Wera Hobhouse
MP for Bath · Liberal Democrat · United Kingdom
“Q4. Community energy is a fantastic way of empowering communities and helping with both energy security and the cost of living. The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee recently published a report in which we identified that people living around a community energy project still cannot buy that electricity because of complex market regul…”
“The 20% rate cut for music venues and pubs is of course very welcome, but what my high street in Bath really needs is an overhaul of the business rates system, which the Labour Government promised.”
“First, it would help us properly understand the scale of the problem. Without consistent recording, misogyny remains largely invisible in official data, despite being a common factor in many forms of abuse. Secondly, it would improve accountability.”
“That means that misogynistic content is not just present; it is incentivised and rewarded. For victims, the impact is devastating. They are ridiculed and humiliated, they face reputational damage, and they are left fearing for their safety in public.”
“The Government’s amendment to the Crime and Policing Act to recognise misogyny as an aggravating factor in some crimes is a welcome step in the right direction, but they must go further. That means amending the Sentencing Act 2020 so that all crimes motivated by misogyny are classed as hate crimes.”
“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Sir Edward. I congratulate the hon. and learned Member for Folkestone and Hythe (Tony Vaughan) on introducing the debate so thoughtfully. For months, I have been campaigning for legislation to combat the alarming trend of nightlife filming.”
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“All that is done without a single penny of financial support from the Government. The Roman baths are so popular that they received a 93% enjoyment score—whatever that is, and however it is measured—which is the highest ever. Victoria Art Gallery celebrated its 125th anniversary this year and made major investments, including the launch of a dedicated community engagement and school room. Bath council is in the process of bringing together £54 million for a new fashion museum in Bath—I am particularly excited about that, because I like fashion. It will hopefully open in 2030 and will be a fabulous place to show the transformative power of fashion, stimulate the local and regional economy, and inspire citizens like me. I am sure I will be one of the first through the doors.”
“It is important to dwell on the volunteers; of course they provide an important local service for all of us, but they also love what they do, and they are so connected to their local place. In Bath, we are so fortunate to have a plethora of museums—large, such as the Roman baths, and small, such as the Museum of Bath Stone. Together, they celebrate our rich heritage and tell the story of our people. The Museum of Bath at Work is a particular standout. That independent, self-funded museum is housed in a grade II listed real tennis court. It operates with just one permanent member of staff, but is supported by over 40 volunteers, including working trustees and friends. Last year, it staged an exhibition on tennis in Bath, which won a national sporting heritage award for research. This year, it is planning exhibitions on cinema and film.”
“It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Lewell. What a wonderful debate we have had this afternoon. From Egyptian mummies and vampires to castles and royal pump houses, from the history of textiles and shipbuilding to Captain Cook and the Cutty Sark, the whole colourful history of our country has passed through our mind’s eye this afternoon. We all agree that local museums are cultural anchors that connect people, place and history. Museums support our local economy by driving tourism, creating jobs and encouraging visitors, but foremost they are there for the enjoyment of the people who live near them. In 2023, the independent museum sector alone contributed nearly £900 million to the UK economy and attracted almost 20 million visitors. The sector supports thousands of jobs, alongside more than half a million volunteer days.”
“Since we have a little time, we should congratulate the whole sector for making museums so much more engaging and fun. I remember being dragged to museums when I was young. They were boring places to be, and I could just about survive for half an hour. These days, museums are places where people really want to stay, because the whole sector has been transformed into something with which everybody can engage. We should take this opportunity to congratulate the museum sector for all it has done in the last generation.”
“One of my Bath constituents who is a leaseholder in a housing association-managed development has received sudden and extremely high major works bills without warning. There is currently no statutory requirement for landlords or housing associations to operate sinking or reserve funds to spread the costs of major works over time. Many leaseholders are then exposed to large, unexpected charges at short notice. Will the Leader of the House reach out to colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to draw attention to this growing problem and encourage them to consider introducing statutory guidance or regulations on sinking funds to better protect our constituents?”
“The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee is running an inquiry into the costs of energy, as we have already heard from its Chair. With all due respect, I cannot understand how the Conservative Opposition can with a straight face deplore the cost of energy for bill payers while at the same time advocate prolonging our dependency on oil and gas. That is precisely what keeps our energy bills high. Let me come back to our inquiry. We heard from one of the witnesses from E3G that there could be costs of up to £500 per household in hidden profits due to the untransparent network charges put on to energy bills. Will the Government ensure that bill payers are given a full picture of the breakdown of profits across the energy sector?”
“I hope that in this way we can ensure that the size of a charity never determines the difference that it can make. While I echo the concerns that have been raised today, I very much hope that my example from Bath can help other hon. Members and the charities in their local areas.”
“Overwhelmingly, I heard from them how the fragmentation of local delivery impeded their effectiveness, and how partnerships and collaborations were key to reducing that. As a result, regular roundtables are now taking place, at which they share best practice, limit duplication of support to some clients, and locate the gaps in provision to others. It is an opportunity to map out a clearer, more collaborative and less fragmented domestic abuse pathway for local organisations. We are creating a space where charities can build rapport with one another while discussing some of the issues that the sector faces. I hope that will begin to eliminate the barriers that smaller charities face due to the administration, monitoring and governance issues that the large national charities navigate with relative ease.”
“They are also disadvantaged because they lack the economies of scale that benefit the nationals, and the central infrastructure to navigate onerous administration, monitoring and governance rules. I recently convened a roundtable of smaller charities all working in the domestic abuse space in Bath, to hear about their challenges. Outstanding local charities such as Southside, the Nelson Trust, Developing Health & Independence, Voices, Society Without Abuse and Julian House attended, along with our local authority partners, officers and councillors, who are vital elements for policy setting, commissioning and delivery. Bringing them together created a space to work towards a more joined-up response for domestic abuse victims and survivors in Bath, working together rather than competing with each other.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for securing this important debate. I hear time and again from local Bath charities that they are disadvantaged due to their size. They are incredible, committed and dedicated niche charities, doing excellent work in our communities. Because they are small and locally focused they can deliver swift, sensitive and tailored personal services to the people who need them, but they are disadvantaged because they are small. They are disadvantaged because they cannot afford a team of experienced bid writers who know the tips and hacks to unlock the larger funding schemes, and because they are all going for the same pots of funding at the same time, for largely the same aims.”
“Does the Minister agree that small local charities cannot compete with national charities? We have made that point time and again, but she has not made any comment on how competition can be achieved or how local charities can get priority. I have many examples in Bath where a national charity gets a bid through the bidding process but does not deliver as well as a local charity. We find that out afterwards, but then it is too late.”
“Bounties have been placed on the heads of pro-democracy activists living in Hong Kong—a shocking act of transnational aggression. May I add my voice to that of the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), and ask: when will the Government use our Magnitsky sanctions regime against those in Hong Kong and Beijing responsible for the unacceptable targeting of Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners? It is time that we used those sanctions.”
“I was a secondary school teacher before I came to this place, and even 10 years ago, although the school guidance was that mobile phones should not be in classrooms, enforcing that was a daily struggle. The presence of mobile phones undermines what schools are trying to do, causing distraction, potentially enabling cyber-bullying and exposing students to potentially harmful online content. We have been through all this. Sometimes it is important that guidance is supported by law, so will the Government turn the existing guidance into law and ban phones in schools?”
“Does the Secretary of State agree that the same arguments that were made over 100 years ago about women not being fit enough to vote are now being repeated for 16-year-olds? The success that ultimately came from including women in the franchise should give us confidence that this is the right thing to do.”
“We need a waiting time standard for adults. We need accurate death recording and a confidential inquiry into all eating disorder-related deaths. We also need stronger online regulations. We know what needs to change, and the APPG stands ready to work constructively with Ministers to deliver it. There is no time to waste.”
“We cannot reduce long-term costs if we continue to under-invest in research. In line with the Government’s focus on early intervention and prevention, the current situation must change. The eating disorder community is strong, passionate and determined. Our goal is to grow the community beyond those who are already engaged with it, to reach those who do not yet recognise the symptoms, and to engage those who think that eating disorders are “someone else’s issue”, because they are not. No one should be dying of an eating disorder in 2026. No parent should be forced to fight the system while fighting for their child’s life. No person should be told that they are “not ill enough” to deserve care. We need a dedicated national eating disorder strategy. We need sustained and proportionate research funding. We need mandatory workforce training.”
“I ask the Minister in Westminster Hall today: when can I expect an answer and when will families receive the transparency they deserve? In 2020, it was estimated that eating disorders cost the UK £9.4 billion annually. That is just the cost for the NHS. It is not the full cost of what eating disorders cost us as a society, including the cost to life and to family, and the stress caused by someone waiting years and years for treatment, or being finally treated successfully, if they are treated at all. Between 2015 and 2019, however, research into eating disorders received only around 1% of UK mental health research funding. We are spending billions on managing the consequences of this problem, while investing only a fraction of that amount in understanding the causes and improving treatments.”
“I was promised an update from the Minister for Women’s Health and Mental Health on progress in this area. I waited for weeks. It was only after I raised the matter in the main Chamber that I eventually received a written response, which stated that the issue did not lie with the Department of Health and Social Care but with the Ministry of Justice, and that I would be contacted shortly. Why did it take weeks to give me that information? That was in November, and I am still waiting. I still have not heard from the Ministry of Justice. I appreciate that Ministers face competing pressures, but this issue is about accurately recording avoidable deaths. It should not require repeated parliamentary interventions for an MP to finally receive an answer to their question.”
“As a result, we do not even have exact statistics for eating disorder deaths, which means the true scale of the crisis remains unclear. If we cannot even accurately record how many people are dying from these illnesses—these eating disorders—how can we possibly begin to address the scale of the problem? The APPG has repeatedly called for a confidential inquiry into eating disorder deaths, which would be similar to the inquiries into maternal deaths that already exist, so that patterns can be identified and lessons learned. We know what we need to do. We have a strategy planned and—through the APPG—we have experts who are willing to support this work. In September last year, I asked for a follow-up on what the Department is doing to ensure that eating disorder deaths are recorded accurately on death certificates.”
“We must build capacity across the whole pathway—early intervention, community provision and specialist in-patient care—so that access is determined by need, not postcode. In October last year, our APPG published a report on preventing deaths related to eating disorders. It made for harrowing reading. Although some areas of the UK showcased pockets of good practice, the evidence is clear that unsafe discharges are still far too common and that the system fails to prevent avoidable deaths. People with anorexia are five to six times more likely to die—through physical complications, or suicide—than the general population. In many cases, deaths from eating disorders are misrecorded or omitted from death certificates, with death instead being attributed to organ failure or suicide.”
“At the same time, our research has found some deeply concerning discharge practices. Recent freedom of information requests to all trusts across the UK found that people with eating disorders are often being discharged with a BMI of under 15, and in some cases far lower. I am concerned that we are discharging patients who are medically unsafe simply because beds are scarce. If community and day services are to succeed, they must be properly funded and able to intervene early, so that everyone can receive quality care closer to their home. When people receive timely and evidence-based support, the need for intensive in-patient or day treatment can fall by around a third. That reduces risks for patients and long-term pressures on NHS services. We cannot solve this crisis by shifting care around the system.”
“Recent data shows that median waits are 42 days, with some waiting many months, even more than a year, for assessment or treatment. During that time, physical health deteriorates and hospital admissions become more likely. Access to quality care is a postcode lottery. Only one in six integrated care systems currently provide sufficient intensive community or day treatment for both children and adults. I welcome the commitment to expand intensive community and day services, but we must not allow community care to be a pretext for the erosion of specialist in-patient units. Specialist in-patient services stabilise those who are critically unwell. They offer a range of expertise that community teams cannot always replicate. Yet we do not currently have enough specialist beds for the acute level of need that exists.”
“Frontline staff need practical, evidence-based training. They must be able to recognise early warning signs and know how to ask sensitive questions, communicate without reinforcing harmful thinking and escalate concerns safely. Proper training saves lives. If we are serious about tackling this crisis, we must equip frontline staff with the skills and knowledge they need to help people effectively. Training alone, however, is not enough. Even the most skilled professionals cannot protect patients within a system that lacks clear, enforceable standards on timely access to care. For children and young people, there is a waiting time standard—95% of urgent cases seen within one week, and routine cases within four weeks—yet that is not consistently met. For adults, there is no waiting time standard at all.”
“There is guidance available, such as the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ medical emergencies in eating disorders guidance, but it is inconsistently applied. Where training is offered, it is patchy, inconsistent and too often voluntary. Last year, I was contacted by the family of Ruby Hamill, a young woman with a history of severe anorexia nervosa. While held on remand at HMP New Hall, she collapsed after being unable to eat for almost a month. Despite her known history of anorexia, she received no eating disorder treatment in prison. She was later treated for refeeding syndrome, a life-threatening complication, after being granted humanitarian bail. Thankfully, Ruby survived, but she nearly died in the care of the state due to an absence of clear, mandatory standards and properly trained staff.”
“If there is one lesson that the APPG has learnt over six years, it is that eating disorders are profoundly misunderstood, and that misunderstanding costs lives. Early warning signs are often missed, leaving families to navigate complex and frightening conditions without guidance or support. That lack of training translates directly into delayed recognition, unsafe discharge decisions and prolonged suffering. In 2017, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman warned of avoidable death and systemic failings in NHS eating disorder services. It called for improved training, better co-ordination and cross-organisational learning. Nine years later, we are still seeing the same failures. Across England, many of the specialist community eating disorder teams lack a consultant psychiatrist. Vacancy rates for consultant posts remain high.”
“In September, the Minister for Care rightly acknowledged that the Government must address the underlying drivers behind the rise in eating disorders, including the online environment. I welcome that recognition, but I am concerned that he pointed to the Online Safety Act 2023 as an example of how this can be addressed. After the global ban of #SkinnyTok, new hashtags emerged almost immediately, after which the same harmful content was posted. We must focus on the algorithms that amplify harmful content. Through Ofcom, the Government must hold social media giants to account when their platforms repeatedly allow harmful content to circulate. Relying on the victims of such content to report continuously and become the regulators cannot be right.”
“Research by the Centre for Countering Digital Hate reveals something deeply concerning. When researchers created simulated 13-year-old users on YouTube, the platform’s algorithm recommended harmful eating disorder content in one out of every four videos they watched—one in four. But it gets worse: when these harmful videos were reported, nearly three quarters of them were not removed. Even after being flagged, most of this dangerous content stayed online. This is not simply about individual users; it is about algorithms amplifying harm. A single pause on a video can trigger a stream of increasingly harmful material. Even when users block accounts or report content, similar posts rapidly reappear under a new hashtag.”
“Without a unified strategy, we are left with fragmented guidance and piecemeal reform that fail to match the scale and seriousness of the challenge. I repeat our call today: it is time for a dedicated national eating disorder strategy. When we think of community, we often think of our friends, neighbours and colleagues, but for many young people, community is no longer primarily physical; it is digital, and the community that they encounter online often reinforces their problems rather than helping them to recover. Platforms are saturated with pro-eating disorder content. That includes misleading nutritional advice and distorted body image ideals. One alarming trend is in so-called recovery accounts: rather than providing helpful advice to sufferers, they often share tips on hiding behaviours from staff or how to minimise meals.”
“Of the estimated 360,000 children and young people affected, only about 55,000 were identified by GPs in 2020, and even fewer accessed specialist care. Only a fraction of adults receive a formal diagnosis. That is the devastating reality facing eating disorder sufferers across the country. Our APPG is therefore calling on the Government to introduce a dedicated national eating disorder strategy. At the last debate on this issue in September, the Minister for Care expressed concern about a “proliferation” of documents and strategies. He said that he was “not convinced” that adding stand-alone strategies alongside guidance and plans would improve outcomes. Eating disorders are among the most complex and deadly mental health conditions. If ever there was a case for a dedicated cross-departmental strategy, this is it.”
“Of course, I also thank Beat, the eating disorder charity, without whose tireless campaigning Eating Disorder Awareness Week would not even come before this Parliament. Despite the tireless campaigning and the greater awareness of this tragic illness, however, I must confess to deep frustration. Over those six years, things have not improved; they have worsened. The number of children and young people treated for eating disorders has risen by around two fifths since the pandemic. The 2019 health survey for England found that the proportion of adults with a likely eating disorder had risen from about 6% in 2007 to 16% in 2019. Adults in England wait up to 700 days, almost two years, just to start treatment. Not only are we failing to treat people quickly enough; too often we fail to identify them at all.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2026. It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Ms Vaz. This year, Eating Disorders Awareness Week is centred on the theme of community. Over the past six years, as chair of the eating disorders all-party parliamentary group, I have witnessed the power of community at first hand. Our APPG has grown into a determined group of MPs, campaigners, clinicians, researchers, families and, crucially, people with lived experience. I thank my colleagues across the House who continue to work constructively on this issue. I also pay tribute to Hope Virgo, our tireless secretariat, who has turned lived experience into sustained strategic campaigning.”
“It is also worth mentioning the many people who have come forward to bravely tell their stories, raise awareness and take away the stigma. We know how much courage it takes to come forward. I want to collectively thank everybody who does that. We need more people to come forward and talk about their experiences, but I thank everybody who has come forward.”
“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that another big consideration is the mental health toll on people who work in eating disorder services and know that they cannot provide an adequate service to the many people who suffer? What are we doing for the people who work in these services and who want to do the best they can but simply cannot because of a lack of resources?”
“It is worth mentioning again that if a person with an eating disorder does not get treatment, it takes them three times as long as they have been suffering to recover. If they have suffered from an eating disorder for three years, it takes them nine years to fully recover. We know from other health services that early intervention is key, but it is particularly important for eating disorders because the longer they are left, the much longer the recovery process is. Some people never recover and it is a life sentence.”
“One of the most harrowing things that we hear again and again when taking evidence in the APPG is how families feel completely abandoned. People have to give up work, often over years, because they are meant to care for someone with a severe condition and they do not have the capacity to do so by themselves. It is only when that condition is finally so bad that the loved one is then readmitted to hospital. That revolving door must end. The human cost to that tragedy—apart from the cost to the NHS—must end. It is absolutely tragic and wrong.”
“The Minister is very generous with his time. I mentioned this issue in my speech and I see it across the board, not just with regard to eating disorders. The Online Safety Act provides that Ofcom can intervene, but only if the content is reported, so we are relying on often very vulnerable people to report something before Ofcom intervenes. That cannot be right. There has to be a stronger emphasis on the social media platforms actually taking down accounts very quickly and, as I have also said, ensuring that they do not just reappear under a different name.”
“I will not make that same prediction for 2026, but I will say to the Government, “Please listen very carefully to our call for an eating disorder strategy.” I believe that joined-up thinking would make a real difference and that the Government could show, through the improvement of eating disorder services and final outcomes for those who are affected by this devastating condition, that their plan is working. The Government must develop a strategy and implement the 10-year health plan for eating disorder services. If we see the outcomes and we can measure them properly, I believe that the Government will be turning a corner for the NHS as a whole. Question put and agreed to. Resolved, That this House has considered Eating Disorders Awareness Week 2026.”
“If their 10-year health plan were to be meaningful at all, everything in it could absolutely be applied to eating disorder services: shifting from crisis treatment to prevention; shifting to community care; shifting to parity of mental and physical health. It is about all those things. If the Government want to show their strategy is working, they can show that through eating disorder services and the improvement of outcomes. Currently, the tsunami of need is not met by the services that we have, and that needs to shift. Last year, I said I was hopeful that 2025 would be the year in which we changed something. I have not seen that.”
“I thank everybody who contributed to this debate in such a thoughtful way. First and foremost, my thanks go to the tireless campaigners—the people with lived experience and their families, who have shared their stories over so many years, and say to them, “Without you, Eating Disorder Awareness Week would not exist.” Awareness has definitely improved, but I repeat my frustration that even so, the outcomes for many people suffering from this tragic and devastating condition have not improved. I know this now not-so-new Labour Government have a massive task in front of them to transform the NHS.”
“Lib Dem-run Bath and North East Somerset council is deeply concerned that the Government’s proposed reforms to the national planning policy framework will cap local ambitions on meeting net zero through sustainable development. National minimum environmental standards must not become a ceiling that prevents councils from aiming to go beyond the minimum. Will the Government make a statement to assure councils such as Bath that the new framework will not stymie the forward-thinking and innovative sustainable planning policy that many councils across the country want to pursue?”
“I am pleased that my party is prepared to act and show the public that we want change.”
“I do not know where the Minister has been, but my inbox has been inundated by families and parents who are calling for action. We are responding to the request of our constituents to take action. Do the Government not see the urgency with which we need to take action?”
“Social media companies have developed incredibly sophisticated algorithms, as we have already heard this afternoon, that are capable of targeting advertisements to individuals with remarkable precision. They know what we watch, what we like and what we linger on, so it cannot be beyond their capability to deploy artificial intelligence to detect and prevent the sale of illegal drugs on their platforms. Active detection must replace endless reactive reporting. The technology and resources exist, and the evidence is overwhelming; what is missing is political will and enforcement. It is time to hold social media companies to account, because the safety of our children demands nothing less.”
“An account named “Spice Sales 1” is reported and taken down, only to resurface as “Spice Sales 2”, then “Spice Sales 3” and so on. The name changes slightly, the branding shifts marginally, but the criminality remains the same. This revolving door of reactive takedowns is not a strategy—it is an admission that the current system is not working. If a shop in Bath were openly selling drugs through its front window, the police would intervene immediately. There would be no hesitation and no suggestion that the public should simply keep reporting it. So why, when the shopfront is digital and when the customers are children, are we not treating this with the same seriousness? It is time that we confronted this reality.”
“I have met a number of Ministers about this issue, most recently the Minister for Online Safety, who is in his place. I know he understands the scale of the problem and is sympathetic to our concerns, but words are not enough: we need action. Selling drugs is already a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, and Ofcom has a statutory duty to enforce that. Yet despite clear, sustained evidence that these substances are being openly advertised and sold online, we have not seen the decisive enforcement that the law requires. Instead, the burden is falling on members of the public to report these accounts, effectively asking individual citizens to do the regulator’s job for them. What happens when an account is removed? Within hours, a near identical profile reappears.”
“The marketplace has moved online and our children are paying the price. But do not just take my word for it. The Metropolitan police have warned about children accessing illicit vapes through social media platforms, such as Snapchat and Telegram. A recent BBC investigation revealed how effortlessly an illegal vape laced with Spice can be purchased over Snapchat. This is not a few small-scale individuals. We are dealing with a global, industrial supply chain, with major chemical suppliers in China providing materials to markets in the UK, the European Union, the United States and Gulf states. Researchers at the University of Bath have identified nearly 10,000 accounts involved in the supply and distribution of Spice, many using TikTok to advertise and communicate.”
“Some are rushed to intensive care and others begin a battle with addiction that may follow them for life. Spice is not simply another illegal drug. Its extreme potency and addictive grip is a fast track to exploitation and criminality. It is always a tragedy when someone falls victim to substance abuse, but when it is an uninformed child who has been misled and targeted over social media, it is not just tragic; it is a profound failure to protect. I have raised the issue in the House and with this Government repeatedly over the past year and a half, but in that time the situation facing vulnerable children has not improved, but deteriorated. Gone are the days when a young person had to meet a dealer in a dark alley to buy drugs. Today, a child can purchase them from their bedroom, with a few taps on a phone.”
“Across the country, the dangerous synthetic drug Spice is being brazenly marketed to children over social media. Many vulnerable young people believe that they are buying the less harmful, though still illegal, drug THC only to discover, too late, that what they have been sold is a far more potent and unpredictable substance. In schools, the consequences are already visible. One in six vapes confiscated from pupils now contains Spice—one in six! If we walk through parts of our towns and cities, we see the human cost: Spice users slumped in doorways, trapped in a semi-conscious state, stripped of dignity and control. How terrifying it is that this drug is no longer confined to our streets and prisons, and has entered our classrooms. Children are collapsing in school corridors.”
“I could go on forever about online harm, particularly with regard to eating disorders. It is Eating Disorders Awareness Week, and we will be having a debate on that. I hope that the hon. Gentleman will attend that debate, as he can then raise that point again. Today I am talking about spice and the responsibility of social media platforms and how we protect children. I therefore support the provision to bring in a Bill on protecting children from online harms, as proposed by my hon. Friend the Member for Twickenham (Munira Wilson). As I have said before, it is time for action; we can no longer dither and delay. I do not accept all the debates saying, “Oh! Process this, that and the other.” If we really mean it and are really serious about this issue, we need to act now.”
“These sharp practices are not down to just one management company—a lot of companies are at it. A leaseholder constituent wrote to me to say he feels “abandoned and angry”. His property is leaking, but the freeholder is not interested in helping, and his ground rent will double in 2030. Can the Secretary of State reassure me that my leaseholder constituent will be protected from these unreasonable charges in the future?”