Parliament Presses for Opportunity, Protection and Resilience

High-Level Summary

The sitting considered five substantive topics: young people’s participation in education, employment and training; prevention and awareness of strangulation; the impact of extreme weather on train services; the use of agricultural land for solar panels; and guidance on gynaecological conditions under the Equality Act 2010. Members discussed early intervention, local delivery, health and transport barriers, infrastructure resilience, planning safeguards, workplace adjustments and public awareness. Ministers outlined existing and planned measures, including the youth guarantee, specialist support, climate-adaptation strategies, planning controls and workplace-health initiatives, while identifying areas for further work. Each motion was agreed to, and the sitting was adjourned after the final debate.

Detailed Summary

Young People and Work: Milburn Interim Report

Andrew Ranger (Member for Wrexham) introduced the debate on the interim Milburn Review, highlighting nearly 1 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were not in education, employment or training (NEET), the risk that this could increase, and weaknesses across welfare, education and community support. Members discussed barriers including poor health, limited work experience, transport, rurality, poverty, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), care experience and disconnected public services. Ranger called for earlier careers education, supported internships, joined-up data, mentoring after people entered work and a whole-society approach: “We need a whole-society approach to tackling this crisis.”

Other Members cited local programmes including youth hubs, supported internships, Spear, Saints Works and WeMindTheGap. The Opposition spokesperson, Andrew Snowden, supported much of the review’s diagnosis but criticised the Government’s record, employer costs and the delay in publishing the final report. He proposed a dedicated manager and work requirements from day one under a proposed get-to-work scheme. Ian Sollom argued for permanent national architecture, named responsibility and locally delivered coaching, and raised the hidden cohort of about 314,000 young people.

Minister Lilian Greenwood said the youth guarantee would receive an additional £2.5 billion by 2029, supporting almost 1 million young people and up to 500,000 opportunities. She described measures involving youth hubs, the jobs guarantee, health-related support, earlier intervention, workplace experience and apprenticeships. She said, “our ambition is for every young person to receive two weeks of meaningful workplace experience during secondary school.” In response to a concern about Disclosure and Barring Service checks creating barriers for small businesses, she said, “we are aware of that issue and we are setting about addressing it.” The motion was agreed to, with the transcript recording, “Question put and agreed to.” Greenwood said the final report was expected in the coming weeks.

Strangulation: Prevention and Awareness

Aphra Brandreth (Member for Chester South and Eddisbury) led a debate on non-fatal strangulation, its links to domestic abuse and serious violence, and gaps in healthcare, policing, safeguarding and public awareness. She used the account of a survivor, identified as Rose, to illustrate difficulties obtaining medical assessment and documentation. Brandreth called for a national care pathway, consistent professional training, improved investigation and evidence collection, education on healthy relationships, enforcement of new offences concerning pornographic material, and a national awareness campaign. She quoted Rose’s warning: “Do not wait for a perfect disclosure, a police report or visible injury to take strangulation seriously.”

Minister Satvir Kaur said the Government regarded strangulation as a life-threatening form of abuse. She referred to the Enough campaign, strengthened relationships, sex and health education, the NHS Steps to Safety programme, specialist police teams and new domestic abuse protection notices and orders. She said the Institute for Addressing Strangulation had received more than £2 million in Government support and had trained more than 22,000 frontline professionals. Kaur did not commit to future funding because arrangements were still under consideration, but said she would press for decisions to be made promptly. She confirmed that offences criminalising the possession and publication of pornography depicting strangulation would come into force that Friday. The motion was agreed to, and Kaur offered to follow up with Brandreth to discuss the issue further.

Train Services: Extreme Weather

Josh Newbury (Member for Cannock Chase) introduced concerns about heat, flooding, storms, soil moisture deficit and other weather-related disruption. Members described impacts on the Chase line, routes in East Anglia, the south-west, the Tyne Valley, Devon and Cornwall, and services used by people in Northern Ireland. They linked cancellations, speed restrictions, overcrowding and inadequate replacement transport to missed education, work, healthcare and family commitments. Newbury identified heat-sensitive track circuits between Hednesford and Rugeley and requested funding for their estimated £3 million replacement, a review of vulnerable sections, better passenger information and accessibility improvements at Rugeley Trent Valley. He said, “Passengers need to know that lessons are being learned and that the work is happening before the next heatwave.”

The Opposition raised declining performance, funding and the need for cost-effective resilience investment. Other Members called for better rolling stock, passing loops, protection of the Dawlish route and support for devolved transport systems. Minister Simon Lightwood said safety required speed restrictions and temporary closures, but that the industry was learning lessons from the summer and preparing for heat, flooding, storms, trees and winter conditions. He referred to regional weather-resilience plans, the Department for Transport’s climate adaptation and transport resilience strategies, a four-nations transport resilience group, Great British Railways and £2.9 billion of investment between 2024 and 2029. He said phase 5 of the south-west rail resilience programme was not funded in the 2025 spending review, although investigative work and drainage trials continued. The motion was agreed to.

Solar Panels on Agricultural Land

Esther McVey (Member for Tatton) raised concerns about large-scale solar developments on grade 1 and 2 agricultural land, using a proposed 150-acre development in her constituency as an example. Members argued that food security, rural character, local views, tenant farmers and cumulative impacts should receive greater weight, and called for brownfield land, rooftops, warehouses, industrial sites and car parks to be prioritised. They also raised supply-chain concerns, including the possibility that solar equipment could be made using forced labour. McVey argued that planning guidance was not being followed in practice and said, “Productive farmland should be protected wherever possible.”

Minister Michael Shanks said solar was important for energy security and was currently the cheapest electricity generation to deploy, while accepting that infrastructure should be placed sensibly and local impacts considered. He stated that solar farms occupied about 0.1% of UK land and were expected to reach 0.6% of agricultural land under ambitious deployment scenarios. He said the planning system already directed developers towards brownfield land and required lower-grade agricultural land to be used first where agricultural land was necessary. He also said cumulative impacts were considered in nationally significant infrastructure project processes. On supply chains, Shanks said further work was needed on due diligence and domestic manufacturing. He supported more rooftop solar and described potential for farming, biodiversity and solar generation to coexist, while making clear that this was not a guarantee for individual developments. The motion was agreed to.

Equality Act 2010 Guidance: Gynaecological Conditions

Tulip Siddiq (Member for Hampstead and Highgate) called for gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis, fibroids, polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), premenstrual dysphoric disorder and severe menopausal symptoms, to be expressly addressed in guidance on the Equality Act 2010 definition of disability. Members described fluctuating and recurring symptoms, delayed diagnosis, workplace discrimination, lost income and difficulties obtaining reasonable adjustments. Siddiq proposed updated guidance with practical examples, Equality and Human Rights Commission and ACAS material on adjustments, a workplace adjustments passport, and inclusion of menstrual and gynaecological health in equality action plans. She said, “Naming these conditions in the guidance would give every woman something concrete to point to.”

Minister Satvir Kaur said the Act generally focused on how a condition affected day-to-day life rather than listing conditions, allowing it to cover varied and fluctuating impairments. She said the Government intended to produce guidance on combined discrimination and undertook to ensure that the relevance of gynaecological conditions was considered in that guidance. In response to a concern that general wording might be insufficiently clear, she accepted that greater clarity would help and said this should be considered. She also cited action on flexible working, women’s employment, workplace health, the renewed women’s health strategy and employer action plans. The transcript records no specific commitment to amend the guidance to list the conditions. The motion was agreed to, and the sitting was adjourned.