Nick Smith
MP for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney · Labour · United Kingdom
“We had huge wildfires in the Welsh valleys last summer, so I welcome last week’s summit, which announced the UK’s first permanent military firefighting capability. When I met firefighters after the summer, I heard anecdotal reports that some fires were being started deliberately.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Mr Speaker, I would like to add some words of thanks to the retiring Clerk of the House. I find Thomas Goldsmith to be a very sage official sitting at the heart of our organisation. It is my privilege to be a House of Commons Commissioner and Chair of the Administration Committee.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am happy to give my right hon. Friend a whiff, as we say in the valleys. Parliament is taking action to reduce single-use plastics across our estate. This includes removing plastic bottles of water from sale, eliminating about 120,000 of them each year.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“May I thank the Leader of the House and the shadow Leader of the House for their kind words highlighting the 60th anniversary of the Aberfan tragedy earlier this week? I welcome the Government’s commitment to creating employment opportunities for young people through the youth jobs grant.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As I have set out, Parliament has made significant progress in reducing single-use plastics across the estate. For example, to minimise the environmental impact, single-use plastic cups are now made from biodegradable material, and we do bags of stuff on composting.”
House of Commons22 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This summer, wildfires raged across south Wales and other parts of the UK. On one day alone, our emergency services received 1,000 telephone calls. Our South Wales fire and rescue service worked tirelessly alongside firefighters from across the UK.”
House of Commons3 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
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“Page 3 of the explanatory memorandum—item 10, “Consultation outcome”—says that there was “no formal consultation”. It does, however, say that “A range of stakeholders have been consulted”, so could the Minister say what the Provosts Marshal said by way of response?”
House of Commons21 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Minister is being very generous with his time. Coming back to his earlier point about seeking consistency of outcomes, why has the Minister not adopted the proposal of the Government-commissioned Henriques review that the deputy Provost Marshal of the DSCU ought to be a civilian?”
House of Commons21 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Is it true that the Home Secretary disagreed with the ideas of the former Prime Minister, the right hon. Member for South West Norfolk (Elizabeth Truss), on extending the seasonal agricultural worker scheme to help to provide important extra, temporary migrant labour for our farming sector?”
House of Commons16 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On page 3 of the explanatory memorandum on assistance with voting, paragraph 10 refers to the consultation outcome’s 256 responses, which is fantastic. I think the most important outcome was that from local authority election teams, and we have very good election teams in Blaenau Gwent in south Wales, my home constituency. I just want to check that the proposals were consistent with the views of the local authority election teams. If they were not, what is the difference? I am interested in what their response was to the consultation.”
House of Commons15 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The cold weather payment is a lifeline for those on low incomes, but the current £25 rate was set in 2008. Today, it should be worth £37. Will the Chancellor collaborate with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and look into updating the figure in the light of the energy crisis?”
House of Commons15 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“General Dynamics reports strong progress on the troubled Ajax programme, so can the Secretary of State confirm that a solution to the noise and vibration issues has now been found?”
House of Commons7 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This is a sad saga of Government and police management failure. Understandably, there will likely be increased vetting after this important report, so by when will all the additional 20,000 police officers promised so long ago actually be in post?”
House of Commons3 November 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Mr Speaker, may I associate myself with your remarks about the Pelosi family? I congratulate the right hon. Member on his appointment. The £25 cold weather payment rate has not been updated since 2008. In today’s money, it should be worth £37. Parts of Blaenau Gwent are more than 1,000 feet above sea level, and the constituency itself is one of the most deprived in the UK. Will the Secretary of State look again at the criteria for this scheme? Surely areas with bad weather, higher energy costs and lower incomes should get a fairer deal.”
House of Commons31 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Cheadle on introducing this important Bill, and I join the Minister in recognising the fantastic success of auto-enrolment, which has changed saving across our country. But I hope the Minister can help me on two points. First, the hon. Member for Hexham has—for sure—done all the heavy lifting on introducing the pensions dashboard, but when does the Minister anticipate its proper introduction to the marketplace to support pensioners across the country? It is a great idea, but it has been in development for a long time. Secondly, I note that there is no impact assessment or consultation on the introduction of the Bill. I am sure that there are fair reasons for that, but have the FCA and the other regulators involved had any input on the development of the Bill?”
House of Commons26 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I wish the Minister best of luck in her new role. I have been looking through the explanatory memorandum and two things have occurred to me. First, point 10, on page 3, under the heading “Consultation outcome”, says that there was no consultation for this proposal. However, it does say that there was engagement with a range of stakeholders, including the Judge Advocate General and the Military Court Service. Will the Minister please tell us their main feedback points? Secondly, there is a big emphasis on page 2 of the explanatory memorandum on the recruitment of lay members. That sounds great, but how will those lay members be recruited?”
House of Commons26 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“A fortnight ago, I raised the Swansea bay tidal lagoon at Treasury questions. The Chief Secretary to the Treasury kindly offered me a meeting to discuss it. He was very positive, but then, unfortunately, he lost his job. The potential of the barrage for cheap renewable energy could really kickstart our green economy in south Wales. Will the Minister reopen the business case on this important project?”
House of Commons25 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Prime Minister’s chief of staff is in hot water after lobbying on behalf of a Libyan warlord and big tobacco. It turns out that he has also lobbied for personal protective equipment giants Sante Global. Is it wise to have a lobbyist at the centre of Government?”
House of Commons19 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Is it true that the right hon. Member for Spelthorne (Kwasi Kwarteng) first found out that he was sacked on Twitter, rather than being told to his face?”
House of Commons17 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“May I press the Chancellor? The defined benefit pensions market has been in turmoil. Schemes have nearly folded, and the Bank of England has spent £20 billion to steady the market. How will he grip that better so that pensioners can have confidence in their schemes?”
House of Commons17 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I, too, am really concerned about the oversight of our pensions industry. When was the last stress test to see whether these funds had sufficient liquidity to cope with market turbulence, and can the Minister explain in simple terms the regulation of pension funds right now? Our country needs pension stability, not ongoing, home-grown financial crises.”
House of Commons12 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have just been going through the explanatory memorandum. On page 4 it states: “No consultation has been carried out on this instrument”, but it goes on to say that there was an earlier consultation, as regards the memoranda to the amended regulations. Can the Minister tell us how wide that consultation was and what the response was?”
House of Commons11 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In 2017, former Conservative energy Minister Charles Hendry conducted a review of the Swansea Bay tidal lagoon. He gave it the thumbs up, but since then successive Governments have not pursued it. Given the energy crisis we are in, will the Minister consider reopening the business case? It could be a fantastic source of green energy for our country.”
House of Commons11 October 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Chancellor has sacked his permanent secretary and muzzled the Office for Budget Responsibility, and is man-marking the Governor of the Bank of England. The Chancellor’s free-wheeling ideology is crushing dissent. Will the Governor of the Bank of England still be in his job by Christmas?”
House of Commons23 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Parts of Blaenau Gwent are 1,200 feet above sea level and our winters can be bitter. Will there be any extra help for families facing higher bills in constituencies with much colder weather than most, and will the Government also look again at the cold weather payment criteria as part of their upcoming review?”
House of Commons22 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Prime Minister’s chief of staff has been interviewed by the FBI in connection with electoral bribery in Puerto Rico. May we have a Government statement on that to consider whether any UK laws may have been broken, whether the FBI interview has affected the chief of staff’s security status, and whether the Prime Minister was informed of the FBI interview before her chief of staff’s appointment was confirmed?”
House of Commons22 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Although it was very carefully done, there was a nod to the political genius who established yet another great institution of our country. The Prince wore a blue cornflower in his buttonhole—it was a classy look. He clearly knew of our great valleys and their history. I have no doubt that he will continue the legacy of his beloved mother, the late Queen. Finally, I warmly welcome the naming of the new Prince and Princess of Wales. Though I mourn our longest reigning monarch, I now say, God save the King.”
House of Commons10 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Her late Majesty knew that meeting our community leaders, hearing our choirs, collecting flowers from children—being with us—mattered. She showered good will on the people of Blaenau Gwent as the water rained down on all of us. In the days that followed, the Queen also visited Aberfan. She was due to open a new school in the village that had been struck by grief just 46 years earlier. On reflection, I now realise that she was the constant. She was there when tragedy struck, standing alongside us when our nation mourned, but she was also there to usher in the new beginnings. As I look to the future and think of His Majesty King Charles III, I recall his visit, as Prince of Wales, to Ysbyty Aneurin Bevan, the hospital named after my predecessor who established our national health service.”
House of Commons10 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I mourn the passing of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, and on behalf of my constituents, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the royal family. When I heard the sad news, my first thought was that we, the British people, had lost our pre-eminent public servant. Her late Majesty once said: “I do not give you laws or administer justice, but I can do something else. I can give you my heart and devotion to these old islands and to all the peoples of our brotherhood of nations.” Queen Elizabeth dedicated her life to the greater good, and wove together the ties that bind us. In 2012 the Queen visited Ebbw Vale. It was one of those days in our valleys when the skies empty gallons, but still she saw through the programme.”
House of Commons10 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I wonder whether the Minister would help me. The explanatory notes state that the “process requires data matching activities by DWP which can only take place once the instrument is in force and takes several weeks before suppliers can start to provide the rebates.” This could be a complex process, so has he got an estimate for when the rebates will be applied, please?”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This is not good enough; the country deserves better. The Government’s energy plan is said to involve £100 billion-plus of expenditure. That will involve very complex arrangements. A general debate is good, but when will we see the economic event that the Government have been promising for a while? The country really needs to get a grip of the Government’s energy plans now.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the right hon. Gentleman think that the Bill sufficiently challenges the Financial Conduct Authority to speak up and support consumers?”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Financial sharks that rip off working people need to be netted. The FCA needs to look across our country as well as at the City of London. Therefore, I ask the Minister to make doubly sure that the Bill has the strongest possible provisions for consumers and that the regulatory culture at the FCA is fit for purpose—something much more like the Securities and Exchange Commission than the limp enforcement regime at the FCA now. Experience shows that the FCA consumer panel needs the firepower to challenge the culture at the FCA. Will the Minister please look again at that topic? A strong consumer voice must be at the heart of all our financial regulators; it needs to be a fundamental guiding principle.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is good that the Treasury will have increasing powers to direct the FCA to make, review and enforce new rules as and when the need arises—the Treasury needs to jump in where necessary—but we need a fit-for-purpose FCA that robustly defends its consumers at the outset. It needs to hold bad actors to account from the get-go. Therefore, I believe that consumer protection should be better embedded in chapter 3 of the Bill as a key accountability of the regulator. That is why I hope to see amendments made to mandate a much sharper focus on consumer protection with statutory panels that centre on the consumer. In Committee, there should also be a review of the FCA’s enforcement powers, which may need boosting. Confidence in the regulator to have the best rulebook, enforcement and a culture that stands behind the consumer is key.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This has meant that many BSPS members have suffered years of nagging worry and losses to their pension pots, and had their plans for retirement ruined. The National Audit Office discovered that, in the claims made to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the average individual loss stands at an eye-watering £82,600. Due to the FCA’s failures, the final bill for the coming redress scheme will likely be in the hundreds of millions of pounds. Despite having the powers to respond to the thieving and poor adviser behaviour, the FCA has issued just one fine in relation to the BSPS case. Although I welcome the FCA’s efforts to improve its consumer-facing work in recent months, I am not convinced that the proposed framework will ensure that consumers are properly protected.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Despite being duty-bound to ensure that consumers were given quality financial advice, the FCA displayed poor oversight of the adviser marketplace. It consistently failed to act, even though it was aware of the risks to pensioners transferring out of a defined-benefit scheme. It failed to regulate a marketplace rigged against the steelworkers. A recent Public Accounts Committee report found that the FCA failed to protect BSPS members from unscrupulous financial advisers who were financially incentivised to provide unsuitable advice, and that the regulator was “behind the curve” in its response. As a result, after much prodding, the FCA itself found that a staggering 47% of transfer recommendations were unsuitable.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am glad to see the introduction of the Bill. Its provisions for securing access to cash, which I think should be free, will be welcomed in Blaenau Gwent. I strongly endorse the focus in chapter 3 on improving the accountability of financial regulators. Which? magazine has described this as a “once in a generation opportunity to strengthen the UK’s financial services regulatory regime”—quite the mouthful—but much more still needs to be done. Unfortunately, I have lost confidence in the main regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority. Its oversight of the British Steel pension scheme scandal was plain hopeless. I saw the stress and grief of steelworker pensioner constituents who had been ripped off, and I have seen in my own experience as a member of the Public Accounts Committee just how useless the FCA can be.”
House of Commons7 September 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“President Putin said in 2004 that there is “no such thing as a former KGB man”. Was the then Foreign Secretary Johnson aware of that when he met the KGB’s Alexander Lebedev without officials or security in 2018, which only became clear last week? Can we please have a statement on that, because it is a high security risk for our country?”
House of Commons14 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have been looking at the explanatory memorandum. On page 7, in paragraph 10.2, it states that Her Majesty’s Treasury ran a public consultation on one of the amendments to the Banking Act 2009 relating to these changes. Can the Minister say how many people responded, and what the results of the consultation were?”
House of Commons12 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also support it because, although we need occasional reviews and challenge for experts, most of all we should provide the way forward through this. Like my right hon. Friend the Member for Alyn and Deeside (Mark Tami), I think we need full transparency on cost. We need to go into this with our eyes open, but see it as an investment in our country’s history and in this great place. Most of all, I want to crack on, as we have delayed progress for far too long.”
House of Commons12 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will be quick, Madam Deputy Speaker. My contribution tonight is born of seven years of frustration at making so little progress with this project. In 2018, I voted for the decant, as I thought it was the simplest thing to do. I also thought we would go to Richmond House, because that was the safest place for us to stay in and it was close to the Departments of State in Whitehall. I really thought it was very straightforward and I hoped we would make good progress. Tonight, I support amendments (a) and (b). I support amendment (a) not because I think in policy the Government have stopped progress on this, but because Ministers have stymied progress on this important project. I support amendment (b) because we need new machinery and new energy to take this forward.”
House of Commons12 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“9. What assessment she has made of the impact of the rate of the delivery of the rollout of gigabit broadband on (a) rural and (b) urban communities.”
House of Commons7 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Rolling out gigabit broadband requires real leadership. The Prime Minister has brought his office into disrepute, so will the Deputy Prime Minister be his stand-by this summer?”
House of Commons7 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Prime Minister has brought his office into disrepute. Our country should not have to put up with it any longer. Will the Prime Minister be leaving No. 10 this weekend?”
House of Commons7 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Why did it take until yesterday for the Prime Minister to admit that he had met a KGB agent in secret? Will there be a published report on this matter?”
House of Commons7 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Minister for her statement: it is great that Sweden and Finland will be joining NATO. However, will her Government halt their cuts to our Army? We now have the smallest British Army for 300 years. We need to increase the size of our armed forces, not make the cut of 10,000 troops that the Government are still pushing through.”
House of Commons6 July 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The school holidays in Wales and England start on 22 July. There are nearly 30 million visits abroad by air in quarter 3, which includes those school holidays. To help families get away, will the Passport Office backlog be cleared by 22 July?”
House of Commons20 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Could you give some advice, Madam Deputy Speaker, on whether there is a difficulty with sightlines to this corner of the Chamber, as the Minister seems unable to see requests to give way from Labour Members?”
House of Commons14 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Yes, more staff have been hired and more applications are being processed, but still the applications pour in and the delays continue. Families are having to resort to fast-track applications just to get their passports back in time, but at double the cost. We must have a realistic action plan to get the service back to normal by the middle of July, ahead of the summer holidays. I think the Passport Office needs to tag-team with the National Audit Office to better understand the problem. It must improve its process management and we must have much, much better reporting to Parliament. We are all afraid that the problem will get even worse as the summer holidays approach. Ministers must grip this now, before family holiday plans are turned to sand.”
House of Commons14 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“One case is a seven-year-old constituent who has a family holiday to Australia next week. Their application was submitted on 16 March. It took six weeks for the Passport Office to request information, which was sent back straight away, and tomorrow marks 13 weeks since they first applied. The family needs the passport in order to apply for a visa, so these delays are risking their family holiday. This is being made worse by the clunky system that the Passport Office is still using. An upgrade was planned three years ago, but it still has not happened. A new digital system would reduce processing time and cost less, so this needs to be done urgently. In the Minister’s closing remarks, can he please tell us when this will happen?”
House of Commons14 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government are letting down thousands of families across our country. The Passport Office is in chaos because record applications are not being processed in good time. The Home Office was warned about this last year but has failed to take sufficient action. Indeed, its own key indicators last autumn showed that a storm was brewing. I have been frustrated by Ministers ducking and diving and not admitting the scale of the problem. I have submitted a dozen parliamentary written questions about this, but I have had poor responses on the size of the backlog, on the metrics that are being used and on when the service will return to normal. The only figure available was a leak to the press suggesting a 500,000 backlog. This problem is causing havoc to people’s plans. My office is hearing from worried constituents every day.”
House of Commons14 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree with the right hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs May) on NHS reorganisations. I once met a very senior and very able NHS manager who said they had been through 14 restructures of the NHS and they quite liked number five. How will this review better integrate ambulance services with their local hospitals to improve performance standards for local patients?”
House of Commons8 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government’s incompetence is worrying for families who are afraid that the bedlam will ruin their summer holidays. How can I get these points on the record and get the Government to up their game and help families across our country?”
House of Commons8 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On a point of order, Mr Speaker. You will remember that I recently challenged the relevant Minister with an urgent question about the poor performance of the Passport Office. A constituent who applied for a passport in February is due to travel next week, so yesterday, after queuing up at Portcullis House, I found out that their extra paperwork has been stuck in the post room at Peterborough for two weeks and not taken forward. In recent weeks, I have tabled 10 or so written parliamentary questions seeking clarification on the size of the Passport Office backlog, the extra income received by the Department after constituents had to apply for fast-track applications, and how soon the current 10-week turnaround for applications can be brought back down to the normal three weeks. My reasonable questions are being dodged.”
House of Commons8 June 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Prime Minister’s credibility is like a tyre with a slow puncture. He reinflates it occasionally, but is it not the truth that his party needs a new front wheel?”
House of Commons25 May 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government are at sixes and sevens on how to respond to the cost of living crisis. No. 10 is saying that Labour’s windfall tax idea is ideologically unconservative, although, of course, Margaret Thatcher had one. Will the Secretary of State go back to the Chancellor and demand a windfall tax to support families across our country?”
House of Commons19 May 2022Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗