Rachael Maskell
MP for York Central · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom
“I welcome today’s statement and I welcome the Secretary of State to her place. York hospital was heralded as a cheap build, but we are paying a heavy price today. We know that heat in that hospital will have an impact on clinical outcomes as well as on staffing.”
“The conflict is moving beyond traditional warfare; we are now seeing extensive drone use, mercenaries being brought from Colombia, and the exchange of money too. We also know that Russia has its own interests in weapons and gold. We must look at the minimal interest in Sudan and the developments in Port Sudan at this time.”
“When we think about the fact that 33.7 million of the Sudanese population are in need of humanitarian assistance, 13 million have been displaced, 19.5 million are at levels of food insecurity and need urgent attention, and there are 8 million children who are not in the safety of school every day, getting their education, which will fuel…”
“Will the Minister tell us what progress has been made in that area, how that money has been spent and its impact to date? As we see increasing brutalisation in war, we have to focus even more on how we use international law to hold actors to account, and on the pace of that process, because it takes forever and a day to bring people to ac…”
“In the assault on El Fasher in particular, we saw the systematic raping of women, the burning of people and places, and the escalation in the next chapter of the civil war that has raged since April 2023.”
“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Dr Allin-Khan. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Gillingham and Rainham (Naushabah Khan) on securing such an important debate.”
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“As we have heard, reports have shown that 90 people have taken their own lives while on an IPP sentence. There have been 1,866 incidents of self-harm; the figure is around 2,000 incidents of self-harm every year, across many years, among those on IPP sentences. The nature of an indeterminate sentence is profound and we understand that denying somebody release has a huge impact. It is often denied as they are not engaging, as my constituent did not for some time, with psychiatric services. He just could not—yet that delayed his progress towards release. After getting a sentence of two years, four months and nine days, he has now served a sentence of 19 years, and his hope is diminishing as he continues to wait for the Parole Board to do justice.”
“IPP sentences were introduced through the Criminal Justice Act 2003, despite warnings that they would be an affront to justice. They were reformed in 2008 and abolished in 2012, and a total of 8,711 sentences were imposed. My constituent’s family have been superb and have met me, to keep me informed of the progress for my constituent—apart from that there is no progress, because we do not know what happens next. There have been incidents and consequences, but he is seriously unwell, because he never knows the date of his release or how the injustices he has now served will ever be undone. To incarcerate someone indefinitely comes at significant cost—it is beyond comprehension. My constituent’s mental health has significantly spiralled, as he cannot see an end to this nightmare.”
“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southgate and Wood Green (Bambos Charalambous) on calling this important debate at the start of this Parliament. I also endorse the comments made about the Justice Committee, and its incredible work scrutinising this issue and coming up with workable recommendations. work scrutinising this issue and coming up with workable recommendations. My constituent, who lived in York before being taken into custody in 2005—19 years ago—was given an imprisonment for public protection sentence on 22 January 2007. His original tariff meant that the Parole Board could have released him on 26 May 2009, but he is still there. It must be one of the most egregious cases in the system.”
“My constituent has been waiting 17 years for release. Can the Minister provide a timeframe by which my constituent can expect to hear what the justice system further expects of him before he gets that release?”
“The big issue, which I think all colleagues across the Chamber have been raising consistently in this debate, is people’s mental health. Continuous uncertainty will continue to mean people having very poor mental health, including self-harming and, tragically, losing their lives. Will the Minister ensure that he puts time frameworks around what he is talking about, so that people can start planning in their mind what their future looks like? At the moment, they are still looking down a very dark hole.”
“My right hon. Friend says that she is doing all she can at the UN and bilaterally, but this horrendous situation is unfolding day by day, with 10 million people displaced, 20,000 people killed and 33,000 people injured—and it is getting worse. Can she say exactly what she is doing and how she is deploying the UN General Assembly, particularly as we are the penholder, to bring this horrendous situation to a close?”
“This month we have seen just 28 trucks a day entering Gaza, with none in the north, leading to a catastrophic humanitarian situation. In 90 days, we may have no infrastructure left in Gaza to distribute that aid. Does the Minister believe that this is a deliberate and systematic destruction of a nation, ethnic, racial or religious group with the intent to destroy it in whole or in part? Will she enlist the international courts to test that?”
“I am really grateful to the hon. Member for securing this debate. Time is everything with regards to a stroke, particularly around diagnosis, but also if treatment such as thrombectomy is needed. Does she agree that we should be looking at ambulance response times in particular, and perhaps at recategorising stroke as a category 1 call-out?”
“As well as looking at acute triage to rapidly diagnose people who have had a stroke, it is important to invest in rehabilitation—something I did for 20 years in the NHS. I would be grateful if the Minister could set out how he proposes to have integrated rehabilitation teams that not only see people through the immediate aftercare, but continue to provide a top-up for them so that they do not backslide in their rehabilitation.”
“Words are simply not enough to describe the devastation of Gaza, and the words of my right hon. Friend are not enough to open the borders to allow humanitarian aid to flow, or enough to stop the Israeli Government acting with impunity across Gaza. We think particularly of the north at this time, and the struggles that we hear about there. What is he doing to expedite the work of the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and ensure that they have all the resources needed to speed up their work to call these criminals, who are exercising such devastation over Gaza, to account?”
“Q2. I, like many MPs, have heard many heart-rending stories of constituents who have had poor end-of-life support. Had palliative care been available alongside an end-of-life plan, their experiences could have been so different. Will the Deputy Prime Minister agree to set up a commission for palliative and end-of-life care, so that everyone can access the very best support when terminally ill and have a peaceful and dignified death, and will she meet to discuss that?”
“I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for giving way—what an incredible legacy she is setting down today! Adoptive parents clearly need time with their children as they bring them into their family, but self-employed adopters do not have the same privileges. Will my right hon. Friend look at how we can ensure that those parents also have proper statutory rights to take leave and receive pay?”
“My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech. Does he agree that the Deregulation Act 2015 needs to be repealed? It is deeply damaging in a place like York, where we have a tourism industry, so we need it to be repealed.”
“The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to take immediate action to ensure that all riverbanks in city centres are well lit and have CCTV cameras so that riverbanks are monitored to prevent fatalities and the film is made available to the relevant authorities if people go missing or bodies are found in the river. And the petitioners remain, etc.] [P003011]”
“Following is the full text of the petition: [The petition of Ja y ne Reynolds, Declares that all rivers in city centres should have CCTV cameras along their full length within city centres; further declares that local authorities should fund these; and notes that riverbanks should be well lit and filmed by day and night so that interventions can be made if people are near the river to prevent fatalities and so that families can learn what has happened to their loved ones when people go missing or bodies are found in the river.”
“The petition states: “The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urges the Government to take immediate action to ensure that all riverbanks in city centres are well lit and have CCTV cameras so that riverbanks are monitored to prevent fatalities and the film is made available to the relevant authorities if people go missing or bodies are found in the river. And the petitioners remain, etc.” In honour of Leah Bedford, I bring this petition to the House.”
“I rise to present a petition concerning CCTV cameras along river banks in city centres. On 20 September 2023, Leah Bedford tragically died after entering the River Ouse, and is deeply missed by her family and friends. She was just 16 years old. I am grateful to her auntie, Jayne Reynolds, for her fortitude in campaigning, out of this tragedy, for significantly better river safety, and specifically for better surveillance along river banks, together with better lighting. I wholly support her, and the 1,428 residents of York who signed paper and electronic petitions to call for change.”
“T10. Prevention is the most important intervention to improve health outcomes, yet since 2015 the public health grant has fallen in value by 25%, and by 30% in York. Will the Minister say what he is doing to restore the value of the public health grant?”
“This morning we heard that Lord Cameron had done all the preparatory work to sanction two members of the Israeli Government. Could my right hon. Friend say what she has done with that work over the three months that it has been in the Department, and also whether the Government have commenced looking at work to sanction the Israeli Prime Minister for his contribution to these war crimes?”
“Our programme is linked with the local university, York St John University, which runs the Converge programme that enables people to use education not only as a way to deal with their mental health issues but to learn new skills and feel included in our community. It contrasts so much with the traditional model, which we know just is not functioning given the demand on services. I therefore urge the Minister to have a look at what is happening in Trieste and to come and have a look at what is happening in York. Let us put this into a model in which people live with mental health as opposed to struggling with it.”
“The Trieste model is considered one of the best models of service provision in the world because of its emphasis on integration with the whole community and with the self, with professional support at hand if needed. In Trieste, very few depend on secondary care or acute psychiatric care, and residential placements are few and far between. We need to look at that, particularly in respect of the transitions and the Government’s ambition. Following a social model means we do not pathologise mental health but deal with it and help people to build on their strengths and to build resilience into the future.”
“The model is co-produced and multi-agency, and is moving to provide open-access support to help people to manage their own mental health challenges, with interventions from health professionals, social prescribing and peer support, and to look at issues around welfare, debt and employment support. Particularly in respect of community outreach, the hub is taking people who feel so neglected, because there just is not the capacity, into a space where they can get support and then progress on with their lives. It is centred around a café where people are encouraged to engage and talk. The café is run by service users, so it is a wholly-owned model, and it is incredibly successful.”
“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Dowd. I think we all agree that, in introducing this debate, my hon. Friend the Member for Ashford (Sojan Joseph) gave an incredible speech, as all contributors have. I want to talk a little bit about the transitional approach that we are taking in York, following the Trieste model. It is seeing a real transition, in the way the Health Secretary has described, from secondary care, which we know is just not able to cope with the capacity and demand that is placed on it, into a more primary-care and socialised setting. It is really transformative for the people in my city. We are setting up community mental health hubs in my city. We have one, and we are going to have two more to follow, with one working 24/7.”
“I say to the Minister that every opportunity must be utilised to ensure that we have the humanitarian response to end this nightmare.”
“We think about the seasonal change that is coming and the risks that come from that; we see the data from the Famine Early Warning Systems Network, highlighting the scale of malnutrition, hunger and the spread of disease; we know that people are dying every day before our eyes and we could do more. When the Minister and his colleagues are at those platforms, I ask that he does everything possible within his power to use that leverage to call this to an end. We cannot just cross by on the other side. We must not let perfection be the enemy of good. Even if resolutions are not perfect, we know that they can save lives, they can end the carnage and they can build the hope of having food, clean water and aid to heal wounds and bring pain relief.”
“I have to question what happened on 18 September at the UN General Assembly. We could have used our influence in that forum in a different way—124 countries, including our allies, France, Spain, Norway and New Zealand, had the courage to call for a ceasefire and to put that on record. It is one thing to call for something, but when we have a vote, that is decisive and it makes a difference. I just cannot comprehend why we did not use our leverage at that critical point to try and stand by the people who are suffering in Gaza right now. We know that things are getting even worse, with the suffering getting even greater.”
“It is a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Birmingham Perry Barr (Ayoub Khan) for organising today’s debate. The tragedy of Gaza just leaves us speechless. The devastation that we are witnessing on our screens is horrific, but to be in Gaza is unimaginable at this time. We stand by all those on both sides who are experiencing the trauma of loss, through hostage taking and lives lost. We know that this can be prevented. It is immoral and it is man-made. We have to act more strongly. Of course, we have to end the sale of all arms, and end those export licences. We have to increase our funding to UNRWA, as the ambassador has called for, and we need to apply greater leverage, including sanctions, to ensure that we can get a political outcome.”
“As a result of a failure in regulation, the cross-border taxi trade is undermining the high standards set by local taxi companies and black cabs. What is being done to improve regulation, and will the Minister meet me to discuss the situation in York?”
“I am grateful to the hon. Member for giving way. I have always had great concern about segregation in our education system, but parents in York say that due to the different pedagogy environment and culture, certain independent schools provide the only way that their children with SEN, anxiety or care experience can currently access education. It is through necessity, not choice. Does he agree that the Government should publish an impact assessment not only for this, but for the Budget, so that we can assess the full analysis of this policy?”
“I thank the Minister for her work. Warm home prescriptions can target that support towards elderly people and those with underlying health conditions, saving our NHS as well as keeping people warm over the winter. The pilot has shown real benefit. Will she meet me to discuss that and other options to keep old people warm this winter?”
“I congratulate the Secretary of State on her ambition to sign people up to pension credit, but we know that about 780,000 people will not sign up in time and also that there are 1 million people in fuel poverty above that mark. Given that we are really worried now, as winter is approaching, about the impact that this is going to have, particularly on the health of older people, will she look at the work done by Energy Systems Catapult and NHS Gloucestershire on social prescribing to ensure that people can receive energy payments in that way?”
“I wanted to share those examples, and set out how they can be extended to build the NHS of the future.”
“First, in mental health, 30 Clarence Street is set up to be open access, so that there are no more long queues to see mental health practitioners, and multidisciplinary, with the public sector and the voluntary sector working hand in hand to meet people’s needs. I invite the Secretary of State to come and see that service, because it is what we should be doing across our NHS. Two more hubs are to be set up in my constituency, leading the way on mental health. Then there is the work of Nimbuscare in primary care settings; it is pulling out from the NHS all the services that do not need to be in the secondary part. It is unplugging the backlog at the front door of the health service, while ensuring that we are looking after people at the back door. That is the transformation that our health service truly needs.”
“I congratulate the Secretary of State on his focus on the NHS bringing about the transformation that is needed. However, before we can look at that, we need to look at the financial flows in the NHS, which are not working, and the governance structures. I am not talking about reorganisation; I am talking about having one controlling mind in the right place in the service, overseeing the system. At the moment, there is too much focus on secondary care. That is sucking resources and work into that part, and driving inefficiency. Moving services into primary care is the key to unlocking the productivity and savings that are needed. It will improve health as well. In the short time that I have, let me point to two examples in my community.”
“Is a real pleasure to follow the new hon. Member for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire (Ian Sollom). I am sure that he will be a rising star on the Liberal Democrat Benches. It is a pleasure to follow all hon. Members who have made their maiden speech today. I am really grateful for the analysis that Lord Darzi has set out for us. The NHS has never been under such duress, nor have its staff, but following a diagnosis, we need a prescription. That is what I want to talk about today. We live in an ageing society, and while we celebrate the medical advances since Labour was last in power—in diagnostics, treatments, digital and technology—we know the urgency with which we need to apply them. Transformation has to be central to the agenda.”
“It would help the industry, landlords, visitors, and most of all communities and would regenerate our housing for the purpose for which it was built.”
“It would be self-funding, with no extra cost to local authorities. Every short-term holiday let would have a named person who could be contacted and who would be liable for the management of the property. Also, the licence would say how many people could stay at the property so that there was not an overcrowding problem. We know that as Friday night comes and the wheelie trolleys go down the streets, neighbourhoods are in fear because they know the parties are about to arrive. Well, we can get on top of that and also the criminality. These places have been used as pop-up brothels, for child exploitation and as drug dens. By ensuring that a proper scheme was in place, we could get on top of that, too.”
“Also, a licensing scheme would ensure proper standards in the homes, with environmental controls, health and safety standards and electric and gas checks. That would bring short-term lets level with the traditional B&B sector so that there was no inequality there. It would also restrict the number of days that they can operate. Local authorities would be able to determine the standards within which they practised, giving them control in local communities. The Bill was drawn from best practice across the world where schemes have already been tried, tested and tweaked, so we know that it would operate well. It would improve safety, the environment and communities. The licence would be renewed every three years to balance the administrative burdens with the need for inspection.”
“As a result we have a serious housing crisis, not least where we have clusters and people lack access particularly to family homes. Short-term holiday lets break up communities and distort the normal community life that we have come to expect. We need a Bill—I have one I prepared earlier, which I presented to the House in 2022; I believe it still stands today. I will talk the Minister through my Bill, which has a licensing scheme rather than a registration scheme for the conversion of domestic properties into short-term holiday lets in exchange for a fee, differentiated of course if somebody lets out a single room in their own property. Local authorities could issue fines or remove licences if conduct was criminal or if antisocial behaviour continued in the home.”
“It is always a pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mrs Harris. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster (Rachel Blake) on an outstanding presentation of all the issues that we have been wrestling with for so long. I spent six months on the Levelling-up and Regeneration Bill fighting for the licensing of short-term holiday lets. We only managed to achieve a registration scheme and a consultation on a change in use class. As my hon. Friend said, that would grandfather the rights of existing short-term holiday lets, locking in the inequity that we already see in our communities. I have around 2,000 short-term holiday lets in my own constituency and I know the challenges that they bring as housing demand outstrips supply.”
“Will my hon. Friend take a look at my Bill, which proposes a licensing scheme but allows local authorities to determine some of the parameters necessary to control the number of short-term lets in their local area, including control zones, so that we do not see a real expansion of such lets in precious places such as York?”
“I agree with my right hon. Friend: this is the most devastating analysis that I have read of the NHS in over 30 years. It just shows the challenges that lie before him. Talking of challenges, will he challenge the integrated care boards to focus on moving resources into primary care? In particular, will he look at what is happening in York, where Nimbuscare has been able to pull out services from the acute sector and deliver work in the community?”
“However, once people secure their home, they have to ensure that they can eat and keep warm, and we need the Government to provide an assurance that pensioners will have the help they need to stay warm and well. I know that the Government are working hard, but in 20 days the energy price cap will rise, and people are looking for answers, as am I. Governments do not choose their inheritance, but they can determine the future. On discovering a £21.9 billion legacy deficit, the Chancellor was right to protect the economy and to prevent interest rates and mortgage rates from soaring in the way they did during the Truss-Kwarteng experiment. However, the winter fuel payment is in a different league.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the Winter Fuel Payment. I am pleased to see you in the Chair, Dr Huq. Charities, medics, academics, economists and constituents have evidence showing why the Government must ensure that mitigation is in place to protect pensioners in fuel poverty this winter. Winter fuel payments have provided a layer of protection, with £300 for the over-80s, which is insufficient for some, but excessive for those who need no energy support. Housing costs, food prices and energy costs have exacerbated the situation, leading to the hardest of choices for the 2.1 million pensioners in poverty—a legacy of the last Government.”
“A Labour Government must always protect the poorest in our society. The total saving for this year—£1.3 billion—is 0.1% of the total Treasury spend. However, when only 1.6 million pensioners not on pension credit need energy support, that drops to 0.04% of the Government’s budget, assuming that all get the top rate of £300, although most will get less. If we add in additional health and care costs, the saving shrinks again.”
“The average bill is £1,717, but older people are at home more, and more likely to live in homes that are less efficient, so they will pay even more.”
“My hon. Friend has done the maths, and I think it speaks for itself. The Chancellor cannot make this just an economic argument, because there is also a humanitarian cost. We need the capacity to find an “escape route”, as the former Chancellor, Ed Balls, stated, because people need a safety net. When Labour’s Gordon Brown came to power, he said he was “simply not prepared to allow another winter to go by when pensioners are fearful of turning up their heating, even on the coldest winter days”. —[ Official Report , 25 November 1997; Vol. 301, c. 780.] Now, they are fearful. The winter fuel payment covered around a third of people’s bills, but it now covers only 12% to 17%. With the 10% rise in the price cap on 1 October, and without cost of living payments, pensioners are exposed to far greater risk.”
“They have the hardest of all budgets to balance and no alternative choices. I welcome the extension of the household support fund, but the scale of demand means that it will be insufficient.”
“I am grateful for that intervention, because the previous Government clearly cannot defend their record. I absolutely recognise that people in rural communities live in some of the draughtiest homes and, in Northumberland, some of the coldest too. One constituent, who will just miss out on the winter fuel payment, has just been billed £34 more this month. He cannot pay it. That is how we know that things are worse now. As we have seen, pension increases are simply not covering the sharp rises in the cost of living as a result of things such as rent. This year in York average rents rose by 11.9%—or by 12.5% for a flat—exceeding the April pension triple lock rise by at least £382, and rents continue to rise. Stripped of the winter fuel payment, the elderly poor will be exposed to greater financial risk.”
“In taking this protection to prevent fuel poverty, we need a safety net for those at risk. People should read the work of the chief medical officer, Sir Chris Whitty, and of Professor Sir Michael Marmot, which says everything we need to know about why mitigation is urgently needed.”