Mike Reader
MP for Northampton South · Labour · United Kingdom
“Q There may not be other schemes. The engineering challenges with the A303 probably outweigh any benefits of using finance through RAB. Could you both set out whether you think independent regulation under this model would give stronger consumer protection, particularly in the light of evidence you have given, Edmund, that the M6 toll and…”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q Will, I do not know whether you heard the earlier evidence and the thoughts about how the ORR needs to scale up and strengthen to deliver this. Do you have any reflections and what have you fed back to the Government about what the ORR needs to be able to do its role effectively on this project?”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q For as long as I have known of LTC, although the previous Government perhaps suggested that it would be delivered by public funds, it was always assumed that it would end up going down a public-private partnership route. Surely, this model delivers cheaper finance and better certainty for investors.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q My question was not whether the regulator is independent. It was whether, in general, your preference is for a regulated tolling arrangement or an unregulated commercial tolling arrangement. Which is better for the public? Ralph Smyth: I am not sure how much difference there is.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It needs to be strengthened there. I still feel that there should be, alongside the ORR, an independent body that looks at things such as the level of tolls and feasibility.”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Q Minister, we have heard evidence that there is not a massive amount of competition for major schemes in Europe, yet competition is important to drive down the cost of capital. Do you think that the RAB model will help us to secure the best possible deal on the capital for building the lower Thames crossing?”
House of Commons29 October 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
The complete record
327 held · 323 searchable for Mike Reader. The searchable lines are below in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 3 of 7.
This is not an official version of UK Parliament proceedings. It reproduces the published record and links to it; the official version is the one UK Parliament publishes.
“I think the Bill goes some way on that, and it is clear that future legislation and guidance will start to frame those issues. There are other ways that we can drive businesses to improve their business resilience planning. It is part of the standard Government procurement process to require business continuity planning to be demonstrated, and many large businesses in our constituencies will be trying to transact with Government, whether local or national, with the NHS or others. Business resilience is also required at other times when the state interacts with business; I think of procurement particularly. My background is in one of those key areas. I was just saying to the Minister that one concern I have is that this is a framework Bill.”
House of Commons6 January 2026Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Danielle Stone, Northamptonshire’s brilliant police, fire and crime commissioner, has just launched the women’s charter, which brings together employers, community groups and the public sector to create safer workspaces for women across my constituency. Will the Minister join me in commending Danielle’s work and set out what the Government can do to encourage more partnerships like this across the UK?”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“People in Northampton are on a bit of a rollercoaster: they have seen the benefits of a Labour Government in the £16 million that has been secured for our new urgent care centre at Northampton general, but they will now rightly be worried reading the news. Will the Secretary of State send a message to my constituents to assure them that they will be kept safe should the BMA take this disastrous action?”
House of Commons10 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Although I disagree with the Government closing those down en masse, I can understand the reasons—many were bloated, but ours was efficiently run and worked well for the region. Whether it is the taskforce that was recommended by my hon. Friend the Member for Cambridge (Daniel Zeichner), or other ways of doing it, I think a designated economic area that starts to put those building blocks in place for the south midlands region as we work towards devolution in the future is how we give the region proper teeth, ensure investment is focused across the region and join up all the things that already exist to create a great, vibrant central spine for the growth corridor.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The south midlands distribution network operator ran out of my constituency, and the DNO is critical for regional energy planning. There are businesses working together for the South Midlands Business Board, led by the fantastic Jason Longhurst. There is connected work in education. As well as the Arc Universities Group in Northampton, we now have a group including the University of Northampton, led by Anne-Marie Kilday; Northampton college, led by Jason Lancaster; and Moulton college, led by Oliver Symons. They are working together to create a skills strategy that delivers the Government industrial strategy at a local level for the benefit of the south midlands corridor. We used to have the pan-regional partnerships.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“To deliver the growth that we want to see through the Ox-Cam growth corridor, we have to get a functioning central spine in the area right. There are already great building blocks that we can build on here. The south midlands authorities have worked together to create a shared economic strategy. They were moving towards devolution, but unfortunately some local gerrymandering and faffing about meant that we did not get the devolution deal. There is now an opportunity to look at how we move forward to deliver something that works for the region. There is already transport connectivity through England’s economic heartland and people are getting back to work through the Department for Work and Pensions’ south midlands programme for Connect to Work. There is regional infrastructure connectivity.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Jeremy. The Chancellor said that the Ox-Cam growth corridor has £78 billion of potential for our economy, but only if we get housing and infrastructure right. However, I would argue that it is much more than just housing and infrastructure that is needed to get the connected core of Ox-Cam absolutely right. The south-east midlands local industrial strategy recognised that without the core of Northampton, Milton Keynes, Bedford and Luton working together, we cannot drive the growth that the Government need now. The south midlands region is the home of advanced logistics, manufacturing, the automotive—as has been mentioned—agritech, food and drink and growing digital, creative and tourism industries.”
House of Commons3 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“3. What diplomatic steps she is taking with international partners to help tackle modern slavery and unethical labour practices in global supply chains.”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“As the chair of the international trade and investment all-party parliamentary group, I have heard at first hand how new technology is making it easier to track supply-chain risks. What is the Minister doing to support better monitoring and data sharing with our international partners to ensure that we can identify forced labour use at source in countries that support the UK economy?”
House of Commons2 December 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have to say, I had a great time on the Public Bill Committee. The Bill’s 400 pages were expertly navigated by the Minister, and our Whip, my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan), did an absolutely brilliant job. She unfortunately is not here today, but I should put on record how well she kept us in check as the Conservatives goaded us. I must be cross-party in my thanks and say that I was very impressed with the hon. Members for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) and for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds). Their ability to string out the 10 seconds of what they needed say into about 10 minutes to keep the Bill going was exemplary, and we saw some of that today; the hon. Member for Hamble Valley was cut short by Madam Deputy Speaker.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is really positive that the Government have already brought forward changes to that effect, and I am sure that the Minister will confirm that she will work with Members in the other place to bring forward further amendments to the Bill in due course, so that that is really well cemented and mayors do have the responsibility to protect our environment. On some days, Northampton has worse air quality than London, Birmingham and many other towns and cities across the UK. Where I live in Northampton town centre, the effect of poor air quality is equivalent to that of smoking 80 cigarettes a year, so anything we can do to improve air quality in my town and across the country is critical.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Will the Minister confirm that before any ban is brought in, we will see a full consultation on the proposals? Off the back of that consultation, will restrictions be put in place, so that we do not see unintended consequences that stop the growth that our country desperately needs? I said that I would talk to new clause 29. I thank the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion for her tenacity. We met, and she explained that the Greens have to be selective about which Committees they join, owing to their small level of representation. She argued well for mayors to have more responsibility for air quality, environment and the like.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Even after amendment, the way the Bill is written means that it potentially impacts the whole of the commercial sector. The UK is really fortunate to have a buoyant commercial property market, with double the investment seen in France and 50% more than in Germany. However, there is a real risk that the uncertainty caused by not putting a ringfence around how the upward-only rent review ban is to be brought forward will stifle investment. It could stop investment in data centres—a big data centre was announced for my constituency by the Government just last week—warehousing, which is critical to my constituents, as about one in five of them work in warehousing and logistics, new hospitals, healthcare and commercial offices—you name it. As we heard in evidence to the Bill Committee, we need to see more from the Government.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Brentford and Isleworth (Ruth Cadbury), is no longer in her place, but she did fantastic work on the Bill. It really goes to show that when we work collaboratively across the House, through Committees and through Government, we can make changes to legislation that make people’s lives better. If we can say nothing else about this Bill than that we have made sure that there are less roadworks and more potholes filled, I am sure all of our constituents will be quite happy. The Minister and I have engaged quite heavily on upward-only rent reviews. I thank her for being constructive in her consideration of my challenge on how the Government have approached this. I repeat what I said on Second Reading and in Committee: the intention of the Bill is to protect the high streets.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank the Minister for acknowledging the work that I and others have done on lane rental schemes, covered by new clause 43. They are a great way to control roadworks and make sure that they are delivered efficiently. The schemes are not a penalty; they are an incentive to make sure that utilities companies work in a way that minimises disruption. Where the companies do not perform, the money goes towards fixing more potholes and sorting out more roads. I particularly thank two of the big industry bodies, Clive Bairsto from Street Works UK and David Capon from the Highway Authorities and Utilities Committee UK. They supported me in my work on this. I also pay tribute to our brilliant Transport Committee. The Chair, my hon.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I also want to mention the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion (Siân Berry). Before the Bill Committee, I did not know that she was a London Assembly member, but boy, do I know now. The experience she brought from being on the London Assembly went a long way. It was a really good Committee, so I do not accept what the hon. Member for Hamble Valley said about there being no constructive engagement. The hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion tabled amendments that sought to change how the mayoralties that have been brought forward by the Government think about the environment. I see the intention behind new clause 29, and with a bit more refinement of the Bill in the Lords, we may get to something really strong that ensures there is an environmental responsibility on our new mayors.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Fantastic advice from a very experienced politician. To continue with my cross-party support, I very much thank the hon. Member for Mid Dorset and North Poole (Vikki Slade), with whom I served on the armed forces parliamentary scheme. It was fascinating: no matter what the issue was, she always brought it back to local authorities. She wants to give a lot of power to these poor parish councils, and she spoke up so much for district and parish councils that we were told to stop intervening on her. I have 14 parish councils in my constituency, and I did ask them what they thought of the many Lib Dem proposals inviting them to engage in every single thing that a mayor may do, and overwhelmingly their view was, “Please leave us alone, and let us get on with doing what we are doing.” But I like the intention none the less.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“While I recognise there may not be political consensus on how a mayoral area should be formed—perhaps we will see gerrymandering from both sides—we need direction from the Government to ensure that we are not losing out on billions of pounds of investment that could come into the south midlands region and the OxCam corridor. Overall, I am pleased to speak in support of the Government. The Bill is a great step forward. There have been many observations on the brilliant things buried in the Bill that will help our constituents. I look forward to seeing it further improved in the other place and coming back in due course, so that we can deliver devolution, simplify government and get the best bang for our buck in all our regions.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We had a deal, but it fell apart, partly owing to political wrangling between my party, the Conservatives and a party that is barely here in the House. We need strategic leadership in the south midlands region to drive growth. The Government have centred much of the focus on clean tech, advanced manufacturing and the OxCam corridor. We see a lot of focus on Oxford and a lot of focus on Cambridge, but not a lot of focus on the middle. While we may not be getting a mayor in the early devolution pilot, perhaps the Minister will consider whether an economic development area or something similar could be brought forward, as backed by the South Midlands Business Board and called for by those who want to invest in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some put restrictions on mayors and combined authorities, and others open up the stocks. Perhaps it is difficult to provide effective opposition in a party without real policy. I particularly appreciate the hon. Member for Mid Leicestershire (Mr Bedford) trying to bring in changes that would ensure support for oppositions that were ineffective in holding mayors to account. I will finish my observations where I came in. I will talk about the south midlands and how my constituency is impacted. I have written about this publicly, so hopefully I am not overstepping the line. The south midlands region, which is critical to the Oxford to Cambridge arc, has been slightly forgotten in the devolution argument.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree. I recognise that this is quite a challenge, because cross-Department working—in these first 16 months of government we have been exploring how siloed the previous Government left Whitehall—will be critical to getting the legislation right. I thank the hon. Member for Brighton Pavillion for tabling the new clause, but it could be refined. Hopefully that will happen in the other place. As a general observation, I listened to Conservative Members’ extensive contributions in Committee but could never quite get their position. At one point, it was that there should be more bureaucracy, more measures and more restrictions on mayors, but at the same time, they were arguing against powers, and wanted more freedom for mayors to choose. We even see that in the amendments before us.”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I thank my hon. Friend for raising this, because we have a similar issue between in Northamptonshire. We have a 15-year difference in life expectancy between Northampton town centre and rural areas such as Brackley. We are talking about an area of 20 or 30 miles. Does she agree that, although it is positive to see changes already in the Bill to address this, more could be done in the other place to improve the Bill further?”
House of Commons24 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am sure that my hon. Friend has considered the results of the Corry review, which recognises that we have such complex nature legislation in the UK that it makes it incredibly difficult to build. Does he agree that Lords amendment 40 makes it even more complicated for people to build the homes that we desperately need?”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I have been quite surprised in some of the debates on this Bill that we are not putting more focus on how we deal with homelessness, and that a debate on planning and infrastructure has instead come down in many cases purely to a discussion of nature.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I did think that the hon. Member for North Herefordshire (Dr Chowns) was about to slip up in her round-up and say, “Build, baby, build”—we almost had her there. Every single week at my constituency surgeries, people come and talk to me about housing shortages, whether it is people living in overcrowded or temporary accommodation or people facing homelessness, and tomorrow will be no exception. In fact, the impact of the storms in my constituency this weekend will likely mean that hundreds of people—perhaps up to a thousand—will be temporarily removed from their temporary mobile homes in the Billing aquadrome, putting additional pressure on our housing system. It is right that the Government are stepping forward to try to fix this.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am pleased that the Government have recognised a point that I raised on Second Reading that solving the housing crisis will take action from the whole Government. The Bill is part of it, but there are many other things that we need to do to fix the mess that we inherited. I am also reassured that concerns that I and others raised on Second Reading around how EDPs will work have been recognised, particularly in some of the latest amendments, as well as by the Minister’s comments on how brownfield will be dealt with, which is so critical.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The hon. Lady is completely right that there are lots of empty homes. I am sure that there must have been some amendments tabled by the Greens that I have missed, and that they have been constructive and worked with Government to address that issue through the Bill. Working cross-party is what I have always tried to do in this place. I am proud to chair the all-party parliamentary group for excellence in the built environment and the all-party parliamentary group on infrastructure and, even though the Minister and I do not always agree with the membership of the group—I have to say, some of the members do take unwarranted and quite grotty shots at the Minister—I am proud to chair the Representative Planning Group with Simon Dudley, the treasurer of the Conservatives.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The review, commissioned by DEFRA, found that we have some of the most inefficient, inconsistent and difficult-to-navigate nature legislation in the world, and it is not fit for purpose to drive nature recovery. Those who argue against change argue for the status quo, which has led to our country being one of the most nature-depleted in the world. That is what those who argue against this Bill argue for. They argue for more of the same, more nature destruction and a process that does not deliver homes.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Some of the amendments show that the Government have listened to those who build and those who want to see homes built across our country, and we are taking positive steps. EDPs have been the topic of a number of speeches. It is a contentious point both for my hon. Friends and Opposition Members. I have worked in the industry for 20 years, starting out fixing houses that were filling with sewage, and ending my career working on mega and giga projects around the world. I have experience of planning, approvals and consenting processes—in the most developed countries and in some developing countries as well—and I can tell Members that our process is so complicated. I referenced the Corry review in my intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Poole (Neil Duncan-Jordan).”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If any Member wants to come in on that, I am very happy to discuss it. There are other great measures in the Bill that will get lost. Lords amendment 34 seeks to improve how heritage sites are dealt with. That is fantastic for somewhere like Northamptonshire, which has one of the largest volumes of country houses, manors and stately homes in the country. Lords amendment 39 addresses brownfield sites, and Lords amendment 31 addresses the provision of EV charging, which came up a couple of weeks ago when I was on “Politics East” alongside the hon. Member for Ely and East Cambridgeshire (Charlotte Cane) and we were asked for our views. I am pleased that the Bill is returning to a focus on planning.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If Members turn their mind back to May 2024, they will remember a soggy former Prime Minister standing with music playing behind him. I was at the UK Real Estate Investment and Infrastructure Forum to discuss housing and how we get Britain building. I listened to a whole industry that is completely fed up with the Conservatives. One of my engagements over the past couple of days was a discussion on trust in the housing sector. I cannot remember the specific numbers, but I am thinking of figures from a couple of years ago: less than 20% of people had trust in developers, and less than 20% of people had trust in our planning process. It is clear that the whole process is broken, and that is why we are working really hard through this Bill to try to fix it. We have talked about the big amendments, but I want to turn to EDPs.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“She spoke about cutting bureaucracy, making things easier and cutting down on Government waste, but many of the amendments the shadow Minister spoke to do just the opposite. Lords amendment 3 adds layers of process to how planning will work, increasing the risk of judicial review. Lords amendment 33, which the Minister picked up on in his opening remarks, adds more parliamentary processes to trying to fix our housing crisis. I hope when he sums up that the shadow Minister will reflect on whether his position on this Bill reflects the position of his party’s leader and her call to cut regulation and get us building. A big point here is trust. Unfortunately, the debate on this Bill has focused on trust—trust in Government, trust in those who build our homes and trust in our planning system as well.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“My hon. Friend could not be more right. Part of why we set up the cross-party Representative Planning Group was to create an opportunity to bring forward legislation that ensures that all voices are heard in the housing debate, not just the loudest and angriest and those with lots of spare time on their hands. I am surprised by the position taken by the Conservatives. I was fortunate to sit on the Committee for the devolution Bill. I recognise that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (David Simmonds), is an absolute expert on local government, and he made some amazing contributions in Committee. As I am sure many Members did, I listened to the Leader of the Opposition’s speech at the Conservative party conference.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The scale of complexity of our planning process is such a big challenge. As well as improving certainty of the legal process, the Bill improves certainty around nature protection. The engineering design process will help us deliver more homes and protect nature. Since coming to this House, I have chosen to add a fourth C to my three Cs: the C of courage. What I saw in industry was a Government who did not have courage and that flip-flopped on their decisions, and that meant chaos. As has been said, we have inherited a system that fails to deliver the homes that we desperately need. That political courage to do difficult things, find compromise and drive forward is what the Bill represents, and I am proud to give my backing to my Government in pushing it through and ensuring that we deliver homes for people right across our country.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“We need certainty in the timescales around how planning works. The Bill simplifies that, making it clear how the judicial review process works and how we go through planning to give certainty to the communities that are impacted and which need those homes. The amendments brought forward by the Lords that the Government are taking forward improve that certainty of the legal process. Even yesterday, in the Energy Security and Net Zero Committee, we heard evidence on the planning process for delivering community energy, and I am sure everyone would support more small-scale community energy. We were blown away by the complexity of planning regulation in trying to get, say, solar panels on to a community building or a small-scale district heating scheme delivered in a local community for their benefit.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“If we cannot afford it, we cannot deliver it, so we have to get cost right. At the moment, viability particularly impacts our ability to deliver homes, and this legislation will start to improve that. Commerciality is the one that I like to focus on when talking to industry, because how we deal with apportionment of risk, change and commercial incentivisation is how we get projects working well, such as the Silvertown tunnel in Newham, and how we get projects that run very badly, such as HS2 phase 1, where the commerciality is completely wrong. The third C is certainty. That is what we have to give the market after 14 years of failure of a Conservative party that flip-flopped on housing policy, with a revolving door of Housing Ministers—we have all heard the tropes, so I will not keep going.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Through my career, I coined the three Cs of delivery, whether I was working on the Hudson tunnel connecting New Jersey and New York; on the Peru reconstruction programme, a project that was championed by another former Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, as a great example of exporting British expertise to a country and working in partnership to deliver nature restoration, new schools and new hospitals; on airports in places such as Keflavik in Iceland; on regeneration schemes in Greece; or even on the new hospitals and prison programmes and other things that we deliver in our great country. Those three Cs are certainty, commerciality and cost—and that is what it fundamentally comes down to when delivering projects. I am sure that everyone recognises that cost is critical.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend has presented, but it is slightly erroneous, because when there are particular nature issues, most projects will never get to the planning stage. It is really positive, however, to see so much brought forward by the Government—nearly 30 additional amendments—as they listen to the concerns of both Houses, to the environmental lobby and to those who build the homes we desperately need, and improve the way the law will work. There are great opportunities to support that going forward. I will add a slight observation.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am proud to be an environmentalist and to be on the executive committee of SERA, Labour’s environmental campaign, and I am grateful for the debate that I have had with them through this process to inform my thinking. My hon. Friend the Member for Chesterfield (Mr Perkins) mentioned the 3% stat—that only 3% of planning fails because of nature. The truth is that the assessment would be done long before the planning process, and I am surprised that schemes have got to that point on nature, as I am by the 3%. The chances are that when going for early viability on a project, nature challenges will be looked at. The complexity and difficulty of delivering in this country, because of the way our legislation is set up and the risk entailed, means that many schemes do not go ahead in the first place. I recognise the stat that my hon.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I take the point. The intention behind amendment 40 is well meant: there are situations, as my hon. Friend has said, in which EDPs will not be needed and there are other ways to deal with those situations through existing legislation. Having such a finite definition in the two lines of the amendment, which people have focused on, creates what the Corry review calls the problem: adding more complexity to the process, not simplifying it. I make no complaints about starting my career as a civil engineer and working in industry, and I am sad to hear that some of my colleagues and some of those across the House have the idea of greedy developers taking all our money and making millions of pounds in profit without ever giving back to society. I am interested to see, through this debate, the very well-funded environmental lobby.”
House of Commons13 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Hazel Grove (Lisa Smart) for securing this debate, and to her constituents for joining us today in Westminster Hall. I am proud to be a member of the Labour party—it is the party for workers; it recognises the dignity that we get from work, and that work is the foundation for independence, confidence and wellbeing. I have heard many stories in my constituency about how stable and secure employment has transformed the lives of people with autism and other disabilities. The key words there are “stable” and “secure”; to unlock people’s potential, we must ensure that work is consistent, meaningful and fulfilling.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I stand by to support those who will lose their jobs or volunteering opportunities through the closure of Workbridge, and my office is working hard with West Northants council and local groups to try to re-provide that provision in Northampton. I hope the Minister will make time to meet me to discuss this issue, particularly as her Department visited and praised the work of Workbridge in July. I thank the hon. Member for Hazel Grove again for securing this critical debate, and I thank her constituents for joining us in the Public Gallery.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It provides work for adults with disabilities, including autism, by providing signs for the highways network right across the country. It is a great example of how secure work has enabled people to create careers. When I visited this summer, I met people who had worked there for over 30 years and were so proud of the work that they deliver. To have a business like that making such a positive contribution to our community is fantastic. It is a great example of how being both commercially sound and socially responsible can make sure that businesses deliver. The lessons are clear: when we invest in supported employment everyone benefits, but when that support disappears, the fragile system will struggle to replace it.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Friend the Member for Leicester West (Liz Kendall), visited Workbridge in July and described it as a shining example of how social prescribing programmes work and of what we need across our country. There are many questions, including: how can the organisation go from promoting itself to the Government as best in class to closing within six months? I am meeting the chief executive officer next week to ask the questions that constituents are asking me about how this has happened and why Workbridge is being sacrificed to prop up the rest of the business. Before I finish, I will highlight a positive example from Northampton. Nordis Signs, a business supported by Kier Group and Kier Highways, is a local employer that has operated in my constituency for the best part of 50 years.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“It is a place where people with autism, learning difficulties and mental health challenges are able to build confidence, learn new skills and contribute to our community through meaningful employment and volunteering. It provides a café, garden centre and workshops for many. But it is all set to close. Last week we found out that St Andrew’s Healthcare had withdrawn funding from it to try to patch up its main business, which is rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission. I have been contacted by residents—by email, by letter and, actually, quite a lot on Remembrance Sunday—who are shocked and, frankly, devasted that this community institution will be closing. It is quite unforeseen. The former Secretary of State, my right hon.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I agree that those services are critical—we are seeing that at first hand in Northamptonshire; when placements and employment opportunities collapse, when local provision disappears, and when funding dries up, people lose trust in the system. The reality is that, across the country, the support network available to autistic adults is fragile. We rely on a patchwork of charities, specialist employers and often the good will of large organisations to make the investments needed to open up the opportunities that the hon. Member for Hazel Grove spoke about. When part of that network collapses, the impact is immediate and devastating, and that is exactly what we are seeing in Northampton. For over 40 years, Workbridge has been a lifeline to many in my community.”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“Does the hon. Gentleman agree that, while we do need that reform, we should recognise the brilliant organisations in our communities that are working so hard to support people—particularly, in Northampton, SEND Mummas, West Northants SEND Action Group and SENDS 4 Dad?”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“I am fortunate to get thorough updates from my police, fire and crime commissioner, Danielle Stone. In the latest update, she told me that she sees real improvements in the Probation Service, but Northampton still has a 40% staff vacancy rate. What is the Department doing to support recruitment and retention of the skilled staff that we need in the sector?”
House of Commons11 November 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The Royal & Derngate in Northampton has been named the UK’s most welcoming theatre. Will the Leader of the House join me in commending Jo Gordon, the chief executive; Jesse Jones, our artistic director; and all the team at the Royal & Derngate?”
House of Commons30 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗
“The scheme in Ireland was specifically brought in with collars and a floor, which meant that there was protection—that was at the point of introduction rather than through secondary legislation, which I think is important. It was introduced in a very different market with very different interest rates, corporation tax and other factors that drive corporate rents. The challenge with the way the legislation is written at the moment is that it has unintended—”
House of Commons28 October 2025Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0Source ↗