Parliamentary life continues apace with speeches, debates, and questions in the House on behalf of the residents of Southend West and Leigh.
I raised the lack of provision for children with Special Educational Needs (SEND) in parliament and discussed local mental health services provided by the Lighthouse Child Development Centre during a speech responding to the budget.
A Landmark Budget
And what a budget it was! It is a budget that fixes the foundations to rebuild our schools, hospitals, and broken roads while ensuring working people don’t face higher taxes in their payslips.
In a landmark moment, it was delivered by the first female Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Urgent NHS Support for Southend
As I outlined in my speech, change cannot come soon enough here in Southend. Our hospital is struggling with costs, even recently deciding to ban staff from ordering new uniforms!
- Waiting times: 29 weeks for outpatients and 26 weeks for elective surgery outside of cancer care.
- Neurodevelopmental assessment waits: Between 28 months and two years (should be under four months).
The £25.6 billion earmarked for the NHS in the budget will help address these pressing challenges.
Boosting Support for SEND Families
Families waiting for assessments for Special Educational Needs are being let down. Hundreds of families in my constituency are in the queue for assessments.
I welcome the 6% uplift on SEND provision in this budget. The great news is that this is just the start of investment in this area.
Successful Water Quality Summit in Leigh-on-Sea
Shortly after the budget, we hosted a hugely successful Water Quality Summit at Leigh-on-Sea Sailing Club. It was an incredibly constructive meeting with presentations from Anglian Water and the Environment Agency, who promised:
- 30 additional officers across the East, including Southend.
- Increased inspections to improve water quality.
Anglian Water announced a £350,000 water tank project, set to be installed early next year, to tackle persistent flooding in Thorpe Hall Avenue. They also gave me a fascinating tour of their Water Recycling Centre at Stock Road, Southend.
Protecting Southend’s Coastal Waters
We are building on this great progress, a sentiment echoed by the Southend Against Sewage campaign and local cold-water swimmers.
A hardy group of wild swimmers braved the chilly seas to show how much they value our coastal waters. My fellow Labour MP, Bayo Alaba, who co-hosted this summit, called our coastal waters “Southend’s Superpower.”
Celebrating Black History Month
I spoke about my family history in the first debate in the House of Commons Chamber for Black History Month. Some say I am the human form of the United Nations, with Guyanese, Liberian, Irish, French, Scottish, and Dutch ancestors!
by David Burton-Sampson
MP for Southend West & Leigh
david.burtonsampson.mp@parliament.uk