Tag: labour government

News

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

Post author By Satvir
Post date 26/03/2026

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.

Tags a326, alex winning, darren paffey mp, department for transport, heidi alexander, improvements, labour government, leader of the council, major road network review, member of parliament, mp, northam rail bridge, road investment strategy, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton city council, southampton itchen, southampton test

News

Satvir welcomes fly-tipping crackdown with Labour’s new Waste Crime Action Plan

Post author By Satvir
Post date 20/03/2026

The Government has today launched its new Waste Crime Action Plan – the toughest ever crackdown on illegal waste – backed by an additional £45 million for the Environment Agency to pursue fly-tippers and organised criminal gangs across England.

Waste crime costs the economy £1 billion every year, with nearly 1.3 million incidents of fly-tipping recorded last year alone.

In Southampton it is a huge problem, with the city recording over 12,000 separate incidents of fly-tipping in the year 2024-25, and areas such as Newtown and Portswood hit particularly hard.

Tags fly-tipping, labour government, member of parliament, mp, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton test, Waste Crime Action Plan

News

Southampton small businesses hosted at ministerial roundtable

Post author By Satvir
Post date 19/03/2026

Earlier in March, a group of Southampton small businesses met with Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, at a roundtable meeting hosted in parliament by two of Southampton’s MPs.

The meeting was arranged by Satvir Kaur MP, Member of Parliament for Southampton Test, and Darren Paffey MP, Member of Parliament for Southampton Itchen, in response to conversations had with Southampton small businesses – a number of whom had expressed an interest in speaking directly to ministers about key issues within their sector.

Make it Magic, Mettricks Southampton, and Alaplas Coffee were amongst the businesses attending the high-level meeting, and other attendees included Councillor Alex Winning, Leader of Southampton City Council, and Stephen Mannion, Chief Executive of Go! Southampton.

Tags blair mcdougall mp, darren paffey mp, labour government, minister for small business, mp, roundtable, satvir kaur, small business, southampton, southampton test

Information News

Apply to be Chair of the Pride in Place Board

Post author By Satvir
Post date 16/02/2026

Really excited to share that applications are now open for Chair of the Redbridge and Millbrook Estate Pride in Place Neighbourhood Board!

APPLY NOW

Deadline for applications: Sunday 1 March

This is an incredible opportunity for someone passionate about the area to help deliver this ground-breaking project, backed by £20 million in funding from the Labour government.

Recruiting our Chair marks a massive step forward as they will be absolutely pivotal to the project, both in driving activity and convening a board that is truly representative of the community and anyone with the experience, vision and local connection should definitely put their name forward and apply.

You’ll be playing a leading role in a transformative project that will ultimately build a stronger, fairer future for Redbridge and the Millbrook Estate.

Good luck to all who apply!

Tags chair, labour government, member of parliament, millbrook estate, mp, neighbourhood board, pride in place, redbridge and millbrook, satvir kaur, southampton

News

Southampton Test families see £1,670 drop in annual mortgage costs since the election

Post author By Satvir
Post date 09/01/2026

Families in Southampton Test are more than £1,670better off when taking out a typical mortgage since Labour came to office, new analysis has found.

A household taking out a new, representative, mortgage on a £260,000 house in December 2025 – the median price in Southampton Test – will pay £1,670a year less than they if they took out an identical mortgage in June 2024, at the time of the election.

Tags cost of living, housing, labour government, member of parliament, mortgage, mp, satvir kaur, southampton test

News

Satvir Kaur MP welcomes £84.6 million cash injection for Southampton City Council to boost local services

Post author By Satvir
Post date 18/12/2025

Satvir Kaur MP has welcomed the Labour Government’s announcement that Southampton City Council will get a £84.6 million cash injection for essential services – a 32% increase in the Council’s spending power. Under the Tories, local authorities were starved of investment, with core spending power down by around a quarter since 2010. That put immense pressure on councils up and down the country, including Southampton City Council. But the Labour Government has announced a radical overhaul of how local government is funded, reversing Rishi Sunak’s cheap political efforts to put money into wealthy shires and Tory seats.

Tags Funding, labour government, member of parliament, mp, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton test

News

Delivering books to children as part of Christmas literacy campaign

Post author By Satvir
Post date 18/12/2025

Satvir Kaur, Member of Parliament for Southampton Test, joined Business in the Community this week to deliver books to local children as part of BIC’sChristmas Books Campaign, an annual initiative that tackles low literacy rates by ensuring children in deprived areas receive books to enjoy and to help build reading confidence.

Tags labour government, member of parliament, mp, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton test

News

City leaders back council funding reform and urge government to prioritise Fair Funding for Southampton

Post author By Satvir
Post date 26/11/2025

Image courtesy of Southampton City Council

Southampton’s two Labour MPs, Satvir Kaur and Darren Paffey, alongside the Leader of the council, Cllr Alex Winning, have called on the government to give Southampton the funding it needs after 14 years of austerity following a shake-up of local government funding allocations.

Tags labour government, member of parliament, mp, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton test

News

Energy Independence for Southampton

Post author By Satvir
Post date 08/10/2025

I am pleased to share a new paper by Alan Whitehead CBE, my friend and predecessor. He is a longstanding champion for clean energy, and as an MP, he was most recently the Shadow Energy Minister in DESNZ. His paper, Energy Independence for Southampton, outlines both the challenges and exciting opportunities we have to secure clean, reliable energy for our city. You can read Alan’s full paper, Energy Independence for Southampton, below.

Alan highlights that Southampton is facing an energy emergency. Research from the University of Southampton shows that by 2026, the city’s electricity substations could reach full capacity, particularly around the docks and city centre; this demands urgent action.

Alan presents several solutions to this problem, including bringing a new high-voltage cable from the National Grid’s Nursling substation directly into the city centre. This would take the pressure off our existing substations, keep the port and new developments powered up, and make sure Southampton’s energy network is ready for the future.

Tags Energy, labour government, mp, satvir kaur, southampton test

Information News

Millbrook and Redbridge to get £20 million from government fund – and locals are to decide how to spend it

Post author By Satvir
Post date 25/09/2025

Steve Reed MP, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, share the news

Satvir Kaur has secured £20 million of government funding for people in Millbrook and Redbridge to invest in their communities.

As part of the Labour government’s new Pride in Place Programme, these areas will receive £2 million per year over the course of ten years, and will be pioneering a new way of deciding how to spend public money on local projects.

The money can be spent on anything from local park improvements to fixing up empty buildings and high streets, but it is up to the residents to decide what to do with it.

The fund relies on locals from across the Millbrook estate and Redbridge coming together to submit ideas for how to spend the £20 million total, and a call has gone out for people to volunteer to sit on a local board that helps coordinate the project.

Tags government fund, labour government, member of parliament, millbrook, mp, pride in place, pride in place fund, redbridge, satvir kaur, southampton, southampton test, steve reed mp