Welcome to my regular newsletter, keeping you updated on my work as your Member of Parliament.

I hope you are enjoying the longer (and sometimes brighter!) spring days – and to everyone celebrating Easter, Eid, Vaisakhi, and Passover over the last few weeks, I hope you had a joyous and peaceful time with your loved ones.

And of course, many thanks to everyone who voted in last week’s elections and to those won, a huge congrats from me!

I wanted to send you an update on what I’ve been up to in Sheffield Hallam and Westminster. As you may have already seen, the government passed their appalling Rwanda Bill – a dangerous piece of legislation designed to punish the most vulnerable in society. I have been working with campaigners to continue holding the government to account and to call for safe passages for refugees and asylum seekers. You can read about this and what else I’ve been up to below.

• I was delighted to join commuters last month to mark the reopening of Dore and Totley station. It was great to speak to Friends of Dore and Totley Station and train operators about the new platform, footbridge, and lifts which have been installed to provide disabled access to and from the new platform. As many of you may already know, the work is part of a £137m upgrade of the Hope Valley Railway, and the completion of this leg of work marks a key milestone.

• A few weeks ago, I was invited by Sheffield Hallam University’s Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre to hear about their work tackling health inequalities through innovative physical activity-related research. It was great to meet with the research team and see first-hand how they work in collaboration with local communities.

• Earlier this month I was thrilled to meet with campaigners to mark the historic news that after nearly 30 years Sheffield’s Supertram network is coming back into public control! I’m super pleased that we’re taking our public transport system back into public control and giving people in Sheffield a real say over how our tram network runs.

• I recently met with Irene who is campaigning with the Royal Osteoporosis Society to improve services for people who suffer with, or are at risk of, osteoporosis. I was dismayed to hear that access to Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) – one of the key services in improving early diagnosis and making treatment more effective – is currently a postcode lottery. I have written to the Health Minister to raise my concerns and have asked for an update on plans to expand provision.

• I had a great time talking to Jane and Edan from the European Leadership Network about why climate change is such an important issue to the people I talk to in Sheffield Hallam, and the creation of the Hallam Citizens’ Climate Manifesto. You can listen to the full podcast episode here.

• A few weeks ago, I visited Tapton School. I was pleased to meet with teachers, pupils, and parents to hear about the good work, and of course, challenges that young child with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities face.

• A small request from me…Dana Cafe need your help! Dana Cafe has been a staple in Sheffield Hallam for the past 7 years, but they are sadly in danger of closing down. They are looking to the local community to help them stay open. Please support their crowdfunder if you can.

• In Parliament’s (belated) LGBT+ History Month debate, I warned that after decades of progress we are going backwards, with some Ministers wanting to take us back to the 80s. But I still have hope – attitudes have changed and to turn the tide we must learn lessons and celebrate all LGBT+ people. You can watch part of my speech here. 

• For International Women’s Day 2024 I spoke to Cosmopolitan about my aims for women, and how after calls from myself, Myleene Klass, and the campaigning organisation, Tommys, the Government is finally introducing a graded model of care – meaning support from a healthcare professional from the first miscarriage. My goal for 2024 is to see that rolled out and hopefully make a real difference to peoples’ lives. You can read the full article here. 

• Like many people across the country, I remain deeply concerned about the conflict in Palestine. In recent weeks I have asked Ministers what the UK government is doing to pressure Israeli authorities to allow aid into Gaza and have also signed a letter calling on the Foreign Secretary to demand that Israel must not use starvation as a weapon of war. You can watch my questions to Ministers here and here.  I will continue to call for a ceasefire and for the ICJ ruling to be implemented.

• I have continued to oppose the disgraceful Rwanda scheme. I met with campaigners from the charity Safe Passage to stand in solidarity with refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. It’s time to end the hostile environment and provide safe passage to the UK for all those fleeing war and persecution. I also spoke at the launch of the APPG on Migration and APPG on Poverty’s joint inquiry into migration and poverty. We know the UK’s immigration system is broken, but this report shows how it breaks the people within it as well. You can read the Guardian article about the report findings here.

• In a parliamentary debate on spousal visas, I spoke about how the government should rethink the prohibitive financial barriers they have put on visas for spouses. As I said in my speech, you can’t put a price on family life but that’s exactly what the government are trying to do. You can watch part of my speech here.
• I spoke to BBC Look North about the Public Accounts Committee’s latest report revealing that only 10% of levelling up funds have been spent. This money should have been out the door and reaching communities in need, but instead the government is wasting time and money. You can watch the clip here. I also wrote for the Yorkshire Post calling on the government to act swiftly and simplify the levelling up system.
• I was pleased to mark World Water Day at a parliamentary event with Water Aid. The climate crisis is creating a water crisis, so it was good to speak to campaigners about prioritising water in climate adaptation.

• I asked the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero about the Government’s decarbonisation plan, which they had promised to publish by the end of 2023 but have yet to do so. You can see my question here.

• I’m proud to be a co-sponsor of the Climate and Nature Bill (#CANBill) introduced in the Commons in March. We must keep pushing to keep climate and environmental ambition and action as high as possible. I was also pleased to meet with campaign group, Zero Hour UK, to discuss how the #CANBill will help us build a healthier, more prosperous, nature rich future.

Dates for your diary: 

11th – 12th May: Festival of Crookes

16th May: Save the date! I’ll be speaking at the Festival of Debate on the Green New Deal and how it offers us a transformative programme to create thriving communities. Get your tickets here.

Across May: Open up Sheffield

19th May – Weston Park May Fayre 2024

17th – 25th May: Sheffield Chamber Music Festival 2024

25th – 27th May: Sheffield Food Festival

12th – 17th June: Sheffield International Documentary Festival

13th July: Save the date! I’ll be hosting a meeting with local businesses to share ideas and discuss about what trading means in Sheffield Hallam. The meeting will be from 4-6pm at Marmadukes Café in Bannercross – sign up details to follow.

Thank you for reading my newsletter. If you would like to share it with your neighbours or friends in Hallam, you can share the sign up link with them here.

As always, please get in touch if there are issues you would like me to raise or campaigns you would like me to get involved with!

Olivia Blake

MP for Sheffield Hallam