Westminster Report

BY Southend West MP Anna Firth.

I WAS delighted to speak at the PFCC (Police Fire & Crime Commission) Safety Expo 2024 and to highlight the fantastic work being done by Essex Police and Roger Hirst, the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex.

Anti-social behaviour in Southend has halved over the last year due to excellent hotspot policing by Essex Police. In fact, our hotspot policing method is now being rolled out across the country making Southend a trailblazer in tackling crime.

There’s also positive news from the Essex Violence and Vulnerability Unit, set up to tackle County Lines, gangs, child criminal and sexual exploitation and safeguard victims. They announced that knife-related hospital admissions are down by 33% and there has been a 12% reduction in knife-related crime since the programme started.

The campaigner Julie Taylor, who lost her 19-year-old grandson to knife-crime, is doing amazing work to distribute life-saving bleed kits throughout Essex. Last weekend I got the chance to practice using one of the bleed kits on a visit to Chalkwell Lifeguards. They showed me how to correctly apply a tourniquet to stop someone bleeding out.

Tackling knife-crime is extremely high on my list of priorities, so on March 5 in Westminster, I met with the Police and Crime Commissioners for Cleveland and West Midlands who are leading several anti-knife campaigns in schools.

When visiting schools, they invite along a vascular surgeon who shows graphic photos of teenage stab victims’ wounds.

There’s a misconception among some young people who believe in carrying a knife as a form of protection, when in reality it makes them more of a target. Something else our young people need to know is that there is no ‘safe place’ to stab someone, any knife wound, however small, can be fatal.

Healthier: Chill Southend, a cold-water swimming club, which offers swim therapy for improved health & well-being, invited me to their launch on March 9. I’m a huge fan of cold water swimming as it can help reduce inflammation, depression and anxiety and can boost immunity and general well-being. Chill Southend has teamed up with Southend breast cancer support group, Bosom Pals, to give women diagnosed with breast cancer the opportunity to safely experience cold-water swimming.

Chill Southend organiser, Simone Dodge, is busy raising funds, so that she can offer more people the chance to experience taking their first dip in the sea with all the related health benefits.

Wealthier: I welcomed the Chancellor’s Budget last week. Southend is a city of entrepreneurs, so reforming the VAT threshold for small businesses is a big win for Southend.

The freeze on alcohol duty will support the over 7,000 venues in the East of England, another big win for our tourism and hospitality sector across Southend.

The vast majority of residents in Southend and Leigh work hard and own their own home, they deserve to keep as much of their own money as possible and I welcome cutting taxes again for 27 million working people.

From April the main rate of National Insurance will fall by a further two percent. My average constituent earning £36,500 will see a tax cut amounting to approximately £960. A Southend family with two earners on the average income will be £1920 better off. A senior nurse at Southend Hospital will be better off by £1202. The average teacher in Southend will be better off by £1270. And our average police officer will also be better off by £1270.

Motorists are helped by the Chancellor continuing to freeze fuel duty and maintaining the 5p reduction introduced last year.

The family is the cornerstone of our society. The Conservative party will always support hard-working families, for whom child benefit is often a lifeline. I am delighted that almost half a million families will benefit from the changes to the high-income child benefit charge, with 170,000 families no longer paying it at all.

From April, the high-income child benefit charge threshold will be raised to £60,000, with the top of the taper at which it is withdrawn rising to £80,000. That means that half a million families, including thousands of hard-working families across Southend West, will save an average of £1,300 a year.

To me, Southend is already the City of Culture 2029, the title is merely pending. I want the world to enjoy our beautiful city and beaches. The Chancellor’s Budget is good for Southend and good for the country. It will be key in helping to ensure Southend becomes healthier, safer and wealthier for all of us.

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