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Freemantle locals raise fly-tipping, housing and transport in first Big Community Conversation coffee morning

Freemantle residents joined Satvir Kaur MP in a fully booked coffee morning at Freemantle Baptist Church on Saturday – the first in a new series designed to “get Southampton talking”.

Under the banner ‘The Big Southampton Test Community Conversation’, local residents met with Satvir Kaur, ward councillors, volunteers and neighbours to discuss the issues affecting them, and to explore possible solutions.

Over 40 residents were in attendance, taking part in a discussion covering a range of topics, including concerns around housing, immigration, fly-tipping and street cleanliness.

More ‘Community Conversation’ events are to follow, with the next scheduled to take place in Portswood and Coxford, with invitations to be sent out to residents in due course.

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Applications now open for my paid summer internship programme, named in friend’s memory

I’m really excited to be launching my Richard Green Internship programme, a great opportunity for a local young person to experience the rush of political life, both in my constituency office and in Westminster. If you’re at college or university, live in Southampton Test, and are passionate about politics and making a difference – I want to hear from you!

The internship will be a month-long, focused opportunity – running from 6th July to 7th August – with time spent in both the constituency and in Parliament. Applications close at midnight on Monday 15th June.

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I’ve named this paid internship in the memory of my good friend Richard Green, who sadly died too early. Rich worked in politics, both in Southampton and London, and was an incredible advocate for engaging and training young people in the field. He was passionate about providing opportunities to people from all backgrounds, and he influenced and inspired me enormously over the years. It’s a huge honour to name this opportunity after him.

If you’re wondering if this opportunity is for you or feel anxious about putting your name forward – please, please go ahead and apply. Growing up in inner city Southampton on free school meals, I never thought politics was for people like me, know how much these opportunities can matter, and want to hear from students from all walks of life.

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Southampton MPs urge city’s renters to ‘Know your Rights’ as new laws come into force from today

Southampton MPs have today hailed a landmark moment for renters in the city as new rights for tenants come into force.

Satvir Kaur, MP for Southampton Test, and Darren Paffey, MP for Southampton Itchen, are encouraging the thousands of renters in the city to make sure that they are aware of their new rights as a result of the government’s Renters Rights Act.

Under the new laws that come into force today:

  • Landlords will no longer be able to make evictions for no reason with a Section 21 notice, putting an end to revenge evictions for tenants who make legitimate requests for repairs or complaints about conditions.
  • Tenants cannot be made to pay rent more than one month in advance
  • Landlords can only put the rent up once a year and they must give at least two months’ notice. Tenants will also be able to go to a rent tribunal if they think the rent is too much.
  • It will be illegal to refuse tenants just because they receive benefits or have kids.

Councils are also being given new powers to crack down on rogue landlords. Landlords will still be able to get their properties back for clear and justifiable reasons – like selling up, moving in, or dealing with rent arrears and antisocial behaviour.

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What it means to have a Labour Council working with a Labour Government

Satvir Kaur MP with Leader of Southampton City Council, Councillor Alex Winning

It’s election time again, with just a couple of days to go until Southampton goes to the polls. You may have received your ballot papers already, if you vote by post. This time around, we’ll be choosing who we want representing us on our City Council.

It’s an important choice, and one that should be carefully considered, but it is a choice that I believe should always be made. The opportunity to vote is a fundamental human right and one that has been hard fought for by many. Decisions made by politicians have an enormous impact on our lives, whether taken at a national level – by the Government and by MPs – or at a local level, by councillors and the local Executive.

For the first time in a very long time, we have a Labour Council in Southampton working hand-in-hand with a Labour Government in Westminster. The benefits of this partnership cannot be overstated and, for the first time since 2010 – when Conservative and Lib Dem austerity took a wrecking ball to city coffers – we are seeing local authorities receive funding based on local need. With Labour, money allocated to councils is tied to local levels of deprivation, rather than favouring a particular political stripe, as we suffered previously.

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Southern Water – latest correspondence

In the last couple of days, I’ve written to the Chief Executive of Southern Water on two occasions, about two separate issues in Southampton.

Firstly, I wrote regarding the ‘screening application’ published on Southampton City Council’s Planning Portal yesterday, concerning upgrades to Southern Water’s Portswood Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Local residents are rightly concerned about the impact the upgrade works might have on their community, and so I have requested a meeting with Southern Water to discuss how construction will affect people living close by – in St Denys, particularly on Kent Road – and to find out what they will do to mitigate any adverse impact.

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Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board Chair announced as applications open for Board Members

It has been confirmed today that Joanna McNicholas has been appointed as the independent Chair for Redbridge & Millbrook West Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board.

Applications have also opened for local people to apply to be members of the Neighbourhood Board.

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The Pride in Place programme is a ten-year initiative focused on supporting communities to shape priorities for investment and improvement in their neighbourhoods. With £20 million to spend over the ten-year period, the Neighbourhood Board in Redbridge will be established to provide resident‑led investment decisions based on a co‑produced Pride in Place Plan for each area.

Neighbourhood Boards will bring together residents, businesses, grassroots organisations, community and faith groups, alongside local public sector partners, to help shape a shared vision for their area and agree priorities for future investment. Board membership is voluntary.

Applications for Neighbourhood Board membership are open until 11.59pm on Sunday 3rd May. Further information about the role, eligibility criteria and how to apply is available here.

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Letter to Network Rail: No to rail replacement services on Semi-Final Day

On Saturday 25th April, Saints will face Manchester City at in the FA Cup Semi-Final at Wembley. It’s a massive moment for our team and our city. There are over 33,000 tickets allocated to Saints supporters, who will be travelling predominantly from Southampton.

However, the rail route between Basingstoke and Woking is due to have a rail replacement bus on the day, to allow for engineering works.

If this goes ahead, it will significantly impact fans travelling from Southampton to Wembley, causing severe disruption and potentially even preventing some fans attending altogether.

Today, I’ve written to the Chief Executive of Network Rail – along with Phil Parsons, Chief Executive of Southampton Football Club, and Cllr Alex Winning, Leader of Southampton City Council – calling for the works to be postponed.

READ THE LETTER HERE

We cannot allow this disruption for fans on such an incredibly special day for our team and our city.

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Southampton MPs join Council Leader in welcoming announcement that Northam Rail Bridge and A326 schemes given green light

Heidi Alexander MP, Secretary of State Transport

The Government has announced this morning that funding for schemes to replace the failing Northam Rail Bridge and to improve the A326 Marchwood Bypass corridor have been approved.

Both schemes have now been given the green light to progress as part of the Department for Transport’s third Road Investment Strategy and Major Road Network review, published today. Heidi Alexander, Secretary of state for Transport, gave a statement to the House of Commons this morning, announcing the strategy and setting out details.

The scheme at Northam Rail Bridge will see provision of a new, widened, replacement bridge on the A3024 corridor in Southampton, and the A326 scheme will see improvements made to the Marchwood Bypass corridor, connecting into the M27 at Junction 2 and serving the Waterside area of the New Forest.

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Satvir welcomes government ‘South West Hampshire’ devolution decision

It has been announced today that Southampton will form part of new unitary authority ‘South West Hampshire’ as part of the Government’s reforms to local government, the biggest in a generation.

Read the detail in the statement from Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government

Southampton will join Eastleigh, the Waterside, Chilworth, Rownhams and Nursling in a new local authority that will be better reflect the needs and lives of local communities.

As a former leader of Southampton City Council, I know first-hand that the existing local authority structure has held us back from reaching our full potential. It’s why, as one of the local Members of Parliament, I’ve been working hard to ensure these changes better equip local leaders with the tools they need to tackle regional challenges – such as housing supply and affordability, public transport, skills development and health inequalities – in a deep and meaningful way that has been has not been an option for leaders to date.

I’m looking forward to working with government, local authorities, and residents to make a success of this huge opportunity, and will do everything I can to ensure that we finally unlock our potential as a city and a region.

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Satvir Kaur MP welcomes government funding for more nursery places at Mansel Park and Sinclair Primary Schools

Satvir Kaur MP with students at Mansel Park Primary

It has been announced today that two schools in Southampton Test are to receive funding from the Labour Government to offer more nursery places.

Mansel Park Primary School and Sinclair Primary School are both to receive money as part of the Labour Government’s ‘Best Start’ school-based nursery programme and will be expanding their existing nursery capacity as a result.

The news has been welcomed by Satvir Kaur, Member of Parliament for Southampton Test, where both schools are based.

The schools are among 331 schools across the country successful in applying for a share of £45 million funding, to build or expand nurseries on site.

Nationwide, the new Best Start nurseries will create over 6,000 more childcare places, on top of up to 7,000 already being delivered from the first phase of the programme.

The announcement follows a report published last week showing the government’s childcare reforms have halved costs for eligible working parents since 2024.

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