Peter Swallow MP: speeches

Speeches

• 20 Jan 2025 · UK-Ukraine 100-year Partnership · Hansard source

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  The Ukrainian defence and tech sectors have proven themselves resilient and innovative under the harsh pressure of war. Will the Foreign Secretary say a bit more about how, under the new 100-year partnership, the UK defence and tech sectors can support their Ukrainian counterparts? Likewise, how can we learn from the innovations of our Ukrainian friends and allies?

• 20 Jan 2025 · Obesity: Food and Diet · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that it is important, when there is such a strong correlation between child poverty and child obesity, that we tackle not only the food systems leading to poor health outcomes, but the price of food? We must see those two challenges in lockstep and work to address both the quality of food and the cost.

• 16 Jan 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  The Foreign Secretary is right when he recognises that this ceasefire, although fragile, offers a real glimmer of hope. He is also right to emphasise the need to go further to ensure a two-state solution with a safe and secure Israel living alongside a viable sovereign Palestinian state. Will he set out what he sees as the next steps in getting us to the ultimate goal of a lasting peace in the region?

• 16 Jan 2025 · Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse · Hansard source

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  A number of constituents have contacted me on this serious issue, and I have made it clear that I would welcome any further inquiry that is able to command the support of experts and victims and to build on the recommendations of the Jay report, rather than choosing to ignore them or delay action. Will my right hon. Friend confirm that that is exactly what she set before the House this afternoon? Does she believe, as I do, that on this basis these measures should command support from across the House?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Public Services · Hansard source

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  3. What recent discussions he has had with the Northern Ireland Executive on improving public services.

• 15 Jan 2025 · Public Services · Hansard source

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  Integrated education is an essential part of reconciliation, so does the Minister share my disappointment at the Northern Ireland Education Minister’s decision last week to reject the bids by Bangor academy and Rathmore primary to become integrated schools, which had the support of a majority of parents at both schools?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality · Hansard source

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  I will come to just that point shortly. The rain we saw earlier this month is another reminder of the problems we are facing. It led to another bout of sewage dumping in my constituency, including from the recently upgraded Ascot sewage works, which I visited back in December. Since 2020, executives of the water companies overseeing these incidents have been paid £41 million in bonuses and benefits, and it is reported that over the last two years water companies have paid out more than £2.5 billion in dividends. Meanwhile, the current maximum fixed penalty notice—the monetary penalty—that regulators can impose on water companies for the majority of water sector offences is £300. It is little surprise, then, that a recent survey by Ofwat showed that only a quarter of customers see companies as acting in the interests of the people and the environment. During the general election, I campaigned on the promise that Labour would get tough on water companies and cut down on the horrific pollution they are causing. I promised that a Labour Government would put failing water companies under special measures, blocking bonuses for executives who pollute our waterways, bringing criminal charges against persistent lawbreakers, enabling automatic and severe fines for wrongdoing, and ensuring the monitoring of every sewage outlet. For that reason, I am delighted the Government have brought forward their Water (Special Measures) Bill, and I am proud to have supported it on Second Reading. I used to be a teacher, so I know what marking your own homework looks like. The requirement for water companies to publish information on discharges from emergency overflows in near-real time will create unprecedented levels of transparency, giving regulators and the public regular insight into the around-the-clock operations of water companies. Meanwhile, making it a statutory requirement for water companies in England to publish annual pollution incident reduction plans will force water companies to set out clear, transparent actions. I would welcome clarity from the Minister on whether that monitoring will be truly independent. How much of a role will Ofwat or other relevant bodies have in producing, monitoring and assurance-testing the production of the data?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member mentions the monitoring of overflows. Will he put on record for the House how many emergency overflows were being monitored under his Government?

• 15 Jan 2025 · Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Dowd. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) for bringing forward this important debate. In December, the Environment Agency rehomed thousands of fish into the River Cut at Jock’s Lane in Bracknell. That stocking will provide an immediate boost to fish numbers, which will be multiplied many times when the arrivals settle into their new homes and begin to spawn. In recent years, Jock’s Lane has been better known as a sewage spot than an angler’s paradise, so this intervention is welcome. The question now is how best to protect these latest Bracknell residents from any further sewage leakage. In 2023, Thames Water dumped more than 1,000 hours of raw and partially treated sewage into Bracknell and Sandhurst rivers. In Bracknell that was into the River Cut and in Sandhurst it was into the River Blackwater. It is not only deeply damaging to nature; it is frankly disgusting. A decade of under-investment by water companies and a lack of oversight from successive Tory Governments have led us to this.

• 14 Jan 2025 · Illegal Migration: Diplomatic Steps · Hansard source

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  13. What diplomatic steps he is taking with international partners to help tackle illegal migration to the UK.

• 14 Jan 2025 · Illegal Migration: Diplomatic Steps · Hansard source

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  The proposed sanctions on people smugglers are a world first, designed to deter and disrupt those vile criminals and the supply chain that enables them. Does my right hon. Friend agree that this is an important step in smashing the gangs?

• 8 Jan 2025 · Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill · Hansard source

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  On children’s welfare and making sure that children start the school day in the best position to learn, I thank my right hon. Friend for bringing forward plans for breakfast clubs, so that children are ready to learn, not only because they have had a good meal, but because they are eased into the school day. Does she agree that that will help young children, and particularly kids with special educational needs, to learn?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Pro-democracy Campaigners: Arrests · Hansard source

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  The British Hong Kong community, including those who have made their homes in my constituency, will welcome the Minister’s robust answers today. Will she confirm that Beijing’s actions against BNOs will be scrutinised as part of the Government’s China audit?

• 7 Jan 2025 · Road Safety · Hansard source

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  Does my hon. Friend agree that, too often, an accident waiting to happen has been forced to become an accident that has happened before action is taken, and that when communities know that a road they live on and live with every day is unsafe, we should listen to those communities much more and act before the accident happens?

• 18 Dec 2024 · Winter Preparedness · Hansard source

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  Let me take this opportunity to thank healthcare workers in Bracknell Forest, who will be working so hard across the Christmas period to keep patients safe this winter. Does the Minister agree that we must ensure that we have not only the right investment in our health services but the right reforms, so that we can fix the broken NHS and get it back on its feet?

• 17 Dec 2024 · Women’s State Pension Age Communication: PHSO Report · Hansard source

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  WASPI women in my constituency will have listened to the statement with some difficulty, as I know my right hon. Friend has accepted, but they will also have heard her offer a heartfelt from the Dispatch Box, which is quite right. Will she assure them that the maladministration that underlined this case will never happen again, and that this injustice will not be repeated by this or any other Government?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Lady give way?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Water (Special Measures) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member is correct: many Conservative Members have raised the issue of monitoring, and they have repeatedly mentioned storm overflows. Will he put on record how many emergency overflows are currently being monitored?

• 16 Dec 2024 · English Devolution · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Minister’s recognition that unitary authorities deliver for residents. Bracknell Forest council is an example of a unitary authority promoting a strong sense of place and delivering economic growth. Although it is small, it is mighty. Will my hon. Friend agree to work with Bracknell Forest council to develop a plan that works for Bracknell?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T8. My constituent Gary has seen his real-terms income fall because the pension he built up before 1997 in a defined-benefit scheme is not subject to indexation, even though 80% of defined-benefit schemes are in surplus. Will my right hon. Friend ask the Pensions Regulator to look at this issue?

• 16 Dec 2024 · Royal Mail Takeover · Hansard source

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  Barely a week goes by without a constituent reaching out to me to express frustration at the quality of service they receive from our local Royal Mail delivery services. What will the announcement mean for them and for the quality of service that they receive?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Prison Capacity Strategy · Hansard source

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  Having listened to some of the contributions from Conservative Members, I cannot quite believe my ears. They are coming to this place and suggesting that they should be proud of leaving this Government a justice system with fewer than 100 places in men’s prisons across England and Wales. Would a better response to the statement not have been a much simpler, one-word answer—sorry?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  On Friday, I attended the opening night of panto at the fantastic South Hill Park arts centre in Bracknell. [Hon. Members: “Oh, no, you didn’t!”] Oh, yes, I did. Local arts venues such as South Hill Park suffered years of funding cuts under the previous Government. Will my right hon. Friend arrange for a debate on funding local arts centres?

• 12 Dec 2024 · Qualifications Reform Review · Hansard source

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  The certainty that the statement provides will be an early Christmas present for the further education sector. Last month, I visited Bracknell and Wokingham college, a fantastic FE provider in my constituency where students learn everything from green construction to nursing, electric car maintenance to career guidance, which shows the breadth of opportunities available through the FE sector. Incidentally, those are all skills that will underpin the Government’s missions. The FE sector is vital not only in breaking down barriers to opportunity but as a vehicle for growth, providing the green skills that are necessary to our economy and to support those missions. What more support can the Government put in place for the FE sector, in particular around the difficult issue of pay settlements for FE teachers?

• 11 Dec 2024 · Border Security: Collaboration · Hansard source

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  While the Conservative party wasted £700 million of taxpayer money on an unworkable gimmick, this Government are rolling up our sleeves and putting in place the agreements that we need to tackle the gangs. That is the change that the British public voted for in July and that is the change we are delivering. What message does my right hon. Friend believe the new agreement sends to the vile people smugglers putting lives at risk in the channel? What message does that send to those criminals?