Daniel Francis
MP for Bexleyheath and Crayford · Labour · United Kingdom
“As the Minister said, we were friends for many years in London local government prior to being elected to this place. I want to make two points. First, there is the issue of the Changing Places that have been provided in recent years and the amount of information out there about them.”
“As the Minister knows, I will hold her to account on this issue and continue to pursue it. I thank her very much for the commitments that she has given today that we can continue to pursue. I thank the hon. Members for Chester South and Eddisbury (Aphra Brandreth), for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) and for Strangford (Jim Shannon), my hon.”
“An expansion of capital funding for Changing Places toilets would lead to people with profound disabilities accessing more opportunities and more families and individuals contributing to our hospitality businesses, theme parks, leisure facilities and sports grounds—the list goes on. There was, of course, a previous fund.”
“I turn now to the importance of maintaining Changing Places toilets. I mentioned last year that, in Bexleyheath town centre, we had to close a Changing Places toilet because of the vandalism it was receiving, with people living in it and dealing drugs in it.”
“Although I acknowledge that changes to building regulations ensure that facilities continue to be installed in new buildings, I retain concerns that older buildings would greatly benefit from having a Changing Places toilet installed.”
“One said: “Without access to an appropriate facility, I am left with impossible choices: ending outings early, avoiding certain venues altogether, or changing my daughter on the floor of an accessible toilet, which is neither hygienic, safe nor dignified.” I have read through the responses to the survey, and there was a lot of appreciatio…”
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“I know the Minister will be bringing forward proposals in this area after the summer break, but some comments later today and some assurances about SEN funding going forward would be deeply welcomed by my local authority and by me.”
“In its recent submission to the Chancellor, the council said that although it is grateful for the current funding, the statutory override for the deficit ends on 31 March 2026, while the DSG is not planned to come out of deficit until 2028-29 at present. That safety valve agreement, which my local authority signed, continues to be overspent, which continues to put significant pressure on the council. It believes that the statutory override needs to be extended by up to three years. Despite having agreed that with the previous Government, the council’s position is that the statutory override is, at best, only a temporary solution to a more fundamental and long-term challenge for SEN funding.”
“It had the highest overspend of any local authority in London for children’s social care in the previous financial year. My local authority welcomes that move in the Bill, because it wants the market for children’s service placements to be not-for-profit, as seen in Scotland and Wales. Will the Minister comment on departmental funding for social care settings and how the measures being brought forward in the Bill can help local authorities? My main point is that I support what my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) said about SEN funding. My local authority signed a safety valve agreement with the previous Government because of the rate of our dedicated schools grant.”
“It is a pleasure to speak in this estimates day debate. I will first declare my usual interest, as my wife is employed as a special educational needs co-ordinator in our local authority in the London borough of Bexley. I will start with three points about the impact on my constituency. First, I welcome the condition improvement funding, which will see investment in Fairford academy in Barnehurst, Peareswood primary school in Slade Green and Townley grammar school in Bexleyheath. Two specific Department for Education-led issues impact on my Conservative-controlled local authority in the London borough of Bexley. I was pleased to see in its recent representation that my council welcomes the “fix the market” pillar in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill.”
“On those points of how we can invest in housing, begin to have a fair funding review and look at the safety valve hanging over my council, I would welcome the Minister’s comments.”
“We hear fantasy economics from the Opposition, but let us be clear: the cuts that were made to local authorities happened under a Conservative council and a Conservative Government in my patch. I hope that the fair funding review will lead to some investment, and I know that my council is lobbying hard. There have been demographic changes in my patch, and I hope that we begin to see some investment in local services. Lastly, as I mentioned in the education debate—and, again, we have heard it before—we need guarantees about the safety valve that will be ending next March. My council did sign a safety valve agreement, but it continues to overspend, despite the commitments my Conservative council made to the previous Conservative Government, and that is a ticking time bomb for my council.”
“In the housing plans that come forward, I hope we can find ways for my local authority to begin to deliver the affordable homes that we desperately need. Hopefully, that will be through the election of a Labour council next year, but we will wait and see—it has been a long time since we have had one in my patch. My local authority is complaining about the ever-dwindling stock of private rented properties that it can purchase, but it needs to turn its attention to the moneys coming forward so that it can finally deliver affordable homes. Secondly, on local government funding, my council cut 15% of its staff in 2021. It had to sell a building in order to issue redundancy notices and, at the same time, had to come to the previous Government for a capitalisation order.”
“I start by paying tribute to officers and councillors in the London borough of Bexley for all they do. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) for securing today’s debate. For the record, my wife is employed by our local authority as a special educational needs co-ordinator in a local authority school. I will briefly touch on three things. First, I welcome the record investment in housing, but I remain deeply disappointed that my Conservative-controlled council sold off its housing stock 26 years ago, has no housing revenue account and, through its own development company, has built 126 homes on three sites and has not supplied a single affordable home on any of those sites. The council has used viability assessments to argue that it cannot build affordable homes.”
“I agree with the hon. Member that people in those circumstances should be able to seek an assisted death. However, the Bill allows someone to say to a doctor on a panel, “I want to go because I do not want to be a burden,” even if they are not suffering at that point in time. It also allows them to say, “I want to go now, so that my family have a larger inheritance.” Why should we support a Bill this afternoon that allows those things?”
“T5. It is 16 months since the publication of the Hughes report, but those patients harmed by sodium valproate continue to await the outcome on the redress that the Government will provide. Will the Secretary of State please provide an update on when they can expect an announcement on the redress that will be made available to them?”
“I congratulate the right hon. Gentleman on securing the debate. I declare my usual interests: my wife is a special educational needs co-ordinator at a local authority school in our patch, and my daughter has an EHCP and a complex set of disabilities, so I have absolutely fought this battle myself. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that what he has just described is a broken system that needs reform, and that whatever we see in the White Paper in the autumn, we will hopefully see reform that relies in particular on more training for all teachers across the profession? I think that is some of what he has just described.”
“I know that my constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford will welcome the investment that the Chancellor has announced today for new and affordable housing. The Government have set an ambitious target of 1.5 million homes, including 88,000 across London. To reach those targets, we will need investment not just in affordable homes, but in new transport infrastructure. Projects such as the docklands light railway extension to Thamesmead, for example, is forecast to unlock up to 40,000 new homes in brownfield sites across two of the most deprived boroughs in London. Will the Chancellor reaffirm the Government’s support for this important project and commit to providing funding for it?”
“I pay tribute to the fantastic work carried out by Irish Community Services in Bexleyheath in my constituency. It is supporting a number of survivors who are in those circumstances and would lose their means-tested benefit. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government need to look at disregarding the rules, so that survivors can keep both their compensation and any benefit that they are entitled to?”
“Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith), they have had great success in making shops report shoplifting again, and have managed to secure action against a number of individuals. In Crayford, they have taken action against drivers, predominantly from the large retail takeaways, which has led to 10 vehicles being seized and five arrests—two for shoplifting and three for immigration offences. I pay tribute to the work of my police on the ground in Bexleyheath and Crayford. There is clearly pressure on funding, but we made a commitment to introduce extra police officers on the ground. We did that when Labour controlled Bexley council 20 years ago, and I am sure the Government will work with our Mayor of London to restore those numbers, because they are absolutely crucial for retailers in my constituency.”
“In Crayford and Northumberland Heath, we now rely on smaller ward teams, of course, due to the cuts of the previous Mayor of London, who reduced the size of our teams. In Bexleyheath, I am lucky still to have a town centre team because of the size of shops, the night-time economy and the four secondary schools located in the town centre. I was pleased that we secured two more PCSOs for that team last November. Our teams have had a number of recent successes. Live facial recognition saw three arrests in Bexleyheath town centre last week. Also last week, our team worked with the local authority on a closure order for a shop in Bexleyheath town centre that was selling illegal tobacco and vapes. Unlike the right hon.”
“In my latter days in Marks and Sparks as a store manager, believe me, I saw and experienced many of the things that we have heard about today at first hand, including wrestling shoplifters to the ground. When cuts to public services are made, as they were under the Tory Government when I first started at M&S in the early ’90s, and when there is rising poverty, that is when shoplifting and those frontline issues increase. It is an absolute mission of this Labour Government to restore neighbourhood policing, and we have been elected on a manifesto commitment to do so. My constituency has two main town centres in Bexleyheath and Crayford, and a smaller neighbourhood centre in Northumberland Heath.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Erdington (Paulette Hamilton) for securing the debate. It is a great honour for me to represent Bexleyheath and Crayford in Parliament. I was a councillor in the last Labour cabinet in Bexley, 20 years ago, when Ken Livingstone and Tony Blair launched neighbourhood policing in our borough. We saw the great impact that had on communities on the ground in the area I represent. It is also a great honour for me because my first job during my 11 years in frontline retail was in the Marks and Spencer branch in Bexleyheath in my constituency.”
“Does the hon. Gentleman accept that the cuts from the previous Government have resulted in my local authority, the London borough of Bexley, having to make every one of its CCTV staff redundant, so that the council is no longer able to assist the police in fighting crime?”
“In recent weeks, we have seen a series of cyber-attacks on retailers, including on my former employer, Marks & Spencer, and on Government services such as the Legal Aid Agency. Will the Minister update the House on what discussions he has had with the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre and others to ensure that these incidents are dealt with as swiftly as possible and that more is done to prevent such attacks succeeding in the future?”
“My constituents, like those of my colleagues, are gravely concerned about the increase in their water bills, but I am also as concerned as them about the impact on business. Crayford town centre was closed again last month—the third year on the trot—because of rotting infrastructure. What assurances can the Secretary of State give to my constituents that no matter what happens, we will continue to invest in infrastructure to ensure that those kinds of closures finally end?”
“The hon. Gentleman, like me, sat on the Bill Committee. He heard, as I did, that if somebody had a learning disability, they were five times more likely to have a “do not resuscitate” order placed on them during the pandemic. Did he hear that evidence? Why does he not agree with it?”
“As my hon. Friend knows, having been on the Bill Committee with me, I had the same advice from Ministers: they disagreed with the wording of some of my amendments, yet they were accepted by the Bill’s promoter and the Committee and are now in the wording of the Bill. The position of the promoter and the position put to this House will now be that those amendments are not in line with the Government’s position. What is my hon. Friend’s view on the fact that we will be asked to support that?”
“I rise to speak to amendment 24 in my name, and I will start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Spen Valley (Kim Leadbeater) for inviting me to be a member of the Bill Committee. I accept the principle that somebody given the devastating news that they have six months left to live should be able to choose the moment that they die, with their loved ones around them, but this is not a vote on the principle. We are not being asked to make an arbitrary yes or no choice, for we are legislators, and my experience on the Bill Committee tells me that this Bill, as written, still requires additional safeguards to address the concerns of so many people in this country. For me, it was death, and my thoughts and concerns about what happens when I die, that drew me to my conclusions on this matter.”
“I fundamentally believe that it is my job, and the job of all of us, to protect the most vulnerable—but the Bill, as it stands, fails to do that. I have every sympathy with somebody at the end of their life, as I have said; I believe that they should have the right to go on their own terms, at their own time. But are there sufficient safeguards to ensure—in response to those who have links to the press and Parliament to make their voice heard—that we fully consider every scenario and safeguard those who do not have those links and who do not have a voice? If that choice comes at the price of one person, in a borderline capacity decision, being presumed to have capacity, that will be one death too many. My view is that it is not a price worth paying to allow others to have that choice.”
“We heard from Professor Gareth Owen, from Dr Annabel Price and from Dan Scorer of Mencap, who all raised concerns. In the last week, the Law Society has said that Parliament should fully consider how the Mental Capacity Act would operate under the Bill before any legislation is passed. The Royal College of Psychiatrists has said that although it is neutral on the issue, it opposes the Bill as it stands—particularly the mental capacity aspect, because, as it is written, it does not correlate with the Mental Health Act. Over the last few days, the Royal College of Physicians has also come out in support of that position. Over the last six months, I have heard a lot about choice, compassion and dignity, but what about choice, compassion and dignity for the people I have described?”
“I have accepted that she would not have enough capacity to go through the process, but the Bill Committee heard from Mencap in oral evidence that the vast majority of people with a learning disability in this country are not in the same position and could apply for an assisted death. The Bill Committee heard from many people. Dr Rachel Clarke raised her concerns about capacity. Baroness Falkner, giving evidence on behalf of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said that “capacity is a very serious consideration in our concern.” –– [ Official Report, Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Public Bill Committee, 29 January 2025; c. 178, Q232.] Dr Jamilla Hussain gave evidence about one palliative care team deeming that someone had capacity, while another palliative care team deemed that they did not.”
“The second principle of the Mental Capacity Act is: “A person is not to be treated as unable to make a decision unless all practicable steps to help him to do so have been taken without success.” It was accepted in Committee that doctors would have to assist individuals in this scenario to make the decision about an assisted death. From my lived experience, I would query how some aspects of the Mental Capacity Act are being carried out, given that I often have to deal with professionals who deem that my daughter has less or more capacity than she actually does.”
“They have enough capacity to understand that they could be a burden on their elderly parents. Their elderly parents might take the view that their son or daughter requires support to make the most complex decisions, yet because their son or daughter is assumed to have capacity under the first principle of the Mental Capacity Act, they could go through the entirety of this process—and the first time that the parents were aware of it would be when they were informed that their child had been assisted to die. For the same reason, I support amendment 8, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson), and amendments 10 and 33, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Lowestoft (Jess Asato), which relate to family members’ awareness of the process.”
“The parents of someone with a learning disability become accustomed to supporting them in their decision making. We understand their sight and communication difficulties, and the language needed to help them make a decision. The Mental Capacity Act rightly has a low bar to allow individuals to live a fulfilling life, because we would not want individuals to have their capacity assessed to purchase a coffee or withdraw money from the bank. I raised countless times in Committee—it was never challenged; in fact, it was accepted in some exchanges—that it would absolutely be possible for the following scenario to occur. An adult with a learning disability discovers that they have less than six months to live. They have a level of mental capacity that allows them to make many decisions in life.”
“I will not, because of time constraints; I am sorry. Like a small number of other Members in this House, I know the daily concerns of being a parent of a child with complex disabilities, including a learning disability. That concern lives with you every single day of your life: that concern about what will happen to your child when you are gone—about who will assist your child, because of the help they require due to their level of mental capacity and the difficulties they have communicating and interpreting information. The concern that haunts me every single day is, “Who will make, and how will they make, those decisions to support my daughter when my wife and I are gone?” That concern, shared by thousands of others, led me to the conclusion that the Mental Capacity Act 2005 was not written for this scenario.”
“In 2022, the previous Government cut a significant number of Southeastern services that my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford rely on. My constituents continue to raise concerns that direct services from London Charing Cross to Barnehurst and Bexleyheath should be reinstated during the evenings and weekends. Could the Minister provide an update on progress to reinstate those services?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for what was a very distressing statement. How might the plans for safeguarding DWP claimants apply to current Government policies?”
“According to analysis by the Carers Trust, 28% of carers are already living in poverty; it has particularly asked for a detailed impact assessment specifically on the carers community. Will the Minister comment on that when he sums up? I believe that this policy is driven by the DWP and Treasury alone. It is incumbent on us to ensure that other Government Departments—the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, the Department of Health and Social Care, the Department for Education and the Department for Transport—come up with proposals that also support the measures. I ask the Minister to comment on that because if we are truly to get disabled people to access work, and if we are truly to support carers, we need a strong cross-Government departmental strategy.”
“As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy and complex disabilities, I know what it is like to be a carer—I am a carer every day and I will be a carer until my dying day. It is therefore incumbent on me to speak on behalf of carers in this debate. I am now privileged because of the income I earn, but I have been there: worrying every day about the struggle of caring and the cost of paying the bills and mortgage. I know how many of my constituents in Bexleyheath and Crayford are stuck in the bubble that you get yourself into—stuck on a mixture of carer’s allowance and PIP, often becoming disabled yourself because of the mental or physical cost of that care.”
“It has carried out extensive work to ensure that a memorial is in place for local people who gave their lives, and it holds an incredibly moving service every November to remember them. I also mention the hard work and dedication of the two Royal British Legion branches in my constituency—the Bexleyheath and Welling branch and the Crayford branch—and thank them for all the work that they do to recognise the important contributions to the war effort. I look forward to joining them in attending a number of events in my constituency on Thursday to commemorate VE Day and to be able to pay my respects to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for us.”
“A window in St Paulinus church, Crayford, commemorates three members of the women’s voluntary services who died in a V1 explosion in July 1944. In total, 66 people were killed and 184 properties were destroyed, with 7,000 properties being damaged in the area around Crayford High Street. Hundreds more properties were destroyed across the constituency as a result of Nazi bombing. I pay tribute to the East Wickham & Welling War Memorial Trust for the work it does to commemorate the war effort and the brave soldiers from Bexleyheath and Crayford who served in the second world war. Its area of benefit covers parts of my constituency and the constituency of the hon. Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup (Mr French).”
“Crayford was home to the Vickers factory, which again produced machine guns, anti-aircraft predictors, naval gun-laying equipment, fuses and casings for Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb. The Slade Green heavy anti-aircraft battery was built in the late 1930s and was the most easterly anti-aircraft site built inside the London inner artillery zone. Today, the gun emplacements, fire command post, pillboxes and air raid shelter are still standing. After a successful local campaign in 2010, the site is now grade II listed. There are a number of war memorials across the constituency, including the garden of remembrance in Oaklands Road, Bexleyheath; St Augustine’s church in Slade Green; St Paul’s church in Northumberland Heath; and the Crayford war memorial garden.”
“It is a privilege to speak in this debate to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day. I am proud to serve as the Member of Parliament for Bexleyheath and Crayford and to represent a constituency that is home to around 2,000 veterans. My constituency is in proximity to the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich, in the south-east corner of London. Back in the day, the Royal Arsenal was home to one of the biggest munitions factories in the UK, with 32,000 employees producing guns, shells, cartridge cases and bombs, so my constituency became a prime target for Nazi bombing. While many of its residents were fighting overseas, my constituency was really playing its part to support the war effort.”
“I therefore welcome the Government’s planned changes. I would also welcome comments from my hon. Friend the Minister about what the Government propose to do to protect leaseholders from the kinds of abuse and poor service they have experienced, and about how some of these communal areas, which would traditionally be maintained by local authorities, might be returned to them, rather than being the responsibility of FirstPort, and therefore of homeowners themselves.”
“It also confirms that the construction and maintenance of internal roads and parking areas, although not carried out by the council, will need to be carried out “to the Council’s satisfaction.” That has caused real problems for my constituents, who are paying their council tax but also having to pay charges for these things. More recently, my constituents found that FirstPort is their management agent. This year it informed them that there was a £44,000 overspend in 2022, which they are now expected to pick up, in 2025. One constituent was told they had to pay charges for the two months before they moved into their property. Many residents have also seen the £600 charge for picking up responsibility for the communal areas and roads more than double in recent years, and they feel there is a gross unfairness in that.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Stuart. I thank the hon. Member for South Devon (Caroline Voaden) for securing the debate. My constituents at Vickers Green in Crayford have experienced similar problems to other constituents. The Conservative council granted their Barratt Homes development, consisting of 247 homes, planning permission in 2009. The local planning committee’s report confirms that management of “the estate roads, the communal areas, the play facility, the ecological area, the open space area etc” will technically be the responsibility of the homeowners.”
“However, I look forward, after the stories we have heard, to hearing the Minister’s feedback on what further action can be taken to ensure that Thames Water delivers valuable upgrades to both its infrastructure and its work to stabilise prices, which continue to cause great concern for my constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford.”
“In my 20 years as a local councillor until last year, I saw the situation get worse as that infrastructure got worse year on year. Leaks due to poorly maintained infrastructure are common across roads in each part of my constituency —in Barnehurst, Bexleyheath, Crayford, Northumberland Heath and Slade Green. As a result, we see constant road closures and great inconvenience to residents across the constituency. I was pleased to support the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act 2025, which became law earlier this year, and the announcement of an independent commissioner for the water sector and its regulation will be welcomed by many constituents across Bexleyheath and Crayford.”
“Years of under-investment, particularly in infrastructure, due to the previous Government’s weak regulations have created an unreliable system for which the public are now expected to foot the growing bill. It is not unusual for Crayford High Street, in the second main town centre in my constituency, to be closed for a month or two due to water leaks, as has happened on several occasions in recent years, diverting hundreds of residents who use that road for the school pick-up, commuting to work, visiting the shops in the town centre and getting on with their lives. Many constituents, while finding the closure of the road inconvenient, would support the occasional closure if it improved services—but the problems continue.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Lewell. I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor) for securing this important debate. Like all of us here today, I have been contacted by dozens of constituents who have been affected by problems with Thames Water’s service and, of course, the recent increase in their Thames Water bills. A family of four in my constituency have been in touch to say that their water bill alone has increased by almost £300 a year because of the recent increases. That increase for working families is unsustainable and causes more financial instability for families across my constituency of Bexleyheath and Crayford. Alongside that increase, as we have heard, the service that has been provided to constituents continues to not be good enough and is affecting residents on a daily basis.”
“The Epilepsy Research Institute’s asks include: “Ensuring that regulatory bodies act swiftly on safety concerns and that pregnant women with epilepsy have access to the best possible information and care. Working alongside experts and patient groups to ensure policies reflect the needs of those affected.” I ask the Minister to address those recommendations. We need to consider the people impacted by mesh and sodium valproate, as well as the wider impact. Sodium valproate continues to be prescribed, and we need a continuing review of how that affects women through their lives.”
“I know that sodium valproate did not affect my daughter, even though she has cerebral palsy from a brain injury at birth. However, I saw what happened to my wife: being taken off sodium valproate turned her life upside down. She went from being 12 years seizure-free to having to surrender her driving licence and not being able to work for some periods. I saw what it does to women in that situation, even though she had the correct advice. She eventually had to return to sodium valproate because of the number of seizures she was having and the impact it had on her life. I cannot imagine for a moment what the families present have gone through, but I know the impact that sodium valproate can have on women’s lives.”
“My good friend Teresa Pearce, the former MP for Erith and Thamesmead, worked very closely with many of the families over many years. She knows that the issue is close to my heart. The Epilepsy Research Institute welcomed the Hughes report’s recognition of the vital role that research plays in understanding and mitigating the risks of anti-seizure medication. It continues to raise its key asks on how we can move forward with the report’s recommendations. The institute’s view is that Ministers need to provide a clear timeline for implementing the redress schemes and research funding that are recommended in the Hughes report. There is a need for dedicated, ringfenced funding for epilepsy research, particularly into the effects of anti-seizure medications taken during pregnancy. My wife and daughter are both on sodium valproate.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Furniss. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) for securing this important debate. I pay tribute to my constituents Paula and Gillian, who have experienced the impact of pelvic mesh. I raised Paula’s experience in a debate on 5 December, but not much has changed for her. She is still living with the devastation that pelvic mesh has caused to her life and wellbeing. As we have heard, Paula and Gillian are not alone in their experience. According to the Patient Safety Commissioner, the lower-end estimate suggests that 10,000 women have been harmed. I pay tribute to all those who have campaigned for many years on the issue of sodium valproate.”
“Like thousands of others, I carried out my caring responsibilities this morning before I came to this place. I have first-hand experience of worrying about paying the bills every month due to caring responsibilities—something I no longer have to worry about. Will the Minister consider whether we need a plan across Government Departments to identify the support available to ensure that carers can work, and that they and their loved ones do not fall into poverty as a result of the announcements made?”