Westminster Hall Tackles Regional Pressures and Youth Mental Health
High-Level Summary
Westminster Hall considered five motions: the future of the UK coach industry; UK–Welsh Government co-operation on tackling wildfires; police funding in the North East; the Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme; and Government support for youth suicide prevention charities and mental health support for young people. Members discussed pressures including fuel costs, driver recruitment, infrastructure, decarbonisation, wildfire preparedness, regional police funding, road-project delivery and short-term charity funding. Ministers set out existing measures and further work, including reviews of police funding and mental-health provision, a wildfire summit, support for coach charging infrastructure and engagement with Papyrus’s administrators. All five motions were agreed; the transcript records no divisions.
Detailed Summary
Future of the UK coach industry
Alex Mayer (Member for Dunstable and Leighton Buzzard) argued that coaches make a substantial economic and social contribution but are insufficiently recognised in policy and data. Members highlighted their role in school transport, tourism, rail replacement, rural connectivity and community life. Mayer said that the sector brings “£17 billion to the UK economy”, while the Minister, Keir Mather, later cited around 450 million annual passenger journeys and an estimated £6.4 billion contribution to the economy. Members called for better coach-specific statistics, more parking and accessible facilities, a coach-specific approach to decarbonisation, fuel-cost assistance and reform of restrictions on 18- and 19-year-old drivers. Driver shortages and rising diesel prices were repeatedly raised; Mayer referred to “5,000 to 10,000 vacancies”, while Jim Shannon reported a 46% increase in diesel prices since February and urged short-term support.
UK–Welsh Government co-operation on tackling wildfires
Nick Thomas-Symonds (Member for Torfaen) described the Blaenavon/Torfaen wildfire and its effects on land, livestock, water infrastructure, communities and fire-service capacity. He called for lessons to be applied before the next wildfire season, including better land management, specialist resources, aerial support, protective equipment and structured mutual aid. He also sought fairer recovery funding, noting that the North York Moors National Park Authority had received up to £3.2 million while the equivalent Welsh scheme was smaller, and asked for regular UK–Welsh Government co-operation and meaningful participation by affected MPs and residents at the forthcoming summit.
The Minister, Florence Eshalomi, said that fire and rescue policy is devolved but that wildfire risks require practical co-operation across the four nations. She identified improvements needed in cross-border co-ordination, data, forecasting, public warnings, operational learning and aerial firefighting. She said that a national wildfire summit would bring together fire chiefs, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Fire Brigades Union and other organisations, while joint governance was developing a wildfire action plan covering “prevention, readiness, response, recovery and adaptation”. In response to Thomas-Symonds, she undertook to obtain further details on the calculation of North York Moors recovery funding and write back. The motion was agreed and the sitting suspended.
Police funding in the North East
Luke Akehurst (Member for North Durham) and other north-east Members argued that Durham, Cleveland and Northumbria face high crime, deprivation, rurality and demand alongside lower officer numbers and weaker council-tax bases. Akehurst said that the region had lost 578 officers since 2010. Jonathan Brash argued that the funding formula had become “inverse to the levels of crime”. Cleveland Members sought urgent recurring funding: Andy McDonald proposed a needs-based pilot for 2027–28 and cited estimates of more than £24 million in additional annual funding. Other speakers stressed neighbourhood visibility, violence against women and girls, domestic abuse, antisocial behaviour, rural policing, the burden of mental-health work and the need to protect local accountability if forces are reorganised.
The Minister, Sarah Jones, said that the existing formula had lost its connection with indicators such as deprivation, crime and rurality after uniform reductions during austerity, and confirmed that it was being reviewed. She said that next year’s funding would be allocated under the current arrangements, but that exceptional financial circumstances were being considered immediately, including representations from chief constables and police and crime commissioners. She also said that police-reform legislation would be introduced during the Session and that resources were being directed towards neighbourhood policing, while cautioning that officer numbers alone do not measure police capacity. The motion was agreed.
Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme
Bradley Thomas (Member for Bromsgrove) criticised the delivery of the Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme, saying that delays, congestion, poor communication and unclear accountability were harming residents, schools and businesses. He argued that the A38 functions as a pressure-release route when the M5 is congested and questioned whether approximately £40 million of investment would deliver only a two-minute improvement in a typical journey. Thomas asked the Government to consider National Highways intervention or otherwise help secure answers to 34 questions about costs, delays, contracts and delivery.
Justin Madders, the Minister responding, said that Worcestershire County Council is responsible for the locally delivered scheme and that neither National Highways nor the Department for Transport could take it over. He attributed delays principally to previously uncharted utility assets, including complex gas infrastructure, as well as bad weather and the challenges of working safely on a live highway. Most elements were expected to finish in early 2027; the contractor’s latest plans indicated that the Oakalls roundabout would finish in June 2027, although the council was exploring whether this could be brought forward to spring. An independent review found that many delays were “unavoidable” and “could not have been fully predicted in advance”, while recommending better communications. The motion was agreed.
Youth suicide prevention and mental health support for young people
Liz Twist (Member for Blaydon and Consett) led calls for urgent action after Papyrus Prevention of Young Suicide went into administration and its HopeLine 24/7 service closed. Members said that the loss of a specialist youth helpline would increase pressure on the National Health Service, other charities and emergency services, and highlighted wider problems caused by short-term and uncertain funding. Twist said that the £10 million suicide-prevention grant fund for voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, which supported 79 charities in England, had ended in March 2025, while a separate £57 million allocation to local areas through NHS England had ended in April 2024. Members sought restoration of a dedicated helpline, multi-year funding, stronger early intervention, support for community organisations and explicit inclusion of youth suicide prevention in the forthcoming mental-health strategy. The Opposition spokesperson, Gregory Stafford, asked whether the Government would restore a 24-hour helpline, publish the grant-fund evaluation and assess the effects of increased employer national insurance contributions.
The Minister, Alison McGovern, said that officials were already in contact with Papyrus’s administrators and proposed an early meeting with interested Members to discuss the work. She confirmed that youth suicide prevention and children’s mental health would form part of the mental-health strategy, which the Prime Minister had committed to publish before Christmas. She acknowledged the problems caused by short-term funding and said she would write about the grant-fund evaluation and the mental-health investment standard. She also reported that mental-health support teams covered about 60% of pupils and learners in England, with complete coverage intended by 2029. The motion was agreed and the sitting adjourned.