Strengthening Community Resilience

Claire Young Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

For the final question, I call Claire Young.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

Millions rely on daily medication to stay alive and healthy. We know the concern shortages cause; the NHS does not allow people to stockpile prescription medicines, and some require refrigeration. Will the NHS therefore now allow people to keep a small amount of spare medicine, and how will the Government ensure access to essential medications during widespread disruption to supplies, movement of goods or power?

[Dan Jarvis]

The hon. Lady is absolutely right to raise this particular issue. I know she will have seen that there is specific advice on the checklist with regard to medicine and health. The design of the campaign has been worked up closely with a range of different organisations, with a range of different stakeholder cohorts in mind, including people who are medically vulnerable for a range of different reasons. We are acutely conscious of the risk to those particular people, and the campaign has been carefully designed with them at the forefront of our mind to ensure that they will be best protected in the context of an everyday emergency.

Civil Service Pensions

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Sally Jameson]

I am sorry to hear of the experience that my hon. Friend’s constituents have had. It is totally unacceptable, and Capita has been totally unacceptable. As I said in my statement, its performance has been utterly abysmal, and those at Capita should hang their heads in shame at how they have treated dedicated public servants in this country. I will take up the issue that he raises with my officials to ensure that we are improving that part of the service, so that his constituents can get the correct quotes that they need.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

Another weekly surgery, another Capita complaint—this time, a constituent was told on one of her many calls to Capita that she would have to wait while they accessed the spreadsheet because someone was already using it. When the Minister talks about some slow improvements in technology, one can only imagine that Capita’s starting point was a typewriter and abacus. Even with the support of officials, does the Minister really trust Capita to safely deliver an AI-enabled service to our constituents?

International Update

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 12th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

Talk of an energy ceasefire shows once again how central energy security is to national security, so will the Prime Minister reassure the House that the rumoured cuts to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero budget will not undermine his Government’s ability to protect our critical energy infrastructure, or indeed to protect our constituents from the high energy bills that undermine society’s cohesion?

[The Prime Minister]

I say to the hon. Lady that protecting our critical national infrastructure and our energy infrastructure is a crucial part of national security. It is the essence of the deal—the partnership—we struck with Germany last week, and we will ensure that there is sufficient funding to achieve that via the Ministry of Defence and, indeed, DESNZ.

Civil Service Pensions

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 6th July 2026 Commons Chamber

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

To my right hon. Friend’s first point: yes, of course, the stakeholder group includes PCS. His question on Capita being awarded the contract in the first place is a valid one. It is fair to say that the previous pension provider was certainly not providing a sufficient level of performance, but, as he will have heard in my answer to the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Kingswinford and South Staffordshire (Mike Wood), the contract was signed in November 2023; we inherited a long-term contract and I have been trying to deal with the issue since.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

One of my hard-working caseworkers attended one of the virtual surgeries that have been mentioned, but every single update they received was wrong. Lump sums, quotes, paperwork and complaint responses were all said to have been sent out, yet not one case had actually moved. My constituents feel lied to and my staff feel disrespected. Will the Minister tell the House what further action will be taken to hold Capita to account for those false assurances?

[Nick Thomas-Symonds]

Quite simply, that should not be happening. If the hon. Lady is willing to write to me with precisely the information that was given, and what the correct information was, the Parliamentary Secretary will look into it.

Infected Blood Compensation Scheme

Claire Young Excerpts

Thursday 18th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Clive Efford]

I will not detain the House for long. I just want to thank everyone who contributed to the debate, and I thank my right hon. Friend the Minister for his thoughtful consideration of all the points raised. I just have one request: could I meet with him before he lays the regulations, so that we can discuss some of the issues raised today?

I thank again everyone who contributed to the debate. I hope we have done justice to the people who are concerned about this issue, and to the infected and the affected who are watching the proceedings today.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered the Infected Blood Compensation Scheme.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder if you could assist the House. The Department for Transport has this afternoon published the Heathrow expansion national policy statement, the HENPS, alongside supporting documents in a major consultation. Given the significance of this decision, with implications for communities across a wide area, for the Government’s own climate commitments and for connectivity across the whole of the United Kingdom, could you confirm whether the Secretary of State for Transport has given any indication to Mr Speaker that she intends to come to this House to make an oral statement? If not, do you agree that this House ought to expect the Government to come here first, rather than learning of major consultations through a written ministerial statement?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Ms Nusrat Ghani)]

I thank the hon. Member for giving notice of her point of order. I have received no notice from Ministers that they intend to make a statement on this matter. The House knows that I have no power to compel a Minister to make a statement, but Mr Speaker has repeatedly stated how important it is that significant announcements are made here in this House first. Ministers on the Front Bench will have heard the hon. Member and I, and no doubt they will respond in due course.

The hon. Member for Thornbury and Yate (Claire Young) has also informed Mr Speaker that she will not proceed today with her debate on the potential merits of a full ban on fracking.

Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Young Excerpts

Thursday 23rd April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Satvir Kaur)]

The Government have taken robust action through our Public Sector Fraud Authority. There is a huge amount of work being done. In fact, last year we saved the public purse more than £7.5 billion. A lot has been done, but there is lots more to do, and I am happy to meet my hon. Friend to discuss that further.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

Happy St George’s day, Mr Speaker. A business I met recently raised concerns about grid resilience to Chinese sabotage. Given the precedent set on Huawei and 5G, what steps is the Cabinet Office taking to exclude high-risk Chinese components from our critical energy infrastructure?

[Dan Jarvis]

If the hon. Member would like to write to me, I would be happy to look at the details of what she has raised. She will understand that I do not want to get into the detail of it now, but I give her an assurance that we look very carefully at all these matters and take decisions in our national security interests.

Security Vetting

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 20th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

No.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

To override the outcome of the developed vetting process, the FCDO must have been under pressure from someone. Ditching a tried and tested ambassador for a high-risk one seems odd behaviour for a Prime Minister who claims to be so fond of proper process. Whose idea was it, and who was applying the pressure?

[The Prime Minister]

I reject the idea that any pressure is a good reason not to disclose to the Prime Minister that UKSV recommended against clearance for a very senior, sensitive appointment. I simply do not accept that that is an adequate reason, whatever the pressure.

Middle East

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 13th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

Let me underscore the point my hon. Friend makes about the wealth of that capability in Cornwall. We need to go further and faster on renewables, to make sure that we get energy independence. That is important for her constituents and for constituents across the country.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

The manufacturing businesses that I have visited in my constituency recently are clear about the importance of both the availability and the affordability of energy. The longer business waits for a plan, the worse the damage will be, as investment plans are postponed and other costs are cut. When will the Government act to support businesses, particularly in energy-intensive sectors such as manufacturing, hospitality and farming?

[The Prime Minister]

We have taken action in relation to particularly energy-intensive businesses. I recognise that those that fall outside that protection are extremely concerned. The most important thing that we can do for them is to de-escalate the situation and get the strait of Hormuz open, because that is the cause of energy prices going up.

Oral Answers to Questions

Claire Young Excerpts

Thursday 5th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Satvir Kaur]

I am sorry to hear about the stress caused to Richard, Peter and Chris—that is completely unacceptable. There is a timetable in our recovery plan. I encourage my hon. Friend to write to me so that the team can look into that case.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

A constituent approached me in January having applied for his pension over six months earlier, with no resolution. He has been forced to draw on his personal savings simply to get by. Will the Government introduce a redress scheme for pensioners who were forced to deplete their savings or even take out commercial loans?

[Satvir Kaur]

Hardship loans are available, and a statutory complaints procedure is in place to determine whether compensation is appropriate. I urge hon. Members to direct their constituents towards it.

Middle East

Claire Young Excerpts

Monday 2nd March 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

We are not equivocating. Pilots have been in the sky since Saturday morning, hours after the attack, risking their lives. I am grateful to them for doing so. They went straight up there, and they have been up there ever since. There was no equivocation; they went up straightaway, and it was the right thing to do.

[Claire Young (Thornbury and Yate) (LD)]

This conflict has grounded travellers at Doha, including a constituent who has three young children waiting at home. Following the Prime Minister’s conversation with Qatari leaders, can he explain how evacuations will be prioritised, and what support is being provided on the ground to those who were expecting simply to pass through?