John Whitby

Criminalisation of Children in Care

11. What steps his Department is taking to help prevent the criminalisation of children while in care.

Criminalisation of Children in Care

I refer to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. Children in care have often faced significant trauma, instability, neglect or abuse. As a result, many of them end up in the criminal justice system, and care leavers are 10 times more likely to end up in prison. Counselling has been shown to help keep children in care out of prison, which is obviously better for the young people, and saves the state money in the long term. Will the Minister consider changing national protocol

Middle East: Economic Update

According to modelling from the National Energy System Operator, gas will still set the price of electricity 30% of the time by 2030, despite most of the energy being produced from renewables. Solar and wind are far cheaper than other forms of energy, and it is right that households across the UK, and in Derbyshire Dales in particular, can benefit from the lower prices. Will the Chancellor therefore outline what steps she is taking to decouple the price of renewables from the price of gas and to

Housing Needs: Young People

I would be more than happy with local authorities having the capacity to limit holiday lets and so on—that is not a bad idea at all. It should not be too much to ask that a young person can live in the community that they grew up in.

Housing Needs: Young People

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Ms Butler. I thank the hon. Member for Mid Dunbartonshire (Susan Murray) for securing this important debate. Young people face challenges with housing in every part of the country, and in rural communities such as Derbyshire Dales there are compounding pressures of exorbitant prices, high rents and a lack of access to jobs and public services. I have heard from many constituents, whether parents or young people, who fear being priced out of the com

Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill

I strongly welcome the Government’s amendments and support the live consultation on these matters. Social media has unfortunately become central to childhood, and the negatives are massively outweighing any positives. Even when social media is at its most benign, children are spending 40, 50 or maybe 60 hours a week on it. It is intentionally addictive—of course, since we last debated these amendments, a US court has made that determination—and affecting children’s sleep, concentration and wellb

Healthy Babies Funding

9. What steps his Department is taking to increase the roll-out of Healthy Babies funding to local authorities.

Healthy Babies Funding

Sure Start delivered long-term health benefits, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies finding that it reduced the number of hospitalisations of young people with mental health-related causes by 50%. It is therefore appropriate for the Department of Health and Social Care to support our Best Start family hubs. Healthy Babies funding enables that and ensures that family hubs can deliver sessions on topics such as parent and infant relationships. Will the Minister confirm when Derbyshire will be ab