Catherine West
MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet · Labour · United Kingdom
“In my constituency, 81% of people voted to remain in the European Union, and they want me to point out how important it is to the UK economy that we get closer to Europe.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do not think any other Budget over the past few years has faced that sort of impact on every single thing we consume as a country, so the timeliness, tone, careful presentation and panache with which it was delivered were a real pleasure. In my speech on the Budget last year, I reflected on Attlee’s 1945 Labour Government.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also welcome the statements about assisting councils with the fiscal devolution road map, as it is being called. I look forward to Dame Louise Casey coming forward with her plan.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am incredibly pleased to hear that the minimum wage is set to increase once again under a Labour Government for 2.3 million of our lowest-paid workers. We often hear in the media, from different quarters, about the damage that the minimum wage or the London living wage are doing.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“One of the things that is implied in this Budget is the redoubling of effort by the Foreign Secretary to use our might abroad to bring people around the table to talk about the link between conflict and household budgets.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Those people do not necessarily work for the council; they may be from the Museum of Homelessness in Finsbury Park in my constituency, the Muswell Hill community kitchen or the street kitchen on the Harringay ladder.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
3,083 held · 3,082 searchable for Catherine West. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 10.
This is not an official version of UK Parliament proceedings. It reproduces the published record and links to it; the official version is the one UK Parliament publishes.
“Finally, today’s Budget speech laid out timely, carefully presented interventions, with families and small business at their heart. I like the style of the Chancellor. It felt safe and it felt like the right thing for today. As we see, I hope, an improvement in the international conflict picture, we will see an improvement due to the good fundamentals that this Labour Government have produced since 2024.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In my constituency, 81% of people voted to remain in the European Union, and they want me to point out how important it is to the UK economy that we get closer to Europe. We know that Brexit hit our economy, making it 6% smaller, and we all know the importance of allowing the Prime Minister to go to Brussels next month with as free a hand as possible. Let us not hold Britain back. What about our children and young people who want to look forward to travelling abroad and having experiences where they learn a language and meet other people in their region? They will then get to know the difficulties in Europe and understand what it means to defend Europe, and they will appreciate the opportunities that are out there. For our future prosperity and for our children, we need to be at the heart of that European debate.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am incredibly pleased to hear that the minimum wage is set to increase once again under a Labour Government for 2.3 million of our lowest-paid workers. We often hear in the media, from different quarters, about the damage that the minimum wage or the London living wage are doing. We rarely hear from people who have had a pay rise, who think, “That really helped me this week.” I welcome that rise, particularly for people in entry-level jobs. They might have hoped to get on a career ladder, but through a twist of fate in their own lives, are on the minimum wage or the London living wage for their entire career until they retire. For those workers, these increases are crucial. In 1967, Harold Wilson applied for Britain to join the European Economic Community.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also welcome the statements about assisting councils with the fiscal devolution road map, as it is being called. I look forward to Dame Louise Casey coming forward with her plan. I hope that councils will be pump-priming their adult social care departments so that, together with the NHS and social care partnerships, we can see that national care service become a reality much more quickly. Barnet’s Labour-run council earned dementia-friendly status and has worked with residents on an engagement and co-production charter for adult social care, working closely with Unison and other trade unions. That is the sort of co-operation we want to see. I have talked about why we need good housing and good social care. The final piece of the puzzle is good, well-paid jobs.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“One of the things that is implied in this Budget is the redoubling of effort by the Foreign Secretary to use our might abroad to bring people around the table to talk about the link between conflict and household budgets. Even if we did not see a total cessation of violence, but at least people were talking to each other, we might move towards $70 a barrel again, as compared with $114 today. That would see things turn around, as the fundamentals of our economy are strong. I welcome the Your First Home scheme, backed by £4.7 billion. Both Haringey and Barnet councils will be pulling out all the stops to ensure that everyone has a safe, secure and affordable home, and they will be working on those ever longer lists of homeless individuals.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Those people do not necessarily work for the council; they may be from the Museum of Homelessness in Finsbury Park in my constituency, the Muswell Hill community kitchen or the street kitchen on the Harringay ladder. All those volunteers do brilliant work with those experiencing street homelessness, and they have been in touch to say how much they like the style of our Prime Minister and the solid style of our Chancellor. I am pleased to see that £39 billion has been earmarked to deliver 300,000 homes from 2026 to 2036. I know that there is a bit of gloom around the Chamber, but we can be positive about the fact that when the cost of a barrel of oil was down at $70 a barrel just six months ago, things felt a bit more hopeful.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne) mentioned. It is the help that the children at Coppetts Wood primary school are getting with their breakfast clubs, on top of the school meals provided by the Mayor of London and Barnet council. It is also the use of empty office buildings. Harold Wilson once proposed the nationalisation London’s Centre Point; that building ultimately gave its name to the homelessness charity Centrepoint, which is still going from strength to strength today. What price can we put on bringing somebody in from the cold to be given a night away from those freezing temperatures and served by people in our constituencies?”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I do not think any other Budget over the past few years has faced that sort of impact on every single thing we consume as a country, so the timeliness, tone, careful presentation and panache with which it was delivered were a real pleasure. In my speech on the Budget last year, I reflected on Attlee’s 1945 Labour Government. Labour rebuilt the country, built the welfare state, built the NHS and built council homes up and down the country, but this year, the more appropriate leader to reflect on is the Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. He once said: “I want to show that as a government we are sensitive to little points which may be trivial in the context of government policy but carry a disproportionate weight in people’s minds.” That is the paternity cover for white-van employees that my right hon.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Helen Maguire). There is much to be welcomed in today’s Budget speech. For me, it was solid but not flashy—it was from the man who has HP Sauce on his sandwich, rather than pesto alla Genovese or tapenade aux olives. It is a really good Budget for the everyday, supporting households, helping small business and doing all it can for our fantastic start-ups. Today’s debate takes place in the context of the IMF having said that the fundamentals of the UK economy are solid: unemployment is down by 26,000 among the working-age population and productivity has improved. However, the cost of a barrel of oil today is $114.”
House of Commons28 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Conservatives say that theirs is the party of home ownership, but after their 14 years in government, home ownership fell out of reach for too many young people. The only growth was the growth in homelessness, which, sadly, increased by 74% during those 14 years. Working people look to the Government to tackle the cost of living crisis and give them some breathing space, but unfortunately the Conservatives’ priority is cutting tax on inherited wealth. As my hon. Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield (Andrew Lewin) pointed out so eloquently, we should be looking at all possible options to establish the meritocratic principle that no matter where you are born or what your background is, you should have an opportunity throughout your working life to make the very best of it and to be successful.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“However, those of us on this side of the House fought to stop the chaos, restore hope and deliver change. In two years a lot of progress has been made, and even more has been made over the summer. I look forward to the Budget that will be presented in two weeks’ time, which will have more to offer those who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. Today, His Majesty’s official Opposition are asking the House to vote to bring back that version of chaos. Independent analysis suggests that the Conservatives’ inheritance tax proposals could cost up to £10 billion a year. Most families would rather see that money used to tackle the cost of living for everyone and to increase the wealth of the country as a whole, rather than being used to provide tax cuts for the 4% proportion of the population affected by this particular tax.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a real pleasure to speak in this debate and to reflect on the question of inheritance tax brought to the House by the Conservative party. It affects about 4% of the population. On the Government Benches, we are rather more concerned with the 63% of the population who are facing tough times. Labour will therefore be voting against this Opposition day motion. I think we all remember where we were in the summer of 2022 when Liz Truss crashed the economy. The mortgages that ordinary families around the country were paying went through the roof. A shiver went down the spines of all the people who had pensions invested, as civil servants were sacked and the general reputation of the economy in the UK was trashed. Sadly, we have been paying the Truss penalty ever since.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Welwyn Hatfield and others who I am sure will speak in this debate.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“This, I think, is a moment when we have to be a little bit gutsy in our politics. I was pleased that the Prime Minister announced that very difficult decision; it is coming down the track, but he did at least announce it, so that we can start talking about the difficult challenges that we face in respect of social care. There is a ring of chaos to the proposals flung out by the Conservatives. I know about this, because I was in opposition for 14 years. I know how tempting it is to have a giggle in Opposition day debates, but we have to face the truth. We have to make some difficult decisions in order to restore the reputation of our economy with the markets internationally, but also to build the important foundation with some innovation that has been raised by my hon.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The capping of bus fares at £2 for the whole of 2027 will help people travel to work or to job interviews. The change in the rules on branded items of school uniform will ease costs for families. Business rates for pubs, social clubs and music venues have been reduced by 20%, and in London all children will have a hot dinner in the middle of the day at school. The public procurement rules have been changed to back British businesses and jobs. So many things have been introduced in the short two years for which Labour has been in office, and there is much more to come. These measures build on work that Labour has done to restore stability and growth to the economy. Difficult decisions have been taken, and I was pleased to note that the Prime Minister had announced a further difficult decision on the triple lock.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some people may prefer the text that was on the opposite side, but the bit that I preferred came from the economist Ms Tenreyro: the world economic outlook report gave the UK’s GDP an upgrade. That, I think, gives us some hope. It sets a fairly positive background for the Budget that is just two weeks away. We on this side of the House have woken up to a little bit of positive news, which is also quite a good background for the decisions that will come in two weeks’ time. I know that many other Members wish to speak, so I will be brief. I am particularly pleased about the scrapping of VAT on electricity bills for the winter, and I know that there is more to come for households that use a lot of electricity, perhaps owing to disability or because a large number of people live in the same home.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As the hon. Lady knows, a commitment has been made not to tax those who only receive the state pension. Those who earn a lot, whether through pensions, inheritance or other things, will be taxed proportionately, which sounds like a pretty fair principle to me. In the meantime, we on this side of the House are getting on with building a fairer country with a new political and economic model, but we also need to help people right now. That is why Labour has taken immediate action to provide breathing space for people and businesses. A couple of Members have mentioned the IMF report. As so often with the work of economists, it is a bit of a curate’s egg.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will not, because I have only 40 seconds and I know that other Members want to speak. We will get on with delivering the difficult decisions and the change that our communities are longing to see.”
House of Commons14 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On 27 March 2026, the Minister for Skills wrote to my hon. Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury) confirming that the Department for Education would release an equality impact assessment on student loan lifetime repayments and other borrower impacts for the plan 2 repayment threshold. Does the Chair of the Treasury Committee agree it is high time that the equality impact assessment was published by the Department?”
House of Commons15 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We need to reassure not only our constituents but ourselves that we are doing all that we possibly can to stamp out the scourge of antisemitism. I will cover three issues briefly; I am aware that other Members wish to contribute to the debate, and I want to hear from those in all parts of the UK about what their communities are doing to tackle antisemitism. On policing and community cohesion, I welcome the recent Government announcement on investment to protect Jewish communities: more than £250 million across the next three years, including a further £86 million to the Metropolitan police, which will fund about 300 additional officers in London to increase police presence. That is particularly important: as London MPs we understand that any event in central London that needs to be policed means that we lose our local police force.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On 15 April, we saw an attack on the Finchley Reform synagogue. Three days later, the Kenton United synagogue was targeted. On 27 April, an arson attack was carried out at a memorial wall in Golders Green. Later that month, two Jewish men were stabbed in Golders Green. We know how quickly my hon. and learned Friend the Member for Finchley and Golders Green (Sarah Sackman) acted; the then Prime Minister, the former Member for Holborn and St Pancras, also rushed to the scene to reassure the community. The Community Safety Trust recorded 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the UK in 2025, the second highest total ever reported to the CST in a single year. This year, we had the second highest total ever reported to the CST in the first six months of any year. I applied for this debate because the House needs to have a full and frank debate.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have a long and rich history of challenging hatred, and that means we stand against antisemitism. It has been a frightening and dark six months. On 2 October last year, two Jewish people were killed and three left in a serious condition after a car-ramming and stabbing attack outside the Heaton synagogue in Manchester. In March this year, four ambulances belonging to the Hatzola ambulance service were set on fire in the car park of a synagogue in Golders Green. Hatzola provides a service for all Londoners, responding to thousands of emergencies every year, from minor injuries to life-threatening conditions. It works collaboratively with emergency services such as the London ambulance service, the London fire brigade, the helicopter emergency medical service and the Metropolitan police to co-ordinate and provide professional care.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My job is to work with the community to promote Hornsey and Friern Barnet as a beacon of diversity and integration that shines a light on what can be achieved when the whole community comes together. We have a long and rich history of challenging hate. In 1977, the battle of Wood Green at Ducketts Common saw a rainbow coalition led by Jewish, Irish and black communities unite to drive out the far-right National Front. Former councillor Sheila Peacock, who is now in her 90s, remembers those days well. In recent years, Hornsey and Friern Barnet has become a safe haven for those fleeing persecution in Afghanistan, Syria, Ukraine and other conflict zones around the world. Later today, I will host a roundtable with HIAS+JCORE, which has its roots in the Kindertransport movement, to discuss support for newly arrived communities.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the safety of the Jewish community. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for letting me hold this debate. I am honoured to represent one of the most diverse, inclusive and welcoming communities in the world. One hundred and eighty languages are spoken in our schools, and both Haringey and Barnet councils, together with community partners, have been instrumental in ensuring that our community is a place where discrimination and hatred are rejected and diversity is celebrated. I am proud of the excellent Haringey and Barnet multi-faith forums. The Metropolitan police independent advisory group in Barnet and Haringey also does great work. Members of those different groups have joined us today in the Public Gallery.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“From the number of people who have written to me since this debate was granted, I am very aware that resourcing is crucial. There are more than 500 additional officers across England and Wales, boosting security around schools, synagogues and community centres. It is deeply upsetting, as their MP, to hear mothers ask, “Why does my daughter say, ‘Mummy, why there are so many police outside my school?’?””
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Lady makes an excellent point. Although we have not yet heard back from the Bell inquiry, I will touch on it in my third and final point and will pick up the hon. Lady’s points then.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“There are some places where that day-to-day confidence-building in the communities we serve is absent.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. In my second point I will talk about the online world, which is indeed a frightening place for many of us. Policing and community cohesion are at the heart of ensuring that everyone in the country feels safe. The late John Hume, a Nobel peace prize laureate and former Member of this House, said that our differences make us special and “should never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies the most fundamental principle of peace—respect for diversity.” The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and local councils up and down the country do excellent work with programmes on tackling division and building bridges between communities, but I think that in some communities we are better at that than in others.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Every Member of this House and communities and families up and down the country need to be reassured that the Government are leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Jewish communities are safe, that we are doing everything we can to stamp out online hate and that we are tackling antisemitism at its roots through work in schools. I will leave the House with the positive image of the retired Jewish MP whose daughter from the local synagogue planted an olive tree with our esteemed stand-in deputy lieutenant, Bibi Khan, who leads at the Wightman Road mosque. That was a symbol of our communities together. We dig the garden, we plant the tree, the roots take shape and we watch it grow tall.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson) mentioned, Sir David Bell’s review will look into the support available to schools and colleges; how well they use their policies to make decisions and handle hate-filled incidents; how they are accountable if they fail to handle an incident well; what they can do to prevent antisemitism, including identifying and tackling issues early; and the role and influence of campaigning organisations external to schools and colleges and how they influence school and college decision making. I look forward to reading the review, but most importantly to implementation of the practical actions to combat antisemitism that stem from the review. Early intervention is key. To sum up, my requests of the Minister are simple.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The 100 most viewed false flag conspiracy posts received 252,954 views, again without a single dissenting community note. How do people know what the truth is when they are reading online? CCDH research found that 11 Instagram accounts posting antisemitic and racist material accumulated 1.5 billion views while directing users to shops selling hateful merchandise. All 11 were also promoted through Instagram’s related accounts feature. Are we sure that the existing legal framework is enough to stamp out online antisemitism? Education on the dangers of extremism is so important, but good education and the outcomes of good education are so difficult to achieve. I welcome the Government’s £7 million to tackle antisemitism in schools, colleges and universities. As the hon.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“CCDH research into 10 leading AI chatbots found that eight in 10 chatbots would assist users to plan violent attacks, including on places of worship such as synagogues, and nine in 10 failed to reliably discourage them. That is shocking. Following the Manchester synagogue attack, the CCDH identified 171 hateful or violent online replies targeting 13 prominent British Jewish accounts. All remained live when checked. The 100 most viewed posts falsely alleging that Israel or Jewish people orchestrated the attack received 568,708 views; none displayed a dissenting community note. Following the stabbing of two Jewish men in Golders Green, the CCDH identified 130 hateful online replies directed at 10 prominent British Jewish individuals and organisations; all remained live when checked.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“They are mainstream schools, but they come together to listen to the stories of headteachers in Jewish schools in order that we can share experiences and cross-pollinate ideas so that all children, across any local authority area, hear about best practice in tackling antisemitism and hatred. Research from the Centre for Countering Digital Hate shows a repeated pattern whereby real-world attacks on Jewish communities are followed by targeted abuse, calls for further violence and antisemitic conspiracy theories online. I welcome the inclusion in the Online Safety Act of measures to ensure that technology companies remove illegal content such as antisemitic material, but we need to ensure that it is effective.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That does not just mean local politicians; it means us in this House going to events, promoting community cohesion, standing up when something is wrong and promoting the right way of doing things. The Mayor of London has also been proactive, investing £17 million in initiatives to tackle hate crime. Since the shared endeavour fund started in 2020, it has supported 138 projects across the capital and has worked with more than 220,000 participants, including projects focused specifically on countering antisemitism. Here I will mention the work of schools in Barnet.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I will indeed, and I wish there were more of them, because that is at the heart of education. It is all very well having teachers teaching, but what we need is a response that it is embedded in communities. I thank the hon. Member for taking an interest in the Suffolk organisation. Support with resources for local government includes more than £2 million for more than 200 grassroots organisations, through the Common Ground award, bringing people from different backgrounds together to build trust and find common ground. We hear a lot in this House about Pride in Place, the £5.8 billion funding promoting community leadership, making local politics count.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“On that point, may I commend the police in Barnet in the run-up to the local elections, which is always a tense time? I want to put on record how outstanding the communication, reassurance and work with our local leaders—both Conservative and Labour—on Barnet council was.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Resolved, That this House has considered the safety of the Jewish community.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We have had an excellent debate. It is always a good debate when we want to say more but cannot fit it in. I thank everybody, across all the parties, for contributing to it. The problem of tackling antisemitism will take the whole of our polity. That means all of us: local, national, school governors, public sector workers, the private sector and trade union colleagues. It will take everybody to look this in the eye and sort it. We have had a good debate and, as the Minister says, it is a journey. I am very pleased that the Prime Minister is so intimately aware of the Manchester picture. I know that he is also engaged with London Board of Deputies colleagues as well. We look forward to a brighter future and to working together to tackle the scourge of antisemitism in our communities. Question put and agreed to.”
House of Commons8 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“People living in Hornsey and Friern Barnet and communities across the country should be able to live safely, recover with dignity and get the right support. In pulling together my words, I thank the wonderful mental health staff at the North London NHS foundation trust, which sadly lost members during covid, because they were so close to patients—I feel that it has still perhaps not got back to where it was pre-covid. We need to support that workforce. I also thank Mind in Haringey, Safe Haven, Disability Action Haringey, Healthwatch Haringey, Haringey council, Barnet council and all the elected Members who care deeply about the future of social care in the UK.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Yesterday, we heard the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government lay out her vision for tackling rough sleeping, which is an element in the mental health jigsaw puzzle. If we want people to maintain their independence, they need appropriate homes and community support. If we want to prevent people from reaching crisis point, we need to address the circumstances that contribute to stress, worry and deteriorating mental health. Social care reform has been pushed down the road too many times, but now is the moment for it to come forward. We must invest further upstream to improve people’s lives, free up NHS capacity, reduce unnecessary hospital stays, support recovery and create a health and care system that is preventive rather than reactive.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also invite Baroness Casey or the Minister to Mind in Haringey to see an excellent way in which the statutory and voluntary sectors work together. The Government’s actions meant that, earlier this year, we successfully reached the target of recruiting 8,500 mental health workers. That is a crucial step towards providing better and earlier care, closer to people’s homes. I welcome the £343 million to open 159 NHS mental health centres across England, which will give people access to specialist support away from A&E. These problems are not just about cash, but about the system being proactive and improving workforce morale so that we can improve outcomes for patients. Investment in housing is crucial, but the £39 billion earmarked for social and affordable housing has the potential to be transformative.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Investment in supported housing is not separate from relieving pressure on the NHS, but part of relieving that pressure. Investment in community-based support is not simply about providing an alternative hospital, but about helping people to recover, maintain their independence and avoid reaching crisis point in the first place. I strongly welcome the Government’s commitment to address these enormous challenges, and was particularly excited to hear the Prime Minister talking about tackling social care in advance of 2028, which was when Baroness Casey was going to report back. I also welcome the Government’s wider action to improve mental health care through the NHS 10-year plan, and would like to ask for a meeting to discuss standards of care in the mental health service.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“That is why collaborative care and cross-body communication are so critical. We also have a rapidly ageing population across Haringey and Barnet, which will inevitably place additional pressure on social care. Haringey council’s older people’s needs assessment reported that Haringey had around 27,700 residents aged 65 and over in 2022, and that figure is projected to rise by approximately 40%. The pressure on our social care system is therefore going to grow, as we all know, and we need to ensure that the system is ready for it. The evidence is clear: mental health services cannot be considered in isolation from social care. Investment in social care is not separate from investment in mental health services—it is investment in mental health.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“People experience poor housing or insufficient care, their mental health deteriorates, and they reach crisis point, requiring hospital treatment. We must break that cycle. In my constituency, the Safe Haven crisis hub provides a vital service, helping people to de-escalate during a mental health crisis and providing an alternative to accident and emergency. I know that this is the kind of example that Baroness Casey will be looking at. She is very welcome to come and visit Mind in Haringey, which hosts this particular crisis hub, because it shows the best practice. Staff there have seen people reaching out to their services with increasingly complex needs, often requiring co-ordinated support across health, housing, social care and the voluntary and community sector.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In March 2024, mental health trusts in England recorded 49,677 delayed discharge days—the highest level since national reporting began. Analysis of NHS data identified Barnet, Enfield and Haringey mental health NHS trust among the trusts with the highest levels of delayed discharge nationally. These figures demonstrate exactly the point I am making today: mental health cannot be treated in isolation from housing and social care. In order to fix one, we must fix all three. Disability Action Haringey, which does excellent work supporting disabled people to maintain their independence and freedom, has highlighted the combination of difficulties in accessing suitable housing, delays in obtaining social care, the financial hardship that so many suffer, social isolation and the challenges of navigating multiple services simultaneously.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We need to protect organisations like Healthwatch and others that amplify voices so that we can understand the data behind monitoring service quality and amplifying patients’ voices. Someone who is clinically well enough to leave hospital can become trapped at the most expensive stage of the care pathway, unable to continue their recovery in the community. At the same time, someone desperate, experiencing an acute mental health crisis, may be unable to gain access to a hospital bed. This is not an effective use of public money; that public money could be spent on quality of care, which is desperately important for the families who are suffering due to issues around the particular care that their loved-ones have received.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“In July alone, the trust had an average of 10 in-patients on their wards who were clinically ready to leave but could not be discharged due to lack of suitable housing provision or social care support, and 8% to 12% of the total adult in-patient bed base was unavailable to other patients who needed one. Healthwatch Haringey has highlighted the recurring barriers to gaining access to timely, co-ordinated and person-centred mental health support, such as lack of continuity between services, fragmented care pathways and inconsistent communication between providers. When services do not work together effectively, people experience poorer outcomes and are more likely to reach crisis point. This is precisely the cycle that we need to break.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The lack of suitable housing and step-down care is also having a direct impact on in-patient services and contributing to much longer hospital stays. That is the system I will be focusing on today. The trust says that of the five local authorities it covers, Haringey is the most affected by the lack of suitable and affordable housing, and therefore has the largest number of delayed discharges. From January to July 2026, a total of 846 occupied bed days were unavailable to other patients desperate for care due to Haringey residents being unable to be discharged from mental health in-patient wards despite being clinically ready for discharge.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“A previous Labour Prime Minister emphasised that his priorities were “education, education, education,” but when it comes to mental health and social care, we need to talk about “early intervention, early intervention, early intervention”. The North London foundation trust, which covers Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington, says that the financial challenges facing local authorities are really straining their ability to work together, as they are forced to consider more radical reductions in adult social care services. In particular, the reduction in investment in preventive and early intervention services is having a catastrophic effect, but local trusts are finding it hard enough to fund their basic statutory responsibilities.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I know that Members across the House will have constituents who get in contact time and again because they have fallen through the cracks of our porous health and care system. Navigating the endlessly complicated care pathways, from primary NHS care to social care, community support and housing, is not easy. The exponential growth in mental health referrals, coupled with the enormous pressures on local authorities to provide social care and social housing against increasingly constrained budgets, has created a perfect storm. That is being felt across the country, but most acutely in my community, where people are too often failed in their time of greatest need. Too many people are being left without the care, support and stability they desperately need to recover.”
House of Commons4 September 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗