Edward Argar
MP for Melton and Syston · Conservative · United Kingdom
“I have a lot of time for the Minister; I hope this issue is on his radar. On brownfield sites, the proposal from my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington should not be contentious; it is a sensible approach to draw together all the different strands of work that the previous Government did to push the development of brownfield sites.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is tangible investment to persuade and support local authorities to prioritise brownfield first. The problem in my patch is that the Labour Mayor of Leicester simply did not do it.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I rise to speak in support of new clause 34, which stands in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Orpington. I have listened very carefully to hon. Members’ exchanges, and I have to say that I do not see what is particularly contentious about my hon. Friend’s proposal.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Take the NHS funding model, for example: in my area, the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland integrated care board is having to make in-year savings to live within its financial envelope.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My constituency has a couple of towns in it and is right on the edge of Leicester, but it goes way up into rural north-east Leicestershire. The reality is that the developments on the edges of the towns or nearer the city often work most effectively, because there are bus routes and there is access to more schools, shops, businesses and e…”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That means a significant amount of development on the edges of villages—often with no bus route or only a sparse service, a full village primary school and a GP practice serving a whole range of rural communities—that are unable to meet the needs of the additional development. The pressure on local services is a real challenge.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
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“This afternoon, we have heard some fantastic speeches in which Members have set out heartbreaking real-life stories from their constituents about the situation older people have found themselves in this winter. Pensioners have been forced to choose between eating and heating as a result of the Government’s choice to remove the winter fuel allowance from around 10 million of them. That was compounded by shocking delays in processing pension credit claims. Along with those who have just missed the threshold to receive support, it has meant that many, many people who are desperately in need have missed out on hundreds of pounds that would have made a real difference to them this winter.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let me just complete the point. I know that the hon. Gentleman has only come into the debate relatively late, but I will take an intervention from him afterwards. The message is, under this Government, do not run a hospice, a pharmacy or a care home. Do not be a farmer. Do not run a business and, heaven forbid, do not get old.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will make a number of points to the hon. Gentleman. I was going to come on to his first point, but I will happily do so now. He seems to be alluding to the mythical so-called black hole that is so often bandied around. The OBR pointedly declined to validate that or back it up in its assessment, and it cannot be deemed a rationale for doing this.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I want to make a little progress. We have seen a real black hole emerging following the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s disastrous Budget. It is also not the case that the Government can claim they have saved the pensions triple lock, which was introduced by a Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government back in 2010. The previous Government had already committed themselves to it, in that election’s manifesto and others. Pensioners could rightly bank on the uplift from the triple lock coming through. What they have seen now, however, is a real cut in what they were receiving, and what they had a right to expect, with the slashing of the winter fuel payment.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman will be aware that, as I mentioned earlier, I have read the report, and he will know, having also read it—he is gently waving it at me from the other side of the Chamber—that the OBR pointedly declined to back up the claim about the so-called £22 billion black hole. As we have heard, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, initiated the winter fuel allowance, announcing it in 1997 and introducing it in 1998; but it is worth remembering that, even in the challenging circumstances of the time, George Osborne did not cut the allowance, despite the appalling financial and economic inheritance in 2010. Why not? Because it was a cost-effective benefit, and because it genuinely made a difference.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Let me just make a further point. I am about to deal with some of the hon. Gentleman’s own points, as he will find if he pauses for a minute, but he may want to intervene at that moment. George Osborne did not cut the winter fuel allowance because it gave pensioners the confidence to turn the heating up those extra few degrees, knowing that the money was coming. I will now give way to the hon. Gentleman.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I was about to be quite nice to the hon. Gentleman, because I have to say that, during a debate that has, perhaps, produced a lot of heat and not always a huge amount of light, he addressed the issues before us in a measured way. I did not agree with everything he said, but he was reasonable and made some valid points. Let me gently say to him, however, that our record speaks for itself. We did not get rid of the winter fuel allowance. The fact is that Labour Members are in government, and have a large majority, and, as they are discovering, to govern is to choose. They must be accountable for the choice—the choice—that they have made.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will make a little bit of progress, and then I will give way to my right hon. Friend. UK pensioners are not fools, so I am sorry that Labour Members want almost to insult their intelligence by repeating the debunked claim about the so-called black hole, or the debunked claim that the triple lock was in some way under threat and has been saved by the current Government. Let me also gently remind them that pensioners are unlikely to forget. They feel let down by Labour; they feel that the trust that they placed in Labour Members when they voted for them has been betrayed, and within a month of Labour’s taking office. So I ask again, why did this Government make the political choice to introduce these cruel, unnecessary cuts? I now give way to my right hon. Friend.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will that message once again be one of ignoring their concerns, with the Government showing they are deaf to them and do not care, or will they take the opportunity to do the right thing this evening, and back our motion to send the message to their older constituents that they do care and are standing up for them against this cruel and unnecessary cut? This choice, and it is a choice, will tell pensioners in their constituencies exactly where they stand. The Conservatives and other Members on this side of the House are standing up for our pensioners on winter fuel payments. The Conservatives are backing the generation that gave so much to our country. Will Members on the Government Benches have the courage to do the same?”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“To conclude, because I am conscious of the time and wish to enable the Minister to respond, this money was genuinely needed by vulnerable people—vulnerable pensioners—this winter. In my Melton and Syston constituency, I get heartrending messages about choices between eating and heating, and we should not forget, as my hon. Friend the Member for Bromsgrove (Bradley Thomas) mentioned, the impact on rural communities reliant on heating oil and having to pay for that in one bulk payment. Labour Members have an opportunity this evening to send a message to pensioners.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Government’s own modelling shows that 100,000 pensioners will be pushed into poverty as a result of their choices. Now that the first winter has passed, will the Minister commit to publishing data showing the real impact of changes to the winter fuel payment on levels of pensioner poverty? The number of over-65s attending A&E increased by nearly 100,000 this winter, despite its being a warmer winter than average. We know that multiple factors have an impact on that number, but this is a very large jump. Again, will Ministers publish official data on the number of hospital admissions they believe to be caused by the winter fuel payment cut and what the cost to the NHS has been?”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend the former Deputy Prime Minister, who has put the case far more eloquently and succinctly than I could have done. He is, of course, entirely right. An estimated three quarters of a million people are entitled to pension credit, but do not claim it, even after Labour’s pension credit take-up campaign, so they did not receive the winter fuel payment to which they are entitled. Will the Minister—or the Pensions Minister who opened this debate, whom I see back in his place—commit in the name of transparency to publish an official estimate of the number of eligible pensioners the Government estimate did not receive the winter fuel payment this winter? I am conscious of the time, so I will allow the Minister to respond in his wind-up.”
House of Commons19 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I believe that this is it. We have huge potential and huge talent in this country. Let us help focus that on saving more lives and giving more precious time to more people. I am pleased and proud to offer my support to the hon. Gentleman for the passage of his Bill.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If we make it work effectively, it will be a very practical way in which, while we wait for specialist research to come through, we can still do something. I believe that the Bill goes a long way towards addressing the issues. The review of the orphan drugs regime, particularly the international angle, is hugely important. I welcome all the provisions in the Bill, especially those on the specialist registry and on the sharing of information to get more people into trials. As with any Bill, there are some things that I believe would benefit from further explanation, but that is what Committee is for. As shadow Secretary of State, I am happy to confirm that the hon. Member for Edinburgh South West has our support for the passage of his Bill through Second Reading and into Committee. In this place and in life, there is a time to act.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Because each rare cancer is different, each rare cancer needs focused research and treatment. The hon. Member for Bootle set out clearly the orphan drugs regime for rare cancers. Yes, there are incentives; under the 2021 regulations it is possible to incentivise pharmaceutical companies that may not be inclined to invest in research in areas that may benefit only a few, in comparison with the large numbers affected by other cancers. The regime seeks to give market exclusivity rights for 10 years, helping to reduce the costs of market authorisation, but we have to ask the question that the Bill asks: is it actually doing the job it needs to do to genuinely incentivise companies to invest in research in this space? The hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden mentioned the NHS repurposing project.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) may well have done the same. Initially, it was to discuss pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy drug shortages and the urgent need for some sort of solution, but we also had the opportunity to talk more broadly about pancreatic cancer and rare cancers. Pancreatic Cancer UK highlighted issues that are specific to pancreatic cancer but that I suspect are reflective of many rare cancers: the challenge of diagnosis, the challenges posed by late diagnosis, the reliance on a single therapeutic or a small number of therapeutics with complex supply chains, and the challenges of clinical trials. Sadly, so few people with pancreatic cancer, even when they are able to enlist on such trials, survive long enough to provide the data that will make a real difference. The Bill will help to address that.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The breadth of those rare cancers is huge: they include blood cancers, cancers of the female reproductive organs, head and neck cancers, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer—the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden spoke about glioblastomas—and, importantly, children and young people’s cancers, which the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) spoke about. We have all seen the amazing work by powerful campaigners on these issues and by the huge array of charities campaigning in this space: Cancer52, the Brain Tumour Charity, the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission, Leukaemia UK, Pancreatic Cancer UK and a whole range of other dedicated and amazing institutions. They do a fantastic job. Like other hon. Members, I recently met Pancreatic Cancer UK to hear about its work; the hon.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have been a Member of this House for 10 years, and before the election I was a Minister for six. Two and a half of those years were spent as a Minister in the Department of Health and Social Care during the pandemic, in times that were challenging for everyone, but I have to say that I have rarely heard a speech as powerful and moving, or that held the House so completely, as that of the hon. Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn). Although I did not know his brother, I suspect that he would have been deeply proud of the hon. Member today. “Rare” in this context is often a misnomer, because although individually these cancers are rare, collectively they are sadly all too prevalent. As we have heard from hon. Members, approximately 55% of all cancer deaths are down to so-called rare cancers.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Edinburgh South West (Dr Arthur) for his clear and compelling articulation of the case for the Bill, and for being willing to share something as personal as the loss of his father-in-law and his family’s circumstances. He spoke about that with great dignity. With a debate of such quality, it is always invidious to pick out contributions, but I cannot resist doing so. I have to pick up the contribution of the hon. Member for Mitcham and Morden (Dame Siobhain McDonagh). When I was a Minister, we often worked with each other and spoke on matters relating to health, although not this subject. Her passion, determination and energy for change and for something better comes across in everything she does, and that builds on the fact that this is a Bill for hope. I pay tribute to her for her work and her dedication.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“May I start by extending to the hon. Member for Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch (Katrina Murray) and her family my sincere condolences on the passing of her father? This is an important Bill. I often say to constituents, “If you wish to see the House of Commons at its best, tune in and watch on a Friday.” I say that again today, having heard the debate. It is it is rare for a shadow Secretary of State to take to the Front Bench on a Friday to respond on a private Member’s Bill, but the debate has reinforced my determination to be here. As the hon. Member for Bootle (Peter Dowd) said—I like to call him my hon. Friend—this is a Bill of hope. I pay tribute to the hon.”
House of Commons14 March 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I congratulate the hon. Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton) on her promotion to the Front Bench. Eating disorders affect over 1.25 million people, and this is the last Health and Social Care Question Time before Eating Disorders Awareness Week, which starts later this month. The Secretary of State will be aware of the amazing work done by the eating disorder charity Beat, which I met a few months ago, and to which I pay tribute. Will he back Beat’s call for broader access to intensive community and day treatment for those with eating disorders—there are limited places currently—and set out a timetable in which that will be delivered?”
House of Commons11 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to the Secretary of State for that answer. He will know that osteoporosis impacts 3 million people. He is aware of the campaign by the Royal Osteoporosis Society, and the powerful parallel campaign led by The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail , for access to fracture liaison services across the country. Pre-election, he committed to support that, and a roll-out plan. People will look for an answer that looks to the future, not the past, so when will he publish the fracture liaison services roll-out plan, to ensure that all who need to access those vital services can, and will he work with campaigners and me to achieve that roll-out before 2030?”
House of Commons11 February 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It was trivial in the great scheme of things—although if untreated, it may not have been—and I can only begin to imagine the impact of some of those conditions, as the hon. Member elucidated.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Leicester South (Shockat Adam) set out, while individual rare conditions may be exactly that—they occur rarely, with few people getting them—collectively, rare conditions account for a significant number of the conditions that individuals in this country have. The hon. Member for Leicester South brought his background and knowledge to bear on the subject, as he does when speaking about these matters. He highlighted the potentially devastating impact that optical and retinal diseases and illnesses can have on someone’s life. A few years ago I did something very trivial; somehow—heaven knows why—a tree branch went right across my eye and cut it. I recovered fully, but for the few weeks that I had the treatment and the cream, it had an impact on my daily life.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Many important issues rarely get brought before the House, yet we are the poorer for that. This debate might not otherwise have been tabled, but it is right that we debate the issue. I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Battersea (Marsha De Cordova), who is not in the Chamber but has done a lot in the House to highlight the issue in her work with the APPG—it would be wrong not to recognise that in this debate. I also pay tribute to the Royal National Institute of Blind People for its work and to all those who have contributed to raising awareness. Before I became a Minister in 2018, I was the vice-chairman of the APPG on eye health and visual impairment, so I took an interest in this important issue back then, and it crossed my radar on a number of occasions when I was Health Minister. As the hon. Member for Strangford and the hon.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dame Siobhain, and to do so debating a health matter, as we have spoken many times in the past about health issues. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon), who I call my friend, for bringing forward this debate. I am equally grateful for the opportunity to serve opposite the Minister. She and I have served opposite one another on many occasions in the past—previously with me on the Government side and her on the Opposition side, but I am getting used to this side of the Chamber now. It is encouraging that she is responding because she engages with these debates and gives genuine answers. The debate will be the better for her being the Minister. The hon. Member for Strangford has brought forward a hugely important debate, as he so often does.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In which case, I remain very grateful to the clinicians at the Leicester royal infirmary. The hon. Member will be pleased to know that my wife shares his view about the dangers of gardening, particularly when I am doing it. As right hon. and hon. Members can see, I am increasingly reliant on my reading glasses and my regular eye tests at Specsavers—other opticians are available. As the hon. Member for Strangford said, that is a reminder of the importance of the issue. A regular eye test not only can detect optical and retinal illnesses earlier, but can potentially spot other more serious conditions that are not directly related to eye health, but of very great significance.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. He and I have known each other since we came to this House, and he has read my mind, because I was about to say that there are examples of life-threatening tumours being detected through a regular eye test and a referral onwards, which has saved people’s lives. As he set out, an estimated 25,000 or so people in the UK are affected by inherited retinal diseases. As the hon. Member for Leicester South said, the most common, which I will mispronounce, is retinitis—”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. As a professional optometrist, I am sure his bill will be in the post. Inherited retinal diseases can lead to a gradual loss of vision and can have potentially devastating effects.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is one reason why I was very keen, despite being the shadow Secretary of State, to speak in this debate—but also, of course, because it is a pleasure to serve opposite the Minister again for old time’s sake. I very much look forward to what she has to say and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to speak.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Torbay (Steve Darling) will forgive for not mentioning him before, but I pay tribute to him for bringing to his role and to this subject—as he does to his other speeches in this Chamber and the main Chamber, and to other debates since he has arrived in this House, not limited to this subject—a measured, thoughtful and knowledgeable approach. The House is all the better for those contributions. Once again, I am deeply grateful to the hon. Member for Strangford for bringing forward this hugely important debate. This House is at its best when Members debate not the to-ings and fro-ings that we all put in our election leaflets, but consensual matters where there are genuine points of interest and where we can make a real difference for people.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That consultation is due to report later this year, following the closure of the consultation on 30 January. As I look at the date on my watch, I can see that hon. Members and other individuals have about a week or so in which to make any representations or put any views to that consultation, should they wish to do so. I hope that the Minister will be able to update right hon. and hon. Members on each of those aspects—where she sees us going with diagnosis, treatment and access to treatment, and where she sees that research going in the long term. I hope the hon.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As we heard, refinements to the routing criteria have been proposed, including that “The disease is ultra-rare and debilitating…having a point prevalence of 1:50,000 or less in England…is lifelong after diagnosis with current treatment, and…has an exceptional negative impact and burden on people with the disease”; that there is the “aim to encourage innovation and research”, which is a good thing that we can all support; that “The technology should be limited to the population in its licensed indication… No more than 300 people in England are eligible for the technology for its licensed indication, and the technology is not an individualised medicine”; and that there are “no effective treatment options”. I understand that just before Christmas NICE launched a public consultation, ahead of updating the HST eligibility criteria.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There are a range of external reasons for that, but there is now an opportunity for the new Government to continue to take the process forward. From what I see and hear, they are committed to and willing to do that, which is deeply encouraging. With regard to NICE, I have already alluded to the challenges that it always faces. It has a difficult role to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of medicines and treatment, which is challenging because if someone is in need of a treatment—indeed, if they are desperate for a treatment—they will obviously want that treatment to be trialled. We therefore need to recognise that NICE does a difficult job in striking the right balance. NICE uses the HST—highly specialised technology—programme.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It was first published in January 2021 and there have been a number of action plans since: there was one in February 2022, with 16 actions; one in February 2023; and one in May 2024. I was encouraged that in December 2024 the Minister’s colleague—the Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, the hon. Member for Gorton and Denton (Andrew Gwynne)—reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to the rare diseases framework. I am also encouraged that there is talk of a 2025 refresh. I hope that the Minister can give a little more information on how she sees that process playing out when she speaks. Some progress was made with those action plans, but if we are being completely honest, it was perhaps not as much progress as we might have wished.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In August 2024, Retina Today, a respected journal, reported that there are currently over 30 gene therapies in development for the treatment of a range of retinal diseases, so we can look forward with a degree of cautious confidence to what is being done in that space. The challenge will always be, of course, how we translate such treatments into effective, deployable and—if I am being honest—affordable solutions for people who have such conditions. The situation is similar with artificial vision technologies, including the implanting of microchips. Therefore, there is reason for us be hopeful about treatment and research. I now turn to the UK rare diseases framework, which hon. Members have spoken about today.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We are seeing real progress with that type of viral vector-based gene therapy. There are also potential new treatments that we have heard about, including further gene and stem cell therapies, artificial vision therapies, electrical stimulation therapies and indeed the use of growth factors and retinal transplants. I have sat where the Minister is sitting now, so I know that there is always a challenge in this space. One of the great successes of our country is in innovation, including the rapid development of new therapies and new treatments. However, there must always be a process to make sure that they are safe and effective, and we must strike the appropriate balance in recognising that there is no infinite pot of money for any Government.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to be taking part in this debate, because although we often to and fro across the Dispatch Box or across the Chamber, I suspect that there is a fair degree of consensus today about where we are, what progress we have made and what more needs to be done, which is all to the good. As has also already been alluded to, when there is a diagnosis, the next challenge is the treatment and what is possible in the way of treatment. In 2019, as has been said, NICE recommended the use of a new gene therapy called—again, I will use the abbreviation rather than the technical term—the Luxturna approach; I am sure that the hon. Member for Leicester South would be able to correct me, if necessary. It was recommended to treat inherited retinal dystrophies that are caused by a specific type of gene mutation.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. One of the key themes of this debate has been the importance of raising awareness and of societal understanding. Before I was a Minister, I co-chaired the APPG on dementia. I think we are making progress, but a large part of the challenge that we face as a society is raising the awareness and understanding of hidden conditions or things that might not be immediately apparent to people, particularly before there is a diagnosis or some sort of visual sign, such as a white cane, or other measures. This debate will play a small but important role in helping to raise awareness of those conditions. The next challenge, as was alluded to, is diagnosis and what more can be done to deliver better and earlier diagnosis. Again, real progress is being made, but, as so often in these spaces, we can do more.”
House of Commons23 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Today’s announcement will come as a bitter blow to trusts, staff and, crucially, patients, who believed the Labour party and will now be left waiting even longer for vital investment. Yet again, before the election, they talked the talk, but patients lose out when this Government fail to deliver. In yet again kicking the can down the road, as is increasingly their habit, they have sadly betrayed the trust of the British people.”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I declare an interest: University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust serves my constituents. In each case, when will the doors actually open? If the Chancellor fails to get the economy growing and starts looking yet again for cuts to fill the hole that she created with her Budget, will the Secretary of State rule out any further delays? What is his assessment of the effect of his lengthening the programme’s timescales on costs, given inflationary pressures? Are all other previously approved capital projects and programmes safe from review? Can he possibly update the House—via the Library if not here—on his latest assessment of the impact of RAAC in those hospitals, which rightly he is continuing to prioritise?”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend did in his statement on RAAC on 25 May 2023, setting out the Government’s commitment to fund them. This Secretary of State has not replicated that. We had a clear plan, with that funding commitment to be formalised at the CSR, to approve, build and complete new hospitals to a definition akin to that used by Tony Blair when building new hospitals, which were already being designed to a standardised approach with modern methods of construction. The Secretary of State has put that progress at risk. Will he confirm that in his CSR discussions with the Chancellor of the of the Exchequer about the capital departmental expenditure limit—CDEL—allocation for his Department, he will prioritise the new hospital programme? When will the Secretary of State set out to local people in each area exactly when construction will start?”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Secretary of State rightly pointed out that the Darzi review highlighted the need for more capital investment in the NHS, yet he has decided not to prioritise the delivery of these new hospitals in a rapid fashion. He will also know how the Treasury allocates funding, with cash earmarked to the end of a spending review period but not going across it until that comprehensive spending review formally concludes—that is what his Government are now doing. The Secretary of State will be aware that the previous Secretary of State, my right hon. Friend the Member for North East Cambridgeshire (Steve Barclay), was very clear about the £20 billion anticipated in the next CSR to fund this. Let me be clear: we prioritised the delivery of these new hospitals, as my right hon.”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Before the Secretary of State warms to the theme of the mythical £22 billion black hole, he will know that the Office for Budget Responsibility has simply failed to recognise that figure. Let us also be clear that, due to the Labour party and the Chancellor’s financial mismanagement at the Budget and the rise in gilts, the BBC recently estimated that the cost of borrowing could be £10 billion higher over this Parliament. Just imagine what the Secretary of State could have announced today if the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not caused that. To govern is to choose: what to spend money on, what to invest in, and what not to invest in.”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins) calling them out in this very place in May last year, warning that Labour had said in the small print of its health missions that it was planning to pause all this capital investment, the Secretary of State was quoted in the Evening Standard in June last year to have said: “We are committed to delivering the New Hospitals Programme”. Those are seemingly hollow words now that those hospitals are at risk, with the investment and upgrades they deserve pushed back potentially to start in some cases as late as 2039. Voters put their trust in the Labour party to deliver on its promises, yet today they have been let down. In response to claims that that is perhaps because of Labour’s economic inheritance, that simply does not reflect reality.”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am grateful, as always, to the Secretary of State for his typical courtesy in giving me advance sight of his statement. Labour was prepared to make all sorts of promises in opposition to win power—it promised not to raise taxes on working people, it said that it would not cut the winter fuel payment, and it promised to deliver the new hospital programme—but just as working people, pensioners, farmers and businesses have found, this is a Labour Government of broken promises. They have cynically betrayed the trust of the British people. The Secretary of State and the Chancellor travelled the country to meet candidates who were promising a new hospital in their local area. In fact, despite my right hon.”
House of Commons20 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Secretary of State set out what he is doing to increase the number of beds and the amount of capacity now? While the Secretary of State talks the talk, he has not done the work ahead of this winter. Will he now reassure patients and staff that he will urgently boost capacity, resources and support to ensure our constituents get the care they need when they need it?”
House of Commons15 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Louth and Horncastle (Victoria Atkins), asked about them, yet the Secretary of State failed to provide an update to the House until Ministers came to the House just before Christmas. Indeed, I recently asked a named day question about when the Secretary of State started chairing his weekly winter preparedness meetings. Despite, one hopes, a quick look at his diary giving the answer, I received a holding answer. I only got the correct answer after that holding answer had been sent to me, stating that it was in December. Can he say on which date in December the first of those meetings was held? Before Christmas, I and the Conservatives called for a winter-specific bed increase plan. We still have not had one.”
House of Commons15 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The royal colleges said that nothing had been done to mitigate a winter crisis, and NHS organisations said that they needed more support to prevent ambulance delays, overcrowded A&Es and people being stuck in hospital beds because of a lack of community and social care. He knows—we have spoken about it before—the importance of flow from ambulance to A&E, and from A&E to a bed or to discharge. What extra steps is he taking to increase the number of care packages now rather than in the future, and will he consider allowing community hospitals, such as mine in Melton Mowbray, to play a greater role in providing care to local communities in order to ease pressure on acute settings? Those concerns were all raised in September and October. My predecessor as shadow Secretary of State, my right hon.”
House of Commons15 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Secretary of State set out in more detail what he is doing in a similar vein? Will he update the House on how many people currently in acute settings are fit for discharge but have not been discharged for a variety of reasons? The Secretary of State mentioned pay, and said that he had negotiated a deal. I say gently to him that what he did was not negotiation but capitulation to an inflation-busting pay rise. None of these pressures comes as a surprise to me or to the Secretary of State. He was open and candid, as he often is, in acknowledging that there would be a winter crisis this year. NHS England directors were warning that they did not have the resources needed to surge capacity or increase social care packages now, which the Conservative Government provided in previous years.”
House of Commons15 January 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗