stance on devolving decision-making powers in this space down to local areas?
Mel Stride
My hon. Friend raises a significant and important point. There are areas, particularly around the Work and Health programme, where we have done exactly that. We are engaged in discussions, contingent upon or subsequent to the White Paper that the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities published on levelling up, and in particular with areas such as the west midlands and Greater Manchester, to make sure that we leverage the knowledge, know-how, expertise and all the resources they have at the local level to continue to bring people back into work.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Alison McGovern (Wirral South) (Lab)
It is always a joy at Question Time to hear Labour MPs supporting Labour policy, but even more so to hear Conservative MPs supporting Labour’s policy of localising our efforts to get people back to work. On that, may I ask the Secretary of State something? I have been listening to what he has said, and I know that he will not pre-empt the details of the inactivity review, but can he just confirm that one of its objectives will be to rebalance our economy, particularly in this connection between health and labour supply?
Mel Stride
That is at the heart of our manifesto, Madam Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] Sorry, Mr Speaker! Where did I get that from? It is a sign of the times. Right at the heart of our manifesto, and of the Government’s raison d’être, is the need to make sure that we level up communities across the United Kingdom. Of course, our action will take many forms, but one of them is most certainly the support that we will provide to make sure that, up and down the country, there is equality among those seeking work, and those who are economically inactive, and that they have the same opportunities.
The parliamentary question asked by Patrick Grady, the SNP MP for Glasgow North, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.
Patrick Grady (Glasgow North) (SNP)
2. What assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing the state pension age on trends in the level of pensioner poverty. (903869)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)
My review of the state pension age is under way. The review will consider a wide range of evidence, including two independent reports, to assess whether the rules on pensionable age remain appropriate.
Patrick Grady
I hope that the evidence that the Secretary of State examines includes analysis by Age UK that 1.5 million pre-state pension age households have no savings at all. Age UK warns that accelerating the rise of the state pension age
“will condemn millions to a miserable and impoverished run up to retirement”.
Instead of risking that increase in pensioner poverty, should he not establish an independent pensions and savings commission to ensure that pension policies are fit for purpose and reflect the demographic needs of different parts of the United Kingdom?
Mel Stride
The two reports to which I have just referred are independent—from the Government Actuary’s Department, on matters such as life expectancy; and from Baroness Neville-Rolfe, on the metrics that should be taken into account in determining when the next increase in the state pension age should occur. We certainly take into account issues such as pensioner poverty, on which we have an excellent record. In fact, relative pensioner poverty before housing has halved since 1999, and there are 400,000 fewer pensioners in absolute poverty—that is before or after housing—compared with 2009-10.
Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)
Is it realistic to continue to expect people to spend a third of their lives on a pension?
Mel Stride
I have great respect for my right hon. Friend, but I am afraid that although he tempts me to answer that question, I cannot prejudge the decisions that I will take in the review.
The parliamentary question asked by Simon Baynes, the Conservative MP for Clwyd South, in the House of Commons on 6 March 2023.
Simon Baynes (Clwyd South) (Con)
1. What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of eligible people claiming pension credit. (903868)
The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Mel Stride)
My Department has carried out a comprehensive campaign of communication since April 2022 to promote pension credit. I am pleased to inform the House that the average number of pension credit applications is up 73% compared with this time last year.
Simon Baynes
I strongly backed my right hon. Friend’s campaign in December last year, particularly in my Clwyd South constituency. Will he give us a further assessment of how effective that campaign has been in Wales and across the rest of the UK?
Mel Stride
I congratulate my hon. Friend on the work that he has been doing in his constituency on this matter. I can inform him that for the week commencing 12 December, for example, there were 7,200 claims, which is a 177% increase compared with this time last year.
Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab)
This is not party political; we all want to make sure that pensioners in need get the help and support that they can get. The Secretary of State will understand, though, that in communities such as mine there are still too many pensioners eligible for pension credit who are not yet accessing it. Given the success of his campaign so far, what further will he do to ensure that the really hard-to-reach pensioners get the support that they deserve and need?
Mel Stride
I very much welcome the hon. Gentleman’s question and the non-partisan way in which he presented it. He is absolutely right; there must be no let-up in this matter. Two thirds of those we believe are eligible for pension credit receive it, but that means that one third do not. We cannot identify them precisely in advance, which is why communication is so important. We will write to 11,000 pensioners soon to tell them about the uprating and to stress the point about pension credit. From today, we are launching television advertisements to further that message.
Mr Speaker
I call the shadow Minister.
Matt Rodda (Reading East) (Lab)
The Government seem to be trying to pat themselves on the back after years of failure on pension credit. As we just heard, hundreds of thousands of pensioners are still missing out on a vital top-up benefit that is needed to get them through the cost of living crisis. Why has the Government’s response been so ineffective, and what on earth will the Government do about their dismal failure to help pensioners during their hour of need?
Mel Stride
I am very surprised to hear the hon. Gentleman pose that question, first, because of his party’s record on this matter when they were in government; and secondly, because of the clear progress that I have outlined to the House today and on previous occasions about the increase in take-up that the Government are securing.
The statement made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 6 March 2023.
The UK welcomes the statements today from South Korea and Japan as they seek to resolve sensitive historic issues. We support both our partners in their efforts to form closer ties. Our world can only be stronger and safer when we work together in support of our shared interests and values.
The speech made by Mark Harper, the Secretary of State for Transport, in Newcastle on 6 March 2023.
It’s great to be here in Newcastle, in what is my first visit to the North-East as Transport Secretary. And let me start, first of all, by thanking Martin Tugwell for the invitation.
Transport for the North is a valued partner, a tireless champion of boosting connectivity across the region, both in public and in private. And your conference today will be a reminder, to anyone who needed it, that the success of the UK is increasingly tied to the success of the North of England.
And, to you Lord McLoughlin, or Patrick as I know you better, although frankly for the first large number of years that I knew him, he wasn’t called Patrick, he was called ‘Chief’, as we call the Chief Whip. It was a job he carried out so effectively overseeing party discipline. That it all but guaranteed my attendance here today. There seems to be a theme of former Chief Whips becoming former Transport Secretaries.
Like Patrick, I was part of the government that, almost a decade ago, actually launched the northern powerhouse. The idea that by pooling the region’s talent, leveraging its fantastic academic institutions, and connecting its great urban centres, we wanted to turn individually strong northern cities into a collective unit, that was greater than the sum of its parts.
It was an unashamedly ambitious target. And we knew it wouldn’t happen overnight.
Yet despite the turbulence of recent years – from a global pandemic to now a war on the continent of Europe – there has never been a question of our commitment to the North ever being placed on the backburner, as some have claimed.
In fact, we redoubled our efforts to boost connectivity, accelerate devolution and revive former industrial heartlands into new engines of economic growth.
The spirit of that original mission, which we launched 9 years ago, is still alive today. A fundamental belief that a better connected, well-funded, and strongly represented North of England. isn’t just essential for this region, but for the stronger economy the whole country needs.
We all know the benefits of improved connectivity. The investment it attracts, the jobs it creates and the talent it retains. So even in this tough fiscal climate – where last November, the Chancellor had to make difficult, yet responsible, decisions to restore economic stability – we protected transport infrastructure spending across the North.
Take major roads. Across the region, we’ve invested £2.5 billion in the Strategic Road Network over the past 3years. Including upgrades to the Newcastle-Gateshead Bypass, improvements to the A63 at Castle Street in Hull, and just last year, completing the £110 million A1 Scotswood to North Brunton scheme. These will not just increase safety and connectivity, but reduce congestion, which acts as a drag on our economy.
But we’re also giving people alternatives to the car.
Our National Bus Strategy, and I agree about the importance of buses – around twice as many journeys are made by bus than rail. Our National Bus Strategy transfers greater control over fares and timetables to local authorities, while giving operators the freedom to invest and innovate.
And it’s working. Because not only have I welcomed the North-East’s and North of Tyne’s Bus Service Improvement Plan, today, I can confirm they will receive £118 million this year to deliver improved services for passengers.
Now our commitment to buses stretches across the region, and indeed across the country. Last month, I extended both the Bus Recovery Grant and the £2 Fare Cap, which continues our support for a sector that’s still recovering from the pandemic.
Here in the North-East, we’re also delivering a better railway with services on the East Coast Mainline bouncing back after the pandemic, with LNER the fastest recovering operator over the last 18 months. We’ll soon roll out single-leg pricing for tickets across the LNER network, giving passengers more flexibility in how they travel.
And with the new Azuma Intercity Express Trains having been built in Newton Aycliffe, passengers in the North-East are riding on trains built in the North-East.
But that’s not all. Open access operators such as Lumo are providing greater choice in this city, by making use of extra capacity on the network. And on the Tyne and Wear Metro, passengers will soon ride on a new fleet of modern trains, thanks to an investment of over £300 million from my department.
But today, I am delighted to put right an historic wrong that’s lasted for 60 years. I can confirm we will reopen the Northumberland Line next year, making available the necessary funding that will build 6 new stations across the route. Connecting towns such as Ashington and Blyth to Newcastle, and breathing new economic life into those communities, delivered in partnership with Northumberland Council.
Now, across the North, local leaders have long called for more ambitious rail infrastructure spending, as was touched on – and this government has answered that call.
And I think it’s worth saying that any government has to be honest. Easy promises to get applause at events and conferences like this around the country, are not credible if people don’t have plans to pay for them. Ministers also have a duty to the taxpayer to set out well thought-through, costed promises.
This government is committed £96 billion Integrated Rail Plan that we set out, which will deliver high speed rail to Manchester and transform journeys across the Pennines. And work is already underway. Like between Church Fenton and York, which includes some of the busiest stretches of railway in the North. A combination of electrification, track replacement and modern signalling will lead to faster and more efficient journeys for passengers. Which is part of the major upgrade to the 70-mile Trans-Pennine route. Which is a central government commitment that surpasses what we spent on Crossrail.
However, one thing is obvious. Even with that investment, the single biggest investment since the creation of the railways right here in the North-East. That will be quickly forgotten if operators can’t deliver services aren’t up to scratch.
If passengers are regularly let down by industrial action, as a result of the unions refusing to put reasonable pay offers to their members. The Rail Minister, Huw Merriman and I have made it clear to the relevant Managing Directors that services on Avanti West Coast and Trans-Pennine Express routes must improve. It’s good to see Avanti weekday services are starting to improve, but there is more to do so passengers don’t face unacceptable levels of disruption of the past 9 months.
But also, if trade unions continue to reject pay offers, and refuse to undertake reforms, that are accepted in any modern industry, then it will be impossible to provide consistent and reliable services for passengers. It is not up for debate, about privatisation or nationalisation, it’s about building a modern railway which works as one coherent system in partnership.
Patrick spoke about my George Bradshaw address, and that was about partnership between the state doing that part of the job that it needs to do, and the private sector doing its part to get more passengers back on the railway. It’s about improving the passengers’ experience, and if we don’t do that and get more revenue, that’s the only way we will build a sustainable and long-term railway, which isn’t at the mercy of antiquated working practices that prevent a reliable 7 day a week railway or hold us back from creating resilient infrastructure.
Reform won’t just benefit passengers and freight customers, but also the workforce, who want to be part of a growing and sustainable industry, and it’s only that that can fund the pay rises that they expect. Almost the entire industry recognises the need to move forward, including the TSSA, whose members recently accepted a 5% plus 4% pay offer over 2 years.
It’s a great sadness that the RMT have refused to put that same offer to their members, seemingly intent on thwarting the modernisation of the railways. My message to them is simple: reconsider, a best and final pay offer has been made, your members deserve the final say, let them make that decision in a referendum.
Now, I’ve spoken about what we’re delivering for the North, but just as important are the powers we’re devolving to the North. Over 75% of the region is now covered by devolution deals, including the North-East, which will form a new Mayoral Combined Authority under a single Mayor, and with a £1.4 billion settlement to fund local priorities.
You don’t need to look far to see what a determined and empowered Mayor can achieve. Ben Houchen has revived Teeside International Airport from the brink of closure. And opened the largest freeport in the country, which will attract investment and jobs. What Ben and others are doing across the North is important to me. Not just because as a small and big ‘c’ conservative, I’ve long championed the principle of more power in local hands. But because as a constituency MP in rural Gloucestershire for almost 20 years, I empathise with those who feel that Whitehall doesn’t always understand the transport needs of local communities. It touched on the needs of rural communities, for example, to make sure we’ve got transport that fits our needs.
So whilst central governments must always ensure value for money for the taxpayer, I firmly believe more decisions should be made by local people, in local areas, and for local needs. So, through the Levelling Up Fund and Sustainable Transport Settlements, we’ve made over £3 billion in funding available for regional leaders to transform local transport, according to their priorities. That will lead to upgrades to the Sheffield Supertram, more cycling and walking schemes in the Tees Valley, and better bus routes between Leeds and Wakefield.
But even the idea of a central government pulling the strategic levers from London feels outdated. That’s why we’ve set up Treasury North in Darlington. The National Infrastructure Bank and a Department for Transport office in Leeds, all clear signs that this Government is putting northern people and businesses at the heart of how this country is run.
Finally, let me mention how transport is delivering the sustainable economic recovery the country needs.
The Prime Minister has reiterated our commitment to the 2050 net zero target – both through words and action. We now have departments of state dedicated to net zero, to science and innovation, and in the case of the DfT to transport decarbonisation. It means, right across Cabinet, decisions are being made to drive green growth.
For transport, the source of most emissions is our roads. So, to support the rising popularity of electric vehicles, I’ve announced £56 million in public and industry funding to ensure local authorities can transform the availability of charging infrastructure. And this includes funding for nine local authorities in the North, such as Durham and Sunderland.
We’re cleaning up buses too. The City of York and West Yorkshire authorities will be able to introduce over 30 new British made zero emission buses, thanks to a share of a £25 million investment I announced last week.
However, we cannot overlook the North-East’s critical role in this future of clean travel. Look at what’s happening in Teesside, thanks to DfT funding, its Transport Hub is exploring how we use hydrogen to power some of our heaviest forms of transport.
And industry is taking note, with BP and Protium already announcing plans for large scale green hydrogen production in the area. And with Port Clarence and Wilton International set to be the sites of new Sustainable Aviation Fuel production plants.
This very corner of the country is powering a new green industrial revolution, 200 years after powering the first one.
So, increasing connectivity for the North. Devolving more power to the North. And decarbonising our economy, led by the North. That is our commitment to this region.
And we cannot afford to fail. Because to grow the economy, to deal with the cost of living, and to win the race to net zero: the UK economy must fire on all cylinders.
And it will be this government, led by the first Conservative Prime Minister from a northern constituency for over half a century, armed with a historic electoral mandate from the North, that will build on the foundations laid over the past 9 years, ensuring the North’s best years aren’t consigned to history, but actually lie ahead.
Thank you.
The speech made by Anthony Browne, the Conservative MP for South Cambridgeshire, in the House of Commons on 3 March 2023.
I, too, congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) on bringing forward this private Member’s Bill, and on his birthday as well—hopefully, seeing his Bill pass its Third Reading will be a fantastic birthday present for him. Like my various colleagues, I welcome the scope extension to include tradesmen and their tools, but I will concentrate my comments on the original rural focus of the Bill.
Like my various colleagues, I have a rural constituency; I have many farmers in my constituency, and whenever I ask them what their key concerns are and how we can help, rural crime is always one of their top concerns. Indeed, just at the end of last year, I had a meeting with local farmers in the village of Abington Pigotts, which incidentally has a wonderful pub called the Pig & Abbot. Anyone who is in the area should visit that pub. There were 30 farmers there, and we were talking about rural crime. I did a little poll: I asked, “Who has experienced rural crime in the past year?”, and every single one of those 30 farmers stuck up their hand. Every single one had been a victim of rural crime in the past year.
The police do their best. My hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham mentioned the hard work of the police, and I know they work hard in Cambridgeshire, but it is often very difficult to crack down on rural crime. As my hon. Friend the Member for North West Norfolk (James Wild) mentioned, urban crimes have a 25% higher enforcement rate than rural crimes. That is not just in South Cambridgeshire, obviously, but in all rural areas: when the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution did its big farming survey, 38% of farmers said that they had been victims of rural crime in the past year. Cereal farmers, who make up a large part of my farming community, are the hardest hit, with 51%—more than half—being victims of rural crime. As such, I fully appreciate and support the intent of the Bill.
It is easy for people to dismiss the seriousness of rural crime; it is often seen as something that we do not really need to worry about. Quad bikes and ATVs, which are the focus of the Bill, are often viewed as leisure vehicles by many members of the public—they see advertisements for quad bike adventures, something that can be done in my constituency as well—but for farmers, they are serious working vehicles. Various hon. Friends have mentioned how dependent farmers are on their equipment to make a living. For farmers, those quad bikes and ATVs make them far more efficient when covering large areas; without them, they simply cannot do the work. Many farmers work on very tight margins, and having farm equipment operational makes the difference between making money for the year, enabling them to pay their wages, and losing money. Having proper, working farm equipment is crucial to people’s livelihoods. That is why agricultural machinery theft was reported to be a top priority for the police to tackle in the 2020 rural crime survey.
Quad bikes and ATVs make particularly attractive targets. They are obviously transportable: a thief can load them on to a trailer or a lorry and whisk them away very easily. They often have poor security features that do little to deter those thieves. Their value on the second-hand market has increased recently, making them even more attractive as targets—that is because of the supply chain issues that make it quite difficult to order new ones, as we heard earlier. Currently, it takes three to six months to get a replacement vehicle, which is an incredibly long time for a farmer to cope without vital equipment.
As such, I fully welcome the measures in the Bill to clamp down on this problem: they make a lot of common sense. Cars have had immobilisers on them for over 20 years, and it is time that ATVs and quad bikes followed suit. Immobilisers act as a significant deterrent by making vehicles much harder to steal. As my hon. Friend the Member for Buckingham mentioned, this is not just about making it easier to catch vehicles afterwards, but about deterring the crime in the first place.
A vehicle register also seems like a natural step to take, as better record keeping will help put an end to the grey markets that the criminals tend to operate in. During my research for this speech, I came across the CESAR scheme—the construction and agricultural equipment security and registration scheme—which has a database of ownership and covert markings. That scheme has reported a 60% decline in thefts since it came into operation in 2008, and I hope this Bill will be the catalyst for a similar trend in quad bikes and ATVs.
The Bill will save farmers much aggravation from the fallout and cost of theft. It will be good for police, because it will hopefully reduce the amount of work they have to do, and if there are cases of theft, they will be easier for police to track down and solve. It will also lead to a reduction in insurance premiums over time, which will be incredibly welcome for farmers while energy prices and the cost of living are so high.
This and any Bill that tackles rural crime will always have my wholehearted support. We need to level up our response to crimes committed outside cities. I am glad to see that organisations such as the NFU and the Countryside Alliance, which I know are important in my constituency and elsewhere, fully support the Bill. I support it, and I hope it makes speedy passage through the Lords.
The speech made by Ruth Jones, the Labour MP for Newport West, in the House of Commons on 3 March 2023.
I am pleased to be able to contribute to the debate. I congratulate the hon. Member for Buckingham (Greg Smith) on bringing the Bill forward and wish him a happy birthday— penblwydd hapus.
The Bill introduces a number of solutions to the growing problem of the theft of quad bikes and other all-terrain vehicles. We know from the National Farmers Union that there are between 800 and 1,100 thefts of ATVs every year. Aside from the financial cost, which is bad enough, there is the issue of the physical replacement of these vehicles. That can take months and hampers the vital work that farmers do to feed us and provide other important things for our country; I am thinking especially of the hill farmers in north Wales, who are very hard hit by the theft of these sorts of vehicles.
The introduction of these common-sense solutions—immobilisers, forensic marking and the setting up of a registration database—is so sensible. At the risk of incurring Mr Deputy Speaker’s wrath, I make a plea for the use of SmartWater, which is so important for not just farm vehicles but all items, to discourage and deter thefts and enable the police to return stolen items to their rightful owners very quickly. Forensic marking is so important.
I do not mean to detain the House for too long. I am sure Members from across the House will join me in thanking the hon. Member for Buckingham for bringing this positive and proactive piece of legislation before the House today.