Katrina Murray

Earlier this month, I was privileged to be involved in the inaugural Money Made Human awards organised by 1st Class Credit Union, a large national credit union that was started by postal workers at Royal Mail 35 years ago but now spreads across the communication industries. The whole concept of Money Made Human is to recognise that every single decision we make on a macro or microeconomic level affects people. We can choose to make it simply about numbers on a spreadsheet and lines on a graph, or we can make it about human dignity: having enough money to pay for the weekly shop; to live in decent-quality, affordable housing, whether with a mortgage or rent; to pay for one-off big purchases such as a new washing machine or a new fridge; or to pay for all three kids, who all go to the same school, to go on the same school trip at the same time. In the words of the chief executive of 1st Class Credit Union, Gayle Lloyd, prosperity only really comes when people feel able to do those things. For many reasons similar to those of the right hon. Member for Salisbury (John Glen), I welcome the inclusion of the enhancing financial services Bill in the King’s Speech. It recognises the role that credit unions and mutuals play in modern financial services. It also provides scope for large credit unions such as 1st Class to expand and develop, but still, at their core, to live their values. It enables them to support the much smaller, community-based credit unions, to which the same people come in every week to pay part of their pension, their wages or their benefit money—a reminder that not everybody claiming universal credit is not working, because nearly 40% of universal credit claimants are employed and in paid work—into funeral plans, insurances, savings and loans. I want to place on record my thanks to the new Chief Secretary to the Treasury for everything she has done so far to support the sector and the thousands of people, predominantly pensioners, who have seen their funeral savings disappear. By bringing together stakeholders to find a solution, we may be able to get some redress and peace of mind for vulnerable people. This is our opportunity to take action, such as making it illegal, not just immoral, to withdraw these products with only 30 days’ notice. I am sure the new Economic Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Cities of London and Westminster, will not only carry on the Chief Secretary’s excellent work, but add her own perspective—not just with mutuals and local banking services, but in tackling economic abuse and coerced debt. My hon. Friend the Member for Blaydon and Consett (Liz Twist) talked about the importance of health and safety legislation. I want to delve a bit more deeply into that, particularly in relation to the regulating for growth Bill. In the time we are in, it is wrong that every single piece of major health and safety legislation has a “19” in the date. The key primary legislation was in 1974, and the regulations used on a daily basis were set in 1992. Health and safety legislation needs to be updated for the world we live and operate in now. Every single one of the health and safety statutory instruments relates to physical health; there is not a single one about mental health and wellbeing. What is one of the biggest reasons why people leave the workplace? It is mental ill health and wellbeing. People who have suffered mental ill health have the longest journey back to the workplace. We need to build on the work of companies, such as AG Barr in my constituency, that are ensuring that mental wellbeing is as important as physical wellbeing for their workers.