November Community Update

Covering my work for you in Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough and Parliament over October.

Bus Service Changes

I have heard from a lot of constituents who are very frustrated and concerned about bus services in their area following service changes at the start of October. I share this frustration and have been in communication with South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, First Bus and Stagecoach to raise concerns about the service changes and service standards of new routes.

Public transport should be in the public interest and I will continue to put pressure on the Government to give us the tools we need locally to stop the managed decline of our bus services. The next Labour Government will do this, and allow local authorities to own and operate buses.

Poppy Appeal

I am pleased to support this year’s Poppy Appeal and met with the Royal British Legion at their Parliamentary Reception to discuss their vital work in supporting service personnel, veterans, and their families.

Gambling with Lives Walk

Earlier in the month families and friends of those who have lost their lives to gambling debts took part in a walk from Sheffield to Leeds. I was grateful to meet them at Sheffield Wednesday Football Ground in Hillsborough to hear their stories and more about their campaign. I spoke to Kay Wadsworth, who lost her daughter to gambling debt. Kay spoke about the urgent need for reform to help the 409 people who lose their lives every year to gambling debts. The Government urgently need to bring forward the Gambling White Paper to bring in stronger regulation of the gambling industry.

Labour Friends of Yemen

It was a privilege to host Labour Friends of Yemen earlier this month, an organisation I am proud to Chair. We had a useful and insightful conversation about the future of the organisation and the situation in Yemen.

Parliamentary Questions

This month I was pleased to be selected to ask questions to both the Department for Business and Department for Health. These are important opportunities for me to challenge the Government on behalf of people in our area.

At Business questions I called out the new Prime Minister’s shameful comments that he wants to change the formulas to take money away from areas like Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough and move this to wealthier areas instead. The public did not sign up for this and I called for a general election now so that people can have their say on what kind of Britain they want to live in. Watch my question by clicking here.

At Health and Social Care questions I spoke about the experiences many women had shared with me and colleagues at the recent APPG on Endometriosis meeting. I asked why women are not seeing the benefits of the Women’s Health Strategy when accessing health services. This is something the Government urgently needs to get a grip on and further cuts to public spending will only make the situation worse. Watch my question by clicking here.

Poverty Action Conference

I was pleased to attend the Sheffield Church Action on Poverty Conference in Burngreave this month. I spoke about the unacceptable levels of poverty in the fifth largest economy in the world and my deep worry that the Government are now considering making further cuts to public funding after they completely crashed the economy. This is a crisis made in Downing Street and now working people are set to pay the price for their failure.

I said that the Government is out of touch and more concerned with protecting their party than doing what is best for the country. We deserve better policies that prioritise those most in need over bankers and billionaires. Only a Labour Government will do that and that is why we need a general election now.

Casework Corner

Over the last month, my team and I have opened 547 new cases, helping people with their issues and concerns.

The most common issues raised with me were:

• Energy bills and the cost-of-living crisis
• Local bus services