Speeches by Fenton-Glynn.

“Do you think moving more universally to rolling out a strengths and assets-based care system would lead to better outcomes with healthcare and people being able to live healthier for longer?”

“Calderdale council took the innovative step of giving foster carers a council tax break, which has been incredibly effective in recruiting foster carers. Would this and other such ideas be a good way to get more people into the system?”

“Q13. This Government are committed to using the criminal justice system to tackle violence against women and girls, but when an abuser can use a child custody battle to continue their abuse, as has happened in the case of one of my constituents, it is clear that we need to raise the issue in the civil courts too. Will …”

“I would gently suggest that, since the policing budget is £8 billion, £5 billion is not an insignificant amount of money.”

“It is inarguable that the CQC needs improvement. Many who run care services in local authorities have little confidence in its performance. Does my hon. Friend agree that we could go some way to improving how it is viewed by looking at the use of single-word assessments, which create undue stress for social services le…”

“7. Whether he has made an assessment of the effectiveness of improvements made to the Care Quality Commission.”

“The situation in northern Gaza is grave, with no functioning hospitals, medical centres destroyed and more than 1,000 medical personnel killed, injured or detained. The UK representative to the UN made it clear that that is unacceptable. What steps will the Minister take to ensure that Israel abides by its responsibili…”

“In fact, the better care fund works best in West Yorkshire when it works to hasten people’s journey out of hospital, and that sounds like a very good example. In my own local hospital trust, the figure for people on the transfer of care list is even higher: 20% of beds are taken up by people who could be treated at hom…”

“I welcome this debate. Another winter and there are more severe backlogs—the causes are structural and predictable. The shadow of what Lord Darzi found weighs heavy on this debate, with 14,000 unnecessary deaths in A&E each year, waiting times for over-65s in emergency care having more than doubled to seven hours, …”

“I welcome the commission, which hopefully will lead to some certainty on the future of social care. However, a 2023 National Audit Office report found that 17% of local authority directors of social services were concerned about their ability to meet statutory obligations last year, and a further 18% are concerned abou…”

“2. What steps she is taking to help ensure increased prosecution rates for rural crime.”

“Merry Christmas, Mr Speaker. Our hard-working farmers across Calder Valley want to earn a living from farming, not use their land to avoid tax. After 14 years of neglect by the last Government, which undercut farmers in trade deals, the sector is, however, becoming increasingly unprofitable. I welcome the Labour Govern…”

“I welcome my hon. Friend to her place. Representing a rural constituency, I am aware of the ongoing problem of agricultural vehicle theft. In Calder Valley, vehicle crime counts for one in every 20 crimes committed. The Equipment Theft (Prevention) Act 2023, passed by the hon. Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith…”

“Does the Minister agree that the amazing staff at Overgate hospice in my constituency should be focused this Christmas on caring for their patients and not on funding? Will she confirm that this funding allows them to do so? Also, in April I will be running the London marathon for the Overgate hospice’s big build appea…”

“That was what happened in my authority—it was from retail, through caring into the NHS.”

“Thank you. I know time is short, so let’s move on to other people.”

“You have said that we will be setting out how we do that in the new year twice now. Does that mean we are setting out a new commission to look at it? Or does it mean that we are setting out the comprehensive plan as to what it looks like?”

“Thank you, Secretary of State: it is really good to hear that local government’s voice is going to be stronger. I say that as a former council cabinet member for social care, and I am going to bring us on to social care. Lord Darzi has said that 13% of patients in NHS beds are there because there isn’t appropriate soci…”

“Can I pause you for a second? It is good to hear those words, and I do appreciate that the Government have been in place for only five months, but this is obviously a long-term project and we should have a clear idea of what our social care system is going to look like. I am not sure, despite having run a local social …”

“I welcome the money for homelessness in today’s statement. Evidence increasingly suggests that prevention works in homelessness. Calderdale is one of three local authorities working with Crisis to pilot a system of early prevention. In six months, that has already led to a 20% reduction in people using temporary accomm…”