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.

Free school meals, warm homes, new free breakfast clubs and millions of pounds for transport are just some of the benefits that have come Southend’s way under this Labour government.

We have now announced our spending review, which outlines departmental budgets for the rest of this parliament. The NHS will receive a 3% growth in day-to-day spending and the largest capital budget ever, helping to keep bringing down waiting lists as well as supporting it to reform in the longer term.

Around £2.4 billion per year will be invested in the School Rebuilding Programme and we will see the biggest boost to investment in social and affordable housing in a generation.

We are also putting funding into green energy, securing our borders, defence and policing. A 2.3% increase per year in real terms will support frontline policing to make the streets of Southend safer as well as freezing the £3 cap on bus fares.

This Spending Review is about investing in Britain’s renewal – in your security, health and economy – so you and your family are better off.

As well as four interest cuts in the last 12 months, wages have gone up more in the first 10 months of this Labour government than in 10 years under the Tories.

The spending review invests in the public services and infrastructure that are most important to working families. Labour’s first budget was to fix the foundations; now we are investing in Britain’s renewal.

In parliament I have been busy with line-by-line scrutiny of the Mental Health Bill as part of my work on the committee. As well as drawing attention to issues surrounding men’s mental health, a much-neglected area and pointing out the need for tighter rules governing racial inequalities in mental health care, I told the heart breaking story of two constituents of mine.

John, once an active community member, was diagnosed with dementia and later moved into a care home where Carol, his wife, was initially satisfied with his care. After a change in medication, John became agitated, and Carol agreed to an assessment without fully understanding its implications. From that point, she felt excluded from decisions about his care.

Despite holding Power of Attorney, Carol was not allowed to be present during the assessment or stop John from being detained under the Mental Health Act. She was given only 30 minutes’ notice before John was taken from the care home to a secure mental health ward, a traumatic experience for both of them.

Though initially told the detention would last two weeks, John remained there for eight months. During this time, his health deteriorated significantly. Carol, who had prepared their home for his return, was unable to have him discharged. He eventually moved to a nursing home after a hospital admission and died two weeks later.

Carol feels strongly that the fear and anxiety of his final months contributed to his death. Carol understood that her husband was dying. All she wanted was to be included in making decisions about his care. She told me: “I wanted him to die in a bed with clean sheets, with a window open and with me by his side.” And yet these wishes were not taken into account.

Stories like this illustrate why our work in parliament on legislation like the Mental Health Bill is important. I want to ensure that this is never repeated and our new law will prevent it happening again through changes to the nominate person provision.

In Southend I have been out and about, enjoying the junior music festival at Cliffs Pavilion, where Eastwood Primary and Leigh North Street schools were among those who had us dancing along. I boarded the Wilko Johnson train for its inaugural journey, which c2c have named in honour the late Essex rock legend and I joined the RSPB Nature Surgery at Leigh Community Centre, where we talked about what the government can do to protect our area’s unique and fascinating wildlife.

I celebrated Eid Al-Adha with the Muslim community and councillors at Leigh Community Centre and popped into Leigh library as part of National Libraries Week. It was good to hear feedback and suggestions from residents at Highlands Surgery Patient Participation Group and I had Year 4 pupils clamouring for my job at West Leigh Junior School’s Careers Day.

I was also delighted to congratulate the winners at the Southend United Community Foundation Awards. Well done to all of you for the positive work this foundation does locally.

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