September 2025

Children and parents at Allenby primary school in my constituency of Ealing Southall are already set to benefit from a newly modernised and expanded nursery as a result of funding from this Labour Government. Can I pass on directly to the Minister the thanks of Mr Hickman, the headteacher, who said that the investment is a fantastic opportunity that the local community is truly grateful for? Does the Minister agree that today’s announcement of 300 more nurseries in schools like Allenby will save

This is about the third complaint about the Environment Agency in today’s session, so perhaps colleagues should get together to try and get a broader debate on those issues. We have announced the largest programme on flooding in history, and we have our flood resilience taskforce, but the hon. Lady is right to say that all partners need to play their part. I will ensure she receives a proper response.

Parliamentary appearance by Deirdre Costigan

Wales’s oldest city, Bangor, celebrates its 1,500th anniversary this year. I would like to invite everyone to the Bangor day that I am holding in Parliament next week, to meet some of the people shaping the future of that amazing city; and I hope the Leader of the House will consider popping in for five minutes after business questions.

The Conservatives failed to implement a single recommendation from the report of the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, despite holding more than 20 meetings, events and roundtables on the issue. Alexis Jay herself spoke of the huge disappointment and anger at their response. What work are the Government doing to implement these recommendations and those from the Casey review?

As I mentioned earlier, there will be more choice and convenience for parents, helping to cut the double drop-off at school and making daily life easier. More families will save money through funded childcare worth up to £7,500 a year, and more children will start school ready to learn. It is a huge programme of work that I know will make a huge difference in my hon. Friend’s constituency.

As the hon. Member will know, these are devolved matters and it would therefore be appropriate for him to put his question to Wales Office colleagues. We are a Government who are committed to breaking down the barriers to opportunity, and we will be setting out a UK-wide child poverty strategy later this year, to ensure that every child gets the best start in life.

That is fantastic news to hear. My hon. Friend regularly engages with schools and nurseries across his constituency to make sure he is aware of the issues and challenges they are facing, and he works really closely with those schools and nurseries to ensure that we bring about the change that people voted for last July.

This is absolutely not “job done”—it is the start of the next journey of change, to make sure that every child gets the best start in life. We want to make life easier for parents across the country. The things I am announcing today will make a difference, but there is more for this Government to do.

I join my hon. Friend in congratulating Blooming Bairns on their community work over the past year.

I am sorry to hear that false claims have been made on social media. My hon. Friend has just outlined how irresponsible that can be and the devastating impact that it can have on jobs and investment in constituencies such as his. I am sure that Mayor Houchen has heard his question and will rectify the situation.

I congratulate my hon. Friend on her marriage over recess. She looked absolutely beautiful and incredibly happy on her wedding day. I am sorry to hear of the multifaceted challenge that she faces in changing her name everywhere. I am sure that, were it to be developed, digital ID would address some of those issues. I am happy to ensure that those issues are looked into.

Absolutely. We all heard about the incident in my hon. Friend’s constituency and join her in thanking all those who worked with the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service and the volunteers who helped to get the situation under control for the bravery they showed. I think we do need more of a debate about future resilience in terms of wildfires.

Anglian Water needs to sort out the situation with the sewer in my hon. Friend’s constituency, and I will raise that for him with Ministers at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Absolutely. We are taking steps in England to ensure that local communities have more of a say over their local area—we invest in our high streets and local communities—and I implore the Scottish Government to do the same in Scotland.

I thank the hon. Member for raising that issue. We are unashamedly pro house building as a Government, but as he says, that does not mean we are pro developers getting away with poor developments. That is why communities need to continue to have a say in what they are doing. The Planning and Infrastructure Bill is in the House of Lords at the moment and will come back to this place soon for further debate.

There is no better champion for Bangor than my hon. Friend. It is a fantastic Welsh city. It is almost a Cinderella—a forgotten but brilliant city with huge potential and a great history. I would be delighted to pop along there sometime soon.

I am really pleased to hear that the police hub in Shrewsbury has reopened. That is exactly the kind of action we want to see. That is why we are investing so heavily in neighbourhood policing and we have our neighbourhood policing guarantee, and I look forward to hearing more about it in the future.

I know it is of great concern to many Members across the House when they see properties becoming HMOs and they do not have any recourse over that, particularly where they see Government agencies such as Serco going in and undermining the needs of local communities. We are looking at this, and I will ensure the House is kept updated.

This is a truly shocking case, and my thoughts are with Cody, Zoe and the many others who have experienced truly appalling actions like this. My hon. Friend is absolutely right to raise the regulation of funeral directors; we have seen a number of shocking cases in recent months. I will ensure he gets a ministerial response, but I think this would make an incredibly important and powerful debate in this House.