Richard Fuller
MP for North Bedfordshire · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I do not want to go too far off the topic, because I am a bit of a nerd on regulating regulators. We can find time later to talk about that. It was an important point, as was the point made by the hon. Member for St Ives (Andrew George).”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. We know that issues of injustice can take an awfully long time to reach a resolution in Parliament.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As a Member of Parliament myself for periods of that time, I have had a sense that this matter is unfinished business. I was interested to listen to some of the comments. One issue that was raised, most notably by the hon. Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) and my hon.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I would be interested in the Minister’s thoughts on that, but the point that I am trying to make is that this is a matter of choice for the Government.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When we hear the Minister’s response or read the statement made by the Minister’s colleague saying that there are no plans to reopen any decisions, it is important that it is clear that they are still open to consideration if the public finances change. I want finally to return to what the hon.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In the big scheme of things, it would be very helpful if the Minister could confirm that it is the intention that those moneys in that envelope will be reallocated to policyholders, rather than being swept back into general taxpayer money.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
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“Q I cannot remember whether it was you, Jo, or Kate—if I may call you by your first names—who works in a pension fund. Jo Derbyshire : I work in a pension fund.”
House of Commons16 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q What is clear, though, is that the business net present value is scored at minus £1.7 billion, so presumably we can pretty much say that the impact on business is going to be— Professor Leunig: Does it have a range?”
House of Commons16 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is not unusual to hear from two Bedfordshire MPs when it comes to the police funding formula, because this goes all the way back to the last Labour Government, but there is a cross-party view in Bedfordshire that our police force is underfunded. Will my right hon. Friend agree to meet all Bedfordshire MPs so that we can press the case for increases in funding for Bedfordshire Police?”
House of Commons15 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I applaud the Government’s initiative to make full expensing permanent, but of course we know there will be a general election within the next 12 months. Has my hon. Friend heard from the Opposition whether, if they were to be in Government, they would maintain it?”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Further to that point, does my hon. Friend not think, as I do, that it is an aspect of a responsible Opposition to be clear, right now as we are debating this in this House, what they would do were they to be in Government?”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I was very pleased to hear the shadow Minister say that the Opposition welcome the full expensing. That helps, but maybe he can go further to clarify. In new clause 6, tabled in his name, the Opposition are calling for a review of all business taxes and reliefs, which would include full expensing. He will know, as will the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Alistair Strathern) who is sitting behind him, that there is a particular potential investment decision in our county. Will the shadow Minister make it explicit that the Labour party’s intention is to include in its manifesto for the next election a commitment to maintaining full expensing?”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“All those on the Treasury Bench will be aware of the persistence of the concerns about the loan charge and other aspects of tax avoidance schemes, which HMRC has gone to court over, winning in certain actions and then deciding to apply blanket solutions to cases where there has never been a finding of fact in a court regarding the particular schemes. My specific question—I hope that this is within scope, Dame Rosie; you will tell me if it is not—is why we have not brought HMRC’s approach on tackling the loan charge to a conclusion. People have been pursued for far too long in an area that is far too grey. It would be interesting if the Minister had an update on that.”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I would also be interested to hear from the Minister—perhaps not from the Dispatch Box today, but separately with the taxation Minister—where the definition of certain words is moving in the Treasury and HMRC when it comes to tax avoidance and tax evasion. I recall that, many years ago, the difference was that tax evasion was illegal and that tax avoidance, while perhaps not what the HMRC wanted to happen, was legal. We see in the Finance Bill references to tax avoidance that imply that it is illegal. I worry that there is insufficient clarity, from HMRC’s perspective, on the difference between tax evasion, which is illegal, and tax avoidance, which is legal but perhaps not desirable. Perhaps the Minister could give some clarity on that.”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Given that there is a reasonable chance—some say it is better than a 50:50 chance—that there may be a change in Administration in November and the United States could then withdraw from participation in the OECD process, can the Minister, in his summing up, give some reassurance to those Conservative Members who, although always supportive of the Prime Minister, may just want to make sure that we have clarity on what we would do in the eventuality that neither of the two major economies in the world—the United States and China—are taking part in this particular global minimum tax from multinationals.”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“First, I am interested in any updates the Minister may have on those views about China. Secondly, it is clear that there will be an election in the United States later this year and that there is a significant difference in opinion between the Republican party and the Democrats about whether they will enact the US’s part in the taxation policies of pillars 1 and 2—particularly in pillar 2.”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I wish to raise just a couple of points. Let me turn to the issues of pillar 2 and the moving forward of the Government’s policy on that in clause 21 and schedule 12. Obviously, that relates to changing the decision maker on the taxation rates for multinationals operating in this country from the British Government, elected by the British people, to the determinations of an international organisation through treaty. As we move forward, it is important to be aware of the changing context. Hon. Members, particularly those from the Conservative Benches, have raised in the past the issue of who else is coming along to this particular minimum tax global party. We already know that China, one of the major economic actors in the world, is not part of the OECD, will not be complying with us and will not be part of these regulations.”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Hypotheticals are not always helpful, but I beg my right hon. Friend’s indulgence in this hypothetical on that particular point about the interaction between clause 3(7) and UK foreign policy. UK foreign policy is clear that illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are against international law. This Bill would provide that, if a pension fund were given an investment policy for expanding, say, an infrastructure fund proposal in the occupied territories, it would have no moral basis for refusing to invest, although that investment would be expanding Israeli policies contrary to UK foreign policy. Can the Secretary of State explain how to unpack that so that what he has just said is what I believe is true?”
House of Commons10 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Recently, the Israeli ambassador to the UK very candidly said that there was absolutely no chance of a two-state solution. Has my right hon. Friend worked out whether the ambassador was speaking independently, or whether she was reflecting the views of the Israeli Government? If the latter is the case, does that not sound like a slap in the face for UK policy? If it is the former—that she was making up her own view—how can she be relied upon as a faithful conveyor of the Israeli Government’s message?”
House of Commons8 January 2024Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Chancellor update the House on how he plans to move forward with some of the key recommendations from Lord Harrington’s review into foreign direct investment in the UK?”
House of Commons19 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Every year, 800 women pass through immigration detention, including centres such as Yarl’s Wood in my constituency. Many of those women have been trafficked or are victims of sexual abuse. I am working with a group, Women for Refugee Women, to provide a snapshot of the backgrounds of these women. Will the Minister agree to meet us to analyse the results of their findings?”
House of Commons13 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“When this terrible conflict comes to an end, as all wars must, both Gaza and the west bank will require substantial investment to restore and enhance the economic wellbeing of the Palestinian people. What discussions is my right hon. Friend having with other countries about how they may take a role in an economic revival of the area, which could play a role in a lasting peace?”
House of Commons11 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What is the current Government thinking on giving people the right to manage, and therefore to take back control from the estate management companies?”
House of Commons11 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend, my hon. Friend the Member for Redditch (Rachel Maclean) and Ministers for bringing the Bill forward. The Secretary of State spoke about leasehold improvements and improving the rights of leaseholders, but he will be aware that part 4 of the Bill looks to protect and improve the rights of families who hold the freehold of their property against the estate management charges about which he is speaking; the Bill does a lot to meet some of the requests of many of my Conservative colleagues on this matter. One issue that is not addressed in the Bill, however, is the right to manage. In the 2019 response to the 2017 consultation, the Government said they would look at that and introduce legislation.”
House of Commons11 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the primary care Minister join me in congratulating the Conservative Mayor of Bedford borough for proposing council money to invest in primary care facilities in Great Barford, Wootton, Wixams and Kempston? Will she condemn Labour and Liberal Democrat councils for voting it down?”
House of Commons5 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“A national scheme providing victims of rape and sexual assault with independent legal advice and representation will ensure that victims’ rights are respected where their interests diverge from those of the police, the CPS and other criminal agencies. My new clause 41 would ensure that victims, where appropriate, have access to legal advice that will give them the confidence that all that is being sought is all that is needed to enable a fair prosecution, and no more. The clause would provide a mechanism for accessibility and improve the quality, efficiency and consistency of investigations. I hope the Minister will look positively on this initiative.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There is guidance for it in Australia—in New South Wales—Ireland and, in total, in eight of 14 of the adversarial legal systems. I strongly urge the Minister to look at ways in which that could be put into the Bill. Under my proposal, this access to independent legal advice would be provided to victims in six specified situations, so we are not creating an open door or a difference that would occur in other cases. That is important because decisions about how credible the victim is deemed to be are often what drive the decision to continue with a criminal case. That is not the case in many other sources of crimes.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My new clause builds on the findings from the scheme trialled in Northumbria, under the leadership of the police and crime commissioners Dame Vera Baird and Kim McGuinness. The findings demonstrate that a significant proportion of requests for information for rape complainants’ private data were excessive; that those excessive requests had a significant impact on the wellbeing of victims; and that the legal guidance on the matter was not clearly understood, which led to wide variations in approach. I believe a national version of the scheme, which could be created at reasonable cost to the taxpayer, would provide for greater confidence for victims as they go through what can be a highly intrusive and painful evidence-gathering process. There are international examples—this path has been trodden by others.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do not normally support amendments that look for a report in six months, but in this case that is warranted to help give us, here in Parliament, confidence that the right priority is being afforded to such victims. Taken together, the amendments proposed by the hon. Member for Rotherham would provide a significant strengthening of the rights of victims of sexual violence. I hope that the Minister will reflect positively on her intentions and ours, because they have cross-party support, even if he is not minded to accept them today. Given his earlier comments, I think he has some positive views about them. I hope that extends to my new clause 41, which would, for the first time across the UK, provide for independent legal advice and representation for victims of rape and sexual assault.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Rotherham (Sarah Champion): amendment 15 would include in the victims code a requirement to inform all victims of their right to access pre-trial therapy; new clause 4 would place a statutory duty on the Parole Board to enable victims to make a personal statement; new clause 5 would require the compilation of single core data sets on victims of child sexual abuse, a crucial first step in promoting consistency and enabling a greater degree of insight into that terrible crime; and new clause 6 would require the Secretary of State to assess the adequacy of the number of independent domestic violence and sexual violence advisers.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I commend the Minister for the excellent Bill and join Opposition Front Benchers in thanking him for bringing forward substantive amendments at this stage, rather than waiting to bring them forward in the other place. This is a good Bill. I will focus on victims of violent sexual crime and talk to my new clause 41, but first I will speak briefly in support of other amendments that I have signed. New clause 19, proposed by my right hon. Friend the Member for Basingstoke (Dame Maria Miller), provides for a presumption of non-disclosure of counselling records for victims of rape and sexual assault, and it makes it clear, for the first time, that counselling is there to explore feelings, not as a source for revealing or investigating facts. Four amendments are proposed by the hon.”
House of Commons4 December 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Yesterday was Lancashire Day and today is Bedfordshire Day—happy Bedfordshire Day to all Members. It is the job of the Climate Change Committee to be enthusiastic about achieving our net zero goals. It is the responsibility of the Government to be fiscally prudent in achieving that objective. Does my right hon. Friend agree with the Prime Minister that we need to be clear with the British public all the way along about the costs that will be incurred to achieve our net zero ambitions?”
House of Commons28 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“T2. Paragraph 3.10.14 of the National Policy Framework Statement EN-3 states that new solar farms should avoid the use of “‘best and most versatile’ agricultural land where possible”,using the designations of the agricultural land classifications. But there are concerns that field surveys can artificially downgrade land. Will my right hon. Friend say that both she and the planning inspectorate will be vigilant in protecting best and most versatile land and in ensuring the integrity of land classification?”
House of Commons28 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There becomes an issue in certain regions as to whether this very strong push on the national living wage will have a distributional effect on unemployment. Although I may not sound it, I am pleased that the Chancellor has announced these measures. It is clear we live in a world where forecasters now have the whip hand—how on earth we got here, I do not know. One year there is no headroom, but then they spin the forecast around and a year later there is. Who knows where this will end? Whatever that headroom has been, the Chancellor has pointed the ship of state in the right direction and I wish him full speed ahead.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If they are going to waste public money, let us not spend the public money in the first place. Unlike some Opposition Members, I welcome the triple lock and the living wage increase. Those long-term Conservative policies have been put in place and year on year they have done so much to take working people and many pensioners out of poverty. Those measures are expensive for the state—of course, we need to understand that—but they are crucial parts of making our society more equal. I have one point to raise: I do not think anyone in this House is confident about introducing a regional living wage, as there are lots of problems with that. However, we must note that the living wage is rising to £11.44 and that is nearly 80% of median wages in Wales.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I worry, however, that HMRC is extending itself a little too far and not focusing on the bread and butter issues, such as picking up the phone and answering the inquiries of taxpayers day to day. The Chancellor was right to introduce productivity targets for the public, as it is clear that since the pandemic the private sector has roared ahead with productivity improvements and the public sector has done absolutely nothing to improve productivity. But why go for 0.5%? What institution cannot achieve more than a 0.5% improvement in productivity year on year? The Chancellor should look at strengthening that target. While he is at it, why does he not go through all the capital projects that do not have a positive benefit-to-cost ratio, on proper discounted cash-flow terms, and cancel the lot of them?”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Green Book contains an interesting item at paragraph 5.57, which is heroically called: “Investment in HMRC debt management capability”. I have a background in venture capital and this measure, for £163 million, promises an annual return of more than £1 billion. We put £163 million of extra resources into HMRC to chase on this issue and we get £1 billion back, according to the Government’s numbers. How does that happen? It is because this measure “will allow HMRC to better distinguish between those who can afford to settle their tax debts, but choose not to, from those who are temporarily unable to pay and need support.” That is a massive extension of the roles and responsibility of HMRC into the personal finances or the corporate finances of small businesses. Clearly, that may be a good measure, whereby we can close the tax gap.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They seek to strengthen economic regulation and impose, or introduce, a growth duty on Ofwat, Ofcom and Ofgem. Those important measures will stimulate growth, but my point would be: is that it? Regulators cover 25% of the productive part of our economy. Members in all parts of the House have pointed out numerous times the failures of our regulators to manage their sectors effectively, be it water or energy. What on earth are the Government doing to make regulators make more effort to stimulate growth? I ask the regulators, please, not only to stick with current efforts but to do more of what they can. I know that my hon. Friend the Economic Secretary feels similarly. The Financial Secretary is not here, but he has responsibility for His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Lots of sensible words have been said by Members in all parts of the House about thresholds and the drag. When this rate was brought in, 4% of adults paid that higher rate. With measures not reversed today—it is important that we say to the Treasury, “You did not reverse this today”—that number will rise to 16% by 2027-28. That is not 16% of taxpayers, but 16% of all adults and so it includes people who are not working and it includes pensioners. The actual number will be nearly one in four taxpayers paying the higher rate of tax. That is not a Conservative way to run the economy. There are some specific hopes in what the Government have put in. I particularly welcome some of the measures, including those set out in paragraphs 5.95, 5.96 and 5.97 in the Green Book, which form part of the Chancellor’s 110 measures.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do not want to get into the nitty-gritty, although it is true that, at the moment, this is the largest tax-raising Parliament of any, and that will be extremely difficult for me to explain to my constituents, but if we look over the longer term, four of the six Parliaments from 1970 to 1997 were tax-cutting Parliaments, and only two were tax-increasing. Of the seven Parliaments since 1997, five have increased taxes and only two have reduced them. We have a political-class problem: whichever party is in power, we are biased towards increasing the burden on taxpayers to increase the state. That is not a Conservative approach to the economy. Thirdly, the IFS looked at the proportion of taxpayers now captured in the higher and additional rate.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As Ministers have said, those were caused by exceptional items: the covid response and the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those one-off increases should have been followed by significant real reductions in public expenditure, to get it back to where it was. If we have real increases, we are then at a higher level, and we get back to where we were before the one-offs only if we have real reductions. There was nothing in the announcements today that indicated that the Government have got to grips with that essential point about public spending. The second chart from the IFS looks at tax rises across Parliaments.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They talked about things that the Chancellor was not doing, and then they tried desperately not to sound too enthusiastic about the things that he was doing. That is part of the success of the Chancellor’s statement. I therefore congratulate him on making a reasonable and good start, but we have a very long way to go to get back to Conservative principles in public financing. I want to draw attention to three charts that the Institute for Fiscal Studies prepared. The first shows public spending increases in real terms, going back all the way to 1985-86. As one gets older, one likes looking at longer-term trends in things. The chart shows that in this Parliament there was a significant increase in public expenditure in two fiscal years.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“You tempt me in the wrong direction, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am sure that, in a few minutes, those on the Government Front Bench will wish that I had had fewer minutes. It is a great pleasure to follow the right hon. Member for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson). He always speaks a lot of sense in the House, and I listened with interest to what he said. It is also a pleasure to welcome the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my hon. Friend the Member for Hitchin and Harpenden (Bim Afolami), to his place. I am sure he will do a fantastic job in the Treasury, as will the rest of the team. I congratulate the Chancellor, because at the start of this debate the Opposition were struggling to have anything to say about what was in his statement.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Lady is exactly right on that. We have to have the courage to understand that there are different pressures in labour markets. As we push forward the national living wage increases, we need to take those pressures into account if we are to get the right balance for employment.”
House of Commons22 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Would the Minister, either now or in summing up the debate, explain a bit about the phrase “free allocation”? On the face of it, if free allocation is to be set at 100% of the sector’s verified emissions, it does not sound like there is a lot of free space. He mentioned that free allocation was originally set at 127% because of concerns about carbon leakage. What has changed so that the Government are now satisfied that cutting it to 100% will not result in carbon leakage?”
House of Commons21 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My right hon. Friend’s new clauses relate to debanking, prompted by a particular incident. Would he not accept that there is the broader issue that the pursuit of environmental, social and governance goals by corporations and the pursuit of values in association with diversity, equity and inclusion objectives raise the same issue on a much broader front than banking facilities? What would he recommend the Government should do on that?”
House of Commons20 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I welcome my hon. Friend to his new post. Does he share with me the humour that Opposition Back Benchers have proposals for new taxation that the Opposition Front Benchers are trying to bat away, while those of us on the Government Back Benches are telling the Government to cut taxes, and our Front Benchers keep batting that away?”
House of Commons14 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On decision authorities, it seems odd to have a system where integrated care boards bring together local councils and the local NHS—my area has a £2 billion annual budget—yet local people who understand local health needs have almost zero decision rights over how that money is spent. I do not see how the future of the NHS in the long term can be such a top-down, budget-driven system with so little local discretion if it is to succeed.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There is much greater global competition, both in terms of trying to bring people to the UK—the NHS brand is not as strong as it used to be—and in what people will do when they leave their training, such as moving to the middle east or to other health markets. We also need to recognise that many of our junior doctors now carry student debt, which the original model did not anticipate that they would have, and therefore the charging of ongoing fees for annual training is important. We must also recognise that junior doctors want to spend most of their time training and being with patients. The Government should look acutely at ways they can reduce the admin burden.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I think that people are prepared to put private capital in place, but decision rights on how we all access diagnostics need to be given to us, not held by the NHS. Because of the limitations on time, I will mention compensation briefly. How on earth did we end up with a GP pay system that means that those who choose their hours and do not take on the responsibility of being a partner end up getting paid more lucratively than those who are full time or who are partner GPs? We need to reinforce the partner GP model, not turn our back on it. I know that the Government are in discussion with junior doctors about this, but the circumstances in which we train our doctors has changed substantially.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are also seeing people coming forward to help with capital. We recently had a change in the elected mayoralty in Bedford, with the replacement of a Liberal Democrat Mayor by a Conservative one, Tom Wootton. I am delighted that as one of his first measures, he has provided capital from the council’s budget to bring forward the provision of primary care services in the constituency and the rest of the borough. I look forward to those improvements being made in Great Barford and in other constituencies—I know it is happening in Wixams and Wootton. I commend an elected Conservative Mayor as the way to get local primary NHS facilities improved. Well done, Mayor Tom Wootton. We need to provide more access for private capital if we are to enable a range of diagnostic centres across the country.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“What a great form of outreach that charity and its volunteers and recruits have taken on with this role of social prescribing. In addition, there is a bit of pressure on local pharmacies, with some of the national changes altering their strategies. Others, however, are coming forward with positive initiatives, including Jardines pharmacy in Biggleswade, which has just launched its out-of-hours, Amazon box-type option for people to get their prescriptions. In discussing improvement, I wish to mention four areas where there is change. On capital for the NHS, the issue is not primarily one of needing more money. Capital for the NHS in this five-year period will be 60% greater than it was in the previous five-year period. The issue is the process by which that capital is allocated and the choices that are made.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Despite the fact that all Members here feel that primary care has gone through quite a difficult process after the covid experience, in my constituency we have made progress, although there is still more to be made. It is a shame to see my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough (Neil O’Brien) moving from his role in primary care, not least because I had just arranged a meeting with him and the leader of Central Bedfordshire Council to discuss the Biggleswade health hub. May I make a quick plea to those on the Front Bench that that meeting should be put back on the schedule as soon as possible? Social prescribing was mentioned by the Minister in her opening remarks and it is a positive initiative. I visited the Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charity, which has taken on that responsibility.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some parts of the community find that making the transition from seeing their normal GP to seeing another differently qualified member of staff creates problems, but in the long term it is useful. I found out that the different methodologies for accessing primary care—not just walking in or getting an appointment by phone, but getting access through email, the net or an app—have created extra pressures on primary care doctors. However, they are there to see it through to the end and they think it will have long-term benefits. I thank all my local GPs across the constituency. A couple had particular difficulties, but I am pleased to say that progress in those two practices has been substantial since changes have been made.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why “infrastructure first”, whereby we get the infrastructure in place before putting in more housing, was important for the future, while recognising that the growth over the previous two decades had had a significant impact, most importantly on primary care. I have visited literally every GP practice in my constituency and spent an hour there, with one exception—it is still to come. I have found out about discrete issues that are important in how local residents feel about their GP services, including the choice of phone system. I think that the move to the cloud-based phone system by the NHS is welcome. I found out how people feel about the skills mix, where we have more non-GPs.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let me make a counter point: many people think that the Government are already trying to do too much. These people are fed up with their businesses and lives being too regulated, and their taxes being too high. They are fed up with being told what they can and cannot say, and when they can and cannot demonstrate. People want to be free to live their lives. Government can play an important enabling role, but I say to her that the most important thing is the quality of the legislation proposed, which we all have a role in forming, rather than the quantity. The topic of today’s debate is an NHS fit for the future. When I became the MP for North East Bedfordshire, it was clear that growth in population and in housing was driving many of the issues that affected my generally rural constituency.”
House of Commons13 November 2023Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗