Illegal Immigration

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Tuesday 13th December 2022 Commons Chamber

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

I thank my right hon. Friend for his work on this issue. Let me also take this opportunity to thank the Pickwell Foundation, the volunteers and the GPs who are currently looking after people seeking asylum who have been badly placed in a hotel in Ilfracombe. On Monday, a single mum and her eight-month-old daughter will make a 10-hour round trip to Cardiff for a biometrics and interview appointment. Given his plans to streamline the asylum system, can my right hon. Friend confirm that, as matters improve, that will no longer take place?

[The Prime Minister]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s local community in Ilfracombe for the support they are providing; they deserve credit and praise for that. As for her question, we want a processing system that is humane but also swift and effective for people, and that is what our reforms will deliver.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Wednesday 16th November 2022 Commons Chamber

[John Lamont]

The Prime Minister has been crystal clear about the need to put integrity at the heart of his Government. It is also certain that the people of Scotland can trust this United Kingdom Government to deliver for Scotland, whether through the covid-19 vaccines or the record £41 billion budget for the Scottish Government. This is what really matters to my constituents in the Scottish Borders and to people across Scotland.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

6. What discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on Scotland’s role in delivering the UK’s target of 5 GW of floating offshore wind energy by 2030.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (John Lamont)]

The Government recognise the important role that infrastructure plays in supporting the commercialisation of floating offshore wind at scale across the United Kingdom, including in the Celtic sea, and are committed to building capacity in infrastructure and supply chains to support the growing offshore wind industry.

[Selaine Saxby]

My hon. Friend will no doubt be aware of the Kincardine floating wind farm off the coast of Aberdeen, but he might not be aware that the fabrication of its turbines took place in Rotterdam because UK ports do not have the capacity to do that work. Does he agree that, to realise the potential of this industry, investment in port infrastructure is crucial and that the lion’s share of this investment should be in the Celtic sea?

[John Lamont]

I commend my hon. Friend for raising this issue, as it is an important part of the Scottish economy. Scotland is a world leader in floating offshore wind, and it is home to both the world’s first and the world’s largest commercial floating wind projects—Hywind Scotland and Kincardine. The ScotWind leasing round, announced earlier this year, includes nearly 18 GW of potential floating wind capacity, underlining the scale of the opportunity.

Health and Social Care Update

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

North Devon has a more elderly than average population, with very low unemployment. While I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend’s plan for patients, will she detail how we can recruit for the numerous vacancies we have in dentistry, pharmacy, nursing and social care, especially given the lack of affordable housing available, mostly driven by the surge in holiday lets and second homes.

[Dr Coffey]

I assure my hon. Friend that she will be hearing from the local NHS in order to make those functions happen.

Tributes to Her Late Majesty the Queen

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Saturday 10th September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

It is a privilege to rise, albeit with great sadness, to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of my constituents and to send North Devon’s deepest condolences to the royal family.

The Queen has been such a constant in our lives, dedicating her life to public service as she said she would, that it is hard to imagine life without her. Her beautiful outfits and hats, her smile and her constant reassuring presence will be sorely missed. Thank you for all you have done, the joy you have brought us and the memories you leave us with.

The Queen visited Barnstaple back in 1956. The royal train arrived at the station at 10 am, and other than a slight hiccup—an official opening the wrong door—the visit went off smoothly. In our pannier market, she was greeted by 5,000 children, who cheered wildly, and I hope many of them who are still with us have recalled that day this week, and indeed still frequent our pannier market. Unfortunately, I was not there in 1956 and I have never had the opportunity to meet the Queen, unlike so many of my longer serving colleagues. One of the joys of this sad time has been to hear their fond memories and wonderful anecdotes.

Although we continue to mourn, with this morning’s proclamation we must look to the future. I have no doubt that King Charles III will follow in his mother’s fantastic footsteps—and I have met him. Twenty years ago, he was already supporting a wide range of charities and he met ladies from the Moonwalk—a breast cancer charity walk—at Highgrove. If I have the privilege to meet our new monarch again, I may remind him that I was the one in the bra decorated as two strawberries.

May the late Queen rest in peace. God save the King.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Wednesday 20th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Alok Sharma]

As the hon. Lady knows, my role as COP President is to corral the international community. She has raised a question, and I am sure the Department for Transport will respond.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the dramatic increase in fuel prices presents opportunities for decarbonising fleets and vehicles in key sectors such as social care?

[Alok Sharma]

My hon. Friend raises a very important point. Of course, decarbonising the transport sector, along with other sectors, should be a key priority going forward.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Thursday 14th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Johnny Mercer]

The beauty of Op Courage is that it does precisely that: it brings order to the various charities and enables them to bid in to run contracts, so that they can run the complex treatment service, the high intensity service and the transition liaison service. It gets them on a sustainable footing and away from year-to-year funding, providing certainty not only for those who do the brilliant work in the charities sector, but for those who need it, so that there is some permanence to the system and veterans can rely on that help.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

3. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to mitigate increases in food prices.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

10. What steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to mitigate increases in food prices.

[The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Kit Malthouse)]

My Department has been working closely with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to assess the impact on food prices as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and other pressures.

[Selaine Saxby]

Given the huge increase in costs that farmers are enduring, what is being done to balance the need to mitigate food price increases with ensuring that farmers are paid fairly for their products?

[Kit Malthouse]

My hon. Friend is right to identify an extremely challenging part of the global cost of living crisis that we are trying to confront. Critical in that is the role of farming and the production of food domestically. One key area where we are able to assist and where lots of work is going on is the provision of fertiliser. She is a rural MP, as am I, so she will know that fertiliser is a key driver of overall food prices. I am pleased to say that for some weeks, DEFRA has been running a fertiliser taskforce, which is doing valuable work to stabilise the market and help farmers to optimise their use of artificial fertiliser.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Wednesday 13th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Minister for Equalities (Amanda Solloway)]

The Government take all hate crimes seriously, and we have robust laws to respond to them. While police have recorded an increase in hate crimes targeting LGBT communities, the biggest drivers for this are an improvement in police recording and the increased willingness of victims to come forward. It is taken very seriously by the Home Office, and we are working with the police on it.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

T2. The Devon local authorities on the Social Mobility Commission’s index start with South Hams, which is 49th out of 324, yet North Devon is 238th. What is my right hon. Friend doing to level up such regional inequalities?

[Elizabeth Truss]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: one of the biggest issues that we face in this country is geographical inequality. That is why we have appointed Katharine Birbalsingh as head of the Social Mobility Commission. Her school, Michaela Community School in Brent, is fantastic at helping to level up among all groups of people. We want to see more of those types of schools all around our country.

Ministers’ Severance Pay

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Monday 11th July 2022 Commons Chamber

[Mrs Wheeler]

I am afraid I do not agree with the hon. Gentleman. It is quite clear that, within the three-week period, Ministers who have left can decide for themselves whether they should accept the money and make that decision clear to the permanent secretary so that no money leaves the Treasury before having to come back. I hope that is totally clear.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that it is outrageous that the Liberal Democrats put out an article last week stating that I, as a Parliamentary Private Secretary, was paid £22,375 for a job we all know is unpaid, and that I received £5,594 in severance pay? Does she also agree that this type of libellous statement, which the Liberal Democrats choose to put out about us, has earned them the nickname of “the Fib Dems”?

[Mrs Wheeler]

That is an astonishing thing for the Liberal Democrats to put out. It is a straight, flat lie that they should know very well should not be put out by any political party. When the hon. Member for North East Fife (Wendy Chamberlain) stands to ask a question, which is a perfectly reasonable thing for her to do, I sincerely hope she apologises and confirms that the Lib Dems will put out a clarification as large as the original piece.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Wednesday 15th June 2022 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

I thank my right hon. Friend very much for representing the niece of Dom Phillips. Like everybody in this House, we are deeply concerned about what may have happened to him. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office officials are working closely now with the Brazilian authorities following his disappearance on 5 June. The Minister responsible has raised the issue of the search and rescue effort repeatedly with Brazil’s Minister of Justice and Public Security; what we have told the Brazilians is that we stand ready to provide all the support that they may need.

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

On a point of order, Madam Deputy Speaker. I wonder whether you could advise me on how I can correct the record on the question from the right hon. Member for Kingston and Surbiton (Ed Davey), who raised the matter of rural fuel duty relief and incorrectly advised that it was not available in Devon. In my North Devon constituency, which I on this side of the House clearly know quite well, fuel retailers in the EX35 postcode of Lynton have had access to the duty relief for some time. How might we address that situation?

[Madam Deputy Speaker (Dame Rosie Winterton)]

I thank the hon. Lady for her point of order. The Chair is not responsible for points made by right hon. and hon. Members, but she has put her concerns on the record, so I suggest we leave it at that.

Oral Answers to Questions

Selaine Saxby Excerpts

Wednesday 8th June 2022 Commons Chamber

The Minister for Women and Equalities was asked—

[Selaine Saxby (North Devon) (Con)]

1. What steps she is taking to help reduce regional inequality.

[Tom Randall (Gedling) (Con)]

4. What steps she is taking to help reduce regional inequality.

[The Minister for Equalities (Kemi Badenoch)]

The Government’s central mission is to level up the UK by spreading opportunity more equally across the country. In February we published our levelling up White Paper, which provides a clear plan to level up every corner of the UK. It will address regional disparities across the country, put more money in the pockets of those who need it the most, and transform our economy by generating higher paid jobs and new investment.

[Selaine Saxby]

Regional inequalities exist even within large counties such as Devon, so what is my hon. Friend doing to tackle those disparities? For example, Ilfracombe in my constituency has the lowest life expectancy in Devon—10 years lower than Kingskerswell, which has the highest. Child poverty in Heavitree, Exeter, stands at 8.1% compared with 20.3% in Ilfracombe West.

[Kemi Badenoch]

Ilfracombe has been awarded more than £3 million to deliver a marine leisure centre at Larkstone cove, which will provide community facilities for local clubs and groups. More broadly, North Devon has been awarded £9.8 million of levelling-up funding to date. My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that the UK shared prosperity fund will also support our ambitions on levelling up, and that will provide £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025.