Caroline Nokes
MP for Romsey and Southampton North · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his point of order. He will be conscious that there are in the region of 15 more Members wishing to speak in this debate, and we have not yet heard from the Minister, so I am not minded to accept a closure motion at this point.”
“(3) For paragraph (3A) substitute— “(3A) The returning officer shall also provide each polling station with such equipment as is necessary to ensure that relevant persons are able to vote independently and in secret, including— (a) tactile equipment that enables the voter to navigate the ballot paper and accurately mark their chosen candi…”
“(2) During the period commencing 30 minutes before the time appointed for the taking of a poll at an election, and ending 30 minutes after the close of the said poll, a person shall not, in or in the curtilage of a polling station or in any place within 50 metres of such station, for the purpose of promoting the interest of a political pa…”
“New clause 97— Power of Electoral Commission to require disclosure from financial institutions — “In Schedule 19B of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000 (investigatory powers of Commission), after paragraph 1 insert— “Power to require disclosure from financial institutions 1A(1) The Commission may give a disclosure n…”
“() In paragraph 6 of schedule 6 (Donations from impermissible donors), after “section 54(1)(a)” insert— “or section 55B.” (8) In Schedule 20, in Table after Section 56(3) or (4) (failure to return donations) On summary conviction: statutory maximum or 6 months On indictment: fine or 1 year” Insert— Section 55A(8) (cap on donations) On sum…”
“(2) The specified elections for the purposes of subsection (1) are— (a) UK parliamentary elections, and (b) local government elections in England and Wales.”
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“Order. I do not intend to put a formal time limit on speeches yet, but there are lots of Members standing, so it would be helpful if Members could restrict themselves to between six and seven minutes.”
“Order. If we are to get Members in—we all see how many are present in the Chamber—interventions will have to be short and not pre-prepared speeches. There is plenty of time for those who have put their names down to speak. Members should not use up the time of the hon. Member for South Cotswolds for her opening.”
“Order. I appreciate that the hon. Lady is quoting from a poem, but we do not refer to right hon. and hon. Members by name in the Chamber. Can we please ensure that the courtesies of the House are observed?”
“I thank the Minister for her statement. While the Ministers switch places, I inform Members that we are going to return to the Climate and Nature Bill.”
“Before calling the next speaker, I think it is important to clarify that, although I am a huge supporter of women standing for election, I have not actually endorsed Sheelagh’s candidature. [ Laughter. ]”
“I thank the Home Secretary for her statement. Bill Presented Arms Trade (Inquiry and Suspension) Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57) Zarah Sultana presented a Bill to make provision for an inquiry into the end use of arms sold to foreign states to determine whether they have been used in violation of international law; to immediately suspend the sale of arms to foreign states where it cannot be demonstrated that arms sold will not be used in violation of international law; and for connected purposes. Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 14 March , and to be printed (Bill 164).”
“Amendment 3, page 10, line 39, at end insert— “(3) The Secretary of State must ensure that the financial and practical assistance provided to the Commissioner is appropriate and sufficient to allow the Commissioner to carry out its functions.” This amendment would require the Secretary of State to provide adequate financial and practical assistance to the Commissioner to enable it to carry out its functions.”
“3D Where a select committee has expressed a positive opinion on the appointment of the Secretary of State’s preferred candidate for Commissioner, including after a further appearance before the committee of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State may recommend the appointment of the candidate to His Majesty. 3E The Commissioner is to be appointed by His Majesty on the recommendation of the Secretary of State.” This amendment would mean that the Commissioner can only be appointed after appearing before a relevant select committee and obtaining its approval.”
“3A The select committee may hold a confirmatory vote on the Secretary of State’s preferred candidate for Commissioner. 3B Where a select committee has expressed a negative opinion on the appointment of the Secretary of State’s preferred candidate for Commissioner, the Secretary of State may not proceed with the appointment of that candidate without appearing before the select committee to address the concerns raised by the committee. 3C If the select committee maintains its negative opinion following the further appearance of the Secretary of State, the Secretary of State may not proceed with the appointment of that candidate.”
“(4) With three months of the receipt of any report prepared by the Commissioner under this section, the Secretary of State must publish a response to the report which includes an overview of any measures taken or planned to be taken to address any resource issues identified by the Commissioner.’” This amendment would require the Commissioner to publish an annual report on the work it had done to improve the welfare of service personnel and public awareness of welfare issues faced by service personnel and their families. Amendment 5, in schedule 1, page 8, leave out lines 15 and 16 and insert— “3 A relevant Parliamentary select committee will hold a pre-appointment hearing with the Secretary of State’s preferred candidate for Commissioner.”
“(2) On receiving a report under this section, the Secretary of State must lay it before Parliament promptly and, in any event, before the end of 30 sitting days beginning with the day on which the report is received. “Sitting day” means a day on which both Houses of Parliament sit. (3) The Secretary of State may exclude from any report laid under this section any material the publication of which the Secretary of State considers— (a) would be against the interests of national security; (b) might jeopardise the safety of any person.”
“This amendment would require a report by the Commissioner on a general service welfare matter to include the Commissioner’s view on whether the issue affects the retention of armed forces personnel. Amendment 4, page 6, line 2, at end insert— “(4A) After section 340O (annual report on system for dealing with service complaints) insert— ‘ 340OA Annual report on the work of the Commissioner (1) The Commissioner must, for each calendar year, prepare a report covering— (a) the actions taken by the Commissioner to promote and improve the welfare of persons subject to service law and relevant family members; (b) the initiatives undertaken by the Commissioner to enhance public awareness of welfare issues faced by persons subject to service law and relevant family members; (c) the resources used by the Commissioner in fulfilling its functions, and any further resources required.”
“(5) The Commissioner must publish an annual report outlining— (a) the issues facing and concerns raised by these groups of service personnel; (b) the actions taken by the Commissioner to address identified issues; (c) the progress made in improving conditions for these groups of service personnel.” This amendment would require the Commissioner to take specific action to consider and address welfare issues facing service personnel from minority groups. Amendment 11, page 5, line 22, at end insert— “(aa) the report must include the Commissioner’s view on whether the relevant general service welfare issue has had, or may have, an effect on the retention of armed forces personnel; and”.”
“(3) The Commissioner must maintain up-to-date evidence on the experiences of these groups of service personnel and develop robust community engagement mechanisms to identify and address issues specific to these groups. (4) The Commissioner must establish a formal network of representation to enable the views and concerns of these groups of service personnel to be communicated to the Commissioner.”
“Amendment 1, page 3, line 31, after “means” insert “kinship carers and the family members of deceased service personnel as well as other”. This amendment would include kinship carers and the family members of deceased service personnel in the definition of ”relevant family members”. Amendment 2, page 3, line 35, at end insert— “340IAA Commissioner support for minority groups within service personnel (1) When investigating general service welfare matters under section 340IA, the Commissioner must consider the specific experiences of minority groups within service personnel, including but not limited to— (a) female; (b) BAME (c) non-UK; and (d) LGBT+ service personnel. (2) The Commissioner may investigate service welfare matters unique to one or more of these groups of service personnel.”
“Amendment 10, page 2, line 35, at end insert— “(2A) A ‘general service welfare matter’ may include issues relating to the wellbeing of, and provision of support to, the children, families and other dependants of serving and former members of the armed forces, including but not limited to— (a) the provision and operation of the Continuity of Education Allowance; (b) the provision of Special Educational Needs tuition; and (c) the maintenance of service families’ accommodation.” This amendment would enable the Commissioner to include matters relating to the wellbeing of, and provision of support to, the children, families and other depend a nts of serving and former members of the armed forces in the Commissioner’s investigation of service welfare matters.”
“Amendment 9, in clause 4, page 2, line 35, at end insert— “(2A) A ‘general service welfare matter’ may include issues relating to the provision of pensions and death in service benefits to serving and former members of the armed forces and their dependants.” The amendment would enable the Commissioner to include matters relating to pensions and other such benefits, including death in service benefits, in their investigation of service welfare matters.”
“Amendment 6, page 2, line 10, at end insert— “(5) The Secretary of State will, within 6 months of the passing of this Act, publish an intended time frame for— (a) the appointment of the Commissioner; (b) the abolishing of the office of the Service Complaints Ombudsman; (c) the commencement of operations of the office of the Commissioner.” This amendment would require the Secretary of State to state when they intend to appoint a Commissioner and get the office of the Commissioner operational.”
“Amendment 8, page 2, line 2, at end insert— “(5A) The Commissioner shall operate independently from— (a) the Ministry of Defence; (b) the Armed Forces, including the chain of command; and (c) any other government bodies; and shall be free from any influence of interference in the exercise of the Commissioner’s functions.” This amendment would require the Commissioner to be independent from the Government, the Armed Forces and any interference in the carrying out of their duties.”
“Amendment 7, in clause 1, page 2, line 2, at end insert— “(5A) The Commissioner must— (a) uphold and give due regard to the principles and commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant when carrying out its functions; (b) monitor and report on compliance with the principles and commitments of the Armed Forces Covenant in all areas of its responsibility.” This amendment would require the Commissioner to uphold and abide by the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant when carrying out its functions.”
“With this it will be convenient to discuss the following: New clause 2— Commissioner’s interaction with Veterans Commissioners— “Within one year of the passing of this Act, the Secretary of State must publish details of— (a) whether or how the Commissioner will work with the National Veterans Commissioner, the Scottish Veterans Commissioner, the Veterans Commissioner for Wales, the Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner and the Chairman of the Independent Commission for Reconciliation & Information Recovery; (b) whether or how the Commissioner and Secretary of State will ensure that veterans receive appropriate and necessary support.” This new clause would require the Secretary of State to make clear how the Commissioner will work with the Veterans Commissioners and related bodies.”
“Order. It may be helpful to Members to know that I will run this session until 11.45 am. It would therefore be very helpful if we had short questions and answers, so that I can get in as many Members as possible.”
“I have to notify the House, in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967, that His Majesty has signified his Royal Assent to the following Acts: Lords Spiritual (Women) Act 2015 (Extension) Act 2025 Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and International Committee of the Red Cross (Status) Act 2025 Financial Assistance to Ukraine Act 2025.”
“Before I call the next speaker, who I am sure will speak to her amendments, I remind Members that on Report we should consider the amendments and new clauses to the Bill; the debate is neither a rehash of Second Reading, nor a precursor to Third Reading.”
“Order. Can I just remind the Secretary of State that we do not use “you” in the Chamber? Please can questions and answers be brief? I would like to get everybody in before 6 o’clock.”
“Order. Interventions really do have to be brief. A lot of Members still wish to get in, and we are on a very tight time limit. The hon. Lady has already earned an additional minute of injury time, and I regret that I will not get all Members in if we continue to have long interventions.”
“Order. I am going to allow the shadow Minister to finish, but I will hear him. He is perfectly within his rights if he chooses not to give way.”
“Order. The shadow Minister will know that I did not flush away any child’s life chances. Perhaps he is bringing his remarks to a conclusion.”
“I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of her point of order. I am sure she will have notified the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) that she intended to raise the matter with us. As she will know, the Chair is not responsible for the content of contributions made either in debates or from a sedentary position, but she has put her view on the record, and she will know that that was not a point of order for the Chair.”
“Before I call the Whip to move the motion for the Adjournment, I remind the House that although there are currently no live proceedings before the courts, there is still the potential for further civil or criminal proceedings. Members will therefore wish to take care to avoid saying anything that could prejudice any case that might come before the courts in future. Motion made, and Que stion proposed , That this House do now adjourn.— (Christian Wakeford.)”
“Order. I am just going to make the point to Members that interventions are getting very long. We have some hours to conclude this debate, so if Members wish to make a full contribution, they will be able to do so, rather than simply making an intervention.”
“Order. The hon. Lady might not have been here to hear my earlier comment. There is plenty of time for Members to make speeches if they so choose—this debate does not need to conclude until 7.30 pm—but we really must not have prepared speeches read out disguised as interventions.”
“Order. I am planning to run the statement only until 7 pm, so it might be helpful if we had very short questions and perhaps shorter answers from the Home Secretary.”
“Order. Interventions have been far too long. I pointed out at the beginning that only 90 minutes will be allowed for the debate. Perhaps the Member in charge will consider concluding his remarks shortly.”
“I get the opportunity to have the last word. Many Members have mentioned family, and I want to take this opportunity to say merry Christmas to our parliamentary family, making sure we remember our Doorkeepers, the Sergeant at Arms, the Clerks, who keep me in order, and the catering and security people. Godfrey and Margaret got a mention, but I would also like to say—although I may not have been there today—a thank you to Kelly and Jackie in the hairdressers downstairs. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered matters to be raised before the forthcoming adjournment.”
“I will just make the point that I can see that this is very technical and complicated. It might require long answers, but I am not sure it required that level of input from not-Adele.”
“I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of his point of order. He has put his concerns on the record, and I am sure that those on the Government Front Bench have been listening to them carefully. If he and his right hon. and hon. Friends have not done so already, I recommend that they make contact with the private offices of the Ministers concerned. If that does not lead to prompt replies, a number of options are open to them, including tabling questions, both written and oral, and seeking an Adjournment debate. I suggest that the Table Office could be very helpful in giving them further ideas as to how they can best hold Ministers to account.”
“With this it will be convenient to consider clause 2 stand part. I remind Members that in Committee they should not address the Chair as Madam Deputy Speaker. Please use our names when addressing the Chair. “Madam Chair”, “Chair” and “Madam Chairman” are also acceptable.”
“I remind Members that in Committee, they should not address the Chair as Madam Deputy Speaker. Please use our names when addressing the Chair. “Madam Chair”, “Chair” and “Madam Chairman” are also acceptable. Clause 1 Provision of Loans or other Financial Assistance to Ukraine Question proposed, That the clause stand part of the Bill.”
“(6) The duty under subsection (1) ceases to have effect 12 months after the arrangements referred to in section 1(a) or any subsequent arrangements of the kind referred to in section 1(b) cease to operate.” This new clause establishes an annual reporting requirement relating to the UK share of loans to Ukraine and receipts from the extraordinary profits from the freezing of Russian state assets and to any G7 discussions to extend the arrangements.”
“(3) Each report must also provide a summary of discussions between His Majesty’s Government and other G7 governments about discussions on any subsequent arrangements that are supplemental to or modify or replace the arrangements referred to in section 1(a), including any discussions concerning— (a) the range of Russian assets to which the arrangements might apply, and (b) the use of those assets. (4) The first report must be laid within the period of 6 months of the passing of this Act. (5) Each subsequent report must be laid within the period of 6 months beginning with the day on which the previous report was laid.”
“With this it will be convenient to consider: Clause 2 stand part. New clause 1— Reports on loans or other financial assistance to Ukraine — “(1) The Secretary of State must— (a) prepare reports on the operation of assistance provided in accordance with section 1(a), (b) lay a copy of each report before Parliament. (2) Each report must provide details of the amount of— (a) monies provided by the United Kingdom to Ukraine under section 1; (b) the United Kingdom’s share of the principal loan amount and interest accrued under the scheme; and (c) receipts of extraordinary profits from the Russian immobilised sovereign assets under the scheme.”
“I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of his point of order, which reiterates a point that came up yesterday in Work and Pensions oral questions—and, indeed, in the Chamber this afternoon. I am sure that all Members will play their part in ensuring that constituents are aware of the benefits, including pension tax credits, to which they are entitled. As far as the point of order goes, I confirm that there has been no request today from Department for Work and Pensions Ministers to make a statement on this issue.”
“Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time tomorrow and to be printed (Bill 151) with explanatory notes (Bill 151 - EN).”
“57) Secretary Bridget Phillipson, supported by the Prime Minister, Secretary Angela Rayner, Pat McFadden, Secretary Wes Streeting, Secretary Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary Liz Kendall, Catherine McKinnell, Jess Phillips and Sir Nicholas Dakin, presented a Bill to make provision about the safeguarding and welfare of children; about support for children in care or leaving care; about regulation of care workers; about regulation of establishments and agencies under Part 2 of the Care Standards Act 2000; about employment of children; about breakfast club provision and school uniform; about attendance of children at school; about regulation of independent educational institutions; about inspections of schools and colleges; about teacher misconduct; about Academies and teachers at Academies; repealing section 128 of the Education Act 2002; about school places and admissions; about establishing new schools; and for connected purposes.”
“I thank the right hon. Member for that point of order. He has put his point on the record, and he will be aware that the Secretary of State specifically responded to that point throughout the statement. Bill Presented Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No.”
“I remind Members that in Committee they should not address the Chair as Madam Deputy Speaker. Please use our names when addressing the Chair. “Madam Chair”, “Chair” and “Madam Chairman” are also acceptable. Clause 1 Rate of secondary Class 1 contributions”
“New clause 4— Employment allowance: review of exception on childcare service providers — “(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must conduct a review of how the exception from the employment allowance under section 2 of the National Insurance Contributions Act 2014 (“the 2014 Act”) affects providers of childcare services. (2) The review must consider the likely impact on providers of childcare services were section 2 of the 2014 Act to be amended to enable such providers to qualify for the allowance. (3) A report setting out the findings of the review must be published and laid before both Houses of Parliament within six months of this Act being passed.””
“New clause 3— Review of effect of employer NIC threshold — “(1) The Chancellor of the Exchequer must, within six months of the passing of this Act, lay before Parliament a review of the impact of the measures contained in this Act on part-time workers. (2) The review must consider in particular the effect of the threshold set by section 2 of this Act on part-time workers— (a) earning £5,000 - £9,000, or (b) working under 16 hours per week.” This new clause would require the Government to produce a report into the impact of the employer NIC threshold on part-time staff, especially those who are lower paid or working less than 16 hours a week.”
“(2) The review must consider in particular— (a) the impact of those measures on the finances and staffing of small and medium sized businesses; (b) the impact of those measures on the finances and staffing of small and medium sized businesses in the hospitality and tourism sector; (c) the impact of those measures on sectors who rely on seasonal workers. (3) In this section, “small and medium sized businesses” means any business which has an average headcount of staff of less than 250 in the tax year 2023-24.” This new clause would require the Government to produce an impact assessment of the effect of the Act on SMEs, Hospitality, Tourism and Seasonal workers and on the sectors relying on seasonal workers.”