PRESS RELEASES

Half a million more children nationwide will benefit from Best Start free breakfast clubs from April, as the MP for Ashford, Hawkinge, and the Villages has called on local schools to sign up.

The scheme – offering free breakfasts to all children of primary school age – is being rolled out across the country – including in Kent. There will be seven schools in Ashford will be eligible during the next two rollouts in 2026: Caldecott Foundation School, Ashford Oaks Community Primary School, Beaver Green Primary School, East Stour Primary School, Goat Lees Primary School, Phoenix Community Primary School, and The John Wallis Church of England Academy. Mr. Joseph has written to all seven, urging them to apply for the Labour Government’s scheme.

Half a million more children nationwide will benefit from Best Start free breakfast clubs from April, as the MP for Ashford, Hawkinge, and the Villages has called on local schools to sign up.

The scheme – offering free breakfasts to all children of primary school age – is being rolled out across the country – including in Kent. There will be seven schools in Ashford will be eligible during the next two rollouts in 2026: Caldecott Foundation School, Ashford Oaks Community Primary School, Beaver Green Primary School, East Stour Primary School, Goat Lees Primary School, Phoenix Community Primary School, and The John Wallis Church of England Academy. Mr. Joseph has written to all seven, urging them to apply for the Labour Government’s scheme.

This week’s Budget included a record investment to repair roads and tackle potholes, with £1.5 billion allocated to the South East. Councils across England will be able to fix existing potholes and prevent new ones thanks to a doubling of roads funding by the end of the Parliament.

Earlier this month, the Member of Parliament for Ashford received a response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request concerning delays in patient discharges at Kent hospitals.

The MP submitted the FOI following reports of patients being treated in hospital corridors and even in non-clinical areas such as a Costa Coffee at the William Harvey Hospital.

According to the FOI response from East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT), there were 1,039 delayed discharges as of the week commencing 6 October. Many of these patients could have been discharged if adequate adult social care services were available locally.

Today the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) announced they would be allowing Virgin Rail to use the additional space at the Temple Mills International (TMI) Depot in East London– a decision welcomed by the MP for Ashford, Hawkinge, and the Villages, Sojan Joseph.

Ashford MP Reacts to Reform KCC Suspensions (20th Oct 2025).

South Eastern Labour MPs call on rail regulator to remove barriers that could enable new international trains to stop at Ashford International, ahead of key upcoming decision.

Today (16th September) Sojan Joseph MP (Ashford Hawkinge, and the Villages), Tony Vaughan MP (Folkestone and Hythe), Helena Dollimore MP (Hastings and Rye), Polly Billington MP (East Thanet), and Jim Dickson MP (Dartford) presented a letter to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) at their offices in Canary Wharf, London.

Today, the leader of Kent County Council (KCC), Cllr Linden Kemkaran has doubled-down on her Party’s decision to platform a vaccine sceptic at their recent conference.
MP for Ashford, Sojan Joseph stated:
“Repeating anti-vaccine conspiracy theories is incredibly dangerous. From my time working on the front lines as a matron during Covid-19, I know just how important the vaccine roll-out was. It saved millions of lives during the pandemic.
We already have a below-target uptake of MMR vaccines in Kent, and comments like this will not help improve that – it could make it worse.
It was also deeply disrespectful to repeat unfounded claims about members of the royal family and their tragic cancer diagnoses.
These reckless comments are unfitting of any elected official, and I urge the Reform leader of KCC to retract them and step away from dangerous, conspiracy-fuelled populist rhetoric.”