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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“Many of my constituents in Birmingham Erdington are worried about the deteriorating quality of social housing. What work is being done to ensure that housing stock is maintained to the highest standards, so that tenants can live in the safe, high-quality housing that they deserve?”
“Remember: this is all happening in the context of an NHS run into the ground by 14 years of Tory austerity, and the Government have simply not had the time to rectify it. It is not a fair choice as a result. I will therefore be voting against the Bill and will continue to push for improvements in palliative and hospice care. That is the only way to ensure that no one from any community is left behind.”
“It would take an enormous amount of resources to make this system robust enough to entrust the lives of our loved ones to it. The Bill allows doctors to propose assisted dying to patients. Some of the worst Canadian abuses originated that way. For example, a 51-year-old Canadian cancer patient was notoriously offered death instead of surgery. Even though our proposed system has its differences, this is still a risk that I am not willing to take. The current law presents us with a clear boundary that can never be crossed. It avoids all slippery slopes, with no room for error. Assisted suicide legislation would replace that with an arbitrary boundary that is rife for misunderstanding, error and, at worse, abuse.”
“It would place enormous pressure on disabled, elderly and poor people to opt to end their lives so as not to be a burden on their loved ones. The Bill would also do nothing concrete to uplift the hospice and palliative care sectors. All that we have had are promises. According to the Bill, the Secretary of State must ensure that assisted suicide is available. There is no accompanying duty to provide palliative or hospice care to everyone who needs it, leaving those essential services heavily dependent on donations and charity. That is simply unacceptable. The exercise of coercion or pressure, which are prohibited by the Bill, is difficult—perhaps even impossible—to detect. Families and personal circumstances are complicated.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) on the way she has conducted this debate. I worked in the NHS as a district nurse for 25 years, working with many terminally ill people. I saw the whole range of human emotion in that time, from joy to grief—everything imaginable. I am also a mum, a daughter, a sister, a wife and a grandmother. I know how crushing it can be when someone we love is terribly ill and how helpless that can make families feel. It is completely understandable that some would want to feel that they are regaining some control over their circumstances by pursuing an assisted death, but this Bill is not the answer. I simply do not trust that it can be implemented ethically or safely. There are too many blind spots, and it is being rushed through too quickly and with too little scrutiny.”
“Can my hon. Friend confirm whether Church-owned hospices will work with independent hospices and other organisations to mitigate the potential impact of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, and to issue a statement from across the sector?”
“T3. Many of my constituents are worried that online GP appointments are too often used as a substitute for face-to-face consultation, which risks adding pressures to NHS waiting lists further down the line. Will the Secretary of State reassure my constituents that they will receive timely, in-person GP access and the quality of care that they deserve?”
“Today we reject the chaos and cuts of the past. This Budget restores integrity, fairness and hope, offering a path that allows us to invest in people, protect families and rebuild communities for a stronger Britain. I am proud to support a Budget that works for Erdington, Kingstanding, Castle Vale and South Oscott and for every community that deserves better.”
“As a nurse of 25 years, I am deeply heartened by the commitment to our NHS. Years of underfunding have left it struggling, and the Budget’s £25.6 billion investment is a lifeline, promising timely, quality care. That funding will help to reduce the painful waiting lists that have left many in my constituency suffering as they wait months, if not years, for essential care. Community safety is also a priority. Traders on Erdington High Street have spoken about the rise in low-value shoplifting. I am grateful that the Government have pledged to scrap immunity for such crimes, restoring accountability and safety. Education is the foundation of a fairer society. The Budget’s investment in the core schools budget and free breakfast clubs is exactly what our schools need in order to support young people and prepare them for success.”
“This Budget truly marks an historic shift, with real steps to rebuild Britain for lasting change. After 14 years of Conservative mismanagement this Budget brings hope, with a commitment to rebuild and restore fairness for working families, essential workers and vulnerable communities. I am especially pleased that the Budget has put working people at the forefront by increasing the national living wage and ensuring that they will not face higher taxes in their payslips. That will benefit thousands of working families in Erdington who have been hit hardest by rising costs, stagnant wages and insecure work. The food banks at Six Ways church and Spitfire Support Services are heartbreaking reminders of the last Government’s legacy, but now hard-working people are finally getting the fair pay they deserve.”
“Let us continue to build a future where every story is told and every contribution is recognised. Let us continue to inspire.”
“We celebrate Black History Month to remember. We celebrate Black History Month to honour. We celebrate Black History Month to educate. I urge all Members to continue to challenge the narratives that divide us, to ensure that when we tell the story of Britain, we tell it in full, acknowledging the contributions, sacrifices and legacies of black people who have shaped our country’s past and present, and who will shape its future. As we move forward, let us remind ourselves that it is not just about breaking barriers; it is about ensuring that those barriers are never rebuilt, and creating opportunities for others to follow. Let us be inspired by the courage and determination of those who came before us, and let us commit to ensuring that we are not the last but the first of many. Let us continue to reclaim our narratives.”
“It is in this spirit that I stand here today: to remind us all of the need to highlight those who have been overlooked, to rewrite the history books, and to empower future generations with the knowledge that they, too, can make history. Black history is British history, which means that it is everyone’s history. The 2024 general election was a landmark moment, because we have the most diverse Parliament in British history—90 ethnic minority MPs were elected, which is a milestone in representation. Britain’s diversity of voices is its strength, but while we celebrate this achievement, we must not stop making progress. The journey towards equality is far from finished. Our responsibility is to promote an environment in which black history is not confined to one month of the year, but recognised and celebrated every single day.”
“I would not be standing here as a Member of Parliament were it not for the black leaders, mentors and role models who have inspired me. One such figure is the incredible Mary Seacole, a pioneering nurse and a woman of extraordinary resilience, who was the inspiration behind my own decision to become a nurse—a profession to which I dedicated 25 years of my life. Her courage, her commitment to caring for soldiers in the Crimean war, and her unwavering determination to serve when society sought to marginalise her because of the colour of her skin, showed me that one individual’s actions can, and do, change the course of history. Mary Seacole was denied a place in British history for far too long, but as we reclaim our narrative we recognise her not just as a footnote, but as a giant in the history of healthcare.”
“Among them were some extraordinary figures, including Birmingham City Council’s first black deputy leader, Councillor Sharon Thompson, the Deputy Mayor of the West Midlands; the first black MP to represent her constituency, my hon. Friend the Member for Coventry North West (Taiwo Owatemi), who was absolutely brilliant; and the first black woman to chair the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi). All those people demonstrate the power of reclaiming narratives through their leadership. This is not just about the victories of the present; we must lay the foundations for future progress. For me, the theme of reclaiming narratives is deeply personal.”
“As a proud child of the Windrush generation, I stand here with immense pride and gratitude for the black history that has shaped my own journey and the journey of countless others. It is essential that we acknowledge the challenges that we continue to face, but more importantly, we must celebrate the progress that we have made and the potential that lies ahead. Last week I had the privilege of hosting a Black History Month event in my constituency of Birmingham Erdington, and I was proud to stand alongside a panel of black trailblazers who have broken barriers, opened doors and created lasting legacies for others.”
“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I start by thanking everyone who has spoken in the debate so far. It is an honour to speak today in recognition of Black History Month, a time to reflect on the immense contributions of the black community across the United Kingdom and around the world. This year’s theme, “Reclaiming Narratives,” could truly not be more fitting. We are at a turning point in our country’s history, where the stories that we tell can shape the future for generations to come. My parents, like many others, helped to shape the city I was born in through their hard work and determination. They laid the foundations for me to become Birmingham’s first black Member of Parliament.”
“More than half of people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis, and seven in 10 never even receive treatment. Every two minutes in the UK, someone is diagnosed with cancer, but for those diagnosed with the least survivable cancer, time has too often already run out. I am really proud of the Labour Government’s commitment to our NHS, but will the Prime Minister now commit to reviewing the long-term cancer strategy so that we can improve diagnosis and treatment rates in this country?”
“Hospices provide a crucial role across the UK in supporting people at the end of their lives and alleviating the pressure on our NHS. However, because of the cost of living crisis, costs are rising and fundraising is falling. It is simply not fair that access to hospice care is a postcode lottery in our country and it is high time that the funding model was changed. So will the Leader of the House please grant time to debate this crucial issue?”
“In any case, it is always an eyesore that lets our area down and damages our sense of community. In 2022-23, Birmingham city council issued over 270 fixed penalty notices and prosecuted 14 individuals and businesses for fly-tipping, with punishments ranging from fines to community orders. But in a city of over 1 million people that is just not enough.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan) for securing this important debate. As for many colleagues, fly-tipping has been one of the top issues in my mailbag since I became an MP. Constituents contact me most days worried about our local environment, public safety and the pride they want to have in their community. It is easy to talk about fly-tipping as though it is just about rubbish—and it is—but it is a serious blight on our constituents’ lives and health. It can be a serious hazard, such as when it is blocking an emergency exit; in one case I dealt with for a single mother with three children, they had to climb over a fence, a metal barrel and a mattress to get to their home in an emergency. It is a serious public health issue, with massive piles of rubbish attracting rats to my constituents’ property.”
“I thank the hon. Member. On this occasion, because I was at the top of a local council and I know how expensive it is, I feel that the responsibility should be on the private owner to secure their property and to ensure that it is kept free of fly-tipping. If it is not free of fly-tipping, I, Paulette Hamilton, because I worked on a local council, believe that they should work with the local council to try to remove it, but the cost cannot be borne by the council because they have not got the money. I will carry on—”
“It is vital that we crack down on antisocial behaviour and violent crime in our communities so that everyone can feel safe, and I am delighted that the King’s Speech pledges to create new respect orders, to halve serious violence in the next decade, and to take strong action to tackle violence against women and girls and knife crime. When I stood here nine months ago, I said: “We need to stop the decline and start fighting for a better future.”—[ Official Report , 15 November 2023; Vol. 740, c. 742 Well, that fight starts now.”
“As a district nurse and an independent lay manager—I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests—I know how mental health services have been decimated, and how badly our communities are suffering in silence when it comes to their mental health. We cannot prevent crime without talking about mental health and improving community services, and I was glad to see provisions to modernise the Mental Health Act and make it fit for the future. This King’s Speech shows Labour’s commitment to change: a commitment to higher growth and cheaper bills, a commitment to put the NHS back on its feet, and, crucially for my constituency, a commitment to create safer streets.”
“Residents have made it very clear that they are frightened to go into the high street. I hear the same story time and again: our high street has become unrecognisable. Where we used to have thriving small businesses we now have empty shop fronts, drug dealing and violence, so we have our work cut out. Labour has inherited chaos in community policing. Huge issues in our criminal justice system mean that not only is crime not being prevented, but it is not being punished either. That is why I welcome the new neighbourhood police guarantee. When we speak about crime and antisocial behaviour, we must also talk about community mental health.”
“We have a plan to save the NHS; nationalise the railways; reform benefits; recruit more teachers; properly fund councils; invest in green energy; clean up our rivers; provide children with breakfast in school every day; prioritise women’s health; reduce the gender pay gap; create a national care service; and bring transparency and accountability back to public office. It finally feels like the adults have entered the room, but I am under no illusion: the hard work is just beginning. Nine months ago, I stood in this Chamber, albeit on the Opposition Benches, to respond to the King’s Speech in despair at the levels of crime and antisocial behaviour impacting our communities in the Erdington constituency. My constituency has the highest rate of knife crime in the west midlands. People contact me almost daily about Erdington high street.”
“As this is my first time being returned to Parliament, I would like sincerely to thank all the House staff for making the process so smooth for me and all our new colleagues. I am delighted to say that this King’s Speech has filled me with hope. We have suffered over a decade of Tory neglect, mismanagement and chaos. We have endured five Prime Ministers, seven Chancellors, 10 Education Secretaries, 12 Culture Secretaries and 16 Housing Ministers. Finally, we have a Labour Government with a plan to put politics back into the service of working people.”
“Today is National Numeracy Day. In my constituency, which is one of the poorest, all seven wards fall into the lowest numeracy ranking in the UK. What is the Minister doing to ensure that people in constituencies like mine are not locked out of jobs in STEM by a skills gap that does not recognise the disadvantages they face?”
“The Public Accounts Committee has warned that “deterrence can only be effective if our Armed Forces are credible.” However, that has been “undermined” by recruitment issues, with more people leaving the forces than being recruited. What message does the Secretary of State think that sends to our NATO allies?”
“We must not forget that civilians and their children are the innocent victims of this war. The UN says that 800,000 people have been forced to flee Rafah since 6 May. In Gaza, there is clearly nowhere left that is safe, so will the Minister explain what he thinks the consequences should be for any all-out attack on Rafah and any forced displacement of civilians?”
“It is, of course, worse for our children, who are breathing in toxic air. That is why I am glad that our new West Midlands Mayor has pledged to bring buses back under public ownership, and that Labour has pledged to deliver the biggest overhaul to our railways in a generation.”
“Since Labour was last in government, there has been a 47% decrease in weekly bus services across the west midlands, and a 24% decrease in my constituency. Public transport is an important investment in local growth for individuals and businesses, but we are not funding it well enough. If it were not for public transport, my constituents could not access their jobs. Nor have we seen the investment we need in active travel. So many people cannot afford to get around my constituency by car. The west midlands has some of the worst air quality in the country. Some of the most populated areas exceed the UK legal limit for toxic nitrogen dioxide, and 80% of that is caused by road transport. Air pollution contributes to more than 43,000 deaths in the UK every year, and more than 2,000 in the west midlands.”
“It is clear that a great utility for Birmingham is changing its practices and signalling a disregard for basic human decency.” That is not a unique story. I am sure that colleagues across the room have heard similar things from their constituents. If my constituents want to travel to the other side of the constituency, they can expect to wait for two or three buses, sometimes with long delays at bus stops. One of my constituents had to wait an hour and a half for a bus on a match day, and she says that she often has to wait an hour on a normal day. It is not too much to ask that people in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale and across the UK should be able to travel to work, school or college on a bus and expect to be there on time. However, that is far from the reality.”
“I thank the hon. Member for Redditch (Rachel Maclean) for securing this important debate. My constituency is three miles from the city centre of Birmingham, or about a 10-minute train journey. Trains are vital to our communities, but with the threats of closing ticket offices and the difficulties that people face in booking online, some of my constituents tell me that they feel locked out of purchasing tickets. One constituent told me: “We have fine officers on trains rather than ticket officers. What this results in is a situation where people who unable to buy a ticket at their station—be that due to faults in ticket machines or offices being unstaffed—are being fined rather than being offered the chance to buy a ticket on the train itself.”
“We have all seen images of people queuing around the block for an appointment at their GP surgery, and in my local integrated care board, there has been a decline in general practice nurses since June 2020. It currently takes 12 months to train nurses wishing to move into general practice. Will the Minister tell me and my constituents in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale what she is doing to ensure that the retention of experienced nurses and the training of new nurses does not add to the pressure that GPs are already facing?”
“My constituent contacted me again yesterday. His father and uncles were all infected with contaminated blood, and all but two of the uncles have now died. He said to me: “I had to grow up in care due to my father being too ill to look after me. We have been fighting for many, many years for justice.” He thinks that the Government are dragging their feet on compensating victims. He is right, isn’t he?”
“Rooms should be warm, and directors of hospices should be thinking about how they can support as many people as possible, not when they will have to switch off the heating or turn someone away. Hospices across the UK provide care and support to 300,000 people every year. They are absolutely vital to our health and social care system, but unfortunately, they are facing serious financial challenges. It has now become a postcode lottery for many of our constituents.”
“I thank the hon. Members for Hastings and Rye (Sally-Ann Hart) and for Darlington (Peter Gibson) for securing an excellent and important debate. We think of hospices as places where people go to die, but they are not; they are places where people go to live comfortably, supported and cared for while they are ill, until that moment of death and—for many of the families—beyond. I might not be the only MP in the Chamber for whom this debate has made me remember my mortality, but I think we would all agree that when we come to that time, we want to be looked after by kind, supportive staff who can give us the care and attention we need. Those staff should be able to look after patients and their families without worrying about how they will feed their own children.”
“When we speak about hospices, we rarely mention the vital role that they play in providing respite care and support to the family of someone who is ill.”
“The hospice is dedicated to ensuring that outstanding care at the end of life is available to all, but it has recently been in the difficult position of having to make essential staff redundant to maintain financial security. That is not just happening in Birmingham; nationally, Hospice UK estimates that 100,000 people in the UK who could benefit from palliative care die without receiving it each year. Hospices play a huge role in alleviating pressure on our NHS, and they do not have the ability to reset their budgets on 1 April each year, as the NHS does. Instead, their deficits continue and the valuable care that they provide to local communities such as mine is at risk of being lost. I have worked in the health service all my adult life.”
“Over the past few years, the hospice has seen a significant increase in costs, including the price of energy, food and vital medicines, and a shortfall in funding for staff pay awards. At the same time, fundraising has declined across the hospice sector with the cost of living crisis hitting poorer areas like mine the hardest. Birmingham Hospice is currently losing £200,000 a month. With inflationary costs and falling voluntary income, the only option to keep the hospice going is to reduce the services it provides. A reduced service will increase inequality across our city of Birmingham and the country. Sadly, more people will die in hospital or A&E as a result, when they could have had outstanding care at the hospice or at home with the support of the community team.”
“I absolutely agree with what my hon. Friend says. We absolutely need those models. As I go through my speech, I will be agreeing with what she has just said. John Taylor Hospice in my constituency, which is run by Birmingham Hospice, does unbelievably important work to support my constituents and their families in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale. The staff work day and night to make sure people are cared for while they are ill, and I could not be prouder to support them in this Chamber today. I must add that I have worked there in the past. Birmingham Hospice cares for almost 1,000 local people with a life-limiting illness every day. Last year, it cost more than £16 million to run its services, some 40% of which needs to be recovered through fundraising income.”
“Throughout the 14 years of this Tory Government, I have seen doctors striking, nurses striking, technicians striking, people queuing around the block for a GP appointment, people pulling out their own teeth, the highest waiting times in history, and complete disdain for the service that quite literally serves us from birth to death. We must have a national care service and we must properly invest in our NHS. It is no longer acceptable for hospices to rely on charitable donations to try to survive. Now more than ever, our hospices and our NHS need a Labour Government.”
“I absolutely agree with your sentiments and statement. As was said earlier, we need to move away from looking at individuals to look at population health and how we will support the local community. I will move on swiftly so that I can finish. My constituency is the fifth poorest in the UK, and our communities are in some of the UK’s so-called left behind neighbourhoods. For places like mine, respite care is so important to ensure that carers get the break and support they need to keep them doing the incredible work that they do. I am a nurse, and it breaks my heart that the NHS is in the worst state it has ever been in.”
“As a nurse, it breaks my heart to say that the NHS has never been in a worse state. The last Labour Government delivered the shortest waiting times and the highest level of patient satisfaction in history, because we invested properly in our NHS. It is high time that we did so again.”
“Over the past decade, dental charges have increased by 45%, and last year YouGov found that nearly a quarter of respondents to its survey in England about dentistry delayed or went without dental treatment because they just could not afford it. There are hidden costs in cancer care, such as increasing energy bills and the cost of frequent travel to and from hospital, and the burden of rising dental costs is too great for people with cancer. Although I think that it is a great idea to introduce free dental treatment for all cancer patients, we need to think bigger. We must reform the NHS and make it fit for the future. There are two huge problems facing our health service—a crisis in both cancer care and NHS dentistry—with waiting lists for both at record highs.”
“Some 80% of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at stages 3 and 4. People with cancer need fast and effective dental services in a system that recognises the difficulties they will face during their treatment. Dentists also play a huge part in detecting, diagnosing and managing oral cancers, which kill more than 3,000 people a year in the UK. Unlike the less survivable cancers, oral cancers have a survival rate of 90% when diagnosed early, as the hon. Member for Tiverton and Honiton (Richard Foord) said, so it is crucial that dentistry can be accessed quickly and treatment is free for those people. Both those issues come down to one main problem: money.”
“I now have an abscess in my jaw. Please help me”. That case is one of many. The response I received from NHS England advised my constituents to call 111 for any urgent care services and said that it is “working to address the challenges facing the service right now”. The challenges in our dental system are exacerbated for people in our communities living with cancer. The Less Survivable Cancers Taskforce states that 90,000 people in the UK are diagnosed with one of the less survivable cancers every year, which is an average of nearly 250 every day. People with less survivable cancers are twice as likely as people with a more survivable cancer not to be diagnosed until symptoms are severe enough for them to go to hospital. I personally know that that is far too long.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stretford and Urmston (Andrew Western) for securing this important debate. As someone who has lost family members and friends to cancer, I frequently come to this place to try to shine a light on the huge problems in our health service, which disproportionately impact people with cancer and their families. Dentistry is no exception. Like many colleagues, I have been contacted by constituents, in Erdington, Kingstanding and Castle Vale, because they are unable to find an NHS dentist. There are more than 100,000 people living in my constituency, but only seven dental surgeries, and at least three of those are not accepting any new adult patients. A constituent without a dentist contacted me and said: “I am desperate for an NHS dental repair.”
“At the last census, just over 17,000 veterans were living in Birmingham, 35% of whom were over the age of 80. Despite pledges to end veteran homelessness, Government figures show that it rose last year by 14%, and up to 180 veteran households across the UK are made newly homeless each month. Can the Minister tell me what he is doing to ensure that veterans in Birmingham and across the UK, who made enormous sacrifices for our safety and security, do not end up homeless?”