Steve Yemm
MP for Mansfield · Labour · United Kingdom
“I occasionally meet Jewish students at the University of Nottingham for dinner on a Friday evening, hosted by Chabad. Those students talk about being proud of their faith, but they frequently question whether they can be openly Jewish on campus. Does the hon.”
“I am encouraged to hear about the experience that my hon. Friend has recounted, but does he share my concern that Jewish students often have limited confidence in universities’ complaints procedures? Quite frequently, reports of antisemitism are dealt with rather slowly or without any form of consequence.”
“Today’s publication of Donna Ockenden’s report has laid bare absolutely appalling and systemic failures in maternity services in Nottinghamshire, with thousands of families suffering avoidable harm, and in many cases feeling ignored, dismissed or let down by the very institutions that were put in place to protect them.”
“When I talk to those workers, they are not opposed to change; they are asking a very reasonable question: what are the equivalent jobs, with equivalent pay, conditions and security, that are supposed to replace those that are being lost?”
“That is why projects such as Rosebank and Jackdaw should be considered in the contexts of jobs, industrial capacity and energy resilience alongside our climate commitments. The choice should not be between net zero and good jobs; the challenge for Government is to deliver on both of those things.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Furniss. I welcome this debate because it goes to the heart of two vital national priorities: tackling climate change and maintaining secure and affordable energy supplies. I support the transition to a low-carbon economy.”
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“I was so mentally, emotionally, physically and financially drained that I went to the agency and I gave them the keys back. I did not feel comfortable living in a house where the landlord is neglecting tenants. If I was to move in and something was to go wrong, he would never come out or get it fixed on time.” Those are really powerful words from my constituent. Following that, my constituent was denied any kind of refund for a period of months. They were only able to secure a refund due to a last-minute intervention by my office, after I had suggested that I would name the letting agent in my speech. The letting agent was kind enough to get back to my constituent and has provided them with a full refund today.”
“There were a few things that needed doing, which the agency said they would let the landlord know about and get fixed. I received the keys and was shocked that the damp and mould was still there, the radiator in one of the bedrooms was left on the floor and the bathtub was still out of place. The agent told me that the gas engineers told them that ‘the pipes in the house are all botched’. Winter is around the corner and if the heaters were to stop working, I’d have to stay in the house freezing. I’m a nurse and it would not be ideal for me to be off work sick.” My constituent further wrote: “I tried every day to get an update and find out if the landlord had sorted out the problems. Every time I had to leave in disappointment. Expecting to move into the new house, I vacated my previous occupancy.”
“The reforms outlined in this Bill and the amendments are, of course, long overdue. When I stood for election last year, I promised that I would deliver on five missions for Mansfield, one of which was to fix our broken housing market and ensure that people have affordable homes to rent. Sadly, that mission is necessary because many of my constituents face the constant risk of eviction. They live in fear of massive rent hikes, or endure substandard and even dangerous conditions in their homes. I will discuss two key aspects of the amendments. First, I support Government new clause 13, particularly in respect of rent and deposits in advance. I will read a few lines from a recent casework email that I received from one of my constituents: “I saw a house listed for rent and paid a deposit and rent in advance to secure the property.”
“That disadvantages women victims in their journey for justice when facing this abuse. That is not a criticism of the police or necessarily of community safety and housing teams and officers in local authorities. Broadly speaking, my experience is that they are doing their utmost to deal with the situation, within the legal framework that they face and the resources that they have. Before I continue, I would like to pass on my gratitude to Nottinghamshire police, especially Inspector Davies and her neighbourhood team in Mansfield, as well as Mansfield district council, for engaging with my office about casework on issues outlined by the hon. Member for Ashfield. I can already see the impact of the new neighbourhood policing approach and strategy in Mansfield.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms McVey. I thank the hon. Member for Ashfield (Lee Anderson) for securing this important debate. The Labour Government have a clear mission to tackle antisocial behaviour and halve violence against women and girls. My constituency is troubled by endemic antisocial behaviour, both domestically and in our town centre. In addition, Mansfield is the worst affected town in Nottinghamshire for violent offences perpetrated by men against women. Hon. Members will know my concern for women’s welfare in both of those regards, having alluded to them in previous debates. My experience from listening to victims of antisocial behaviour in this context is that they are often women who are systematically failed by a response system unfit for purpose.”
“Indeed, and I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. I agree, and I will address that in my comments. We need named neighbourhood officers taking ownership of their patches in council estates and social housing areas in our town and becoming part of the community again. We are already beginning to see in multi-agency meetings the impact that that can have. In the press over the weekend and again today, the hon. Member has talked about his desire to implement a three-strike rule for social housing tenants that would see them evicted after three instances of antisocial behaviour that meets the evidence threshold to demonstrate it. I would argue that this proposition is somewhat too liberal and lenient and does not go far enough to address the issues.”
“Many constituents who attend my surgeries have gone through all the stress and anxiety of doing that on numerous occasions, having put their mental wellbeing and often their personal security at risk, only to then be told that the evidence does not meet the threshold required to instigate an intervention.”
“That is exactly what I am saying. I wish to address the issues that are being endured by social housing tenants at the hands of those who are consistently perpetrating domestic antisocial behaviour in their neighbourhoods, and a “three strikes and you’re out” approach would take many, many years of them suffering this type of abuse. I will outline why I think such an approach would be lacking in its effectiveness of outcome and deterrence. First, my experience is that there are issues with the evidence threshold. Councils in my area and many others are asking victims of antisocial behaviour in social housing to bear the burden of proof by taking their own recordings and notes and submitting them.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. My dismay is at what I hear from my constituents, many of whom have suffered for many years trying to prove a single instance of antisocial behaviour. Indeed, they are often then notified that the advised method of evidence collection—often recordings on a mobile phone app—does not satisfy the evidential requirements to take action. After many years of threats to their own security and a great deal of effort, they find that the action is dropped and has to be started again. This is not an isolated incident in my constituency. Many, many women—and it is almost always women—have come to me in tears at my surgeries.”
“Often, antisocial behaviour is complex in nature and a multifaceted, multi-agency approach is required to resolve it—something that, in my limited experience, should prevent passing of the buck. However, that collaboration can only be as effective as the legislative support that it has to operate under. We have seen the effect that Government policy is already having on neighbourhood policing, and stronger powers for councils would enable them to provide peace and security for respecting and respectable social housing tenants who abide by their tenancy contracts and reflect our British values of decency towards their neighbours.”
“Like all other citizens, social housing tenants should be expected to respect their neighbours and not contribute to antisocial behaviour, or they should forfeit the right to be housed by their council. In my outlook, rather than affording three strikes, this should be a zero-tolerance policy, and I am confident that my constituents who suffer at the hands of those engaged in antisocial behaviour in their neighbourhoods would agree with me. Finally, I want to outline the mechanism that I have collaborated in with Mansfield police and Mansfield district council to tackle this issue. It has in part been made possible by the Government’s neighbourhood policing strategy and the direction of Nottinghamshire police, under the Labour police and crime commissioner, Gary Godden.”
“Secondly, in my outlook, affording up to three strikes under the current system may well perpetuate the crisis, leaving some of those upstanding and decent social housing tenants at the mercy of problem tenants in neighbourhoods in my constituency. I fear that tenants in neighbouring properties would be subject to a process that could take years to conclude or that failed to do so because of loopholes and inconsistencies in their self-collected evidence. We have a new Labour Government. We are looking to renew the social contract between the state and individuals, but part of that contract requires certain commitments of responsibility to earn the rights that it provides.”
“Again, I thank the hon. Member for his intervention. The experience that I have from casework tells me many of those things also; I see many examples of such casework at my surgery. I think councils should and must be better equipped for enforcement action than they are today. They need to make a dedicated response. It needs to be backed by stronger regulation. They need to work more closely alongside the police to gather evidence of reports of antisocial behaviour. I would hope that, in turn, that would free up our police officers to respond to more serious criminal activity, rather than having to focus their resources on these recurring incidents.”
“I think it important for us to ensure that private companies are not making excessive profits at the expense of other public sector services, and I therefore welcome the numerous measures in the Bill that aim to rebalance the children’s social care placements market and drive down those excessive profits made by some unscrupulous private providers, together with the demand for full financial transparency from those organisations and the potential for the creation of regional care co-operatives.”
“It is a pleasure to stand here today and talk about a Bill that delivers on the Government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity. There are two aspects that I particularly welcome. The first is the potential profit cap, which will enable the Secretary of State to cap the profits of non-local authority Ofsted-registered providers of children’s homes, foster agencies and supported accommodation. There are areas throughout the country, including mine, where the cost of placing children in private sector residential social care is eye-wateringly high. I regularly meet officers from my local authority, Nottinghamshire county council, and the costs that they are incurring to meet the needs of children’s welfare have been described by the council’s former Conservative leader, Ben Bradley, as “rinsing” local authority finances.”
“Numerous teachers in Mansfield, some of them visibly distressed and upset, have told me that they have used their own money to buy food for children who have turned up to school with empty stomachs—young children who are so hungry that they cannot concentrate on their studies. It is not that those children are unloved or wilfully neglected; many come from loving families with both parents working all hours to provide for them, which leaves precious little time for the preparation of a meal before school. This Bill clearly drives home Labour’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity, and I will be voting for it proudly on behalf of all the children and families in my area who will benefit from it.”
“Indeed; I see the positive benefit of both those developments. We will be able to rebalance spending across local authority budgets and provide a significantly better and measurable standard of care at the same time. The second aspect of the Bill that I particularly welcome is the introduction of free breakfast clubs in every primary school, which will have a significant and positive impact on families in Mansfield, in particular by helping with the cost of living and supporting parents who are having to juggle work commitments. However, I am especially motivated to support the Bill because of some of the harrowing stories that I have heard from constituents.”
“T9. What measures are the Government taking to support small independent retail businesses in town centres such as mine in Mansfield, and will the Chancellor join me in congratulating Mansfield business improvement district on its successful renewal ballot, which was announced last Friday?”
“Simply being a man has protected me from having to navigate the gender-based challenges that are ever present in the lives of girls and women. For example, I do not know the feeling of silently suffering sexual harassment in school and the effects that it could have on my education, or of being scared to walk alone at night, with the constant need to check over my shoulder. Does my hon. Friend the Minister agree with me not only that there is great value in putting the voices and experiences of women and girls at the centre of our work, but that equally every one of us has to acknowledge the responsibility that we have for tackling this issue?”
“My constituency is classed as the most dangerous major town in Nottinghamshire, and by far the most common crimes are violence and sexual offences. Like much of the rest of the UK, Mansfield is victim to deeply rooted misogynistic beliefs and social norms that allow violence against women and girls to proliferate. In the time I have, I would like to welcome some of the valuable work and initiatives already ongoing in my community, particularly the work by Mansfield district council and Nottinghamshire police in relation to their Safer Streets initiative, and the police and crime commissioner’s strategy for tackling violence against women and girls. As a proud father to three women, I recognise the privilege I have had throughout my life.”
“To this day, I have no idea who it was or what was said, but the conversation clearly distracted John so much that when he arrived back, he hit the ball with such force that it bounced right off the table and hit the ministerial car. From that experience, I can assure the House that the left hook still packed a mighty punch. In the years after John left office, I would often drive him back to the station at Newark or Doncaster after his many visits to Mansfield, so he could get the train to London or back home to Hull. The insights from his frank and honest recollections of history from the Blair and Brown years will stay with me for a very long time. May he rest in peace.”
“That helped ensure that my area received millions of pounds of funding. John had a particularly strong link to my constituency of Mansfield, especially through my Labour predecessor, Sir Alan Meale, who was his parliamentary private secretary for some years. Anecdotally, I can recall many endearing memories of John, including a time when we were playing table tennis in Sir Alan’s front yard in Mansfield. It was a lovely sunny day and we were enjoying our game in the garden, on a day when the Prime Minister was out of the country on business. An important call came through that John had to take, and we paused our game.”
“Further to that point of order, Mr Speaker. I was deeply saddened to hear about the death of John Prescott. I send my condolences to Pauline, his sons and all those who were close to him. I considered him to be a good friend of mine and of Mansfield. He was a giant of a man and a champion of the coalfields, devolution, local government and climate action. I first met John in the 1980s, as an activist in the Labour party, and enjoyed supporting him in his first campaign to be deputy leader in 1988, and in his campaign to be leader and deputy leader in 1994. His legacy includes setting up the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, which was established to help support former coalfield areas in communities such as Mansfield that had been impacted by the pit closure programmes of the 1980s and 1990s.”
“In my Mansfield constituency, more than one in four pupils are eligible for and claiming free school meals, and the schools they are taught in are crying out for additional resources to help those young people. We cannot afford to offer tax breaks to private schools operating as businesses when our children’s state education system, which is relied on by over 95% of the children in my constituency, is crumbling. That is why I will be voting to support this Bill, which will end those tax breaks on private schools and help to raise the revenue needed to fund this Government’s education priorities.”
“I am further pleased to see that the Bill creates the powers needed to ensure that we can make good on our promise to introduce permanently lower rates for those retail, hospitality and leisure properties that make up the backbone of our high streets, including in my constituency of Mansfield, and to pay for this with a higher multiplier for the most valuable properties. As well as speaking with local businesses every week, I also visit schools across my constituency. Last week I visited a primary school that has not turned on the heating in the main part of its building for over 18 months and is reliant on the benevolence of local businesses to provide an essential breakfast club. It simply should not have to be that way, with schools relying on local businesses, and I am sure that it will not be that way under this Labour Government.”
“Many in my local town centre are represented by the Mansfield business improvement district, and when I meet up with them, as I often do—sometimes together with representatives of the Shopkeepers’ Campaign—business rates come up time and again. It is clear that we need a fairer system that does not put an unreasonable burden on the small businesses that power our high streets, and that is why I welcome the reforms to business rates that are being made through the Bill. The Bill will bring certainty and fairness to the retail, hospitality and leisure businesses that have been disproportionately disadvantaged by the current system.”
“Last week I visited Jacqueline, a franchise owner who, through sheer hard work and working her way up through the ranks, now runs a number of restaurant outlets in and around Mansfield. I witnessed at first hand her dedication to her business through the manner in which she motivates her staff as a business leader. For leisure and hospitality businesses such as Jacqueline’s, trading is tough, and has been made harder by the circumstances they were trading in—namely, the uncertainties surrounding business rates under the previous Government. Locally, I stood on a platform to focus on five specific issues across Mansfield and Warsop, one of which was to help improve our town centre.”
“I see latent potential to build on that collaboration between HE and FE in my constituency, which might be called “the Mansfield model”, across further education. By cutting red tape and streamlining the effectiveness of funding, like in the West Notts college and Nottingham Trent University joint campus in my constituency, it would be possible to unleash the power of further education provision. Given the success in my local area, I recently wrote to invite the Secretary of State for Education to Mansfield. I would be delighted to host a Minister from the Department, so that they can see directly how the local model could be used as a blueprint to improve skills and attract important private sector investment into towns like mine.”
“I have had a number of discussions with West Notts college and Nottingham Trent University about their funding streams and ways they feel they can work together more effectively to bring exactly those types of opportunities in the further and higher education sector to young people and adults in my constituency. As part of that, we have seen a £6.5 million education investment from Nottingham Trent University in my constituency, which is delivering specialist teaching and learning facilities to support local people to upskill and to access and retain employment in the local area. That includes really important opportunities in nursing, aligned with the local health authority, and in engineering, business, criminal justice and sports science. I congratulate both those parties on their work to enabled all of that to come to fruition.”
“One was to do everything I could to facilitate a stable and growing local economy and good-quality jobs for everyone in my constituency. Of course, a critical part of that is ensuring that there is a wide range of high-calibre academic and vocational education opportunities. I therefore welcome the debate. Without a highly skilled workforce, areas like mine cannot attract the investment we need, and we know that investment brings prosperity for our communities. I am delighted that the Government made additional money available in the Budget for further education and have announced reforms to the apprenticeship system, with a new growth and skills levy. I welcome the progress and know that the Government have aspirations to do more over the coming months and years. I want Mansfield to be part of that conversation.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Christopher. Making sure that our young people have access to a wide range of educational opportunities that can lead them on to high-quality, well-paid and secure employment is vital to the health of our economy. In fact, it is critical to towns like Mansfield, which are to some extent facing a brain drain due to poor investment in employment opportunities and a weak private sector. They also have the difficulties with productivity and gross value added highlighted by the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds); those are a real challenge in constituencies like mine. In July, I was elected with a mandate for change locally. I stood on a platform to focus on five local missions that I thought would have a significant impact.”
“Due to a lack of funding, many reservists in my constituency are not getting the training days they need and are therefore not receiving the salary that they had anticipated. That means that many highly trained and committed reservists have no choice but to leave and join another career. Will the Minister outline what the Labour Government will do to support our reservists, including those who live in my constituency, all of whom are a vital part of our armed forces?”
“In my constituency of Mansfield, our member-owned mutual organisation, Mansfield building society, provides essential banking services. It is a significant local employer and invests in projects to support my community. What is the Minister doing to unlock the full potential of the sector and organisations such as Mansfield building society?”
“Thousands of people in my constituency will benefit hugely from the Government’s decision in the Budget to increase the national living wage—a measure that the Leader of the Opposition has previously made it clear that she is against. Can we have a debate about the importance of putting more money in the hands of working people and the impact that will have on economic growth?”
“At a time of highly stretched resources right across Government, thanks to the mess in the public finances left by the Conservative party, my constituents will be pleased that £75 million has been secured for further investment in the Border Security Command. Does the Minister agree that it is a far better use of taxpayers’ money than paying people to go to Rwanda or housing them in hotels at great expense?”
“That is what the people of Mansfield sent me here to deliver on, so I am very pleased that our first Budget is protecting working people. We are choosing to ask the wealthiest and businesses to pay their fair share, while ensuring that working people will not face higher taxes in their payslips. The Conservative party wrecked the economy. Today we are fixing the foundations and beginning the work of rebuilding it. That is why I am so proud to be part of this new Government, to support them and to support this Budget.”
“My final focus is to see us create the conditions for a stable and growing economy that benefits the prosperity of people in Mansfield and Warsop. The Chancellor clearly understands that, with the announcement of an additional £300 million for further education by transforming the apprenticeship levy into a growth and skills levy. I look forward to collaborating with my colleagues in Government to deliver the benefits of that package for Mansfield. Stability ensures energy security, protects household budgets and gives my local businesses the confidence to invest in people. Stability means that instead of worrying about political infighting and jumping from one crisis to the next, we can invest in our public services.”
“I know those Mansfield residents will welcome the Chancellor’s announcement of a more than £20 billion increase in the day-to-day health budget, helping to deliver our manifesto commitment to fund 40,000 extra hospital appointments a week, increasing capacity for tens of thousands more procedures next year, and delivering new capacity for over a million additional diagnostic tests. Local people want to see us fix our broken housing market, for both buyers and renters. The £500 million boost to the affordable homes programme will help local authorities and housing associations. Visitors to our town centre want us to crack down on crime and antisocial behaviour. I know the people of Mansfield will welcome today’s announcement to increase the core Government grant for police forces.”
“My constituents regularly contact me in exasperation about the state of the roads in Mansfield, after eight years of failure from the Tories in county hall. The people of Mansfield will therefore welcome the news that we are investing almost £1.6 billion more to maintain and renew the nation’s roads, enabling us to go even further than the previous Government’s commitment to fix an additional 1 million potholes across England each year. I look forward to working with Ministers to ensure Nottinghamshire gets its fair share of that funding. My residents in Mansfield report to me their experiences of the 8 am scramble for a GP appointment. They want more investment to rebuild our NHS and to cut waiting times. I am glad we made progress today towards dealing with the mess left by the previous Government.”
“Although it is disappointing that the Conservative Benches are almost empty, it gives me great pleasure to welcome the first Labour Budget in more than 14 years. I am delighted that the Chancellor herself visited Mansfield. She clearly listened to the concerns of my constituents, because many of the things local people have been saying they wanted to see were announced in the Budget this afternoon. During my election campaign, I set out a mandate of five missions to deliver as part of my commitment to help the people of Mansfield and Warsop. It is refreshing that today’s Budget will enable me to deliver on those missions, alongside the national missions we have as a Government. Nottinghamshire has previously held the accolade of being the worst place for potholes in the UK.”
“What are the Government doing to ensure that the real picture of the impact on civilians in the region is well known, or better known, both domestically and in the international community?”
“It is incredibly concerning that the Knesset is pursuing legislation to restrict UNRWA’s work. Does the Minister agree that the international community needs to put in place mechanisms to fully monitor and incentivise the implementation of the Colonna reforms in order to assure and give comfort to Israelis and Jewish communities in the UK that UNRWA’s staff will never again be able to participate in terrorism?”
“Finally, I recently hosted a parliamentary reception for Care after Combat, a charity that mentors veterans in the justice system. I thank the more than 100 parliamentarians who took the time to visit and understand the issues further. Veterans are the largest occupational group represented in the justice system, which is an uncomfortable statistic. Listening to accounts of the charity’s work and the veterans’ stories, it was clear that veterans have a lot to contribute to society, including those with experience of the justice system.”
“As the employer of a veteran in my parliamentary office, I can see the skills that are invested in service personnel in their training—skills that continue to be useful in my office. Speaking as a former CEO, it is clear to me that the armed forces ethos and work ethic provides advantages to business. The Minister for Veterans and People recounts an operation that he conducted in Afghanistan, and speaks of the commitment that those whom he commanded were able to give to their mission because of their certainty about the wraparound support they would receive, should they require it, on the frontline. It is time for society and the Government to deliver that in a post-service support package, in return for the commitment shown by our armed forces.”
“The armed forces covenant is a critical document that has the capability to positively impact the lives of service personnel and veterans, and I am pleased that the Labour Government have committed to enshrining it in law and making it a legally binding commitment, so that nobody from the armed forces family is disadvantaged in any way by their military service to our nation. I am proud that West Notts college in my constituency of Mansfield was recently awarded a defence employer recognition scheme silver award for supporting the armed forces covenant. I congratulate the college, and look forward to seeing many other organisations in my constituency take this important step.”
“T8. What update can the Minister give us on UK support for the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace? Will the Government convene a summit of international partners to ensure that civil society is at the heart of peace building in the coming years in the region?”
“T9. I have listened in absolute amazement to the outrage from Opposition Members about the careful consideration of security for Taylor Swift’s concerts in London, a week after her Vienna tour was cancelled due to a terror plot. Does the Home Secretary think that is cynical opportunism from Conservative Members, or have they lost all sense of reason?”
“Only recently, almost 300 workers in my constituency have been on strike, including porters, cleaners and cooks employed by Medirest, a private contractor in my local NHS trust in Mansfield. Supported by my union, the GMB, they took a stand, because Medirest company bosses refused to keep their terms and conditions, including on sickness pay, in line with those of colleagues employed directly by the NHS. All those workers wanted was the right to reasonable sick pay. The Bill will help to strengthen statutory sick pay, and for that reason my constituents and I support it, and I commend it to the House.”
“I recall a particularly striking encounter on the doorstep in Mansfield during the recent general election campaign; I spoke to a former adult care worker, who told me that they had become a dog walker because the pay was better. We are a nation of dog lovers, but that is not acceptable to me. The second aspect relates to sick pay. Millions of workers in the UK are entitled to minimum statutory sick pay only, which stands at £116 a week, and they are not eligible for any sick pay for the first three days of sickness. Opposition Members clearly feel that that is perfectly acceptable, because they took no action on it over the past 14 years, but I wonder how many of them could feed their family and pay their bills on £116 a week.”
“I, too, draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, and my membership of Unite and the GMB. I welcome the Bill, and I know that my constituents in Mansfield will, too. There are two key aspects of it that they will be particularly keen to see. First, it offers the right to collective bargaining on pay for those in social care. People in that sector do incredible work, with long shifts and unsociable hours. I am sure that the whole House will join me in thanking the more than 1.5 million people who work in social care across the UK. It is a scandal that, despite the importance of their work, many are paid the minimum wage and struggle to provide for their family.”