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Tag: Speeches

  • Dominic Raab – 2023 Statement on Family Law – Dispute Resolution and Mediation

    Dominic Raab – 2023 Statement on Family Law – Dispute Resolution and Mediation

    The statement made by Dominic Raab, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    Today the Government are launching a consultation that will inform proposals to support more families, in appropriate cases, to agree their children and financial arrangements without court involvement.

    Family courts are under unprecedented pressure. In recent years, more families than ever before are applying to the court to resolve their disputes about children and financial matters, and once at court their cases are taking longer to be resolved. We believe that many of these disputes can be successfully resolved outside of court, and that in supporting this we can spare families, and especially children, the anguish of protracted litigation. Resolving more disputes outside of court will also help enable the courts to focus available resource on the cases that need to be there, including where domestic abuse is evidenced or there are urgent issues, and ensure these are resolved swiftly. This will help us to deliver on the levelling-up agenda by ensuring we improve the experience of parents across the country, including the most deprived areas.

    Key proposals in the consultation include:

    Supporting parents to resolve their children and financial arrangements without court involvement:

    We propose to strengthen access to resources and guidance for parents/carers and separating couples, and seek views on requiring parents/carers, in appropriate cases, to attend a co-parenting programme alongside mediation to help them better understand their family’s options.

    Resolving private family law arrangements through mediation:

    We propose to introduce a requirement, in appropriate cases, to make a reasonable attempt to mediate before applying to court. We are seeking views on how this could operate, and the circumstances that should make an individual or family exempt from the requirement. We propose that Government would fund the cost of this mediation for child arrangement cases and seek views on the funding of mediation for finance cases.

    Accountability and costs in court proceedings:

    We are also consulting on how costs orders could be used by the family courts to enforce requirements to mediate and discourage unnecessary prolonging of court proceedings.

    The consultation also seeks views on the impact these proposals may have on the mediation sector, and the role of other forms of dispute resolution in family cases.

    We want to hear from a range of people with experience of the private family law system, including families with experience of family courts, the organisations that work to support them, and the professionals who work within the system sector. We will be holding a number of stake- holder engagement events to ensure we receive detailed responses from a wide range of people and organisations.

    The consultation is available at: https://consult.justice.gov.uk/

    The consultation closes on 15 June 2023.

  • Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    Kevin Hollinrake – 2023 Statement on Post Office Horizon Compensation

    The statement made by Kevin Hollinrake, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Business and Trade, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    The Post Office Horizon scandal, which began over 20 years ago, has had a devastating impact on the lives of many postmasters. Starting in the late 1990s, the Post Office began installing Horizon accounting software, but faults in the software led to shortfalls in branches’ accounts. The Post Office demanded sub-postmasters cover the shortfalls, and in many cases wrongfully prosecuted them for false accounting or theft.

    The High Court group litigation order case against the Post Office brought by 555 postmasters exposed the scandal. The House will know that Sir Wyn Williams is now chairing a statutory inquiry to establish what went wrong and identify those who were responsible for what has happened.

    The settlement of the High Court case ensured that postmasters who had not been party to it would receive proper compensation through what is now the historical shortfall scheme. However, group litigation order postmasters had much of their compensation taken up by the associated costs of funding their case and they were ineligible to access further compensation through the historical shortfall scheme. This meant that they received less than those in similar circumstances who were not party to the case. Government have agreed to run an additional compensation scheme to put this right and to allow group litigation order postmasters to access similar compensation as that available to their historical shortfall scheme peers in similar circumstances.

    On 7 December the then Secretary of State announced the outline of the scheme. Since then, a great deal of work has been done to finalise the details, drawing on helpful input from the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance and claimants’ legal representatives as well as utilising lessons learned from the historical shortfall scheme and compensation for those with Overturned Historical Convictions. On 10 February the Government published a tariff (agreed with claimants’ lawyers) for reasonable legal fees and a registration form.

    In December we announced an independent advisory board on the scheme chaired by Professor Christopher Hodges and includes Lord Arbuthnot, Professor Richard Moorhead and the right hon. Member for North Durham (Mr Jones), all of whom have long been distinguished campaigners for postmasters. I am pleased to report that the advisory board has met three times, and reports of its meetings are on gov.uk.

    We also said that we would follow an alternative dispute resolution model delivered by the Government. I can report today that we have appointed Dentons as our independent claims facilitators. Its role will be to promote fair and prompt resolutions of each case. We have also appointed Addleshaw Goddard to act as my Department’s external legal advisers on the scheme. They will take a collaborative approach, ensuring that there is no place for aggressive litigation in resolving claims.

    I am delighted to tell the House that the scheme is open to receive claims from today. Details of how to submit claims can be found on gov.uk. Our legal powers to pay compensation run out in August 2024, but we certainly hope to make payments much faster than that. As the then Secretary of State told the House in December, we hope that most cases can be resolved before the end of 2023. I am placing documentation on the scheme in the Library of the House.

    I am further pleased to report that the statutory instrument exempting group litigation order compensation from income tax, national insurance contributions and capital gains tax was laid before the Commons on 23 February and came into force on 16 March.

    Historical Shortfall Scheme

    I am also pleased to provide an update on Post Office’s progress in delivering compensation to those in the historical shortfall scheme. I am pleased to see the progress that Post Office has made in delivering compensation to post- masters. As of 21 March, 98% of eligible claimants have been issued offers of compensation, totalling £90.2m. Post Office is working to issue offers to remaining claimants as soon as possible.

    Post Office has also received 231 late claims to date, with 15 offers issued so far.

    I also recognise the concerns that have been raised in recent weeks around the tax position of claimants in the historical shortfall scheme. It has always been the intention of the scheme to return postmasters to the position they should have been in had they not been affected by the Horizon issues. The Government want to see fair compensation for all victims and my Department is working urgently to address this issue with the Post Office, HM Treasury and HMRC.

    Overturned Historical Convictions

    I am also pleased to provide an update on Post Office’s progress in delivering compensation to those with overturned historical convictions.

    As of 20 March, Post Office had paid out over £17.6m in compensation. 79 of the 84 postmasters with overturned historical convictions had received interim payments, totalling over £10.2m. Post Office has reached full and final settlement with 4 postmasters. In order to deliver compensation as quickly as possible, Post Office is handling non-pecuniary and pecuniary claims separately.

    A further 63 non-pecuniary claims had been received, of which all but three had received offers. 49 of these had been paid and settled, with one more claim paid, subject to settlement paperwork, which will bring the total to 50, once received.

    In addition to the four full and final settlements, Post Office had made pecuniary settlement offers to four of the nine postmasters who had submitted a pecuniary claim.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Vaisakhi Message

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Vaisakhi Message

    The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 14 April 2023.

    I want to wish Sikhs across the UK and around the world a very happy Vaisakhi.

    You make an incredible contribution to national life. From the heroes of both world wars to those working in the modern-day NHS, Sikhs have played a huge role in making Britain what it is today.

    As your PM I thank you for everything you do, and whether celebrating this auspicious occasion at your local Gurdwara or at home with loved ones, I hope you have a wonderful day.

    Saareya nu Vaisakhi diyan lakh lakh vadhaiyan!

  • Chris Philp – 2023 Speech on Reducing Unnecessary Red Tape

    Chris Philp – 2023 Speech on Reducing Unnecessary Red Tape

    The speech made by Chris Philp, the Minister for Crime and Policing, on 13 April 2023.

    Good morning everyone.

    Thank you for attending today. It’s a great pleasure to see everyone here. Let me start by saying a huge thank you to everyone in policing, those here with us today and frontline officers up and down the country for the work they do on the daily basis to keep us and our families safe.

    We rely on the police to protect us, support us, to enforce our laws and help secure justice when those laws are broken.

    Officers place themselves in the way of danger to discharge their duties. The work they do is extremely important. Without it the foundation of our society would crumble. We owe thanks to the men and women up and down the country devoted to their mission of fighting crime and keeping their communities safe.

    And speaking of numbers, we’re going to have an announcement I think in a couple of weeks on the 26th of April, getting the results of the Police Uplift Programme – the plan to hire an extra 20,000 officers. While we don’t have the final figures yet, I am fairly confident when those figures are announced, we’ll have more police officers in England and Wales than we have at any time in our country’s history.

    And that is something only we can be enormously proud of. All of us that have worked on that mission together, I think can be enormously proud of as well, so keep 26th April marked in your diaries. That will be a huge announcement for policing and the law enforcement community. I know the Prime Minister and Home Secretary will be doing lots of work around the announcement but keep an eye out because it’ll be fantastic culmination of what’s been an incredible programme between the Home Office and policing.

    Now policing in a job like no other. Difficult, often dangerous, always pressurised. The work matters.

    One minute officers could be racing to the scene of an emergency, the next visiting a victim of burglary. One of the great privileges of my role as policing minister is seeing first-hand the incredible work they do. As Gavin [Chief Constable Gavin Stephens] said in his opening comments, fantastic officers across the country go above and beyond the call of duty. Who run towards danger when others run away, who give everything to help others.

    My respect and admiration for these officers is unlimited.

    I also want to see those same officers use their time on the things they are good at and trained for, and indeed the things they want to do. Protecting the public, supporting victims and preventing crime.

    First of all, as Policing Minister I want to make sure we clear away any obstacles that get in the way of police officers focusing on the things that matter to them and to our communities, which means cutting down on red tape which so often gets in the way of real police work.

    Whatever their values, police officers are driven by a desire to protect the public and catch criminals. But they can’t do that if they are spending hours putting excessive information into computers. We have processes to ensure proper records are kept. But those can’t go too far, and I’ll say a little more about our plans in a moment.

    Secondly, I’m also clear the police should not be a stopgap for other agencies. Police officers are of course often first responders, problem solvers and investigators, but they are not for example, mental health specialists. In my view the police should not be expected to fill in for other emergency services where there is no risk to life or safety and where no criminal offence has been committed.

    I want to talk about the plans we have to reform the way mental health cases are handled to ensure policing spend time protecting the public, not on work better done by other agencies.

    I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alan Pughsley, former Chief Constable of Kent, who is leading piece of work on police productivity. The counting rules I will talk about, the mental health work is part of this, but there is more to come.

    I’d like to thank Alan for this work to ensure the police will spend as much of their time as possible fighting crime and catching criminals affecting the public, not on other activity that is bureaucratic or a distraction. So, Alan thank you for your work leading on that area.

    Now let me start substantively talking about the Home Office counting rules. This is an area of the criminal justice system, outside policing, not many people are familiar with, but they are rules which specify what the police have to record in detail as criminal offences.

    Now clearly, it’s vital that accurate records are kept, but concerns have been brought to me as policing minister over the last few months that the rules developed over time have become excessively bureaucratic and compel the police to record the same reports of crime under multiple records, creating huge amounts of data entry duplication, which is preventing them being on the streets looking after the public where they belong.

    Chris Rowley, the Chief Constable of Lancashire very kindly agreed, well I assume he agreed rather than being compelled, to look into this and provide a series of recommendations. Chris came up with these recommendations a few weeks ago and we have accepted in full and this morning we are formally announcing that.

    One of his recommendations is that we cease the requirement for police to create separate crime records when there is more than one crime in a particular report or account that a victim has passed to the police.

    All of those other crimes will still get recorded on the incident record so we can prosecute and investigate them. We don’t really need to create multiple criminal records when there is only one report or incident. So, we’re going to revert the principal crime rule for all crime which was the case until relatively recently in 2017. We are also removing the requirement to record minor public order offences where no victim has been identified or when the police turn up, there is nothing to see.

    Of course, that will still be recorded as an incident, and used for intelligence purposes, but creating a whole new crime record where this is no victim and nothing when the police turn up is taking up a lot of time which could be better spent catching criminals.

    We are also making clear frivolous allegations of criminal offences should not be recorded as a criminal offence unless a criminal threshold has clearly been met. We don’t think being rude or insulting is a police matter. Officers are not the thought police. And where something is reported and it doesn’t meet that clear criminal threshold, we don’t want that being investigated or to be recorded as a crime, we don’t want to waste police time on that kind of thing. We will very shortly be publishing guidance clarifying where that threshold should sit.

    So, what’s the impact of the changes I have described? What is the impact on policing? Well, the NPCC, the National Police Chiefs Council, have done some sums on this, and they have calculated that making the changes I have described will save 443,000 hours of police time each year. Almost half a million hours of police time. Instead of being spent filling in forms and bureaucracy, they will be spent catching criminals and supporting victims.

    This is an enormous impact the public and policing will welcome. I want to see these changes implemented as soon as possible. Nothing annoys me more than government processes taking months and months or years and years. So, I have pressed colleagues to get this done fast. We should actually be able to get these changes rolled out next month. The changes I have described will take practical effect just a few weeks from today.

    We’re not going to stop there. I would like to go further and there will be a second phase to the work on counting rules which I hope Chris is willing to continue working on. We will look at various other things like the National Standards for Incident Recording for example and the way that the outcomes of investigations are recorded. I think currently there is 20 or 30 ways the outcomes of investigations are recorded. So, we are going to see if we can go further and lift the burden off the shoulders of policing, because we want to see police chasing criminals, not paperwork.

    So, Chris, Alan, thank you again for the work you’re doing on this over the last few months. As a return on a few months’ work, saving half a million hours of police time, every year, forever, is a pretty good return on investment.

    So, Chris I want to say thank you very much for everything you have done.

    Now secondly one of the other areas brought to my attention shortly after being appointed Policing Minister a few months ago was the demand mental health places on police time. This was raised by people from Mark Rowley of the Met to frontline emergency response officers in Croydon, which is the borough I represent in Parliament.

    Everyone was raising this as a concern. The concern was cases that were basically medical, a mental health crisis, where there was no threat to life or safety, either to the individual themselves or the public more widely, were getting passed to policing, rather than being dealt with as a medical or social services incident and taking up a huge amount of police time.

    Turns out there has been some fantastic work done on this in Humberside to define more appropriately who deals with what incident, which also benefits the individual. If someone is having a mental health crisis, it’s not really that helpful to have a police officer turn up without medical support.

    In Humberside, led by Chief Constable Lee Freeman – who I initially just discovered was initiated by Chris when he was Chief Constable beforehand. It’s called “Right Care Right Person”.

    Humberside Police estimated that just in their force area alone, it’s saving something like 15,000 hours a year, just in Humberside, which is actually a small police force.

    They have done this in partnership with the local NHS, the local ambulance trust and local authorities.

    The concept here is we will apply nationally across the whole country via a National Partnership Agreement.

    My colleagues at DHSC, the ministers over there, have embraced this concept enthusiastically which is good news and we are hoping the National Partnership Agreement between policing, the Home Office, the NHS, the Ambulance Trust and the Department of Health and Social Care will be in place and ready to be rolled out in the coming months.

    Well, it says here in the coming months, but I’m hoping by the summer we’ll be in a position to get this done. Let’s show a sense of urgency. Because again, that’s going to really help the individuals suffering from mental health crises, as well as save enormous amounts of police time that could be better spent protecting the public.

    So once again, thanks to Alan, to the NPCC, the APCC as well, for the work they’ve been doing in developing that model. I think it can make a real difference.

    And that is a good moment, I think, to also thank police and crime commissioners, who I know have been working extremely hard on these topics. I can see Donna Jones from Hampshire; I can see Roger, my good friend from Essex. I know you have been putting a lot into this as well.

    And this partnership between the Home Office, policing and police and crime commissioners I think makes these kind of reforms really work. So, a big thank you for what you’ve been doing as well.

    Now the third area, where I think there is an opportunity to do more is the way the wider criminal justice system functions.

    Now, I mean partly getting cases heard more quickly before the crown court, which is recovering still from COVID and the barristers’ strike last year, but it also means getting cases charged a lot more quickly.

    And there has been a very effective pilot run in I think Cheshire, Merseyside and Wales, where the most urgent cases have had charging decisions made by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in a matter of a few hours. Which is a big step forward from where it’s been in the past. And I’m delighted to say the Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill, has agreed to roll that out nationally – I think by the end of the year. So that will give us a huge benefit in terms of getting charging done more quickly.

    But I think there is a lot more we can do, in terms of getting our cases well prepared and sent to the CPS in good condition. I think we can probably improve a bit.

    Some forces, like Cambridgeshire, have got a really good dedicated criminal justice unit, who help frontline officers get their cases prepared and sent to the CPS. They have got the highest case file success rate in the country. I think there may be a case to work with police forces to see if we can do a little bit more in that area.

    But I also want to see changes made that will reduce some of the other burdens on policing, around for example redactions, where case files have to be redacted prior to sharing with the CPS.

    We’re looking at ways of making legislative amendments, via the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, to either reduce or in some cases remove the redaction requirements on policing before case files are shared with the CPS, prior to a charge decision. And then perhaps reduce, but not eliminate, the redaction required before cases are then passed to barristers, solicitors and the courts.

    And if we are successful in doing that, again that could save hundreds of thousands of hours of police time each year that could instead be spent chasing criminals.

    And all of those things, the mental health work I mentioned, the work we’re doing together with the Director of Public Prosecutions and the CPS, it is all in addition to the 443,000 hours of police time saved by the announcements being made today.

    So, I think all of those initiatives have enormous potential to free up police time for the frontline. It is all very well hiring extra officers but we have got to make sure their time is well spent protecting the public.

    Now before I finish, I would like to say a word about ethics, integrity and standards.

    We have clearly had quite a lot of public commentary on this over the last few weeks and the last few months. We had the Casey Report into the Met just a few weeks ago, which makes for very sobering reading for those of us that are involved in policing.

    It is quite clear we have more work to do to earn and retain the trust of the public, which is a critical prerequisite of protecting the public. As Robert Peel said 150 years ago, without public confidence policing cannot do its job.

    So, we’re working in the Home Office very closely with the policing community to make sure Her Majesty’s Inspectorate’s 43 recommendations on vetting are being implemented. And Andy Cooke, the chief inspector is going to make sure those are indeed being implemented in the coming months.

    We’re making sure that police officers are being checked against the Police National Database to identify anyone else who should not be serving as an officer. And the College of Policing, I can see Andy Marsh is here I think – Andy’s there – is working with us on some new statutory guidelines on vetting. I think those are out for consultation, or the consultation may just have closed at the moment.

    But in addition to that, we in the Home Office have committed to review the rules around police officer dismissal.

    Because a point that Mark Rowley and others have made is that chief officers cannot run their forces well, effectively cannot root out misconduct, if they cannot control effectively who is in their force.

    The rules around dismissals are quite a convoluted. Misconduct cases involve legally qualified chairs, who have the final say. And the process for poor performance is extremely convoluted. It is also very difficult to remove an officer who fails vetting once they have gone through their probationary period.

    So, we initiated a process to review those rules. That will conclude in the next few weeks. And I anticipate making announcements probably in middle to late May, where we will propose some changes to address the issues I have just referred to.

    It is vital that chief officers have the powers they need to run their forces and make sure that only officers who deserve to serve in uniform are able to do so.

    And I am very confident, you can take the steps I’ve described, if chiefs officers show the leadership I know they are committed to showing and if officers from the frontline to the top embrace the changes that are needed, I know we will earn the right to have the public’s confidence.

    It has been shaken somewhat recently but I know it can be restored. I am completely confident that it will be restored. And by working together, I know that we’re going to do that.

    Thank you to everyone here who has already made a contribution to that work. I think it is critical not just to restore and maintain policing’s reputation but it is also critical prerequisite of protecting the public as well.

    Let me just finish by saying that I think the work we have done here on these issues, around the bureaucracy that we are getting rid of, the work on mental health, the work we are doing with the CPS, is a really good example of government working together with policing, working together with police and crime commissioners, to ensure the public are protected.

    I have found it, just speaking personally, an enormously rewarding and highly motivating process these last few months. It shows that we can deliver, if we work together very quickly, in a matter of weeks or months, not years. None of us want to see these changes taking ages.

    And I feel that we are really making a difference for the public in the work that we are doing. And if we continue to work together in this way, recruiting more police officers, getting rid of bureaucratic distractions, focusing on higher standards, getting back to common-sense policing, protecting the public, prosecuting criminals and supporting victims, I know we’re going to make a criminal justice system and a police force we can all be proud of.

    So let me just finish by saying again, a huge thank you to everybody here and in police forces up and down the country who do such incredible work to keep out communities safe. Thank you for what you’ve done so far and thank you for, more importantly, what we are going to do in the future.

  • Andrew Griffith – 2023 Speech to the Lord Mayor’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Summit

    Andrew Griffith – 2023 Speech to the Lord Mayor’s Financial Literacy and Inclusion Summit

    The speech made by Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, at the Mansion House in London on 12 April 2023.

    Good afternoon and thank you Lee for that introduction.

    It’s good to be here today to discuss this vitally important topic – and thank you Lord Mayor for everything you have done in a short number of months.

    On this and on other aspects of our financial services you have been banging the drum for the City of London so loudly that I’m sure it has left our competitor countries ears ringing.

    Not that, of course, we want that.

    But we do live in a globally competitive world, and, frankly, I want us to come out on top.

    Like you, I want us to be the most innovative, most international and most business-friendly economy anywhere in the world.

    I want us to prioritise growth, risk taking and wealth creation and to celebrate it for the moral good that it is.

    And as we chart our way forward in these uncertain times but with the agility of being able to make our own rules for the first time in decades, it has never been more important that financial services are at the heart of those efforts.

    That is certainly the objective that I, the Chancellor and the Prime Minister all share for the sector.

    Your theme today is Financial Literacy and Inclusion. How we ensure that financial services deliver for everyone.

    Bank accounts, the ability to borrow, a pension, savings, insurance, or the use of financial technology offer enormous benefits to their users.

    They create ladders of opportunity, the ability to transfer wealth over a lifetime, the chance to provide for our longevity or infirmity or they can shield us from some of the adverse events that life can throw at us.

    So, it is important that we do everything possible to ensure no one is excluded – whether through lack of understanding or lack of access – from financial products which could help them succeed in life.

    We can only do this by working together. You know that. It is why we are all here today.

    But let me address myself particularly to the role of government and what specifically we can do to support financial inclusion.

    I believe there are four things.

    First, we can intervene directly to help those who do end up excluded in some way.

    Second, when legislating, we can design regulations that are proportionate. Regulations that are mindful of the very real potential unintended consequences for financial inclusion.

    Third, we can support financial literacy.

    And fourth, we can create the environment in which innovators can bring forward new products that overcome financial exclusion.

    Let me take each in turn.

    On the first, I would humbly say that, although there is always more to do, this government is doing more than any of its predecessors.

    We are continuing to maintain record levels of funding towards free-to-client debt advice provision in England via the Money and Pensions Advice Service bringing their budget this year to £93 million.

    We have legislated so that every single person in this country must be able to open a fee-free bank account if they wish to.

    There are more than 7 million of these accounts open today and something we should all be proud of is that more than 70,000 Ukrainian refugees in the UK have been helped to open one of these accounts over the last year.

    Meanwhile, the Age Agreement, signed by the Treasury, the ABI and BIBA, helps older consumers who struggle to access motor and travel insurance by signposting them to appropriate insurers.

    Originally signed in 2012, I’m pleased to say it will be renewed this year to continue supporting older consumers.

    One of the largest interventions we have made is to support affordable credit.

    We’ve given £100 million of dormant assets funding to Fair4All Finance to support their work on financial inclusion, on top of a further £45 million of dormant assets funding to the organisation to address the cost of living.

    We’ve even provided Fair4All Finance with £3.8m of funding to pilot an entirely No-interest Loans Scheme.

    And this isn’t the only work being delivered through dormant assets. DCMS recently consulted on another tranche of dormant assets funding, worth an estimated £738 million over time.

    In its response, the government confirmed that youth, financial inclusion and social investment would continue as causes under the scheme.

    As the Minister responsible for financial capability, I look forward to working with DCMS in exploring how building financial education and capability can be supported in the future as an additional aspect within the financial inclusion cause.

    Finally, at the recent Budget, we extended the Help to Save scheme by another 18 months to 2025.

    We will shortly be consulting on how we can simplify to make it even better and reach more people.

    So as with Covid or energy bills, we won’t hesitate to help the most vulnerable – but most people don’t want a handout or a special product from the government.

    They want to be able to access to same products with the same features and benefits as everyone else.

    And that brings me to my second point about government’s role. Which is that as legislators, we must be careful when making regulations that they are proportionate.

    It is too easy to have well intentioned regulations which potentially increase financial exclusion.

    Examples could be client onboarding requirements which push the cost of advice out of reach for many who would benefit or mandatory affordability tests that actually reduce access to credit for some of those needing it the most.

    It’s something that my officials and I are very conscious of.

    It is why it is so important that you do respond to our consultations and it why every piece of legislation has a Regulatory Impact Assessment which is independently scrutinised.

    Perhaps a good example of where I hope we are getting it right is on Credit Unions.

    Ever since the 18th century, mutual societies have helped meet the needs of local communities.

    Given their distinct business models, credit unions face a less onerous set of regulations than non-mutual retail banks.

    For example, credit unions have exemptions from the requirements of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, which enables them to offer credit at affordable rates to their members who might otherwise be excluded from credit.

    To help further the growth and sustainability of credit unions in Great Britain, the government is bringing forward amendments to the Credit Unions Act 1979.

    For example, credit unions will be able to offer products such as car finance and distribute insurance to their members for the first time.

    It’s a good example of proportionate regulation – or deregulation – being used to improve inclusion.

    On financial literacy, I know that you heard earlier from Sam at National Numeracy who deliver programmes to support the millions of people who have low confidence with numbers.

    I’m looking forward to supporting their National Numeracy Day on the 17 May and I am delighted that they are part of the Lord Mayor’s Appeal this year.

    There couldn’t be a more important issue for all of us.

    It is terribly concerning to hear the statistic that around 8 million adults in England only have the numeracy skills of a primary school child.

    We know lack of numeracy is a barrier to using financial products and it is one of the main reasons why people get into problem debt.

    The Prime Minister has been clear that numeracy is a personal mission for him too. At the start of this year, he said:

    “One of the biggest changes in mindset we need in education today is to reimagine our approach to numeracy.

    “In a world where data is everywhere and statistics underpin every job, our children’s jobs will require more analytical skills than ever before.

    “Letting our children out into the world without those skills, is letting our children down.”

    He laid out the path to introducing maths education up until the age of 18 by the end of the next Parliament.

    Many of us are worried about the growth of a compensation culture impacting the sector. It’s a growing cost and has the potential to hold us back competitively.

    Tackling some of the practices of claims management firms is one part of the solution.

    But improving the level of financial literacy and an understanding of risk by the consumer can only help us return to greater role for ‘caveat emptor’.

    There’s one final role for government. And that’s creating an environment which fosters innovation. Light touch regulation, a culture of supporting risk takers or simply regulatory sandboxes that are open for business.

    The whole UK fintech sector is a great success story, with around 2,500 firms supporting tens of thousands of skilled jobs across the country.

    In 2022, the sector attracted $12.5 billion of investment. This means that fintechs in the UK attracted more funding than those in any other country bar the US.

    Much of what they do delivers for the financially excluded. For example, through new payments options or new tools and apps helping individuals manage their budgets or better understand their finances.

    Artificial Intelligence offers huge possibilities for inclusion.

    Alternative credit scoring to develop more accurate credit profiles for currently underserved groups.

    Micro insurance to deliver low cost coverage;

    And better fraud prevention as sadly fraud often hits the least resilient the hardest.

    Let me finish with a specific example.

    Access to cash is a topical subject bringing together many of the themes I’ve spoken about.

    Nobody in this room needs reminding that as a society, we are moving increasingly from cash to electronic payments – with non-cash transactions now accounting for around 85% of UK payments.

    Nor is it just the young: 8 out of 10 people of retirement age are using contactless card technology at least once a month.

    The trend has benefits in convenience, security and for the environment.

    However, we will not leave behind rural communities, the elderly or those who use cash as a way to manage their personal finances.

    That is why, for the first time since the ancient Celts began minting coins in the British Isles, this year will see communities benefit from a right of access to cash, enshrined in law via the Financial Services and Markets Bill currently going through Parliament.

    The right will cover not just withdrawals but also the ability to make cash deposits, something that is particularly important to small businesses.

    Their continued ability to accept cash depends upon knowing they can deposit it safely. Putting this in statute is a huge step forward.

    We have already made legislative changes to support cashback without a purchase. That turns every single corner and high street shop into a potential source of free cash withdrawal.

    So, we won’t hesitate to legislate where necessary, but we delude ourselves if we believe that is the whole answer.

    Like the trend away from the horse pulled carriage or domestic coal fires, we cannot hold back change for all time.

    As I said before, innovation has a huge role to play.

    So, I pay tribute to UK Finance, their member banks, LINK and the Cash Access group who have come up with a whole series of innovations to help the vulnerable. Community cash machines, shared banking hubs and more.

    ‘Tap and go’ technology for charities can eliminate the jeopardy from losing the old collection tins and even yield higher donations.

    With the right controls, payment cards could help those with carers or in care. We have the popular ‘Go Henry’ cards for parents – why not ‘Go Harold’ or ‘Go Hilda’ for the elderly?

    Earlier this year, together with the City of London Corporation, we launched a new government-seed funded national hub – the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology.

    They are operationally independent, but I did put to Charlotte and Ez when we last met that financial inclusion was a big agenda that would be worth their consideration.

    Let me conclude Ladies and Gentlemen by restating my commitment to work with you all on this agenda.

    Thank you, Lord Mayor and the City of London Corporation for bringing us all together today.

    The UK is immensely fortunate to have the great financial services sector that it does.

    But part of growing sustainably and reaching our full potential is making sure that we include everyone and that is why the work of everyone here today is so important.

    Thank you.

  • Joe Biden – 2023 Comments at 25th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

    Joe Biden – 2023 Comments at 25th Anniversary of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement

    The comments made by Joe Biden, the President of the United States, at Ulster University in Belfast on 12 April 2023.

    THE PRESIDENT:  Well, good afternoon, everyone.  What a great — please have a seat.  It’s a great honor to be here.

    I just told Gabrielle that — that when she’s the leading public figure in this country and I show up, to promise you won’t say, “Joe who is outside?”  (Laughter.)  You’ll say, “Joe Biden.”  Remember — just remember me, okay?  Huh?  All right.

    Chancellor Davidson, Vice-Chancellor Bartholomew, thank you for hosting us today on this beautiful campus of Ulster University.

    I came here in ’91, in this neighborhood, and you couldn’t have a glass building like this here in this neighborhood, I don’t think.  I don’t think it would have stood up very well.  But things are changing

    Lord Mayor Black and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Heaton-Harris, thank you for the welcome to Belfast.

    And, Mr. Speaker and leaders of Northern Ireland’s leading five political parties, I was honored to welcome you to the White House a few weeks ago, and — and it’s wonderful to see all of you again today.

    And, Ambassador Hartley, thank you for your outstanding work leading our Mission to the UK Ambassador Hartley is — is an old friend.

    And the former ambassador from Great Britain to the United States — the home of that ambassador and the embassy is along the fence line of the Vice President’s Residence, which I lived in for eight years.  And the Vice President and I became — I became friends with the ambassador.  And his last trip back home, before he came back to Washington to serve out the final few months of his term, he — he told me he was going to bring something back for me.

    And so, I didn’t know what he had in mind, but when he came back, we had him over to the house.  We spent some time together — he and his wife and I and my wife.  And he brought back a book with a — a — a photograph on the front of the book.  A — a — it had been just reprinted, the book — of a somewhat stout British captain in his quarters with a big bulldog sitting next to him.  And his name was Captain George Biden.  Because he used to always kid me and say, “You know, Biden is English.  You talk about the Irish.  Biden is English.”  (Laughter.)

    And he told me that he went back, and he had the Lord Admiralty — this is the God’s truth story — check.  And my great-great- — 1840s — I think it was 1842, could have been 1828; I can’t remember — it’s one of those two dates — had written the rules — the rules of mutiny for the British Navy.  (Laughter.)  And I said, “Well, at least that part is consistent, Reverend.”  (Laughter.)  The mutiny.

    But anyway, he used to always kid me when I’d say — you know, I’d talk about — he’d say, “Yeah, you talk about the Irish.”  He said, “You’re English.  Just remember that.”

    Then I found out — my sister and I found out the name Robinette — Robinette, my middle name is Robinette.  I thought that, all of those years, it was French.  It must have been Huguenots because they came to Great Britain in the 1700s somewhere along the way, and they’re all from Nottingham.  So I don’t know what hell is going on here.  (Laughter.)  You come back, it’s confusing.

    And anyway — Consul General Naran — Narain and the envoy — Special Envoy Joe Kennedy, thank you for your efforts to continue deepening and strengthening the ties between Northern Ireland and the United States.

    It’s good to see Belfast, a city that’s alive with commerce, art — and, I’d argue, inspiration.  The dividends of peace are all around us.

    And this very campus is situated in an intersection where conflict and bloodshed once held terrible sway.  The idea, as I said, to have a glass building here when I was here in ’91 was highly unlikely.

    Where barbed wire once sliced up the city, today we find cathedral — a cathedral of learning built of glass and let the shine — light out — in and out.  It just has a profound impact for someone who has come back to see it.  You know, it’s an incredible testament to the power and the possibilities of peace.

    Twenty-five years ago this week, the landmark Belfast/Good Friday Agreement was signed.  And it wasn’t easy.  I was a United States senator at the time.  And I worked very closely with my good friend George Mitchell, who will be here, I believe, within a couple days.

    And there were no guarantees that the deal on paper would hold.  No guarantees that it would be able to deliver the progress we celebrate today.

    And it took long, hard years of work to get to this place.  It took a people willing to come together in good faith

    and to risk boldly for the future.  Leaders and — for peace like John Hume and David Trimble and David Ervine and Monica McWilliams and Mary Robinson, et cetera.  They were all people that I got to meet back then.

    And it took people across — all across Northern Ireland who made the choice to work for a brighter and a shared future.

    At the time, it seemed so distant, some of it.  It seemed so distant.

    First at the ballot box and every day since, the acts of seeing each other through the lens of a common humanity — which, again, when I first came here as a young senator, didn’t seem like it was realistic.

    It took pioneering women across all communities and parties that said “enough” — “enough” — and demanded change as well as a seat at the negotiating table, including through the Northern Ireland Women’s Coalition.

    And it took a determined effort of my good friend who — someone who embodies my country’s commitment to all the people — all the people in this region, Senator George Mitchell.

    And, you know, his time serving as Special Envoy for Northern Ireland is one of the great examples in history of the right person for the right job at the right time, in my view.

    I think sometimes, especially when the distance of history, we forget just how hard-earned, how astoundingthat peace was at the moment.  It shifted the political gravity in our world.  It literally — it shifted the political gravity.

    In 1998, it was the longest-running conflict in Europe since the end of World War Two.  Thousands of families had been affected by the Troubles.  The losses were real.  The pain was personal.  I need not tell many people in this audience.

    Every person killed in the Troubles left an empty chair at that dining-room table and a hole in the heart that was never filled for the ones they lost.

    Peace was not inevitable.  We can’t ever forget that.  There was nothing inevitable about it.

    As George Mitchell often said, the negotiations had, quote, “Seven hundred days of failure and one day of success.”  Seven hundred days of failure and one day of success.

    But they kept going because George and all the many others never stopped believing that success was possible.

    And I want all of you to know, especially the young people in the audience today —

    (Addressing the students.)  And don’t jump, okay?  (Laughter.)  Oh, I didn’t see you all the way up there.  (Laughter.)  As my father would say, “Please, excuse my back.  I apologize.”  (Laughter.)

    But all kidding aside, the American people were with you — are with you every step of the way.  It’s real.

    Those of you who’ve been to America know that there is a — there is a large population that is invested in what happens here, that cares a great deal about what happens here.

    Supporting the people of Northern Ireland, protecting the peace, preserving the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is a priority for Democrats and Republicans alike in the United States, and that is unusual today because we’ve been very divided in our parties.  This is something that brings Washington together.  It brings America together.

    I spoke about this with Northern Ireland’s political leaders, as well as the Taoiseach, at our St. Patrick’s Day celebration at the White House.

    This has been a key focus for me throughout my career.

    I remember working as a senator to see how the United States could support and encourage bit by bit any moves toward peace.

    I got elected in 1972 as a 29-year-old kid to the United States Senate, and it was just the start of it.  I mean, it seemed like it was a d- — a goal that was so far away.

    I remember coming here, as I said, in ‘91, seeing this city divided and barricaded.

    Then, in ‘94, when the cease-fire was declared, it was like a sea change.  The tide of violence began to recede.  Hope rolling in.

    In 1998, overwhelming joy.

    It’s hard to communicate just how deeply invested your success — in your success the people across the United States are.  And those of you who’ve been there know it.  You know it.  I’m not making this up.  This is real.  This is — it’s almost — people can taste it.

    The family ties and the pride in those Ulster Scots immigrants — those — those Ulster Scots immigrants who helped found and build my country, they run very deep — very deep.

    Men born in Ulster were among those who signed the Declaration of Independence in the United States, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor for freedom’s cause.

    The man who printed the revolutionary document was John Dunlap.  He hailed from County Tyrone.

    And countless — countless others established new lives of opportunity across the Atlantic — planting farms, founding communities, starting businesses — never forgetting their connection to this island.

    As a matter of fact, as you walk into my office in the — in the Oval Office in the United States’ capital — guess what?  You know who founded and designed and built the White House?  An Irishman.  (Laughter.)  No, not a joke.  Not a joke.

    Passing it down, generation after generation.

    Your history is our history.  But even more important, your future is America’s future.

    Today’s Belfast is the beating heart of Northern Ireland,

    and it’s poised to drive unprecedented economic opportunity and investment from communities across the UK, across Ireland, and across the United States.

    The simple truth is that peace and economic opportunity go together.  Peace and economic opportunity go together.

    In the 25 years since the Good Friday Agreement, Northern Ireland’s gross domestic product has literally doubled.  Doubled.  And I predict to you, if things continue to move in the right direction, it will more than triple.

    There are scores of major American corporations wanting to come here, wanting to invest.  Many have already made homes in Northern Ireland, employing over 30,000 people.

    And in just the past decade, American business has generated almost $2 billion in investment in the region.  Two billion dollars.

    Today, Northern Ireland is a churn of creativity, art, poetry, theater.

    Some of our favorite television shows and movies are filmed here — (laughs) — as you know.

    And I understand the star of the recent Oscar-winning film and someone — a Belfast barista, James Martin, is here today.  James, where are you?  (Applause.)

    I got to meet James, and I got my picture taken.  I’m going to go home and brag to my daughter.  (Laughter.)

    Cruise ships packed with tourists fill Belfast Port.

    And young people, instead of fleeing for opportunities elsewhere, can see their futures and careers for themselves that speak to unlimited possibilities here.

    How many of you have heard over the years, those of you ol- — closer to my age, “Mom, Dad, there’s nothing here for me.  I’m going to move.  I’m going to leave.  I got to go.”  Well, it’s not happening now.

    So, it’s up to us to keep this going — to keep building on the work that has been done every day for the last 25 years; to sustain the peace, unleash this incredible economic opportunity, which is just beginning.  I promise you.  You think I’m joking.  It’s just beginning.  We get this — keep it going.

    We all know there is more we can do together.

    You know, there is so much energy and dynamism, especially among young people, who are starting their own businesses, blazing their own trails, connecting to the global community of entrepreneurs.

    And young people in Northern Ireland are on the cutting edge of sectors that are going to define so much of the future: cyber, technology, clean energy, life sciences.

    Here in Northern Ireland, programs like Young Entrepreneur — Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, helping thousands of young people each year gain skills and pursue the goals — their goals as entrepreneurs.

    That’s why I asked Joe Kennedy, my new Special Envoy in Northern Ireland of Economic Affairs, to help supercharge that work to bring more businesses, more investment, more opportunity here to Northern Ireland, and to help realize the enormous economic potential of this region.

    Because I’d note parenthetically: When that happens here, it gives fai- — faith to people around the world.  If it can be done here, it can be done in my community.  Not a joke.

    The world is changing.  It’s changing drastically, and it presents enormous opportunity but also significant dangers.

    To that end, later this year, Joe is going to be leading a trade delegation of American companies to Northern Ireland.

    Now, I know the UK’s departure from the European Union created complex challenges here in Northern Ireland.  And I encouraged the leaders of the UK and EU to address the issues in a way that served Northern Ireland’s best interests.

    I deeply appreciate the personal leadership of Prime Minister Sunak and European Commissioner von der Leyen to reach an agreement.

    The Windsor Framework addresses the practical realities of Brexit and the essential — and it’s an essential step to ensuring hard-earned peace and progress of the Good Friday Agreement is — that they’re preserved and strengthened.

    You know, the negotiators listened to business leaders across the UK and Ireland who shared what they needed to succeed.

    And I believe the stability and predictability offered by this framework will encourage greater investment in Northern Ireland, significant investment in Northern Ireland.

    I come from a little state where — the state of Delaware, back home, that has more corporations that are registered in that state than every other state in the Union combined.  So I know a little bit about corporate attitudes.

    All the immense progress we see around us was built through conver- — conversation and compromise, discussion and debate, voting and inclusion.  It’s an incredible attestation to the power of democracy to deliver the needs for all the people.

    And now I know better than most how hard democracy can be at times.  We in the United States have firsthand experience how fragile even longstanding democratic institutions can be.  You saw what happened on January the 6th in my country.

    We learn anew with every generation that democracy needs champions.  When I went to college, I was a political science major and history major.  We were taught every generation has to fight to preserve democracies.  I didn’t believe it at the time.  I just thought it was automatic.  We had this great democracy.  What would we need to do?

    As a friend, I hope it’s not too presumptuous for me to say that I believe democratic institutions established through the Good Friday Agreement remain critical for the future of Northern Ireland.  It’s a decision for you to make, not for me to make.  But it seems to me they’re related.

    An effective, devolved government that reflects the people of Northern Ireland and is accountable to them.  A government that works to find ways through hard problems together is going to draw even greater opportunity in this region.

    So I hope that the Assembly and the Executive will soon be restored — that’s a judgment for you to make, not me, but I hope it happens — along with the institutions that facilitate North-South and East-West relations, all of which are vital pieces of the Good Friday Agreement.

    For in politics, no matter what divides us, if we look hard enough, there are always areas that are going to bring us together if we look hard enough.  Standing for peace, rejecting political violence must be one of those things.

    So I want — so I want to once more recognize the way the leaders of Northern Ireland’s major political parties come together in the wake of the attempted murder of Detective Chief Inspector Caldwell to show that the enemies of peace will not prevail.

    Northern Ireland will not go back, pray to God.

    The attack was a hard reminder that there will always be those who seek to destroy rather than rebuild.  But the lesson of the Good Friday Agreement is this: In times when things seem fragile or easily broken, that is when hope and hard work are needed the most.  That’s when we must make our theme “repair.”  Repair.

    And in the holy Easter season — this season — when all Christians celebrate renewal and life, the Good Friday Agreement showed us that there is hope for repair even in the most awful breakages.

    You know, it helped people all around the world to hope for renewal and progress in their own lives.  And most of all, it allowed an entire generation of young people in Northern Ireland and across the UK and in the Republic of Ireland to grow up in a society mended by connection, made stronger by independence — interdependence and respect.

    Young people like Gabrielle, who we just heard from earlier.  Her success and her opportunities have been underwritten by the Good Friday Agreement

    Young people like Jordan Graham, born less than three weeks

    after the agreement was signed in 1998.  His whole life — his whole life has unfolded under the wing of peace, which means,

    not quite 25 years of age, he’s been able to build an expertise in branding and marketing that he’s used to help grow local businesses, support startups, and consult for charities.

    Young people like Aimee Clint, born in 2000, whose parents like to tell the story about how she came home from her first day of secondary school and asked, “What’s the difference between a Protestant and a Catholic?”  “What’s the difference between a Protestant and a Catholic?”

    She didn’t grow up thinking in sectarian divides.  She grew up thinking about how she could support her beloved brother and other children who have autism.

    Today, Aimee’s social enterprise has donated more than 5,000 copies of her book to schools across Northern Ireland to help children better understand autism and to learn to treat others with kindness and respect.

    That’s the real power of the Good Friday Agreement: compassion.  Compassion.  It changed how this entire region sees itself.

    In the words of Morrisey, Belfast’s first poet laureate: “What’s left is dark and quiet…But book-ended by light, as when Dorothy opens the dull cabin door and…” happens out — “…what happens outside is technicolor.”  “[W]hat happens outside is technicolor.”

    This is place is transformed by peace, made technicolor by peace, made whole by peace.

    So today, I come to Belfast to pledge to all the people of Northern Ireland: The United States of America will continue

    to be your partner in building the future the young people of our world deserve.

    It matters to us, to Americans, and to me personally.  It genuinely matters if you travel in my country.

    So, let’s celebrate 25 extraordinary years by recommitting

    to renewal, repair; by making this exceptional peace the birthright of every child in Northern Ireland for all the days to come.  That’s what we should be doing.  God willing, you’ll be able to do it.

    Thank you all for listening.  And may God bring you the peace we need.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

  • Julia Lopez – 2023 Speech on Heritage Assets in London

    Julia Lopez – 2023 Speech on Heritage Assets in London

    The speech made by Julia Lopez, the Minister of State at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Nickie Aiken) for securing a wonderful debate and for superbly highlighting London’s great and rich heritage, its wonderful villages and, of course, the importance of protecting historic assets for the benefit of present and future generations.

    Like her, I absolutely adore London’s history. It is a pleasure to see her passion for her constituency again, after her contribution to last week’s debate on the lease of London zoo. I responded to that debate, and am responding to this one, on behalf of Lord Parkinson, who covers the arts and heritage portfolio for the Department. These are all fascinating diversions from my portfolio on data and digital infrastructure, and I am glad to say I have now taken on the tourism brief for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. With the creation of the new Department, tourism will play an increasingly important role within the work of DCMS.

    As my hon. Friend said, our heritage is an essential part of our cultural landscape, our economy and our country. It is both globally renowned and world leading, playing a vital role in communities across the UK, making our places great to live in, work in and visit. She has a significant number of impressive heritage sites in her constituency, including the beautiful Westminster Abbey and the building in which we stand today. Her constituency contains more than 3,900 listed buildings, scheduled monuments and registered parks and gardens combined.

    It is a fun coincidence, as my hon. Friend said, that the debate takes place during English Tourism Week. I hope she will agree that the UK’s tourism offer is truly world class. I had the pleasure of visiting the Goring Hotel, in her constituency; the staff were complimentary about her efforts to champion the hotel sector and they are doing fantastic work supporting young people into hospitality jobs. As she highlighted, the sector has been tremendously resilient after some difficult years. As it is English Tourism Week, I pay tribute to everybody in that sector who has done such incredibly demanding work throughout the last three years.

    Our tourism landscape is iconic, from historic buildings and incredible scenery to culturally vibrant cities and world-leading hospitality, and that is not just here in Westminster. I loved the earlier plug for Strangford by the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon). I hope he will not mind if I encourage hon. Members to sample the delights of my own constituency of Hornchurch and Upminster, including the vibrant Queen’s theatre. I note what my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster said about levelling up, but I am pleased to say that the Queen’s theatre was a beneficiary of levelling up within London, with a great grant from the Arts Council of England. We also have a wonderful green space in Dagnam Park, the Manor, as well as Thames Chase forest and heritage assets such as Upminster Tithe Barn and its windmill.

    It is undeniable that heritage sites are vital to our tourism industry and a tangible way to showcase our rich history. Of course, we want these sites to be around in the future for our children and grandchildren to learn from and be inspired by.

    Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith) (Lab)

    It seems the theatre in the Minister’s constituency was drawn out of the Arts Council lottery and won a prize. I am pleased to say that the theatres in my constituency also did not have their grants cut, but the loss of the London Coliseum and the English National Opera is a grave blow to London, and indeed to the whole country. Will the Government use their best endeavours to ensure that very misguided decision by the Arts Council is reconsidered?

    Julia Lopez

    I understand that hon. Members have made their feelings clearly known about ACE’s decision on the ENO. I know that a number of meetings have taken place, and I believe that some transitional funding is there, but I believe that this will continue to be a subject of ongoing discussion between the two organisations. I know that Lord Parkinson has been engaging with the issue.

    We want to make sure we are protecting our historic buildings, statues and memorials. Local planning authorities are required to

    “have regard to the desirability of preserving features of special architectural or historic interest”

    in any building. Buildings, statues and memorials of more modest interest can also be locally listed by local planning authorities. We want to make sure that developers and local authorities take into account the integrity and preservation of heritage sites and the local area. When considering applications for planning permission, local authorities are required to take into account national policy. That includes a clear framework on proposals that are liable to result in substantial harm to, or loss of, a grade I or grade II listed building.

    In some cases, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, who retains the power to take over planning applications rather than letting the local authority take over, can take the final decision. That is done only in exceptional circumstances, but my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster will have seen a number of such cases in her constituency over the years.

    I enjoyed my hon. Friend’s reference to the Gasketeers campaign. As she set out, there is often a tension between development and heritage. That is brought into sharp relief by examples in her constituency, including the planned redevelopment of the City of London and of Liverpool Street station. As she articulately set out, there are also proposals to replace gas-powered lamps in Westminster with modern LED lighting. Just before this debate, I was at a tourism reception in this House at which a lady thrust into my hand a little card telling me that Beverley in the East Riding also has some of the oldest gas streetlamps still in situ. I give a shout-out to them—it seems that Westminster has a level of competition when it comes to heritage.

    There are tensions between conserving the significance of historic buildings and modernising them to be fit for purpose for future generations. It is therefore vital that Historic England, which is our expert heritage adviser, and planning authorities work constructively with development teams to facilitate creative solutions to resolve some of those tensions.

    I would like to name-check Tim Bryars, a key member of the Gasketeers campaign. I first came across Tim, who is a map and book seller in Cecil Court, during a campaign to save that gloriously unique street in Westminster; he then went on to sell me a beautiful silk pocket map of London in the 1800s, which I very much treasure. I commend him for his enthusiasm and for all the work of the Gasketeers’ campaign. [Interruption.] Ah—hello, Tim.

    I understand that, after concerted campaigning, pressure and support from my hon. Friend, the council has seen the light, or the gaslight, and has paused what it was doing. Heritage England has now offered to identify a way forward and is encouraging listing applications, which it will be prioritising. I understand that a site visit is being undertaken. It will also be engaging on the redevelopment plans for Liverpool Street station in my hon. Friend’s constituency; it will look especially at the station, but also at the Great Eastern Hotel. Having sat on the planning committee for the neighbouring borough of Tower Hamlets, I fully understand some of the tensions.

    We have managed to save some parts of London’s historic fabric from rather ugly and unpleasant development over the years. I am thinking of the campaigns on the Fruit and Wool Exchange. My hon. Friend also cited campaigns relating to Smithfield; I think back with some concern to some of the original proposals for Smithfield, which were not sympathetic. I genuinely believe that preserving that historic fabric can really enhance, and no doubt increase the value of, some developments. If a sensitive approach is taken, the protection of heritage and a developer’s ability to make a profit should not need to be an either/or.

    As my hon. Friend will be aware, it is a criminal offence to demolish a listed building or to carry out works of alteration or extension that affect its character without the permission of the local council. A recent example in which a local authority played a critical role was the reopening of the Tavern Inn, a London grade II listed pub, six years after its illegal demolition: the owners were ordered to rebuild it brick for brick following a planning enforcement ruling. It is hoped that such cases will prevent developers from demolishing other sites without the relevant permissions.

    My hon. Friend will also be aware of Historic England’s Heritage at Risk programme, which gives our Department a strategic, overarching view of the overall state of England’s historic sites. It identifies the sites that are most at risk of being lost as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development. Historic England updates the Heritage at Risk register every year, and the end result is a dynamic picture of the sites most at risk and most in need of safeguarding for the future. As my hon. Friend said, there are 16 at-risk sites in her constituency, and Historic England is actively engaged with owners and local authorities to find solutions and ensure that repairs are made. I know that she will be watching those 16 sites like a hawk.

    The protection of London’s great heritage also extends to supporting the capital’s vibrant theatre scene and cultural offerings. Recent Government funding has ensured that access to arts and culture is not limited to the bright lights of the west end, but can be experienced by everyone. Investment in theatres across the country has increased through the latest Arts Council England investment programme, in terms of both the number of organisations supported and the volume of funding, which is now more than £110 million each year for nearly 200 organisations. There were also some positive announcements in the Budget about the extension of tax reliefs. That is on top of the unprecedented £1.5 billion culture recovery fund, through which more than £270 million was given to support nearly 700 theatre organisations across England during the pandemic.

    It goes without saying that the protection of heritage and cultural assets for the benefit of future generations requires people to work in those places, and for children to learn about and understand their heritage. We recognise the importance of cultural education for the future of our world-leading arts and culture sectors in the UK, and we think that all children should be entitled to take advantage of those enriching cultural opportunities. We consider them to be an essential part of a broad and balanced education, supporting children’s health, wellbeing and wider development. This is something about which I am particularly passionate, and I am working closely with Lord Parkinson in my Department and with the Department for Education to publish a cultural education plan later this year. The aim of the plan is to highlight the importance of high-quality cultural education in schools around the country, promoting its social value. As Minister for the creative industries, I also see it as critical to building our pipeline of talent into those industries, which suffer from skill shortages—as does the tourism industry.

    We are committed to ensuring that our historic environment is properly protected, promoted and conserved for the benefit of present and future generations, but also because it is that heritage that draws visitors from every corner of the world. Whether through the statutory functions that protect our most special historic buildings and ancient monuments or through the public bodies that it funds, such as Historic England, my Department seeks to protect and promote understanding of and access to our glorious historic environment.

    Let me once again thank my hon. Friend for bringing the House’s attention to this issue and for, as ever, being a truly passionate advocate for London’s heritage.

    Question put and agreed to.

  • Nickie Aiken – 2023 Speech on Heritage Assets in London

    Nickie Aiken – 2023 Speech on Heritage Assets in London

    The speech made by Nickie Aiken, the Conservative MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    When I stood for election, I promised my constituents that I would be a strong local voice. This debate is at the heart of that promise. The Cities of London and Westminster sit in the heart of our nation’s capital. It may be considered one of a handful of global cities, but to those of us who call it home it is also a group of local villages, with local people who are incredibly proud of their neighbourhood’s history. Whether it is Covent Garden, the square mile, Marylebone, Pimlico, Hyde Park or the west end, heritage matters. Heritage matters for so many reasons, not least because of its significant pull factor for tourism. In London we see that on a magnified scale, with people coming from all over the world to visit our heritage buildings, palaces, iconic sites and parks, and enjoy our cultural offer. Places such as Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey will come into sharp focus later this year with the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla. Right here, the Palace of Westminster, where we sit today, is a UNESCO world heritage site. I can therefore think of no better time for this debate, with this being English Tourism Week.

    I recognise the incredible work that my hon. Friend the Minister’s Department is doing to bolster UK tourism, especially since the pandemic. In particular, I applaud the Department’s support for heritage and the arts including, of course, the £1.57 billion culture recovery fund, and measures within the tourism recovery plan. I do so in large part because London’s unique appeal lies in its ability for its heritage assets to tell the many stories of a 2,000-year-old city.

    In London, our historic buildings are so common that it is easy for us to take them for granted without giving them a second thought, but without protection, those buildings may not be here in the future. That is made clear in Historic England’s annual at-risk register, which highlights the critical health of England’s most valued historic places. For those in the Cities of London and Westminster, such places have huge community importance, from the Buddhist temple in Margaret Street to the former Samaritan Hospital for Women in Marylebone, and the 18th-century church of St Mary Woolnoth in the City of London. Those are valued historic places, many of which, according to Historic England, are at risk of being lost.

    In 2022, London had 421 listed buildings, 101 places of worship, 25 archaeological entries, 12 parks and gardens and 72 conservation areas that were at risk of neglect, decay or inappropriate change. Thankfully, many have been rescued thanks to heritage bodies and dedicated teams of volunteers, community groups, charities, owners and local government, all working together. For example, two historic buildings with heritage value were recently under threat in the two cities, but both were saved due to community action that I was delighted to fully support. I speak of Bevis Marks synagogue—the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United Kingdom—and the historic Simpson’s Tavern in Leadenhall, which is 250 years old and a constant in an ever-changing part of the City of London. Both were under threat, but local people stood up and said no to unfettered development, and yes to heritage.

    Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)

    I commend the hon. Lady, who I spoke to beforehand, for securing this debate. She has said not a word that I do not fully support and see the need for. She is right to say that our heritage assets are historic and need to be retained and protected, and that can happen only through funding. She also referred to tourism. Our tourism goes across the whole United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and we can all benefit. I encourage people to come to London for their holidays, and I am sure she encourages people to come to my constituency of Strangford for holidays. Whenever she comes, I suggest that she goes and visits Scrabo tower, an historic building that has been retained for two or three hundred years. It overlooks Strangford lough, and whenever I go home on the plane on a Thursday night—I usually head home then, but now it will be tomorrow morning—I see Scrabo tower and I know I am coming home, and it always does my heart good.

    Nickie Aiken

    I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. As he knows, I have visited Strangford several times and I plan to do so in the near future. It is a great and beloved place that is part of the United Kingdom.

    We cannot rely solely on community action to protect our cultural assets. There are cases where local people and local government really make an effort to ensure we look after heritage assets—we saw that with the site of Smithfield market, which has been in place since the 14th century. It is now to be the home of the Museum of London, which is moving. The development plans pay a lot of attention to preserving the historic fabric of London for future generations, and I pay tribute to that. I appreciate that not everyone is happy to lose the meat market at Smithfield, but there are cases where development can be done well to create a new offer for the next generation.

    There are also cases where people are still fighting to save their heritage. I share the concerns of Barbican residents about proposals to knock down and redevelop the former home of the Museum of London and Bastion House, and replace it with a major office development. I am delighted to work with the Barbican Association and Barbican Quarter Action to ensure local voices are heard by the City of London Corporation, and that these unique and important historic places are saved for community use, and, hopefully, housing. They are functional historic assets that serve their community and add to London’s cultural offer. That is so important, because communities want to see their local heritage thrive.

    Yes, concentrating on digital and tech is important for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, but we cannot afford to lose focus on the conservation of the country’s cultural and historic heritage. Without that emphasis, heritage will be at risk. London is modernising, but tourism figures and local support underline the popularity of the historic landscape. People care passionately about their historic environment. They want to be involved in decisions about their heritage and how we manage change.

    A good example of that recently was when constituents, as well as heritage experts and heritage bodies, wrote to me concerned that Westminster City Council was not, in their view, giving enough consideration to the historical significance of Victorian gas-powered lamps in its plans to replace them with LED replicas. There are now very few functioning gas lamps left in Westminster. Each, in its own right, is a work of art and a piece of our history, surviving the Blitz and London’s urban revolution, but not all of them will survive due to the council’s diktat to replace them with LED lamps.

    Thankfully, the brilliant London Gasketeers, a fantastic group of locals, are rallying to save these historic lamps. I met the London Gasketeers on Maunsel Street in Westminster to show my solidarity with their cause, along with many locals. Many of those local people had never been part of a campaign before and they were delighted to support the London Gasketeers. The cause gained wide-ranging support: everyone from myself to the president of the GMB union—believe it or not—historians, actors, cabbies, heritage experts and, most importantly, a diverse mix of Westminster residents who care passionately about their local heritage. We have been successful. I pay tribute to the London Gasketeers and I am delighted to see many of them in the Public Gallery this afternoon.

    Things like gas lamps might seem trivial to some, but like it or not, they are our material history. People care because Westminster’s heritage belongs to everyone. Such things matter to our overall social landscape, and are so important because London is a city where history and modernity remain intrinsically linked. The same can be said for urban development. Consider Soho, which has always been characterised by its narrow streets that lend it a friendly, human scale. That is part of Soho’s material history. However, the pavement licensing scheme, which might have been a great offer during covid as an emergency lifeline to many local restaurants and bars, could now have a detrimental effect on the historic streetscape if it becomes permanent without any protections in place. That is why I am calling on the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities to ensure that guidance accompanying the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill is clear about the conditions on which licences are granted. It is important that local councils have the flexibility to determine where it is appropriate to have a licence and where it is not.

    Beyond the principal argument on access, we need to ensure that our streetscape is consistent with Soho’s conservation area status, respecting Soho’s unique history and character. We must preserve elements of material history and evolve sensitively in places that already have protection, such as Soho’s conservation area, or deserve protection, such as Westminster’s Victorian gas lamps or London’s historic buildings and places.

    The preservation of our heritage and cultural assets draws millions of tourists to London every year. A VisitBritain survey found that the vast majority of tourists see Britain as a place where heritage meets vibrancy and modernity. The same can be said of our cultural institutions, as 15% of international tourists attend a play, musical, opera or ballet. I am incredibly proud of the vibrant arts and culture offer in my constituency, much of which can be found in the historic west end, dating back to the 1600s. In fact, according to the Office for National Statistics, 8% of the UK’s art and culture businesses are based in the Cities of London and Westminster—around 2,500 businesses.

    There is no doubt that the past few years have been extremely difficult for the arts and culture. The commercial uncertainty of the current climate has not helped. Rising global inflation and consistent train and tube strikes have all had a knock-on effect, hampering the recovery of this £2.4 billion sector. We saw during the pandemic the fragility of the industry. We cannot be complacent; we must protect our cultural assets. After all, heritage and theatre bring in £890 million a year, with more than 16 million people attending London theatres last year.

    We need to work with the theatre sector in London to develop a strong UK talent pipeline, through investment in the arts premium and development of the culture education plan. My hope is that will mean that we can make sustainable, evidence-based decisions to conserve our culture and heritage while enabling people to enjoy them. While I am on this point, although London is not part of the new levelling-up agenda per se, it forms the heartbeat of British artists and culture. We risk losing those institutions at our peril. We saw that with Arts Council England’s rash decision to cut funding to the English National Opera, based in the London Coliseum, not far from here. That decision would have seen the loss of a national icon that gave local people so much—not just world-class opera performances but local initiatives such as the ENO’s Breathe programme, which supports people suffering with long covid.

    I urge the Minister to reaffirm the Government’s commitment to the arts and culture sector, and in particular the west end. We cannot forget the strength of the sector as an entrepreneurial and SME-led economic driver locally, nationally and globally. For those reasons, I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak on the importance of protecting heritage assets in London.

    Since London’s founding in what is now the square mile in the City of London, this has been an ever-changing metropolis. Each generation has added its own personal touch, culminating in a hugely diverse and historic modern city. Now more than ever, it is our duty to ensure that we do not lose what makes London London. Therefore, we must be proactive in protecting our cultural assets, from the west end to the wider historic fabric of London, which is becoming increasingly under threat.

    I urge the Minister to reaffirm her commitment to protecting our heritage assets for future generations, and ask that she work with London’s cultural sector to stimulate growth, encourage tourism and safeguard the industry. London’s historic assets are at risk of being lost to history; we cannot allow that happen.

  • Maria Caulfield – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    Maria Caulfield – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    The speech made by Maria Caulfield, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I thank my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) for securing the debate and for all his hard work over the years campaigning and supporting people with Down syndrome. I, too, attended the reception on the Terrace earlier this week. I met lots of people from around the country, some with Down syndrome, but with campaigners, supporters, friends and family. In particular, I pay tribute to the National Down Syndrome Policy Group and its founders, Ken and Rachael Ross, who are in the Public Gallery.

    I had the pleasure of meeting the advisory team this morning in No. 10, where we held a roundtable with young people with Down syndrome. They certainly put my feet to the fire with their questions and the progress they want to see. They have joined us this afternoon, too. Florence, Harshi, Ed, Max, Fionn, Tommy, Charlotte, James, Heidi and Rula asked extremely difficult questions, and I have promised to update them on progress. That just shows the strength of feeling and the range of support from people around the country.

    Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)

    As we celebrate World Down Syndrome Day and the achievement of those who suffer with Down syndrome, will the Minister join me in congratulating my constituent Jade Kingdom, who is now a Guinness world record holder as the first person with Down syndrome to complete a sprint triathlon. She overcame her health conditions to achieve this and raised £30,000 for the North Devon Hospice.

    Maria Caulfield

    That is a fantastic achievement, and I congratulate Jade on her amazing ability. I wish I could do something similar.

    Tuesday marked the 12th World Down Syndrome Day. My right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset was not able to join us on the day because he was at the UN in New York to showcase the work done in this Parliament. Many countries are now looking to us as they try to do something similar. He has not only changed the lives of people with Down syndrome in this country; he is making a difference globally, too.

    As part of the World Down Syndrome Day celebrations, I am wearing my different socks to showcase the three strands of chromosome 21, which apparently look like socks and are the cause of Down syndrome. The socks highlight Down syndrome and the amazing contribution that the incredible people with Down syndrome make to our communities and society.

    The hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) spoke about his constituent Danielle, her son Steven and the very real issues of diagnostic overshadowing. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Jo Gideon) spoke about her uncle Donald and how difficult it was for her family. She also spoke about what life was like in the past for people with Down syndrome.

    My hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) spoke about Jossie, who I am sure has a wonderful future ahead of her. My hon. Friend the Member for Southend West (Anna Firth) spoke about David Stanley and the Music Man team, who cheer us up with their wonderful performances.

    My hon. Friend the Member for Hendon (Dr Offord) spoke about the dancing ability of his constituent Michael. He also spoke about Liam. I am a “Coronation Street” fan, and Liam is not currently at Roy’s Rolls, but I look forward to his next episodes because he has a good sense of humour.

    It is important to celebrate people with Down syndrome and to recognise the barriers they face. It was wonderful to see the actor James Martin win an Oscar for his brilliant performance, but we must not forget why we are here today.

    The Down Syndrome Act became law in April 2022, and I will now update the House on its progress. My right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset and the Education Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Chichester (Gillian Keegan), ensured the passage of the Act. We all have a responsibility to make sure it is not the end of the story by implementing the Act and getting the guidance out.

    At Downing Street this morning, the young people asked when we will see those changes. We will deliver guidance for professionals working in health, social care, education and housing, to try to bring together support for people with Down syndrome. The guidance will set out tangible, practical steps that organisations should take to meet the needs of people with Down syndrome. It will raise awareness of the specific needs of people with Down syndrome, and it will bring them together with the relevant authorities to make support more easily accessible.

    We launched our national call for evidence in July 2022, in the spirit of “With Us Not For Us,” and we heard from hundreds of people across the country. We had more than 1,000 responses on the needs and asks of the various communities. I thank everyone who responded or participated in the focus groups. It is thanks to them that we received so much evidence, which officials are now going through to analyse the data. We will shortly provide a summary of the key findings.

    It is essential that people’s lived experience informs the development of the guidance, and that people with Down syndrome are involved at every stage. We will shortly set up a working group to oversee the development of the guidance. Once drafted, the guidance will be subject to further public consultation to make sure we have it absolutely right.

    My right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset asked some practical questions about the guidance, and we recognise that the issues and the services supporting people with Down syndrome sometimes overlap with the issues and the services supporting other people with learning disabilities and learning difficulties, which we need to consider. But I am absolutely clear that this guidance is about people with Down syndrome, because we want to help as many people as possible, to make it feasible for relevant authorities to implement this guidance in practice and to ensure that there will be oversight of it in Parliament.

    We are committed to considering the inclusion of employment and other public services through the call for evidence. We heard that best practice in supporting employment and benefits services is also going to be included in the guidance. We know that employment can have a significant benefit in terms of living independently and participating fully. That is why it is so important that the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, my hon. Friend the Member for Corby (Tom Pursglove), has sat through this afternoon’s debate. He was also at the reception earlier in the week, along with the Education Secretary. This is a cross-Government approach, and we cannot act just with one Department on its own. That shows that the full strength of the Government is behind these changes. We will also be looking at transport and leisure facilities, and removing some of the barriers to enable people with Down syndrome to be able to fully participate in the activities that they want to do. We will be working with other Departments to consider how to best incorporate those areas into the guidance.

    To ensure that the guidance is implemented in practice, every integrated care board will be required to have a named lead for Down syndrome. As my right hon. Friend the Member for North Somerset said, we want there to be a clear person accountable. The named lead will be responsible for ensuring that the Down Syndrome Act is implemented in practice. NHS England is currently developing its statutory guidance for ICBs, including for the Down syndrome lead role. Having a named lead for Down syndrome will help to ensure that the specific needs of people with Down syndrome are considered when services are designed and commissioned. One speaker this afternoon said that that would open the floodgates for change, but we absolutely need change to happen, so I do not necessarily have a problem with that. My right hon. Friend also touched on the school census. I wish to reassure him that although we have missed the deadline for 2023-24, we are looking at 2024-25 for this. We will be discussing that with the Education Secretary, because we recognise the importance of the school census and gathering that information.

    I thank everyone who has taken part in the debate. It has been a consensual debate and it shows Parliament at its best when we work together to deal with these challenges. I pay tribute to the families, carers, organisations and professionals who work tirelessly on behalf of people with Down syndrome, but I pay a particular tribute to those with Down syndrome themselves. It is indeed “With Us Not For Us”—I absolutely get that message. That is why we are here today. I also want to pay tribute to the officials at the Department of Health and Social Care—David Nuttall and his team—who have got that message loudly too and are working with the community to make sure that the Act and the guidance address their needs. Next year, I am sure that we will update the House further on the progress that has been made.

    Dr Fox

    With the leave of the House, may I thank all colleagues who have taken part in this debate? As the Minister just said, this is the House at its best, which almost certainly means, sadly, the media coverage at its least. As they say, “If you want a secret kept, say it in Parliament, outside Prime Minister’s questions.”

    A couple of points are worth reiterating. There are those concerned about people with similar conditions to Down syndrome being left aside, but I do not believe that to be true, because of the measures that were considered and the commitments given in Committee by the Government. Although, again, it is worth pointing out that people with Down syndrome share a number of characteristics with other groups, they are, none the less, a discrete population. I wish the hon. Member for Glasgow South West (Chris Stephens) well in his attempts to get Down syndrome included in the Scottish Government legislation, because there is a problem of genuinely unintended consequences. Leaving it out could result in legislative overshadowing and we may unintentionally leave the Down syndrome groups isolated in their legal rights.

    One thing that has come out loud and clear from this debate is the need for professional education, whether in health, education or social care. I worry about not only diagnostic overshadowing but social overshadowing, whereby the need for people to live, earn and be independent is hidden by a stigma, which is still all too prevalent and needs to be removed. We in the UK have taken a great lead on this issue, as was reflected at the United Nations on Tuesday. We should relish this challenge as a country. We talk about global Britain in a whole range of areas, including diplomacy and security, but should not one of the great challenges for global Britain be our setting an example on social care that the rest of the world wants to follow? That would be something to achieve.

    Question put and agreed to.

    Resolved,

    That this House has considered World Down Syndrome Day.

  • Liz Kendall – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    Liz Kendall – 2023 Speech on World Down Syndrome Day

    The speech made by Liz Kendall, the Labour MP for Leicester West, in the House of Commons on 23 March 2023.

    I echo other Members in congratulating the right hon. Member for North Somerset (Dr Fox) on securing this important debate. We all know what a passionate and—most importantly—effective campaigner he has been in supporting people with Down syndrome and their families. His Down Syndrome Act, which Opposition Members were proud to support, represents an important opportunity for us to make progress on delivering the support that people with Down syndrome deserve, so that they can lead as full and equal a life as everyone else.

    Let me say as an aside that I think what the right hon. Gentleman is trying to do has important implications for wider public sector reform. There are many issues and problems that people have talked about for years; the question is, how do we make change? The right hon. Gentleman’s mechanism in this instance is to use a specific Act providing for named individuals who are held accountable, and for guidance that actually secures change. However, there are other methods of securing changes in public services—for instance, through legal rights—and I am a strong champion of direct payments and personal budgets, which give people and their families the power to change those services. We need to focus on making a difference and putting the users of services and their families at the heart of the system, making them equal partners in care. We will never get healthcare, education and work support right unless we do it in partnership with people.

    I am a long-standing champion of the vision pioneered by the group Social Care Future, which consists of people who use services and their families: that we all want to live in the place we call home with the people and things we love, in communities where we look out for one another and where we can contribute, doing the things that matter the most to us—not what somebody else tells us we want to do or should do, but what we ourselves want to do. That is the vision that Opposition Members are championing. In the 21st century, and in what, despite all our problems, is still one of the richest countries in the world, it should not be seen as extraordinary, but the truth is, I am afraid, that for too many of the 47,000 people in the UK living with Down syndrome, it remains far from reality.

    Members have rightly spoken of the progress that has been made, but I think it is also important to use this debate to demonstrate how much further there is to go. The first issue I want to raise is that of health and health inequalities, to which many Members have referred. We know that people with Down syndrome are more likely to experience problems with their hearts, bowels, hearing and vision, and have an increased risk of infections. I think it disgraceful that so often the outcomes are so poor for people with Down syndrome because of what is known as diagnostic overshadowing, when symptoms are ignored and put down to Down syndrome rather than being diagnosed properly and addressed.

    There are two issues on which I think we should focus. The first is the need to ensure that children with Down syndrome have the regular check-ups they need with paediatricians and GPs. We know that too many families find those services too hard to access, and the current number of vacancies in the NHS—133,000—as well as all the other problems that people are experiencing when trying to see GPs and other doctors are having an impact on that. When she responds to the debate, will the Minister tell us when we will finally see the Government’s workforce plan for the NHS? May I also cheekily ask her once again whether she will adopt Labour’s plan to bring about the biggest expansion of the NHS workforce in its history, which we would pay for by scrapping the non-dom tax status? Members will understand that I want to put forward practical solutions today and to be realistic about the challenges, and that is what I intend to do.

    Dr Fox

    Does the hon. Lady accept that it is a question of not just the size of the workforce but their understanding of the problems? If in health, as in education and social care, the professionals are not aware of the difficulties faced by the population with Down syndrome, no number of extra professionals or services will make a real difference.

    Liz Kendall

    The right hon. Gentleman must have read the next line in my speech. Of course, it is not only an issue of staff shortages and vacancies. I think that the real issue, which the right hon. Gentleman mentioned earlier, is training. If people are not trained to understand an issue and to understand its manifestations, they will not be able to put it right. In some other areas, I have seen medical schools and universities pioneering new forms of training, in which those who have a condition and their families become part of the training module to explain what the implications are. I hope that the Minister will tell us what action the Government are taking in this regard, and whether the guidance that will be issued will involve changes within medical schools or for nurses and other healthcare professionals.

    The second area in which progress is needed is social care. It is, I believe, the biggest area in which the right support for people with Down syndrome is too often lacking. Whatever Conservative Members may say, I think it is important to understand the context in which the Down Syndrome Act will be working, and to take into account the difficult situation relating to social care. Just last week, research from the learning disability charity HfT revealed that nearly half the social care providers in England have been forced to close part of their organisations or hand back contracts to councils as a result of cost pressures in the last year. More than half a million people are awaiting a social care assessment, a review, or the start of a service or direct payment, and a survey conducted by the Down’s Syndrome Association found that 43% of family carers said their adult child was in need of an assessment, with some waiting as long as two years for that basic service.

    What all this means, of course, is that families tend to be left to pick up the slack, often having to leave their own jobs or reduce their hours because they cannot obtain the help that they need to look after their loved ones. The fact that there are 165,000 vacancies in the social care workforce is having an impact on the support that is available to families with Down syndrome. We need to address both the issue of the care workforce and wider reforms.

    Last week, the Health Service Journal reported that there are due to be cuts in the money announced for social care reform in the 2021 White Paper. A sum of £500 million was set aside to improve the training and career progression of the care workforce, but the Health Service Journal said that that is going to be cut by half. It also said that the £300 million to better integrate housing, health and care is set to be cut, with cuts to the budgets for unpaid carers and the use of technology.

    This is really important, because unless we join up services and support, people with Down syndrome will not be able to live the lives they choose. The issue of housing is critical. Just 28% of people with learning disabilities live in supported housing, yet we know that 70% of people with a learning disability want to change their current housing arrangements to give them greater independence. Will the Minister confirm whether those reports are true? Are the Government going to cut £250 million for improving the training of the social care workforce and £300 million from the budget to better integrate health, care and housing? [Interruption.] It is not a disrespectful question; it is a question that has a direct impact on the lives—

    The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Maria Caulfield)

    I said it was disappointing.

    Liz Kendall

    It is not disappointing; it is my job to hold the Government to account. I would like the Minister to answer that question.

    The hon. Member for Southend West (Anna Firth) mentioned help to work, which I am passionate about. Work gives purpose, independence and dignity, but only 5.5% of adults with a learning disability in England were in paid employment as of 2020, yet 65% of people with learning disabilities say they want to go out and work. The hon. Member asked about what was happening in her constituency. I recently visited the Leicester Royal Infirmary, which is doing pioneering work with Ellesmere College, a college for students with special educational needs, to give them the skills and experience they need to get to work, with pioneering apprenticeships. I visited a young woman who was working in the hospital café. I asked her what she thought, and she said that her ambition now was to set up her own café and employ others. I think that shows that if people are given the chance and the support, real progress can be made.

    The Down Syndrome Act presents a real opportunity for change. It creates a duty on the Secretary of State to issue guidance to relevant authorities on how to meet the specific needs of people with Down syndrome. That will cover many of the issues I have outlined, and I hope the Minister will update us on when it will start to make an impact on the ground. I understand that the call for evidence on the Act closed in November. When will we see the Government’s response? We need to act quickly to make real progress to transform the lives of people with Down syndrome and ensure they can live the life they choose.

    I would argue that wider action is needed to support the NHS and social care so that we have the investment and reform we need to improve lives, but I hope the Minister will address in detail my questions about the reports. I understand that the Government will produce an update on social care, possibly next week. Will the Minister answer my question and say whether the funds the Government promised will be available?