By Beds SU
Wednesday, 20 November 2024
Rachel Hopkins MP represents the people who live in Luton South and South Bedfordshire, at the UK Parliament in Westminster. Rachel represents over 2,260 of our students who are resident in their constituency.
The work of an MP
MPs split their time between Parliament and their constituency. In Parliament, they debate and vote on new laws, review existing laws, and question the Government. In the constituency, their focus is on supporting local people and championing local issues. They have a small staff team who help with casework, maintain their diaries, and monitor their inbox.
You can find loads of information about your MP online, whether that’s in the official records of Parliament or through organisations such as TheyWorkForYou.com: enter your postcode to find yours.
As public servants, they are held to account by you, the public. In short, you can vote them in and you can vote them back out!
You can:
- ask your MP to vote in a particular way on new laws because of how they affect you/a group of people that you represent;
- ask for your MPs assistance and support on issues that you care about;
- question your MP on a past vote.
Visiting Beds SU
During Rachel’s visit, your Officers raised the following issues:
The Renters’ Rights Bill
Whilst overall a very positive piece of legislation for renters (e.g. banning ‘no-fault’ evictions) students have been excluded from using the ombudsman for independent review of unresolved complaints.
Officers also expressed concerns for our mature students who were renters before they became students: the landlords of students have effectively lobbied Government to add exclusions for students to ensure that they can change their tenants annually, as is common in big student cities with lots of students who have moved away from home.
Beds SU is concerned that this could put at risk the tenancies of local students who were resident in an area before they became a student, who would not want to change house every year.
Rachel was interested to hear this viewpoint as it challenges the assumption that students are all young and relocating for university. As this Bill is now in the Reporting Stage (coming back to the Houses of Parliament after going through development by a committee) Rachel pledged to write to the Minister in support of students who want or require security in their tenancies.
The Working Hours Cap for International Students
Given the cost-of-living crisis, there is a growing call from International Students to be allowed to work more than the current 20-hour cap to help make ends meet. The current limit of 20 hours is in place to ensure that International Students are able to dedicate the majority of their time to their studies.
Officers explained that due to a mixture of the cost-of-living crisis and a range of shifts in global markets/currencies, the best laid plans of International Students have not worked out and money saved in advance of studies has not gone as far as expected.
Rachel spoke for some time with our Officers who are also International Students about their experiences. Officers expressed concerns about this situation forcing students into low-quality – occasionally exploitative work, that does not add to their long-term employability. Rachel shared that her first “big break” was very much thanks to the experience gained from a summer job, so understood the desire to get quality experiences during their time in the country.
Rachel again pledged to feed this into discussions with Ministers and encouraged students, both elected representatives and more broadly, to speak to their respective MPs to ensure that these student experiences are being heard in the Houses of Parliament.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming Rachel back to campus in the not too distant future.
