My Work in Parliament - Pat McFadden MP

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Fit Note Reform Pilots

Department for Work and Pensions

Written Ministerial Statements

Together with my Rt Hon. friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, I am today announcing a series of pilots to test a new approach to managing sickness absence in England. We have...

Access to Work Backlog

Department for Work and Pensions

Written Ministerial Statements

The Access to Work Scheme plays an important role in supporting disabled people and people with health conditions in, and into, work. The core ambition of the Scheme is to ensure disability is...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I have to disappoint the hon. Lady. If this Government were responsible, it would not be case that youth employment never in a single year reached the pre-financial crash levels when her party...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I will proceed, if the hon. Lady does not mind. Unlike the Conservatives, who did nothing about the number of young people not in education, training or employment, we are doing something about...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

That is precisely what we are doing, including by providing apprenticeship courses that are shorter than the usual eight-month minimum, because employers have told us that such short courses are...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

Apprenticeships are really valuable and important. I visited construction apprentices with the Prime Minister just a couple of days ago, so I heartily endorse what the hon. Gentleman says. The...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I will outline the changes to the system that we are making. At the heart of it, we have to change the question that the system asks in order to have a system that is suited better to the...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the figures that I just read out. For the first time in many years, the NHS is heading in the right direction. That is good for people’s health, and it is also...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

If it was down to those policies, we would not have seen a rise of a quarter of a million in the NEET—not in education, employment or training—numbers in the last three years of the...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

Let me read this out for the hon. Gentleman. The Leader of the Opposition said that the Government were “too scared to make foreign interventions”. She also said: “I say to...

Getting Britain Working Again

Debate on the Address

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

It is a pleasure to open today’s King’s Speech debate on behalf of the Government. As His Majesty said yesterday, we are living in “an increasingly dangerous and volatile...

Employment Schemes: Young People

Department for Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden received a response to a question they put to the government

Too many young people are not in employment, education or training, something we are addressing and which the previous Government did nothing about. We are investing £2.5 billion into the...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

As I have said a few times today, I will ensure that my hon. Friend gets a meeting with a Minister. I congratulate him on speaking up for his area and the workers within it.

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

We are promoting apprenticeships for young people in particular through the way that we prioritise the funding in the apprenticeship levy, and we are putting in place hiring incentives of...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I know, because my constituency is not too far away, that advanced manufacturing is in the DNA of Staffordshire, so I warmly welcome what my hon. Friend said about her local college, and I will...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I know that responding to hon. Members’ inquiries—be they direct or on behalf of their constituents —is very important. I raise that with the Department constantly. If the hon....

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I thank my hon. Friend for being such a formidable champion for her constituency, and for opportunity within it. I would be very happy to talk with her further about this issue, but I point out...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I know that the Chair of the Select Committee cares deeply about health inequalities in this country, which, to be honest with the House, are deep seated and long term. As in many areas of our...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

I thank my hon. Friend and sing a song of praise for the Song School in Southend. He is absolutely right to draw attention to the importance of the creative industries. Our creative industries...

Topical Questions

Work and Pensions

Pat McFadden made a speech in the House of Commons

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the need for skills for house building. We support those skills through sector-based work academy programmes. Last year, the Government...