Westminster Report - Leigh-on-Sea

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

Westminster Report – BY David Burton-Sampson MP for Southend West & Leigh.

BY David Burton-Sampson MP for Southend West & Leigh.

Good news for Southend West and Leigh with announcements over breakfast clubs for our children and dental appointments for those in need.

Two new breakfast clubs are coming to schools in Leigh, as part of the first tranche of a new government initiative, which could save parents up to £450 a year.

After encouraging all schools in the constituency to apply to be early adopters, I am delighted that these schools will be some of the first schools to benefit from Labour’s free breakfast clubs and I cannot wait to visit the clubs at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary and Heycroft Primary in Leigh.

I am sure it will be very welcome news that more of you will be able to access urgent and emergency dental care after the government’s roll out of extra NHS appointments.

Urgent appointments for more than 6,000 people will be provided to Mid & South Essex and accessible to people here. NHS dentistry cannot be rebuilt overnight, it will take time, but this is an important step towards getting NHS dentistry back on its feet.

In parliament I was recently appointed as a Labour Party Business Champion for Finance. At the first of the round tables I am convening, I focussed on the mortgage industry to understand more about its experiences, challenges and policy suggestions.

I am always happy to listen to how we can support the industry and I thank them for their contribution. I am delighted to be taking on this role and will continue to strengthen engagement with business.

At Westminster I was also able to support campaigns from Keep Britain Tidy, which of course, manages the Blue Flag awards for our beaches. I heard about Safer Internet Day, promoting the online safety and wellbeing of children and young people, I agreed that we need to end the poverty premium – bills should not cost more if you’re poor and I backed Centrepoint’s drive to provide assistance for homeless young people.

I met with Speaker Lindsay Hoyle at the Speaker’s LGBT+ History Month event alongside so many brilliant colleagues and guests. I will always fight to ensure equality for all, no matter where you come from or who you love.

I also took an HIV test in the House of Commons, following the Prime Minister’s example. It is the government’s mission to end HIV transmissions by 2030 and achieving this goal will be helped by more people testing and it’s never been quicker or easier.

I’m pleased to say that residents from Brightwell Avenue are now free of power cuts since I contacted and worked with UK Power Networks. They have now installed a two-way link box, which allows them to supply electricity from two different substations. I’d like to thank those who got in touch with me on this issue for doing so, and I encourage all constituents to get in touch if they have other concerns like this.

I had a fantastic visit to Leigh Fire Station where I met with firefighters and talked about the dedicated and crucial work they do for all of us in the constituency. Our emergency services are an invaluable community resource and Leigh Fire Station is a brilliant example of the hard work the crew do.

In my role as Vice Chair of the APPG for Ukraine, I recently joined the Centre for Geopolitics and their Future of Ukraine programme to provide an opening address at their conference at Cambridge University. The international delegates included Ukrainian MP, Yevheniia Kravchuk, and many other esteemed guests. The UK will always stand side by side with Ukraine.

I have also just returned from a five day UK delegation to the war-torn country where I witnessed first-hand the nightly air raids with all the anxiety that brings. While there I met with residents, businesses, hospital staff, injured soldiers, MP’s, Mayors and The Speaker of the Rada (Parliament) to talk about their country, their work and the challenges they face during a time of war.

Ukraine’s people show an incredible amount of resilience, and I was delighted to be able to join them and support them including taking part in the 3 year anniversary remembrance event in Freedom Square with President Zelenskyy and other world leaders.

During my visit I was able to share details of our hundred-year partnership signed between the UK and Ukraine, showing that we are here to support their country for the long term. Slava Ukrani!

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