Speeches by Hamilton.

“1. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the emergency alert system.”

“A secret phone can be a lifeline for survivors of domestic abuse. Can the Minister tell the House what steps the Government are taking to ensure that when emergency alerts are sent, survivors of domestic abuse are not put in any additional danger?”

“I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for securing this debate. As we mark International Women’s Day, I have to say that I am proud—absolutely honoured— to stand here not only as a black woman, but as a former nurse. However, black people are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act 1983. D…”

“Thank you.”

“I am not asking about work that has been done. My specific question is that you are going in as chair. I have read all about you. I have read that you are, on paper, a very dynamic person. I would like to see a more agile NHSE. What are the two things that you would like to see to make that organisation more agile? Com…”

“I was really interested in what you said. I want to go from what Ben was saying back to your role at NHSE. With all the changes that are going on at NHSE and you going in as the chair, do you feel that NHSE is agile enough? What would be the two things you would do as the new chair to encourage the new chief exec to ma…”

“Thank you, Penny.”

“Moving on, Penny, in your CV—that is what I am going by—you have a small number of digital healthcare start-ups for which you do advisory work, and you mention two venture capital organisations. You have said that you will give some of those up, but I would like to ask whether you think it is appropriate to continue to…”

“My colleagues will dig deeper, but could you give us an example, before I ask my last question, of something that you are really proud of that you have done across the UK?”

“Let me focus you a little bit. Your CV is excellent: it talks about all the wonderful things that you have done around the world. But in the UK, you seem to have centralised, predominantly in London and the surrounding areas. I am from Birmingham, and some of the people here are from further afield, so the other bit of…”

“Yes, absolutely.”

“Good morning, Penny. My first question comes after reading your CV. You talked about the health systems that you have supported around the world to deliver improvements, and you also talked about supporting major reform programmes in the NHS over the last 25 years. How do you feel that this experience will assist your …”

“Kadra, it is lovely to see you again. I had better start by saying that I have had a long history in mental health. I do the associate manager role, so I do section in mental health. I just wanted to declare that before I open my mouth. I know Kadra from before, so I also need to declare that. My first question is abou…”

“Thank you for that. I am not going to ask anybody else because you are the specialist. I am going to move swiftly on to transitions. This has been a bugbear of mine—I will just declare that—for many years. I could never understand why it just drops off a cliff when a young person gets to the age of 18. The problem with…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for securing the debate. In Birmingham Erdington, we have a high proportion of young people with poor access to youth services and shockingly high youth knife crime statistics. Does she agree that the youth funding crisis must be urgently resolved?”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right that we need collaboration. Such programmes will not work if organisations work in isolation. There is always room for improvement. I firmly believe that the Government should look at the success of place-based partnerships and professional support, as demonstrated by the north Birmin…”

“My hon. Friend makes a critical point. If we want to see people grow, we have to give them the support they need; that is vital. I would not have got to Parliament without the support that I received earlier in my life. These stories are not unique to the Birmingham Erdington constituency. Many in the Chamber will no d…”

“I will absolutely give way to my lovely hon. Friend.”

“Before I start the debate, I would like to declare an interest: I chair the organisation in my constituency that I will be talking about, but I get absolutely no remuneration for it. It is a privilege to speak on behalf of my constituents in Erdington, whose communities are filled with untapped potential. My constituen…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for sharing what his constituents are doing. The results speak for themselves. To date, we have secured over £15 million in investment, supported 8,000 residents—two thirds of whom are aged between 24 and 49 —and helped over 1,000 people into work. We have enrolled 1,500 residents in gateway …”