Sam Carling MP: speeches

Speeches

• 12 May 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T3. According to Sense, there are over 2,500 people with complex needs in North West Cambridgeshire, many of whom will never be able to work because of their conditions. Does the Minister agree that dignity for severely disabled people needs to be a priority for the welfare system, and can he update the House on progress towards ensuring that people whose conditions mean they will never be able to work are no longer subject to the appalling repeated reassessments that we saw all too often under the previous Government?

• 30 Apr 2025 · Engagements · Hansard source

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  Listening to residents in North West Cambridgeshire on the doorstep and at local coffee mornings, there is a clear message: people want local police to have the time and resources to get to know crime in their areas and to tackle it at the root. I know our Labour mayoral candidate is committed to that if she is elected tomorrow. Could the Prime Minister update residents across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough on how our plan for change is tackling crime and antisocial behaviour and boosting police ranks by 13,000 officers, who will be visible in all local communities?

• 2 Apr 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  rose—

• 2 Apr 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I am looking for guidance on how I can raise a breach of the behaviour code by the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage). He was galivanting around my constituency yesterday, and I thought it a real shame that he did not tell me about his visit in advance, as the behaviour code requires him to; I could have taken him around all the communities that would be impacted by his party’s plan to privatise the NHS. This follows an incident in February, when the Leader of the Opposition, the right hon. Member for North West Essex (Mrs Badenoch), also visited my constituency without telling me in advance. How can I ensure that section 43 of the behaviour code is upheld in future?

• 2 Apr 2025 · Points of Order · Hansard source

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  indicated assent.

• 2 Apr 2025 · School-based Nursery Capital Grants · Hansard source

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  I enormously welcome the Government’s decision to introduce 300 new Government-funded school-based nurseries. I am particularly delighted that one of them will be in the Hampton Vale primary academy in my constituency. Does the Secretary of State agree that these new nurseries will make a real difference to families in my constituency and across the country by saving them up to £7,500?

• 25 Mar 2025 · Construction Standards: New Build Homes · Hansard source

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  In my constituency of North West Cambridgeshire, there are lots of young families seeking to buy their first home. I am pleased that the Government are committed to building 1.5 million new homes, but it is important that people can trust that they are buying a good-quality home. Just down the road, at the Darwin Green site in Cambridge, 36 new build houses with building control privately managed have had to be demolished for foundational failures. Does the Minister agree that, since the part-privatisation of building control under Margaret Thatcher’s Government, it is a real problem that developers can essentially choose their own regulator, and that it is leading to falling standards?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Anti-social Behaviour: East of England · Hansard source

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  In my constituency, I get regular reports of antisocial behaviour in Pleasurefair Meadow carpark and Stanham Way, relating to the screeching of tyres from motorbikes, loud music until the early hours of the morning and constant instances of drugs and antisocial drinking. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to take this sort of antisocial behaviour seriously wherever it is happening and that the local residents should not have to put up with it?

• 11 Mar 2025 · Anti-social Behaviour: East of England · Hansard source

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  We have that problem with off-road bikes as well e-scooters on pavements. I receive regular complaints from my constituents about them being used improperly, often putting elderly people at great risk because they cannot move out of the way quickly enough when one whizzes up behind them. Does my hon. Friend agree that we need to take that sort of antisocial behaviour seriously? Does he welcome, as I do, the measures in the Crime and Policing Bill that will help police seize those vehicles?

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I enormously welcome this Bill, in which there is so much that will make a real, positive difference for my constituents in North West Cambridgeshire. Due to time constraints, I will have to skip through a lot of the praise I had for the Bill and move straight to an area where I would like to have a conversation and a dialogue with the Minister about what we can do, and that is the area of mandatory reporting. I enormously welcome the fact that this Bill will finally introduce a statutory duty to report the possible sexual abuse of children when those who have responsibility for children are made aware of it. It has been a long road. In March 2018, the previous Conservative Government said the case for mandatory reporting had “not currently been made” and that they would not introduce the policy. The independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, chaired by Alexis Jay, showed how misjudged that position was.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Crime and Policing Bill · Hansard source

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  I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank him for that intervention. As a society, we must move towards ensuring that children are protected. When it comes to the detail, I am not fully sure that the Bill, as currently drafted, delivers on the Government’s pledge to implement the IICSA recommendations. That is mainly because, on my reading, it does not create criminal sanctions for non-compliance, which was a key part of the 13th IICSA recommendation. The only consequences spelled out in the Bill for failure to report are that someone could be referred to as their professional regulator, where relevant, or to the Disclosure and Barring Service, which, to quote the Bill’s explanatory notes, will “consider their suitability to continue working in regulated activity with children.” That is all really positive, but we have to go a little bit further. As currently drafted, is the Bill enough to tackle the chronic under-reporting of sexual abuse identified by the Jay inquiry? The new offence of stopping someone else from reporting child sexual abuse is very welcome. For example, it should stop managers pressuring people who work under them not to report such abuse, but I do not think that it will cover such cases in religious groups. As an example, I would like to talk about the religious organisation in which I was raised, the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Most people know very little about them, but they are a very insular religious community with a deep distrust, in many cases, of secular authorities, much of which comes from the fundamental nature of some of their beliefs. Witnesses have a mindset in which the first port of call for any issues with another member of the faith is their local congregation’s body of religious elders, who are men—always men—appointed from within their ranks. The organisation denies that it stops these elders from referring allegations of sexual abuse to the police, but numbers speak louder than words. Almost 10 years ago, the Jehovah’s Witnesses were one of the case studies examined by an Australian royal commission on institutional responses to child sexual abuse. The commission found that, in Australia alone, allegations had been documented by religious elders against 1,006 individuals, and not a single one was reported to the police. In the UK, elders sometimes say that it is a victim’s absolute right to go to the police, which is often the organisation’s response to such criticism. But behind the scenes, they heavily discourage it, telling victims that publicity would bring reproach on God’s name. This secretive attitude is best exemplified by a recent speech by a member of the religion’s governing body: “Suppose that someone is convicted and put in jail, or someone is found guilty by men, as Jesus was. It does not mean that he is guilty in the sight of God.” I should flag that he was not specifically referring to child sexual abuse, but that attitude is pervasive. I describe this example to highlight just how critical it is that the duty to report is backed up by criminal consequences for ignoring it, because some of these organisations will do anything to avoid compliance. Is the Minister willing to meet me to discuss this issue in more depth, and how we can address it? I would also appreciate it if she could comment on the scope of the individuals that the Bill places under a duty to report. I am not convinced at the moment that many religious leaders—who often hold very significant power and influence, as I have outlined—will be included. This goes back to the IICSA report, which recommended that the duty to report should fall on anyone who works in regulated activities, but also on anyone in a position of trust over a child, as defined by the Sexual Offences Act 2003. On my reading, the Bill does the former but not the latter, as currently drafted, and addressing this by using both criteria could significantly strengthen the legislation. I welcome this Bill, which contains very powerful provisions to progress measures outlined in the manifesto on which Labour Members stood to make our streets safer and tackle crime. I look forward to voting for it this evening.

• 7 Mar 2025 · Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill · Hansard source

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  I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute briefly to the debate, and as the youngest MP I have seen a lot of this happening throughout my time going through the school system. I have reams of positive things to say about the Bill that I will not have time for, but I wish to say briefly that I welcome it hugely. I wish to focus on a couple of points that have not been covered much. There are benefits that some social media can bring. I would therefore argue that we must be careful to regulate it in the right way to ensure that we do not lose those benefits or that we are able to introduce them in other forms. Article 16 of the United Nations convention on the rights of the child is about children’s right to privacy, and we must try to strike a balance between a parent’s ability to know what their children are doing online and who they are speaking to—that is incredibly important for safeguarding—and the need for young people sometimes to have access to private spaces. The example I have in mind is that of young LGBT people in families who are not accepting of them. When someone in that situation is starting to understand their sexuality, which often happens around the age we are talking about of between 13 and 16, sometimes being able to find people in online communities who are going through similar experiences can provide an incredibly valuable support network that they otherwise would not have. Similarly, as some Members will know, I grew up in a high-control religious group. I was lucky in that I went to a mainstream school, but lots of others do not, and they are kept in more secluded environments and have little contact with the outside world. The ability to find support networks outside can be valuable, and I am keen to ensure that we maintain that. The onus must be on social media companies to up their game enormously regarding how they regulate online spaces, because so much is going under the radar and must be addressed through safeguarding. I am particularly struck by the fact that some apps out there that are aimed at young people between 13 and 17 portray themselves as forums for making new friends around the world. They do that based on swiping left or right, and with profiles based on photos, or on bios and interests. As everyone will immediately notice, that sounds a lot like dating apps, and indeed some of those apps are being used for that purpose by young people. That is incredibly alarming, and something we must get on top of. It is made even more severe by the fact that some people can match with others who have a significant age difference to them, which is unacceptable and is flying under the radar. There are enormously significant issues regarding social media for young people, and I welcome the Bill as it provides an opportunity for us to get some of the research in place and to consider how we can address those issues properly.

• 5 Mar 2025 · Antisocial Behaviour and Illegal Bikes · Hansard source

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  My constituents regularly raise concerns about their safety when they are out and about, given the prevalence of off-road bikes being used in antisocial and illegal ways, particularly on pavements and footpaths. Such bikes are a particularly significant issue for elderly people, who might be less mobile and are therefore more likely to be involved in a collision with one. Does my hon. Friend agree that more needs to be done about these bikes to ensure that our elderly constituents can feel safer when walking around outside?

• 3 Mar 2025 · Church of England: Safeguarding · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s commitment to implementing the IICSA recommendations, notably the introduction of mandatory reporting, which will go a long way towards tackling abuse in religious settings. Does the Minister agree, particularly in the context of more independent safeguarding processes, that as we work to improve safeguarding in the Church of England we should also take the opportunity to bolster safeguarding within smaller religious groups, especially high-control religious groups like the one in which I grew up, in respect of which public awareness of the scale of failings is very low?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman’s speech is very helpful, and he is making some useful points. The shadow Minister would not give us any clarity about his party’s position on the opt-out mechanism, so could he help: what is the Opposition’s position on that? Do they support it—yes or no?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I understand the point the hon. Gentleman is making, but does he not accept that the Bill very clearly explains that in cases where any automated decision is taken, there would have to be the right to a proper explanation of the decision, which would probably address a lot of his concerns, and that there must always be a right for an individual to make representations about the decision and obtain human intervention if that is what they want?

• 12 Feb 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Bill. Given its potential to boost the economy by £10 billion, it is a huge win for so many sectors, and a brilliant example of the difference that this Labour Government can make. Technological innovation will improve efficiency and reduce unnecessary administration, allowing our key workers to focus more on the things that matter most. Police officers and NHS workers, for example, protect us and save lives, and in freeing up 1.5 million hours of police time and 140,000 NHS staff hours every year by cutting out excess administration work, the Bill will help them to do that. How many police officer equivalents could we make from 1.5 million hours of additional work? It is incredible. Our NHS has been broken by the Conservative party. That requires funding to fix, which is why, in the Budget, this Government rightly pledged an additional £22.6 billion in resource spending for our health service. However, it also needs reform, and I have been pleased to hear that message clearly understood and prioritised by the Government through Bills such as this. At present, each part of the system finds it difficult to communicate with the others, partly because of issues relating to data sharing, which puts more strain on patients and more strain on our NHS staff. The Bill would change that. Medical records would be shared between health professionals, which would mean quicker diagnosis and treatment, and those records would be subject to strict security protocols: only the most relevant staff would have access to non-anonymised patient data. These changes are hugely important, and cannot come soon enough. In North West Cambridgeshire, the improved data access in the Bill will allow for greater connectivity between all the health services that my constituents use. Whether they have an appointment at Peterborough city hospital, at Hinchingbrooke hospital or further afield, and whether their GP’s surgery is at Old Fletton, Lakeside, Botolph Bridge or beyond, the Bill will ensure that their healthcare professionals have all the information they need to do their jobs quickly and effectively. On our streets, people are rightly concerned about crime. Police were stretched to the limit and stripped to the bone under the last Government, and the percentage of people seeing officers on the beat has dropped by two thirds over the past 14 years. We are giving police their time back by reducing the administration burden and allowing them to do their actual jobs, protecting the public and making our communities safer. As someone from a science background, I am particularly interested in the Bill’s reforms to data access for researchers. This has huge potential to help scientists to conduct more impactful research and drive critical innovation in everything from pharmaceuticals to manufacturing, technology and more, and the benefits that that could bring to our economy are enormous. When working in the research space, I could see significant problems with data sharing and access, so I know that this Bill will make a real difference. Colleagues in the university sector have given me their feedback on the Bill, emphasising that providing researchers with secure access to Government data is crucial for research that drives economic growth, productivity and inclusivity. Linking academic and Government data enables better research. Take my field of pathology, critical work is going on to understand the genetic causes of diseases so that we can develop new treatments. We need huge datasets for that, and it makes complete sense for the Government to work with partners to provide them. In response to the hon. Member for Dewsbury and Batley (Iqbal Mohamed), a lot of our scientists, particularly those working in genetics, rely on datasets from other countries, particularly Nordic countries, which have known about this issue for quite a long time and have made a lot of data available to researchers. We need enormous datasets to be able to do the necessary analysis, particularly around drug development. There are a lot of inclusivity problems, because particular ethnic groups are lacking from the countries on which we are dependent for the data. For example, there is often not enough information about how particular drugs affect black people. In order to deal with that, we need the data to be available so that we can look at the genetics. If we get too caught up in not allowing anonymised data to be shared with researchers for that purpose, it will really harm inclusivity; it will not help at all. It is worth making those points. University colleagues have highlighted the new national data library, spearheaded by the Department. If designed effectively, it has the potential to facilitate research from the outset, and to help drive improvements in public services for the benefit of all UK citizens. I hope the Government will make sure that we get universities and private sector research partners around the table when we set up the library, to make sure that it will work for them and their needs. This Bill will allow researchers to seek broad consent for areas of scientific research, while ensuring high standards of data protection. Notably, personal data will be able to be used for research purposes only if it was processed in a manner that does not permit the identification of the data subject. That goes back to the points made by my hon. Friend the Member for Makerfield (Josh Simons). We talk about risks to privacy and personal rights, but this is anonymised data, usually at a very large scale; no one is looking at individuals’ records. In my field, we look at thousands and thousands of genomes at the same time to identify associations between certain areas of genetics and diseases. This Bill poses no risk to patients, and we do people a disservice if we engage in scaremongering, so I am glad that Members have not done that. The Bill will give scientists more tools for innovation and discovery, and people can be reassured that their data is safe and their privacy respected. The quantity of data that we need to draw strong conclusions in research is huge, which has historically been a barrier. I am really pleased that the Government have published a 250-page impact assessment with this Bill. I welcome the particular emphasis on trust, but we need to make sure that we get the comms right, particularly around protecting privacy and ensuring that what we have said in this House becomes more widely known by the public. The Bill makes important clarifications about the use of AI in decision making. We know that this is the direction in which a lot of organisations are moving, and there is a lot of potential, but strong safeguards are essential, so I am pleased to see the Bill place a serious emphasis on putting them in place.

• 12 Feb 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [Lords] · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady makes her point well, and we have already heard from the Minister about the rationale behind those clauses. There are real issues with putting such measures through in secondary legislation, because this House should have more ability to scrutinise them. We know there is a consultation at the moment, and we have heard from the Secretary of State that he is very open to having a conversation on this issue and making sure that we address it. I am sure we all agree that we need to do that properly. On safeguards, the Bill makes it very clear that where an organisation makes automated decisions, an individual has the right to a proper explanation of those decisions and the right to make representations about the decision taken, to obtain human intervention and to contest the automated decision. Those are really robust safeguards, but they are key provisions that must be shown to work in practice. We cannot enter a situation in which automated decisions are made wrongly, with no recourse. I strongly support the Bill and these safeguards, but I note that the British Medical Association has raised concerns around clause 77 and clause 70. I would be grateful for the Minister’s response to those concerns around diluting protections for health data held by non-public bodies. I am sure that he has a response, and it would be good to hear it. To wrap up, the innovative use of data, following strict guidelines and data protection rules, will massively improve the efficiency of public services and grow our economy. It is right that the Government take this route. The UK should be leading the way in innovative technology and fully utilising technological developments to improve people’s lives, and I believe that this Bill will do that.

• 29 Jan 2025 · Growing the UK Economy · Hansard source

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  I welcome the Government’s announcements today, in particular on the Oxford-Cambridge growth corridor. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are an economic powerhouse for our country. What we often find is that spin-out businesses from Cambridge look to move to Peterborough as they grow, because of our expertise in advanced manufacturing and logistics. Does the Chief Secretary agree that, with the benefits the growth corridor will bring, it is also vital that we bring in the expertise from Peterborough and utilise the increased transport connectivity to do that?

• 9 Jan 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Just before Christmas, I was fortunate to attend the latest passing-out parade for graduates of the Firebreak scheme at Stanground fire station in my constituency of North West Cambridgeshire. That intensive five-day intervention programme provides a positive alternative learning environment and is aimed at young people aged 10 to 18 who are struggling with the mainstream education environment. Participants leave with certificates in cardiopulmonary resuscitation, basic lifesaving and all sorts. Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Paul Clarke, the children and young people lead, and the community fire safety group at Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service? Will she consider a debate on how supporting such interventions can help young people get back on the right track by re-engaging with and thriving in their education?

• 6 Jan 2025 · Police Funding: Cambridgeshire · Hansard source

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  I really welcome the increase in police funding for Cambridgeshire. I understand the concerns being raised. A lot of growth is happening in and around Cambridgeshire. Can the Minister reassure me that her Department will have the relevant conversations with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and others, to ensure that we show residents how we are supporting police growth as the population expands?

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  No, that will do, thank you. In six months, Labour has achieved more than the Conservatives did in 14 years. Barely a single achievement comes to mind when thinking of the Governments from 2010 to 2024. If anyone has a right to feel short-changed, lied to and let down, it is those who voted for the Conservatives in 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019, not those who voted for Labour in 2024.

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  I do not have that figure to hand, but we are going to recruit 6,500 of them, and we need them.

• 6 Jan 2025 · General Election · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to have you in the Chair, Mrs Harris. I spent some time thinking about whether I wanted to speak in this debate. I thought to myself, “On our first day back, when I’ve got a lot to be getting on with, have I got the mental stamina to listen to Conservative Members talk about how, before Labour came to power in July, everything was rosy and bright, our public services were fine and all was glorious?” That is pretty much the sense we have heard from them so far. If their picture were true, they might not be sitting on the Opposition Benches with their party’s lowest ever number of MPs and lowest ever share of the vote. This Labour Government inherited public services on their knees, kneeling on rotten floorboards, on top of crumbling foundations, maybe with some subsidence as well. Tough decisions were always going to be needed to deal with that and to deliver the change we were elected to deliver. This Government have an immense mandate to deliver that change and to fix the foundations of our economy and public services, as more than 400 constituencies elected a Labour MP—many for the first time, including my constituency of North West Cambridgeshire. The truth is that there are no easy fixes for the deep-seated issues that the Conservatives have left us. They ignore that, which is why we still see that short-term attitude from the Conservatives and Reform UK, which pretend that there are simple solutions that we just are not taking. The Conservatives also continually admonish us for bringing up that legacy; they literally groan every time we mention their £22 billion black hole. [Interruption.] There we go! It does not surprise me; I would not want to talk about it either if I were them, which is exactly why we will continue to do so until this mess is fixed. Of course, they are a bit busy fighting one another right now, which the country plainly sees. A weird Christmas argument over membership numbers between Reform and the Conservatives is just the latest episode in a long-running saga, which I have no doubt will continue. Long may it continue, as it will just help more and more of the British public to see how totally unequipped to solve Britain’s problems either of those parties are. Speaking of Reform, I note that the hon. Member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) is present, so may I take the opportunity to offer him my sympathy over the apparent loss of a very large donation for his party from overseas, following some of that recent right-wing in-fighting? It is a very sad consequence. I turn to the petition. I know that there is frustration in this country—lots of it—about politics not delivering for people; I met so many people during the election campaign, and beforehand, who expressed that sentiment to me. People have been let down for so long, and restoring their trust requires us to show that we can make a difference. We will. The new Government have already taken significant steps forward in fixing the foundations of our public services after the Conservatives left them in decay and decline. For a start, we have delivered a Budget that has stabilised the economy, preventing a return to austerity, after the Conservatives left the worst inheritance for a new Government since world war two. We have announced a much-needed £22 billion increase in our NHS budget after we were left with record waiting lists. Just today, we are announcing a plethora of measures to slash those record waiting lists, just as we did last time we were in government. We have set up Great British Energy to put us on the path to clean, home-grown power, tackling climate change while many in right-wing Opposition parties deny its existence of it or at the very least the urgency of the issue. We have appointed a border security commander to strengthen our border security after the Conservatives so abjectly failed to do so; that is one of the areas that angers me most about their record. They presided over the growth of a staggering backlog of asylum cases, diverting resources away from actually dealing with the issues in order to put them towards the totally unworkable Rwanda scheme, to try to win political capital. Our new planning and infrastructure Bill will completely reform the planning system to ensure that we can build the homes that are needed, tackling head-on the housing crisis, which is causing so much frustration. Our Renters’ Rights Bill will finally rebalance the relationship between tenants and landlords, finally reforming the private rented sector after the Leader of the Opposition admitted, in essence, that she had given up on the idea. The Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Act 2024 will bring railways back into public ownership when existing contracts with private operators expire, reforming our transport network and improving services for passengers. In ending tax breaks for private schools, the Government are putting the additional revenue right back into our state schools to fund 6,500 new teachers, which is where the resource is sorely needed. If the Conservative party disagrees with that, I suggest that it put into its next manifesto that it will cut 6,500 state school teachers and use the money to subsidise private education, and see how that does.

• 6 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T10. May I commend the Government on their recent decision to bring a large amount of military housing back in house after the disastrous Tory decision to privatise it? It is massively welcome in North West Cambridgeshire, where 431 homes are being repurchased, but a lot of the housing is in a shocking state; what steps will the Government take to address that, to make sure that our military personnel can live in the decent homes that they more than deserve?