Jonathan Davies
MP for Mid Derbyshire · Labour · United Kingdom
“The Minister was right when she said that climate change drives nature loss, and nature loss drives climate change. We are seeing the effects of that on people’s health, the economy and global security, so I welcome the work that the Government are doing to address that.”
“One in five people experience domestic violence in their lifetime—around one in four women, and one in six or seven men—but it is thought that only 20% of it is reported. It is also thought that there is significant under-reporting of the domestic violence experienced by men, due to social stigma.”
“I am grateful to His Majesty’s Opposition for calling this debate today, as it gives me an opportunity to talk about a survey of young people that I did last year.”
“I really hope that it is a success. I know that in Cornwall—my hon. Friend’s part of the world—there will be a great many businesses and visitors benefiting from the scheme. Alan Milburn’s report, which highlighted that a million young people are out of work, is something that I am struggling to comprehend.”
“On summer jobs, it is particularly important to highlight our support for hospitality, including cutting business rates for pubs and live music venues by 15%, which will be followed by a two-year freeze. We are also increasing the hospitality support fund to £10 million, which will really help those sectors.”
“I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. My focus is on the people of Mid Derbyshire, but I am sure that the people of Clacton will hold their representative to account in the appropriate way.”
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“I am reminded of the case of Bishop George Bell, whose reputation had been solid, and who was deemed not to have committed any crime at all. There are similar instances that will never be reported, and those people carry around that burden with them. It is important that the Church learns to be proactive about safeguarding and supporting victims, but also ensures that it does not take people through a safeguarding process who should not be there, or perhaps should be investigated but with no further action taken. It is important that the Church understands that it must strike that balance, because if it is taking action against people to safeguard its own reputation, it is failing a whole different set of people. I am sorry to have seen some cases like that in the course of my work.”
“However, what many people find particularly disappointing about the Church is that they feel it is a place where they ought to be safe, and they ought to be able to trust its leaders. Many of those leaders do an outstanding job, often in difficult circumstances, but fundamentally—as with the other sectors that have experienced these issues—the Church is run by people. In that respect, it is no different. I want to touch on how the Church has responded to some safeguarding issues and where, in an attempt to provide redress for its past failings, it has been ham-fisted in dealing with cases of people who perhaps have not met the threshold for being on the receiving end of sanction for something that they may or may not have done.”
“We want to see it succeed, but it is so important that the Church gets its relationship with safeguarding right, because so many victims have been failed: victims of physical and sexual abuse, of emotional or financial abuse, and of coercion. As the Church of England is the established Church and enjoys a privileged position in this country, it is right that it is accountable to Parliament and that we are having this debate. It is important to note that it is not just the Church that has had issues with safeguarding, as profound as those issues may be. It is not just religious groups or organised religions, whether Christianity or other religions; there are many other sectors across society, including the media, education and healthcare, where we can point to very poor safeguarding practices.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) for the sensitive way in which he opened this debate, and for the detailed way in which he set out the journey that has brought us to tonight’s discussion. It is telling that there are a lot of Members present across the Chamber tonight. Of course, we stand with victims and we are appalled that there have been so many, but I am sure I speak for many of us when I say that we are passionate about the Church of England, what it stands for and what it seeks to do—how it seeks to lift us to another plane and give us hope.”
“We have seen examples in the NHS and education where extremely poor services have not been of a standard that people have a right to expect—there has been abuse in some cases—but regulators’ oversight has not been modern enough to capture that and drive regulatory action.”
“It is also estimated that measures in this Bill will free up a huge amount of time within the NHS for clinicians, potentially saving lives as well as making services more accessible and responsive to people’s needs. That is vital as the Government have inherited from their predecessors the longest waiting times in NHS history. The Bill will also improve the information that regulators receive, enabling a real-time view of how a service is performing. Old models of regulation, where inspectors would go in on a periodic rolling basis, are often insufficient and not responsive to a service’s current situation.”
“Measures in the Bill are expected to free up 1.5 million hours of police time, meaning officers will have more time to tackle crime rather than dealing with admin. This will be welcome in communities blighted by antisocial behaviour and among retailers who have been affected by shoplifting or violence against shop workers—the Co-op in Oakwood in my constituency is an example. It will also be welcomed in terms of the service victims of domestic violence receive from the police, as they will have more time to take preventive work and support victims, including my constituent Hayley who came to me to talk about her experience of domestic violence.”
“I am grateful to have the opportunity to speak in this debate, and I am pleased to follow the powerful speech of the hon. Member for Cheltenham (Max Wilkinson). This wide-ranging Bill cuts across many aspects of Government and people’s lives. We must harness the power of data to drive economic growth, to support a modern digital Government and build more efficient, effective public services, and to support people to have improved lives more generally. For too long this potential has not been fully realised, holding back businesses, public services, learning and education, and people up and down the country more generally. This mission-led Government’s plan for change—delivering economic growth, better public services and action on the environment—cannot be fully realised without some of the opportunities that this Bill creates.”
“People were worried about the effect that that would have on scribes and the monks who transcribed the religious texts. The hon. Member for Perth and Kinross-shire (Pete Wishart), who is no longer in his place, spoke about the volumes of books that we have here in Parliament.”
“During the Bill’s passage through the House of Lords, efforts were made to strengthen copyright protections for creators, including artists, photographers, authors, musicians, composers and lyricists. I welcome the work that the House of Lords has done to push those issues further up the agenda. Stronger protections for creators is something that I will always seek to support. Artificial intelligence has benefits for sectors such as music, yet more transparency from AI firms on the music, art, and literature on which their systems draw is absolutely necessary. Although the technology is new, some of the arguments that we have heard here and today in the wider discourse on this Bill are decidedly not new. I am reminded of the 15th century—although I was not there—when Johannes Gutenberg rolled out his printing press for the first time.”
“I also wish to touch on the national underground asset register—a national map of the UK’s underground infrastructure. In Derbyshire, people find it so frustrating to find that their street, their road, or the highway that they use has been dug up again by yet another utility company, or another person who needs access to the cables or the infrastructure underground. Not only is that frustrating for people as they try to get around, but it is, I believe, undermining the integrity of the roads that we use and driving our pothole problems. I hope that, combined with our journey to local government devolution, our roads will be another area where people will be able to see a tangible difference.”
“My hon. Friend is right. There are tremendous opportunities to anticipate people’s needs throughout their lives and also drive scientific innovation, so that we can live longer and healthier lives. The Health Secretary and other Ministers have been clear that the huge investment that the Government are making in public services must go hand in hand with reform, since change will not be delivered solely by spending more money, and this Bill will help to make that possible. I am also pleased that the Government will strengthen safeguards on personal data. That is key to ensuring that people have trust in the services that they use, and to preventing those who would exploit personal data from being able to do so. I look forward to following that aspect of the Bill as it progresses through its future stages.”
“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I shall get on to those points when I talk about the consultation that is currently under way. We need to ensure that the benefits of AI are managed and that our creators are properly protected. This is a £120 billion industry, which employs more than 2 million people. It is an expression of who we are and contributes to our understanding of ourselves and each other, and it takes us on a journey where we can walk in somebody else’s shoes and build a more tolerant, cohesive and engaged society. If we do not get this right, all that is threatened. That would be bad not just for the global stars, the household names and the people whose records, CDs and downloads we have in our homes—”
“Given that this issue has been conflated with those in the Bill, I would appreciate an assurance from the Minister that if we cannot proceed with progressing better protections to ensure the UK’s legal framework for AI and copyright for the creative industries at this stage, we will consider the matter following the closure of the consultation. I look forward to working with Ministers and colleagues across the House to get the best solution possible for our creatives.”
“Yes, and cassettes. It would also be bad for those at the start of their journey. We must cultivate up-and-coming talent and support emerging artists across all those sectors. We have a moral duty to do so and to find an equitable solution, and I commend the work that UK Music has done to point that out. I know it was not the Bill’s intended purpose to address copyright and AI. The consultation, which closes on 25 February, is under way, and I know the Government do not want to predetermine its outcome because we want to get this right. We need to get it right for the economy and for our culture.”
“I understand that one reason why Estonia has a sophisticated tech and AI capability, and a great many protections in how it manages that data, is that it faces a threat from Russia and is keen to ensure that its digital integrity is retained. I am glad that we do not face quite the same threat in this country, but we can learn lessons from Estonia, and I am glad that the hon. Gentleman has raised that.”
“I am sorry to say that some have used our Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to talk about another sinister issue in society, but that Bill will give a real boost to children and young people in Derbyshire’s schools, particularly through the breakfast clubs. I ask the Minister to make sure that children who benefit from home-to-school transport are able to attend and participate in those breakfast clubs. I did not want to come to this debate just to outline a situation that our residents know about, and that we all know about from our constituency postbags; I also wanted to outline solutions for the council. This Government are responding to councils’ needs and investing money in our children and young people, and now we need Derbyshire county council’s leaders to take that forward.”
“As the Government’s plan for change is implemented, I hope we will see acute and primary care restored to where they should be, so that local NHS leaders have more time to support SEND provision. The Government are making a significant investment in local authorities, and I was pleased to learn earlier this month that we will be providing more than £69 billion of funding to councils, which represents a 6.8% cash terms increase in core spending powers. We also have £2.3 billion coming for schools, including £1 billion for SEND. Aspects of the autumn Budget were truly remarkable and laid the foundations for rebuilding public services and giving our children and young people opportunities in life.”
“We know from the SEND report that there probably has not been enough integration between the NHS and the county council on this issue. One good thing the last Government did was to set up the integrated care boards, as well as the integrated care partnerships that oversee those boards. I was proud to sit on the Derby and Derbyshire integrated care partnership prior to my election to this place. Some good work came through, but understandably, given the state of the NHS, primary and acute care took up most of the body’s time. I would like the integrated care board and the integrated care partnership to spend more time on the wider determinants of people’s health, particularly people with disabilities and long-term conditions.”
“Colleagues have rightly said that the council made strategic choices—political choices—that meant the service it was providing was not effective enough. We have heard that the council did not spend £16 million of the money it had to support our children and young people with special educational needs, and I find that level of incompetence absolutely staggering. I am conscious that councils across the country, not just Derbyshire county council, have faced a decade and a half of the most appalling funding cuts. Derbyshire county council’s budget was around £1 billion a year in 2010, which is around £1.5 billion in today’s money. I understand that today its budget is £780 million, so around half of what it was in real terms.”
“As colleagues have said, it identified widespread and systemic failings in the SEND provision in Derbyshire, and I have to say that it was not a surprise to read that report. That is what local people had been telling me for quite some time, but I think the report gave them a sense of vindication. Up to that point, they were almost feeling that maybe it was them, maybe they did not understand or appreciate the situation, or maybe they were the only one. But that report gave local people a sense that they were not alone. There are many people in Mid Derbyshire and right across the county who are held back by the situation with our special educational needs provision in the county. I spent a little time thinking about how we got here.”
“I want to thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour, the Member for Amber Valley (Linsey Farnsworth), for securing this important debate for us tonight, because whether you are young or old in Derbyshire, it feels like you have a county council that is not on your side. SEND makes up a big amount of my postbag, as does the decision to consider closing the Ada Belfield care home in my constituency, which is greatly valued across the community for its quality and safety, and for its kind, compassionate, person-centred care. That is a concern to many local people as well. We have a widespread selection of issues in Derbyshire for which the county council is responsible. I read with interest, although not surprise, the Ofsted report that was published just before Christmas.”
“One of the reasons the county council has got into this mess is because it was around a decade since Ofsted’s previous inspection of its SEND provision. When I approached Ofsted, officials said the reason is that that was what Ofsted had been contracted to do by the Government. We need more agile regulation, as we discussed on the Second Reading of the Data (Use and Access) Bill today, but does the Minister have plans to look at Ofsted’s regulatory model and the frequency with which it inspects? If the provision in Derbyshire had been inspected earlier, we might have less of a problem to deal with now.”
“It has been a joy to have apprentices from Rolls-Royce Submarines, in my constituency, in Parliament this week, especially in the wake of the £9 billion investment the Government made in Rolls-Royce last week. Does the Chief Secretary agree that it is only by working with manufacturing companies like Rolls-Royce that we will deliver the economic growth we badly need?”
“On Friday, I met my constituent Hayley Johns. She has given me permission to share her story in this place. Hayley was a victim of domestic abuse and actual bodily harm perpetrated by an ex-partner. I was absolutely shocked to hear her story. Her ex-partner was convicted for three years for his crimes. However, he is being considered for release after serving just three months. Does the Justice Secretary agree that given the legacy of the previous Government, we need to redouble our efforts, and the efforts of this Government, to improve confidence in the criminal justice system? Can I please ask her to take a personal interest in this case?”
“Museums make an important contribution to our cultural life, but also to our economy. The Arts Council and the Museums Association found that net expenditure on museums and galleries has decreased by almost 40% in real terms since 2009. I welcome the Chancellor’s recognition that the creative industries are key to delivering growth and that national museums were given support in the recent Budget, but what steps can the Government take to support regional civic museums, such as Derby museum, which did not benefit from that funding?”
“T8. Residents in Oakwood, which is part of the city of Derby, are concerned about the impact that potential development on the last field adjoining Chaddesden wood would have on the rich biodiversity of this designated local nature reserve. What steps are Ministers taking to ensure that we meet our much-needed housing targets while protecting nature and historic woodlands?”
“I am surprised that no one has mentioned the rise of food banks. Does my hon. Friend share my view that, although well-meaning people give produce to food banks, it is often tinned products or ready meals that people need to cook at home, which may be an inadvertent driver of this issue?”
“I am listening with interest to the right hon. Gentleman’s points about the national curriculum, which we know academies currently do not have to follow. I note that 42% of schools across the country no longer enter any pupils for GCSE music, and the figure is 41% for drama and 84% for dance. Does he think that is a factor in this debate?”
“That made sense when academies were introduced in the early noughties, because in communities where there were significant levels of unmet need and low aspiration, it allowed school leaders the freedom to devise programmes of learning that helped to address the acute and embedded challenges that young people in those communities faced, after the decline and lack of investment in schools during the ’80s and early ’90s. By May 2010, when the last Labour Government left office, there were 203 of those academies. Now, there are over 10,000, following a significant expansion of the programme. I support the concept of academies—”
“Giving children the very best start in life—a safe start where they have every opportunity to achieve their full potential—is vital. This Bill supports that. It introduces more robust measures to help keep children safe and it raises standards and opportunities in schools, so that children receive a high-quality, holistic education. It covers a huge number of areas—more than I could meaningly address in the short time I have available—so I will focus on the national curriculum. Introduced in 1988 by Kenneth Baker, the national curriculum is one of a handful of significant and progressive education reforms of the 1980s. Opposition Members should be more proud of it. It provides the statutory standard for school subjects, lesson content and attainment levels for state schools in England. However, it is not compulsory for academies.”
“They will be very welcome in Derbyshire, because Derbyshire county council increased the cost of school dinners by £1 last year—£150 a year—on top of what they already cost for parents. That will help with the cost of living crisis. But I ask that the Minister make sure that, as we implement this legislation—providing it goes through—we have the right checks and balances in place to ensure that local authorities such as Derbyshire, where Ofsted found serious issues with SEND, are fulfilling their statutory obligations to ensure that children who rely on home-to-school transport can access breakfast clubs.”
“I do support the concept of academies; they are a great legacy of the previous Government. But because those schools do not have to follow the national curriculum, some are gaming the system by not teaching a full, holistic programme of subjects. There has been a massive decline—over 50%—in the number of arts entries at GCSE since 2010. Some schools offer no art subjects at all at GCSE level. That matters for our economy and the UK’s standing around the world, and for who we are as individuals, how we understand the world and how we interact with each other. I welcome the Bill’s measures to provide a more holistic education to children. I also want to speak briefly about breakfast clubs.”
“I thank the Secretary of State for his statement and the sensitive way in which he has approached this issue, because nothing is more important than our children and young people’s health. A lack of an evidence-based approach may have taken us into a space where some children and young people have received puberty blockers as an appropriate intervention, but others have received that medication when it was not right for them, so can I ask him or his officials to look at how we got ourselves into that space? There may be lessons for us to learn not just about this issue, but about healthcare more generally. Sometimes when we have rushed into things in the past, we have found what appears to be a panacea for an issue, but it has turned out not to be the right thing at all.”
“We made some tough choices to do that, but it is the right thing to do. There is £1 billion for SEND, three-year funding settlements for local authorities and further investment in councils. I urge the council to use that investment to give it the time to get this right, because it is local children and young people, and their parents, who are suffering.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Mark, and I thank the hon. Member for Thurrock for securing this debate. SEND, and the transport around it, is a massive issue in Derbyshire. A recent Ofsted report found appalling failings in the system—something that, for a very long time, parents could have told us anecdotally. I suggest that there are two things the council needs to do. First, we need better integration between the council, the public transport providers, the integrated care boards and the schools. Secondly, we need more early planning so that transport can be managed at the earliest possible stage. That will save the council money and be better for children and young people. The Government made a big investment in this area at the recent Budget.”
“I very much welcome the statement, the ongoing commitment we have seen from this Government and the co-operation with the previous Government on Ukraine, because it is not just about security in Europe, as these things are in our self-interest. May I impress on the Minister that if Ukraine is allowed to fall, it will not just be a European problem? So much grain that is grown in Ukraine finds its way to Africa. If Ukraine falls, people in Africa will starve, too.”
“I welcome the urgent question and the response from the Minister, because the oppression that the Uyghur people face is absolutely appalling and shameful. The changing nature of supply chains and of retail means that this will be an evolving issue. Can I encourage the Minister to keep those relationships under review, and to reach out to retailers and distributors, so that our response changes in the light of the situation that we face?”
“I welcome the Minister’s statement. In 2021, a young woman was killed by her stalker in Derbyshire—I will not mention her by name in this House because, given the urgent nature of this statement, I have not had the opportunity to reach out to her family. It was found that she had reported the stalker to the police. The inquest found a number of missed opportunities to take action against that person. Is it is possible to have a means of capturing when things have gone wrong—in public bodies or in the police—and embedding that as a means of driving improvement elsewhere? Furthermore, online providers and social media companies are failing in this space. Will she use her weight to tell them to get their house in order, and if they do not, can we legislate for it?”
“It is a little wearisome to listen to the Opposition talk about taxes on working people. We have the highest income taxes since world war two because they did not increase the thresholds, and in 2011 VAT went up to 20%, which was a massive tax on working people. I would like to hear what the shadow Minister has to say about that.”
“I recently met with an organisation called Deaf-initely Women, which supports deaf and hard of hearing women in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. It became apparent to me that the voices of those women are not being heard in the way that services are designed. I wondered whether my hon. Friend might reflect on that as part of her speech.”
“My hon. Friend talks a little about safeguards. I invite him and the House to reflect on the covid pandemic, when a lot of safeguards around a lot of things were relaxed. I worry that if we were to see another pandemic on the scale that we saw in 2020, people might feel that they were doing something patriotic by getting out of the way and freeing up a bed for a younger person. I invite him to reflect on that.”
“The Secretary of State stole my line when he said that there is no freedom in addiction. I just want to thank him for his pragmatic approach to the hospitality industry, which has made representations to me on this matter. May I also impress on him that vapes are a valuable quitting aid for many adults, but many young people are now taking to vaping when they have never actually smoked at all? Can he say a little bit more about how we will address that?”
“I welcome the statement and the robust steps the Government are taking for our children and young people. I was disappointed to read a report by Ofsted last week into the special educational needs and disabilities provision in Derbyshire, which found there to be “systemic failings” and that the provision was inadequate. Our children and young people deserve so much better. Has the Secretary of State made an assessment of how the previous Government’s failure to deal with SEND has fuelled problems in children’s social care? Does she agree that more integration is needed between education, healthcare, local authorities and providers, including through integrated care boards and partnerships, to deliver long-lasting and sustained outcomes for our young people?”
“I warmly welcome the announcement that over £40 million will be coming to the East Midlands combined authority, which covers Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, for investment in our local buses. I know that Mayor Claire Ward and other local leaders will spend that money very effectively. Does the Secretary of State agree that this is an opportunity for people to get ahead in work, leisure and their social interactions, and will help us to get to net zero?”
“An extra 30,000 fathers or partners across the country will benefit from that, with rights from day one. It is not just good for new mums and dads, and the children who they support, but essential in helping those children to have the best start in life. Becoming a parent, especially for the first time, is a daunting prospect, with many new parents reporting poor mental health or even post-natal depression in the period shortly after. Not only is that bad for the adults concerned, but it has an impact on their children. Depression or anxiety is often exacerbated by the fact—”
“The introduction of paternity leave by the last Labour Government in 2003 was one of those bold, progressive changes that was opposed by some at the time, like the minimum wage that, years down the line, has become a much-valued right. The policy’s opponents said that it would harm business, but actually it supports new dads to manage change and support their child, which means that employers benefit from staff who are ultimately more engaged with their jobs and able to do their work. Although we must not be complacent—I note that one of the Tory leadership contenders commented that maternity pay has gone too far—I hope that paternity leave remains a right that is never taken away. That is why I am pleased that the Government’s Employment Rights Bill ensures that all new fathers can take paternity leave.”
“Iran’s malign activity and support for its proxies is destabilising the middle east. Does the Minister agree that this must end, and will he say a little more about what steps he is taking?”
“I welcome the Government’s commitment to St Helena. Does the Minister agree that the comparisons with the Rwanda scheme that have been made throughout this urgent question are irresponsible and unhelpful, given that it cost £700 million and sent only four volunteers?”
“I welcome my right hon. Friend’s assurances that the bishops in the House of Lords will continue to play a role in our national life. We must not bow to calls from Conservative Members who resent that, because the bishops shine a bright light on aspects of our national life that require scrutiny. Will he confirm that there is nothing to stop the hereditary Members of the House of Lords who provide valuable contributions and expertise in that Chamber becoming life peers?”