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Energy Independence for Southampton

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.

Continue reading “Energy Independence for Southampton”
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View from Westminster, my regular Echo column

It’s another busy time for MPs as proceedings in the Commons are paused for the party conference season. For Labour, it’s where party members come together to help shape policy, and we will no doubt see a number of positive announcements, many of which will directly impact us here in Southampton.

I also have a big announcement of my own. Since my last column, my husband and I have become proud parents for the first time. We’re thrilled to welcome our beautiful daughter into the world.

A huge thank you to the brilliant team at Princess Anne Hospital for their care and to everyone who has sent kind words and support. It’s been a rollercoaster journey, and now we’re looking forward to this new adventure – sleepless nights included!

Although I’m on maternity leave, you can still contact me as usual. I’ll be back in Parliament early next year, but in the meantime, I’ll continue to work remotely, and you’ll still see me around Southampton with my baby, attending a few events locally and catching up with residents, as well as always pushing for Southampton to be at the top of the government’s agenda.

Some recent highlights include successfully securing £11.5 million in funding for the Connect to Work programme in Southampton and the wider region. With one in four young people in our city not currently in employment, education, or training, it’s vital that we create opportunities for everyone to succeed.

I’ve spoken to many residents who want to do more but simply need the right support and opportunities. This funding will provide exactly that—whether through one-to-one mentoring, or by helping local businesses take on additional staff who may have greater needs. This is a vital and much-needed investment that will open doors for hundreds of people across Southampton.

I have also been campaigning hard for additional resources from the government’s Plan for Neighbourhoods programme. This will mean millions are allocated directly to the neighbourhoods that need it most. For Southampton Test I have secured £20 million of government funding for people in Millbrook and Redbridge to invest in their communities, and it will be those local communities who get to decide how and what it is spent on. It will be a real game changer.

Alongside getting extra national investment into Southampton, I’m also working to get local resources too! Particularly when it comes to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour. Everyone deserves to feel safe where they live and work. One of my ongoing campaigns is to open a face-to-face police counter in Shirley. Residents and businesses endured months of vandalism and abuse from a group of teenagers earlier this year and while the situation has seen some improvement, it’s clear Shirley and the surrounding areas need a stronger, more consistent police presence.

That’s why I launched a petition calling for the Shirley Housing Office on the High Street, which is currently lying empty, to be turned into a police hub with a face-to-face counter for residents. The response has been really positive, with hundreds of signatures showing just how strongly our community feels.

As a result of my petition, we’re already seeing some progress. Southampton City Council has offered the use of the housing office for the counter, we’ve backed a bid for permanent CCTV in Shirley to deter crime and catch offenders, and there are now more police patrols on the streets – all thanks to your support and pressure.

Councillor Alex Winning, Leader of the council and Shirley Ward Councillor, is fully backing this campaign, and together we’re determined to make Shirley safer, more welcoming, and vibrant – while ensuring crime is taken seriously across every community in our city.

To support the petition, head to the campaigns section of my website, www.satvirkaur.info. As always, if you need my help – on this or any other issue – please get in touch. Email me at satvir.kaur.mp@parliament.uk or call 02382 546 357. I’m here to help.

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Information News

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

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.

Continue reading “Millbrook and Redbridge to get £20 million from government fund – and locals are to decide how to spend it”
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Satvir Kaur MP appointed as junior minister

Southampton Test MP Satvir Kaur has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary in the Cabinet Office. The appointment comes shortly after she welcomed a baby girl at Princess Anne Hospital in August.

Satvir said, “There’s nothing like feeding your two-week-old newborn and suddenly getting a call from No. 10. It is hugely humbling and a real honour to be asked to join Darren Jones MP and the Cabinet Office team to help deliver our plan for change. Enormous thanks to Josh Simons for stepping in while I complete my maternity leave.”

Satvir succeeds Georgia Gould MP and Abena Oppong-Asare MP, who have served as junior ministers since July 2024.

While Satvir is on maternity leave, constituents can continue to contact Satvir in the usual way. She will return to Parliament early next year, working remotely in the meantime with her team continuing business as usual.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch; email satvir.kaur.mp@parliament.uk or call the office on 02382 546 357.

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🍼 Baby news! 👩‍🍼

This week my husband and I became very proud parents for the first time and are over-joyed to welcome our beautiful new baby daughter into the world.

Huge thanks to the wonderful team at Princess Anne Hospital and everyone’s support and best wishes during what has been a rollercoaster journey.

We’re looking forward to this new adventure (not so much the sleepless nights!) as I officially go on maternity leave to spend time with my new baby.

Whilst I am on maternity leave, you can still contact me as normal in the usual way. I will be returning to Parliament sometime early next year but will be doing some things remotely in the meantime. I will also be around and about Southampton with my new baby and will still be attending to important constituency duties.

My team will be working as normal throughout and are, as always, ready to help. Please do get in contact if you need us.

Thank you all so much for your understanding and kindness during this very special time for me and my new family.

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View from Westminster: My regular Daily Echo column

I truly value local journalism and our freedom of the press, so I was delighted, and very grateful, to be asked by the Daily Echo to write a regular column. Here’s my latest article, where I discuss the run-up to recess, Southern Water, crime and how I’ll be spending summer in Southampton…

The run-up to the House of Commons summer recess has been a busy time, both in parliament and here in Southampton. In Westminster, there’s been lots going on relevant to us in the city, with legislation progressing and announcements made in areas that hugely effect Southampton.

Following the Royal Assent of Labour’s Water (Special Measures) Act earlier this year, which legislated to change how we regulate the water industry, the government has announced plans to reshape regulation entirely. We know the current system isn’t working and something fundamental needed to change. Right now, our water industry is policed by four separate regulators in a system that’s more about passing the buck than taking responsibility.

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Welcoming the return of neighbourhood policing

Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test, has welcomed the government successfully making sure every community in their constituency and across the country has a named, contactable police officer. This marks a major milestone as the Labour Government continues to deliver on its Plan for Change.  

As part of Labour’s Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee which will see 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers and PCSOs patrolling local communities over the next 4 years, people living in Shirley, Portswood, Redbridge, Millbrook and across the city will now have a direct link to their local police force, with dedicated anti-social behaviour leads and new visible patrols in town centres.   

In addition to bolstering police presence in our communities, the Labour Government has also announced the rollout of ten new Live Facial Recognition (LFR) vans to seven forces across the country, equipping officers with targeted, cutting-edge technology to help catch high-harm criminals.  

This technology will now be deployed to forces in Thames Valley and Hampshire (jointly), Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, Bedfordshire and Surrey and Sussex (jointly). Police forces including the Metropolitan Police and South Wales have already seen success with their own live facial recognition deployments. The Met reported that in 12 months they made 580 arrests using LFR for offences including, rape, domestic abuse, knife crime, GBH and robbery, including 52 registered sex offenders arrested for breaching their conditions.   

The new units will operate according to strict rules, which ensure they are only deployed when there is specific intelligence to warrant its use.  

Neighbourhood police patrols were decimated across 14 years of Conservative Government and communities were badly let down as a result. The number of PCSOs was slashed by half, while Special Constable numbers were cut by two-thirds.  

The number of people who regularly see police patrolling in their local area has halved in the past decade, and under the last Conservative government, shoplifting soared to record levels - with a staggering 70% increase in their last two years in office alone.  

Through Labour’s Plan for Change, the government is determined to put communities first. There are set to be 3,000 new police officers and PCSOs embedded into forces across the country by the start of 2026, with 65 set to join the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary - thanks to a £200 million funding boost from the Home Office. This marks crucial progress towards the government’s commitment to boost neighbourhood officer and PCSO levels by 50% by the next General Election. 

This announcement is part of the government’s core mission to deliver safer streets for communities across the country. and follows the launch of the Safer Streets Summer Initiative, which is delivering increased patrols and enforcement in over 500 town centres nationwide.   

Labour’s Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper MP, said: “Neighbourhood policing was decimated under the Tories, but through our Plan for Change, this Labour Government is bringing the bobby on the beat back. Already this summer, 500 towns and city centres have got extra neighbourhood police patrols, as part of the 3,000 additional neighbourhood officers and PCSOs we are investing in this year. At the same time, we are bringing in new powers to tackle off-road bikes, shop theft, street theft. For too long under the Tories, town centre crime was treated as low level. Instead, we’ve made it a priority because communities need to feel safe. 

 “We are extending targeted facial recognition, alongside clear safeguards, to help the police catch wanted criminals and suspects for serious crimes. 

  “The 10 new vans, across 7 police forces, alongside the new legal framework we are developing means that new technology can be trialled alongside clear safeguards to better keep communities safe.” 

Satvir Kaur, Labour MP for Southampton Test, said:  “The Conservatives dismantled neighbourhood policing as crimes like shoplifting and street theft rocketed out of control. That is the Tory legacy on law and order, and communities like ours paid a heavy price.  

“I know having a named, contactable neighbourhood police officer and increased street patrols will make a huge difference to my constituents from Portswood to Millbrook.  The number of people who see a bobby on the beat has halved in the past decade, but we all deserve town centres and high streets free from crime and safe for the public.  

“I’m proud that the Labour Government’s Plan for Change is delivering for our communities, putting 13,000 new neighbourhood police officers and PCSOs back on the streets over the next 4 years.” 

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Flood Defence Capabilities in Southampton

Read my letter to DEFRA urging the government to provide funding for the River Itchen Flood Alleviation Scheme (RIFAS).

Southampton is increasingly at risk from coastal, river and surface water flooding. We are uniquely exposed to flood risk due to the city being between the River Test and Itchen, which meet in the tidal estuary Southampton Water. We need to take action now.

Dear Secretary of State,

Re: Flood Defence Capabilities in Southampton

I am writing to you regarding the increasing threat of flooding in Southampton and the urgent need to provide funding for the River Itchen Flood Alleviation Scheme (RIFAS), alongside a broader programme of flood defence and resilience investment for my constituency of Southampton Test and the wider city.

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Labour backs millions of leaseholders by launching new consultation

If you’re a leaseholder in Southampton Test you may have received a recent letter from me on Labour’s newly launched Leaseholder Consultation. I hear from so many leaseholders who are fed up with unclear, and often excessive service charges, or who are dealing with managing agents who aren’t up to scratch. Labour wants to fix this by strengthening leaseholder rights, offering new protections and real transparency. Have your say on leaseholder reform and take part.

TAKE PART IN THE CONSULTATION

Dear resident,

For far too many leaseholders the reality of home ownership has fallen woefully short of the dream – their lives marked by an intermittent, if not constant, struggle with punitive and escalating ground rents; unjustified permissions and administration fees; unreasonable or extortionate charges; and onerous conditions imposed with little or no consultation. This is not what home ownership should entail.

I know this has sadly been the situation for many leaseholders, and it’s through you contacting me, that together, we have kept pushing for more rights for leaseholders. And the government has listened, and reform is coming.

A consultation has now been launched, entitled “Strengthening leaseholder protections over fees, charges and services”, and it needs Southampton voices.

The consultation is in two parts. The first focuses on how to implement key measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including:

– Making service charge demands more transparent and easier to challenge with new standardised service charge demand forms, annual reports, service charge accounts and administration charges and improving transparency around buildings insurance fees.

 – Removing barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlord and scraping the presumption that leaseholders have to pay their landlords’ litigation costs even when they win their case.

The second part looks at going further, with proposals to:

– Reform the Section 20 ‘major works’ procedure that leaseholders go through when they face large bills for works;

– Introduce mandatory qualifications for managing agents so that all agents have the knowledge and skills they need to provide a good service for leaseholders.

Taken together, the various proposals outlined in the consultation will provide existing leaseholders with far greater rights and protections and will empower them to challenge poor practice and unreasonable charge and fees. These are just one part of the government’s plans to bring the feudal leasehold system to an end. The government also intends to publish an ambitious draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill later this year.

Some parts of the consultation are technical, but you can respond to as much or as little as you wish. The consultation will last 12 weeks and closes at the end of September, here’s the link Strengthening leaseholder protections over fees, charges and services: consultation – Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Citizen Space.

As your MP, I’ll continue to press for a fairer, more transparent system for leaseholders. Your experience matters. I hope you’ll take this opportunity to shape the future of these reforms and please do contact me if you need any further assistance. My email is Satvir.kaur.mp@parliament.uk and the office number is 02382 546357.

Best wishes, Satvir Kaur, Member of Parliament for Southampton Test

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News

View from Westminster: My regular Daily Echo column

I truly value local journalism and our freedom of the press, so I was delighted, and very grateful, to be asked by the Daily Echo to write a regular column. Here’s my latest article, where I look back on my first year as the MP for Southampton Test…

It’s been exactly one year today since Southampton Test residents elected me to represent them and our incredible city, Southampton, in Parliament. It’s been a whirlwind year. At the time I said it was the honour of my life, and it still is! This is my home – the place I was born, where I grew up and where I have always lived.

It’s been my life experiences in Southampton that have prepared me for parliament. From being an inner-city kid and the daughter of a market trader to my family relying on public services and learning how to work hard while valuing community, it’s all set me up for life in Westminster – a place I have often described as Hogwarts meets Mean Girls. 

Every day I’m humbled and grateful for having this opportunity to serve my home city, and every day I try my best to help as many people as I can; take up what matters most to you; champion and fight for Southampton. Most importantly, I want to ensure local people are helping to shape and influence changes made in Parliament, and in return, our communities are benefiting from new and emerging national legislation.

Here’s some of what I have been up to: Locally, I’ve handled over 5,000 individual pieces of casework, helping to advocate for residents and do all I can to address their needs. I have held regular surgeries, speaking to hundreds of you about the problems you face and seeing what I can do to help. I have hosted coffee mornings throughout the constituency, from Bevois and Redbridge to Shirley. I’ve been bringing people together to influence national policy areas, from how we fix our NHS to how we help small businesses thrive, and even discussed important issues like parental leave. 

I love regularly attending community events and have been to many across the year – so please keep inviting me. But my favourite thing has been visiting local schools and hosting young people in Parliament. I’ve been so inspired by their enthusiasm and cannot wait to do more with young people so that they’ve got every opportunity to reach their potential. 

Nationally, I am fully aware that this time last year, many voted for change. This is why I’ve been working hard to ensure Southampton has been benefitting from the tens of billions of pounds being invested in our public services under Labour. From £7.3 million given to Southampton General Hospital and Princess Ann Hospital to deliver vital maintenance work, preventing appointments and operations from being cancelled due to issues with poor-quality buildings.

We’ve also seen our schools’ benefit from recent announcements to invest in their buildings, as well as the rollout of free breakfast clubs. We’re doing more to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, as this is often an issue residents talk to me about. I’m pleased to see the extra investment in local neighbourhood policing, especially with a focus on extra police powers to tackle issues like retail crime and anti-social behaviour, which for too long have been a problem here in the city. We inherited public services on their knees, but Labour is determined to fix this, and we’ve made a good start.

Housing will always be an issue close to my heart and one that is often raised with me as your MP. I want to use my position to fight for residents, which is why I called out bad landlords in the House of Commons after families at Compass Point were severely let down with substandard living conditions. I also helped residents at Fullerton Place after communication broke down with their local housing association. I’ve pushed for better quality and rights for renters and leaseholders, and for many in Southampton, Labour’s Renters Rights Bill cannot come soon enough – especially as it also bans no-fault evictions, which is the biggest cause of homelessness in our city. That, with a pledge and more investment being announced for more new, affordable and social housing, I hope will help to address the housing crisis we’re in. 

Like so many residents, I care deeply about our environment. It’s why I’ve loved backing Southampton’s ambition to be the first UK city outside of London to officially gain National Park City status. It’s why I’ve been working with companies like DP World to reduce the number of trucks on our roads and encourage more travel by rail. I have been holding companies like Southern Water to account and backing community campaigns for bathing water status so we can have rivers we can enjoy and be proud of again. Labour’s new Water Act and measures like banning water bosses’ bonuses are welcome. I’ll keep pushing for more to be done. I will continue to hold them to account.

It has been a busy year with so much done, yet so much more to do. Whatever this next year brings our way, I’ll keep fighting for my home, our home, Southampton.