Helping businesses and making sure people have got the skills and training they need to work and earn a decent living is a top priority in Leicester West.
Today I spoke at an event organised by the National Care Association. Care providers told me that they are desperately struggling to find staff and are deeply worried about what this will mean for people who need care. Urgent action is needed to tackle the workforce crisis in social care. […]
Last week I attended the opening of the amazing Walkers Re-play football pitch at the New Parks Hub in New Parks with Gary Lineker, Emile Heskey, and Abbie McManus, as well as other Leicester Legends and players from Leicester Women. The pitch, which has been funded by Walkers, is one […]
Even before the pandemic there were over 100,000 vacancies in social care, and Covid-19 has made the situation even worse. Unless ministers grip this problem, thousands of elderly and disabled people will be forced to go without the basic help they need to do things like get up, washed, dressed […]
After everything they’ve been through during this awful pandemic, it beggars belief that care workers still cant afford the basics of daily living like petrol to get to work and putting food on the table. Our care staff do some of the most important work in society and deserve far, […]
Yesterday I spoke on behalf of the Opposition in a Westminster Hall Debate on research into Motor Neurone Disease (MND). The debate was held after a petition calling for more funding for MND research got over 110,000 signatures. I argued that there was a big opportunity for the Government to […]
On Friday I had a superb day being shown around the newly built Space Park Leicester where they are bringing together world class research & world leading industries to create jobs & skills of future. Space science is used in so many sectors (artificial intelligence, agriculture, cyber security, climate change) […]
I visited Lane7 Leicester for the first time on Friday – it is so impressive how they’ve turned the old Central Station into an entertainment venue! Businesses and the leisure industry have had such a tough time during the pandemic and I’m glad that places like Lane7 are reopening safely.
New figures published yesterday by the End Child Poverty Coalition show that there are over 30,000 children in Leicester living below the poverty line. That’s 6,000 more than there were in 2015. Leicester saw the biggest increase in child poverty in the East Midlands, and one of the highest in […]
On Friday I popped along to Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre to catch up with the centre manager, Simon Revill, about how retail is changing what support is needed in future. Having a thriving retail sector is vital as we emerge from Covid 19 and I will continue to do all […]
As part of my speech at the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services Spring Conference, I am today calling for social care to be treated as part of Britain’s infrastructure, treating it the same way we would the roads and railways. If you neglect your country’s physical infrastructure, you […]
Today is Young Carers Action Day, an annual campaign, ran by Carers Trust to raise awareness about the UK’s 800,000+ young carers. This year’s focus is on the amazing skills young carers gain through caring – like resilience, time management and empathy – which are so valuable in higher education […]
Today I spoke in the final day of Budget debates in Parliament. I argued that reforming social care is a matter of social justice and an economic necessity, and that the governments failure to grasp this fact is undermining growth, productivity and the need to get value for taxpayers’ money […]