Contact Rachel

I can offer assistance with a wide range of issues including immigration, housing allocations and repairs, employment, Universal Credit, child maintenance and other local government issues.

Please remember to include your full name, postal address, email and telephone number. When contacting me in respect of a personal casework matter, please also include any relevant reference numbers (such as your Home Office reference number or National Insurance number). Such details will help my staff to deal with your case more efficiently.

It is important to note that Members of Parliament are prohibited from giving legal advice. MPs also do not have any powers to interfere or intervene with decisions made by local councils or government departments such as the DWP or the Home Office.

For legal representation, please contact the Luton Citizens Advice Bureau who can refer you for legal help.

I offer face-to-face advice surgeries for constituents.

To book an appointment, please email [email protected] and please remember to include your name, address and telephone number, along with a brief outline of the issue as we might be able to offer immediate help.

When you send a case to us, we need to understand what the issues are and how they have affected you. Simple, clear language that explains what happened to you is more helpful than complicated, formal writing.

We know some people find AI tools such as ChatGPT helpful to write letters or emails. Please be aware that AI-generated text can sometimes make it too complicated or include legal references that are not relevant. This can increase the time it takes us to review your case and we might ask you to resubmit it.

Urgent Assistance

Should you be in need of urgent assistance (especially when our office is closed), the following organisations may be able to help you:

• Samaritans –call: 116 123, text: 07725 90 90 90 or email [email protected]
• Childline – counselling and advice for under 19s. 0800 1111 www.childline.org.uk
• National Domestic Violence Helpline – 0808 2000 247 www.refuge.org.uk
• Women’s Aid Refuge – Office hours – 01582 391856 https://womensaidinluton.org/
• Police – To make a non-urgent crime report phone 101 or report online https://www.beds.police.uk/
  
• Age UK – 0800 678 1602 https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bedfordshire/
• StreetLink – 0300 500 0914 https://www.streetlink.org.uk/
• Citizens Advice Bureau – 0800 144 8848 https://www.citizensadviceluton.org.uk/
• Luton Council – office hours 01582 546000  https://www.luton.gov.uk/  
• Central Bedfordshire Council – 0300 300 8301 https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/

I understand that the circumstances prompting a constituent to contact my office can often be stressful or upsetting, and that when constituents engage with me on social media this can be regarding issues they feel very strongly about. However, I will not tolerate unacceptable behaviour and neither will my staff.

Our office standards policy applies to communication in person, by phone or email, and over social media including in direct messages and comments.

Please note my staff and I only see constituents at my office by appointment, there is no walk-in access for security reasons.

My staff and I will not tolerate:

• Aggressive or violent behaviour or language.
• Offensive or derogatory language, especially when targeting protected characteristics including race, gender or sexuality.
• Unreasonably frequent or demanding contact, especially on the same issue or when a timeframe to deal with a query has been set out.
• Insisting on speaking to me or an alternative member of staff when this is not appropriate or possible.
• Continuing to demand action when we have done all we can to resolve an issue.
• Sharing of staff personal information or attempting to contact staff on personal accounts.
• Non-consensual recording and/or publishing of interactions with me or my staff.
• Misleading or false information being published about me, my staff, or our activities.

Based on this policy, we reserve the right to give verbal or written warnings to constituents and, if necessary, terminate communication. We also reserve the right to block social media accounts or remove comments if their conduct violates the above guidance and does not contribute to constructive debate.

We will deal with incidents on a case-by-case basis and reserve the right to make decisions based on context and the experience of our staff.

Where applicable, we of course aim to provide reasonable adjustments to constituents who may struggle to express themselves or communicate clearly. This may include using particular methods of communication, facilitating translation, or providing clear warnings when conduct approaches violating our policy.