Supporting Education and Children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)

The Government is finally appearing to prepare to ban access to some social media sites for the U16s including TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, and clamping down on children being able to talk to strangers over gaming apps.The evidence has been clear and overwhelming for some time: social media is do

There is great concern within the Jewish community in Brentwood and Ongar about the recent antisemitic attacks on individuals, community groups and synagogues.

I always enjoy going to visit our wonderful local charity, SNAP, which offers support, advice and a caring cup of tea to families with a child with special educational needs.The team at SNAP are experts in negotiating the various hurdles and hoops families have to go through to ensure they are getti

I’ve recently visited two Brentwood-based organisations which are doing amazing work to support young people in the town and surrounding villages.DRCC Youth in Brentwood is led by Aaron Watts, an ex‑engineer who now fronts up this growing and vital youth service.

I’ve been campaigning for some time to get smartphones out of schools and children off social media, and I know that very many of my constituents in Brentwood and Ongar support me in this work.After over a year of the government repeatedly dismissing my party’s plans to get smartphones out of school

My Friday constituency visits were delayed last week as I spent the breakfast hours doing the media round, dealing with the breaking news that sacked US ambassador, Peter Mandelson, had failed security vetting but had still been appointed to the role, which allowed him access to top secret Governmen

It was excellent to see so many Essex Members of Parliament, Borough District and County Councillors and candidates for the May local elections gathering at Hutton Hall on Friday for the launch of the Conservatives’ Essex election campaign, presided over by my party’s leader, and Leader of His Majes

There has been a worrying decline in the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people in recent years sparked, it no small way, by the impact of the lockdowns during the Covid pandemic and the vastly increased use of smartphones and social media by young teenagers.I am proud of the previ

Parliament is in recess this week – the equivalent of half term in schools – but, as every good teacher and politician knows, this is a time to plan, update and review.I was in Stapleford Tawney at the weekend giving my thoughts on the unauthorised dumping of waste on private land to Sky News, after

In the last couple of weeks I have visited Kelvedon Hatch Primary School and Brentwood Town Football Club, to meet young students and some of our local footballers.The Kelvedon Hatch Primary School pupils showed me some of the activities they do, including within a forest school environment where li