Sarah Coombes MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Jun 2025 · Regional Growth · Hansard source

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  May I welcome this Government’s £2.5 billion investment into the west midlands? It will allow our Mayor Richard Parker to make strategic decisions such as the extension of the tram, enabling my constituents in West Brom to get to east Birmingham, which is fantastic. Does he agree that that will drive growth not just in Birmingham, but in the Black Country and the entire west midlands?

• 27 Nov 2024 · Respect Orders and Antisocial Behaviour · Hansard source

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  Residents in Kenrick Way, in West Brom, dread Friday and Saturday nights, because selfish people race their cars up and down the street, causing deafening noise and extremely dangerous crashes. This has been going on for years and years, despite the efforts of Sandwell council and the West Midlands police. What will today’s announcement do to stop the racers and give residents in West Brom some peace and quiet?

• 18 Nov 2024 · Bus Funding · Hansard source

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  Buses are essential in my constituency, which is why I am grateful to the Government for the £50 million invested in the West Midlands combined authority area. When operators cut services, such as the 46 bus that goes through Hamstead in my constituency, it is devastating for the community. After decades of failed deregulation, I am grateful that the Government are turning the page. Does the Secretary of State agree that it is much better for local leaders to have control over local bus services?

• 14 Nov 2024 · Fly-tipping · Hansard source

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  Sandwell Litter Watch does a great job of keeping our streets clean, but it and the council cannot overcome the selfish behaviour of fly-tippers, who dump rubbish all over the borough, from Yew Tree to Oldbury. Incidents of fly-tipping in Sandwell are now double the national average. Will the Minister set out further how the Government are working with councils to catch and punish these dreadful fly-tippers?

• 5 Nov 2024 · Income Tax (Charge) · Hansard source

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  For too long, our economy has not worked for West Bromwich—low wages, low growth, broken public services, families unable to make ends meet and our huge potential going unfulfilled. That was the legacy of the Conservative Government, and that is why the country voted for change. Last week, finally, we saw a Budget that turns the page. I would like to thank the Chancellor for this historic Budget and talk about three things: how it looks after the finances of families in West Brom, how it gets our public services back on their feet, and how it will turbocharge growth in the west midlands. Last week, Labour’s Budget looked after ordinary families in West Brom. During the election, we promised that we would not put up taxes on working people—a promise that we have kept. Carers were being trapped in poverty by the weekly earnings limit, so we have raised it. Young people were doing the same work for less pay, so we are changing that. Perhaps most significantly of all, 12,000 workers on the minimum wage in Sandwell will receive a £1,400 pay rise next year. That is the difference that the Labour Budget makes. The Budget was also for public services and, critically, our NHS. In West Brom, our GP satisfaction rate is 15% below the national average. We have 80,000 people waiting for a hospital appointment and, absolutely scandalously, life expectancy in my area has been falling over the last 10 years. The Conservatives spent a decade destroying the NHS and now it falls to us to rebuild it. Last week, our Labour Chancellor gave the NHS a cash injection that will deliver 40,000 extra appointments a week, state-of-the-art new equipment, and support for our NHS staff, who have been pushed to breaking point. All that is futile without reform, and earlier the Secretary of State set out how we will achieve that. But the people of West Bromwich know that if we want a well functioning and modern NHS, we have to pay for it. We have made difficult decisions to do that. I finish by highlighting that the Budget was fantastic for the west midlands. It will support manufacturing jobs in the automotive industry, which is so important to the region. It secured the future of HS2 to Euston because people do not want to get on at Birmingham and off at Old Oak Common. It funded the extension of the metro to Brierley Hill and gives our Mayor, Richard Parker, a funding settlement for good bus services and local projects that will make a difference. Under a Labour Government, West Bromwich is going to see the change that my constituents voted for. I am proud that my party has delivered a Budget that fixes the foundations, protects ordinary people and rebuilds our NHS.

• 25 Jul 2024 · Topical Questions · Hansard source

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  T6. The covid-19 pandemic devastated families in West Bromwich. In our borough of Sandwell, 1,476 people lost their lives. Now the covid inquiry is exposing just how poorly prepared we were and that insufficient thought was given to how the pandemic would affect ethnic minority and deprived communities. What will the Government do to work with local government and across the board to ensure that we are better prepared in future?