Voice of the MP - Chatham and Aylesford

Editor’s note: Each month, we publish a guest column from one of Medway’s elected representatives, rotating between our MPs, council and opposition leaders, and the Police and Crime Commissioner. Today, we welcome Chatham and Aylesford MP Tristan Osbourne, who discusses putting pride back into our communities.

Voice of the MP

by Tristan Osbourne, MP for Chatham and Aylesford

Every week I knock on doors in parts of my constituency, and one of the biggest issues raised when engaged in conversation is the concern around our wider environment, from potholes in the road, graffiti and flyposting, to the long-term challenges to improve housing and our health services.

Rishi Sunak once admitted that his mission in government was to change the funding arrangements for communities like ours, removing money from areas like ours, and this is part of the reason why we inherited a situation in 2024 where people had lost hope in the power of politics to improve their lives.

The record of rising NHS waiting lists, net migration soaring to close to 1m people, a recession in 2023 after interest rates peaked at 11%, schools with RAAC and roads left potholed and cracked. 

People felt communities had been neglected.

It will take time to change this perception. Of course, there will be challenges that will impact, including wars of choice in Iran, and the ongoing war in Ukraine, but this should not allow us the space to reflect on some of the positive change that is happening.

We recently saw the opening of the new James Williams Healthy Living Centre in Chatham. This builds on the efforts of our council to regenerate urban centres, not with business parks in the suburbs but material improvement to our town centres. This council has been laser-focused on regeneration, and we can see the building work all around us.

The NHS is also seeing improvement, though challenges remain. We’ve seen waiting lists falling at Medway Maritime by almost 20%, the opening of new GP surgeries and Community Diagnostic Centres with modern scanners. We are seeing increased commitment to dentistry and the council leading on a plan for new care homes in the community.

Crime numbers are also falling from peak, and this is most evident in safer urban centres, with a 17% fall in recorded Crime since the Local Election in 2023. This is coupled with improvement in enforcement on our roads and investment in visible officers on high streets.

Schools and improving outcomes for our children has also quietly seen a revolution, with free school meal expansion, expansion in nursery provision in schools, uniform cost reductions and a partnership with the council to deliver a Local Plan that will provide the context for continued expansion of schools. 90% of our schools in my area are ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding,’ and this reflects the hard work paying off.

Improving housing and ensuring we build for the future is also critical. We are banning no-notice evictions and ensuring private renters get a fair deal. For many urban centres blighted by poor quality private housing and HMOs, we are moving at speed with Article 4 powers and selective licensing. That will have a profound impact on the quality of housing, including how they present to people.

The £60m Pride in Place funding for Chatham, Gillingham and Strood, adding to the £1.5m allocated to improve shop fronts and commercial premises, will also have real impacts to some of our most deprived neighbourhoods. This is real levelling up, targeted in areas left behind.

More needs to be done. The Labour-led council needs to focus in the next 18 months on the issues that impact residents every day in their lives, and this includes better communication and action on removing those things that make our communities look untidy. Removing litter, fly tipping, graffiti and flyposting is a campaign being led by Naushabah Khan. Fixing and repairing our roads and communicating the challenges we inherited that I am working on, and celebrating the success of investment such as the European energy inter-connector in Grain led by Lauren Edwards.

As MPs, our job is to shout loud about our community. 

Much is changing, much is improving, but challenges remain. It is sometimes easy to focus on the drum beat of negativity, but there is much to be proud about, proud for, and proud that our community can achieve with its endless potential.

Tristan Osborne is the Labour MP for Chatham and Aylesford.