Helping people is one of the best things about being an MP

People in Ashfield, just as across the country, face all sorts of problems today, and it is so important that they have support in dealing with whatever the issue may be.

A Jacksdale women has spent almost a year homeless and relying on friends for their sofas.

She has not been able to access her severely-delayed PIP (Personal Independence Payment), which she needed due to not being able to work.

In addition to this, she has been suffering with mental health problems.

I am so pleased that after coming to my office for help, she has now had her payments through, and been granted a council bungalow, where she is settling in.

Another constituent in Huthwaite has been struggling to start her new job because of delays by the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS).

Thankfully we have now resolved the issue, got the clearance, and she is able to get on with her work.

You may have read in these pages that there has been a battle to have the road at Jasmine Gardens in Annesley maintained properly and adopted by the council.

Coun Don Davis and I put pressure on Persimmon Homes, who built the estate and currently still have responsibility for the road, and the company has finally agreed to resurface the road, though the adoption issue continues to be pressed.

You may have seen that the Government has announced a public sector pay rise.

This is welcome but not enough, and it hides some of the realities.

Most pay rises will be below consumer price inflation (2.4 per cent), effectively meaning continued pay cuts, and the Treasury will not allocate any new money for rises above one per cent.

However, the Tories did find new money for £70 billion worth of cuts of tax cuts for millionaires.

It is clear that the announcement is smoke and mirrors, and that the Conservatives cannot be trusted to be on the side of our hard-working public sector staff.