Luke Evans MP: speeches

Speeches

• 14 Nov 2024 · Respiratory Health · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. This is my first day in my new role; it seems appropriate to take over this brief and speak in a debate on respiratory illness, because dealing with respiratory illness was my first ward job as a junior doctor. I worked for four months in accident and emergency department in the west midlands, and then my first ward job was dealing with respiratory conditions in Solihull hospital, so I have seen up front just how important respiratory medicine is. I put on the record my thanks to the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this debate. He may often get called last in the main Chamber, but he clearly has a trick for successfully securing debates. I look forward to perhaps having a cup of tea with him to learn how he is so successful. It is both a blessing and a curse to hear the hon. Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme (Adam Jogee) make the same argument that his predecessor made about the quality of air in his constituency. I gather that it is a tip that causes a huge amount of problems there, and I hope he has success in getting the issue sorted. I also hope he takes some comfort from the fact that the previous Government passed the Environment Act 2021 to put in place legal limits to try to improve air quality and, of course, offered air-quality grants. There is clearly an interest in respiratory conditions in both the east and west midlands, given the contribution from the hon. Member for Redditch (Chris Bloore), who is no longer in his place. Having worked over in the west midlands, I have now transferred to the clearly better east midlands.

• 14 Nov 2024 · Respiratory Health · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for that offer, and if there is a cup of tea involved that may well be a consideration too. Perhaps we could all go there as a group on a cross-party trip.

• 14 Nov 2024 · Respiratory Health · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that offer. I congratulate the hon. Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) on her work in the APPG. She was of course right to highlight smoking as a big problem, and health inequalities are also important. We also know that people experiencing health inequalities generally struggle to access healthcare, let alone healthcare for respiratory conditions—we have not even discussed the equipment and expertise needed to deal with such conditions. The hon. Member for Sherwood Forest (Michelle Welsh) spoke about pulmonary fibrosis, a really important condition that is not given the precedence it deserves given how debilitating it is for patients who suffer with it. I pay special tribute to her for raising that issue so powerfully and so emotionally. She is a true champion for doing something about a condition that is not thought about nearly enough. The hon. Member for Winchester (Dr Chambers) is absolutely right about holistic approaches. They are outside the remit of this debate, but housing, environment and smoking are of course all big factors. We have not even talked about comorbidities yet. We know that people over the age of 60 are usually on several medications and may have heart problems or musculoskeletal problems as well. That will have a really big impact. With regard to the hon. Member being a vet, I think I am right in thinking that he is still allowed to practise on humans, while I certainly am not allowed to practise on pets. That is not something for a debate today, but I think it is noteworthy; if there is a problem you should rush to him too, Mr Rosindell. What he said about antimicrobial resistance is really interwoven into everything, because there is a danger of over-prescriptions for chest infections that turn out to be viruses. That is a really problematic issue that is growing, and it is the next probable pandemic, with no easy solution. He is right to highlight that. I thank the members of the APPG for all the work they do, led by the hon. Member for Strangford. It is really important to be able to get a debate and raise these issues, and to have the infrastructure behind the members to support the team in dealing with and producing updates. I myself have a personal history with respiratory medicine, having ended up on the intensive care unit with bilateral pneumonia after an appendicectomy in my late 20s. It has left me, at previous times, at a brittle asthma clinic. There were many attempts to diagnose what was going on, but nothing was ever found. I had to be treated with repeated steroids and felt, full on, what it is like to suddenly not be able to breathe, not be able to exercise and have that ability taken away. When they are listening to this debate, the key thing for the public to realise is just how important our breathing really is. A breathing condition is so seminal to everything we do. There is a reason why in an emergency it is ABCDE, or airway, breathing, circulation, disability, exposure: because breathing is quite literally life. Many people have experienced having that taken away a little bit by getting covid; that has at least made people aware of just how bad viral illnesses can be. Turning to some of the other conditions that we have not talked about—I feel like I am back in one of my medical exams in the fifth year—we have heard about asthma and COPD, but we have not talked about pulmonary embolisms, pneumoconiosis or TB. We did hear about cystic fibrosis, but we have not heard about mesothelioma or sarcoidosis. Pneumonia is a really important one to talk about too, as is lung cancer, and there are probably some that I have missed. Respiratory conditions are really important: they make up the third place for all deaths, so they need that attention. I was therefore pleased to see the last Government come forward with the community diagnostic centres—170 community diagnostic centres going up across the country to get better access to MRI scans, CT scans or blood tests. Those will be really important, and I was lucky to have a £24 million investment for a CDC in Hinckley, which will have MRI and CT scanners, and is being built as we speak. That will be transformative for my community when they are caught between two big centres towards Nuneaton and Leicester. I hope those measures will mean that respiratory conditions play an important part in the hospital rebuild programme and the current review, and that we will ensure we have the apparatus and equipment to support them. Turning to the nitty-gritty of the debate, I entirely agree with the idea of prevention. The Conservatives brought forward measures to deal with smoking. I hope that as the Government step forward with further ideas of how to tackle smoking and push for a smoke-free generation, we will be looking at that very closely. The hon. Member for Strangford really hit on a point about data. Health policy must be driven by decent data, and the APPG’s work highlights how respiratory conditions tend to fall behind in that. I have questions for the Minister about what work is being done now only on the simple matter of how we record things, but on how we can join up that dataset. For example, in my constituency we have two boundaries; we are caught between North Warwickshire and Leicestershire when getting answers to tests. An asthmatic does not have an asthma attack directly where they live—they could be on holiday. Sharing information on what has happened with treatment and investigations is really important. That leads me on to spirometry. Spirometry is key, but where it is and how it is achieved is too sporadic, as is the skillset to deliver it. Then, of course, we have FENO—fractional exhaled nitric oxide—which can help to aid the diagnosis of asthma. That will be key, and the Opposition look forward to seeing what the new BTS guidelines, worked up with NICE, show on dealing with asthma. I have a couple more questions for the Minister. I appreciate that this is not her brief, so I should be grateful if she passed on any questions she cannot answer for a written response. We have heard that the likes of the RSV vaccine are really important; new vaccines are coming out to tackle this huge problem for the elderly and the young. The vaccine was introduced for those aged between 75 and 80, but it would be interesting to see whether there is scope to grow that and see who else is responsive. I gather from work done by my Opposition colleagues that there is still some debate to be had and evidence to be gathered on what that would look like. I would appreciate it if the Minister took that point away. What steps are the Government taking to increase the uptake of flu and pneumonia vaccinations? Prevention is better than cure. Finally, it was mentioned that the last Government looked at chronic health strategies. It appears that the new Government have decided to take a different tack with chronic conditions. I appreciate that that is their prerogative, but there is a danger that we could have a lag. The data that has been gathered, the research that has been looked at and the policies that have been structured for the past five years or so could fall by the wayside, even though we have heard how much of an emergency it is to deal with respiratory conditions. Could the Minister clarify whether interested parties will need to resubmit the work they have done, or whether the work will be a continuation within the new structure that the Government are planning? Is there any timescale on what that would look like? Clearly the Conservative Government were unable to get the long-term health strategies in place in time before the election. Time is ticking on, and we have a winter coming up. It is really important for organisations to understand where they stand. Christmas is coming up, and I well know from my time as a GP—I should declare an interest, as my wife is a GP as well—that Christmas is the busiest time, and respiratory conditions are one of the top reasons for that. If anyone out there is listening, getting vaccinated is imperative. I advise everyone to do so. We know that the staff of these organisations will go above and beyond when they see someone struggling for breath. They will take their time to get the right history and get medication and treatment in place. We give them our greatest thanks, from the Opposition side of the House, for all the work they have done and will do in the busy Christmas period. I am sure that that sentiment is shared by the Government.

• 14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source

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  (Urgent Question) : To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care if he will make a statement on the impact of changes to employer national insurance contributions on primary care providers, hospices and care homes.

• 14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source

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  It was in my opening line—

• 14 Nov 2024 · National Insurance Contributions: Healthcare · Hansard source

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  I draw the House’s attention to my declaration of interests. Many in the health sector will have been pleased to hear the announcement of the extra funding for the NHS, only for their joy to be struck down by the realisation that a manifesto promise not to raise national insurance contributions had been broken. That was compounded further by the discovery that a raft of frontline care providers—care homes, hospices, care charities, pharmacies and GPs, to name but a few—will not be exempt from the NI rise, leaving them with crippling staff bills and the threat of closures and redundancies. The hospice sector expects the cost to be £30 million—closures and redundancies. The initial assessment of the cost to GPs is £260 million—closures and redundancies, at the expense of 2.2 million appointments. For the care sector, the changes will cost £2.4 billion, dwarfing the £600 million in social care support that was announced. Does the Minister accept that it is inevitable that council tax will have to rise to support the increase in NICs? For the first time, the National Pharmacy Association has announced collective action. Its chair said: “The sense of anger among pharmacy owners has been intensified exponentially by the Budget, with its hike in national insurance employers’ contributions and the unfunded national living wage increase, which has tipped even more pharmacies to the brink.” Will the Minister clarify who is exempt from NI? Will the Government admit that they got it wrong and make a change? The Prime Minister, Health Secretary and Chancellor have all said that allocations will be made “in the usual way”. Will the Minister clarify what the usual way is? Will mitigations be put in black and white to the House and the public? Is this part of the £20 billion, or new funding? More importantly, will the Minister lay out a concrete timetable for hospices, care homes, GPs, pharmacists and all other allied health professionals, who are making decisions now? This seems to be another example of a big headline from the Labour party but no detail.

• 13 Nov 2024 · Representation of the People · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Member for making that point. I am interested in the report that has come out, which I have not had a chance to see. I believe that Northern Ireland has had voter ID since 2003—that system has been in place for two decades—so we have a direct comparison within the UK of voters in the general election, from which we can learn. Is there any evidence to suggest that Northern Ireland struggled? Given that it is two decades ahead of England in this case, would not it be interesting to see the comparative data so that the Government can take that forward and learn from Northern Ireland?

• 13 Nov 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. The Voluntary Organisations Disability Group represents over 100 charities, including Mencap and Sense. It has said that the Budget will have “life-changing consequences” and its chief executive has said that the “Labour government is letting them down”.It says the increase in national insurance contributions will put frontline services at risk, so what will the Government do to mitigate that risk for those charities, which are so important to those with disabilities?

• 11 Nov 2024 · Rural Affairs · Hansard source

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  Another point we need to consider is the impact on food security if farmers decide to hand back their farms or have their farms broken up, as my right hon. Friend suggests. Does she have any thoughts or has she seen any evidence about the possible impact on food security? I have not seen any such evidence, which is a concern in itself.

• 5 Nov 2024 · Flight Cancellations · Hansard source

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  In his earlier answer the Minister spoke about growth and connectivity being important. How does the £2 increase—the holiday tax being added to airport duty—make a difference, especially when Ryanair has announced that it is going to cut 5 million seats? That will have a dramatic impact on anyone wanting to travel within the UK and across Europe. What impact assessment will the Government carry out to ensure connectivity?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  On the Budget, GPs, hospices and care homes have been found to be either exempt or not exempt from the national insurance contributions. Will he clarify whether hospices, care homes and primary care are exempt or not? That really matters to their costs.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Childcare Accessibility · Hansard source

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  Martin Lewis has long campaigned for changes in childcare, in particular because the way in which it is set up can damage single parents. There is an obvious cliff edge. The last Government proposed a consultation on thresholds for households being taken as one, but this Government seem to have scrapped that in the Budget. Will Ministers be speaking to the Treasury to decide how they will overcome this cliff edge that affects so many single parents?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The National Farmers Union tweeted: “In 2023 Prime Minister Keir Starmer looked farmers in the eye and said he knew what losing a farm meant. Farmers believed him. After today’s budget they don’t believe him any more.” What is the Prime Minister going to do practically to resolve that?

• 31 Oct 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Farmers woke up today broken and devastated after yesterday’s announcement by the Government. We only have to look across social media to see farmers speaking about the impact of the hike in tax on generational farming. Farmers are among those who suffer most from mental health problems, given the problems of a tough harvest. This concoction has come together under this Government. Will the Leader of the House ask the Environment Secretary to make a statement on Monday? Will she write to the Health Secretary to ensure a ringfenced fund for all those farmers who will suffer and will be unable to pass on their family farm to the next generation? The impact on food security will be severe and shocking.

• 31 Oct 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. After yesterday’s Budget, those running small and medium-sized businesses will see their national insurance rise and their wage bill increase. Those in hospitality, running a pub or restaurant, for example, will have a 35% reduction in their business rate relief. To top it off, the Employment Rights Bill will bring more red tape for businesses. Those massive changes are happening very quickly. Does the Minister agree with the Institute of Directors that it is a “perfect storm” of higher taxes, higher wages and more red tape?

• 29 Oct 2024 · Pension Credit: Processing of Applications · Hansard source

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  2. What estimate she has made with Cabinet colleagues of the additional funding needed to process pension credit applications within target timescales.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Pension Credit: Processing of Applications · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful for the Minister’s answer. I put in a written question to find out how long this would take, and almost one in four people who apply for pension credit are waiting longer than 50 working days for their application to be picked up, which takes us past Christmas and into the new year. That is before the 150% increase in applications referred to in the data released by the Government, so although I am pleased to hear that there are 500 more staff, could we hear how much extra funding is going in immediately to make sure those applications are processed this side of Christmas? Otherwise, pensioners are really going to struggle.

• 29 Oct 2024 · Ministerial Code: Policy Announcements · Hansard source

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  Over the past few days, we have had multiple leaked definitions of what working people are. Will the Government place in the House of Commons Library a definition ready for tomorrow’s Budget, so we can all understand who they are talking about?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister give way?

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  So close.

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Rosindell. I congratulate the hon. Member for Cramlington and Killingworth (Emma Foody), and I hope she enjoys her nostalgic tour through all the concerts she plans to go to. For what it is worth, as we are sharing, one of my first gigs was Faithless, which I am quite proud of, although it does not quite stack up when I say that my second one was Tom Jones. Still, I enjoyed both hugely. I was sorry to hear the hon. Member for Chelmsford (Marie Goldman) talk about her parents becoming victims. There is some joke about Sting and getting the Police involved, but I will leave that for the moment. I thank the hon. Member for Washington and Gateshead South (Mrs Hodgson) for her dedication and her expertise on this issue. We all know, as I have learned in the last five years, that we have to plod and plod in this place to keep getting heard. The fact that we are having another debate and that there will be a consultation is all credit to her. Like the hon. Member for Ipswich (Jack Abbott), I too have seen three of S Club 7. My sighting was at a stag do with my brother in Newport. I hope that the hon. Member was not there—if he was, I hope he does not share the pictures. As the hon. Member for Leigh and Atherton (Jo Platt) noted, grassroots venues are so important. The UK is a centre for the creative industries, and that is the testbed; that is why we have world-class talent coming out, and we certainly do not want to lose that. The hon. Member for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley) brings a huge amount of expertise. I think she said she was a DJ, so I am looking forward to her doing the cross-party celebration of “Mistletoe and Wine”—there is a good Cliff Richard reference. The issue of secondary ticketing and dynamic ticket pricing has affected many of our constituents, as we have heard today. It certainly seems that when Oasis came up with their masterplan to reform, the ticket promoters did not foresee the issue of dynamic pricing causing so many headlines and unfortunately detracting from the exciting news of Oasis reforming. It is important to separate the secondary ticket market from the specific issue of dynamic ticket pricing. Unlike the primary market, in which tickets are sold at their original face value and the price is set by the artists, event organisers or box office, the secondary ticket market relates to tickets resold after their original sale. Prices for these tickets are often inflated and sometimes go for at least double the face value. We have heard the term price gouging, which particularly applies here. Dynamic ticket pricing is, as the Minister will be aware, a pricing strategy used by a lot of sectors, including hotels, taxis and airlines, to name but a few. Dynamic ticket pricing can bring significant benefits for consumers when prices are lowered—for example, early bird tickets or late tickets, as we heard from the hon. Member for Chelmsford. I appreciate that the Competition and Markets Authority has published a call for evidence on the use of dynamic ticket pricing for Oasis. I hope the Minister will agree that in the case of Oasis ticket sales the issue seems to be that fans may not have been provided with the necessary information up front and had not been given any clear information about what was going on. Above all, transparency is really important. I hope the Minister will touch on how drip-pricing is slightly different and how that affects the live events sector. As we have heard, that relates to hidden costs. A customer should be able to see the full price they are paying up front and not have hidden unnecessary costs.

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  Hear, hear!

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  I bow to the hon. Lady’s expertise. I hope that will be teased out when we know the terms of reference for the consultation. These are exactly the problems that we need to look at. We can all see that there can be a benefit for the market if dynamic pricing is used for cheaper theatre tickets, but if it is not used in the correct way, how do we enforce that? “How” is the hardest part. We have heard a lot about the problem, but how we solve it, with advancing technology, is what is really going to make the difference. That takes me back to the point about the need to have information up front, so that people are not misled in the sales process. Clarity is key. I know the Minister is keen to quote the example of Dua Lipa, but I did my own research on ticket face value. My team and I came across a ticket on Viagogo that was priced at £250 but marked up to £5,167. We can clearly see that that profit is not going where it should, which is upsetting for fans and frustrating for venues and, perhaps most importantly, angers the artists. Through no fault of their own, they are then labelled as a problem because they are pulled into the secondary market. As many hon. Members will know, and as we have heard, there was particular frustration about the use of computer-powered software. As we heard from the hon. Member for Cramlington and Killingworth, we all welcomed the last Government taking action to strengthen the law on ticket information requirements and introducing a criminal offence for the use of automated software to buy more tickets online. I often think that it is wise to learn from other hon. Members in this place. With that in mind, I looked to see what the Minister had previously said on the topic, given his long-standing interest. I noticed that in April, when the then Government announced a review into the market, he castigated them and said: “The idea of a review at the dog end of a Parliament and at the end of the regime is absolutely pathetic”. —[ Official Report , 30 April 2024; Vol. 749, c. 187.] He continued by saying that Labour “will bring these measures in and go further”. —[ Official Report , 30 April 2024; Vol. 749, c. 187.] So I have to admit that it is a surprise to see that the new Government’s plan, which they thought about for 14 years, is to introduce a consultation. In our exchange in the Chamber last week, the Minister quoted Bucks Fizz. He said, “the previous Government had embraced Bucks Fizz… ‘Don’t let your indecision take you from behind.’” —[ Official Report , 17 October 2024; Vol. 754, c. 966.] I am pleased to see him being decisive by choosing to do exactly what the last Government did. He is so decisive, in fact, that when he was asked this week, he said: “That is why we will be launching a consultation on the secondary ticket market soon—the piece of paper in front of me actually says ‘in the autumn’, but I am never quite sure when that is, so I am going with ‘soon’.” —[ Official Report , 17 October 2024; Vol. 754, c. 969.] I ask the Minister not to look back in anger at the last Government—after all, the Conservatives were caught beneath a landslide by a Labour champagne supernova. He is in the Government, and it is the Government’s job to get this right. I have several questions for the Minister. When will the Government launch their consultation, not the one by the CMA? What is the scope of the consultation and what are its terms of reference—for example, will it include the role of search engines that signpost customers to touts, which is a real problem? When does it aim to conclude? Wider still, how does the private Member’s Bill presented by the hon. Member for Ealing Central and Acton (Dr Huq) fit into this? Is it a Government handout Bill and does it have Government support? Finally, no one in the House wants to see the public or the artist ripped off, as the hon. Member for Knowsley (Anneliese Midgley) pointed out, so can the Minister clarify how the following fits into Labour’s vision for tackling the secondary market? The Prime Minister, then the Leader of the Opposition, stated that “a Labour government will cap resale prices so fans can see the acts that they love at a fair price.” Is that Labour policy? What is a “fair price” and for whom, and how does that translate into artists being paid for their talents? Furthermore, I hope that the Minister will forensically analyse the successes and weaknesses of the legislation that has been implemented in Ireland and is coming forward in Australia, with no fear or favour, to ensure that we get a fit with whatever is brought forward. In closing, live events make a significant contribution to the UK economy, as many Ministers will know from their summers of concerts and sporting events. Indeed, it is tempting to mention the Prime Minister’s favourite country pop singer and her recent Eras tour, which provided an economic boost to this country of almost £1 billion. The Conservatives want the live events sector to continue to thrive, and to ensure that the ticket market is fair for consumers and well-priced. As the Opposition are looking forward to seeing the consultation, one could say that we are ready for it. I hope the Minister will announce further details not only “soon” but imminently.

• 24 Oct 2024 · Secondary Ticketing Market · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady has upgraded me, but of course—on that basis.

• 21 Oct 2024 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  When it comes to risk, is my hon. Friend concerned about the timing of this legislation if, as reported, the Budget raises national insurance for those businesses? Is that yet another risk in addition to this legislation?