Speeches by Dixon.

“On the timing: would it be able to feed into the spending review?”

“I see that the Report talks about the Centre for Homelessness Impact. Will it be drawing in data and evidence to inform what best buys there are in homelessness and what is actually effective?”

“If I may follow that up, I was very shocked recently to learn of a hotel in the Shipley constituency that is being used for temporary accommodation. I welcome the idea that we are going to have better standards, and under the Renters’ Rights Bill, the Government are bringing forward the extension of the decent homes st…”

“What more progress and support is needed for local authorities to shift that?”

“It just feels that there are so many people in those circumstances right now. I totally appreciate that we have the ministerial taskforce coming and a long-term housing strategy. This is not only money wasted but terrible outcomes for people. There is no sense of more to be done. I realise that to solve the problem we …”

“Before I do, let me refer to my entry in the register of interests: I am a landlord. Catherine, I gather you are the chair of the newly formed cross-Government taskforce—it has a slightly different name now. I am keen to hear what its priorities are going to be. Given that it is trying to cover some 15 cross-Government…”

“You will not be surprised that I will follow up on health: data suggests that about 45% of homeless people also have a mental health diagnosis, for example. Do you see the ministerial taskforce coming up with recommendations for the NHS 10-year plan or the Department of Health and Social Care, recognising that they hav…”

“You sound confident that this might do a better job at tackling some of these issues than the previous, slightly more diffuse work across these different boards.”

“I am honoured to have been called in this debate. It has been moving to hear contributions from across the House. Feelings have been particularly raw for me, as I witnessed my close friend Sharon dying of cancer over the last few months aged just 55. She had good access to palliative and hospice care, and died at home …”

“For many new Members, tomorrow is the first time we will debate a private Member’s Bill. Together with other MPs, I have tabled a reasoned amendment that calls for an independent review and public consultation before the Bill should return to this House for further debate. Will my right hon. Friend explain to the House…”

“In the report of the archbishops’ commission on reimagining care, which I chaired, we recognise the important role of churches and faith communities in supporting older and disabled people. The report asked the Church of England to consider developing resources and capacity in local churches “to adopt an asset-based ap…”

“5. What steps the Church is taking to support people that are housebound due to a disability.”

“Although I am not from the south-west, I have the beautiful River Wharfe flowing through my constituency of Shipley. Until now, we have been relying for transparency on Top of the Poops, which shows that there were over 2,450 overflows of sewage pollution last year. Does the Minister agree that these are national probl…”

“I congratulate my right hon. Friend on introducing this once-in-a generation public health measure. As he acknowledges, too many people are dying young from the effects of smoking. They are losing out on being grandparents and on the opportunity to live a long and healthy life. Smoking is a leading cause of health ineq…”

“Clearly, there is not only this increase in the higher education sector’s ability to train people but in the NHS’s own training capacity, but then it is also about the ability to actually hire the people we are training. There seems to be some gaps between the number of GPs coming out of training and the NHS’s ability …”

“May I interrupt? Will that not require more funding in social care?”

“Thank you. The NHS providers that submitted evidence to us definitely made that point. I will make one final brief point and will invite the panel to make a brief response, if that is ok, Chair?”

“You are right to say that social care is elsewhere, but the Better Care Fund was very much established to invest in that sort of prevention and early intervention across social care. For continuing healthcare, £6.5 billion has been estimated for 2023-24. That is on your account. What are you going to do to make sure th…”

“Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon. Before I get into my question, I need to declare interests, including that I previously worked as a civil servant in the Department of Health and Social Care. I am also currently the chair of a charity called Helpforce, which promotes the use of volunteers in the NHS, and I have fa…”

“Could you follow up with data to show how significant and frequent these shortages are?”