Visits to the Peabody Estate and Leiths Cookery School
Report back from Andy Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith and Chiswick
Andy Slaughter MP
April 20, 2026
Last week the commons resumed business after a two week pause for Easter recess.
On Tuesday I attended a breakfast roundtable with the Society for Labour Lawyers. The meeting was held to discuss access to justice and the unmet need for legal services. It was a good discussion about how we move forward to ensure we are investing in the future of our justice system and how we support people to access legal help and advice when they need it.
On Tuesday afternoon there was a debate on knife crime. I asked the minister for her view on the proposals by the Safer Knives Group to restrict the sale of pointed knives and replace these with round-tipped knives to help prevent fatal and life changing injuries.
The Justice Committee held a public session on access to justice, and we were joined by experts Richard Orpin, Chief Executive Office of The Legal Services Board and Dr Monisha Shah, Incoming Chair of The Legal Services Board. These sessions allow members of the committee to hear directly from practitioners working within our justice system and help form our reports and recommendations for improvement for the Ministry of Justice.
On Wednesday I attended a walk about of the Peabody Estate on Fulham Palace Road along with the CEO of Peabody, other senior members of staff, members of the Residents Association and excellent councillor for Hammersmith Broadway, Callum Nimmo. It was very useful for residents to speak with senior figures at Peabody to get across their concerns, I look forward to seeing progress on the issues discussed.
On Friday I met with Leiths to discuss their new education programme, bringing cookery classes to state educated children between the ages of 4 and 19. The aim of the programme is to teach children how to prepare and cook healthy food and ensure that this skill is part of every child’s life. Leiths is based in the constituency and has over 50 years of expertise that they want to share.
As you may know, the local elections are coming up on Thursday 7 th of May. You can find out more about the elections and who is standing in your ward here. Remember that the deadline to register for a postal vote is Tuesday 21 st April.
In great news locally, the Government announced recipients of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's Creative Foundations Fund and Hammersmith’s Lyric Theatre has been awarded £534,227. You can read more about the grant and the upgrades it will be spent on here.
Best wishes,
Andy
andy@andyslaughter.com
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