Stephen Kinnock
MP for Aberafan Maesteg · Labour · United Kingdom
“I thank the shadow Secretary of State for her kind words and look forward to our exchanges across the Dispatch Box. I am ready to engage with her on getting the maximum benefits for the people of Wales.”
“I thank the right hon. Lady and look forward to working with her. My understanding is that there were challenges around the helicopter capability. Decisions were taken by Natural Resources Wales some time ago to change the way that the tendering for helicopter capability works. We certainly need to look at that.”
“I thank my right hon. Friend for his question. Like him, I pay tribute to all those involved in the collective and heroic response to the wildfires.”
“I thank the right hon. Lady for her question. Many of the ideas coming forward for devolving power right across our United Kingdom, beyond Cardiff Bay and Holyrood, are very exciting, and I look forward to exploring them with her.”
“Just to be clear, this is not about staying out of the issue; it is about respecting the devolution settlement, but being prepared to work constructively where we can in partnership with the Welsh Government. The hon.”
“I know about and welcome the right hon. Gentleman’s strong connections to Wales. I recognise the connectivity benefits that WSMR’s proposal could deliver, particularly for passengers in Wales and the west midlands.”
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“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for saving the Ladies Walk health centre in her constituency, which the Conservatives were trying to shut. We are advancing modern service frameworks for conditions where we can swiftly and significantly raise the quality of care. The National Quality Board makes recommendations on future modern service frameworks; its next meeting is on 8 December.”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that question. I met the GDC recently. It has completed the procurement of the new management agent to run the overseas registration examination, and I am confident that we will see a significant boost in the numbers—that is coming onstream very quickly. However, I agree with the right hon. Gentleman: it has been too slow, and it needs to speed up.”
“That is why we are expanding access to talking therapies and digital tools, and piloting neighbourhood mental health centres, offering round-the-clock support for people with more severe needs.”
“We will also introduce a dedicated “My Carer” section in the NHS app, which will allow carers to book appointments, access information and communicate more effectively with clinical teams. That will not only support carers but streamline interactions across the system. Our shift towards a neighbourhood health service will increase the integration of health and care services, and it will bring multidisciplinary teams—GPs, nurses, social care professionals, pharmacists and others—closer to people’s homes. Working alongside unpaid carers, these teams will be better placed to deliver joined-up, community-centred support, focused on the health and care that people really need. We know that caring can have a profound impact on mental health.”
“We must continue to shine a light on these disparities, listen to carers’ voices and design support that genuinely helps them to thrive. The Government remain committed to ensuring that unpaid carers receive the right support at the right time in the right way. Under our 10-year health plan, unpaid carers will be recognised as partners in preparing personalised care and support plans. Their practical knowledge and experience will help to shape more responsive and realistic plans for the people they support. Early identification remains key. Too many carers still go unnoticed and unsupported. We will increase the information captured across the health and care system, enabling earlier intervention and more tailored help.”
“The profile of the role of unpaid carers has undoubtedly grown, and awareness of their contribution is undoubtedly greater. Despite that, true equality of opportunity remains out of reach for far too many. My ambition is clear: that carers who want to work can do so without being penalised; that young carers can learn, develop and dream, just like their peers; and that caring must not lead to long-term damage to a person’s health, wealth or wellbeing. The data shows the scale of the challenge: unpaid carers are 16% more likely to have multiple long-term health conditions, and providing just 10 hours of care a week can significantly reduce someone’s likelihood of being employed and increase their risk of loneliness. These pressures compound existing inequalities linked to gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background or age.”
“I offer my heartfelt thanks, particularly on Carers Rights Day: thank you for the compassion, the commitment and the resilience you show. As Minister for Care, it has been my priority to listen directly to unpaid carers through discussions with carers of all ages, including during Carers Week. I have heard at first hand the realities of balancing care, work, education and personal wellbeing. Those conversations have been moving, honest and often humbling. They have reinforced just how essential it is that we continue to recognise and support the people who provide so much care to so many, and who hold so much of our health and care system together. As I said at the Carers UK “State of Caring” conference earlier this year, we have made genuine progress over the last three decades.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Vaz. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Anna Dixon) for securing this vital debate. I pay tribute to her for her career-long dedication to adult social care and so many of the issues we are debating today. I also pay tribute to all the powerful and moving contributions we have heard today, many about personal experience, engagement with constituents and the stories we hear every day about the pivotal role that unpaid carers play in our care system, which are truly inspiring and uplifting. Every day, unpaid carers step up to sustain the health and wellbeing of millions of people across our country. Every day, they step up quietly and without expectation to support loved ones, neighbours and friends.”
“As a ballpark figure, we are looking at 50,000 residents, but we will be open to developing multi-neighbourhood infrastructure that would cover closer to something like 250,000 residents. It will depend, to some extent, on how it works in the 43 pilot sites in our neighbourhood health implementation plan. We do not want to have too many top-down diktats like the disastrous 2012 Lansley reforms; this is much more about a bottom-up, organic approach to developing a neighbourhood health service. Approximately 50,000 residents will be the starting point.”
“I will be very happy to do that. We have launched the 43 sites, so I would be happy to share the documentation on how we launched them and the terms of reference. [ Interruption. ] I can see the representative from my private office is taking notes.”
“That not only places huge strain on families, but leads to avoidable pressure on hospitals, primary care and social services. By intervening earlier—through better identification in primary care, strengthened community networks and improved signposting —we can ensure that carers receive the right support before challenges escalate.”
“That is why I chair a ministerial working group, working closely with my counterparts at the DWP, the DBT and the Department for Education, to ensure that our policies reflect the realities of caring. My hon. Friend the Member for Shipley and others asked about the Government’s response to the Sayce review. I can confirm that we will publish that response this year and I am receiving regular updates from DWP colleagues on that matter. Additionally, our research arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research, is evaluating local carer support programmes to identify what works and where improvements are needed. As we look to the future, prevention must sit at the heart of our approach. Too many carers reach crisis point before they receive help.”
“It is also leading a cross-Government project, co-produced with young carers and voluntary, community and social enterprise partners, to support identification, strengthen support pathways and join up services across education, health and local organisations. Engagement workshops have already helped to shape the next young carers summit, in early 2026. Our 10-year plan sets out strong foundations for change, and we are now fully focused on delivery. Baroness Casey’s independent commission will shape the cross-party and national consensus around longer-term reforms, including proposals for a national care service. As noted by the shadow Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Daventry (Stuart Andrew), however, supporting unpaid carers requires commitment across Government.”
“Ofsted’s new inspection framework, introduced on 10 November, explicitly references young carers in the expected standards for inclusion, safeguarding and personal development. Local authorities must identify young carers who may need support and assess their needs when requested. We strongly support the “No Wrong Doors for Young Carers” memorandum of understanding that promotes collaboration across children’s and adults’ services, health partners and schools. I encourage all local authorities to adopt it. NHS England is supporting the identification of young carers through GP guidance and improved data sharing.”
“Members have noted, the Department for Business and Trade yesterday published the terms of reference for that review and we will hold a public consultation in 2026 on employment rights for people balancing work and care. Young carers make an extraordinary contribution, often taking on responsibilities far beyond their years. Our ambition is that every young carer should receive the support that they need to succeed at school and beyond. This autumn, we published key stages 2 and 4 attainment data for young carers for the first time—an important step in understanding and addressing the educational disadvantage that they face. Reforms across education and children’s social care will strengthen identification and support.”
“Employers benefit enormously from the skills, dedication and experience that carers bring. That is why in April we increased the carer’s allowance earnings limit to £196 a week—the largest rise since its inception in the 1970s—meaning that carers can now earn up to £10,000 a year without losing the allowance. The Carer’s Leave Act, which came into force in April 2024, gives employees one week of unpaid leave each year to help to manage planned caring commitments. We are now reviewing how the Act is working in practice, listening to carers and to employers of all sizes. That includes exploring the potential benefits and implications of introducing paid carer’s leave. To ensure transparency, and as hon.”
“The Health and Care Act 2022 strengthened expectations around identifying and involving carers and ensuring that services are shaped by carer feedback. NHS England is helping local systems to adopt best practice through co-produced tools, case studies and events such as Carers Week and the Commitment to Carers conference. Initiatives such as GP quality markers for carers, carer passports and digital proxy access are already making a real difference and increasing the number of carers who are identified in the NHS. Balancing paid work and caring responsibilities remains a significant challenge, and too many carers risk financial hardship as a result. That should never be the case. Supporting carers to remain in or return to work is central to our plan for a modern, inclusive labour market.”
“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend’s points; I think that neighbourhood health, as a strategy, addresses his points about both the proximity and complexity. By definition, through shifting from hospital to community, we are addressing the proximity point. The fact that neighbourhood health will be based on multidisciplinary teams creates the idea of a one-stop shop for the patient, where their complex needs are addressed in one place. To ensure that local areas can meet their duties under the Care Act, the 2025 spending review allows for an increase of more than £4 billion in additional funding for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26, to support the sector in making improvements.”
“It is only by listening attentively, engaging meaningfully and responding boldly that we can continue to deliver the change that carers rightly expect. I hope that today’s debate has given everyone a sense of what the Government are working on and, once again, I pay tribute to all hon. Members who have spoken.”
“We must build a society that values care, where caring is recognised as a shared responsibility rather than a private burden, and where employers, communities and public services all play their part. Changing culture takes time, but we have already seen encouraging progress. Businesses are increasingly recognising the value of carer-friendly workplaces. Schools are becoming more aware of the pressures faced by young carers. Health professionals are finding new ways to involve carers as genuine partners. These changes—these shifts—matter, as they represent the foundations of a more compassionate and inclusive society. As we continue this vital work, I remain committed to ensuring that the voices of carers young and old inform every stage of policy development.”
“There is a consistent message that comes through in my conversations with carers about the importance of respite and regular breaks. We know that they are not a luxury. When carers reach exhaustion, the wellbeing of the carer and the person they support is compromised. We are working with local authorities and integrated care boards to ensure that they meet their statutory duty for carers’ breaks and that provision is transparent, fair and personalised. I absolutely take my hon. Friend’s point: that duty is clear, written down and statutory; the question is about making it happen in practice. We must monitor that closely. Addressing the inequalities faced by unpaid carers requires a cultural shift as much as a policy one.”
“Our cross-Government approach to suicide prevention will help us to make the most of key interaction points both within and outside public services and address risk factors for suicide for everyone, not just those in contact with the NHS. Steady progress has been made through joint working with our colleagues in the NHS, the voluntary sector and academia and with a wide range of other partners, all of whom play a key, crucial and valuable role in prevention, early intervention and support.”
“That includes raising awareness that suicide is not inevitable. Around a quarter of people who take their own life are in contact with mental health services. Through the delivery of the 10-year health plan, we will transform the mental health system to ensure that people are accessing the right support at the right time. Nearly three quarters of people who take their own life are not in contact with NHS mental health services, but many are in contact with wider services. We will ensure that our delivery of the 10-year health plan, which focuses on intervening early so that people can access high quality and compassionate support at an earlier stage, also considers how we can support those at risk of suicide when they are not in contact with those services.”
“Poor mental health is one of the strongest risk factors for suicide, but we know that suicide is complex and that there are a range of other influencing factors outside the mental health system that we also need to address, including those identified in our suicide prevention strategy: financial difficulty and economic adversity, substance misuse, harmful gambling, domestic abuse, physical illness, and social isolation and loneliness. These are complex pressures, and we are working across Government and beyond to better understand them and deliver on our commitment to tackle them. Beyond the risk factors and priority groups, one of the key visions of the suicide prevention strategy is to reduce the stigma surrounding suicide and mental health, so that people feel able to seek help, including through the routes that work best for them.”
“Friend the Member for Caerphilly (Chris Evans) really did pay a fitting tribute to him. and I am sure his family greatly appreciate that. Every suicide is a profound tragedy, leaving families, friends and communities devastated. As we work to improve prevention and support, we must also confront the stigma that too often stops people seeking help, speaking openly or being met with understanding. That is why we are committed to delivering the suicide prevention strategy for England, which aims to address the risk factors contributing to suicide and ensure fewer lives are lost to suicide, as well as working across Government to improve support for those who have self-harmed or who are bereaved by suicide. Our manifesto committed to a renewed focus on preventing suicides, as one of the biggest killers in this country.”
“It is a real pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Mundell. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Richmond Park (Sarah Olney) for securing this debate on such a vital topic. I pay tribute to her constituent Philip Pirie, who has been such a strong advocate on this issue. His campaigning and advocacy has absolutely helped us to shape where we are today. I am also very grateful to other hon. Members for their valuable and profoundly moving and honest contributions. We heard many examples, some very high profile and in many cases household names, such as Ricky Hatton and Gary Speed, and others heroes from people’s local communities. Their heroic families have done so much to reach out and campaign on these issues. I knew Hefin David very well. The tragedy of Hefin is impossible to put into words, but my hon.”
“The strategy includes tangible actions to improve access to healthcare; provide the right support to enable men to make healthier choices; develop healthy living and working conditions; foster strong social, community and family networks; address societal norms; and tackle health challenges and conditions. By addressing the broader barriers that prevent men from accessing support, including the stigma surrounding mental health and suicide, we can take meaningful steps towards reducing avoidable deaths and ensuring that every man feels able to seek help when he needs it most. Today, through the men’s health strategy, we are launching a groundbreaking partnership with the Premier League to tackle male suicide and improve health literacy, building on the Premier League’s Together Against Suicide campaign.”
“We should do whatever we can to encourage these things, and our £3.6 million programme and our £3 million programme are absolutely about being co-designed with these groups; they are not a top-down process at all, but something that should be organic and from the bottom up. It is important to highlight the fact that this debate falls on Wednesday 19 November, which is both International Men’s Day and the day when we are launching the first ever men’s health strategy for England. Despite huge progress over the past century, men still live too much of their lives in poor health and die too young. Our vision for the strategy is simple yet ambitious: to improve the health of all men and boys in England.”
“I absolutely join my hon. Friend in paying tribute to Rugby borough council. That sounds like an excellent initiative that we should explore in other parts of the country, if that is suitable. He is right that there is almost an ecosystem of different groups now. In my constituency we have the Men’s Shed and a fantastic walking group for men called Mal’s Marauders, which does fantastic work. That is great to see, and I am a huge fan and supporter of what it does and stands for. A lot of this is about having that organic development at the grassroots, because that is where it is best placed; it is not always for the Government or the authorities to come in—in some ways, that might not be appropriate.”
“The partnership will engage men who are less likely to seek help and more likely to suffer in silence, meeting them in spaces that they trust, rather than waiting for them to access traditional health services.”
“My hon. Friend is right. I do not know whether there is a connection, but it is possible that some of the perhaps more macho attitudes in some sporting environments are connected to the difficulties that some men—particularly men in those environments—have in reaching out, talking and being honest and open about their feelings. There may well be a connection. However, I hope that other sporting federations—the Rugby Football Union, the Welsh Rugby Union or whichever sporting association it might be—will look at what the Premier League is doing, and that we will perhaps see a blossoming of these initiatives across other sports and sporting disciplines. The Premier League’s reach is unmatched.”
“The Premier League is covering all the costs, so this is an entirely Premier League-funded partnership, with us providing the content, the steering and the opportunity to engage with the programmes, and the clubs are looking after the rest.”
“There are 11 premier league clubs that have signed up so far. The most visual way in which the partnership will manifest itself is through the advertising hoardings, which will be given over for periods of the game to advertise our Every Mind Matters campaign. That will offer talking therapies and an online mental health tool that we have developed. Anybody in the stadium—often there are 50,000, 60,000 or 70,000 spectators—can see that information flashing up. In some stadiums, there will also be mental health experts—wearing visible materials to show who they are and what they do—who people can come and talk to. The scheme is quite devolved, so each club will do things in a slightly different way.”
“As part of the 10-year health plan’s commitment to transforming how the whole health and care system works, we are introducing neighbourhood mental health care for adults, which will bring community, crisis and in-patient care together in a single, seamless offer. Six neighbourhood mental health centres are already operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, offering open-access support to anyone who needs it. Co-delivered with primary care, the voluntary and faith sectors, and local specialist services, the centres make it easier for people to seek help in their own communities, without judgment or barriers.”
“By way of example, the Charity Commission circulated information about the e-learning to around 5,000 charities involved in suicide prevention or mental health support—an encouraging demonstration of the sector’s commitment to improving safety and support for those at risk. More widely, we are improving mental health services so that people are met with the right support. We recognise that expanding and equipping the workforce will take time, but I am pleased to say that we have hired almost 7,000 extra mental health workers since July 2024. Mental health remains a core priority for the NHS. That is why we are investing £688 million to transform services, including £26 million to support people in mental health crisis.”
“The NHS medium-term planning framework, published last month, states that in 2026-27, integrated care boards must “ensure that mental health practitioners across all providers” undertake the e-learning “and deliver care in line with the Staying safe from suicide guidance.” The Minister with responsibility for women’s health and mental health, who sits in the other place, wrote directly to crucial stakeholders across the sector—including the chief coroner, the Charity Commission, the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care, and the British Psychological Society—to promote the guidance and the e-learning module, and I am pleased to say that the response has been overwhelmingly positive.”
“The guidance directly aligns with the aim of our suicide prevention strategy and reflects our commitment to continually improving mental health services, particularly by identifying risk assessment as an area where we must go further. The implementation of the guidance has been supported by a new NHS England e-learning module, which launched in September, to help ensure that staff across services are confident and equipped to apply the guidance in practice.”
“That tells us something vital: a significant proportion of men do reach out, presenting an opportunity to make the most of every interaction with men who may be at risk of suicide. Our responsibility as a Government is to ensure that when men take that step, the services they encounter are accessible, joined up and genuinely equipped to meet their needs. That is what the pathfinders programme will do. By improving engagement with healthcare and improving access to the right support, we can begin to dismantle the stigma that continues to cost too many men their lives. In April this year, NHS England published its “Staying safe from suicide” guidance, which strengthens the approach to suicide prevention across mental health settings. It promotes a holistic, person-centred approach, rather than using stratification tools to determine risk.”
“For over a decade, middle-aged men have faced the highest suicide rates of any age group. They account for around a quarter of all deaths by suicide in England. That is a shocking statistic, and it is why middle-aged men are identified as a priority group in the suicide prevention strategy for England. It is important that we do not simplify the picture. The national confidential inquiry into suicide and safety in mental health found that of men aged 40 to 54 who died by suicide, 67% had been in contact with health and partner agencies in the three months before they took their own life, and 43% had been in contact with primary care services in the three months before they died.”
“Absolutely—we believe the sky is the limit. As I mentioned to my hon. Friend the Member for Caerphilly, we are clear that we see this as the first step. Clearly, premier league clubs are high profile, so hopefully people will look at the partnership, learn from it and say, “Yes, that is something that we can do.” Fingers crossed that it takes off. As part of the men’s health strategy launch, we also announced the suicide prevention support pathfinders programme for middle-aged men. The programme will invest up to £3.6 million over three years in areas of England where middle-aged men face the greatest risk of suicide. It will support new ways of embedding effective, tailored support for middle-aged men and create clearer, more joined-up pathways into existing local suicide prevention systems.”
“I absolutely agree. This is a human challenge, and humans need to take it on. That is what we will do. There is nothing more human that going to a premier league football match, so I hope that that will be a good way of raising awareness, just as my hon. Friend says. As we reflect on the lives lost and the families forever changed, we reaffirm our commitment to tackling stigma, improving support and ensuring that everyone feels able to speak up, ask for help and be heard. I thank the hon. Member for Richmond Park again for raising this crucial issue.”
“Children’s hospices provide crucial support, but for too long they have faced the cliff edge of annual funding cycles. I am really proud that we have provided certainty with a three-year funding settlement of £80 million, giving children’s hospices the stability and predictability they need to plan properly and focus on caring for seriously ill children and their families and loved ones. I am sure that the hon. Member will join me in welcoming the certainty that we have delivered for the sector.”
“I am delighted that Julia’s House hospice received £525,000 from the allocation. I am sure that was very welcome to the staff and the families. It is also worth noting that, of the £100 million allocation that we made to capital funding, £12 million went to children’s hospices. That is an increase on top of what we have just been talking about. Of course, there are challenging times for funding, but we have also provided the sector with a huge amount of certainty and stability.”
“I find it quite extraordinary that Opposition Members come to this House and lecture us on the sustainability of funding, given the way in which they crashed the economy and left us in a dire fiscal position. I would have hoped that the hon. Gentleman would welcome the fact that, rather than the annual funding cliff edge that they left for vital children’s hospices services, we have moved to a three-year funding settlement. His criticism beggars belief.”
“Thanks to the decisions taken by the Chancellor at the Budget, we are investing an extra £1.1 billion in general practice—the biggest increase in a decade. That funding has allowed us to recruit an extra 2,000 GPs, agree a contract for the first time in four years, and introduce online access. Does the hon. Member welcome that investment, or would she cut it?”
“Again, I find it extraordinary that Conservative Members have the brass neck to ask those kinds of questions. They created the mess, and now they are criticising us—it is a bit like the arsonists heckling the firefighters. Patient satisfaction in general practice has risen from 67% last year to 75% this year, and the proportion of patients reporting difficulty contacting their practice has fallen from 18.7% in July 2024 to 10.6% in May 2025. We are just getting started, and I did not hear the hon. Lady welcome the investment.”
“I welcome the Chair of the Select Committee back from parental leave and greatly look forward to working with her again. Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care in the comfort of their own home, speeding up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for the patients who need them most. We are rolling out virtual wards further, so that they become the norm for managing many conditions at home.”
“The hon. Lady makes a very valid point: this is about the shift from hospital to community, which we have to drive forward. In September 2025, 12,522 virtual ward beds were available—an increase from 12,497 in September 2024. Slowly but surely, we are increasing the number of virtual ward beds and the capability of virtual wards, but there is still a long way to go. I absolutely accept the point that the hon. Lady makes.”
“The Darzi investigation found that NHS resources are too focused on hospitals at the expense of community care. Our reforms will turn the NHS into more of a neighbourhood health service. We have already recruited an extra 2,000 more GPs, we are rolling out 700,000 extra dental appointments, and we have agreed a new contract of investment and reform for community pharmacy. As part of our 10-year plan, we will be rolling out neighbourhood health centres across the country, starting with the places that are in the greatest need.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for that question, and congratulate him on his work campaigning on this issue. Regular support and advice from a Parkinson’s disease nurse specialist is highlighted as a key intervention in the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines on Parkinson’s disease in adults. The forthcoming 10-year workforce plan will support the 10-year health plan by addressing workforce shortages and skills gaps. This will be crucial to delivering quality and accessible care for those with Parkinson’s.”