Victoria Collins MP first 100 days

12th October marks Liberal Democrat MP for Harpenden and Berkhamsted, Victoria Collins’ 100th day in office. Victoria pledged to be a hardworking MP bringing local issues to the heart of Westminster. Since her election, Victoria has already:

• Called on the government for cross-party talks on social care
• Met with Thames Water and held a Parliament debate on Sewage in our chalk streams
• Voted against the Winter Fuel allowance and convened local groups to find emergency solutions for local vulnerable people

In her first 100 days she has also: 

• Met with 150 local organisations
• Supported local constituents with over 1500 pieces of casework
• Tabled and sent 50+ parliamentary questions and letters to government Ministers

Throughout her campaign, MP hopeful Victoria Collins made fixing the crisis in health and social care, stopping sewage dumping in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, and supporting local residents with soaring costs during the cost-of-living crisis her main priorities. Just 100 days since Victoria was elected as an MP – these remain her key focuses, and issues she has repeatedly brought to the national stage in Parliament. Victoria hasn’t stopped since her election. In her first few months, she has met with 150 local organisations to discuss the top issues facing her constituents.

Victoria has met with many local healthcare providers working harder than ever about the pressures they’re under and how she can fight to support them in Parliament. She’s pushed for immediate action to fix the social care crisis in Parliament, calling for the government to engage in cross-party talks on social care and the relevant Secretary of State to increase support for unpaid carers, such as by introducing paid carer’s leave.

She has spoken to lots of local people who are worried about soaring energy bills and continued rising costs this winter. She’s also met with local organisations working hard to support them. Together with Age UK and other local organisations, she has set up advice surgeries and gathered resources to get local residents the help they need. She has furthered this in Parliament, by calling on the government to rethink their cuts to Winter Fuel Payments and voting against this policy. Speaking to local businesses she is committed to reforming the broken business rates system and getting support from government for business.

Victoria also dedicated her first Westminster Hall debate to tackling sewage discharges into chalk streams, furthering her long-standing campaign for tough action to stop water companies polluting the four chalk streams in her constituency. Victoria has already written to, and met with Thames Water to raise concerns about sewage spills into the River Ver causing public health risks and endangering biodiversity, and about planned storm overflow upgrades to resolve this not being due to take place until 2026. Ahead of her debate, Victoria organised a meeting involving numerous local organisations that have been pushing for tough action to hold Thames Water to account on this issue, such as the Ver Valley Society, and she has since met with Ofwat to discuss the strong measures needed to end sewage spills.

Furthermore, Victoria has continued to campaign on increasing provision of SEND services, meeting with numerous local schools and families to hear about difficulties they are facing. In Parliament, she questioned the government on changing the current funding formula, with Hertfordshire currently receiving the third least SEND funding per head nationwide. She’s also questioned the Government on the expansion of Luton airport, with one of her first acts as an MP being writing to the Secretary of State to strongly oppose this proposal and raise concerns about damage it could cause to the local environment and noise pollution levels.

At the heart of these meetings and visits have been Victoria’s constituents, and hearing how she can champion action to address local issues both locally and within Parliament. This focus is also reflected in Victoria’s hard work on constituency casework, having handled over 1500 pieces of individual casework for local residents so far.

Victoria was also appointed to the Liberal Democrat front bench as the Spokesperson for Science, Innovation and Technology – a role she was honoured to adopt, and will use to continue highlighting local issues within Parliament.

Speaking about her first 100 days as Harpenden and Berkhamsted’s MP, Victoria Collins said:

“It’s been a huge privilege to have now been serving the people of Harpenden and Berkhamsted as their MP for 100 days. I promised to hit the ground running, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far.

“I was clear in my campaign that my priorities as an MP would be fixing the crisis in our local NHS and care services, protecting our local environment from destructive practices like sewage dumping, and pushing for greater support for constituents through the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. I know from my time talking with local residents that these are the issues that matter most to them.

“These priorities have been reflected in everything I’ve done so far in Parliament – whether that be my recent Westminster Hall debate calling for strong action against sewage spills in our precious chalk streams, my calls on the government to support unpaid carers and social care services, or my voting against the government’s changes to winter fuel payments. These priorities will continue to underlie my actions at every turn.

“It’s also been an absolute privilege to have met 150 local organisations in my time in office so far, to hear about the vital contributions they make to our local community and how I can best support them both locally and on the national stage.

“Our work is, undoubtedly, only just getting started and there’s a lot more to be done after years of the Conservatives failing our local community. However, I won’t stop doing all I can to keep fighting for change on behalf of the people of Harpenden and Berkhamsted, to keep helping them with any issues they have, and to keep representing our wonderful local area to the absolute best of my ability.”