Westminster Life: Delivering on policing promises

Now more than ever, times of hope and reflection are crucial in our unsettled world. In Peterborough, I’m pleased to be able to say my team and I were able to help with 453 bits of casework last month. This is the best part of being Peterborough’s MP – helping the people who live in our great city.

I have never been so sure that the future of our great city is in safe hands as when I attended the Youth Council Bright Futures Awards earlier this month. It was a fantastic evening, and a brilliant award ceremony aimed to recognize and celebrate young people aged 11-18 and their achievements around the city.

A huge congratulations to the nominees, winners and organisers – we have such a fantastic generation coming up in Peterborough.

I’m also thrilled that this month, the Labour Government and Prime Minister delivered on a manifesto pledge to roll out the Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee, ensuring that every community will have dedicated and specialist neighbourhood policing teams.

The Neighbourhood Policing Guarantee will put 13,000 more officers into neighbourhood policing roles by 2029, an increase of more than 50%. By the start of next year, 3,000 new neighbour officers will be onboarded. All of them visible, serving the community – not stuck behind a desk or taken away to plug shortages elsewhere.

The early focus of the plan will be to establish named local officers, target town centre crime, and build back neighbourhood policing, meaning hard working people can feel safer and more secure in their daily lives.

This is brilliant news. I know how important an issue this is for people in our city, and I will continue to push for more bobbies on the beat here in Peterborough, starting with the city centre.

In Westminster, I’m still championing the importance of skills and apprenticeships – crucial for our city and our country. The Apprenticeships and Technical Education Bill recently had its third reading in Parliament. It may not be a catchy title, but it will lead to Skills England, and a renewed focus on apprenticeships and skills.

We need to get going on this. It is not just a political slogan or the subject of debates down in Parliament, but the message I hear from businesses, providers and schools in Peterborough.

We need a genuine partnership in places such as our community between colleges and employers to ensure that we are providing leadership at all levels; we need practical action and leadership, working together to improve lives and our economy.

On a different but crucial note, I’m also thrilled to see thanks to the Labour Government’s action, over 1,500 extra GPs have been recruited since 1st October. We all know how important the front door to our NHS is. But when I knock on doors in our community, local residents regularly vent their frustration after enduring the ‘8am scramble’ and the difficulty that they have in getting a GP appointment.

I promised residents in Peterborough that we would help bring back the family doctor and I’m delighted to see over 1,500 examples of Labour continuing to deliver on that promise.

Hope in difficult times is so important, and this Easter, I wish everyone who celebrates a peaceful time with family and loved ones.