Happy New Year!
I hope you and your families had a wonderful Christmas and a restful festive period. Thank you to everyone that worked over the holidays, especially staff at UHB and the public sector.
Last year was a historic year for Britain. In July, people voted for change, and since then, this Labour government has been working hard to deliver it.
NHS
After 14 years of Conservatives, Labour inherited an NHS on its knees. That is why our Government announced £22 billion for the NHS to deliver an extra 40,000 appointments and £3.1 billion for scanners, radiotherapy machines and buildings over the next two years. Read more about our plans to make the NHS fit for the future here.
In December, Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed that we would bring back the family doctor. The Prime Minister announced an extra £889m on top of the existing budget for GP surgeries to address this. Read more about our plans here.
I also welcome the news that the Government will be investing an additional £1.6m to support local authority-led stop smoking services in Birmingham. You can find more information about the benefits of quitting smoking in 2025 here.
The Health Secretary is seeking your views, experiences and ideas are invaluable to help us shape a new 10 Year Health Plan for England. Share your thoughts by submitting comments to the NHS Change consultation here.
Funding for Birmingham Hospice
After lobbying the government on my constituents’ behalf about funding for Birmingham Hospice - which had to make a difficult decision to reduce some of its services and make redundancies - I am pleased that the government has agreed to deliver the biggest investment in a generation for hospices, ensuring that hospices can continue to deliver the highest quality end of life care possible for their patients, families, and loved ones.
The announcement includes a £100 million boost for adult and children’s hospices to ensure they have the best physical environment for care, and £26 million revenue to support children and young people’s hospices. It will help support hospices and deliver much needed funding for improvements including refurbishments, overhauling IT systems and improving facilities for patients and visitors. You can read more here.
Adult Social Care
Raising issues around adult social care in the Chamber
Today, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has outlined how our Labour government plans to fix Britain’s social care crisis.
Louise Casey will chair an independent commission on adult social care, to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service. We will invest an immediate £86 million to the Disabled Facilities Grant, providing about 7,800 extra home adaptations to help disabled people live safely and independently in their own homes.
We’re also developing a shared digital platform to make data sharing between the NHS and care staff easier and will be providing better support for care workers to take on further duties meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home – like blood pressure checks. Read more here.
Crime
At a morning briefing with police
After campaigning for the restoration of neighbourhood policing, I’m thrilled that the Government is investing £48m into West Midlands Police to help fight crime in our communities. You can read more about our plans to take back our streets here.
Potholes
Since I was first elected, my inbox has been inundated with constituents who are frustrated about potholes on our roads. Damaged roads can risk lives and cost families hundreds if not thousands of pounds on repairs.
Labour has announced £1.6 billion to fix potholes and do wider highways maintenance work. It’s a 50% increase on what the Conservative Government spent in 2022 and delivers one of our key manifesto pledges, to get Britain moving again. You can read more about our pledge here.
Children
With Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner and school children in the constituency
As an ex-children's services manager, I know all too well how our care system has failed vulnerable children in this country. It’s great that our government has introduced a landmark children’s bill to Parliament, which will put in place a package of support to drive high and rising standards throughout our education and care systems so that every child can achieve and thrive.
The bill will introduce new registers to identify children who are not in school and pave the way for a unique identifier number for children across services given the shocking cases of children failed by disjointed system. Many of us remember the Arthur Labinjo-Hughes case.
Thousands of pupils will also benefit from a £740 million cash injection to enable more students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) to achieve and thrive in mainstream schools with more specialist facilities. You can read more about our bill here.
Housing and Homelessness
At foodbanks and baby banks in the constituency
We are fuelling growth by reforming planning laws and making the dream of home ownership a reality by building 1.5 million homes. You can read more about our National Planning Policy Framework here.
I have campaigned on housing and homelessness since I was elected in 2017. Over the years, I have helped hundreds of homeless constituents with their housing situation, as well as supporting local food banks, baby banks, mobile kitchens and food collections to support homeless families and rough sleepers in our constituency.
That is why I was thrilled that the Government announced £17.7 million in funding to help tackle homelessness in Birmingham, as part of a government announcement of a record nearly £1 billion for councils to help break the cycle next year. The package includes £5 million for pilots to reduce emergency accommodation in areas with the highest use of B&Bs, including Birmingham. You can read more about our plans here.
Environment
At Edgbaston reservoir
Under the Conservatives in 2023, raw toxic sewage was being pumped for 360 hours into our waterways in Edgbaston constituency – a 69% increase from 2022. That is a disgrace, and the reason why our Labour government has introduced immediate action to end the shocking behaviour of water companies and their bosses.
Our Water (Special Measures) Bill will give regulators new powers to take tougher and faster action to crack down on water companies damaging the environment and failing their customers. These new powers given to regulators include banning bonuses and imposing tougher penalties for law-breaking, including imprisonment for water bosses. You can read more about our landmark bill here.
We have also set out a clean power plan, which will enable us to deliver an energy system that can bring down bills for households and businesses for good. This will protect households in Birmingham, Edgbaston from the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets and high energy prices. It will also unblock the grid, speed up planning decisions and build more renewables to make Britian energy secure with clean power by 2030. You can read more about our Clean Power 2030 Action plan here.
Brsk
Speaking in a debate I called about broadband poles
As your MP, I have been busy in Parliament and the constituency. In Parliament, I called a debate on the rollout of broadband poles in Birmingham, Edgbaston, after my constituents reported to me that unscrupulous providers were needlessly building broadband poles on their roads despite connectivity already being strong and infrastructure already being in place. You can read the full debate here.
3D Guns
From the C4 documentary I spoke in about 3D guns
I proposed a new law to clamp down on those possessing, sharing and building 3D-printed guns. I’m delighted to see that thanks to my campaigning, the Home Office will now introduce legislation to close the loophole that has enabled criminals to share and download these blueprints online.
You can watch a Channel 4 documentary I featured in on 3D printed guns here.
Exempt
My full speech on Exempt Supported Accomodation
Last year, I held a debate on Exempt Supported Accommodation, where I called for the Government to get on with the job of reforming the exempt sector, so that rogue landlords cannot continue to exploit the current system and provide substandard levels of care for a profit. Watch the full debate by clicking on the above video.
Ten Minute Rule Bill
My full speech outlining my Ten Minute Rule Bill
I put forward a Private Members Bill to address the injustice facing Sikh and Jewish people. The Bill would ensure public bodies must include Sikhs and Jews as specific ethnic categories for delivering services. If we consider our legal status as ethnic groups, we should be included. If we consider discrimination we face, we should be included. You can read more about my Bill here.
Libraries
My first letter to the Council fighting for our libraries to be saved
In the constituency, I have been holding the council to account over the future of our libraries and exploring alternative ways in which we can maintain these services. This includes working with constituents to set up community-led Friends of the Library groups for Harborne and Bartley Green, which would mean residents would be directly involved in running or supporting their library service.
Harborne Day Centre
Posing questions about Harborne Day Centre to the commissioner
I have been working with the council and the commissioners to look for alternative ways to maintain Harborne Day Centre, which is a vital resource for carers as well as the people who use it, many of whom have complex needs. I have been holding the Lead Commissioner to account on his decision to suppress a “call in” request from councillors over the decision, which is blocking democratic scrutiny. I am glad to hear that, after my lobbying, the council is now looking at ways to save the centre.
Casework
This year, I have been busy helping thousands of constituents with diverse problems and concerns. I closed nearly 10,000 cases with constituents covering a variety of issues, including housing, crime and policy queries.
Please do get in touch if there is anything you would like me to help you with, by emailing preet.gill.mp@parliament.uk or calling 0121 392 8426.
Local News
On Friday 17th January, the MHWC will be visiting Ferncliffe Road in Harborne, B17 0QG. The centre will be open between 7:30am and 1pm, so please do come along if you have any bulky household waste to dispose of.
Best wishes,
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Preet Kaur Gill MP
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston, covering Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, North Edgbaston and Quinton
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