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The Tory government has broken Britain’s housing market. Average house prices in Reading are over £300,000 and average monthly rent is upwards of £1,000. The Tories have also severely restricted the ability of local councils to build new homes. This has led to an unsustainable situation, resulting in homelessness rates rising nationally and a generation being…

READING EAST MP Matt Rodda in his role as Shadow Minister for Local Transport addressed the House from the despatch box in a debate on the Second Reading of the “Licensing of Taxis and Private Hire Vehicles (Safeguarding and Road Safety) Bill”. The Bill, brought by fellow Labour MP for Cambridge, Daniel Zeichner, which has…

New data from campaigning group ‘End Child Poverty’ shows that 21% of the children living in Matt Rodda’s Reading East constituency are living in poverty. This is a rise from the previous figure of 19.6% as reported in December 2015. The ‘End Child Poverty’ coalition have released new statistics showing the extent of child poverty…

The Chief Fire Officer of Royal Berkshire Fire & Rescue, Trevor Ferguson, welcomed Reading East MP Matt Rodda to tour the county’s state of the art operational control centre based in Reading, in addition to holding talks on the changes and challenges which the fire service deals with on an everyday basis. Matt was interested…

Labour MP for Reading East Matt Rodda held talks with staff and managers at Reading JobCentre Plus about the roll out of Universal Credit at their premises on Friar Street. The Government started rolling out the new combined 6-payments-in-1 benefit, Universal Credit, in Reading and Woodley from 6 December 2017. Read full article here

MP for Reading East Matt Rodda was invited to visit Caversham Nursery to discuss the challenges arising from the continued Government cuts that are affecting the Nursery and Early Years Foundation Education in the constituency. Matt held detailed discussions with Lisa Bedlow, the Executive Headteacher of both Caversham Nursery and New Bridge Nursery School in…

Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East, visited the University of Reading to discuss the last General Election which resulted in his election, as well as talking about breaking the barriers between the study of politics and its everyday practice. The audience, comprising a selection of third-year undergraduates and Masters postgraduates was facilitated by Dr Mark…

Matt Rodda, MP for Reading East, met recently with Superintendent Stan Gilmour, the Thames Valley Police Area Commander for Reading, to discuss crime and the various community initiatives taking shape in and around the town to help tackle some of the contributory factors that lead towards criminal behaviour. After detailed discussions concerning some of the…

In an exchange during Transport oral questions, Matt challenged the Government on the removal and downgrading of hundreds of bus routes in towns and villages across the country. In his newly-promoted front-bench capacity as Shadow Minister for Local Transport, Matt put a question to Jesse Norman MP, the current Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for…

Municipally-owned Reading Buses have held a consultation on proposals to change the routes serving areas north of the River Thames. The consultation led to Reading East MP Matt Rodda convening two Public Meeting to enable constituents to have their say on the bus company’s planned changes. Read full article here

READING EAST MP Matt Rodda recently visited the new development of selfcontained temporary homes being built at Lowfield Road in Caversham, along with Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Housing, Councillor John Ennis. The homes form part of a wider programme of new builds in the Reading borough. Construction began on the project last Autumn,…

Me2 is a unique organisation based in Woodley which specialises in supporting children and young people with additional needs from the age of 5 to 19 to enable them to attend local mainstream activity clubs. Reading East MP Matt Rodda was delighted to be invited to visit them to learn more about the work they…

In a recent mini-shuffle Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has promoted Reading East MP Matt Rodda to the post of Shadow Minister for Local Transport. On making the appointments, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said: “I am pleased to make these appointments to strengthen Labour’s frontbench team, which is now a Government…

In a constituency-based day of visits which focussed on children, education and young people, Reading East MP Matt Rodda visited the Head and Governing Body at Thameside Primary School. In addition to discussing the variety of challenges faced by the school, Matt listened to details of the excellent work done by teaching and support staff…

Matt Rodda was delighted to attend a presentation at St. Joseph’s College recently. The event was hosted by WYRE, a young enterprise company set up by Sixth Form students of the Reading-based independent college. The business enterprise formed part of the students’ Business Studies A-Level qualification, and focused on the selling electronic of goods at…