Andrew Pakes

Youth Justice

I welcome the White Paper and put on record my thanks both to my right hon. Friend and to the Minister for youth justice, my hon. Friend the Member for Rother Valley (Jake Richards), for their work on this issue. One of the most heartbreaking things I have to do as a Member of Parliament is meet families and young people who have been failed by the system after those young people have taken actions that have caused disturbance for their families and the wider community. Accountability matters, b

Getting Britain Working Again

I want to make a point to help the shadow Minister, because I think he has missed a page of his speech or dropped it on the floor in getting ready for the debate. I have heard nothing in his comments about the 40% drop in young people doing apprenticeships when his Government were in power, or the devastating impact on Peterborough from fewer young people doing apprenticeships because of his Government’s policies. If he has dropped that piece of paper and forgot to mention it, I am happy to supp

Getting Britain Working Again

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Torbay (Steve Darling), and to speak in a debate on work in support of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. There are few Secretaries of State who have a work ethic as strong as his, and I thank him for that. I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate on the Loyal Address. The phrase “Get Britain working” goes to the heart of the challenges facing both this Government and the country, and I will start by welcomin

Child Poverty Taskforce

One of the worst legacies of the previous Government is that 43% of children growing up in Peterborough are living in poverty. Nearly 10,000 children will be affected by the lifting of the child cap in Peterborough alone. Will the Chancellor assure me that, while we have made huge progress, we will keep a razor-like focus on child poverty as we deal with the cost of living crisis and the fallout from the war in Iran?

Park Home Owners

My hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe described some elements of this sector as management by the wild west. Residents have used stronger words to me to describe the people who run some of these sites. That is why we need justice. Local authorities are often too reluctant or slow to intervene when problems arise, including complaints about site licence breaches, poor maintenance or sale blocking, or concerns about whether a site owner is a fit and proper person to manage the site. Resolving t

Park Home Owners

It is a privilege to speak in this debate and to represent park home owners in my constituency, and to follow the passionate call for action from my hon. Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (James Naish). It is genuinely touching to see that we have a cross-party consensus between many in this House on the need for justice for our park home residents. Problems relating to park homes have been a constant and worrying part of my casework since I was elected. I regularly speak to residents who are fru

Middle East: Economic Update

The Chancellor is right: this was not our war, but its impacts are being felt by businesses and families in my constituency. What is almost as shocking as the recent price hike is how exposed our country is because of a decade of under-investment by the Conservative party in nuclear, onshore wind and updating our power networks. Can the Chancellor reassure me that while we keep a razor-sharp focus on the cost of living for families, we will also do our utmost to speed up the development and rene