Shockat Adam

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Vaz. I thank the hon. Member for Isle of Wight East (Joe Robertson) for bringing this important debate to Westminster Hall. I will be a little more generous and say that this situation was an unintended consequence of the Budget, because it is unravelling very quickly. However, as the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) said, the charity sector could cease to exist. Jasmine House, which provides support for women who have been victims of sexual violence and are having to wait five to six years for a court appearance, has a two-year waiting list. Last year, when I spoke to the charity, it was intending to expand. Now it is going to more or less shut down because it just does not have the money. It will cost too much to continue operating. Another charity, which is close to my professional career, is Vista. It is 170 years old and provides support for partially sighted and blind individuals in the city of Leicester. The changes will cost Vista an extra £25,000 a year. It is calling for an exemption for social care providers and charitable organisations, or for ringfenced funds to be provided to local governments to cover the cost in full.