As the MP for Southampton Test, I have the privilege of meeting and hearing about the achievements of so many talented young people of all ages across our city. Whether in schools, at community events, or in Parliament, I always want to champion the incredible potential of our children and encourage them to aim high.
Southampton gave me so much growing up as a child from the inner city on free school meals, and I want to ensure that this new generation are supported too.
I would like to thank everyone who signed the petition to keep the Lloyds banking branch on Shirley Road open. While it is disappointing that the bank branch will sadly close its doors for the final time on May 7, 2025, your support has played a crucial role in highlighting the importance of this vital service on Shirley High Street.
Thanks to the pressure from the petition, Lloyds has assured me that it will step up to ensure the community receives the necessary support during the closure, alongside installing a cash access solution so that residents can still deposit cash and cash cheques.
Over 400 residents have expressed their backing for the campaign to save the branch, and I am incredibly grateful for this. I have been holding regular meetings with Lloyds to challenge them and the banking group’s data to ensure that they have considered the needs of all Shirley bank’s customers. As well as urging the banking group to consider a banking hub, an option that Lloyds has repeatedly refused.
I am so pleased to share news thatNo Limits, an incredible youth services charity in Southampton, has been awarded £58,000 in new government funding to support young people in the city.
The funding is part of a wider Labour Government initiative to improve the mental health of young people across England, with a focus on early intervention and specialist support. No Limits is one of 24 Early Support Hubs across the country set to receive a share of £7 million allocated to mental health services for young people.
Having heard heart-breaking stories from a number of resident groups in Southampton, I have joined a group of MPs working together to stand up for leaseholders.
As part of this work, I have signed a joint letter to property management company RMG demanding better for residents. Sadly, too many leaseholders and renters continue to face substandard living conditions, all while paying sky-high service fees for work that either doesn’t get completed or is poorly done.
I have been holding landlords and property management companies accountable for constituents, and I will keep pushing for change. From calling out bad landlords and freeholders in Parliament and achieving rent freezes for Compass Point in Redbridge, to holding Abri to account and securing an action plan for residents in Portswood, I’m fighting hard on this issue.
Labour is delivering on our promise to roll out free breakfast clubs to all primary school children, starting with 750 early adopter schools beginning in April this year.
Details of early adopter schools were announced earlier his week and I am absolutely delighted that a school in Southampton Test will be taking part in the first wave.
A massive congratulations to Bevois Town Primary on their successful application!
The government has chosen Bevois Town as one of the first to offer free, daily breakfast clubs as part of our landmark scheme that will ensure children are school-ready and parents are better off.
With growth being the government’s central mission and this region being placed on the priority programme for devolution, we have a once in a generation opportunity to finally stop talking about Southampton’s huge potential and start delivering on it.
It’s was great to officially welcome investors and partners last week to Southampton’s Renaissance Vision and Prospectus Launch.
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I’m proud to have played my role in setting up and currently chairing Southampton Renaissance, that brings together key city institutions, everyone in the same boat rowing in the same direction.
From growing our globally important maritime sector, to cementing us as a destination city, to being at the heart of innovation and creating the jobs of the future – Southampton is open for business, and I’m pleased so many are looking to invest and become invested in our amazing city and incredible people.
The Labour Government is increasing funding for public health services in Southampton, as part of a £200 million national funding boost to the Public Health Grant – the biggest real-terms increase after nearly a decade of reduced spending under the Conservatives.
As part of Labour’s plans to improve health outcomes across the country and build healthier communities, local public health services will be given more money to deliver prevention programmes, tailored to their residents.
Southampton City Council will receive more than £20 million to help drive key health services, from help to stop smoking to addiction recovery and children’s health, and to help fund family and school nurses, sexual health clinics and other public services in the local area.
I was concerned to hear from a constituent recently about her experience with sepsis. She fell ill with sepsis in Spring last year and is, devastatingly, still suffering from the effects. She tells me that her life has altered dramatically.
She needs a CPAP machine to breathe at night and will need to use it for the rest of her life. She has post-sepsis syndrome, where she has extreme fatigue and is unable to return to her previous job. Apparently 40% of people who develop sepsis are estimated to suffer physical, cognitive and/or psychological after-effects, so she is one of many suffering in silence.
She tells me that people often think nothing is wrong with her as she ‘looks fine’, but post-sepsis syndrome includes extreme fatigue and a number of physiological and physical symptoms. Muscle pain, poor sleep, short-term memory loss and arrhythmia (when the heart beats in an irregular rhythm) are all symptoms that can last well beyond the acute phase of the illness. For my constituent, the lack of understanding about her condition from others leaves her feeling even more fatigued and misunderstood.
Sepsis is one of the least well-known medical conditions, and the number one cause of preventable death in the world. It’s tricky to diagnose and can manifest in different ways depending on a number of factors, part of the reason why it’s so hard to spot. But, having heard about the horrendous experience of my constituent, I’ve been making myself more aware of the condition and wanted to share what I’ve learned.
A new year brings new change, and there’s a big one on the horizon- devolution. It’s something that has been spoken about for more than a decade but never delivered within our region. I’m pleased that under this new Labour Government, it could finally become a reality. Everyone talks about Southampton’s huge potential, and this will offer a really exciting opportunity to help deliver it. It’s why I’ve been backing this throughout, both when I was in local government and now in Westminster, speaking to Ministers about how Southampton can benefit from it. In a nutshell it means more powers and more money for our city and region.
I believe that more decisions about our area should be made more locally, by communities that they will impact, rather than always coming from Whitehall, which can often have a top down, one size fits all approach. This government believes that local people, whether you live or work here, better understand the unique challenges and aspirations of our communities.
This will be the biggest local government reorganisation in a generation, and local councils in the Solent region, including Southampton, have now submitted a formal request to be included in the Government’s Devolution Priority Programme. This is now being reviewed, and we will hopefully have further updates soon.
It’s that time of year, and while many of us are gearing up for Christmas, this past week I’ve been busy with one of Southampton’s most unwelcome Christmas traditions! The water supply disappearing. Southern Water caused utter chaos and concern when their water supply to thousands of homes stopped due to an issue that arose while cleaning and updating the Testwood Water Supply Works in Totton.
Southern Water’s handling of it, has been quite frankly appalling. The lack of water stations in Southampton, the confused communication from the Southern Water team, and even when these minimal water stations were set up, there was confusion over when they opened and closed, as well as only being able to access them with a car. Once they were “up and running” they ran out of water, leaving many stranded having waited hours. Those that could not get to a water station, and particularly the vulnerable (who were meant to be on a priority list for Southern Water to hand deliver to their homes!) – were left in limbo, waiting for water they were promised, that never came or came too late. At one point there were more than 20,000 people on that list.
