Dr Allison Gardner

I agree with my hon. Friend. It is with great sadness that I see this fight between cities and rural areas that demonises the city areas. Around Stoke-on-Trent we have a doughnut economy. Stoke generates wealth for north Staffordshire and it filters out to the rural areas, yet we hear people saying, “No to Stoke, no to Stoke.” People need to understand that we are all one in north Staffordshire. I offer a new fact: the under-75 mortality rate from all causes for Staffordshire, as of the 2023 statistics, was 319.5, compared with an England national average rate of 341.6. However, in Stoke the under-75 mortality rate from all causes was a whopping 474. It is understandable that any devolution has to address this disparity, and I look at this broadening to help us to do that. I stress that this does not mean that improving Stoke’s outcomes means we are going to take away or reduce Staffordshire’s. This is often a knee-jerk fear reaction for some, and a tool for the Conservative and Reform parties to use for political scaremongering. I am saddened to hear the views on this of the right hon. Member for Staffordshire Moorlands (Dame Karen Bradley), who I greatly respect and personally like. I wish that there could be some understanding and cross-conversation on this issue. I also wish to speak in support of Government amendments 116 and 118, which address health improvements, health inequality duties and health determinants. The Government are right to add environmental factors including air quality and access to green space and bodies of water. We have talked about boundaries. In my own constituency, the Meir tunnel has high levels of poor air quality in an area with high levels of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but fixing that issue is extremely difficult as it is on a boundary with neighbouring councils. The value of green space is also an issue close to my heart. When Meir park, a much-loved green space, had all its trees knocked down, out of the blue, it caused some residents genuine fear, upset and hurt. Also, Trentham gardens are in the border area covered by Staffordshire county council, Stafford borough council and Stoke-on-Trent city council, with ensuing traffic problems. It has the most beautiful lake, and I one day I hope to find the time to go paddle boarding on it again. The quality of our environment is vital to mental and physical health, and I hope that the value of green space, good air quality and access to the advantage of bodies of water will always be central to any policy. In Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire, we are looking to achieve an enhanced north Staffordshire unitary authority under local government reorganisation, and I am particularly supportive of the broader proposal submitted by Staffordshire Moorlands district council, which sensibly outlines travel-to-work areas, economic functional areas, cultural links and transport links. We sit at the beginning of a north midlands growth corridor to Derby and Nottingham that offers this country a huge opportunity to create a strategic centre for growth across the middle of England. While we have still to decide a devolution model for North Staffordshire, southern Staffordshire and Staffordshire as a whole, I ask that we think radically and consider our east-west links to the east midlands and the potential of a north midlands strategic authority. Whatever we end up with, I ask the Minister for more details for Stoke and Staffordshire as to the plans and timelines for devolution.