As this is written Tuesday, before England play Denmark, I can only applaud the team for their performances against Germany and Ukraine and hope it continues against Denmark. It is great for us to get the lift from their results.
Last week started with the meeting of the Left Behind Neighbourhoods APPG. Taking ownership, taking control, was the subject. Community asset ownership can bring a wide range of benefits to a local area and its residents. From strengthening the economy and building civic pride to supporting more responsive public services and safeguarding social infrastructure such as pubs, shops, and post-offices. We heard how different communities did or did not have this capacity.
During the week we engaged further with Fornax regarding their proposed clinical waste plant and asked them to put the additional questions people had raised, along with their answers, on the Q&A page of their website. This is so much more transparent than them being fed via my office. If anyone has any questions, that have not been answered, let us know and we will try to help.
On Wednesday I had discussions about how HS2 impacts on the north east, which is everything from absolute capacity through to contracts for Hitachi. The recent announcements on proposed changes to LNER and Cross-Country timetables for 2022 show how capacity constrained we are. We had a call with the new Health Secretary, Sajid Javid, and I was pleased at his initial positioning.
We had an innovation strategy roundtable with Secretary of State Kwasi Kwarteng and Minister Amanda Solloway. This is where a number of MPs were on a call to discuss the importance of innovation led businesses and it gave me the perfect opportunity to shout up for all that is happening on NETPark, I will be doing this again in the chamber as I have a BEIS question coming up.
I left Westminster a day earlier last week meaning I was able to go to the ‘Muddy Run’ at Trimdon Grange community centre. This is a 5k run normally held in winter, hence muddy, I have to say that I forgot how many hills there are in Trimdon, and how steep they are. The prospect of Pie and Peas at the end was a significant motivator in getting me round!
Thursday saw me join Boris on his visit to Nissan and the announcement of the battery gigafactory. This is yet another fantastic statement of business confidence and resonates throughout the north east. Also, on Thursday, on one of my regular visits to NETPark, I met the team at Filtronic and later that day I visited Orbit, a Satellite Applications Centre of Excellence from Durham University, also based at NETPark.
As a result of my recent visit to Sedgefield Farmers Market, which takes place on the first Sunday of each month, I went to visit Parlour Made Cheese in Morton. This is a family run business where the distance from Cow to Cheese is literally through a wall, hence the name Parlour Made. They have developed online selling as a result of Covid, they previously largely sold to restaurants. Later, on Friday, we held a surgery in Trimdon Station, next is Fishburn, then Sadberge.
Monday saw me visiting Tata Steel and Liberty Steel in south Wales with the BEIS select committee as part of our enquiry on UK steel. This meant I travelled on Sunday. It’s a 5-hour cross country train journey, I could have almost got there in the same time if I had gone via London on the Azuma. It just reminds me how rubbish east west train journeys are and how much we need to improve them.
I am pleased the PM has increasing confidence we can open up on the 19 July and hope this happens. It is, of course, then incumbent on all of us to use common sense from then on. I was also delighted to see the Queen recognise our NHS with the award of the George Cross. I am sure everyone applauds her for this action.
So, we continue, Hands, Face, Space, Fresh Air and Come on England!
Paul Howell
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield
