Mr Peter Bedford

9 Jul 2026   Timms Review: Interim Report

I thank the Minister for the advance copy of his statement. I put on record my thanks to the 38,000 people and organisations who took part and responded to the call for evidence. Let us be honest about how we got here. This review was n…

7 Jul 2026   Summer Jobs

Will he hon. Gentleman give way?

7 Jul 2026   Summer Jobs

Too many people are growing up believing that hard work is no longer rewarded and aspiration is no longer valued. That is not the message we should be sending to the next generation. We owe our young people better than that. For many of…

7 Jul 2026   Summer Jobs

I totally agree with my right hon. Friend. I think the pace at which this was brought in has had a massive impact on businesses, particularly smaller businesses, and their ability to adapt to a changing labour market.

7 Jul 2026   Summer Jobs

As I am an accountant, it will come as no surprise to Members from across the House that I take a keen interest in numbers. Unfortunately for this Government, the numbers do not make for pleasant reading. Labour Members have been busy c…

2 Jul 2026   Employment Rights Act 2025

The Government’s impact assessment puts the costs of the Employment Rights Act at up to £5 billion, which will hit small and medium-sized businesses since they lack the human resources teams and the expertise to absorb the additional burde…

29 Jun 2026   Unemployed Young People

Over 700,000 young people are now out of work. That figure is up 100,000 year on year, and the youth unemployment rate is now at over 16%—higher than at any point during the pandemic. As this is likely to be the ministerial team’s final qu…

10 Jun 2026   Local Government Reform

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien) on bringing this important debate before us today and on the passion with which he s…

8 Jun 2026   Progression of Bills through Parliament

No, I will carry on, because of time. In the other place, 13 of the 14 allocated private Members’ Bills days were dedicated to the assisted dying Bill, so that amendments to it could be discussed fully and in a proper way. Yet despite a…

8 Jun 2026   Progression of Bills through Parliament

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Wishart, and I thank the hon. Member for Sunderland Central (Lewis Atkinson) for the impassioned way in which he opened this debate. Last week, an article in The Spectator wrongly su…

2 Jun 2026   Milburn Review: Interim Report

As the report highlights, the number of NEETs is set to rise to 1.25 million over the next five years unless something is done. The Government need to listen to the wealth creators that create the jobs that so many of our young people need…

14 May 2026   Getting Britain Working Again

They say that a week is a long time in politics, yet during this short debate we have seen the Health Secretary leave the Government. Amid the open revolt and factional infighting, one thing remains abundantly clear: whoever will be steeri…

27 Apr 2026   Apprenticeships

With the number of young people not in education, employment or training hovering at the 1 million mark, apprenticeships now more than ever are key to supporting opportunity and aspiration for so many of our young people. Conservative Memb…

23 Apr 2026   Topical Questions

T4. Last week, a former Attorney General wrote that there was no legal reason for the Government not to publish a list of the Humble Address documents being withheld by the Metropolitan police. Will the Government publish that list?

23 Apr 2026   Civil Service: Performance Management Plans

Our constituents must interact with many Government agencies each week to renew their passport or driving licence or to submit their tax returns. Despite record numbers of bureaucrats, productivity remains low, which results in many errors…

23 Apr 2026   Civil Service: Performance Management Plans

8. What assessment he has made of the effectiveness of performance management plans in the civil service.

21 Apr 2026   Draft Chemicals (Health and Safety) (Amendment, Consequential and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026

I thank the Minister for such a comprehensive run-through of those regulations and the changes proposed. I can confirm that the Opposition will not oppose the changes today; we believe, fundamentally, that overbearing and unnecessary red t…

20 Apr 2026   Free Childcare: Providers

I recently met several early years providers, who told me that the 30 hours funded childcare scheme is placing real strain on their businesses because the policy does not take into account the setting up time, the packing away time, and th…

20 Apr 2026   Free Childcare: Providers

14. What assessment she has made of the potential impact of 30 hours of free childcare on early years providers.

15 Apr 2026   Pension Schemes Bill

Is not the hallmark of every Labour Government that they end up running out of other people’s money? When they do that, they end up borrowing. When that runs dry, they end up eyeing up our pensions, as Gordon Brown did. My constituents and…

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