← LEADERSHIP TERMINAL

UK PARLIAMENT · SITTING

Charlotte Cane

MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire · Liberal Democrat · United Kingdom

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, as I am an East Cambridgeshire district councillor. There will clearly be a great deal of uncertainty across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT REORGANISATION · 2026-07-16 · READ IN HANSARD

It also found that the fire risk assessment, emergency management plan and cell 11 environmental action plan failed to adequately identify and control the risks associated with fires. The operator, East Waste Ltd, has to rectify those issues, or the Environment Agency says it will take enforcement action.

WASTE MANAGEMENT SITES · 2026-07-15 · READ IN HANSARD

The combination of the changing subsoil and the regular heavy lorries corrugates those roads vertically and horizontally, breaks the road edges away, and creates ever-growing potholes. The roads are virtually unusable by ordinary cars, let alone cyclists.

WASTE MANAGEMENT SITES · 2026-07-15 · READ IN HANSARD

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blackpool North and Fleetwood (Lorraine Beavers) on securing this debate. I have several waste management sites in my constituency.

WASTE MANAGEMENT SITES · 2026-07-15 · READ IN HANSARD

I congratulate the Government on recognising the state of Palestine. That recognition was long overdue, but a state needs territory, and its citizens need safety and security. The state of Palestine and its citizens do not have either.

ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: TRADE BAN · 2026-07-09 · READ IN HANSARD

Members of the Israeli Security Cabinet have even stated that their goal is to make a sovereign Palestine unviable. We have to prevent that, because a two-state solution is the only way to achieve peace in that part of the world. The Government have confirmed that the settlements are illegal, so now they have to go further.

ISRAELI SETTLEMENTS: TRADE BAN · 2026-07-09 · READ IN HANSARD

The complete record

Every one of 240 lines we hold for Charlotte Cane, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 5.

  1. I agree. One of the big advantages of the scheme would be twice as many trains on that route. That would be a huge benefit to everyone along the route. This is a truly national project, with national benefits. Since coming to office, the Government have been very keen to stress their growth credentials and they continue to search for a silver bullet to grow the economy quickly. Ely junction is not a magic bullet, but it can certainly help the Government on their quest. As I said, the scheme has a £4.89 cost to benefit ratio, returning £4.89 in benefits for every £1 invested. But that does not even reflect the full picture and the growth opportunities centred on Cambridge, Peterborough and, as we have heard, the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor, so the real economic impact is likely to be significantly higher. Let me give some examples.

    ELY: RAILWAY UPGRADE · 2025-12-03 · READ IN HANSARD

  2. It is wonderful that East West Rail is coming, but my constituents need to be able to get to it in Cambridge, which is why we need the upgrade at Ely junction.

    ELY: RAILWAY UPGRADE · 2025-12-03 · READ IN HANSARD

  3. I, too, welcome the Chancellor’s decision to remove the two-child benefit cap. I was proud to stand on that policy from the Lib Dem manifesto, because it will lift at least 350,000 children out of poverty. It will go a long way to helping families with the cost of living, but it is no good if the Chancellor gives with one hand and takes away with the other. My local councillors are still waiting to hear how the new crisis and resilience fund will work and how much funding they will receive. It will replace the household support fund, from which they currently pay for the school holiday food vouchers. The new scheme should be in place from April 2026, so the councils are now finalising their budgets for that financial year without knowing if they have the funding needed to continue with the vouchers.

    BUDGET RESOLUTIONS · 2025-12-01 · READ IN HANSARD

  4. They are things that make businesses and individuals struggle with inflation and the cost of living, and the Budget has not addressed them. The Chancellor told us of the difficult choices she had to make in this Budget, but it did not tackle the main problem, which she herself has identified: our relationship with Europe. If she negotiated a new customs union with Europe, as well as a youth mobility scheme to create new opportunities for our young people, she could fill the £90 billion-a-year black hole left by the Conservatives’ catastrophic Brexit deal. People are going to have to pay higher taxes for less public services because the Chancellor and this Government will not cure that £90 billion Brexit black hole.

    BUDGET RESOLUTIONS · 2025-12-01 · READ IN HANSARD

  5. It also impacts kinship carers, many of whom are disgracefully hounded to repay so-called overpayments of carer’s allowance, yet this Budget does not invest in social care. I met publicans in Ely and East Cambridgeshire last week who were very disappointed that there was no cut in VAT for hospitality businesses in the Budget. As their costs go up, for staff, supplies, fuel, duty—you name it, their costs go up—they have to increase their prices, and then they have to add 20% VAT to those increases, so a meal costed at £25 will have another £5 of VAT added to it. Reducing the rate of VAT would reduce those businesses’ prices and encourage more customers. These are all matters that people in Ely and East Cambridgeshire have asked me to raise in this debate in just the few days since the Budget.

    BUDGET RESOLUTIONS · 2025-12-01 · READ IN HANSARD

  6. I visited Christmas fairs this weekend in churches that need hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of repairs. People told me of their worries about the listed places of worship grant scheme, which is currently funded only to March 2026. That grant covers the VAT costs of repairs, meaning that fundraisers only have to raise the cost of those repairs, not the additional cost of VAT. I hope the Chancellor will confirm sufficient funding for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport for that scheme to be continued and increased back to previous levels. We know that we are struggling to provide good-quality social care. This impacts too many elderly, disabled and vulnerable people who are not getting the support they need.

    BUDGET RESOLUTIONS · 2025-12-01 · READ IN HANSARD

  7. I actually think we need both. Lifting the two-child benefit cap is really important. I was also disappointed that there was no help for farmers in the Budget. The Chancellor is maintaining the inheritance tax, which will destroy many family farms in Ely and East Cambridgeshire and across the country. The Government have abolished the fruit and veg aid scheme from this month, removing much-needed support with the capital costs of increasing productivity and accelerating innovation. The Chancellor increases farmers’ costs, the Home Office restricts their seasonal workforce and the Department for Business and Trade signs trade deals that allow unfair competition, but the Chancellor did not give even a small gesture of help to farmers in this Budget.

    BUDGET RESOLUTIONS · 2025-12-01 · READ IN HANSARD

  8. I agree that the asylum system is broken, and I welcome the commitment to safe and legal routes for people to seek asylum, but there is much in these measures that I think is cruel, impractical and will not work. One example is making people have reviews every two-and-a-half years for 20 years. It is cruel because those people are not going to be able to get a sense of security and safety, and it is counterproductive because they will struggle to get good-quality, secure and high-paid jobs and contribute to our society. It will not work. We know that the Home Office cannot cope with what it currently has to do. My casework is full of people whose papers get lost when they are trying for immigration status. The digital right-to-work system does not work properly, and we have a backlog of asylum claims.

    ASYLUM POLICY · 2025-11-17 · READ IN HANSARD

  9. I also have a chalk stream in my constituency, the River Snail. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important that we give these chalk streams statutory protection through measures such as those set out in Lords amendment 38, rather than relying on national planning frameworks that can be changed without referring back to this place?

    PLANNING AND INFRASTRUCTURE BILL · 2025-11-13 · READ IN HANSARD

  10. We have heard that many dyslexic people lead successful lives—famously, Richard Branson, Jamie Oliver and Zoë Wanamaker, to name but three—but too many do not. Somewhere between three and five in 10 prisoners have dyslexia, compared with one in 10 in the population as a whole. We see from the many entrepreneurs and brilliant artists that dyslexic people have valuable skills to share. We need an education system that identifies dyslexic pupils early and supports their learning, so that they all have the chance to succeed in life.

    SUPPORT FOR DYSLEXIC PUPILS · 2025-11-11 · READ IN HANSARD

  11. Teachers too need support to be able to spot the signs of dyslexia from an early stage, and to support dyslexic pupils in their classroom. Neil told me that his wife spends a lot of time emailing Lucy’s teachers to give them constructive feedback on how a dyslexic student learns. No parent should be expected to bear that additional burden, nor should teachers for that matter. What will the Government do to support teachers and better equip them to support dyslexic pupils? I discovered that the Government do not publish data on levels of dyslexia among school-age children, so we do not actually know the full scale of the problem. Will the Minister commit today to exploring this option further?

    SUPPORT FOR DYSLEXIC PUPILS · 2025-11-11 · READ IN HANSARD

  12. As they move into sixth form, they are then further impeded in their sixth form studies because they have to resit English and/or maths. Neil told me this morning that Lucy is sitting two mock exams today, and that she was extremely distressed at the mere thought of going through such a stressful process. I am sure colleagues will join me in wishing Lucy the best of luck today, and in all her exams. Does the Minister agree that more should be done to give dyslexic pupils a fair chance in the assessment process? Will she update us on the steps the Government will take to improve reasonable adjustments for pupils in exams? If we make early diagnosis the norm, we will not only give children more support in the classroom but boost their educational attainment.

    SUPPORT FOR DYSLEXIC PUPILS · 2025-11-11 · READ IN HANSARD

  13. My constituent Neil contacted me earlier this year about improving SEND provision, giving the example of his dyslexic 15-year-old daughter, Lucy. He told me that Lucy will leave school with, “low self-esteem and low expectations, because the world will judge her based on her grades. She will assume that there are just things that are not within her capability.” That is shocking. Our education system must do better than that. If a child is not diagnosed at an early stage, support is not put in place and students struggle further—albeit we know from Lucy’s experience that even pupils who have been diagnosed with dyslexia do not always get the support they need. They then go on to sit their exams, often remaining undiagnosed, and as we have heard, only one in five dyslexic pupils achieves grade 5 or above in English and maths.

    SUPPORT FOR DYSLEXIC PUPILS · 2025-11-11 · READ IN HANSARD

  14. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Yeovil (Adam Dance) and the hon. Member for Broxtowe (Juliet Campbell) on securing this debate. I thank them for their excellent speeches, and I echo their calls for a national dyslexia strategy. Within six weeks of starting primary school, pupils are tested on their literacy, communication and maths ability, and they are pushed to meet the expected standard in phonics by the end of year 1. Those who fail are pushed in year 2 and re-tested at the end of that year. This pressure, and thoughtless comments by staff or pupils, can make a dyslexic child feel stupid or thick because they struggle to read and write, but they are not; they are different.

    SUPPORT FOR DYSLEXIC PUPILS · 2025-11-11 · READ IN HANSARD

  15. I thank the hon. Member for securing this debate. I draw attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as an affiliate member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists. Cambridgeshire Scouts’ Archaeology Squad in my constituency gives children a chance to get involved in archaeology and holds an archaeology day at Ely Museum. Does he agree that getting young people involved in archaeology in that way is vital for its future?

    BRONZE-AGE HERITAGE: CAMBRIDGESHIRE · 2025-11-05 · READ IN HANSARD

  16. In the long term, will the Government consider increasing taxation on social media giants and tech firms to fund defence and increase official development assistance back to 0.7% of GNI? We live in dangerous times, and we are not alone in that. Now is the time to step up on the global stage, not step back.

    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE REDUCTIONS · 2025-11-04 · READ IN HANSARD

  17. For decades, international aid has been vital in growing our nation’s stature through soft power and building a hard-won reputation for supporting the poorest countries in the world. In opposition, the Labour party agreed with us, so it is regrettable that it abandoned those values upon entering government. I hope that the Government will take the contributions to this debate in the spirit that they are intended. We want the UK to be seen as the gold standard for promoting international development, just like the Labour party said in opposition. This cut is a risk to international security and plays into the hands of Russia and China, so I hope that the Minister will reflect on the message of this debate and explore alternative ways of meeting defence spending commitments, rather than this ill-thought-out cut.

    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE REDUCTIONS · 2025-11-04 · READ IN HANSARD

  18. Of course, we have to strengthen our national security and defence in uncertain times, but not at the cost of withdrawing support from some of the poorest communities around the world. Does the Minister accept that not only is proper investment in ODA critical to tackling poverty, but it can help prevent conflict abroad? Strengthening national security and stability and addressing poverty and development abroad is not a binary choice: they are intertwined; they are essential for each other. The Government’s decision represents a further retreat into insular attitudes when we need to be doing what we can to tackle poverty and security threats abroad as well as here at home.

    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE REDUCTIONS · 2025-11-04 · READ IN HANSARD

  19. It is shocking that the Conservatives very quickly reduced it to 0.5%, and I cannot believe that Labour is now planning to reduce it further to just 0.3%. By 2027, as we have heard, that will be £6 billion less than it would have been even at 0.5%. That means £6 billion less for maternity care, vaccination programmes, food aid, education, clean water, flood protection and more. People at the sharp end of the climate crisis and in extreme poverty will die because of the cuts. We should not shy away from that. At 0.3%, ODA stands at the lowest proportion of gross national income since 1999. That represents an abdication of our moral responsibility on the global stage.

    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE REDUCTIONS · 2025-11-04 · READ IN HANSARD

  20. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Edward Morello) on securing this debate and on his excellent speech. As we have heard today, Britain’s aid budget supports international development in countries facing extreme poverty and conflict. We can see it every night on our television screens—in Gaza and Sudan, to name but two places. The aid budget also helps people in developing countries to address the impact of climate change. We have recently seen the devastating damage wreaked by Hurricane Melissa. Communities will need our help to rebuild their roads and housing and get clean water back again. Those are the sorts of things that our aid budget funds. I am proud that in coalition the Liberal Democrats increased the aid budget to 0.7% of GNI.

    OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE REDUCTIONS · 2025-11-04 · READ IN HANSARD

  21. 15. Whether he is taking steps to implement the outstanding recommendations of the Defence Committee’s report entitled “Protecting those who protect us: Women in the Armed Forces from Recruitment to Civilian Life”, published on 25 July 2021.

    WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES: DEFENCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS · 2025-11-03 · READ IN HANSARD

  22. Our servicewomen urgently need investment in female-specific tactical equipment, particularly bras and body armour. What steps is the Minister taking to provide funding for research, development and implementation of kit for the female anatomy and to ensure that fitting services and task-appropriate provision are standard across the forces?

    WOMEN IN THE ARMED FORCES: DEFENCE COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS · 2025-11-03 · READ IN HANSARD

  23. I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing the debate. Students in my constituency are served by Impington Village college for the IB. They are deeply unhappy that the college received a letter from the Department announcing the change with no warning or consultation. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government decision has caused an unacceptable amount of stress for pupils, parents and staff, and that how the Government are acting is the complete opposite—

    INTERNATIONAL BACCALAUREATE: FUNDING IN STATE SCHOOLS · 2025-10-29 · READ IN HANSARD

  24. Member for Romford (Andrew Rosindell) was shocking and depressing. For a party that once hugged a husky to now be questioning its support for our oceans is shameful. Twenty-five centuries ago, Aristotle questioned where eels came from, but if we do not take urgent action to protect them and other marine wildlife, we will not be asking where they came from; we will be asking where they have all gone. I therefore welcome this Bill and the international co-operation of which it is a part. Let us get it through the House as quickly as possible, so that we can sign the treaty and make sure that it delivers what we all hope it will deliver.

    BIODIVERSITY BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION BILL · 2025-10-16 · READ IN HANSARD

  25. They are not anywhere near as common in the River Great Ouse as they once were, owing to all the factors I mentioned, but the good news is that in 2022, over 74,000 eels were recorded as making the 3,000-mile journey from the Sargasso sea to Cambridgeshire. Measures like banning bottom trawling in marine protected areas would be a good way to protect endangered species like eels and others, as would the provision of greater resources for international environmental co-operation. I hope the Government will take on board calls for a ban on bottom trawling in marine protected areas. We cannot possibly have the moral authority to call for such a ban on the global stage when we have not done it in our own waters. Like our eels, all wildlife depends on our oceans, as indeed do we as the human race. The speech from the shadow Minister, the hon.

    BIODIVERSITY BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION BILL · 2025-10-16 · READ IN HANSARD

  26. European eels are considered a critically endangered species, so it is imperative that we take action to protect them now. At a local level, the creation of eel passes—not, as it might sound, a passport, but ladders or passages—has been welcome action to allow them to get from the sea into freshwater habitats and back again. However, much more needs to be done to protect them and other endangered species on a global scale, so it is really good that the Government have proposed this Bill. Ely holds an annual eel festival, which not only recognises our history but celebrates biodiversity and nature. The festival celebrates our heritage and is always tinged with concern about the decline in the eel population, but also with a determination to see eels return to our rivers in abundance.

    BIODIVERSITY BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION BILL · 2025-10-16 · READ IN HANSARD

  27. The Venerable Bede first wrote of the “Isle of Eels” back in the 8th century. He explained that the Isle of Ely is known as such because it was surrounded by water, with an abundance of eels, but these eels do not spend their whole life in Ely or, indeed, in the UK. The biological story behind eels is a quite remarkable one. They breed in the Sargasso sea, which, as we have heard, is so important to many other species as well, and they drift across the ocean for two or three years as tiny and fragile eels. They adapt to freshwater and mature in rivers—sometimes growing up to 1 metre in length—before swimming all the way back to the Sargasso sea to reproduce once more before dying. These eels face many dangers in their life cycle, including the impact of climate change on ocean currents, pollution and poaching.

    BIODIVERSITY BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION BILL · 2025-10-16 · READ IN HANSARD

  28. I urge the Government to ensure that their voices are heard in any change process. My constituents are worried about potential changes in the SEND system, so I hope that the Minister’s response will provide clarity to pupils, parents and councils that the changes will not lead to cuts or reduced support for SEND pupils. To put it bluntly, parents should not have to fight for their children’s rights. The Government must ensure high-quality, well-funded education for all pupils with special educational needs.

    CHILDREN WITH SEND: ASSESSMENTS AND SUPPORT · 2025-09-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  29. The council has plans for more specialist schools, but it is still waiting for Government clearance to build them, so I would be grateful if the Minister could say when it can expect to get that clearance. The wide distances across the constituency create a further challenge in transporting pupils to and from schools. In 2023-24, Cambridgeshire county council spent over £25 million just on school taxis. That is linked to the rising demand for the service, and the rising cost of fuel. I take this opportunity to thank the specialist schools in my constituency, including Spring Meadow infant school, Highfield Ely and Highfield Littleport academies, the Centre School Cottenham, and Cambridge Regional College for the tremendous work that they do every day to support SEND learners and help them fulfil their potential.

    CHILDREN WITH SEND: ASSESSMENTS AND SUPPORT · 2025-09-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  30. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Allin-Khan. I thank the petitioners and my hon. Friend the Member for South Cotswolds (Dr Savage) for leading this important debate. We all know from our inboxes that the system is not working and that change is necessary. It is incumbent on all of us to fix the situation for the sake of children and their families. According to data from the House of Commons Library, the total percentage of pupils in Ely and East Cambridgeshire’s mainstream schools with EHCPs is 4%, which is higher than the regional and national averages, at 3.4% and 3.3% respectively. That means that specialist units and schools in Ely and East Cambridgeshire face a difficult task, as they have more pupils with EHCPs to accommodate than the national average.

    CHILDREN WITH SEND: ASSESSMENTS AND SUPPORT · 2025-09-15 · READ IN HANSARD

  31. Sunnica solar farm, which runs through my constituency, was given permission by this Government, and there are more solar farm applications in the pipeline. My constituents are concerned that these applications are being made without a land use framework, which would have provided reassurance that the competing demands for land are balanced effectively. Will the Prime Minister commit to giving the land use framework statutory weight to ensure that land is used strategically to get the best out of it for new clean, renewable energy that genuinely benefits communities and for farmers, nature, water and housing?

    ENGAGEMENTS · 2025-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  32. I ask both for the cap to be brought back to £2 and for it to be a cap on the journey, not the fare for each bus someone catches. It should not be too much to ask for a basic, functional and affordable transport service for rural communities. Pensioners should not have to miss medical appointments because there is only one bus per hour, students should not have to worry about missing classes, disabled people should not have to miss anything in the morning, and people should not have to move from their home village for the sake of getting to work on time. This Bill is positive, but the Government need to do a lot more to improve transport services in rural communities such as mine. It would be a start if we allowed the disabled members of those communities to catch buses at any time.

    BUS SERVICES (NO. 2) BILL [LORDS] · 2025-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  33. Constituents referred to this service as a lifeline for them, and they were right. To have a situation in 2025 where the ending of a single bus route makes entire communities a transport black hole is dreadful. It is just not acceptable. Had residents been properly consulted, I am certain the proposal would have been comprehensively rejected, which is why I support new clause 32 tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Horsham (John Milne) to require consultation before any discussions on the alteration or withdrawal of a local bus service. I know the new clause has not been selected, but I hope the Minister will consider it. The Government’s decision to increase the bus fare cap hit my constituents hard, because many of them have to get more than one bus to complete their journey.

    BUS SERVICES (NO. 2) BILL [LORDS] · 2025-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  34. We have one of the greatest cathedrals in the world, but many of my residents cannot get to it for Sunday worship. Some of my villages have no buses at all, and the likes of Coveney and Wardy Hill have one bus per week. Others have bus services every two hours—those services are probably some of the best. If we restrict disabled people to using their passes after 9.30, they cannot catch the 9.20 bus and have to wait for the 11.20, so effectively they cannot do anything anywhere else in the morning. That cannot be right. We have to remove that restriction. The current situation is not sustainable or acceptable. For rural communities, the situation is so dire that the recent risk of the 9 bus route between Littleport and Cambridge being halted meant that communities faced being unable to get to work or college.

    BUS SERVICES (NO. 2) BILL [LORDS] · 2025-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  35. I rise to speak in support of new clause 2, which was tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrogate and Knaresborough (Tom Gordon) and has cross-party support. I really hope that that cross-party support holds up in the vote. As we have heard, disability does not stop at peak times. I represent a rural constituency and our buses are very infrequent, so having a time restriction on a bus pass is even more serious. As a member of the all-party parliamentary group on classics, I enjoy a good tale about mythological creatures such as centaurs and the minotaur, but unfortunately for some of my constituents, seeing a bus is almost as likely as seeing one of them. Remarkably, there are no Sunday bus services at all in most of my constituency.

    BUS SERVICES (NO. 2) BILL [LORDS] · 2025-09-10 · READ IN HANSARD

  36. I beg to move, That this House has considered the matter of supporting neurodivergent people into employment. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms McVey. I am pleased to have secured this debate on an important topic and I want to acknowledge that neurodiversity has a huge range of impacts. Many neurodivergent people need no support with employment, while those with certain learning disabilities need significant support.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  37. I agree with my hon. Friend that recognising neurodivergence in school and giving support at an early stage is incredibly important. As I said, I want to make the distinction and recognise that neurodivergent people and those with learning disabilities are distinguishable groups, both of which I will speak about. Over the past year, I have visited many fantastic businesses across my constituency and have been struck by how many are going above and beyond to forge pathways into the world of work for people with learning disabilities. I want to share some of their success stories today.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  38. I do agree and will speak about that. Local businesses have described employing people with learning disabilities to me as like a game of bureaucratic hopscotch. They can see the end goal but they need to hop from square to square, assessment to assessment, with a lack of resources to dedicate to training staff. Sadly, that is borne out in the data. Under 30% of people with severe or specific learning difficulties were in employment in 2023-24, compared with more than 82% of non-disabled people. Those figures are bad enough in isolation, but just 65% of employees with severe or specific learning difficulties remain in employment for at least a year.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  39. I thank the hon. Member for his intervention and I agree that we must provide these people with much more guidance and support, and also give them fair access to work and a career. In addition to the problems that autistic people encounter in finding and staying in employment, the raw pay gaps for people with autism and for people with severe or specific learning difficulties are 28% and 20% respectively. We can see that there is a huge problem. Those people have less than a one in three chance of finding employment. Even if they are among the lucky ones who find employment, they might not make it past their first year anniversary in work and they will be paid less than their colleagues.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  40. I do not know about self-employment being “better”, but it is certainly important, because different things will work best for different people. Neurodivergent people need the same full choice as non-neurodivergent people.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  41. I thank the hon. Member for Mansfield (Steve Yemm) for his intervention and I congratulate the college that he mentioned. He is absolutely right—one size fits all does not fit anybody, but particularly not neurodivergent people.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  42. I want stories like that to become the norm, not the exception. Unfortunately, businesses are hindered by ongoing problems blighting the Access to Work scheme. I am sure that colleagues will also have heard from constituents about difficulties in accessing payments and reduction in support.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  43. The café has up to four supported co-workers per day, Monday to Saturday, giving people employment, skills and the experience they need to go on and make a successful career. So far, five of its co-workers have gone on to secure employment positions after their placement. At Harry Specters, one staff member faced difficult circumstances. They struggled in traditional workplace environments, suffered long-term bullying and had retreated into self-employment as a safe space, but that was not sustainable and they were stuck in an abusive, financially dependent relationship. Mona hired them, and they have thrived ever since. They have built the confidence to speak on radio and podcasts and at hosted events. They have moved into their own flat and built an independent, stable life.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  44. We have heard how important school is, and I also have many brilliant specialist schools across my constituency, such as the Highfields academies in Ely and Littleport and the Centre school in Cottenham, where I recently talked to some very confident students about their career ambitions. The nurture and support provided by those schools equips students with the social and intellectual skills to contribute to society. The businesses I have met have told me of success stories where employees that they have taken on have gone on to thrive in the workplace as a result of someone supporting them. Prospects Trust is a working farm that supports people with additional needs, and it runs Unwrapped, an organic café and shop in Ely.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  45. Burwell Print provides experience to adults with additional needs and has done so for over three decades. It prints, folds and collates many of our excellent village magazines, keeping the community in touch with what is going on. It also makes soap and small ceramic gifts. Harry Specters is a luxury chocolate company founded by Mona Shah. She recently received an MBE for her services to training and employment for young people with autism. In 2012, Mona was inspired to launch the business by her autistic son, Ash, and they are proud to have autistic staff involved in every aspect of the business.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  46. Despite that, as we have heard, businesses remain concerned about employing neurodivergent people, often because they fear that they cannot support the employee properly. Recently, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation told me that neurodivergence is the least understood aspect of equality, diversity and inclusion. As such, learning how recruitment practices and the workplace can be adapted to become more inclusive for neurodivergent individuals is an evolving aspect of good practice. I am really proud today to have the opportunity to celebrate businesses in my constituency that lead the way in supporting people into work. They are shining examples that the Government would do well to learn from. We have already heard about some other examples.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  47. I will make some progress. Think of the challenges that neurodivergent people can face in everyday life: knowing they are different from others; being unable to read social situations in the same way as others; being uncomfortable travelling on public transport; and, commonly, experiencing anxiety after years of bullying at school. Now imagine what it is like to face what must sometimes feel like insurmountable barriers to one of the most basic parts of everyday life—that is, work. We know that neurodivergent people want to work. They want to contribute in a positive and meaningful way to our society. In 2021, the National Autistic Society found that 77% of unemployed autistic people wanted to work.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  48. They face the prospect of having to cancel their vital therapy to apply on the basis that they might get help, and in their own words: “The message seem to be stop getting the help you need, wait months for a decision, and then maybe we’ll support you.” Another local business, Red2Green, said the payments are so slow that it is difficult for small organisations to claim the money back, and it gives them huge cashflow problems. I have talked to individuals who have withdrawn from doing this work because they cannot afford to wait over three months before they get paid. Red2Green also told me that some neurodivergent people cannot make phone calls or advocate for themselves, but under the Access to Work scheme, it has to be them who applies, not the employer.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  49. Absolutely. It needs to be much faster in doing the assessments and delivering the payments. One of Mona’s staff experienced a traumatic event that made it difficult to manage work without more regular therapy, so they applied to Access to Work. They were told that they could not be supported because they were already accessing one monthly therapy session, albeit they are paying for that privately and they cannot afford to pay for any more.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD

  50. That is absolutely true, and I have seen people trying to deal with filling in the forms. These people are likely to be dyslexic or have similar conditions, so they will inevitably have real trouble with those forms. A scheme designed to grow inclusion and increase support should really do better than that. I hope the Minister will provide a clear update on what action the Government are taking to clear the backlog and what more can be done to make its responses faster and speed up payments. Specialist apprenticeships, as we have heard, would go a long way to helping neurodivergent people into work, with expert support on a daily basis through their employment. That would provide tailored, individual work plans that take their condition into account, allowing them to get work experience while having space to adapt.

    NEURODIVERGENT PEOPLE: EMPLOYMENT · 2025-09-09 · READ IN HANSARD