The quality of life for Woking residents is my absolute priority as your MP - whether that be keeping a roof over everyone's heads or maintaining clean waterways.

Here in Woking, we are fortunate to have organisations doing extraordinary work to support some of the most vulnerable in our community.

One example is York Road Project; they were my mayoral charity and now I am championing them as MP.

What began as a winter night shelter run by local volunteers 30 years ago who believed that no one should be left out in the cold has grown into an important local charity.

Today it provides a night shelter to keep people off the streets and a day centre that helps people turn their lives around.

Although York Road Project is supported by Woking Borough Council, the Project goes above and beyond what the council can do.

Local authorities are spending more than ever on temporary accommodation to keep people off the streets but the cost has risen from £200million in 2015 to more than £1.3billion today, whilst local councils face a wider funding gap of around £4billion.

Too often temporary accommodation becomes long-term housing, with families left in limbo. Even more worrying is the quality of some of the temporary shelter.

It’s appalling that 74 children died in the UK in the past five years because of inadequate temporary accommodation, with 58 of those children under the age of one. That is simply not acceptable in modern Britain.

The work of organisations like York Road Project shows what compassion and community can achieve. The Government must now match that effort by ensuring that no one sleeps rough on the streets.

Another ongoing issue is the sewage dumping scandal, one of the most disturbing instances of environmental vandalism in recent memory. Myself and my Lib Dem colleagues have campaigned hard to end this.

Woking is served by one of the worst offenders: Thames Water.

New analysis has revealed the shocking scale of sewage dumped by Thames Water. Research based on the company’s own data shows that since 2021, Thames Water has discharged untreated sewage more than 39,000 times, with at least 8,499 illegal spills, including here in Woking.

Our rivers and waterways should be protected spaces where wildlife thrive and residents can enjoy the natural environment. Instead, they are often treated like dumping grounds for pollution.

For me, this goes beyond poor performance; it’s ecological destruction on an industrial scale.

Even more frustrating is that while these spills are happening, Thames Water is drowning in billions of pounds of debt and failing to invest properly in the infrastructure needed to prevent this pollution.

Customers continue to pay their bills, yet the company has failed to deliver on their basic responsibility to protect our environment.

That is why Lib Dems have called on the Government to place Thames Water into Special Administration. Doing so would allow the company to be properly restructured and ensure that investment goes into fixing our ageing pipes and sewage systems, rather than lining the pockets of shareholders and offshore investors.

We also need long-term reform. The Lib Dems and I are calling for water companies to move towards a mutual ownership model, putting customers and the environment ahead of profit.

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