Amber as your Member of Parliament
As Amber is Secretary of State for Department for Work and Pensions she unable to speak in any debates within the Chamber unless it is the Department for Work and Pensions Oral Questions. However, Amber is permitted to write to Ministers of State on behalf of her constituents in relation to any matter.
If your concern relates to a local matter, then Amber can contact the Local Council or County Council to address the situation.
Please click here for more information on how to contact Amber.
The role of a Member of Parliament
Members of Parliament are elected to the House of Commons to represent the interests and concerns of all the people who live in their constituency, whether they voted for them at the General Election or not. They are only able to deal with issues raised by people who live in their constituency, called constituents.
MPs consider and vote on legislation and use their position to ask government ministers questions about current issues.
They split their time between working in Parliament and working in the constituency. In Parliament, MPs spend their time fighting for the interests of their constituents, attending debates, scrutinising and voting on legislation, and attending meetings. In the constituency, MPs hold advice surgeries for their constituents to come and talk to them about local issues and problems, attend meetings and community events, as well as visiting local organisations and businesses.
When a constituent writes to their MP, they will write to the relevant department or official or the Minister involved. Many problems are solved in this way.
Alternatively, if a constituent is happy for the issue to be made public, a backbench MP can ask an oral or written question, secure a debate or petition Parliament.
MPs do not have any jurisdiction over local Council decisions. However, they can write to a local Council and ask them to look into a problem or to reconsider an issue. In the first instance, constituents should contact their local Council or Councillor.