The spiralling constituency casework of our MPs ad MSPs

The Herald Scotland

3 days ago

It really wasn't that long ago that MPs, particularly the Scottish ones, would only ever visit their constituencies.
They'd be met off the train by brass bands and schoolkids waving flags, then spend a couple of weeks pottering about — opening summer galas, speaking at the odd dinner — before heading back to the safety of Westminster.
In a recent report for Nuffield, Dame Karen Buck quotes Roy Hattersley who in his autobiography tells the tale of an election hustings in 1951.
He was helping out the Labour candidate George Darling, who responded to his predecessor's reputation as an absentee MP by 'making a solemn promise to return to the constituency every three months and, during the Saturday of his visitation, make himself available for assistance and advice'.
Dame Karen — former Labour MP for Westminster North — uses this story to show just how much the job has changed.
And it's change driven by demand. Cuts to legal aid, the collapse of local advice services, a shrinking third sector, and overstretched public agencies mean MPs' constituency offices are picking up the slack.
Talk to any MP or MSP who's been around for a couple of terms and they'll tell you the volume of their casework has soared, and that it's far more complex.
Dame Karen reckons it's gone up eight- to ten-fold between 1997 and 2024.
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People are asking for help with housing, immigration and visas, benefits and welfare, health, education — plus local stuff like planning disputes, community safety, wobbly pavements and dog poo.
Increasingly, she notes, MPs are also being leaned on for legal help.
One of the striking things about the Sandie Peggie tribunal currently taking place in Dundee is how early the nurse felt forced to rely on her MP for support with the disciplinary process.
But is this sustainable?
'Even with the most committed local MP, there will be a point of overwhelm,' Dame Karen writes. 'Where the volume of cases reduces how much attention can be given to each, and impedes their hopes of achieving anything on the national stage.'
She warns that if it continues, the system risks 'failing the constituent and frustrating the effectiveness' of MPs.
And it's unfair. If an MP is someone's last resort, their chance of getting help depends on their MP's willingness and knowledge, the skill of their staff.
The human cost is immense. Constituents who turn to their MP are often already desperate.
One survey found that without early advice, problems escalate until people are 'destitute or at risk of losing their homes' by the time they reach out — making things far harder to fix.
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Dame Karen recalls suicidal despair being disturbingly common.
Some of this is, of course, the fault of MPs and MSPs, who have prioritised and advertised for casework in a way their predecessors wouldn't have previously done.
But the answer isn't more work for MPs. It's fixing the broken system around them.
That means reinvesting in legal aid and local advice services, so people get help before things spiral. It's about making the Home Office fit for purpose, and a properly functioning justice system.
It shouldn't be left to MPs to pick up the pieces.