Vikki Slade MP: speeches

Speeches

• 10 Dec 2025 · “Break Down Barriers to Opportunity” Mission · Hansard source

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  Earlier this year, I attended an amazing event at the Dorset Museum called “In My Shoes” for care-experienced young people, who explained the importance of making care experience a protected characteristic, as we have done in many councils, including mine in Mid Dorset and North Poole. Will the Minister take the same step with Cabinet colleagues, and consider making care experience a protected characteristic?

• 8 Dec 2025 · Support into Work: Health Conditions · Hansard source

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  I have been assisting several constituents who are deaf and need the support of British Sign Language interpreters and face-to-face appointments. There are only five BSL interpreters available to cover the whole of Dorset, and as a result people are waiting extremely long periods not only to get appointments but to get access to help them get to work. Can the Minister explain what is being done to provide more such services?

• 4 Dec 2025 · Local Elections · Hansard source

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  The Minister knew from day one that local government reorganisation and the introduction of mayors were taking place simultaneously; she knew that throughout the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill Committee, so it is simply not credible to make this announcement now. Areas with delayed mayoral elections will have some funding brought forward. Can she confirm that those areas excluded from wave one of the programme, such as Wessex, will now be able to access funding, given that we were told that the reason why we could not have any funding was that we did not have a mayor? Now that the mayors do not exist, that money should be given to other areas, such as Wessex.

• 3 Dec 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

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  I welcome the overall thrust of the Bill. Measures such as the pension pot consolidations are long overdue and will make a real difference to savers, particularly small savers. Every new year, I try to tidy up the numerous tiny pensions from jobs I had in my 20s and 30s, but the pots are so small that the cost of a financial planner and the exit fees would wipe them out, so this reform is great news for consumers who have been on low incomes and have moved from job to job. I urge the Government to go further by lifting the threshold. After all, a pension pot of £10,000 will generate a payback of only around £50 a month, which is barely enough to cover a basic weekly shop. The Bill goes in the right direction, but it does not go far enough or move fast enough. I am concerned that it leaves groups of pensioners who did the right thing by saving for the future considerably out of pocket. Like others in the Chamber, I welcome the long-overdue decision to provide some indexation for pre-1997 pensions in the PPF and FAS, but let us be clear: this is not full justice. These pensioners have endured decades without inflation protection, and a CPI increase capped at 2.5% starting in two years’ time, at a time when the cost of living has soared, is still going to leave people struggling. They expected fairness and parity with post-1997 benefits, but what they have received is a compromise that falls short of restoring their full dignity and security in retirement. I call on Ministers to support the calls of many people, including the hon. Member for Llanelli (Dame Nia Griffith), to ensure that pensioners outside the PPF and the FAS are fully supported. The case of AEA Technology pensioners is a long-running injustice that I have been dealing with since my first days in this place. Employees, who were often nuclear scientists and safety engineers, were promised pensions “no less favourable” than the civil service scheme, and many worked at the Winfrith atomic energy establishment, just outside my constituency in Dorset. I have met and talked to a number of them, including Peter, Phil, Sally and Michael, as well as Jonathan, who wrote to me saying that “nearly 20% of AEAT pensioners have died since the campaign started in 2012, including my colleague and campaigner Derek Whitmell. This has echoes of the Post Office and infected blood scandals. Delay by the Government is simply unacceptable…this is now in sharp focus for me with Derek’s passing”. Those pensioners trusted the promise that the Government gave them at the time, yet after AEAT collapsed, their pensions were cut by almost half, with inflation protection stripped away. Today, the fund holds far in excess of what is needed to restore their pensions in full, yet thousands of them remain short-changed. I recognise the changes in the pre-1997 pensions announced last week, but they are woefully inadequate. That is not just unfair; it is a breach of trust. New clause 1, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Didcot and Wantage (Olly Glover), calls for an independent review so that we can finally deliver justice for those pensioners, just as the Government have started to deliver justice on many other historical scandals, which I welcome. This is one of those scandals. I turn to another. While the Government’s intention to allow surplus sharing of defined benefit schemes is welcome, the Bill as drafted leaves pensioners exposed. UK DB schemes hold an estimated £222 billion in surplus, yet 88% of those funds have failed to use those surpluses to restore pensions eroded by inflation. Companies such as BP transfer the assets to insurers in bulk annuity deals worth £50 billion annually, while pensioners see their living standards fall. My amendments 17, 18 and 19 seek to put fairness at the heart of the process. Amendment 17 would ensure that surplus sharing principles applied even when schemes were wound up. Amendment 18 would require consultation with members before the surplus was extracted, and amendment 19 would reinstate trustee consent and oblige trustees to consider whether pensions had kept pace with inflation and past requests for discretionary increases.

• 3 Dec 2025 · Pension Schemes Bill · Hansard source

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  I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention—he has stolen my next line. John, who works at the BP depot at Wytch Farm, which is the largest onshore oil site in England in Poole harbour, told me that his pension has been eroded by 11%—he probably got the same letter as my right hon. Friend’s constituents. Even modest requests for discretionary increases made by the trustees have been refused by the parent company. Those discretionary increases were affordable; they would not have required any additional funds from the company. Another of my constituents, Suzie, who sits on the steering group, told me that the issue affects 56,000 pensioners from BP alone, but the change—a small one—would support pensioners from many other companies. I will end by talking to new clause 3, tabled by my hon. Friend the Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Manuela Perteghella). I do so in memory of my mum Lin Foster, who died before she could access her pensions, and in support of my constituent Judith, who came to see me about her sister Alison, who died after receiving a terminal brain tumour diagnosis. Alison found that the paperwork required to access her lump sum meant that she would have to articulate and confront her impending death—something that she simply could not do on top of everything else. It meant that, as a result, she missed out on funds that could have made her last few months more bearable, as well as on potentially accessing treatments that might have given her a bit more time with her family. This simple clause would have allowed her medical team to make that declaration on her behalf via an SR1 and to reduce the administration for all concerned. The Bill goes a long way in improving the lives of pensioners, but for the pensioners who are missing out, small changes could make a huge difference. I urge Ministers to think about the impact they could have on lives by little tweaks that will not cost the Government anything, or very much, at all.

• 2 Dec 2025 · Budget Resolutions · Hansard source

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  Bearing in mind that we are talking about investing in the future, I would like to focus my comments on young people. Last week I held a youth conversation and was so impressed with the focus of the young people on broad issues including housing and their fear of the far right. I look forward to hearing more about the next steps from the Youth Select Committee, which is currently looking at alternative strategies for student funding; they all accept that their student days need to be properly funded, but they feel—and I agree—that it is completely unfair that they are paying higher rates of interest than the landlords from whom they have to rent their properties, and that dragging them into tax earlier is making it even tougher for them to get on to the ladder, even as a renter. Sadly, many of our graduates and others who have completed their education are finding it tough to get into work at all. Historically, many would have sought opportunities abroad, but, thanks to Brexit, most of those options are now gone. I welcome the prospect of the youth mobility scheme, but it does not go far enough—if the Chancellor was serious about fixing economic stagnation, cutting red tape and creating jobs, she would announce a new customs union with the EU, generating £25 billion a year in taxation alone and really giving us a period of renewal. Other young people leaving school or college would have moved into hospitality, but in the past year, that sector has lost 90,000 jobs, many of which were filled by young people. Meanwhile, the businesses not cutting jobs are cutting shifts—something I experienced in my own home last weekend, when, over the payday weekend before Christmas, when most young people are relying on work, two of my children had their shifts cut at two separate successful businesses. The failure of the Government to hear the Liberal Democrat call to cut VAT means there will likely be more shifts cut for young people, and older people, as the winter months arrive. While the Government have maintained that business rates changes will protect businesses, in reality the recent revaluation will see an increase in most businesses’ value and the loss of their small business relief, so many of them will be worse off. I urge the Government to look at this matter again. I want to briefly mention the issue of special educational needs. I am pleased that the Government are absorbing these costs from 2028, but I am deeply concerned about what will happen between now and then. I am worried that councils will have gone under before we get to that point. Finally, as time is short, I want to mention the issue of devolution. There was over £14 billion for mayoral authorities in this Budget, but nothing for my area of Dorset. I am sure the four Government Members from Dorset present will agree that it is completely outrageous to have a period of investment renewal with no money at all going to the area of Wessex. I urge the Government to bring forward the devolution programme for every part of the country and for every generation.

• 2 Dec 2025 · Criminal Court Reform · Hansard source

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  Juries are not the cause of the court backlog; if they were, we would not see similar extended delays in the magistrates courts, which have a record backlog of 361,000 cases. The cause is not just pupillages, but legal advisers in magistrates courts. Given that some of these cases with potentially longer sentences will move to the magistrates courts, what additional investment will go into them so that we do not just see the problem move from the Crown court to the magistrates court and see victims wait just as long there?

• 1 Dec 2025 · SEND: Classroom Accessibility · Hansard source

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  20. What steps her Department is taking to make school classrooms more accessible to children with SEND.

• 1 Dec 2025 · SEND: Classroom Accessibility · Hansard source

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  Over the last 16 months, I have visited most of my 42 schools—some more than once—so I have seen some really effective use of occupational therapy principles, such as removing sensory triggers and updating lighting and layouts. At Colehill first school, the staff have simplified and rectified the décor throughout the school, and are looking to invest in wooden and natural materials to create a calming environment. However, schools in Mid Dorset and North Poole receive over £2,000 per pupil per year less than those in other parts of the country, so there is little left for this sort of project. Given the focus on inclusion, what can the Minister offer in terms of smaller capital grants to fund this work?

• 25 Nov 2025 · G20 and Ukraine · Hansard source

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  I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests as the host of a Ukrainian. Given the growing instability around the world and the absence of the US President from both the G20 summit and COP30, how will the Prime Minister use the close relationship between the UK and America to ensure that Trump does not undermine the ability of global partnerships and agencies to keep us all safe from all types of problems in the future?

• 24 Nov 2025 · Estate Management Companies · Hansard source

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  I was contacted by residents of Canford Paddock, who wrote to me about ongoing unregulated estate fees, which particularly relate to a suitable alternative natural greenspace—SANG—that was a condition of the development, as it is near a site of special scientific interest. The privately owned SANG is in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area, but is not managed by the council. What protections therefore exist for the residents, who are having to pay for a public site managed by a private developer?

• 24 Nov 2025 · Sale of Disposable Barbecues · Hansard source

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  I rise to present a petition about the sale of disposable barbecues. The petitioners and I ask the Government to note that 2025 has been the worst year on record for UK wildfires, with Dorset seeing over 900 of them. Disposable barbecues have been the initial cause of many, so we are calling for a ban on their sale to protect our precious landscape, people and wildlife. The petition states: The petition of residents of the constituency of Mid Dorset and North Poole Declares that there is a growing threat of wildfires across Dorset and the UK; further declares that disposable barbecues have been the initial cause of multiple wildfires in the UK; and further that the sale of disposable barbecues should be banned to reduce the number of wildfires that will occur in the UK in the future. The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Government to introduce legislation to ban the sale of disposable barbecues. And the petitioners remain, etc. [P003134]

• 24 Nov 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. Without new clause 29, my concern is that a mayor who does not honour the net zero commitments of the councils that sit within their area may undermine those councils’ principles and hard work, which will have been done over many years. New clause 4, in the name of the shadow Minister, and new clause 25, in the name of my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury (Mr Dillon), relate to the community infrastructure levy, which is an important measure that councils rightly need to mitigate the impact of new homes. When residents come to me worried about developments, they are always asking about what will happen with new roads, schools and services, which is why CIL matters so much. However, in Dorset and elsewhere, homeowners have been wrongly charged CIL for extensions and self-builds, with £1.6 million taken in error. Ministers say that the system works, but if so, what do they say to homeowners out of pocket by tens of thousands of pounds? Accepting these two simple amendments or introducing clear and robust regulation would reassure homeowners that they will not be facing unfair bills.

• 24 Nov 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I was fortunate to be part of the Bill Committee for this monstrous Bill—monstrous in size, I should clarify—so my summer was spent digesting each and every clause, and seeking to understand whether it does fulfil its ambitious title and move powers closer to communities. I must be clear that the last Government started the process of creating regional mayors and limiting the ability to access funding through this mechanism. I recall visiting the former Secretary of State in his office in Marsham Street, alongside my then council chief executive Graham Farrant and the former Member for Bournemouth West, to seek the zoning of Bournemouth town centre as the first retail-led investment zone, only to be told that unless I presented it as a devolution programme, there would be no money. We have been here before. Devolution was expected in this Parliament, though perhaps not in this form, and it does have the potential to improve lives. A problem arises with this Bill, because for many people in England, it gives with one hand and takes with the other. Yes, it shifts some power and money from Westminster to the regions, but it abolishes the very councils that deliver vital services and completely ignores the hyper-local councils that residents know best: their town and parish councils. I know that the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes), loves hearing my references to towns and parishes. This Bill could and should be so much stronger. As noted by the shadow Minister, the Bill Committee tabled many sensible amendments, and it is disappointing that so few have been accepted. Let me highlight just a few that sit in today’s grouping. I welcome new clause 29, in the name of the hon. Member for Brighton Pavilion (Siân Berry), which would require mayors and strategic authorities to act in accordance with the Climate Change Act 2008 and other environmental laws.

• 24 Nov 2025 · English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill · Hansard source

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  I am very happy to move new clause 29, should the hon. Member not have the opportunity to—

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

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  Will the Leader of the House join me in congratulating Jacques Jefferies, a grandson of my constituent Susan Jefferies, on his selection for Team GB at the winter Olympics in February? Does he share my frustration that Jacques has had to set up a fundraising page to make it financially possible to go? In the week that Scotland reached the world cup and England start the Ashes campaign down under, will he recognise the soft power of sport and agree to a debate in Government time on how we fund athletes, retain our place on the world stage and help people like Jacques to fulfil their ambition?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Bus Services · Hansard source

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  The age of participation increased from 16 to 18 some 10 years ago, but the age until which funded bus travel is available for those children who live too far away from the nearest school stayed at 16. I visited Purbeck school a couple of weeks ago. Many of the children who attend that school live in villages, and this was their top concern. Will the Minister look again at this anomaly, as it is simply not right that children should have to pay to get to their nearest school?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Migration: Settlement Pathway · Hansard source

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  In the summer, I spent the morning with Anushka, a senior social care worker in Wimborne. She and her colleagues earn more than the earnings threshold and came here with their families on the understanding that they could make a new life here, contributing to society and paying their taxes. The recent hostile narrative is making her and others consider leaving for places such as New Zealand and Australia. Will the Home Secretary confirm whether Anushka and her colleagues, doing jobs that cannot be filled by British workers who will not do the work, will be considered public sector workers?

• 20 Nov 2025 · Reoffending: Rehabilitation in Prisons · Hansard source

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  Around half of prisoners are neurodivergent and the population of young prisoners with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is around 10 times higher than in the population at large. With such specialist targeted support needed for those prisoners, we have heard that they have been let down by the system and that they cannot access the right support at the right time, regardless of the new system that is in place. Does the hon. Member agree that the delay in producing an update to the neurodiversity action plan is unacceptable and that it really must be published straightaway?

• 18 Nov 2025 · Warm Home Discount: Fuel Poverty · Hansard source

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  Many thousands of my residents live in park homes, in places such as Regency Heights and Stoborough Green, and have no ability to choose their energy supplier and limited access to a lot of schemes. What is the Minister’s Department doing to make sure that they have access to the warm homes initiatives? Further, as their properties are often considered chattels, they cannot access some of the other programmes.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Parkinson’s Disease · Hansard source

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  It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Lewell. Imagine being told that you have a progressive, incurable condition and then waiting over a year just to see a specialist. That is the reality for so many people with Parkinson’s and the number of people with Parkinson’s is set to double by 2050. When my constituent Carol was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2009, she was only 46 years old. Consultants told her then that they hoped a cure might come within a decade, but 16 years later there is nothing. At this point, I must declare an interest. My daughter Molly is a PhD researcher with a brilliant team at the University of Southampton that is working to understand Parkinson’s, so that better treatments and cures can be found. As a member of the all-party parliamentary group on Parkinson’s, I know that great work is also happening elsewhere, particularly through the Brain Bank at Imperial College London. However, research alone is not enough; people living with Parkinson’s need care now. Just before the general election last year, the current Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, then in his shadow role, admitted in the “Parky Politics in the Pub” podcast that there were not enough neurologists and committed to fix it. He said: “We campaigned hard on workforce to get the last Government to commit to doubling the number of medical places so we can train up staff—especially in neurology, where we have shortages.” He said he would deliver that workforce plan, yet today waiting times are unacceptably long—not just for initial appointments, but for ongoing care.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Parkinson’s Disease · Hansard source

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  I am so pleased that my hon. Friend has made that intervention, because I am just coming on to tell people about my constituent in Wimborne. He said that he, his brother and his nephew have all been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. When he was first diagnosed, he saw a Parkinson’s nurse every six months and then saw one annually. However, because there is now just one specialist Parkinson’s nurse covering my constituency, he has seen nobody for two years. Karen, who is also from Wimborne, emailed me and said that she had an appointment with a neurologist and then one with a nurse, but now faces a 14-month wait for her next appointment. Across England, as we have heard, only half of patients meet the 18-week target, even though we know that early support—physiotherapy, speech therapy and clear information—keeps people healthy for longer. If the Government are serious about transforming the NHS, they cannot allow people with progressive conditions who need a multidisciplinary approach to be forgotten. The NHS workforce plan is due in the spring. What assurance can the Minister give that neurology and Parkinson’s care in particular will feature strongly? It is great that the Government have expanded medical places, but what assessment has been made of how that will translate to neurology services? Given the training time required to generate such expertise, what is being done to bring consultants here from abroad to tackle the crisis now? In my constituency, 333 people are living with Parkinson’s. On average, each one will be admitted to hospital at least once a year, two-thirds of them in an emergency, which will mean spending a week, unplanned, in an acute bed. That is simply not acceptable and we need to do better now.

• 17 Nov 2025 · Illegal Waste: Organised Crime · Hansard source

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  I am sure that we were all shocked to see the images from the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Bicester and Woodstock (Calum Miller). Rural police forces are the worst-funded in the country, with Dorset rock bottom. That is made much worse by the amount of additional visitors. We welcome them, but 25 million day-visitors and many millions of staying holidaymakers make it really hard for the police to work on this kind of countryside crime. How is the Department working with colleagues in the Home Office to ensure that rurality is properly considered? Will she work with the Home Office on including tackling organised waste crime as a strategic priority for the National Crime Agency?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Courts System: Funding · Hansard source

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  I was fortunate to visit Poole magistrates court last week; indeed, it is interesting to hear mention of the state of buildings, because they were appalling. I was most concerned when the district judge and court manager explained to me that there is no shortage of magistrates or court space and that the shortage is one of legal advisers in the system. They explained that the funding for one extra legal adviser would allow them to progress 500 cases a year, but they simply cannot retain them. What is the Minister doing to review that role and make sure that we can get those smaller cases through quickly?

• 11 Nov 2025 · Courts System: Funding · Hansard source

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  15. What steps his Department is taking to provide adequate funding for the courts system.