Speeches by Kinnock.

“I have to correct the hon. Lady: the commission is up and running, Baroness Casey has started meetings and she had a roundtable just a few weeks ago with people who have lived experience. The hon. Lady is therefore not correct on that point and I am sure that she will want to correct the record. On the point about dela…”

“May I just tackle the idea that we are not working at pace on these issues? We have had the unpaid carer’s uplift from £151 to £196, which is the biggest uplift in carer’s allowance since the 1970s when the policy was brought in; hundreds of millions of pounds’ uplift in the disabled facilities grant; and groundbreakin…”

“I am sorry to hear about the issues that my hon. Friend’s constituents are experiencing. I understand that he has raised the issue with the North East and North Cumbria ICB, which is investigating his concerns. I would be happy to be kept informed, and if he is not happy with the outcome of that investigation, he shoul…”

“We have provided hospices in England with a record £100 million in capital funding, as my hon. Friend will know. ICBs are responsible for commissioning palliative and end-of-life care services, including hospices, to meet the needs of their local populations. NHS England has published statutory guidance to support that…”

“The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right to point to the neglect and incompetence of the past 14 years. We are fighting to get NHS dentistry back to where it needs to be. An important first step, of course, is the 700,000 additional urgent appointments and supervised tooth-brushing programme, but long-term contract refor…”

“My hon. Friend is right to raise that important point. It is truly shameful that 4.5 million children in the UK now live in poverty. We are developing an ambitious strategy that tackles root causes, and we are already taking action. Alongside cross-Government work on free school meals, breakfast clubs and funded childc…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right to point to the anomalies in the eyecare system. There are concerns about the role that some aspects of the independent sector are playing, particularly in the light of the lucrative nature of cataract operations. If he writes to me, I will be happy to set out the issues, and I guarantee tha…”

“The spending review has just been published. The key now is to secure the allocations within the overall financial envelope. That will take a matter of weeks, and I will be happy to report back to the hon. Member once we have that clarity.”

“My understanding is that it is in schedule 2.”

“The spending review announced increases in NHS spending alongside more money for adult social care. By investing in DEXA scanners, we can more rapidly treat conditions such as osteoporosis, which particularly affect elderly women. Our urgent and emergency care plan promotes falls prevention technology for longer indepe…”

“I refer the hon. Lady to the impact assessment, which is of course not a forecast but a set of scenarios. In it, detail is given on expected numbers and the capacity of the system to deal with the service. Amendments 13 and 82 to 85 relate to the appointment of the voluntary assisted dying commissioner and panel member…”

“I associate the Government with the words of the Opposition spokesman regarding the tragic incident in India. As Members will know, the Government remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the principle of assisted dying. We have always been clear that this is a decision for Parliament. However, the Government a…”

“I can confirm that it is absolutely the policy intent of the sponsor for that to be a backstop. The Government are working on that basis to ensure that it is a backstop and not a target. Amendment 42 seeks to remove the four-year backstop. Although that is a matter for Members to decide, we note that if both that amend…”

“I will touch on the questions that have been asked on cumulative and escalating behaviour, on having a review of public safety and on the training plan. The details will be provided for in a mixture of the code of practice and the annual written ministerial statement. The code of practice will be based on consulting bo…”

“I thank the hon. Member for the intervention, but I simply repeat that under both the Act and this Bill, which will reform that Act, clinicians have the power to detain on the basis of a risk of harm that may occur, not one that has already or is happening at the same time, so, in my opinion, this power already exists.…”

“It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I turn to amendment 11, tabled by the hon. Member for Winchester. Under the Bill, English qualifying patients subject to the Mental Health Act 1983, including those on a community treatment order, will be covered by a new opt-out approach to advocacy. That mea…”

“I pay tribute to my hon. Friend for her expertise and am pleased to hear that she feels reassured by my remarks. It is absolutely the Government’s ambition to bring more consistency and clarity to this area. A number of hon. Members have raised issues around racial disparities; I plan to come on to that. That is a spec…”

“My hon. Friend raises a very valid point that, as he says, we will come on to in greater detail. Right across our health service, in every aspect, early intervention is always better than trying to pick up the pieces after a crisis. That is the same for both physical and mental health. We believe that the advance choic…”

“My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and we could go into the question he has just raised in a profound way, because the social determinants of ill health are such an important part of the picture. Many people in our communities are dealing with all sorts of incredibly challenging and traumatic issues in their lives, of…”

“We have piloted culturally appropriate advocacy models, which ran up to March 2025. An evaluation of the pilot will be published in the summer, and that will feed into the evidence base for the impact and deliverability of culturally appropriate advocacy at local level. We will use the learnings from our culturally app…”