Recess has given me an opportunity to catch up with a number of visits across the constituency, including Citizens Advice in Southampton, a trip to a park home site in Abbotts Ann and a meeting to discuss a local highway safety issue with National Highways.
The Citizens Advice visit was fascinating, looking at the number and range of issues brought to them by Bassett and Swaythling residents, and being able to compare them with the problems highlighted to me by constituents. There is no doubt that housing and benefits issues dominate both our caseload, but we also had a good discussion about immigration and how changes to the Immigration Rules may well affect local people.
I well remember the challenge of establishing the EU settled status scheme, and the provisions we put in then to enable those who applied after the deadline to be shown leniency and understanding of their circumstances. It was shocking to hear they are still helping young people who had been in the care system navigate applying for settled status to be able to demonstrate their eligibility to live and work in the UK.
The week before last I was at a meeting for park home owners in Westminster, and prior to my current role had been a longstanding member of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Park Homes. I am very conscious this constituency has a significant number of park home sites, and that there are a number of difficulties owners can face. So it was a pleasure to meet the owners and site warden at Kindersley Park and hear the effort they put in to make sure the site is a good place to live. It was interesting to hear about their approach to utilities, making sure everyone has their own meter, thus guaranteeing transparency. If only every site was the same!