Jen Craft
MP for Thurrock · Labour · United Kingdom
“On a visit to Basildon hospital last week, I was told by staff how dealing with the unprecedented demand due to the heatwave was compounded by working in a building that is fundamentally unfit to cope with extreme heat, not least with A&E working above capacity, with absolutely no windows.”
“My local hospital, Basildon university hospital, is in the 40th worst trust for delivering hospital care. Does my hon. Friend agree that not having the right community equipment, such as community disability aids and home adaptations, can quite often be a leading cause of delayed discharge?”
“Many colleagues have spoken about the importance of sports, activity and physical health, and how it is not just a nice to have or an add-on, but something that is absolutely vital if we are to deliver our goals, particularly on creating a healthier ageing population and a healthier population in general.”
“I very much welcome the report and Baroness Amos’s work to highlight the failings across our maternity system. It is pure and utter medical misogyny that has led us here. The value that we place on the lives and experiences of women has been brought to the fore, and it is very, very low.”
“If someone’s kid decides that they are going to start legging it towards the massive ring road that goes around the side of the rugby field, we are all running after them. No one is left out, and parents do not need to arrange 5 billion different support workers just so that their kid can take part.”
“In my constituency there are some fantastic groups that look to address that shortfall, such as JTD Arts and the excellent Ace network. Disability sport for young people is very important, and I believe that we should try to address the lack of accessibility on a national level.”
The complete record
Every one of 498 lines we hold for Jen Craft, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 10 of 10.
“I beg to move, That this House has considered the statutory framework for home-to-school transport for children with SEND. It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark. I am delighted to have secured this debate on 3 December, which is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I am pleased to see a number of hon. Members present to speak, which truly reflects the importance of the issue. Disabled children enter the education system with the odds stacked against them. The damage and chaos wrought by 14 years of underfunding and understaffing have left a broken special educational needs and disabilities system. Parents have to fight for the entitlements of their child at every step of the way, simply to ensure that they are given the same life chances as other children.”
“It disrupts their education, places stress and anxiety on them and their families, reduces their independence, and asks their parents to carry financial costs. I heard from one mother whose 18-year-old daughter attends a school offering specialist provision. This year, just 24 hours before her daughter was due to start her college course, she was told she would be charged a contribution for her daughter’s transport to school. She spoke of the anxiety inflicted on her daughter through days of uncertainty. Despite that stressful experience, that mother considers herself among the lucky ones. Her vulnerable daughter can continue to get to school safely every day, when others who are asked to contribute to transport costs may not.”
“My hon. Friend makes a good point. The long-term goal must be better inclusion for disabled children in mainstream education—I would have loved to send my child to the outstanding school up the road, but it did not really want us. This is not a choice that parents want to make, and inclusion is the ultimate, long-term solution. However, disabled children should not be penalised for the financial burdens under which councils find themselves. The transport arrangements that are provided are often unsuitable, such as a bus pass for a vulnerable young person. Parents are asked to make financial contributions or are provided with travel allowances that barely cover the costs. It is hard to overstate the impact that the yearly lottery for school transport can have on disabled children.”
“Let us be clear: this places a financial barrier to education in the way of disabled children and their families that other families simply do not have to face.”
“She said that life is hard enough without this discrimination and pressure. Another mother, in Thurrock, told me about her ongoing fight to secure transport for her daughter. Twice her daughter was refused passenger transport to the education setting she attended and twice the family successfully appealed. That mother said: “As parents to children with SEND we have to fight for every single step, for their existence. Fighting for what is right, what our children are entitled to.” This is the reality for thousands of families across the country. This disruption at such a vital point in education can be devastating, with serious impacts on a young person’s mental health and development.”
“My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. It is unacceptable that disabled families are faced with choices about their children’s education that parents of children who are not disabled are not. During the election campaign, I spoke to another woman, Julia, and had the pleasure of meeting her 18-year-old son Oscar, who has cerebral palsy, which affects his right side, and epilepsy. For 10 years, he had received free home-to-school transport, but now his parents have to make the case every year for why he should continue to receive that support to reach his sixth form. Thanks to the new costs, his mum has had to withdraw Oscar from one of his sessions at his weekend care provision, because she cannot afford both. Despite the new charges, there is still no guarantee that their application will be approved.”
“As I have said previously, the important thing is to see a long-term goal where disabled children are truly able to receive a mainstream, inclusive education, so that we get out of this cycle of families having to pay to transport their children miles and miles from where they live.”
“It is not a choice by families to send their disabled child or young person to a school far from home; it is a necessity, and the only way to receive the specialist provision that meets their needs.”
“I will make some headway. The requirement for free transport returns for 19 to 25-year-olds with complex needs and an education, health and care plan, to support those who need longer in education or training to achieve their outcomes. The guidance itself says: “It is critical that, from year 9 at the latest, local authorities help young people start planning for a successful transition to adulthood.” Given the importance of this transition, why does the statutory obligation for free transport fall between the ages of 16 to 19? We cannot ignore the rising costs that councils face in carrying out their duty to provide free home-to-school transport. However, those costs are not the fault of disabled children.”
“I look forward to hearing the Minister’s comments about the existing framework, and the contributions of other Members, as we seek to develop a system that ensures that the needs of every child are met.”
“I would just like to make a little more progress. When I think about my child’s journey through education, I do not see it in stages. The journey for my daughter and for every disabled child is a lifelong one. We need a statutory framework that reflects that and that provides stability, security and reassurance for disabled children throughout their development and for their families. In the context of the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity for every child, the situation with home-to-school transport is damaging the life chances of disabled pupils. I encourage the Minister to consider a framework that ends the current anomalies in the system, so that local authorities have a legal obligation to ensure that no child is denied an education that will allow them to get on in life.”
“I finish by saying that no one puts their vulnerable, non-verbal child in a car with strangers by choice; it is because that is how they can get them to their education setting. I reflect, with gratitude, on the people who have taken my daughter to school. I believe that their professionalism, their absolute empathy, and the way that they interact with her on a daily basis is something to be commended, as is the role that people play in this system in general.”
“The outcomes for children aged 16 to 19, if they do not access education or training, are well documented, which is why education or training is compulsory up to the age of 18. The only people who currently have to face a financial burden to meet their child’s need and make sure that they are accessing that compulsory education or training mandate, on a general, widespread basis, are parents of disabled children. That is something that needs to be looked at. I welcome the fact that the Minister is keen to look at this issue in more depth in her role in Government and at how it is working in practice. I would very much welcome the opportunity to work with her on that, and indeed to work with the sector and parents of SEND children more widely.”
“I thank Members from across the House for their contributions this afternoon, particularly those from rural areas who highlighted the additional complexities of home-to-school travel there. I thank the Minister for her considered response. I recognise that the challenges to the SEND system are immense and will take a long time to put right. My concern is that, while the ultimate goal of moving inclusive, mainstream education closer to children where they need it is an honourable one and is clearly the direction that we should be travelling in, there are children who cannot access that right now. They cannot wait for a long-term shift in policy and approach; that would have a detrimental impact on the rest of their lives.”
“My constituents expect the Government to treat taxpayer money with the utmost respect. However, during the pandemic the Conservatives handed out contracts to their friends and donors and failed to prevent fraud, using the crisis as a cover for their greed. Does the Chancellor agree with me that that money belongs to the taxpayer?”
“Thurrock Lifestyle Solutions in my constituency is an excellent example of good practice in helping disabled people enter and stay in the workplace. It is particularly successful because it embodies the maxim, “Nothing about us without us”, as it is run by, led by and designed by disabled people themselves. Will the Secretary of State commit to taking such examples of best practice into consideration, and to ensuring that the voices of disabled people and those with long-term health conditions are put at the very heart of the strategy?”
“The Dartford crossing linking Essex and Kent is a key piece of transport infrastructure in my constituency. However, since moving to a new charging system last year, there have been serious failings in the administration of the Dart charge. Problems include credit not being carried over from the old system. Cars have incorrectly been charged, accounts have been closed in error and, in one particularly egregious example, a constituent of mine was told by an enforcement agent standing on her doorstep that she owed £8,000. I thank the Secretary of State for her attention on this matter. Will she update the House on the steps that her Department is taking to resolve the matter?”
“This week I attended the funeral of Margaret Jones, who, among her many other achievements, became the first mayor of Thurrock in 1974. I am sure that colleagues across the House will join me in expressing gratitude for more than half a century of dedicated public service. When I asked those closest to Margaret how she would have liked to be remembered, one said, “As a committed socialist who always knew her red from her blue even in her darkest days, and as a dedicated supporter of children and young people.” Will the Leader of the House allow time for us to discuss this Labour Government’s plans to improve the lives of children and young people, as a fitting tribute to that formidable woman?”
“From my own experience as an unpaid carer, I know that the increase in the amount that carers can earn without losing their carer’s allowance, as well as the commitment to review the current cliff edge of carer’s allowance, will be welcomed by those who do the vital work of caring for their loved ones. For so many people, this Budget will tackle the challenges our country faces. Our party founded the national health service and brought it back from the brink after years of Tory neglect. On the campaign trail, I told my constituents that we did it before and we will do it again. This Budget delivers on that promise, and I am proud to support it.”
“People continue to struggle with NHS dentistry, with only 31% of adults in Thurrock having seen an NHS dentist in the last two years. Nearly a third of patients at the local trust have waited more than six weeks for a diagnostic test. I welcome the commitment to provide an extra £22.6 billion of funding for day-to-day spending for the health service, to cut waiting times and deliver 40,000 extra appointments every week. The commitment to more capital funding cannot come soon enough. I look forward to working with Ministers to ensure that benefits are felt in Thurrock, particularly in areas such as Tilbury, where health inequalities are felt more keenly. On a personal note, I welcome the commitment in the Budget to deliver for unpaid carers.”
“Public service performance is at a historic low, and behind every statistic is the real-world experience of one of my constituents, whether it is the tragic loss of life while waiting to see a doctor following heart surgery, the learning-disabled man I met who had resorted to pulling out his own teeth because he could not see an NHS dentist, or the parents desperate to receive a diagnosis for their child’s special educational needs so that they can start receiving the support they need. Nowhere are the Conservatives’ austerity and broken promises more obvious than in our NHS. My constituents face some of the most acute GP shortages in the country, with each of our local surgeries caring for an average of nearly 3,500 patients.”
“This Budget will make a real difference to the lives of my constituents. It is designed to fix the foundations of our economy, to turn the page on the failed policies of the previous Government, and to deliver the change that people across the country and in my constituency voted for. As hon. Members on both sides of the House have made clear, we have all seen, experienced and heard about the decline of the last 14 years. The economic failures of the previous Government left our constituents worse off than they were in 2010. Every day, families in Thurrock tell me about the challenges they face.”
“Many early years providers struggle to meet the needs of children with SEND. Lack of funds, lack of training and lack of specialist staff often mean that those that do provide a good or excellent service quickly become over-subscribed. What steps is the Department taking to reassure parents and carers of children with SEND that those children will have access to the childcare or early years provision in their areas that meets their needs?”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. I will keep my intervention brief; suffice it to say that my constituents perhaps do not support the lower Thames crossing quite so wholeheartedly as he does. Does he agree that the crossing will mitigate the problems he has set out for only five to 10 years at most, and then we will be back in our current situation?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for being so generous in giving way a second time. I want to clarify the claim that the lower Thames crossing is a piece of green infrastructure. Does he agree that the more roads we build, the more people will use them? That will lower our air quality, particularly in Thurrock and the surrounding areas. It also flies in the face of our commitment to net zero, given that more people will be using vehicles that cause pollution.”
“Q8. Two years ago, Thurrock Council was led into effective bankruptcy by the then Conservative Administration, in no small part due to an investment of hundreds of millions of pounds in a solar farm scheme run by a conman. Given the Prime Minister’s commitment to integrity in public life, will he support my call, and those of my constituents, for a public inquiry, so that those responsible can finally be held to account?”
“In my constituency, out of the three healthcare hubs that we have been promised, all we have so far is a hole in the ground in Tilbury, one of our most economically deprived areas. I said earlier that some solutions also came out of that discussion. If we are to turn around primary healthcare, we need buy-in from our population. People need to know what services are available to them. They need to be in charge of their healthcare, including their preventive healthcare. They need to know what is coming up on the horizon for them and how they can take steps to change outcomes for themselves. I conclude by welcoming this Labour Government’s approach to turning around the NHS towards a preventive and community model.”
“A great example of community healthcare is provided by Orsett hospital, our local community hospital. What it does it does very well, providing blood tests, dialysis and so on. People can get the care they need on the doorstep. However, the hospital has been under threat of closure for as long as I can remember. I was born there, and since then its services have been taken away one by one. We have a healthy scepticism in Thurrock for neighbourhood health hubs. We have been promised them for a number of years, but, thanks to a combination of Conservative Government incompetence and Conservative council incompetence locally, we no longer have the money to provide them.”
“People thought they deserved to be able to see a GP, but my constituents, particularly those in Aveley, showed a bit of common sense about what they could expect after 14 years of a Conservative Government running their healthcare services into the ground. They know that they do not always need to see a GP. They know that sometimes a face-to-face appointment is not necessary. However, they also want to know that the healthcare they need is there when they need it. GPs at the meeting had a similar reflection—they want to be able to spend the time that they have with their patients, not form filling, not running around bureaucracy, and not referring back to secondary providers. They want to spend their time delivering the best medical care possible.”
“I begin by reflecting on the version of the NHS’s foundation set out by the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor). I was unfamiliar with that, so I thank him for that history lesson. The fate of our GP services is felt nowhere more keenly than in Thurrock, where we have the highest ratio of patients to GPs in the country. At a coffee afternoon a few weeks ago in Aveley, in my constituency, where the local medical practice has perhaps the highest patient load of the entire area, we discussed some of the issues facing the community, as well as the solutions. It was a microcosm of this debate.”
“T2. At best, the proposed lower Thames crossing offers only a short-term mitigation to the problem of congestion at the Dartford crossing, but will have a significantly detrimental environmental and quality-of-life impact for my constituents and feels counterintuitive to the Government’s net zero ambitions. Given that, what steps will the Secretary of State take to consider the potential for investment in cross-river public transport, including the KenEx tram scheme—”
“At the moment, so many parents find themselves at a complete loss and in desperation because of the chaos of the system. They have to be all things to their child and they never get a chance to just be mum or dad. They have to be a speech and language therapist, an advocate, a physiotherapist and an educational psychologist arguing for an education, health and care support plan that is often absolutely impossible to obtain. Our system needs an awful lot of work. We need to begin this journey and consider how we can properly deliver for children not just in our region—the east of England—or in our individual constituencies, but across the country.”
“Secondly, a SEND system built around the lived experience of parents and carers, which comes at it from the perspective of a parent or a carer, has absolute success built in. I do not see my child’s journey through education in stages; I do not see early years, primary school, secondary school, further education and beyond as separate. My child’s journey is a lifelong one. Similarly, I do not look at the services that she requires in silos, nor do any parents of an SEND child. To fix the system, we need to come at it from the basis of considering what the child needs from the moment that they enter the education system, whether that is in a pre-school setting or nursery setting, through to the moment that they leave the system. How have we created a successful individual who can go into the world and achieve their full potential?”
“I thank the hon. Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato) for securing this important debate. The SEND system is in chaos. It is broken. I am the parent of a disabled child and I have seen first hand the damage and chaos wrought by 14 years of chronic underfunding, understaffing, and a lack of political will to understand the level of need, coupled with the stigmatisation of parents of SEND children when we fight for the educations our children deserve. How do we fix the system? How do we go back to getting what our children need? I believe that an education system that works for SEND children is one that works for all our children. Educational need and disability should not be seen as parallel to the education system; they should be absolutely central to it. If we get it right for our children, we get it right for every child.”
“I want to reflect what my hon. Friend has said on the amount of school exclusions for SEND pupils, and to state that parents often feel pressured into off-rolling their children—that is, into removing them from the education system—so as not to have what is known as a permanent exclusion on their record. In fact, a permanent record does not exist, and never has in this country; it is a work of fiction. However, a number of parents feel that they have no option other than to remove their children from the education system so that they do not face further penalties for having absent children when they should be at school.”
“As a parent of a disabled child, the issue of SEND education in this country is very important to me, as it is to a number of my friends and acquaintances. Let us be clear that the SEND system in this country is broken, and it was the actions of the previous Government that left us with parents being desperate and having to search for alternatives to mainstream education for their children. The vast majority of my constituents who find themselves without suitable education placements for their children, for reasons of disability or educational needs, are unable to afford to send their children to a private school. Does the Minister agree with me that perpetuating a system of inequality is not the solution for our broken SEND system?”
“You reflect on there being an exemption only for children who have EHCPs, and you mentioned that there should be an exemption for children who do not have an EHCP based on SEN or disability. My question is: how do you define that? There is huge scope for private schools to say that they are SEND specialists. There is not a measure of whether that is the case. How do you define those who have SEND or those with additional needs, beyond the scope of an EHCP?”
“Due to a legacy of financial mismanagement and effective bankruptcy left by the previous Conservative administration, services in my constituency have been cut to the quick. That includes home-to-school transport for children with special educational needs and disabilities—including children under the age of five and young people between 16 and 19 years old—which local authorities do not have a statutory requirement to provide. Given the well-documented positive impact of early intervention, particularly for children with SEND, and the devastating effect on children aged 16 to 19 of removal of provision at that point of their development, will the Leader of the House allow time to discuss whether the statutory framework meets the needs of all children with SEND for home-to-school transport?”
“My hon. Friend mentions the staffing crisis in the SEND system, but I want to note that there is also a crisis in recruitment and training for teachers of the deaf. From my experience, I know that is a key role for a number of deaf children, particularly in my constituency. There is a real crisis in back-filling those positions and recruiting across councils, particularly at a unitary level. The need for teachers of the deaf is not reflected in those coming through the system, which often results in children not having the resource and help they need to succeed in school.”
“Little did I realise that it would lead me here. I am here to serve my community, to speak up for the home that I love and the people who live there. If by being here I can make a difference to the lives of children and families such as mine, I will consider it a job well done, however long my constituents may opt to keep me.”
“I would like to share my own personal story about my motivation for being here, beyond the love of my community and my desire to serve. Almost seven years ago, I found out that the baby I was carrying had Down’s syndrome—a rug-pulling, life-altering moment which I did not realise, but wish I had, would be the making of my family and the start of a truly incredible journey. As the actress Sally Phillips says, the special educational needs and disabilities parent club is the one no one wants to be in, but once you are there you realise that all the best people are there. However, the world does not work for families like mine. It does not work for children like mine, and it does not work for people like me and my daughter. When I received her diagnosis, I made her a promise that I would do everything I could to make her life easier.”
“One reason I am so pleased to be making my maiden speech today as part of the debate on the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill is that one of the uniting factors of all of these towns is the role they play as key commuter locations for jobs in the City of London and the docklands—journeys that are primarily made using the rail network. The public ownership of our railways, delivering a better service and better value for taxpayers’ money, will make a daily difference to the lives of many of my constituents, and, indeed, to many of my friends and family. I would not be here without the support of many people, but in particular my family: my children, my mum and dad, my husband Ali—a stronger or kinder partner you would struggle to find—and my in-laws Mike and Sue. It really does take a village.”
“Friend the Member for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan) and I are determined to rectify. Further down the river, we can find the Purfleet heritage centre which, among its extensive collection of local military memorabilia, also hosts an exhibition honouring the contribution of the Gurkha regiments to our armed forces, reflecting the significant Gurkha and Nepalese community who have chosen to make Thurrock their home. The museum is well worth a visit, although I would take with a pinch of salt anything one of the volunteer guides says about the etymology of Purfleet and its deriving from an exclamation of Elizabeth I, “My poor fleet”. The towns of Tilbury and Purfleet are just two of the many that make up Thurrock. Aveley, Ockendon, Stifford Clays and Chafford Hundred all have their stories to tell.”
“It provided a muster and departure point for those leaving to take part in the D-day operations. Several hundred years earlier, Tilbury is where Queen Elizabeth I rallied her troops before fighting the Spanish armada, famously declaring: “I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman; but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and of a king of England too”. The Empire Windrush landed at Tilbury docks in 1948, bringing those who answered the call to help restore and rebuild our country after the second world war. A permanent exhibition, “Tilbury bridge walkway of memories”, is a moving testimony to those who came. Unfortunately, it is currently closed as a side effect of the Tilbury to Gravesend ferry ceasing to operate for the first time in nearly 600 years, something my hon.”
“She has also shown kindness and support as I, like many others who are new in this House, struggle to navigate the early days of this unique role. It is an incredible privilege to have the honour of representing my home in this place. Thurrock has had representation from across this House since its creation in 1945, but this is the first time that someone born there has addressed the House as its Member of Parliament. I am that much unfairly maligned of creatures—a true Essex girl. I prefer Dr. Martens to white stilettos, but I am extremely proud of the county of my birth and the history of our community and the people who live there. Thurrock has a fighting spirit, having played an important role in the decoy operations prior to the Normandy landings in the second world war.”
“I would also like to thank the former Member of Parliament for Barking, Margaret Hodge, who gave me my first job in politics and taught a newly graduated, idealistic young woman that politics is more often than not about who gets the potholes filled, the grass verges cut and people’s individual problems solved than the big issues of the day. Moreover, she taught me that being a visible, vocal advocate for one’s constituents is the fundamental job of being an MP. In doing so, she defeated the extremists of the British National party by demonstrating that politics can be a force for good—work that I was extremely proud to play a part in at the time, and something that I will continue to take forward, to counter the threats from extremism and populism that our communities face today.”
“I would like to begin by talking a little about my predecessor, Jackie Doyle-Price. Although our politics are different, she served our community for 14 years and was a vocal campaigner against violence towards women and girls, both in this country and internationally. She highlighted the role that rape and sexual violence play as a weapon of war, and the lifelong impact that these appalling crimes have on women and girls here in the UK. She was a strong supporter of SERICC, the groundbreaking rape and abuse service based in my constituency, which found her a listening ear and a vocal advocate for its work. I will ensure that I will carry on that relationship and continue that work.”
“Thank you, Madam Chair. It is the honour of my life to address this House as the Member of Parliament for Thurrock, my home, and to speak in this important debate on the future of our railways. I congratulate the hon. Member for South West Devon (Rebecca Smith) on her passionate speech, which was infused with pride for the community she serves and a strong commitment to her new role, particularly to help the people of Dawlish to rebuild after the flooding and to speak up for those who have experienced the care system. I also congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) on such a brilliant speech, which was infused with peacocks and train puns, which I will not try to outdo. I will steam ahead, get back on track and diesel-power on with the main body of my speech!”