Passport Office Delays
Abena Oppong-Asare MP calls on Minister to get a grip of Passport Office delays
Abena Oppong-Asare MP calls on Minister to get a grip of Passport Office delays
Abena Oppong-Asare MP raises urgent case of a Ukrainian refugee struggling to get proof of address
I was very pleased to take part in the recent debate on Windrush Day 2021.
Thank you to @helenhayes_ for bringing today’s Parliamentary debate on Windrush Day. It was an honour to speak and to highlight the determination and dedication of @ppvernon who has done so much to raise the voices of the Windrush generation. pic.twitter.com/DbwPYeeAev
— Abena Oppong-Asare MP (@abenaopp) July 1, 2021
I used the debate to celebrate the Windrush generation and their descendants, but also to raise serious concerns about the operation of the Windrush compensation scheme.
The scheme has been far too slow to pay out and has left many families with even less confidence in the Home Office.
In the debate, I called on the Government to make the scheme fully independent in order to restore trust and confidence.
You can read my full speech here.
As part of my role in the Shadow Treasury Team, I have been pushing the Government to provide more support to people who need to self-isolate.
Labour has always said that health and economic measures must go hand-in-hand, but the Government’s failure has meant too many people have to choose between self-isolating and paying the bills.
At this weeks’ Treasury questions, I asked the Chancellor about reports that the Treasury had suppressed information about how the furlough scheme could be used to support self-isolating employees. This shocking revelation show’s how poor the Government’s approach to economic support during the pandemic has been.
I called on the Chancellor to appear before the joint parliamentary inquiry into the handling of the Covid crisis to explain why the Government has not listened to the experts and introduced a robust self-isolation support scheme.
The Government have been warned 12 times by independent experts & their advisory bodies that support for self-isolation must be improved.
Yet at the height of the second wave the Treasury supressed information about furlough for self-isolation.
The Chancellor must explain why. pic.twitter.com/zMRjp32GOr
— Abena Oppong-Asare MP (@abenaopp) June 22, 2021
After a local GP raised concerns with me about delays in receiving vital test results, I asked the Health Secretary to look into the problem and resolve it as soon as possible.
I will continue to push the Government to improve on cancer care and diagnosis in our area.
Early diagnosis of cancer is critical for saving lives. I was very concerend to hear about local delays in recieving blood test results. I have now raised this directly with the Health Secretary. @CRUK_Policy @macmillancancer pic.twitter.com/JN7fJ3QdfJ
— Abena Oppong-Asare MP (@abenaopp) June 9, 2021
This week I brought together a group of local disability advocacy and support groups to raise concerns about the operation of the benefits system on people with disabilities with Justin Tomlinson, the Minister for Disabled People, Work and Health.
Earlier this year I met with the Minister to raise concerns about how the pandemic had affected people with disabilities and the failure of the DWP to meet the needs of disabled people.
The Minister agreed to take part in a roundtable with local organisations working on the frontline with disabled people.
I have raised a number of these issues in Parliament during a recent debate on the impact of the pandemic on people with disabilities. In that debate I called for the Government to bring forward a national strategy for disabled people as soon as possible.
Key issues raised at the roundtable included a failure to provide accessible information to disabled people, the problems people with learning difficulties face accessing PIP, the impact of benefit assessments on claimants mental health, and the lack of appropriate training for assessors.
Participants also raised problems with disabled people accessing Universal Credit and the problems some people face due to the increasingly online-only system.
The roundtable discussion will feed into the Green Paper on health and disability which is due to be published shortly.
I urge local organisations and individuals to contribute to the consultation process once it is open.
I am determined that nobody is left behind in Erith and Thamesmead, and this means that disabled people need better treatment from the Government.
I hope the Government will listen to the concerns and bring forward concrete proposals to improve the benefits system for disabled people.
Kara Lee from Bexley Mencap said: “It was fantastic to be involved in such an important conversation to share the experiences and views of people with learning disabilities about the benefit system and how it could be improved. Thank you for organising the meeting to give small organisations, and more importantly the people they represent, a voice about such an important topic.”
Alan Kerr from Metro GAD said: “I really valued the opportunity to speak directly with the Minister of Disabled People to express our very real concerns about the benefits system and the impact it has on their lives.”
Press coverage of the event: https://london-post.co.uk/abena-oppong-asare-mp-holds-roundtable-with-government-minister-and-local-advocacy-groups-to-discuss-concerns-about-the-treatment-of-disabled-people/
The Queen’s Speech is a traditional part of the State Opening of Parliament. It is written by Ministers, but it is delivered by the Queen from the throne of the House of Lords. The Queen’s Speech on Tuesday (11 May 2021) set out the Government’s agenda for the new session of Parliament.
Even before the pandemic, we needed to transform Britain – we had 5.7 million people in low-paid or insecure work and 4.2 million children growing up in poverty, class sizes were at their highest for 20 years, one in seven adults were unable to get the social care that they need, and we had one of the worst levels of regional inequality in Europe. Shockingly, life expectancy had also stalled, for the first time in a century. Coronavirus has only further exposed the consequences of Government decisions over the last ten years.
We therefore needed a Queen’s Speech that rose to the scale of the challenge of rebuilding our economy and society. Unfortunately, I believe the one we got only papers over the cracks.
Instead of a plan for jobs and better work, for example, we see different parts of the country pitted against each other for limited funds, too little investment in infrastructure and no sign of the Employment Bill repeatedly promised by the Government.
The Queen’s Speech should also have included a clear long-term recovery plan for our NHS. But with waiting lists at a record high of 4.7 million, what we heard on Tuesday will come nowhere near the scale of the change needed. In addition, long after the Prime Minister said on the steps of Downing Street that he had a clear plan to fix the crisis in social care, there was still no such plan in the Government’s agenda for this session of Parliament.
I believe it is a similar story on skills and education, crime and policing and housing: I do not believe the rhetoric on these issues is being matched by funding, legislation or action. The Government has also failed to take this opportunity to help the thousands of people trapped in unsafe buildings, and hundreds of thousands of leaseholders are caught up in homes they cannot sell or afford.
On democracy, meanwhile, instead of rebuilding trust, the Government is introducing a Bill that will make it harder for people to vote, undermine civil liberties and disproportionately impact ethnic minorities.
Now is the time for a transformative agenda to rebuild Britain’s foundations after a decade of neglect and a year of national sacrifice. Unfortunately, I believe this Queen’s Speech has missed the opportunity to do this.
Summary of announcements in the Queens Speech
Levelling Up
Health and Social Care
Local government, Democracy and Elections
Education and Skills
Housing and infrastructure
Crime and Community Safety
Environment
Recycling reform measures will include introducing a consistent approach to recycling across LAs – consultation on Consistency in Household and Business Recycling in England currently live.
Hospitality businesses in Erith and Thamesmead have had an enormously difficult year. On Wednesday 24 March, the House of Commons held a debate to consider support for the hospitality industry during this pandemic.
I spoke at the debate, highlighting the enormous difficulties our local businesses have faced. Not only have they been closed for many months, but when they have been allowed to open, they have faced a constantly changing set of rules and regulations. Many have not received the financial support they needed from the Government, and many are fearful for the future.
In my speech I raised the concerns of several local pubs – including the Abbey Arms in Abbey Wood which I visited in December as part of Small Business Saturday. Pubs that have reached out to me like The Duchess of Kent in Erith and The Victoria in Belvedere are centres of our communities and they need assurances from the Government that they will provided with support not just to reopen but thrive.
The wedding and events sector has also been extremely hard hit as nearly all their usual business disappeared. Especially worrying is the fact that many businesses in the events sector have been repeatedly refused grant funding by Bexley council – who cite the Government’s tight criteria.
Thank you @abenaopp for standing up for weddings in the hospitality debate yesterday. You have absolutely covered it all – family and small businesses, supply chain, gaps in support… bravo! 👏 #whataboutweddings pic.twitter.com/Rwguo1Pjmm
— #WhatAboutWeddings (@WAWofficialUK) March 25, 2021
If it is properly supported, the hospitality industry can and will play a vital role in reviving our economy after this most difficult year. But we need action from the Government right now to ensure this happens.
You can watch my speech below:
On 8 March we marked International Women’s Day 2021. I used the parliamentary debate on IWD, held on 11 March, to celebrate local women making a difference in our community.
They included Dr Sam Parrett OBE, principal of London and South East Education Group, who has done so much to ensure that young people were supported throughout the pandemic; Sue Stockham, an ovarian cancer survivor, who is using her experience to raise awareness about the signs of ovarian cancer and the importance of getting help quickly during the pandemic; Carmel Britto who is the founding director of LPF Kiddies Club, which offers educational enrichment to young children from African and Caribbean backgrounds; Kate Heaps who is the chief executive of Greenwich and Bexley Community Hospice; and Yeukai Taruvinga who is the founder and director of Active Horizons, a charity that works to support Black and ethnic minority young people in Bexley.
Thank you @abenaopp for making my day. This recognition means alot for me personally but also its testament to the amazing @gbchospice @CNGreenBex team I'm privileged to be part of and our supportive system #partners. #internationalwomensday2021 #hansard #nursing #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/cG4YfiDyzM
— kate heaps (@heapy25) March 26, 2021
I also paid tribute to the countless women who have served on the frontline in our constituency during the pandemic as doctors, nurses, carers, cleaners, and other key workers. I could not name them all, but we must not forget the sacrifices they have made and the burden that has fallen on them.
You can watch my full speech below:
There will be a Westminster Hall debate at 4:30pm on Monday 8 March centring around protests in India against new farming laws after a petition gathered over 100,000 signatures.
I applied to speak at the debate. There were many MPs who wished to take part in this debate and so, unfortunately, I was not selected to speak.
I have been horrified by the images of water cannon, tear gas and brute force being used against peaceful protestors. For the sake of democracy, the farmers protesting in India must be allowed to exercise their right to peacefully protest.
For those who don’t know, concerns have been raised about the impact of three new laws in India on farmers. Taken together, the laws loosen rules around sale, pricing, and storage of farm produce – these rules have protected India’s farmers from the free market for decades.
The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the laws will “benefit small farmers the most”, however their introduction has been met with ardent protests – especially in Punjab and neighbouring Haryana state. Farmers have been camped on Delhi’s outskirts since 26 November 2020 to protest the laws. Tens of thousands of police and paramilitary troops have been deployed to halt the march of protestors.
India’s Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of the laws “until further notice” and appointed a committee to broker a deal between the farmers and the government. Farmers have not accepted the committee, saying that all its panel members are pro-government.
Over British 100 MPs and peers have signed an open letter to the Prime Minister on this issue, calling on him to “convey to the Indian Prime Minister the heart-felt anxieties of our constituents, our hopes for a speedy resolution to the current deadlock and also for the democratic human rights of citizens to peacefully protest”.
On 12 January 2021 I personally wrote to the Prime Minister, urging him to “publicly state [his] commitment to upholding human rights around the world”.
The Indian authorities must commit to upholding the right to peaceful protest and I believe this is a point that the UK Government should be engaging far more actively and effectively with the Indian Government on.
The Westminster Hall Debate can be viewed here.
Through my work I am determined to work with local residents, community groups, businesses and public services to ensure that Erith and Thamesmead is put on the map and we get a fair deal for our community.
E-mail: abena.oppongasare.mp@parliament.uk
Twitter: @abenaopp
Facebook: Abena-Oppong-Asare-MP