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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“Does my hon. Friend share my concern that some 20% of children in Derbyshire are deemed to be overweight? We must make sure that the benefits of elite sport filter down to schools across the country.”
“I am pleased that the Labour manifesto commits the new Government to providing greater stability to local authorities by giving them multi-year funding settlements and ending wasteful competitive bidding, but I also encourage Ministers to work with the NHS, integrated care partnerships and integrated care boards to promote the value of what councils can offer and encourage the NHS to maximise the benefit of social prescribing. When councils partner with the NHS, there are benefits for all—council services become more resilient and people benefit from better health. There is so much for the new Government to do, but I am confident that once they have got the economy back on track after years of mismanagement and wasteful spending, more can be done.”
“Councils do not have a legal responsibility to provide them—and, in the case of councils having to constantly mitigate the risk of financial meltdown, they have often been the first services to be reduced, subject to increased charges for users, or closed all together. This is an appalling situation that is storing up problems for people’s health and wellbeing, as well as for the future sporting prowess of our nation. Despite this, many councils are finding a way forward to protect their sports and leisure provision, including Amber Valley borough council, which went above and beyond to save Belper leisure centre in my constituency from closure last year.”
“The leisure centres and sporting facilities provided by councils are also essential to ensure that young people of all backgrounds who have the potential to reach the highest sporting levels can hone their craft. Sport must not be just for those with the recourse to pay, but must give opportunities for young people to begin their journey to being a sporting hero. For those of us who are looking to participate in sports and fitness activities for our health, that has been undermined by the draconian cuts and rising costs faced by local authorities for more than a decade. As a whole, councils have faced a 27% real-terms cut to their core spending power since 2010. Meanwhile, the challenges—the costs and the commitments they must make—have risen significantly. Leisure centres and sporting facilities are discretionary services.”
“Their success adds billions of pounds to the UK economy, brings whole communities together, and inspires those of us who will never compete at an elite level to participate in physical activity for the sake of our health and wellbeing. Local authorities play a key role in ensuring that this continues. They run leisure centres and swimming pools; provide parks and open spaces where people can exercise; manage bowling greens, tennis courts and football pitches; and organise initiatives whereby people can undertake physical activity to improve their health and tackle loneliness. This is essential to reduce pressure on the NHS, and to help people make healthy lifestyle choices and enjoy more years of good physical and mental health.”
“I thank all those who have given their maiden speeches today. Each spoke with passion and commitment for all their constituents and for the communities they have been elected to serve. I also congratulate the Team GB and ParalympicsGB athletes for the golden summer of sporting excellence to which they treated us, and for bringing our communities together. The commitment and sacrifices made by these sportsmen and women is inspiring, and too often we do not give them adequate recognition, so I am really pleased that we are having this debate. It is vital that we ensure that the talent pipeline to sporting excellence is robust and inclusive, so that anybody with the talent and commitment to succeed in sport can do so.”
“Will the Minister join me in recognising the contributions of community trusts, such as those at Derby County and Chesterfield football clubs, in filling the gaps left by local authorities, who have suffered huge cuts, especially in regard to youth provision?”
“The new Government are also committed to launching a new national music education network—a one-stop shop with information on courses and classes for parents, teachers and children. The new Government face huge challenges, and they have inherited an appalling legacy from their predecessor. I urge them to keep the creative industries and arts education at the forefront of their thinking as they undertake their work of national renewal.”
“Increasingly, the creative subjects are becoming the preserve of those with the ability to pay. However, talent has no postcode and every young person should have the right to a creative education. That decline matters—for our economy and the UK’s standing around the world, but also for who we are as people and how we understand the world and interact with each other. I am delighted that the Labour manifesto commits the new Government to supporting children to study a creative subject until they are 16, and that it will integrate a creative industries sector plan as part of its industrial strategy, creating good jobs and accelerating growth in film, music, gaming and other creative sectors.”
“One of the most important roles of festivals such as those that take place in Edinburgh each summer—especially the Fringe—is to be an incubator for young performers, who can test new ideas, grow their confidence and build their profile in front of a truly international audience. But the future of cultural festivals across the country, and all they offer, is being undermined, because increasingly young people do not have the opportunities they should have to benefit from a creative education. There has been an overall decline of almost 50% in the number of arts GCSE entries since 2010, and some schools no longer offer some arts subjects at GCSE level at all: 42% of schools no longer enter any pupils for GCSE music, 41% no longer enter any pupils for drama GCSE and 84% enter no pupils for dance GCSE.”
“In 2022, it was estimated that the creative industries contributed about £126 billion in gross added value to the UK economy and employed 2.4 million people, but they are so much more than an item on a balance sheet. They are a vital catalyst that enables people to express and explore ideas, and they bring communities together. The arts are common to every culture since the earliest times; music, the visual arts, dance and drama provide an opportunity to walk in somebody else’s shoes. They build a more inquiring society, and help us to understand who we are and what it is to have somebody else’s experience. They are also a vital educational tool, but far too often they are not a staple in schools and are not something that people have the opportunity to adequately engage with throughout their lives.”
“I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Edinburgh East and Musselburgh (Chris Murray) on securing this debate, which is important not just for the city of Edinburgh but for the whole country and beyond. The Edinburgh festivals make a tremendous contribution to the UK economy. They bring people from around the world to perform and experience music, dance, drama, comedy, literature and culture more generally, and I have been lucky to enjoy them on many occasions. We are lucky to have many arts, music, theatre and cultural festivals across the country offering similar opportunities. The International Gilbert and Sullivan festival, which takes place each August in Buxton, near my constituency of Mid Derbyshire, is one such example.”
“Being given the opportunity to serve the people of Mid Derbyshire is the privilege of my life, and I thank everyone who supported me along the way. I thank the voters of Mid Derbyshire: whether they voted for me or not, I am here to serve them. I also thank my many friends and family, who have been a great source of strength on the journey. I am determined to do the people of Mid Derbyshire proud, and to support the new Government to deliver the change that my constituents tell me they need and that they rightly deserve.”
“As we face the huge challenges ahead and return the country to economic stability and renewal, opportunity must be our watchword: opportunity to help people get ahead in life through good jobs, for example in the small and medium-sized businesses that proliferate in my constituency or at places like SmartParc in Spondon, where food production is being reimagined; opportunity to benefit from exceptional education and training, such as is being offered at Rolls-Royce and at the University of Derby in my constituency; opportunity to enjoy good health and community safety through renewed public services; and opportunity to live in a greener world through the new Government’s commitment to the environment and to tackling climate change.”
“They are also a vital educational tool, but in far too many cases they are not a staple in schools or something that people have an adequate opportunity to engage with throughout their life. I look forward to making the case, throughout my time in this place, that this is an underused opportunity for our country.”
“Knowing where we have come from also shapes where we venture next; that is as true of buildings, countryside and historic sites as it is of our politics. It is also true of our arts and culture. The creative industries are among Britain’s most important exports. They are a huge part of our economy and boost our standing around the world. They are a vital catalyst to express and explore ideas and bring communities together. They have been common to every culture since primordial times. Music, the visual arts, dance and drama provide an opportunity to walk in somebody else’s shoes. They build a more inquiring society and help us to understand who we are and what it might be like to have somebody else’s experience.”
“However, despite the valley being the east midlands’ only UNESCO world heritage site, and home to some of the country’s most beautiful landscape and extensive biodiversity, some of the valley’s iconic industrial buildings face an uncertain future, due to their poor state of repair and lack of occupation. We must save these buildings. They have incredible potential, including to support local economies, increase job opportunities and alleviate the housing crisis. They are also vital to telling Derbyshire’s story, and the story of our country. Celebrating and preserving the past is not frivolous or sentimental nostalgia. It is vital to our sense of place and our perception of who we are today, what we share with others and what makes us distinctive.”
“The world’s first water-powered mills were built on its river banks to spin cotton, making the valley the birthplace of the industrial revolution. Among its early pioneers was Jedediah Strutt, a hosier and cotton spinner from Belper. Through an entrepreneurial approach, Strutt progressed from humble beginnings to become one of the leading industrialists of his age. Along with Sir Richard Arkwright and Samuel Need, he was a father of the modern factory system, which was adopted around the world. Although the Derwent valley no longer hums to the clatter of looms or the rhythm of the people who operated them, it continues to harness nature to sustainably power homes and businesses through the hydroelectric schemes it supports today.”
“I send Pauline my every best wish for her next chapter, and I look forward to working with her on areas of shared concern. A small but important part of my constituency was served by the former Member for Derbyshire Dales, Sarah Dines. I thank her for her service and I am sure my hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (John Whitby) will give a more extensive tribute to her in his maiden speech. One of the most exciting priorities of this new mission-led Government is their commitment to harnessing the power of nature to deliver clean power and, in turn, to deliver energy security, new jobs and cheaper bills. There is a history, stretching back over 250 years, of using nature to power the economy in the Derwent valley, which runs through Mid Derbyshire.”
“I congratulate the hon. Member for Exmouth and Exeter East (David Reed) on his maiden speech. It was a joy to hear a little about his constituency. I will begin by thanking my predecessor as Member of Parliament for Mid Derbyshire, Pauline Latham, for all she did to serve its residents. Pauline represented the constituency from its creation in 2010 until she stood down at the end of the last Parliament. Prior to 2010, the communities that make up the constituency were part of other constituencies, served by many illustrious former Members, perhaps most notably George Brown. Pauline championed many important causes in this place, including international development. She also led the charge to increase the marriage age from 16 to 18, a lasting change that reduces the risk of young people being subjected to coercion or abuse.”
“I too thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rochester and Strood (Lauren Edwards) for introducing this important debate. Councils across the country, including in Derbyshire, have faced appalling cuts over the last decade, and the UKSPF has been one of the few points of light in what has been a very dark decade for local authorities. I warmly welcome the new Government’s commitment to offer councils a three-year funding settlement, but can I encourage the Minister to lobby the Treasury to see what more it can do for local authorities, because the important services they provide are on the cusp of being inaccessible to people?”
“Sixth-formers at Belper school in my constituency tell me that they face inordinate waits to take a driving test. May I ask the Leader of the House to work with her Cabinet colleagues to address this issue as part of the new Government’s plans to get this great country back on the road to recovery?”