Monthly Update From Claire Hazelgrove MP

As always, I’ve been working hard for you across our entire constituency, with my team and working on 793 new cases. I held my regular advice surgery, this time in Filton, and knocked on doors to listen in Patchway.

Doing politics differently, I held a ‘Pub Politics’ event in Bradley Stoke and my latest ‘Coffee with Claire’ event on crime and anti-social behaviour with Clare Moody, our Police and Crime Commissioner, in Emersons Green.

Knowing how broken the SEND support system is, I have collated views from local parents and schools, including through a specific ‘Coffee with Claire’ event and online survey, and shared these with the Education Secretary. I was pleased to receive a letter from her recognising our community’s influence in shaping new significant proposals for improving SEND support.

These involve a complete overhaul of the system – unrecognisable from the failed one where parents have to battle for support for their child – with expert support as a new standard in mainstream schools, backed by £3.7 billion investment to expand specialist support.

In the House of Commons, I asked the Education Secretary how local parents and others could help further shape these proposals. She confirmed she wants to hear your thoughts as the next step, and I will organise another local event shortly.

I was also proud to raise the experience of Stoke Gifford mum Christine Lote in the House of Commons, whose incurable stage 4 cancer diagnosis could not be considered when allocating her daughter’s primary school place. The Schools Minister confirmed that a new school admissions consultation will look at this.

I also spoke in a debate on health systems in Gaza, calling for our Government to continue to do everything possible to help vulnerable children.

I believe politics and Parliament should belong to everyone, so was pleased to welcome students from UWE, Coniston Primary and those who are home educated to Parliament.

Locally, I met with South Gloucestershire Council’s Cabinet Member for Communities and Local Place, Cllr Sean Rhodes, to discuss real progress on Hambrook Junction as part of our joined up work. Since 2019, two consecutive years of legally safe air quality data has been required for restrictions to end, but not met before now.

I’ve contacted Government Ministers to make sure the Council have the information they need on next steps if this is now – as we all hope – confirmed shortly. As the first woman in history to serve our community in Parliament, I joined an International Women’s Day panel, chaired by Cllr Natalie Field, on women’s experiences in typically male dominated sectors. With 40% of MPs women, but still more abuse and higher barriers, there’s some real progress but more to do.

It was great to visit Abbeywood Community School to hear students’ priorities and see their robotics engineering workshop in action, and Winterbourne Academy for a wide-ranging Q&A session with students.

As ever, please get in touch anytime:
[email protected].

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