Weekly Update - 10 January

Dear John

NHS

This week, the Prime Minister announced plans to make millions more NHS appointments available to patients closer to home. In my constituency, I’ve seen NHS waiting lists skyrocket, leaving thousands of my constituents suffering or in pain with their lives on hold. We have announced a variety of reforms to cut waiting lists. We will: Slash NHS waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks Make sure community diagnostic centres will operate longer hours (12 hours a day, seven days a week) for faster, local treatment outside hospitals Make a deal with private clinics to treat NHS patients – with particular emphasis on joint operations and gynaecological procedures Find out more about our plan to cut waiting lists here. The Prime Minister has also set out plans to give more power to patients over their healthcare. Patients will also benefit from: An upgraded NHS App will enable patients to choose providers, book appointments in more settings and receive test results, all in one place The establishment of minimum standards patients should expect as they wait for care The ability to view and manage appointments at a time and place that is convenient to them, reducing missed appointments Find out more about our plan to give more power to patients here.

Immigration

Since coming into power, this government has taken swift and robust action to secure our borders. We’ve already smashed our targets and returned 16,400 people with no right to be here, the highest number in more than half a decade. This week, we launched a world first sanctions regime to cripple people smuggling crime rings and starve them of the illicit finance fuelling their operations. We are delivering on our commitment to protect the UK’s borders. This new regime will boost our ability to prevent, combat, deter and disrupt irregular migration and hold the perpetrators accountable. Find out more here.

Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill

As an ex-children's services manager, I have worked with thousands children who have been failed by a disjointed system. The landmark Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which passed its Second Reading in Parliament this week, will finally stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks through historic reforms to safeguarding and children’s social care. Our bill will: Introduce a register for children that are not in school Fund free breakfast clubs, saving £450 per child Cap the number of branded school uniform items, saving £50 per child You can read more about our safeguarding reforms and plans to break down the barriers to opportunity here. On Wednesday, the Conservatives had a chance to back our plans to protect vulnerable children from abuse. They failed to do so. If they truly cared about the safety and wellbeing of children and young people, they would support our bill because the measures already set out are designed to keep children safe and protected. The Conservatives have suggested they were calling for a public inquiry into grooming gangs. What they were actually doing was trying to kill our bill altogether. Here is the text of their amendment:

I have been shocked by the politics being played by the Conservatives. This isn't about political manoeuvring - it's about the safety of our children.

Ticket touting

For too long, fans have faced an uphill battle to find face value tickets to see their favourite artist perform or sports team play live. These unfair practices look to fleece people of their hard-earned income, which isn’t fair on fans, venues and artists. Labour is launching a consultation to put fans back at the heart of live events. The consultation will explore a range of options to make ticket resales fairer and more transparent, which include: Introducing a cap on the price of ticket resales Increasing the accountability of ticket resale website and apps Strengthening consumer enforcement Find out more about the consultation here.

Violence Against Women and Girls

In a general debate this week about Violence against Women and Girls, our Labour government reaffirmed our unprecedented ambition to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. As an ex-children’s services manger, I have more than 30 years' experience supporting women facing domestic abuse and sexual violence. I welcome Labour’s many commitments to tackling violence against women and girls, including: Fast-tracking rape cases through the courts and introducing specialist rape courts to deliver swift and effective justice Police given powers to issue Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (DAPOs) Empowering police to give women the right to know the identity of their online stalkers, strengthening stalking protection orders and ensuring that the police work with all support services to give victims the protection they deserve Find out more here.

Libraries

Libraries are vital community spaces. They're a base for reading, learning, and wider community activities. For months, I’ve been campaigning to save the libraries in my constituency – Harborne, Quinton and Bartley Green. I'd strongly encourage all groups concerned about maintaining our libraries in the constituency to register their interest with the council. You can read my latest letter here.

Buses Consultation

Have your say about greater public control of our bus network by taking part in the ongoing consultation. You can share your views, and find out more about bus franchising, here.

Police meeting

The next police meeting for Edgbaston and Harborne residents will be held on 23rd January at 6pm at University of Birmingham Old Gym, Ring Road South, B15 2TT Room LG10. Please do come along if you have any issues that you would like to raise with the police.

MHWC

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.

John Alden

I was very sad to hear of the passing of John Alden. John was a respected figure in our community and his contributions will be remembered by many. I’m sure many of you will join me in extending your condolences to Cllr Deirdre Alden and their family.

Best wishes,

Preet Kaur Gill MP Member of Parliament for Birmingham Edgbaston, covering Bartley Green, Edgbaston, Harborne, North Edgbaston and Quinton Promoted by David Evans on behalf of the Labour Party, 20 Rushworth Street, London SE1 0SS

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