It has been an incredibly busy week in Parliament and by the time this article is published the chancellor will have given her first budget – a budget to invest in the infrastructure that we need to get our economy back on track again.
For the first time this week I entered No 10 Downing Street to speak about the challenges faced by folk in Camborne, Redruth and Hayle. This role is such a privilege, and it really was an honour to be able to represent in the heart of government the views of thousands of folk from across our communities who have spoken to me on the doorstep, or who have emailed or who have written to me.
I was able to raise our housing crisis, NHS waiting times, the cost of living crisis and many other areas that you have discussed with me over the last three years.
I also met the chief secretary to the Treasury this week with the three other Cornish Labour MPs to impress on him the importance of the Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to Cornwall. The SPF was meant to be the replacement for the funding that we used to receive directly from the European Union before we left but the sums over recent years have been considerably less that we used to get from being in the European Union. I attended and spoke in Westminster Hall debates on housing in Cornwall and renewable energy opportunities in Cornwall. And I also got permission to have a proper debate in Westminster on critical minerals and how important of Cornish tin and lithium are going to be as we transition the economy away from fossil fuels.
But perhaps the most compelling debate that I attended in the House of Commons this week was on Special Educational Needs (SEND). I know from listening to constituents that there are hundreds and hundreds of children and parents across the constituency who have been suffering for far too long on waiting lists for an autism or ADHD diagnosis, waiting for an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or who have been frustrated by the lack of adequate SEND provision at their children’s schools. In Westminster, time after time, MPs from across the country got to their feet to tell harrowing stories of how a broken system had let down a child and its parents.
Only one group of MPs tried to divert the debate away from SEND – Conservative MPs chose to complain instead about private schools having to pay VAT, even though the VAT the private schools will pay will be ringfenced to invest in state schools.
The Minster was brutally honest about SEND provision in the UK: it’s yet another broken system and will take us time to turn it around. I know you’ll have heard this from me before, but as I keep saying, I will give straight answers to straight questions. The issues of SEND support are high up this Government’s agenda. But we will fix it.
Perran Moon
Labour MP for Camborne and Redruth