Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsteen Sullivan Excerpts

Tuesday 27th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[Lucy Rigby]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. This Government are investing an extra £29 billion in our national health service. I would be happy to meet him to discuss it further.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

2. What steps she is taking to provide regional funding.

[Emma Foody (Cramlington and Killingworth) (Lab/Co-op)]

6. What steps she is taking to provide regional funding.

[The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Rachel Reeves)]

I am very sorry to see your leg in such a way, Mr Speaker.

We are committed to driving growth everywhere. The Budget ensured that Scottish public services are fairly funded, with an extra £820 million for the Scottish Government through the Barnett formula, on top of a record settlement in June this year. We are also investing in transport for city regions, and investing £5 billion in deprived neighbourhoods through the Pride in Place programme, with some of that money going to Scotland.

[Kirsteen Sullivan]

I welcome the fantastic news that Edinburgh and south-east Scotland will receive £37.8 million from the new local growth fund, supporting infrastructure, business support and skills development. However, I consistently hear from businesses that they struggle to recruit people with the skill sets needed to grow their operations and fuel economic growth. Can the Chancellor set out how this investment will reach beyond the cities to tackle the acute skills shortages in my constituency of Bathgate and Linlithgow?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for her commitment to her constituency. It is right that the money is allocated through the regional economic partnerships in Scotland, and I have absolutely no doubt that my hon. Friend will make the case for her local area. The regional economic partnerships have already worked together to deliver the integrated regional employability and skills programme in Edinburgh and south-east Scotland, including helping people in her Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency.

UK Infrastructure: 10-year Strategy

Kirsteen Sullivan Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Darren Jones]

There is a key difference: under the last Government, Wales did not get a penny, but under this Labour Government, working with the Labour Government in Wales, it has had not only the largest real-terms increase in spending since devolution began, but £455 million for rail infrastructure, nearly £130 million for coal tip safety and many other things. That is the benefit of two Labour Governments working together to deliver for the people of Wales, and the hon. Gentleman may want to be a little bit more grateful in future.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his very welcome statement. In my constituency of Bathgate and Linlithgow, we have the Avon gorge, which is unsuitable for the volume of heavy goods vehicles that traverse it every day; a motorway junction at Burghmuir only for traffic going east, not west; and, of course, the long-awaited Winchburgh train station that has never been delivered, despite years of promises from elected SNP Members. As well as being in my constituency, they are in the constituency of the SNP Cabinet Secretary for Transport. Can I urge my right hon. Friend to encourage his counterparts in the Scottish Government to take a leaf out of this Government’s book, and invest in infrastructure to support our businesses and local communities?

[Darren Jones]

I thank my hon. Friend, who knows that this Labour Government at Westminster have given the Scottish Government the money to get on with the job. They have no excuses left for not delivering for the people of Scotland. We will continue to partner with and support the Scottish Government as best we can, but ultimately the SNP-led Government in Scotland have to change their ways, and if they cannot, the people’s only choice will be to vote for a new direction under Labour next May.

Oral Answers to Questions

Kirsteen Sullivan Excerpts

Tuesday 29th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ms Marie Rimmer (St Helens South and Whiston) (Lab)]

5. What steps she plans to take to help improve living standards.

[Kirsteen Sullivan (Bathgate and Linlithgow) (Lab/Co-op)]

13. What steps she plans to take to help improve living standards.

[Ms Polly Billington (East Thanet) (Lab)]

24. What steps she plans to take to help improve living standards.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Reeves]

We have already announced the child poverty taskforce, which is working to publish a comprehensive strategy to tackle child poverty. We will publish that strategy in spring next year. We have also provided £500 million, including the Barnett impact, to extend the household support fund in England until the end of March next year, which will help the most vulnerable households to cover the costs of essentials such as food, energy and water.

[Kirsteen Sullivan]

Shamefully, under the last Conservative Government, the need for food banks soared to levels even higher than during the pandemic. Recent research shows that in my Bathgate and Linlithgow constituency, the number of food parcels distributed has risen by 77% over the past five years, and that in 2022-23, 27% of children were living in poverty after housing costs. What steps are the Government taking to reduce the need for food banks in the context of child poverty?

[Rachel Reeves]

I thank my hon. Friend for her question and congratulate her on her great work on the Co-op’s food justice policy. As she knows, we are right behind her in our commitment to raise living standards across the country. We made a manifesto commitment to update the remit of the Low Pay Commission so that, for the first time ever, it will take into account the cost of living when making recommendations about the minimum wage.