Speeches by Farnsworth.

“Good afternoon. I am Linsey Farnsworth, the Member of Parliament for Amber Valley and a former Crown prosecutor. My interests are as declared on the register, but of significance for today, I am the co-chair of the APPG on legal and constitutional affairs and a member of the APPG on access to justice.”

“Shrewsbury certainly does sound like a wonderful place to visit. I am working hard on the visitor economy for Amber Valley, and an integrated transport system and good transport links are a vital part of that. There was a daily railway service running from London to Alfreton in my constituency until 2021, when it was u…”

“Denby Pottery has been the heart of Amber Valley since 1809. It provides over 500 jobs and brings in 250,000 visitors a year, but it has sadly had to apply for administration support. While the Prime Minister has already committed to a review of the supercharger scheme, which helps with energy costs, I hope that it wil…”

“Our plan for court reform implements time savings across the system, not just in the courtroom but in a number of other aspects of the justice system that contribute to delays with the administration of jury trials, such as the summoning of jurors, the compiling of jury bundles, juror expenses and behind-the-scenes pre…”

“At a recent coffee morning that I held in the village of Holbrook, constituents raised their worries about energy bills. In 2024-25, 6,219 people, or 14.5% of all households in Amber Valley, received the warm home discount. Particularly in the light of ongoing uncertainty on household energy costs due to international …”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Huq. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish) for securing the debate. Many in Amber Valley—including me—are proud descendants of coalminers, textile makers and engineers. That heritage still shapes our economy: 20% of the workforce are in manufac…”

“That is not an experience people want to receive, but it is probably useful going forward. I have one last question—I want to go back to the SSB Law Group, the current approach to legal services complaints handling and the Legal Ombudsman’s role within that. I know the Legal Services Consumer Panel has said that the co…”

“Do you have any good practice from your time as the Housing Ombudsman that you could bring to that process?”

“I want to go back to the use of AI and automation. You have just talked about that within the service. In your questionnaire response, you also talked about the future operating model embedding automation, AI and modern digital tools. I wondered how you might go about bringing that operating model into use.”

“Do the complaints on conveyancing tend to be more about communication and fees, rather than whether the advice was correct or not? Or would that not come to you?”

“I think it will be quick. I wanted to return to the increased demand and the increasing complaints. Conveyancing has been identified as a big area where that has increased. Are you aware of any work that has gone into looking at the reasoning behind that, and whether there is any correlation with the increased number o…”

“Good morning. I am Linsey Farnsworth, Member of Parliament for Amber Valley. I was a Crown prosecutor before entering Parliament. My declaration is on the register, but it is relevant for today that I am the co-chair of the APPG on legal and constitutional affairs and a member of the APPG on access to justice.”

“Will the hon. Gentleman give way?”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank all those people working in the criminal justice system who, frankly, have been propping up the system with the generosity of their time, working extra hours over and above, and giving everything. They have propped up the criminal justice system in that way for years.…”

“I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that this is about getting justice to victims, which defendants game the system to prevent. Arguments against the Crown court bench division seem to presuppose some measure of unfairness of having a single judge deciding guilt or innocence, but district judges have sat alone in th…”

“On appeals against magistrates’ rulings, is the shadow Minister aware—as I am, through my experience—that appeals are essentially a retrial in the magistrates court, and that many appeals are successful simply because the victim cannot face giving evidence for a second time and being retraumatised? Defendants will use …”

“Anyone who has worked on the frontline of the criminal justice system knows that the Crown court crisis has been years in the making. Underfunding, austerity, covid and the changing nature of crime, with cases becoming increasingly complex and evidential volumes growing exponentially, have compounded the issue. The cha…”

“On that point, will my hon. Friend give way?”

“T8. I was pleased to see that the schools White Paper outlines significant reforms to support children with special educational needs and disabilities. Will the Minister outline how the Department is working with colleagues in the Department for Education to ensure that efforts to tackle the NEETS crisis—those not in e…”

“12. What steps he is taking to support young people into employment, education or training.”