Liz Twist MP: speeches

Speeches

• 16 Oct 2025 · Youth Services: Funding · Hansard source

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  7. What discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on levels of funding for youth services.

• 16 Oct 2025 · Youth Services: Funding · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s work on the national youth strategy and their investment in youth services so far. How do they expect the move away from a one-size-fits-all approach to benefit young people from different backgrounds in my constituency and in general?

• 15 Oct 2025 · Point of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. Members will be aware that the Upper Waiting Hall is this week hosting the Speak Their Name exhibition of suicide memorial quilts from across the UK. This would not have been possible without the help of House staff who have gone way over and above to ensure that the exhibition and last Friday’s launch with the Baton of Hope could take place. May I ask you, Madam Deputy Speaker, to thank all the staff involved for their help and to pass on my appreciation?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  I am glad to have my hon. Friend’s support in this campaign. As a police officer in Durham constabulary, Maya’s auntie Gemma is well acquainted with these laws and their pitfalls. That is why she and the family are campaigning for Maya’s law, a child risk disclosure scheme modelled on the existing frameworks of Sarah’s law and Clare’s law, and designed to bridge the gaps between them. The scheme should enable proactive information sharing where a child is deemed at risk owing to a parent or caregiver’s known history, even where current laws do not trigger disclosure. It has long been recognised that information sharing is a serious issue when it comes to child safeguarding. Over 50% of serious case reviews cite communication failure as a primary cause. The independent review of children’s social care in 2022 put it plainly: “Poor multi-agency working...is a perennial issue that has been raised in every recent review that has considered child protection”. Existing legislation has attempted to solve this problem. The Children Act 2004 outlines the statutory safeguarding duties of local authorities and how they must work with the NHS and police in multi-agency safeguarding hubs to protect children in their areas. In practice, however, we know that multi-agency working has been more fractured than it should be. Furthermore, the thresholds for intervention are perceived as extremely high, and with a rising number of section 47 inquiries, existing services have been stretched. The result is that, 25 years on from the Victoria Climbié inquiry, we are still seeing children being harmed where opportunities to intervene have been missed.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  Clearly, there is a whole lot of activity going on to improve child protection, but we think there are some significant gaps. Would the Minister be prepared to meet me and the family so that we can explain where we think the gaps are and how we could improve the legislation?

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a very good point. It is really important that we keep the focus on protecting our children and taking the steps we have outlined today. Although it is vital that we improve safeguarding mechanisms among professionals, there is still more to do to ensure that families like the Chappell family are empowered to escalate their concerns, and that their concerns are taken seriously. We need greater awareness among the public and professionals of safeguarding risks that fall outside a narrow view of sexual abuse and intimate partner violence, we need to support safeguarding agencies to fulfil their obligations and hold them to account when those obligations are not fulfilled, and we need to close gaps to protect vulnerable children from slipping through the cracks of a fragmented system. What steps is the Minister taking, alongside colleagues in the Department for Education, to ensure that our legislation is watertight? Will he commit to working across Departments to ensure that safeguarding partners work alongside each other to uphold their responsibilities? Will the Department for Education, working alongside the Home Office and others, consider the role of the police in protecting children from a broad range of potential risks? Finally, will the Minister meet me and Maya’s family, who are here today, to hear about their concerns and the changes we believe are necessary to prevent future tragedies? Every loss of this nature causes unbearable pain for loved ones and carers. Maya’s family have worked so hard to get the campaign to this point. Sadly, her death is not the first high-profile case in which more could have been done. Had this debate been longer, I am sure we would have heard testimonies about many more children whose deaths could have been prevented. To put it simply, in each of these cases, reports are produced, and they almost invariably cite lessons learned, as was the case with Maya. The family and I are calling for those lessons to be put into action. As Gemma Chappell says: “Let’s make that phrase mean what it should. Not the end of a case, but the beginning of change.” We should not be here today. Today Maya should be five and a half years old. She should be enjoying her time at school, making friends and going to birthday parties. Her family will not have the opportunity to watch her grow up and see where life would have taken her, but they want to take every opportunity they can to ensure that no family has to endure the pain that they have. I pay tribute to them and hope the Minister can work with me and Maya’s family on that mission.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  I know that Gemma, Rachael and the family have been working together with other families who have been affected, including Tony’s family. What happened to him is absolutely tragic. We need to take a number of steps along the way, and today we are arguing for this disclosure arrangement. I am very happy to talk to the hon. Member further about Tony’s case and how it can be improved. The Government have taken vital steps forward with the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill by placing a duty on certain agencies to disclose information to other agencies where they consider it to be relevant to safeguarding or promoting the welfare of children. That is a recognition of the regulatory barriers perceived by practitioners when sharing information, and of the culture change that is required. I am in no doubt that those measures, including the establishment of multi-agency child protection teams and the introduction of a single unique identifier for children, will help to save lives.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  I beg to move, That this House has considered the potential merits of a child risk disclosure scheme. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. The focus of this debate, a child risk disclosure scheme, might sound a bit complicated and dry. In some ways, it is. It is about how our laws, policies and institutions come together to protect some of the most vulnerable children in this country, and about how we close gaps in a complex web involving our police, the NHS, local authorities, our education system and families. Ultimately, however, it is about the children at the heart of those cases and the lives that have been altered forever by the most horrifying abuse. Some we may never know the names of, but their lives were still important, still cherished and still worth protecting. My constituent Gemma Chappell and her sister Rachael know that pain all too well. Their great-niece, Maya Chappell, was cruelly murdered by her mother’s new partner in September 2022, aged just two and a half. The case shocked the community of Consett in my constituency, as well as communities in Shotton Colliery, County Durham and across the north-east. Before I talk more about the case, I want to talk about Maya. If one thing was clear from my conversations with Gemma and her family, it is that Maya was a treasured little girl. She had family, friends and an entire community who loved her and who looked after her. Despite her tender age, she touched the hearts of everyone she met with her huge smile, infectious laugh and friendly nature. She was full of life, mischief and personality. She loved cake, playtime and “Peppa Pig”. Although it is a privilege to remember Maya here in Parliament, it is with a deep sadness that we are here today because this much-loved little girl was failed so terribly by those who were supposed to protect her. Maya was born on 7 March 2020, just before the start of the pandemic. Being born at that time meant that she was not seen by others. Although her mother was not known to statutory services, Maya’s family say there were early red flags, including missed health visits, concerns about drugs being in and around the house, and her parents being involved in controlling or concerning relationships. In summer 2022, Maya’s mother began a relationship with Michael Daymond, and they quickly moved in together. A judge would later conclude that from that moment, Daymond began hurting Maya regularly. She soon began to sustain bruises that were noticed by other people. Relatives flagged these injuries to Maya’s mother, but she did not act. Instead, Maya was kept away from her father, James, and from the staff at her nursery so that they could not see the impact of Daymond’s abuse. In fact, following Maya’s move to Peterlee, members of her family did not even know where she lived. On 28 September, Michael Daymond was being chased for drug debts and was told that his universal credit had been cut off. On that day, he subjected Maya to the most appalling physical violence, leaving her with injuries that were not survivable. She died in hospital two days later, on 30 September 2022. It has now been more than three years since that tragic day, but Maya’s family and the community of Consett have ensured that her name has not been forgotten. I doubt that there is a single person in Consett and active on social media who has not seen Maya’s beaming smile, which is exactly how her family want her to be remembered. They have held local events, reached out to everyone they can think of and grabbed the attention of local and national media. It is thanks to their tenacity that I am here today and it is a tribute to the entire community, who have got behind the campaign in memory of Maya’s life.

• 14 Oct 2025 · Child Risk Disclosure Scheme · Hansard source

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  I know that people in my hon. Friend’s community were also affected by the case. I certainly agree that the law would make a real difference to people and children in future. That is what we want to do—protect other children. I have been particularly moved by Gemma and Rachael’s determination to work with other families who have had their lives changed irrevocably by child abuse, including the families of Star Hobson and Tony Hudgell, who is thankfully still alive. This campaign is not only about remembering Maya; it is about preventing other children from enduring the unimaginable pain that Maya did on that day and in the weeks preceding her death. Although the family were not known to statutory services, the child safeguarding practice review highlighted instances in which professionals could have stepped in—for example, when Maya’s mother contacted a health visitor asking for support or when Maya’s father, James, approached Durham’s First Contact service with concerns about Michael Daymond. James was told to contact the police, where the matter was progressed under Clare’s law and Sarah’s law, but when an officer followed that up, Maya’s mother told them that she was no longer with Daymond and the matter was closed. Clearly, there was a need for more professional curiosity on the part of the First Contact service and the police, but the incident highlighted the fact that neither of those laws is designed to protect children from known risks of non-sexual abuse. Sarah’s law and Clare’s law operate on a right to ask and right to know basis. Relevant third parties can request information and the police can make disclosures of their own accord if they become aware that a person may be at risk. Clare’s law, which focuses on intimate partner violence, covers children only when they are linked to a primary adult who is at risk of domestic abuse. Although children are the focus of Sarah’s law, its primary concern is sexual offending. Sarah’s law does permit the disclosure of wider safeguarding concerns, but that is discretionary, and there is a presumption to disclose information about an individual only where they have convictions for child sex offences. However, children are killed and harmed in households where non-sexual abuse is taking place and where family members have raised concerns but had no legal standing to insist on intervention.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Court Backlogs · Hansard source

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  7. What steps his Department is taking to reduce the Crown court backlog.

• 16 Sept 2025 · Court Backlogs · Hansard source

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  Some cases are now being listed for 2029, which is completely unacceptable. How is the Secretary of State undoing the harm inflicted by the Conservative party not only on the justice system but to trust that justice will be found?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Suicide Prevention · Hansard source

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  I thank the shadow Minister for his comments. There is no question but that we all want to work together to achieve the best outcome. May I remind him, however, that the £10 million voluntary services grant was a one-off grant and that the last Government failed to renew the funding—the £57.1 million that was mentioned—for local authorities’ prevention work?

• 11 Sept 2025 · Suicide Prevention · Hansard source

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  I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) for securing this important debate just one day after World Suicide Prevention Day, and for speaking so movingly about his personal experience. It does not take much scratching below the surface to find out that many of us here in Parliament and across our constituencies have been affected by suicide. An estimated 7,055 suicides were registered in the UK in 2023. Suicide remains the leading cause of death in people under 35, and of men under 50, and each suicide ripples out, affecting family, friends, work colleagues and social groups, leading to an increased risk of suicide in them. It is now some 25 years since my husband Charlie took his own life, and I still see those ripples affecting so many people who knew and loved him. We cannot say it too often: every one of those lives lost to suicide was not a number but a real person, and every life lost to suicide is a tragedy. As a result of my work over a number of years with the APPG for suicide and self-harm prevention, I have got to know many wonderful organisations, very many of them inspired and run by those with their own experiences of loss, working hard to prevent suicide and to help those families and friends who have lost people to suicide. That includes organisations such as If U Care Share, Body & Soul, Gambling with Lives, Silence of Suicide, SoBs, 3 Dads Walking, Jami, Baton of Hope, James’ Place, The Martin Gallier Project, and the Speak Their Name quilts project, with quilts from the UK on display in Parliament when we return in October, and with the Baton of Hope ending its trip in Westminster the previous Friday. There are so many people who I could name, and I apologise for not naming them, but I see and hear them. I thank them for their work. I am pleased to have worked with the British Standards Institution over the past 18 months, which will shortly publish suicide prevention guidelines for employers and launch them in this place. There is no single community in this country that is not affected by suicide. But it is also true that some are more affected than others. Deaths of this nature are both a cause and a consequence of health and economic inequalities. In the north-east, our suicide rates have consistently remained higher than the national average, and they have risen steadily over the past decade. There was so much more that I was going to say, but I will move on to my asks of the Government. I am proud of the work that the Government have carried out so far, from expanding mental health support teams in schools to implementing online harms legislation. But going forward we need to have mechanisms in place to assess public mental health need at a local and national level, tackle emerging issues and support well-evidenced public health interventions to prevent suicides. I would also like to talk about the online harms that people face. The Government have started to take action, but it is developing all the time. I hope that we can continue to take strong action in that region, and continue to improve the national suicide prevention strategy.

• 11 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  School holidays are great, but they can be a really tough time for some families. Programmes such as the holiday activities and food programme help to bridge the gap by providing not only meals, but opportunities to build social skills and confidence with age-appropriate activities and a side serving of fun. This year I attended a HAF Plus event hosted by Northumbria University, at which young people aged 13 to 16 could do just that by taking part in activities from baking to gaming and martial arts, which were designed by young people themselves. I am delighted that the Government have invested to extend the scheme for another three years. Can we have a debate in Government time on how we can build on the success of HAF?

• 10 Sept 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Today is World Suicide Prevention Day. It can be scary to talk about suicide, but we need to. So many of our constituents will know or love someone who has taken their own life, or they may have suicidal thoughts themselves. But suicide is not inevitable; it is preventable, and everyone has a role to play in saving lives. Will the Prime Minister reaffirm the Government’s commitment to preventing deaths by suicide and say how they are tackling this vital issue?

• 9 Sept 2025 · Better Futures Fund · Hansard source

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  Our North East Mayor, Kim McGuinness, is taking child poverty seriously, with the recent announcement of £28.6 million for the north-east child poverty action plan, including funding for a local pilot to expand specialist youth provision and support to open up pathways to future employment opportunities. How will the Chancellor work with Mayor McGuinness from the earliest stages of development of the better futures fund to ensure that it meets the needs of children and young people in my constituency of Blaydon and Consett and across the north-east?

• 9 Sept 2025 · Better Futures Fund · Hansard source

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  15. What progress she has made on establishing the better futures fund.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Armed Forces: Welfare · Hansard source

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  21. What steps he is taking to improve the welfare of armed forces personnel.

• 8 Sept 2025 · Armed Forces: Welfare · Hansard source

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  One of Labour’s key manifesto commitments was to give our armed forces greater representation through the creation of an Armed Forces Commissioner—a promise that we have made good on with the passing of the Armed Forces Commissioner Act 2025 last week. How does the Minister expect that to improve the lives of our service personnel and their families?

• 4 Sept 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Next Wednesday is World Suicide Prevention Day. People can be nervous of talking about suicide, but it affects so many people in our communities. This year, Samaritans is sharing this message: “If you think someone might be suicidal, take action, interrupt their thoughts and show them you care.” There are events taking place across Parliament next week, but will the Leader of the House join me in encouraging Members to participate in next Thursday’s debate on suicide prevention, which has been announced today by the Chair of the Backbench Business Committee, the hon. Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman)?

• 2 Sept 2025 · Eating Disorders: Prevention of Deaths · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Sir Desmond. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Isle of Wight West (Mr Quigley) for organising this important debate. I come to this debate through my work with the all-party parliamentary group on suicide and self-harm prevention. There is a clear link with eating disorders, which has been drawn to my attention by the charity Eating Distress North East. Up to a third of people with eating disorders have made suicide attempts, and they are 18 times more likely to die by suicide. Measures to prevent this are really important and must be a priority. The suicide prevention strategy does highlight the need to tackle issues for eating disorders, but I know that lots of organisations in the field would like to see more done in that area. I want to talk about the role of online harms, which are really problematic. Attention has been drawn to particular sites, and I know that the Government will want to work with Ofcom to make regulations effective for these people, but it is also about the impact of less harmful content. We need greater agency for people to control what they see. Saying that they are not interested is not sufficient. AI, of course, presents new issues. Eating disorders are devastating and on the rise. Eating Distress North East recorded 78% more referrals in 2024-25—

• 2 Sept 2025 · Defibrillators · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Stringer. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland (Sam Rushworth) for securing this important debate. I know that the subject matters a great deal to constituents who have contacted me about defibrillators over the years. I recently met a young woman in my constituency who told me about the cardiac arrest that her father experienced on the Derwent walk in January this year. Her dad was in his early 50s, with no prior major health issues, when he and his wife decided to take a walk in the snow. They were about two miles away from their home when he suffered a cardiac arrest. Although they were on a popular route for people across our region, and part of the famous coast-to-coast cycle path, there was no defibrillator within easy reach of him. Thankfully, nurses and policemen nearby were available to do CPR until the ambulance arrived about 20 minutes later, and he was able to make a recovery. In April, however, he suffered a further cardiac arrest. He was found by his teenage daughters, who both work as lifeguards at Consett leisure centre in my constituency, and they were able to administer CPR while they waited for the ambulance to arrive. They were just 16 and 18 at the time. Their actions clearly saved their dad’s life. I commend their bravery at what must have been an incredibly frightening moment, but sadly people all too often cannot be revived by CPR after suffering a cardiac arrest. That is why it is so important that we make sure that defibrillators are easily accessible and that people know how to use them in emergencies. As we heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Bishop Auckland, MPs are regularly contacted by organisations that seek to fundraise and to tell us about incidents in which defibrillators have been used, which is really important. I say a massive thank you to all my constituents in Blaydon and Consett who have organised the installation of defibrillators across our communities, including the councillors, community partnerships and groups of volunteers who have fundraised to provide them. I applaud the efforts of those at Stargate and Crookhill community centre, who are currently doing exactly that to ensure that they can maintain their defibrillators. Once there is a defibrillator, it is not a done deal. The machines need new batteries and pads or replacements when parts can no longer be replaced owing to the age of the machine or after use. Communities who fundraise to set up defibrillators may be left to cover those costs, which puts areas with fewer resources at a disadvantage. Perhaps that is why research has shown that distance to the nearest 24/7 defibrillator increases with deprivation levels in England.

• 22 Jul 2025 · Sir David Amess Summer Adjournment · Hansard source

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  I recognise that it is a privilege to speak high up the list in this important Sir David Amess debate. Just over a year ago, we welcomed not only a new Labour Government but the creation of the new Blaydon and Consett constituency. It is fair to say that there was some bemusement locally about our new boundaries. The new constituency spans towns and villages in both Gateshead and County Durham, all with strong identities of their own, but we have plenty in common, from the keelmen on the Tyne to the steelworkers of Consett, and not forgetting the vital role played by our women in our history or our strong mining history. We have a really powerful industrial past and a strong community spirit. My constituents are passionate about fairness and access to opportunity, and they know the real division is not Gateshead or Durham, but whether you are black and white or red and white. I have had many highlights over the years serving my wonderful constituency, but top of that list has to be securing wave 1 funding for the new hospital in Consett to replace Shotley Bridge. After years of broken promises from the last Government, we are now expecting construction to begin by 2026-27. I want to say a massive thank you to Kevin Earley and the Shotley Bridge hospital support group, and to everyone in the local community for their efforts. That work continues, and we welcomed the Health Secretary to Consett earlier this year to discuss progress. I am grateful to the support group and the trust for working with me to ensure that we get everything in the right place to deliver for people in Consett. There is currently concern about the out-of-hours urgent treatment service in Shotley Bridge. This is an issue I have been raising and I would encourage my constituents to submit to the ongoing consultation, as I will be. This year, the Government made transformational changes to employment rights, strengthening sick pay and moving towards fair pay agreements in adult social care. In April, the real-terms increase in the minimum wage meant that one in seven workers in the north-east saw a boost to their pay packet. This is what a Labour Government mean to my constituents. We have had more constituency wins this year. Moorside primary became an early adopter of our free breakfast club programme, Shotley Bridge school received funding for its nursery, and we have had investment for the Oakfields GP practice in Hamsterley Colliery. I welcome Government funding to restore the Tyne bridge, a vital part of our regional infrastructure. Finally, we have also had the launch of the Gateshead safe haven, led by Gateshead citizens advice bureau and North East Counselling, to support people in mental health crisis, and 58,000 children across Gateshead and Durham will now benefit from a mental health support team in their school—an issue particularly close to my heart. None of this would be possible without the work of local people on the ground, so I thank all of them for everything that they do. If there is one issue that remains high on the agenda for my constituents, it is bus services. After years of deregulation and slashed routes, residents feel unable to rely on our buses. That needs to change. I am proud that this Government’s Bus Services (No. 2) Bill will hand back control to our communities, and I look forward to working with our Mayor, Kim McGuinness, to ensure that that is the case. This year, I have talked to staff at Consett Empire about how we can keep the theatre thriving. I have heard the concerns of staff at Villa Real school about the state of their building, which desperately needs improving. I will continue to raise those issues going forward. Road safety and speed limits are another major issue for my constituents, and I look forward to working with Ministers on the road safety strategy to resolve those concerns. I was proud to join the Rowlands family from Consett at a ministerial meeting. They spoke eloquently about their son Andrew, who lost his life in an accident involving an uninsured under-age driver. I pay tribute to all the families in my constituency campaigning for change after going through difficult times. Another shout-out must go to Terry Archbold and his daughter Bea from Burnopfield, who have been raising awareness of organ donation following Bea’s lifesaving heart transplant. It is an honour to have a front-row seat for the fantastic work happening across all our communities in our schools, NHS, shops, libraries, care homes and leisure centres. This year, I have tapped my feet to the fantastic Ryton Singers and Winlaton’s Northern Phoenix brass band, and admired photography by Ryton camera club and Consett in Focus. I have met local environment pioneers at the Crawcrook repair café, the Chopwell regeneration shop, Blackhill Park’s community garden and the Greenside community orchard. That is not forgetting our small businesses, including those who met the Minister when he visited Consett last year. Thanks to all who showed him what our patch has to offer and spoke about their experiences. I am always inspired by young people in our constituency. This year, we have had visits to Parliament from St Joseph’s in Blaydon, St Mary’s in Blackhill, and Derwentside college, and I hope that more schools will have this opportunity in future. I thank Parkhead, St Thomas More and St Patrick’s in Dipton for opening their doors to me, as well as High Spen and Ryton primary schools for their fantastic local murals and artwork. I got a good grilling from students at Consett academy, and the pupils’ Parliament in Shotley Bridge showed me how democracy is done—Westminster will be in good hands if we put the children of Blaydon and Consett in charge. I thank all the school staff for their hard work. I was pleased to meet headteachers from across our constituency to hear about the issues they face, and they have provided me with insights that I will feed back to Government. I pay tribute to the fantastic volunteers supporting our community. There are too many to name, but I want to give a quick shout-out to Moorside baby bank, Newcastle United Foundation’s walking football in Blaydon, Consett Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide, Derwent Valley car club and Ryton’s Men’s Shed. I can only hope that I can match their passion and commitment for our communities. Finally, I want to thank my constituency team. Since the election, we have opened a second office in Consett, and they have processed over 8,000 cases. I thank the Doorkeepers and House staff for everything they do to keep Parliament running. I thank my constituents, new and old, who make Blaydon and Consett a fantastic place to be. It is an honour to represent this constituency, and I will continue working every day to ensure that our people have the opportunities they deserve.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Mental Health Support in Schools · Hansard source

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  4. What steps she is taking to improve mental health support in schools.

• 21 Jul 2025 · Mental Health Support in Schools · Hansard source

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  I thank the Minister for his reply and for last week’s publication of the new relationships, sex and health education—RSHE—curriculum guidance. I was pleased to see that secondary schools are now being asked to talk about suicide prevention in an age-appropriate way. Andy, Mike and Tim, the 3 Dads Walking, have campaigned hard for this change over a number of years, and I am pleased that the Government have worked with them to make this happen. Will the Minister join me in thanking the three dads, and can he say how this will be implemented in schools so that we can help save young lives?