Speeches by Bennett.

“I am an MP from Sussex. We are about to go through local government reorganisation and see the creation of a Sussex mayor, and as part of that process, the role of the police and crime commissioner is going to become redundant. How does the Minister think that new mayoral responsibility is going to work in practice? Is…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. Parents do everything for their children, especially when they have special needs. That is why I am fed up with the demonisation of parents. They are blamed for gaming the system, for having failed as parents, for being too soft, for not putting in boundaries, for…”

“Can the Minister confirm whether the Attorney General will publish any advice that he or the Government have received on whether there have been breaches of international law during the conflict in Gaza?”

“The better futures fund rightly targets the needs of vulnerable children, and one such group are those who are subject to adoption or kinship arrangements. Last week the Department for Education announced that it would renew the adoption and special guardianship support fund for one year, but did not say that it would …”

“I beg to move, That this House has considered the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund. It is a pleasure to serve under you, Ms Lewell. I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate, and I thank hon. Members who supported my application. The Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund h…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her kind words. She is absolutely right. I will address her point in due course. When I saw Rachel this morning and told her about the one-year renewal of the fund, she told me that she had come out in goosebumps as a result. That is how much this fund matters to adoptive families. I have see…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention; he makes an excellent point. A lack of long-term funding will put people off adopting children or taking children into kinship care. It also risks putting providers off providing support. Ministers have insisted that the fund has not been cut, but that is because the overall…”

“My hon. Friend makes a profound contribution about how we treat the most vulnerable in our society. I do not think I have the answers to that question, but I thank him for raising it. Adoption England has suggested reform to the fund. Devolving it to its regional agencies or local authorities is a possibility, but no c…”

“Does the Minister agree that listening to the voices of bereaved families who have lost their babies is of essential importance? If he does, will he listen to the calls of Sussex families to appoint Donna Ockenden to lead their review?”

“The carer’s allowance overpayments review was due to report in early summer. It is now 1 September. In recent weeks, I have become aware of a case where the DWP has informed somebody that they now owe it £18,000. That is a scandal. When will the review report back?”

“I welcome today’s announcement, not least because I am the mum of an aspiring composer and performer. I was pleased that the Minister mentioned the work of teachers and the Department for Education in supporting music in schools. Credit should go to Mr Wardrobe from Downlands community school in Hassocks for putting to…”

“On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. At the start of this month, I submitted a number of parliamentary questions to the Department of Health and Social Care on the subject of the independent commission into adult social care. A number of those questions, despite being due for answer on the 7th of this month, rema…”

“Yesterday, it was reported, as hon. Members will be aware, that at least 93 Palestinians were shot and killed while queuing for GHF-distributed food because they and their families are being starved to death. The fact that GHF stands for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation smacks of an Orwellian doublespeak which I find profo…”

“Good mental health at school is sometimes bolstered by out-of-school support, especially for the most vulnerable children. Last week, I met Vicky and her team at Jigsaw Occupational Therapy in Burgess Hill, and I spoke to the families they help. Roughly a quarter of their work involved supporting kinship and adopted ch…”

“rose—”

“The hon. Lady is being generous with her time. I want to mention Haywards Heath college, which closed but was then able to reopen in 2020, thanks to the work of Mid Sussex district council and the previous MP. Does the hon. Lady agree that extending the pupil premium into further education colleges would make their fin…”

“My constituent, Annabel, who is a teenager, has parallel experiences to Lolly, as set out by the hon. Member for Bournemouth West (Jessica Toale). She also had a terrible experience being detained in a secure unit, which her parents did not think was safe. Does the Minister agree that when teenagers—children—are detain…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Edward. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells (Mike Martin) for securing this important debate. In my constituency of Mid Sussex, families with children who have special educational needs and disabilities are being let down by a broken system that i…”

“It goes without saying that I love Burgess Hill. One brilliant business there is Steve Willis Training, which is this week celebrating 25 years in business, training the region’s future electricity, plumbing and heating engineers. Does the Secretary of State agree that such businesses are vital in delivering the skills…”

“I thank the right hon. Member, but there are questions and uncertainty because the future of EHCPs and what may replace them has not been made clear. That is causing genuine concern for campaigners and people who have children with special needs. In West Sussex, approximately a third of children with an EHCP require tr…”