Sonia Kumar MP: speeches

Speeches

• 24 Apr 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  UK homes bin 1.7 billion pieces of plastic every week. Thanks to companies such as the British Dudley-based business Iron and Velvet, there are viable alternatives to using plastic in cleaning products. Would my right hon. Friend help encourage others and this place to ditch plastic, and could we have a debate about the importance of reducing plastic waste?

• 27 Mar 2025 · Scunthorpe Steelworks · Hansard source

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  The UK now produces less steel than our European neighbours Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria and Poland, and over the past 30 years, China’s share of global steel production has risen from 13% to 54%. To safeguard the future of the steel industry, we must think about diversification. Does my hon. Friend agree that supporting British small and medium-sized enterprises into the steel industry will make it more competitive and sustainable?

• 27 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  The reduction in funding for our waterways by 5% year on year from 2027 will have a detrimental impact on the operations of the Dudley Canal and Caverns Trust. Will my right hon. Friend commit to a review of the funding of our waterways and reinstate that support?

• 27 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My constituent Darren recently shared the harrowing experience of his father Les, who went to A&E following a fall. An ambulance was called and they were told that it would take an hour to arrive. Unfortunately, it took six and a half hours. This is not an isolated incident, as such delays are becoming all too common across the country. Will the Leader of the House grant a debate in Government time to discuss ambulance waiting lists across the Black Country and what more can be done to ensure that no community is left behind when it comes to emergency care?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Tourism Industry · Hansard source

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  It is an honour to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I congratulate the hon. Member for Mid Bedfordshire (Blake Stephenson) on securing this important debate. If Members are thinking about where to visit in the Easter or summer holidays, I have a location in mind. It is somewhere visitors can pick up a fossil, take a boat trip, see the sets where “Peaky Blinders” was shot, or feed the giraffes. If Members need any more clues, it is the heart of the industrial revolution. If Members are still guessing, the answer is Dudley, with its zoo and castle, the Black Country Living Museum and, of course, the historic canals and caverns, where people can enjoy a leisurely boat trip or the beauty of the canals as they go for a picturesque walk. Dudley borough had 9.6 million visitors in 2023 and has a visitor economy of £447 million. Dudley has something to offer everybody. Its tourism sector has supported a wide range of jobs, from retail and zoology to site managers and tour guides, and is an integral part of the society and fabric of Dudley. It is therefore time we push forward with a plan to revitalise the tourism industry with a fresh start. I must stress that plans to talk about tourism cannot just focus on hotspots like London or coastal towns; they must also focus on towns that are rich in culture and history. The Black Country Living Museum, for example, has carefully reconstructed shops, houses and industrial areas that represent the Black Country’s history. It was a pleasure to hear that the museum had a record-breaking year in 2023, with 380,000 visitors, including 53,000 students and pupils. I want to encourage more visitors to come to Dudley, not just for the day but overnight, to stay and expand the nighttime economy, so that our bars and restaurants can benefit from the fantastic offerings of the tourism industry. The nature of supporting the tourism sector is that every £1 spent is multiplied by visitors spending money on attractions, restaurants, hotels, bars and taxis. There is a remarkable opportunity for the Black Country at the moment, offered by the Dudley Canal Trust: the proposed plan by Dudley Canal and Caverns to extend the unique area from the Dudley canal to the Wren’s Nest. It would be great to connect both areas. It is a UNESCO world heritage site, where people can take a fossil home; it is a secret gem in the Black Country. Its prehistoric geology and nature is a beauty to be seen. I believe that the area should be more connected. The project is estimated to attract half a million tourists in the first eight years of opening if completed. It is integral to see Dudley from a different lens, as a place where new meets old. It is crucial that we recognise the value of the entire tourism ecosystem, from small businesses to hotels, restaurants and larger attractions, but we need Government support to ensure that we have the resources and infrastructure to succeed. Stagnation in the tourism industry will come if we do not invest. There are far too many empty shops in Dudley town centre. If the tourism industry could be supported, it would attract more businesses to open. I have two simple requests: will the Minister meet me to discuss the fantastic project to connect Wren’s Nest to the Dudley canal to boost tourism in Dudley, and will he work closely with regional towns such as Dudley to ensure that they are at the centre of the Government’s plans for tourism?

• 20 Mar 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  My condolences to the shadow Leader of the House and his family. As a physiotherapist prior to being elected to this place, I was delighted to welcome members of all 14 allied health professions to a roundtable in Parliament this week. They account for about a third of the NHS’s entire workforce and work tirelessly to improve patient care. Fundamentally, they all agree that allied health professions are sidelined and that their roles are often misunderstood. Does my right hon. Friend therefore agree that we should have a debate in Parliament on the importance of AHPs and the crucial work that they do in the NHS?

• 12 Mar 2025 · Employment Rights Bill · Hansard source

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  I draw attention to my entries in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, which include my membership of GMB, Unison and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. When I spoke on Second Reading, I welcomed the advancements that this Bill would make on statutory sick pay, maternity and paternity pay and protections around pregnancy, as well as its values of fairness. I support new clauses 44, 47 and 48: it is only right that if someone has done a fair day’s work and a business fails to pay them, the Secretary of State should have the authority to give notice of underpayment. No one in Britain should go home from an honest day’s work out of pocket and worried about paying their bills. I also welcome the Secretary of State’s interventions on imposing financial penalties on businesses that make underpayments. I believe that poor practice in the workplace should be called out and that those responsible should be held accountable. However, we also need an adequately resourced fair work agency, so I support new clause 82, tabled by the Chair of the Business and Trade Committee, my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Hodge Hill and Solihull North (Liam Byrne). The agency should be agile enough to tackle issues upstream by supporting businesses that want to comply with the law, as well as having enough resources to tackle meaningfully non-compliant businesses. On the Business and Trade Committee, we heard from several businesses, some of which were great employers and some of which were unable to justify their malpractice, with evidence of modern-day slavery in their supply chains. We cannot have companies getting away with poor practice where workers cannot use the toilet, are not entitled to their breaks or fail to get their fair pay. Transparency, accountability and enforcement are key, but we must remember that most businesses do their best by their workers, and I have witnessed that. Since Second Reading, I have met with business owners in several sectors, from steelworkers and scaffolders to restaurant owners and retail. During my visits and roundtables in my constituency of Dudley, both workers and employers often tell me that they want the same thing: the stability to grow and a fiscally responsible Government who care about them and their future. Stability is not a zero-sum game. Research shows that when businesses look after their employees, they create a more loyal and productive workforce, which in turn strengthens businesses and helps them to grow the economy. In 2023, digital research by Deloitte found that “fostering trust, opportunities for growth, and employee well-being are the keys to increased workforce retention and satisfaction”. To reassure businesses, we know that the implementation of this Bill will be in phases. That approach promises to allow step-by-step upskilling of HR professionals and to update employment practices one step at a time; they will not be expected to be employed until 2026. I therefore ask the Minister to provide a road map outlining details of future consultations, with a two-year timeline to help to guide business owners to provide stability for businesses. A road map would undoubtedly help to ease growing pains, allowing small businesses time to plan the necessary administration, upskilling and ability to resource for the fair work agency. Both workers and businesses in Dudley would benefit greatly from that stability, and I wholeheartedly support this Bill.

• 10 Mar 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T2. Red Hall primary school in my constituency of Dudley is split down the middle by Zoar Street. The theft of lead from the Victorian roofs, leakages and no real playground do not make an environment for children to thrive. In 2010, the Conservatives shelved the plans to consolidate and repair the school on one side of the road. Will the Minister meet with me to discuss reopening those plans?

• 5 Mar 2025 · Department for Business and Trade · Hansard source

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  As a member of the Business and Trade Committee, I welcome this debate and the opportunity to look at our priorities for the future. Small and medium-sized businesses make up 99.9% of British businesses, employing over 16 million people. As the daughter of a greengrocer, my speech will focus on supporting SMEs to grow our economy. It is crucial that the Government’s plan to deliver long-term growth includes digital inclusion, improving financial literacy, improving access to finance, workforce reskilling, and expanding the export-led growth capabilities of SMEs. Digital exclusion is not just a social problem, but an economic one. The Government’s digital skills plan recognises that businesses and workers must be equipped with digital capabilities to drive growth, yet millions of adults and thousands of businesses lack the digital skills and financial literacy needed to compete in both today’s and tomorrow’s economy. They face barriers to digital adoption, including cost, lack of awareness and difficulty accessing Government support. I have spoken to several businesses in Dudley and I recently held a networking event, and those from small businesses repeatedly said that they do not have the time to learn digital skills, and using social media as part of their marketing strategy was walking into the dark. SMEs also face barriers in accessing finance to scale up and enter new markets abroad. I support the Business and Trade Committee’s priorities, so will the Department agree to spend on expanding financial incentives, as Governments must make grants, R&D tax reliefs and digital adoption funding easier to access, especially for SMEs outside London and the big cities; to focus on financial literacy so businesses can thrive; to streamline public procurement as too many tech SMEs struggle to win public sector contracts due to the overly complex processes; and to have initiatives for businesses to access finance, whether that is seed money or scaling up to export? Lastly, will the Government commit to maximising opportunity in the industrial strategy for all towns like Dudley to ensure that no town is left behind on this journey to economic prosperity?

• 4 Mar 2025 · Data (Use and Access) Bill [ Lords ] (Second sitting) · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Hobhouse. I congratulate you on your new position. The national underground asset register will form a more comprehensive digital mapping exercise throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Currently, owners of buried assets such as water and electricity companies are only voluntarily sharing their data. This measure will not only help customers, but ensure that data is shared between asset owners and excavators. It will reduce the time taken to get location data from six days to 60 seconds. Because excavators will know where they are digging, it will reduce accidental excavations, which account for about 30% of accidental strikes. My constituency of Dudley is plagued by lots of digging, but people do not know when the work will be complete and when new infrastructure will be in place. How will this measure save costs, and how will it be rolled out with local authorities?

• 27 Feb 2025 · Women’s Health · Hansard source

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  Will the hon. Member give way?

• 27 Feb 2025 · Women’s Health · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Huq. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore) on securing this important debate. Today, I want to talk about the stigma and embarrassment in relation to women’s incontinence: stress incontinence, urinary or faecal incontinence, and double incontinence. It affects so many aspects of women’s lives: where they go out, how much time they spend out, their relationships and their sleep patterns. And of course there are the effects on their mental and physical health. Working as an NHS physiotherapist, I spoke to women about their incontinence when I did back screening, and I heard over and over again that women felt an overwhelming sense of shame—the fear of the smell, the sense of being dirty and the feeling of always having to check their pad to make sure that it is in place and has not leaked down their leg. It is estimated that a third of women in the UK are living with urinary incontinence. That means someone in this room will have those symptoms. A third of women suffer from a pelvic floor disorder after childbirth, including urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse, but only 17% of women actually seek help. I would recommend to any woman who is suffering that she seek professional help from her GP or specialist. What we do not talk about for both faecal and urinary incontinence is the psychological problems, low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, sexual problems, social isolation, physical problems, skin breakdowns, and the falls when having to get to the toilet as quickly as possible. At the moment, we also know there is an economic case that is also very compelling. Research shows that every £1 spent on women’s health services will return up to £13 back into our emergency services by reducing women going to A&E and GP appointments. So what do I, as a clinician, propose? As a physiotherapist, of course I propose physiotherapy. Physiotherapy is the first line of intervention preventing mild to moderate incontinence and prolapse. It is therefore essential that we have women’s health physiotherapists in hubs locally as they are rolled out. We should also take a multifaceted approach to urinary and faecal incontinence, where women’s mental health, physical health, lifestyle—their caffeine and dietary intake—and the incontinence all get addressed. We should also make sure that, when people need the most help, referrals to secondary care or a surgeon are optimal. We also need to get the first line of treatment for incontinence on to our high streets, making it more accessible for women to get self-referrals as quickly as possible. We should not have a barrier to speaking to a healthcare professional or a GP; women should be able to go into a high street pharmacist and say, “I’ve got incontinence. What can be done to help?” I welcome the Government’s steps for women’s health hubs, but we need to go further by making sure that there is a national campaign so that women know that those hubs exist. I say to the women listening to this Westminster Hall debate: you are not alone and there is no shame. As a nation, we cannot allow women to feel shame or embarrassment about this topic any longer. Incontinence is common, so will my hon. Members join me in my mission to break the silence, end the stigma and eliminate the anxiety around incontinence?

• 25 Feb 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  Gaza’s healthcare system has been devastated, and many civilians are in desperate need of treatment and specialist care, which is not available in Gaza itself. Will the Minister ensure that the Government continue to raise with Israel the importance of allowing safe passage out of Gaza for those children in need of urgent medical treatment? Will they consider additional evacuation routes for critically unwell children?

• 25 Feb 2025 · SEND Education Support · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg. I am grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Suffolk Coastal (Jenny Riddell-Carpenter) for securing this important debate. This issue resonates deeply with families in Dudley and across the nation. We all know that too many families are navigating a SEND system that is too difficult. Assessments are taking too long, support is inconsistent, and local authorities are under huge pressure to meet the increasing demand. Schools are struggling with managing children with no diagnosis and supporting those with a diagnosis. In the 2024 autumn Budget, £1 billion of specifically allocated SEND funding was announced. That investment is vital to tackle the challenges that parents and schools face every day. Dudley is no exception to the issues that have been raised. The number of children with education, health and care plans has risen significantly, reflecting the growing need for specialist support. We must confront the fact that too many families and schools feel that they have to fight the system just to get the right support for their children. My constituent Catherine Beaman has had to set up her own SEND support group in Sedgley, as there is no wraparound service. That simply is not right. While funding is increasing and reforms are under way, families want to feel that our children will get the support they deserve. I ask the Government to move faster and more efficiently to improve the system. I believe that an early diagnosis is key for our children to get the best start in life, but support is required throughout an individual’s lifetime. I ask the Minister to develop a cross-departmental strategy on SEND for the future of our children.

• 24 Feb 2025 · Plant Oxford Site · Hansard source

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  Will the Minister update the House on progress on the industrial strategy for the automotive industry? How will that support supply chains in places like Dudley and across the west midlands?

• 13 Feb 2025 · Cardiovascular Disease: Prevention · Hansard source

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  I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for securing this important debate. Cardiovascular disease is a phrase heard far too often in family circles, large communities and even on the national scale. Cardiovascular disease is responsible for one in four deaths in the UK, and causes misery to many families. In Dudley alone, 10,000 people are living with heart conditions and circulatory diseases. Across the Black Country integrated care system, 11,000 people are waiting for cardiac treatment; nearly 5,000 have already waited longer than the NHS target. Those numbers translate into our everyday lives—in strokes, peripheral arterial disease, diabetes and heart conditions. Every delay means more emergencies and, tragically, more preventable deaths. We must act now. Prevention and early intervention are critical to combating cardiovascular disease. We know that obesity, high blood pressure and smoking are risk factors. In Dudley, 30% of adults are living with obesity—higher than the national average—and 16% are smokers still. I welcome the Government’s initiatives to tackle smoking and encourage weight loss, and I believe that addressing and diagnosing cardiovascular conditions will help our population to live healthier lives. It is not just our fantastic doctors who are experts in cardiovascular care but our allied health professionals. AHPs have a big role in diagnosing and managing cardiovascular diseases. As a physiotherapist by trade, I screen for cardiovascular conditions, which can masquerade as musculoskeletal conditions. I check blood pressure and carotid pulse, perform auscultation, check for neurological conditions, and conduct vascular exams and cranial nerve testing of the face. Physiotherapists are involved not only in assessments but in rehabilitation at places such as Action Heart in Dudley, which is inundated with referrals, and where patients get excellent care through cardiovascular rehabilitation and preventive programmes. My podiatry colleagues check for peripheral vascular disease and diabetic foot, and are a fountain of knowledge. My occupational therapist, and speech and language therapist colleagues do exceptional work with stroke patients. My radiology colleagues help with diagnosing these conditions. My paramedic colleagues manage these patients in acute care when they need it the most. An AHP myself, I could talk about AHPs all day but I want to present some recommendations for steps that the Government could take to make a big difference. First, a multidisciplinary team is important. We should ensure that AHPs are at the centre when making policy decisions and announcements, not just for cardiovascular conditions but for all conditions; they are not just tackled by doctors. Secondly, we should ensure that diagnosis and check-ups are being done in general practice. Along with GPs, we should look at first contact practitioners, podiatrists, paramedics and physiotherapists, who also work in primary healthcare; and pharmacists, who can do the simple checks to check blood pressure early on. Thirdly, we should provide substantial and ringfenced funding for local health systems to scale up successful CVD risk management programmes. That is essential for us to move forward, and should include cardiovascular rehabilitation and prescription of gym memberships in the community, to ensure that those who need care have structured, long-term support with an emphasis on healthier lifestyles. We owe it to our communities, to the NHS, and most of all to the thousands of people living with cardiovascular disease to change now. Let us not wait for more lives to be lost.

• 13 Feb 2025 · Business of the House · Hansard source

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  Last weekend, I went to see Dudley Town FC draw 1-1 at home against Lichfield City. Unfortunately, that “home game” was not within the constituency. In fact, Dudley has not had a stadium in the constituency for decades, despite being established in 1888. Will the Leader of the House provide Government time for a debate on grassroots football and how we can bring clubs like mine back home where they belong?

• 5 Feb 2025 · Gambling Harms · Hansard source

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  Organisations such as Gordon Moody in my constituency provide essential and invaluable residential treatment for individuals suffering from severe gambling addiction, as well as mental health services and advice about how to detangle addiction. How are the Government supporting those organisations in their efforts to prevent gambling-related suicide, and does the Minister agree that an expansion of Government-backed rehabilitation services, especially those focused on children, is essential?

• 21 Jan 2025 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  My constituency has a proud industrial heritage, with manufacturing still worth £1 billion a year to the local economy from sectors that account for nearly 10% of the UK’s total economic output. What steps have the Government taken to promote the growth of the manufacturing sector and ensure that towns like Dudley continue to build on their industrial traditions?

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

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  I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Dr Opher) for securing this important debate. The growing prevalence of obesity is a public emergency. It is profoundly affecting not only individuals’ lives, but the economic and social fabric of our nation. Let me clearly state that this is not a debate about willpower or individual choice; it is about the systems, environments and inequalities that shape those choices. What does it say about our country when children in areas of deprivation are twice as likely to experience obesity as their peers in wealthier communities, when children in the least well-off families eat significantly fewer fruit and vegetables, or when families with the lowest incomes are more than twice as likely to consume diets that are high in sugar, salt and fat? To me, it says that we are failing those on the lowest incomes. As a physiotherapist, I have worked with families grappling with the challenges of facing childhood obesity. I have seen the emotional toll on children who are bullied or excluded, and the frustration of parents who have no access to affordable, healthy food or safe spaces for their children to play in. Medical practitioners are also witnessing the impact on people’s mental health. Obesity is not merely about calories in and calories out; the medical journal The Lancet has rightly described it as a “complex adaptive system”. There is a battle to be had against obesity on so many levels. It starts with Government policies on housing and education and behaviour relating to diet and exercise. There are also biological factors at play, including genetics, age and ethnicity. The further statistics are alarming. In England, two thirds of adults live with obesity or are overweight, and 29% are severely obese. Among children, the situation is equally troubling. The weight of one in five children entering primary school is above a healthy level, and by the time they leave, the figure rises to one in three. This is compounded by societal changes and challenges: the high cost of living and of healthy food; the prevalence of products high in fat, sugar or salt; and environments saturated with fast-food outlets and inadequate green spaces. The financial costs are staggering. Obesity-related illnesses currently cost the NHS £6.5 billion a year, a figure projected to rise to £9.7 billion by 2050. Across the economy, the broader impact, including loss of productivity, has been estimated to be £98 billion each year. To address this multifaceted crisis, we must adopt a systematic, whole-society approach. We need key interventions to help us to deal with our obesity public health problem. We must make changes such as expanding the healthy start scheme and increasing the value of payments to reflect rising food costs; perhaps looking again at the advertising ban and considering whether we should go further; incentivising businesses to reformulate products to reduce salt, sugar and fat content; supporting after-school activities hubs to increase physical activity among children; strengthening school food standards to ensure that children have access to nutritional food; creating and maintaining safe, accessible green spaces, thus encouraging outdoor activity, reducing sedentary behaviour and improving mental health; and designing urban environments that prioritise active travel such as walking and cycling through better infrastructure—for instance, cycle lanes and pedestrian zones. The Government should adopt a comprehensive food strategy with independent oversight from the Food Standards Agency. Targets should be set for reducing the availability of products with high levels of fat, sugar or salt, and increasing the number of healthier food options. Local authorities should be empowered with greater planning and licensing control to limit the proliferation of fast-food outlets and promote healthier eating. Parliament has a responsibility to lead on this issue. We must move away from the medicalised paradigm that isolates obesity as an individual issue, and focus on the societal structure that underpins it. Policies must address the root causes of inequality, which drive the disproportionate impact of obesity on lower-income families. I call on the Government to enact bold, decisive measures to transform our food system and environment. This is not just about health; it is about fairness, opportunity and creating a future in which no child’s potential is limited by the circumstances of where they were born. Let us grab the opportunity to address obesity comprehensively by putting health, equality and wellbeing at the heart of our policies.

• 16 Jan 2025 · Middle East · Hansard source

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  I welcome the news of a ceasefire deal after 15 months of devastation, destruction and loss of life. The release of hostages is vital, ensuring their safety and swift return to their families. There has been unimaginable suffering, and the ceasefire must be a turning point. It is imperative that the UK leverages our diplomatic influence to ensure stability while urgently stepping up humanitarian aid in Gaza; food, medicine and fuel must reach those who desperately need them without delay. Can the Secretary of State tell the House what diplomatic contributions the UK will make to ensure the ceasefire’s stability when we move towards the latter and more fragile stages of a multi-stage agreement?

• 14 Jan 2025 · Parking: Town Centres · Hansard source

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  I agree with the hon. Gentleman—I will call him my hon. Friend. Extending parking discounts beyond an hour would mean that people who want to get a coffee are not charged £1.80 for one hour’s parking, which is what has been implemented in my constituency. They would spend more time in the town centre, and that would increase footfall.

• 14 Jan 2025 · Parking: Town Centres · Hansard source

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  I agree with my hon. Friend, because town centre accessibility is really quite difficult. We do not have a tram system or any local trains; we only have a bus service, which can be ad hoc at times. Consequently, I welcome the new consultation period that Richard Parker, our Labour mayor, has suggested. This is not the time to increase parking charges, because, as has been said before, parking remains a critical lifeline for many high streets, especially for those customers on low incomes in Dudley and elsewhere. Rising parking charges are pushing customers away from Dudley town centre and into out-of-town retail parks such as Merry Hill, which have free parking, and encouraging them to shop online. It is crucial that we consider the long-term impact of these charges for traders and local small and medium-sized enterprises; they are the backbone of the economy. On a recent walk around Dudley town centre, I counted up to 35 empty shops. A staggering amount of those shops struggled due to austerity measures, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis.

• 14 Jan 2025 · Parking: Town Centres · Hansard source

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  Yes, I do, and a long-standing trader in my constituency, Christine Bosworth, also agrees. She has been operating for the last 13 years in a craft shop and she shared with me some really poignant points that I would like to share. Christine said that there has been a really big drop in footfall in the constituency and in the town centre, and that it is an “eye-opener” that there now is a lack of accessibility to the town centre. The nearest car park is unusable and too expensive, while cheaper options are too far away for elderly and disabled people to use. Traders tied into long leases face mounting pressures to ensure that people can access the town centre. Changes have been made without proper consultation and risk further eroding the vibrancy of our historic town centre. Bruno Coppola, manager of the Churchill shopping centre in Dudley, has shared concerns with me about the impact that the charges have on local businesses. Many traders have faced challenges for many years, including with covid-19.

• 14 Jan 2025 · Parking: Town Centres · Hansard source

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  I agree 100% with my hon. Friend, whose opinions I really respect. Parking charges have become a cash cow. It is absolutely absurd that councils across the country, including Dudley council, have implemented them. We need to think about how to drive footfall, not reduce it, in our town centres. I feel like we are robbing Peter so Paul can cut a ribbon. Clearly, there is a fair balance to be struck between generating revenue through parking charges and ensuring the vibrancy and accessibility of town centres, but too many authorities are not getting that balance right.