Paulette Hamilton
MP for Birmingham Erdington · Labour · United Kingdom
“The Health and Social Care Committee is publishing its report tomorrow on fixing the food environment, and it will be making several recommendations to support everyone to eat more healthily.”
“May I start by saying that my thoughts are with the families and with the babies who have died? I would also like to say to my hon. Friend the Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh): I am sorry you had to go through this. It should not have happened, and I am angry.”
“We have yet another review. My daughter had a baby a few years ago. If I had not been with her, she would have lost that baby, because it was as if she was invisible. It was not until somebody else went into the room with her and said, “Enough”, that the people there were really willing to listen. These failures are systemic.”
“Q8. I thank the Prime Minister for his leadership. One of the concerns I hear most often from my constituents across Erdington, Kingstanding, Castle Vale and south Oscott is about the rapid growth of exempt accommodation.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Halesowen (Alex Ballinger) for securing this vital debate.”
“My hon. Friend makes a vital point. It needs to be joined up. The one thing I have learned from being an MP and seeing things work in my area is that when we work together, we get things done. Organised criminal networks are operating across multiple organisations and exploiting vulnerable individuals.”
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“Despite providing an outstanding service in 2024, John Taylor hospice was forced to reduce in-patient beds and cut the equivalent of 45 full-time roles—14% of its workforce. That means losing specialist nurses; it means losing the staff who hold the hands of the dying. That is the human cost of financial uncertainty. I welcome the Government’s recent funding of £100 million in capital for hospices and the £26 million per year for children’s palliative care, and I am glad Birmingham hospice has successfully accessed over £1.1 million from that funding, but we must be honest with ourselves: a one-off grant is simply a short-term sticking plaster. Palliative care cannot survive on a diet of gap-filling and bake sales. It cannot be sustained by charity alone.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for York Central (Rachael Maskell), who I love dearly, for leading this important debate. Palliative care is about dignity. I saw the value of this care every day during my 25 years as a nurse in the health service. I still see it now in representing my constituency, particularly through the experience of John Taylor hospice, which is now part of Birmingham hospice. John Taylor hospice is a beacon of compassion. My constituents tell me consistently how the hospice supported them and their loved ones through the most difficult moments of their lives. But like so many hospices across the country, it is a charity, heavily dependent on voluntary contributions, and when donations dry up, it is patients and families who pay the price.”
“We need a long-term financial strategy so that no family, in Birmingham Erdington or anywhere else in this country, suffers because services are cut back. We must also talk about access. Just as we have seen with GP appointments, accessing hospice care is becoming harder. If we cut beds and staff, we close the door on dignity. That brings me to the assisted dying Bill. I am concerned that it is not clear where the funding for the proposed new system will come from. If it is drawn from the same limited pot as palliative care, we risk starving the very services that provide the positive alternative: a death free from suffering. We need to close the door on that dilemma. We need hospices embedded not as a charitable extra, but as core partners in the NHS: funded for the long term and resourced to be there for everyone.”
“I am sure that every Member in the Chamber has a local hospice that they really appreciate and cannot do without. I thank my hon. Friend for giving his local hospice a shout-out. I am sure it will be appreciated. Palliative care is a core medical need and it requires core funding. Let us look at the numbers. It is estimated that in England and Wales, by 2040, demand for palliative care is expected to increase by between 25% and 47%. We are heading towards a cliff edge, yet we are funding these services as if they are an optional extra. We must ensure that hospices receive proper, recurring funding from the NHS and the Government. Staff must be retained and patients must have equitable access to care.”
“Through that initiative, officers have made substantial arrests for violence, theft and drug offences, seized dangerous weapons, and helped restore a sense of safety and order to the high street, showing that effective, sustained policing can make a real difference. I urge the Minister to continue working closely with police forces, local authorities and community partners to support proven initiatives such as Operation Fearless, which demonstrate that sustained, community-focused policing can turn around our high streets, making them safe, welcoming and vibrant places at the heart of our communities.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Derby South (Baggy Shanker) for securing this important debate. In my constituency, our local town centres are the beating heart of community life. Whether that is Erdington High Street, Slade Road, or Kingstanding shopping precinct on the Hawthorn Road, these hubs are vital to our local economy, culture and sense of belonging. When I was first elected, Erdington High Street recorded some of the highest levels of crime in Birmingham. Working closely with West Midlands police and our police and crime commissioner, we secured £880,000 from the proceeds of crime fund to launch Operation Fearless.”
“Failing to support children and their parents properly during those first 1,000 days is short-sighted, as it merely stores up problems for the future. However, if we get it right, we will create a generation that is healthier, better educated, ultimately wealthier and, most importantly, happier. I hope that this report and its recommendations can play a part in making that happen. I commend the report to the House.”
“We have called on the Government to develop a new plan to reverse the decline and to reinstate the target of 95% coverage in the NHS planning guidance. Finally, we need to ensure that the many agencies involved in supporting children at the start of life are all working towards the same goal and that it is easy for them to work together. Challenges in sharing data and the absence of a shared outcomes framework undermine accountability and strategic planning across local systems. We look forward to the Government’s plans to publish a shared outcomes framework in April this year, which they must use as a tool to drive better integration and joint working, including between the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education. Every child deserves the best start in life.”
“That is why we have supported the call of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for a children’s health workforce strategy to address the staffing needs holistically. Our report also addresses the serious decline in vaccination uptake. Vaccination is one of the most effective public health interventions, yet rates have fallen since 2012, with stark regional and ethnic disparities. It is indefensible that one child died of measles and 11 lost their lives to whooping cough in 2024. The Committee was also unimpressed by the Government’s unwillingness to revisit their vaccination strategy. The Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for West Lancashire (Ashley Dalton), told us the strategy was “stabilising” vaccination numbers, but we need a strategy capable of reversing current trends.”
“We have therefore called for a funded plan to recruit at least 1,000 additional health visitors. The wider workforce is also critical. Health visitors are not the only key professionals involved in supporting children and their parents during that first 1,000-day period—midwives, children’s nurses, general practitioners, early years practitioners, speech and language therapists, paediatricians and others all play incredibly important roles. The Government’s forthcoming NHS 10-year workforce plan must include specific, funded targets for increasing the number of professionals working in early years roles, underpinned by updated modelling of future demand. However, we cannot focus solely on the NHS, as many of these professionals work outside it.”
“We therefore welcome the Government’s expansion of the family hub network. However, we must be clear about the scale of the challenge those hubs are being asked to address—supporting a much broader range of children than the previous Sure Start system with fewer resources. That is why we have called on the Government to go further by ensuring access to family hubs in every community, underpinned by reliable, long-term funding. A single hub per county is simply insufficient and will leave families isolated. This must be matched by urgent action to restore the health visitor workforce, which is the backbone of early years care. Since 2015, numbers have fallen by 43%, leaving a shortfall of 5,000 posts. Caseloads remain dangerously high, sometimes exceeding 750 children.”
“On behalf of the Health and Social Care Committee, it is a pleasure to present to the House our fifth report of this Parliament, which is on the subject of the first 1,000 days of life. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for this statement. We chose this subject because this period of life is crucial for long-term health, educational outcomes and life chances, and because child health in this country is in an alarmingly poor state. As the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has stated, our children have some of the poorest health outcomes in Europe. That is why this report is so important, and why it is essential that we get this right. We know that investment in early intervention is highly cost-effective, yet we continue to see rising obesity, uneven vaccination coverage and persistent inequalities.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for all the hard work she put into this report. It could not have been achieved without everybody on the team working so diligently. Family hubs are an incredibly valuable resource, and they deal with all the issues that she raises. The problem is that we just have not got enough of them. One per county will not do. If we are really talking about early prevention, working with families and raising standards of care, we need more family hubs and more healthcare professionals and paediatricians within those services. We need to ensure that we are looking at this holistically, and not just as a preventive measure.”
“My hon. Friend raises a crucial point. These services are just not joined up. We have got young children who, from birth to two and a half years old, are not getting the health services they need. They then go into the education system and are falling behind. The strategy is just not appropriate, as has been highlighted. As the Committee highlighted, we need a new strategy, and it must be joined up. We need a strategy that takes into account not just health issues, but education and care issues. Through that, we will incorporate all the professionals who are needed for that wraparound service to be delivered.”
“The minimum number of visits in Scotland is 11, and I think it is nine in Northern Ireland—I apologise if I have got that figure wrong. England has the lowest number of visits in the United Kingdom, and it needs to be increased. I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that we need to have more of a focus on vaccine levels, and to get the new strategy in place. Without a strategy, we are not going to get what we need in this area as quickly as we need it to happen.”
“My hon. Friend is passionate about the administration of vaccinations, and he has asked quite a lot of questions. I absolutely agree with them all, but I will focus on his questions relating to health visitors and to having more of a strategy on vaccinations. I hope that everybody present has read the report, which states very clearly that health visitors have massive caseloads of over 750. That means they are not able to give children the time that they need. We have recommended that we employ 1,000 extra health visitors, but we have also noted in the report that health visitors have a statutory right to visit children five times until they get to the age of two and a half. We have said that we should increase that to a minimum of six visits, which is what already happens in Wales.”
“The effects are inescapable. There are hundreds of gambling-related suicides annually in Britain—between 2% and 9% of all suicides. That cannot continue. Today I am calling on the Government and regulators to come together to ensure that young people are protected and that our high streets do not continue to be wrecked by out-of-control gambling and betting shops. The challenge is not insurmountable. Support is available, stigma can be challenged and change is possible. Gambling must be seen as a public health issue. Children need to be educated at an early age through the public health lens in schools, and education needs to be provided to families and parents. I will continue fighting for our young people and for the safe, vibrant high streets that our communities so deserve.”
“More than 1.5 million people suffer from problem gambling, with many more at risk. The annual societal cost of gambling harms is up to a staggering £1.7 billion. We know that young people are more vulnerable to being harmed by gambling. That is due to natural brain development and unmediated exposure to gambling at an earlier age, through advertising, marketing and the presence of gambling-like elements in places parents might not expect, including loot-box mechanics—which I knew nothing about—in video games aimed at children. Some 69% of 11 to 17-year-olds recall seeing gambling advertising, which acts as a gateway into more serious gambling as they get older. The results are stark. The annual student gambling survey found that 49% of students gamble, with four in 10 reporting that gambling has affected their university experience.”
“I will never, ever let one go unchallenged, because as a former nurse I know all too well the terrible toll gambling can take on people’s mental health and wellbeing, and sometimes it takes their lives. It pushes families into debt and can lead to addiction, which isolates people from their communities. It is also known to cause antisocial behaviour and to have knock-on effects that harm the entire area. Birmingham Erdington is a young constituency with low educational outcomes, high unemployment and many houses in multiple occupation, so I am particularly concerned about the effects of gambling. The gambling industry spent £2 billion on advertising and marketing in 2024. That was not by chance; it deliberately targets some of the most vulnerable people in our society.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Sittingbourne and Sheppey (Kevin McKenna) for securing this important debate. Gambling is increasingly accessible to children and young people, whether through online platforms, advertising or other media. There are serious concerns about the long-term consequences this will have on the health, wellbeing and development of children and young people across the country. I am particularly concerned about the betting shops on our high street. On the high street in my constituency there are eight gambling establishments—on one street. Since I became an MP, I have objected to every planning application for a betting shop on our high street. Sadly, I have not won a single decision.”
“Well, okay; I apologise. But the Minister is here today and he has given us the revised policy, with which I am delighted. I am so pleased that the Minister and the Government have decided not to make it a mandatory scheme. I have had an overwhelming number of complaints in my constituency. Going forward, areas like mine have a very high level of digital exclusion. Can the Minister assure me that the Government will ensure that they bring constituents and residents along with them in this consultation phase, so that people do not feel they have been left behind and then start to object because they feel it will go from voluntary back to mandatory?”
“I welcome this statement and this clarity. The findings are damning. I was born and bred in Birmingham and I am a local MP, and I know that in my community there is very little trust in the police. Does the Secretary of State agree that, in an increasingly political world, it is important that in future all chief constables have the skills to work in this new world and that they are able to engage with all communities?”
“As it stands, two in five people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed quite late—they will see their doctor but not get a diagnosis—and I hope that the Rare Cancers Bill and the national cancer plan will help to drive greater investment in innovation and research. I feel confident that we can deliver bigger breakthroughs and better outcomes across these six cancers. Progress is within our reach. Now it is time to act for all who are and will be affected.”
“Pauline was a very vibrant woman who was looking forward to getting married. Later that year, she felt unwell. She had been to the doctor numerous times and no connection was made to cancer. She was busy planning her wedding, but because of her weight loss and continued generalised pain, she went back to the doctor. At that point, they told her that she had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and had eight weeks to live. She lived for six weeks, and then she died. What gives me hope is the transformative role that research can play in driving early diagnosis, such as the new breath test being developed by researchers at Imperial College.”
“Tragically, this means that more than 70% of patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage and face the heartbreaking news that it is too late. Targeted screening plays a vital role in accelerating early detection and faster diagnosis, as we see through the successes in the NHS lung cancer screening programme. In addition to targeted screening, we want the Government to roll out the nationwide multi-cancer case-finding programme to proactively identify people at high risk of developing cancer. I know personally just how heartbreaking less survivable cancers such as pancreatic cancer can be and the difference that early detection will make. Like many of my colleagues here today, I have seen at first hand the impact of these deadly cancers on individuals, families and loved ones. I lost my best friend in 2021.”
“I begin by thanking the hon. Member for Wokingham (Clive Jones) for securing this debate and for his tireless work campaigning for better outcomes for all affected by the least survivable cancers. For too long, these cancers have been neglected and left behind. Patients and their loved ones have had to bear the devastating costs alone. As chair of the all-party group on less survivable cancers, I urge the Government to make this a reality by prioritising in their plan the improvement of early diagnosis for these six cancers—brain, lung, oesophagus, pancreas, stomach and liver—which remain some of the toughest to diagnose. For decades, GPs have struggled to identify the vague symptoms linked with these cancers without the necessary diagnostic tools and tech to support early diagnosis.”
“I have always been a massive advocate for all medical and nursing staff, and I absolutely understand what a difficult job our healthcare workers do, but given that flu is running rampant across the country and most NHS staff—including resident doctors, but also nurses and other staff—are suffering at this moment, will the Secretary of State join me in urging the leadership of the BMA and the doctors to see sense and put patients first at this difficult time?”
“A constituent of mine with severe health needs recently told me that she gained employment only after she was able to learn to drive and then secure a car through the Motability scheme. Can the Minister set out what further steps the Department is taking to ensure that disabled people with health needs receive the support they need to gain access to work and to take part fully in the things they enjoy?”
“Jury trials allow ordinary citizens to participate in the justice system—which many groups simply do not trust—ensuring community representation and transparency. Can the Minister explain how citizen involvement can be continued, so that we do not see additional miscarriages of justice as a result of influence from personal bias or external pressures that can potentially lead to unfair outcomes?”
“As someone who has had the pleasure of working with the chief constable, I can say that he is a very considered man. Having said that, as an MP who represents the adjoining constituency, I was given absolutely no information about what was going on. Can the Minister assure the House that lessons will be learned and the appropriate actions will be taken to ensure that this does not happen again?”
“This Labour Government’s mission is to renew our economy and our communities; I am pleased to see that promise being kept, and will continue holding the Government to account and fighting for a better future for everyone in Erdington, Kingstanding, Castle Vale and south Oscott. I support this Budget wholeheartedly.”
“They are less likely to work as an adult and earn around 25% less by the age of 30 than their peers, making us all poorer in the long run. Wages have risen more in the first year of this Government than in the first decade under the Conservatives, whose austerity measures put so many into the poverty trap. When coupled with freezing train fares and prescription charges, this will lower living costs and make everyday life better for so many. Another consistent area of concern for my constituents is energy bills. Taking levies off energy bills will save families £150 on average next year, and that figure rises to £300 for many of the most vulnerable households. This is exactly the kind of direct action that people have been crying out for.”
“I welcome last week’s Budget, which finally, after 14 years of Tory neglect, puts the people of Birmingham Erdington first. On our NHS, I was delighted to hear that the Chancellor announced further efforts to shorten NHS waiting lists, including an upgrade to Stockland Green primary care centre in Birmingham Erdington. Bringing care back into the community was always a priority for me when I worked in the NHS, and I am thrilled to see a Labour Government finally deliver it. In addition, more than 6,000 children in Birmingham Erdington will now receive access to the crucial funds they need to thrive through the lifting of the two-child benefit cap. Growing up in poverty seriously harms a child’s life chances.”
“I agree with the Government that we desperately need to tackle illegal migration. I hear that on the doorsteps, and I see it in my mail each week in Birmingham Erdington. How quickly after the changes come into force will the Government ensure that safe and legal routes are in place? That will be key to stopping the boats. How will the Government deal with those who claim to be minors but are clearly not? That is another massive issue.”
“Will the Minister outline what steps she is taking to ensure that equality and opportunity are at the heart of this Government’s five missions?”
“It is defined by persistent difficulty in discarding or parting with possessions, regardless of value, leading to cluttered living spaces and significant distress or impairment in daily life.”
“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead this debate on a subject that, to the best of my knowledge, has never been discussed on the Floor of the House before. I often speak of my 25 years as an NHS nurse because that experience has fundamentally shaped my understanding of the hidden struggles within our communities, and it is from that perspective that I raise the urgent and often misunderstood issue of hoarding disorder. Many years ago, as a district nurse serving the Kingstanding community—the same community that I am now proud to represent in Parliament—I entered homes where extreme clutter was not an anomaly but a visible sign of a deep, unaddressed need. Today, we have a name for it. In 2018, hoarding disorder was formally recognised in Britain as a distinct mental health condition.”
“My hon. Friend raises a valuable point. I will come on to that later in my speech, but I absolutely agree that hoarding disrupts people’s lives.”
“The hon. Member is right, but this is not just about a solution. A number of people in our society are living with a mental health condition, and it needs to be treated. At the moment, there are no strategies in place, but I will answer his question as I go on. I thank him for his contribution.”
“A national framework would provide clarity, consistency and compassion by balancing risk management with mental health support and establishing clear pathways for specialist help. I was proud that the Labour manifesto committed to recruiting 8,500 extra mental health staff, and to delivering a transformative 10-year plan for mental health. It is essential that those welcome initiatives explicitly include and address hoarding disorder.”
“Lack of proper support and compassion leads to further trauma, distress and a greater risk of re-accumulation. National guidelines would provide clarity on what constitutes appropriate and effective practice, a consistent framework for agencies across the UK, a balance between addressing practical risks and meeting underlying mental health needs, and clear routes for advice, support and specialist referral. That brings me to my central ask of Ministers. We need a co-ordinated national strategy for hoarding disorder. Although the Care Act 2014 provides a foundation by recognising vulnerability, the absence of specific national guidelines leads to a postcode lottery of care, and to inconsistent and often ineffective intervention.”
“In the absence of national guidelines, agencies are forced to rely on outdated legislation, such as the Public Health Act 1936, which refers to “filthy or verminous premises”. Under these powers, a person can be forced to clear their property, even if they own it. If they cannot afford clearance, it is undertaken on their behalf and charged to the property. This approach is deeply flawed. It treats hoarding purely as a practical or environmental issue, rather than recognising that these are vulnerable human beings in need of help. Failing to recognise hoarding as a mental health condition risks traumatising individuals, worsening hoarding behaviours and, in the most extreme cases, contributing to suicidal thoughts. The human impact should not be understated.”
“As a society, we have a responsibility to support those living with hoarding disorder. In Birmingham, the number of people needing support has risen exponentially since the covid pandemic, and the story is the same across the country, as Members have highlighted. The seriousness and scale of this issue demands a co-ordinated national response, led by Government. We need a national strategy to bring consistency, reduce risk and improve lives. The current legal framework is simply not fit for purpose. The Care Act 2014 recognises that people who hoard may be considered vulnerable or entitled to advocacy. However, there are no national guidelines for the agencies that encounter hoarding in their work. Without guidance, responses to hoarding will remain inconsistent and ineffective.”
“Mental health services and treatments that address hoarding specifically remain scarce and underfunded. Many people affected feel reluctant to seek help because of stigma, lack of awareness, or fear of eviction or other legal consequences. Closing this support gap is not optional; it is essential. The final challenge concerns the legal and housing implications. Housing providers can be faced with challenging legal situations in which tenants’ hoarding behaviours lead to breaches of tenancy agreements or safety policies. Unfortunately, these cases are too often handled through eviction or legal action, rather than support being provided, so that the root causes of the problem can be addressed. We need policies that balance legal responsibilities with compassionate mental health support.”
“The hazardous living conditions that it creates, from severe fire risks and blocked escape routes to unsanitary and unsafe housing, pose a direct danger not only to the individual, but to their neighbours and the brave professionals, firefighters, social workers and others who are called in to intervene. The second challenge has to do with public awareness and education. We cannot combat what we do not understand. We urgently need to educate our communities, and our frontline professionals working in social care, housing, health and the emergency services, to recognise hoarding as a mental health issue, so that we can reduce stigma and promote more compassionate and effective intervention. The third challenge has to do with mental health and support gaps.”
“On top of that, hoarding is a long-term condition with few effective treatment options, meaning that behaviours are often left unresolved. My professional experience showed me the heartbreaking reality of individuals drowning in clutter, their mental health deteriorating and their relationships broken. Dealing with hoarding can be very time-consuming and expensive. Providing support falls disproportionately to ill-equipped local authorities and overstretched third-sector organisations, such as Birmingham’s Clouds End CIC, led by the inspirational Heather Matuozzo. The challenges can be broken down into four key areas. The first area is public health and safety. Hoarding does not just hurt individuals, but has knock-on effects on the entire community.”
“Again, my hon. Friend raises a valuable point. The issue of financing is vital, but I will discuss that more as I go on. Hoarding disorder is a widespread condition affecting between 2% and 5% of the population, which equates to approximately 1.2 million to 3 million people in Britain. Let me be absolutely clear: hoarding is not a lifestyle choice, or a matter of laziness. It is a complex mental health condition, deeply rooted in emotional distress and underlying trauma, often stemming from adverse childhood experiences. For hoarders, it can result in unsafe living conditions, social isolation and a diminished ability to manage day-to-day responsibilities. If left untreated, it has a huge cost for families, the NHS, housing providers and emergency services.”
“In my nursing career, we were taught that prevention is always better than cure. That holds true for hoarding. Early intervention is more humane and more cost-effective than crisis response. This issue has remained in the shadows for too long. We have a duty to bring it into the light, to replace judgment with understanding, and to offer a hand up to the millions of our citizens who live with this devastating condition. I look forward to hearing in the Minister’s response how the Government intend to lead this vital change.”
“My hon. Friend makes an absolutely brilliant point. Yes, that should be part of the holistic model, but there is no model in place at the moment. It is like the wild, wild west—everybody is just doing as they see fit. That is why I secured this debate. I urge the Government to prioritise the development of national guidelines, in order to equip all frontline workers with the tools to identify and address hoarding compassionately and effectively; to ensure a truly integrated, multi-agency approach that brings together mental health services, social care, housing and emergency responders; and to invest in research and data collection, so we can properly understand the scale, causes and economic impact of hoarding in the UK, and ensure that our policies are evidence-based and our resources are allocated wisely.”
“Since we launched the inquiry, the Government have announced a rapid national investigation into maternity and neonatal services, which is welcome. Addressing the racial disparities in maternal outcomes must be one of the core aims of the investigation, and I hope to see it as a prominent feature in the investigation’s work.”