Tom Rutland MP
24 March, 2025
Opinion

Political opinion with Tom Rutland MP: Solar panels for Southlands Hospital

Last week I spoke in the Commons about the local challenges we face in our coastal community, including the need for more flood defence funding in Adur, and urged the Government to produce a UK-wide coastal communities strategy. I also raised the resumption of airstrikes in Gaza with the Foreign Secretary, and delivered a petition to Number 10 with Coeliac UK and other MPs to safeguard gluten-free prescriptions for coeliacs. The Government also published its proposals to reform the benefits system and Get Britain Working.

Tom Rutland MP and Paul Hackett, Chief Executive of Southern Housing, at their Topping Out Ceremony in Shoreham

Locally, we received the fantastic news that Shoreham’s Southlands Hospital will be one of the first NHS hospitals to receive Government investment from Great British Energy to install solar panels, which will save the hospital a huge amount on their energy bills.

On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending Southern Housing’s Topping Out Ceremony for Phase Two of Free Wharf in Shoreham which is providing hundreds of new affordable homes, and it was lovely to see families moving into them. Afterwards, I visited St Nicolas Court in Shoreham to chat with residents living in the sheltered accommodation.

I was also glad to meet with GPs at Ball Tree Surgery in Lancing and Shoreham Health Centre to talk about policy and shadow their work.

At the weekend, I knocked on doors in Broadwater to collect casework from residents, before attending the Findon Valley Residents Association’s AGM to talk about a range of topics, including upcoming devolution plans which will shift power out of Westminster and into our local community.