June 2025 Monthly Newsletter

This report is a brief account of my work in Parliament, in the Home Office and in the constituency during June. This is against the backdrop of the continuing terrible events in the Middle East and the challenges facing the Government leading up to the first anniversary of winning the 2024 general election. 

As ever, if you want to remain in regular touch in ‘real time’ with my Home Office, Parliamentary and Constituency work, please see https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/home-office and https://members.parliament.uk/member/1533/contributions; and follow me on social media.

---

Spending Reviewed

On 11 June, the Chancellor set out the Government’s spending plans across Government departments for the next five years.  This was the first multi-year spending review of departmental budgets since 2021 and takes forward the Labour’s Government’s priorities in areas such as national security, the NHS and economic renewal.

For example, the day-to-day budget for the NHS in England will go up by 3% on average over the next three years, accounting for inflation, reaching £226bn by 2029. A detailed breakdown through Whitehall departments can be seen here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/spending-review-2025-document/spending-review-2025-html and here https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyr170qm19o.

At a time when Government finances are stretched and the tax burden on working families inherited from the previous government was already at a 70-year high, the underlying message for all Government departments was that to deliver the Government’s Plan for Change, investment must drive efficiencies, technological innovation and be accompanied by reform. This is certainly true with regard to spending on policing and our Safer Streets Mission – my area of responsibility in the Home Office.

In other areas of government, such as energy, transport and house-building, there is also an emphasis on using public investment to attract private investment.

Of course, it is also still urgent to get more people into work, improve our trading relations with our European neighbours and ensure that growth and investment happens in every corner of the country.

Among the announcements in the Spending Review was ‘Trailblazer’ funding for community-led regeneration and renewal of up to £20m over ten years for 25 of the most deprived and left behind neighbourhoods. This includes Orchard Park in Hull North and Cottingham. 

After further Government announcements on Infrastructure investment during June, we now await a statement on Northern Powerhouse Rail, especially with regard to rail electrification for the lines to Hull.

Assisted Dying

The issue of assisted dying was again discussed on the floor of the Commons on 13 and 20 June when the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill returned from its Committee Stage.  

This Private Members’ Bill from Kim Leadbeater MP is subject to deeply held views on both sides of the debate and medical and scientific opinion is divided. I have received many representations from both sides of the debate and my support for taking this Bill forward has been cautious and conditional on the safeguards that need to be properly in place to protect highly vulnerable individuals ahead of any change in the law coming into effect.

The most significant change made to the Bill at Committee Stage was to remove court approval of assisted dying. The Bill, as introduced, would have required a terminally ill person to apply to the High Court for a declaration that the requirements of the Bill had been met, once both doctors had agreed the eligibility criteria had been satisfied.

At Committee Stage this was replaced with multidisciplinary “Assisted Dying Review Panels”, consisting of a senior legal figure, a consultant psychiatrist and a social worker. The panels would determine, among other things, that a person was terminally ill and had the capacity to make the decision to end their own life.

Following recent scrutiny, the Bill has now also been amended to expand protections for individual health and care workers.  The Bill also now includes provision for the creation of a new role of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Commissioner.

MPs gave the amended Bill a Third Reading by 314 to 291 and it now goes to the Lords to follow the same process of scrutiny in coming weeks.

New powers to fight crime move closer

The Home Office and policing continue to be at the centre of the Government’s Change Agenda and prominent in news stories during June.

Crime and Policing Bill

After several months of going through the flagship Crime and Policing Bill in detail at its Committee Stage, June saw the Bill back in the Commons for its remaining Parliamentary stages on 17 and 18 June before it moves to the House of Lords. 

Decriminalising abortion

Aside from the Government amendments to the Crime and Policing Bill that I led on moving in the House, one notable other amendment passed by the Commons was tabled by Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi.

This amendment would modernise abortion laws and remove women from the antiquated and counter-productive Victorian criminal laws of 1861. This was an historic and progressive measure upon which I campaigned while in Opposition. I voted in favour of it in the House on 17 June as it passed with a 242 majority. 

The Bill’s progress can be followed at https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3938

Grooming Gangs Inquiry

During June the Home Secretary announced to the House that the Government was accepting the twelve recommendations from Dame Louise Casey’s rapid audit into child sexual exploitation and grooming gangs.

See the full Casey review and all 12 recommendations here: National Audit on Group-based Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse - GOV.UK; the full Government response here https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse/government-response-to-the-national-audit-on-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse-report and the Home Secretary’s statement to the House here https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/baroness-caseys-audit-of-group-based-child-sexual-exploitation-and-abuse.

In the Crime and Policing Bill, the Government is also implementing earlier recommendations from the seven-year Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). This includes mandatory reporting by professionals working with children, strengthening the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) to prevent unsuitable individuals working with children and stronger support for victims and survivors.

Other ministerial work

During June, in Parliament I took part in a debate on increasing the police presence in high streets as part of our Safer Streets mission. 

A pleasurable duty in the House was extending pub opening hours should England’s Lionesses or Wales get to the late stage of the Women’s Euro football tournament in July.

I also visited Thames Valley Police to see their work tackling retail crime and the use of police horses in public order policing at Milton Keynes.

I spoke at the Humberside Violence Prevention Partnership Conference and met local partners working hard in Humberside to prevent serious violence and keep communities safe.

I visited the College of Policing in Warwickshire where I heard all about the training on public protection and the new national neighbourhood policing training programme.

I also attended a conference on the use of IT and AI to assist police forces in solving crime.

On 30 June, I spoke at Resolve’s Commons launch event for ASB Awareness Week in support of work around the country to combat ASB and highlighted Government plans in the Crime and Policing Bill that will provide greater powers for communities and the police. For more information, see https://www.resolveuk.org.uk/our-services/asb-awareness-week

Driving Change

June was another busy month of Government Bills moving forward in Parliament. While I focussed on the Crime and Policing Bill, on which I have been working, listed below is other important work going on in Parliament taking forward the Government’s Change Agenda.

Planning and Infrastructure Bill

The Planning and Infrastructure Bill completed its Commons Stages and moved to the Lords.  The Bill forms an important part of the Labour Government’s mission to get the economy growing – so essential to our hopes for improving living standards, public services and securing our welfare state for the long term. For too long, our planning system has acted as a major brake on growth, as housebuilding and the construction of critical infrastructure stalled over the past 14 years.

Detail on the measures in the Bill can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill/guide-to-the-planning-and-infrastructure-bill.

Bus Services (No. 2) Bill

The Government’s Bus Services Bill also proceeded to Committee Stage. This Bill removes the ban on local authorities establishing their own bus companies without permission from the Transport Secretary. The Bill will also empower local authorities to work alongside private operators to improve bus services, influencing decisions on routes, timetable and fares, even if they choose to not pursue full ownership. 

Sentencing Guidelines Act

The Sentencing Guidelines (Pre-sentence Reports) Act 2025 that I mentioned in my April report received Royal Assent in June. This is an important law that prevents people being treated differently due to race and other characteristics when being sentenced. 

Winter Fuel Allowance

On 9 June, a Government Statement in the Commons from Work and Pension Minister Torsten Bell gave more detail about changes to the Winter Fuel Allowance (WFA) on the back of positive economic developments.

Under the changes, WFA will remain means-tested in order to target help more efficiently on the poorest and average income pensioners who genuinely need help with energy bills. This is important, as it will be some years until Government initiatives on energy self-sufficiency begin to have an effect on consumer bills and lessen our exposure to energy shocks of the sort we saw after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Eligibility for WFA from next Winter will be expanded to include many above entitlement to Pension Credit. It will now go to those with an annual income of up to £35,000. It is estimated that 75% of pensioners will receive WFA in the Winter of 2025/26, alongside other assistance on energy bills for those entitled to Pensions Credit and the Triple Lock on the state pension remaining in place. Only the wealthiest pensioners will no longer receive WFA – those who need it least.

Roll out of free school meals eligibility

Since 2018, children have only been eligible for free school meals if their household income is less than £7,400 per year. As a result, hundreds of thousands of children living in poverty have been unable to access free school meals. During this time child poverty grew by 900,000.

On 5 June, Ministers announced in the Commons that from the start of the 2026 school year, any child with a parent that claims any amount of Universal Credit will be eligible to receive free school meals. This means that across the country 100,000 children will be lifted out of poverty, including 6,820 in Hull North and Cottingham.

Welfare Reform

As June ended, there was considerable debate within government and among Labour MPs about plans flagged in the recent Green Paper to reform the broken and unsustainable welfare benefits system inherited from the previous government.

This system writes off too many people and discourages them from getting into work. Changing this is one aspect of both boosting economic growth and improving people’s health and standard of living.

In recent weeks, MPs have been hearing from many constituents, including those who will never be able to work and others with fluctuating health conditions, who believe that they will be impacted by proposed changes to the various benefits for those with sickness or disability.

I write this at the start of July, shortly after the House of Commons discussed the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payments Bill.

It is worth noting that this Bill will:

• Deliver the first permanent, above-inflation rise in the Universal Credit standard allowance since the 1970s. This means nearly 4 million households will receive an income boost worth £725 by 2029/30 for a single person aged 25 or over.

• Remove unnecessary reassessments for those with severe, lifelong conditions, allowing them to live with dignity and security.

• Deliver a major investment in employment support for sick and disabled people, worth £3.5 billion in 2028/29.

• Introduce a Right to Try Work Guarantee, giving people with health conditions the security to try employment

• Scrap the failing work capability assessment which writes people off and leaves them behind.

The next stages of the reform process will be a review of PIP eligibility conducted by DWP Minister Stephen Timms in consultation with disabled people. This will report in Autumn 2026.

Gaza Conflict and Iran

Throughout June, the Gaza conflict continued to be the subject of profound humanitarian concerns throughout the international community and of regular Government statements in Parliament. In recent weeks there was also twelve days of armed conflict between Iran and Israel, with the USA launching attacks to alleviate the prospects of nuclear weapons capability being developed by the Iranian regime. The UK had no involvement in this military action.

There is now a ceasefire in armed hostilities with Iran that will hopefully hold and the Government continues to do everything possible to encourage a similar ceasefire resuming in Gaza. This was the Foreign Secretary’s statement in the Commons on 16 June - https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/iran-israel-conflict-foreign-secretary-statement.

Hull work

June was a very busy month at both Westminster and in Hull.

RSPCA

I visited Hull and East Riding RSPCA, of which I am a patron. As ever, it was great to see the dedicated staff and volunteers who work tirelessly to care for animals in need. I met one of the 80 Spaniels who were recently rescued in Doncaster by the RSPCA - five of which were taking in by the Hull Branch while they wait for their forever homes.

Associated British Ports

I visited Associated British Ports (ABP) to meet with Director Andrew Dawes and discussed several exciting developments taking shape across our region.

ABP has a key role in delivering the Viking Carbon Capture and Storage project via the Immingham Green Energy Terminal, as well as on the Humber International Enterprise Park (HIEP) – a significant 468-acre development at Saltend.

I also welcomed updates on the potential expansion of the Siemens Offshore Wind Blade Manufacturing Facility, which would be a major boost for local green jobs and skills.

Addressing Anti-Social Behaviour in Our Neighbourhoods

This month I also met with Chief Superintendent Paul Butler, North Bank Commander at Humberside Police, to discuss key policing priorities on tackling anti-social behaviour across Hull – especially with regard to parts of the constituency, such as Beverley Road. I also raised residents’ concerns about illegal motorbike use on fields in Dunswell - an issue causing real frustration for local people.

I will continue working closely with our local police teams to ensure that new support for neighbourhood policing and forthcoming powers in the Crime and Policing Bill can have an effect on keeping our neighbourhoods safe.

Vivergo

I also meet Vivergo employees from around Hull in Parliament to hear their concerns about the challenges facing the UK's bioethanol industry following the recent trade deal with the USA. Hull MPs are very concerned to hear about potential local job losses in this strategically important sector and discussions have been happening within government about it.

Support for Older Residents in Hull

I visited Patterson House and Crusoe Court Retirement Housing in Hull to meet staff and residents who benefit from the safe, supportive environments that these facilities provide in enabling older people to live independently and with dignity.

The Government is increasing investment in retirement and supported housing through initiatives such as the Affordable Homes Programme and targeted support for adaptations to help older people to remain in their homes safely. It was heartening to see the dedication of staff and the positive impact these services are having on the lives of older residents in our community.

On the last Sunday in June, it was a pleasure to see all the work that Avenues residents put into the annual Open Gardens.