Budget Resolutions

Samantha Niblett Excerpts

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire) (Lab)]

There were many welcome announcements in this Budget to help give people a little breathing space—from the £100 for households in council tax bands A to D to paternity leave payments for self-employed fathers. I personally really welcome the investment in getting more women into tech, as recommended by the Government’s women in tech taskforce. At a time when trust in the tech industry is low, we need women in tech more than ever. I refer Members to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests, because I have quite a focus on that.

However, following a meeting yesterday at Gresley Old Hall with members of the mineworkers’ pension scheme in South Derbyshire, I want to focus on them. I speak today on behalf of 1,141 scheme members and their families in my constituency. These men spent their working lives doing some of the hardest and most dangerous jobs in our country. They kept our lights on, our homes warm and our industries running. Their pensions are deferred wages earned through years of dangerous work, not taxpayer handouts.

I welcome the transfer of the £1.5 billion investment reserve in 2024, and the Chancellor’s announcement to end surplus sharing so that 100% of future surpluses go to members, but the job is not finished. There is still approximately £1.2 billion in the guarantor’s fund, and members need certainty that it will be transferred in full without further delay. Yesterday, what I had hoped would be a meeting to celebrate progress became one where I found myself apologising, because people who have waited decades for justice are once again being asked to wait again, and time is running out. About 100 former miners die every week, and some will never live to see the justice they have spent years campaigning for.

This is also about our former coalfield communities. That money will be spent in our towns and villages in supporting local shops, businesses and families, and in helping growth in postcodes in South Derbyshire. I have raised this directly with Treasury Ministers and the Prime Minister’s office. I have also pledged to donate my next annual parliamentary salary increase to charity until miners and their families receive what they are owed. I stand in solidarity with them, not just in words but in deeds too.

I want to finish with words from Gary Chamberlain, who I met yesterday:

“If you think this is a storm in a teacup, think again. This is just the start of it.”

Gary is right. For Gary, for my 1,141 MPS member constituents and their families, and for mining communities across the country, I say this to the Government: please release the remaining £1.2 billion, give members the certainty they deserve and ensure that their bonus payment arrives on 23 December, as originally planned, in time for Christmas.

We are the Labour party. It is only a Labour Government who will deliver justice for our miners. We must not be a Labour Government who ask them to wait yet again. Our miners have given enough to this country. It is time this country gave them what they are owed.

--- Later in debate ---

[Amanda Hack (North West Leicestershire) (Lab)]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, for giving us breathing space with a little bit more time. It is a pleasure to respond to this Budget by talking about growth in every postcode.

North West Leicestershire is a former mining area, so I welcome the progress made on the miners’ pension. I welcome the confirmation that surplus sharing and the standstill will be abolished to protect bonus pensions, helping members to benefit from the success of their pensions. No Government have ever done more on pensions for former mineworkers than this one, but as the Chancellor said himself, the job is not finished. It is clear that more work is needed to resolve the substantial undistributed guarantor fund surplus currently held within the mineworkers’ pension scheme. The miners who powered our country and our homes and who supported us deserve our support now, and I want to reassure my constituents that I will do just that.

North West Leicestershire is home to one of the three sites in the only inland freeport in the UK. The site in Leicestershire has created considerable concern, which I share, particularly for Diseworth—an 825-year-old village with heritage status. While the new data centre covenant is helpful, I worry that it will apply only to AI and not to the creation of new mega-sheds more broadly, which impacts communities such as mine. The other two sites in the freeport are covered by the Mayor of the East Midlands, so I welcome the Chancellor’s announcement on devolution and the settlement for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland—something I have long called for. I look forward to continuing the discussions on how devolution will deliver greater benefits and strategic powers to ensure that the freeport site for Leicestershire has a mayor fighting its corner.

The powers offered to mayors on transport could be transformational for Leicestershire. Transport connectivity is a significant barrier to growth locally. My constituent Eli spoke to me recently about the impact that poor public transport has on their access to further education. They said:

“I wake up before six in the morning to catch a 7 am bus to college, which is always packed, standing room only due to there being too many students for the capacity of the public bus services. Even if I do everything right, the buses are unreliable—either being late or completely absent—which is treated as my responsibility by my college”.

A lot is said about demand in rural areas. In fact, Arriva increased its patronage by 30% for one of my local routes because it started one bus stop earlier, connecting the route to another village and allowing more kids to get to college. Just think about what we could achieve if we want to grow even more. North West Leicestershire still has no passenger rail service anywhere in the constituency, making it home to the two largest towns in the country without any access to rail, which restricts growth and investment. If we want growth in every postcode, transport has to be a priority.

North West Leicestershire has so much potential, including in our SME sector. I know that this will surprise you, Madam Deputy Speaker, but nearly 30 years ago I wrote my dissertation on small business support, so I know how much we limit our growth if we fail to invest in small businesses. I have always advocated for dedicated business support, just like we saw in the universal offer we had from Business Link. We now have a patchwork that is devolution dependent—another reason why devolution for Leicestershire is so vital.

[Samantha Niblett]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way—we are neighbours and friends in our neck of the woods, but I benefit from being part of a mayoralty that can have money devolved to my region, and she does not. Does she agree that, as well as we work together now, it would be even better if we could be part of the same funding pot and overall leadership?

[Amanda Hack]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that incredibly important point. The Mayor of the East Midlands does not cover the whole of the east midlands, and I think that gives us the opportunity to continue to talk.

Because I now have a bit of time left, I note that the Chancellor confirmed that land sold to social housing providers will now be VAT free. After two decades working in the social housing sector, I cannot express the difference that that will make to social homes and growth in our communities. House building is also a massive builder of growth; it helps brick manufacturers in my constituency, and it helps builders and local tradespeople to grow. We should not underestimate that important step forward.