Westminster Report - Leigh-on-Sea

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Leigh On Sea News: Westminster Report – BY David Burton-Sampson MP for Southend West & Leigh- Plus anniversary Q&A.

Westminster Report – BY David Burton-Sampson MP for Southend West & Leigh- Plus anniversary Q&A.

BY David Burton-Sampson MP for Southend West & Leigh- Plus anniversary Q&A.

Winning in Southend West and Leigh in July last year was the greatest honour of my life and it is a privilege to serve as your MP. From the moment I was elected, it’s been a roller coaster ride and I have learned so much, met so many of you and can’t wait to do more.

Such a lot has been achieved here in Southend in my first year of being your Member of Parliament.

Our hospital trust, Mid and South Essex, has received £6m for building repairs, including at Southend Hospital. We are looking forward to getting a new second LINAC radiotherapy machine at the hospital by next year.

Four local GP Surgeries have been awarded funding for their buildings, which will make improvements to help create space for more appointments at Leigh Primary Care Centre and surgeries at Valkyrie, Sutton Road and Kent Elms.

More building funding from the government is being made available to fix crumbling school building at Sutton House Academy, Victory Park Academy, St Bernard’s High School and West Leigh Junior School, as part of a £470 million investment. New nursery school places at Chalkwell Hall Infant School in Leigh have also been created.

Free breakfast clubs are being rolled out for schoolchildren and the first, at the Lady of Lourdes RC Primary, has already opened, while up to 4,000 more children in our constituency are to receive free school meals. I believe it is vital to make sure that children are ready to learn with food in their bellies before school.

We are making the streets of Southend safer too, with a 2.3% increase per year in real terms funding, to support frontline policing. 11 new and additional neighbourhood police officers are coming to the city, as part of the efforts to increase visible policing.

We have also had an extra £2.3 million to fix budgets for Police Community Support Officers, who deal with anti-social behaviour, public order, and community policing.

The force is receiving an extra £27 million this year and its total funding amounts to £433 million, which is a 6.7% increase and Essex Police report that crime continues to fall with nearly 10,000 fewer crimes this year.

Southend has also been awarded £12.4 million for local transport, while bus fares have been frozen at £3. Here in Southend West and Leigh, we have had massive improvements in our buses, with a new hourly bus service, the 3A, plus a new route from Leigh to the airport and coming soon, an extended schedule to the number 6 service to Garon Park, with buses until 10 p.m., providing much-needed connections.

Sports facilities in the city are also getting a boost with an £800,000 investment recently, including new flood lights at Garon Park, so good to know you will be able to get home after your floodlit game!

I have been busy making connections with as many organisations as I can this year and I am really keen to see and speak to you all as soon as possible but there’s only 24 hours in every day! I have visited many businesses and charities and attended hundreds of events in both the constituency and Parliament.

I have had six police meetings and six meetings with the hospital, as well as several visits there. I’ve enjoyed every one of my visits to15 of our schools, including five of our eight secondary schools. It is wonderful to see the hard work the teachers and staff put in and a delight to meet the youngsters. They are our future.

I continue to help my residents. 8,220 of you have been in touch with me and my team and I am proud to say that more than 7,500 of your problems have been resolved, with up to 17,000 emails exchanged.

I am pleased that the government’s EU trade deal has been welcomed by our historic cockling industry, who say that it cuts red tape. Our Football Governance Bill, launched at Roots Hall, will help ensure that no club must experience what the Shrimpers went through.

We have more routes at Southend airport and the promise of the return of the Southend airshow, so lots to look forward to. I know there is more to do and I will keep working hard next year to bring investment to the city, to clean up our bathing waters and make sure Southend is open for business with safer streets. A lot to do in the next twelve months and I can’t wait to get cracking.

One Year Q&A

What do you love about Southend West and Leigh?

What don’t I love! This is just a great place to live, work, socialise and raise a family. With the estuary on your doorstep, in one of the sunniest places in the UK and with the best fish and chips. What more could you want?

What has been your favourite thing about becoming an MP?

Being an MP, standing in the House of Commons, representing our constituency is the biggest privilege of my life and I will continue to work hard for you all. But my favourite thing is when I influence a positive change for the constituency such as investment or helping change a constituents life.

What’s been the most memorable part of your work this year?

There have been so many incredible moments this year but what stands out in my mind was my visit to Ukraine. It was my first experience of enduring nights under attack in underground shelters, but this is the reality of the Ukrainian peoples day to day lives. I will always stand with Ukraine.

What have you achieved in the last 12 months?

Amongst many other things, like the biggest pay rise in a decade with minimum wage increases, Southend has had extra money for transport, health, schools and policing. Buses services have had a boost with new routes and more buses thanks to an extra £12.4 million for local transport. We’ve had £6m for building repairs for our health trust and a new second LINAC radiotherapy machine is coming to Southend next year.

Four local GP surgeries are receiving funding for buildings maintenance and four schools are also getting money for repairs. New free breakfast clubs for schoolchildren are being rolled out, with the first already up and running and almost 4,000 more children in our constituency will receive free school meals. We have 11 new neighbourhood police officers in place already to help make Southend’s streets safer and crime is falling. The list goes on and on!

What has been the biggest surprise about becoming an MP?

Finding out how much of our country was actually broken. I was genuinely shocked that nothing was working. People kept asking me what the common problems were in those first few months. The honest answer was that there were no common issues, just lots and lots of issues.

What’s been the biggest problem that people come to you for help with locally?

We get a lot of enquiries locally on all sorts of issues from school places to potholes and it’s a privilege to deal with them but at the moment the biggest part of my postbag are questions over housing and homelessness and special needs provision.

What is the strangest thing you’ve learned about parliament?

The vanishing microphones! All the microphones in the chamber of the House of Commons and committee rooms have been painted with a special paint that make them invisible when you take a photo. Well, at least less visible!

As a new MP, is there anything you would change about parliament?

There’s lots to get used to, remembering who’s an honourable member and bobbing up and down to catch the Speaker’s eye but I would really love it if I didn’t have to wear a tie so much of the time!

You have an office on Leigh Road – where’s your favourite place for lunch?

There’s so many fantastic places in Leigh we are spoiled for choice so I try and eat somewhere different as often as possible. I am partial to a fish supper and also enjoy a salt beef bagel and good quality versions are certainly on offer!

What are you up to this summer?

I hope to have a well-earned rest and a short holiday but I will still be working locally in Southend West and Leigh for most of the summer, so you will see me around and about before we return to parliament again in September.

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