Jayne Kirkham
MP for Truro and Falmouth · Labour (Co-op) · United Kingdom
“Poor infrastructure, high housing costs, precarious seasonal employment and lack of access to healthcare, transport and education are major issues for Cornish residents, and they are all drivers of poverty in rural and coastal places.”
“Although there is a great system of education and apprenticeships, the EMA’s abolition left a real problem, with students across Cornwall having to travel long distances to those FE colleges without the money to help them do that.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Alec. I am so pleased that my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Richard Quigley) secured this debate. Isolation and hidden deprivation in coastal communities is such an important issue.”
“Patients treated in temporary escalation spaces face a lack of privacy and dignity and limited access to necessities such as food, water and toileting. They experience worse outcomes as well.”
“Our local ambulance trust, the South Western Ambulance Service NHS foundation trust, has got much faster at moving patients from ambulances, so that the ambulances do not waste so much time sitting outside the emergency department, but of course, moving patients faster can increase the queue in ED and the need for corridor care there.”
“I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tooting (Dr Allin-Khan) for organising this debate. It is really important and very timely. Corridor care is a visible symptom of the pressure our NHS is under. According to Age UK, the number of people experiencing corridor care has grown 563-fold since 2015.”
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“I welcome the Secretary of State’s remarks about the professionalism, bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces, and the role that they played in Northern Ireland and across the UK. What discussions has he had with veterans, as well as the Defence Secretary and the Minister for Veterans and People, about the new protection in the Northern Ireland Troubles Bill? Is he or one of the Defence Ministers prepared to speak to veterans in Cornwall on this matter?”
“We have fantastic further education providers in Cornwall, and I welcome the Government’s recent announcement. However, one of our challenges is the cost and availability of public transport to get learners to and from their college and workplace. Will the Leader of the House arrange for colleagues in the Department for Transport to meet me to ensure that students in coastal areas can get to college?”
“I have been contacted by several parents and teachers, who emphasise that the IB’s strength comes from the breadth oflearning opportunities. It is enriching and allows young people to pursue a diverse range of academic subjects, alongside volunteering and participating in sports and creative projects. It prepares them not just for higher or further education, but for employment and contributing to their communities. Truro college offers such wide provision, and that is just part of what it provides, but it is a very important part. I therefore ask the Minister to assure me that if and when the financial situation improves, he will look again at this type of provision.”
“It is one of the most successful IB providers in the country, with a 98% pass rate in 2025 and with nearly a quarter of students achieving 40 points or more, which is equivalent to four A* A-levels. It is also the only provider of the IB in the whole of Cornwall, so students travel from across the duchy, from Launceston to Land’s End—sometimes more than two hours each way—to pursue the IB at Truro college. In fact, some parents relocate specifically to Cornwall because the provision is world class. The college counts many young people from all areas of deprivation in Cornwall among its students, as well as young carers and people on free school meals. In 2023-24, eight disadvantaged learners took the IB, as did 13 learners with special educational needs and disabilities.”
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Roger. Truro and Penwith College in my constituency is a very successful tertiary college. It is fully ready to take up the mantle of two thirds of students and learners being in further education, higher education or apprenticeships by the age of 25. It works closely with businesses to set up courses relevant to the industrial strategy and the high-priority sectors the Government are pushing. It is doing a really good job at getting Cornwall ready for new sectors, particularly things like renewables. It also offers high-level maths, which my own son benefited from a great deal. The college has been offering the international baccalaureate for a number of years on a non-selective basis.”
“This deal will support 20,000 jobs and make sure we have the skills we need for future combat air programmes. Defence supports 37,000 jobs across the south-west. What steps are the Government taking to support skills across the whole defence sector and to support the space, satellite and drone sectors that are so strong in Cornwall?”
“I welcome this fund. The Cornish fishing fleet, which has suffered, has put together a joined-up proposal for our part of the fund, so I would be grateful if the Minister could look at that. The proposal talks about front-loading the investment, multi-year project funding, science and research, and data collection about the number of fish that we catch and the way we catch them, and it particularly focuses on careers, skills and infrastructure. There was an announcement this week about an environmental lead regulator going into the development at Falmouth port, which will make a massive difference and speed up port infrastructure redevelopment. I urge the Minister, and the Government as a whole, to look at doing more of that, to look at local seafood production and to encourage people to eat local.”
“Q3. The number of households in Cornwall in temporary accommodation has increased by 265% in five years, so I am delighted that this Labour Government are investing £39 billion in social and affordable housing. In Cornwall we are developing a strategy to provide housing at sites such as Pydar in my constituency, which needs support from Homes England. Will the Prime Minister arrange for us to meet the Housing Minister at our Homes Cornwall launch next month, to accelerate discussions on a strategic partnership for Cornwall so that we can build the right homes in the right places for local people?”
“My constituents’ baby, Bran Tunnicliffe, sadly died last year. His parents shared their experience with me, and described the wait for a coroner’s report as a lottery that depends on which hospital, pathologist and coroner is involved. I know that there is a shortage of pathologists in the UK. Will the Secretary of State meet me to discuss my constituents’ experience?”
“Mainstream schools in my constituency are taking steps to provide their own inclusive, in-house SEND provision. Penair secondary school has been creating a forest school on its land, and some of my heads have expressed their desire to create area resource base units in their schools. Does the Minister agree that such types of mainstream, inclusive provision could provide a way forward, and will she come down to Cornwall, maybe when she meets us, to see it?”
“My constituency is lucky to have good school libraries such as the one at King Charles school, run by talented librarians like Emma Seager, who can get anyone reading. They also provide calm, supervised spaces for students. I was delighted to hear the Chancellor’s commitment at our conference to having a library in every primary school. Will the Leader of the House grant a debate on the benefits of school libraries or a statement to confirm the steps in the process that can enable primary schools, like mine in Flushing, that want to create a school library to do so?”
“I am a former teaching assistant, and many teaching assistants were working under a form of zero-hours contracts. Does my hon. Friend agree that this Bill, as well as bringing back the negotiating body for teaching assistants and support staff at school, will greatly help them by taking away the zero-hours contracts under which they previously suffered?”
“I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. I, too, was a Unison rep, and I have taken contributions from Unison and other unions towards my election expenses. The point my hon. Friend makes is very real in Cornwall too. Migrant care workers were left on a bench in a village from the early morning shift to the late evening shift. That must be addressed, and it will be addressed under the Bill.”
“I congratulate Cornwall on being in wave one of the Government’s innovative roll-out of the neighbourhood health services. We are one of 43 areas making that shift and we have provided services locally, such as community health and wellbeing workers, which have been very well received and which make a difference. May we have a debate in Government time on that shift to community care, with the recognition that urgent and emergency care is an area where Cornwall, like others, has struggled, so alternative services should always be in place as we make that switch?”
“As a member of the Committee, I attended the trip to Dover where we saw just how much meat could have been coming in in the white vans that were flooding in. Border Force is very busy and has numerous duties, and the powers and hours for the Port Health Authority were far too limited; it was obvious that it was not able to do as much as it would like. Those poor facilities and that capacity for checks were things that we really thought should be improved and increased, yet Sevington and Bastion Point were sitting underused or empty nearby. Does the Chair of the Committee think that they could and should be repurposed to help with this task?”
“We have branch lines that would not exist had it not been for that money, but the funding has dried up now that the shared prosperity fund has finished, so we need the investment to continue. Electrifying the main line would really help. Currently, there is a branch line passenger service that runs from Truro to Falmouth. There was a freight rail line at the end of it, so just 150 yards would open up so much for new industries such as critical minerals and would enable aggregates to be moved around. We have an airport that desperately needs a new public service obligation. Investment in transport infrastructure in Cornwall is essential for our economic growth and success in the future.”
“Friend the Member for Derby North (Catherine Atkinson). I welcome the Government’s focus on long-term investment in transport infrastructure, including the fourfold increase in local transport grants. The funding for potholes will be hugely important in Cornwall, which has more than 4,600 miles of small roads. The investment will be crucial for Cornwall’s economic growth. Cornwall’s chamber of commerce has said that transport connectivity is the top priority for the businesses it represents, because our transport links really hold us back. We used to receive EU funding of up to £1 billion, much of which was ploughed into transport because we did not have the funding from elsewhere.”
“Many of our students must travel for over an hour on public transport to further education providers, and travelling between their apprenticeships and colleges is often impossible, restricting their prospects. As a result of our 2015 devolution deal, Cornwall council obtained greater transport powers, such as franchising and partnership agreements with local bus providers, which has helped and led to an increase in bus patronage. Cornwall was the first rural area in England to introduce smart ticketing, but that came at a cost: the council subsidises 50% of the public transport network, and it costs us an awful lot of money. Under the previous Tory Government, the south-west had some of the lowest identifiable expenditure on public transport, at just £429 per head—the second lowest after the constituency of my hon.”
“Since I was elected last July, I have become closely acquainted with the long-distance London Paddington to Penzance line, which a number of my colleagues have mentioned. There was a big storm in 2014, and we were properly cut off for eight weeks; we could not get in or out of Cornwall by rail, because there is only one way to do so. Since then, an awful lot has been done to improve the resilience of the line, but phase 5 will be vital to strengthening the vulnerable coastal section and maintaining connectivity for Cornwall. Cornwall sees a huge population increase in the summer, with about 4 million visitors, but we lack reliable year-round connections, which constrains our economy and restricts growth, as well as creating social isolation.”
“It was not an isolated incident. Between 7 October 2023 and August 2025, 508 humanitarian personnel have been killed. I welcome the statement by the previous Foreign Secretary, my right hon. Friend the Member for Tottenham (Mr Lammy), on the IPC ruling made on 22 August. I also welcome the diplomatic and economic measures that the Government have already taken with allies. However, the situation is becoming ever more desperate. Many constituents constantly ask me what more we can do and what more action we can take. Some, such as Kerenza, who I saw yesterday, are taking time off work to support the flotilla, and some are protesting. With the other three Labour MPs for Cornwall, I have asked for clear diplomatic and economic action with our allies, such as extending further sanctions—”
“The IPC has declared only four famines since it was established in 2004. In August, it declared one in Gaza City. It said: “this Famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed”. The non-governmental organisations I have spoken to have been unable to get any aid into Gaza since March. Save the Children has 45 trucks of aid, including medicine, shelter items and hygiene kits, waiting in warehouses, and Oxfam has been unable to bring in any menstrual supplies. Humanitarian access also means ensuring the safety of humanitarian workers. The year 2024 was the deadliest on record to be an aid worker, and Gaza is the deadliest place on Earth to be an aid worker. On 1 April 2024, one of my constituents, James Henderson, was killed alongside other aid workers from World Central Kitchen while taking humanitarian aid into Gaza.”
“An idea of that timeline and the parameters of the consultation would be extremely helpful in giving my worried constituents some idea of how long they have to plan for their future, and what representations they can make. For now, they are, as one constituent wrote, “trusting the UK’s commitment to fairness and stability for migrants who invest their lives here”.”
“Dr Mohamed Abdelazim, who works at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Treliske, has said: “Ten years is an extraordinarily long time to live on a visa—without the security of citizenship, the right to vote, or the ability to fully settle and plan our futures in the UK.” The Government have not yet confirmed whether people already on the affected immigration routes will have to wait longer for settlement, as opposed to the change applying only to those arriving after the implementation date, although the White Paper’s annexe suggests that the change will affect those already here. Many MPs, including me, have been asking questions about this issue, but the responses to written parliamentary questions so far have stated that it will be addressed as part of the consultation process, but without giving a timeline.”
“We do not want to lose any of those highly skilled medical professionals who are trying to make Cornwall their home. These people stressed their commitment to their jobs in the way they worked tirelessly on the frontline during covid, the way they have served and contributed to their communities, and the taxes they have paid. Many have children attending school in Cornwall, and they are very concerned about disruption to their children’s education. Some have partners who are Cornish.”
“It is an honour to serve under your chairship, Sir Jeremy. When the Government’s immigration White Paper was published with the proposal to increase the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain, I received numerous emails from constituents in Truro and Falmouth who could be affected. My constituency is home to Cornwall’s only large acute hospital, so many of the constituents concerned work in the health service as doctors, nurses or dentists. In 2022, according to the British Medical Association, the NHS in England had a shortage of 12,000 hospital doctors and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives. Cornwall has a super-ageing population with complex health needs, and we struggle to attract medical professionals. As a result of our housing crisis, they sometimes cannot find anywhere to live.”
“Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government’s fair funding review is right to take into account the sparsity and rurality of coastal areas and visitor numbers into the new calculations? For example, a hotel in Cornwall in the winter can cost £53, but in the summer it can cost £100, and county councils spend twice as much on home-to-school transport as London boroughs, proving how much more it costs to provide those services in rural areas.”
“I especially thank Simon for making Cornwall a living wage place, which is a fantastic initiative. I also thank the following organisations for helping their communities: the New Beginning Community Association in Malabar; the Friends of Coosebean, the Friends of Daubuz Moor and the Friends of Tregoniggie Woodland, which have been bringing green spaces back to the heart of urban places; and the Truro Loops campaign, which has been restoring active travel routes around Truro. I am a new MP and many of those are very new projects. I hope to be able to stand here next year, the year after and the year after that and say, “We got some of these things done.””
“I welcome community right to buy, which will be forthcoming in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. I have constituents wanting to rescue a methodist chapel and a pub in Ponsanooth, and the Ship Inn in Portloe. The funding source to go with that would be helpful. I look forward to that being announced. To continue the co-operative theme, I have been strongly supporting the St Mawes community who have been trying to build affordable housing for their local community, which has been decimated by second homes. I thank Alan Macklin, who has also been involved in the Homes for Ukraine scheme in St Mawes. Falmouth and Penryn Welcome Refugee Families has been doing the same thing. I thank Simon Fann and the food banks in Truro and in Falmouth and Penryn.”
“We are looking to access the ports fund to make that happen and bring those new jobs to the town. I am so pleased with what the Government have achieved on water. A scheme was announced this morning to work on the combined sewer overflow at Queen Mary gardens between our two main beaches in Falmouth—at last! I congratulate campaigners including Plastic Free Falmouth Surfers Against Sewage and Goonhavern primary school’s eco club, who have worked so hard for this. I want to say a little about a group in my constituency who have worked together and formed a support group because they all have endometriosis. David Amess was such a champion for people with endometriosis. We have been working to get training for healthcare workers in that area. As a Co-operative party MP.”
“How do I follow that? It is an honour to speak in the David Amess debate. I start by congratulating Falmouth town council and Source FM in my constituency for the opening of the resource project this weekend, which will bring community radio and a community café to everybody in Falmouth. Thank you and good luck to Pendennis Leisure and all those working for a pool for Falmouth. We are trying to get money from the Government grassroots fund and others, and we are looking for a public-private partnership. Local to that are the docks in Falmouth. We are looking to restore the Falmouth freight rail line, which has been shut for 20 years, to take 77 lorries off the roads on each trip. In Falmouth, we have the docks, Pendennis Yachts and Falmouth Harbour, which all have fantastic expansion plans.”
“The “New life for city buildings” project in Truro is breathing new life into empty high street buildings and redeveloping them. I would love for the Minister to be able to see this for himself, so will he consider coming to Truro and attending our growth summit on 18 September?”
“The cancer, however, returned, and he died a year after diagnosis, not long after his 54th birthday. His was not an isolated case. Last Tuesday, in the Welsh Senedd, Julie Morgan led a debate very like this one about RAF winchman Zach Stubbings. Zach died from multiple myeloma at the age of 46, after working many hours on Sea Kings.”
“Five and a half per cent of people in Truro and Falmouth have served, which is a much higher percentage than the national average of 3.8%. In Truro and Falmouth, 4,160 houses—more than 10%—have at least one veteran living in them. He was living in Dorset when he suffered strange symptoms of blood clots in his lungs and legs in the spring of 2022. It took some time and persistence, but he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that affects only 5,000 people a year in the UK and is most common in men over the age of 85. He was lucky to have some pioneering treatment in Dorset and later at the Royal Marsden hospital, and he was able to trial drugs that were not yet available in the UK. Treatment is developing for blood cancers all the time, and it is important that people in the UK have access to new treatments.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered military helicopters and blood cancers. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. I am here because of someone who joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm at the age of 19 because he had always wanted to fly. He always had the vitality to attack life and live it fully. He flew everything from Hawks to helicopters, and was a talented and committed pilot. By the time I met him, he was teaching new recruits to fly at RAF Cranwell, and was Navy snowboarding champion. In 2005, he went to Cornwall and was stationed at Culdrose, where he flew search and rescue on the old Sea Kings. I represent Truro and Falmouth. Cornwall is rich in forces personnel and veterans.”
“There was a section at the end on the potential link between exhaust fumes such as benzene from helicopters and blood cancers such as multiple myeloma. The findings were that the evidence and data available did not meet their threshold to establish a causal link between Sea King helicopter exhaust fumes or benzene and multiple myeloma, leiomyosarcoma, and soft tissue sarcomas.”
“I agree absolutely. The health of our serving personnel is and always must be paramount. I will move on to previous cases shortly. I know of 180 cases with solicitors of crew working on military helicopters who have contracted cancers, many like those of the two people I mentioned. They worked on the Sea King particularly, but also the Westland Wessex, the Puma, and the CH-47 Chinook. Many of the crew affected were in touch with each other, as there seemed too many of them, and the cancers too rare, to be pure coincidence. Last July, a report was written by the Independent Medical Expert Group on medical and scientific aspects of the armed forces compensation scheme, and was published in November last year.”
“Pumas and Chinooks are still in service, although the older aircraft have recently been retired. Sea Kings, however, are still in service in the private sector, and in military use in other countries. Three were donated by the UK to Ukraine in 2023. The MOD started testing exhaust emissions from military aircraft this February and has started the process of checking the records of personnel and veterans, to assemble data about how many have subsequently developed cancer. That will provide crucial data about who and how many people may have been affected.”
“I thank the hon. Member. He is correct that some cancers can take a long time to manifest. Personnel, veterans and those around them in their communities have to be aware that this could show itself much later in their lives. Solicitors for some of the personnel point to an RAF Institute of Health report dated March 1999. Although it did not establish a causal link, it contained recommendations to reduce crews’ exposure to exhaust fumes. I understand that modifications to the aircraft to do that were not made, although they did take place on some other countries’ military helicopters. Six cases in this country, including Zach’s, have so far been settled, and compensation paid by the Ministry of Defence without admission of liability. The Sea Kings were taken out of UK military service in 2018, and the Westland Wessex in 2003.”
“The five-year survival rate for multiple myeloma is 50%, so people are dying before their cases are settled and many are still being turned down for compensation. Fifthly, testing exposure to emissions must be done to take into account and replicate the real-life conditions that personnel were working under while undertaking search and rescue and military combat sorties. Sixthly, crews should still be advised to take sufficient precautions around aircraft, such as not standing directly in exhaust fumes and wearing personal protective equipment. Private companies and other countries that still use these aircraft need to be informed of the potential risks so that they can take steps to modify the aircraft and take other preventive action.”
“If the serving personnel and veteran communities, who served with or on these aircraft, are alive to the possible risks, they will know what symptoms to look out for and to raise with medics. Secondly, GPS should be educated in places where there are clusters of personnel and veterans who have worked with these aircraft, so that they know to look for a military record when assessing symptoms that could indicate blood cancers. Thirdly, as well as signposting for veterans, a screening scheme for blood cancers could be set up for those who may be most at risk. Fourthly, the MOD can move faster on assembling, analysing and releasing the data on how many service personnel and veterans have subsequently developed these cancers, so that more research can be done on causation, action can be taken and cases can be quickly concluded.”
“I agree with the hon. Member that all manner of injuries may have occurred due to people’s military service. It is important that every single one is investigated to check if there is a link. I thank him for reminding me of that. Due to the sheer number of records and the way they are stored, I understand that checking them could take weeks, if not months. There are a number of things that could be done by Government or further afield that could help people who are affected now or in future. First, the Government could help to spread awareness of this potential link. There will be men and women with initial symptoms of these cancers that can easily be missed.”
“I agree that these things should be dealt with as swiftly as possible and that it is not just about current personnel and veterans but people who may be affected in the future. Military personnel think they know the risks of what they are taking on when they sign up to fly for the military or work as aircrew. What they could not realise is that there were, and possibly still are, other hidden risks. The people who risk their lives in the service of this country are courageous men and women, and they deserve the very best care and the very best chance.”
“4. What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential impact of the proposed increase to the standard qualifying period for settlement on NHS staffing levels.”
“I have been contacted by constituents working in health and social care in Truro and Falmouth who are concerned about the proposed changes to the standard qualifying period. Dr Mohamed Abdelazim works as a doctor at the Royal Cornwall hospitals NHS trust and has not quite completed the five-year eligibility period. He says the policy will directly and severely impact him and hundreds of other frontline workers and that 10 years is a very long time to live on a visa without the security that citizenship would provide. Will the proposed increase in the eligibility period to 10 years impact my constituents retrospectively, and might they be able to reduce that period based on the contributions that the Minister mentioned?”
“Does my hon. Friend agree that it is good that, in the local government pension scheme, representatives of both employers and employees can sit on the pension committees, and that we often have trade union representatives on the committees as well?”
“How will the fiduciary duty allow local government pension scheme administration authorities to work with the strategic authorities in their area, particularly if, as in Cornwall, they are one and the same? Cornwall unitary authority was exactly the same size and had the same authority as the administrating authority of the LGPS. To conclude, the scheme worked well in Cornwall and provided good results. I still drive past the houses in Camborne that were built by our local government pension scheme; local people live in them, doing local jobs. The good results were mainly down to good officers, to be honest, and a flexible pool that allowed us to do our own thing and take our own route. I hope that that freedom will remain under the Bill.”
“We hoped that it would provide a framework for others to follow, but within our pool of 10, we were the only ones who did it. Will the Minister confirm that local LGPSs will be able to set their own targets in a bigger pool, even if the area is geographically disparate? I want to mention the measures that require regulations for the LGPS to include a duty for administering authorities to work with strategic authorities in their area to identify opportunities for investment. When we ran our social impact fund, it was difficult to organise that at arm’s length. Members who were part of the local authority wanted to direct where all investments went, but that had to be done at arm’s length through investment fund managers, who have little connection to the area. It was hard to stand back and watch them do that.”
“We were able to channel our LGPS investment into affordable private rental housing and local renewables in Cornwall, as well as renewables more widely around the UK. Will local government pension schemes still be able to set their own targets in the pool in this way and do their own thing? Although we worked closely with the pool to ensure that pooling delivered scale advantages, we wanted to make sure that our local impact portfolio, as part of our social impact allocation, enabled us to combine our fiduciary responsibilities to our members with delivering that social and environmental positive change in Cornwall, where we were, and where our members worked and lived. That had a massive impact on how the funds were viewed locally.”
“We used our £2.3 billion, which is not a huge fund when we think about the size of the pools that we are talking about now, to do precisely that kind of thing. Other Members have talked about responsible investment. We had a very strong responsible investment policy, and our carbon-neutral target date was earlier than that of the rest of the pool. We were able to maintain those policies and our environment, social and governance focus by having a strong presence on the oversight board. That enabled us to influence the pool. I hope that this influence will continue, so that pools are not dragged down to the lowest common denominator when it comes to ESG matters and responsible investment, but will instead be raised up. Our local social impact fund was, in the end, 7.5% of our investments.”
“Hiring an extra tier of staff on top of the LGPS staff, who were still needed to administer the fund, correspond with members and employers, and manage the investments, was expensive. Closing down our current pool and joining another is likely to be the same. There are also concerns, which I would like the Minister to address, that going to a larger pool may affect that local link. We have a strong south-west pool at present, and removing that link and scattering us across the country could impact the effectiveness of our pool at making local investments. That is what I want to talk about next. Bringing schemes together enables them to invest in bigger local projects, from infrastructure to clean energy. That boosts returns for savers and helps communities. Cornwall was very good at that.”