Last week started with fantastic news on the Dormant Assets Bill. For those of you not aware, this is a pool of financial funds that the ownership of which is unknown and are released by the institutions. The announcement was that a Community Wealth Fund will be funded using these assets. This is something that I have led the campaign for since being elected. It is the primary ask of the APPG (All Party Parliamentary Group) for Left Behind Neighbourhoods that I chair along with Dame Diana Johnson. The purpose of the Community Wealth Fund is to help communities in need support community initiatives and, for some, this can be game changing. This was very much the focus of my meeting with Local Trust who are the secretariat for the APPG.
I had a number of meetings with Ministers and Secretaries of State last week raising issues for my constituents. Starting with Michael Gove and Levelling Up to share my displeasure at the way the last round of decisions was made and to express the importance of the next round delivering for communities like ours and that we need him to support projects like Ferryhill Station and that, when Investment Zones are delivered, there is nowhere better than Durham with the link between NETpark and Durham University. I spoke with Oliver Dowden in the Cabinet Office and particularly raised the importance of CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear) Defence; Dominic Raab as Justice Secretary where I raised the frustrations of ‘soft sentencing’ for ASB (Anti-Social Behaviour) and, in particular, concerns raised with me about the inadequate consideration of coercive control by family courts; I met Richard Holden, Minister for Buses, for advice on the problems raised by local businesses about inadequate bus services to allow people to get to and from work as well as the potential removal of services like the 57A servicing Trimdon Village. I also caught up with Mark Harper, Secretary of State for Transport, about rail investment and Paul Scully in the business ministerial team.
The Transport Select Committee took evidence on autonomous vehicles and the need for relevant legislation to ensure we see UK investment in this exciting area. This relates to vehicles from small delivery pods running on pavements (currently being trialled in Milton Keynes) through to cars, trucks, drones, ships and planes. To further understand this, we visited a business in London who are developing technology for self-driving cars and joined one of their experimental drives around north London.
Back in the constituency I went to the North East Chamber of Commerce dinner at Durham Cathedral with Stillers Distribution and BTS Fabrications, it’s always good to listen to a couple of the best businesses on our Business Park, but I am not sure I have had a colder meal! The food was good, but the Cathedral was perishing, an amazing venue but it was the night it started snowing and therefore it was particularly cold.
Friday was a full day, starting at 8am with a Teams meeting with other MPs and the PCC (Police and Crime Commissioner) where I raised our ASB frustrations in Aycliffe, Station Town and Ferryhill and the need to encourage DCC (Durham County Council) to deal with poor landlords as well as thefts on the Aycliffe Industrial Estate. We also received an update from her on their efforts on gambling policy. It was then off to Teesside Airport to meet the management team and catch up on the developments happening. Later I had a round table with local headteachers to understand their challenges and I will be visiting some of them to follow up in more detail. I finished Friday with a trip to Hardwick Hall Hotel to attend a charity night for the Ellen Timney Foundation. They do tremendous work supporting sick and underprivileged local children with specialist medical equipment and raised several thousand pounds on the night.
This week will include the Illegal Migration Bill and the Budget so plenty for me to talk about next week. My big hopes for the Budget are to stimulate and support business investment supporting a clear growth agenda; helping people back to work, particularly through childcare support and pension changes and helping our hospitality sector by further balancing duties between pubs and supermarkets. This column is written and sent for print to Newton Press on Tuesday and by the time the Newton News is published on Friday you will have seen if these hopes have been delivered as more detail about the Budget will be available to all of us.
As always, if you want to raise anything from these, or more personal issues, please get in touch at paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk or call Aycliffe 790580.