One of the areas important to potential growth out of Covid is the attitude and actions of banks towards SMEs and last week I was able to join the APPG on Fair Business Banking to hear how more diversity in their products could be particularly helpful to SMEs. This was led by Kevin Hollinrake, MP for Thirsk and Malton, along with Paul Scully MP, who is the Minister for Small Businesses. It is imperative that the banks play their role in helping the many small businesses we have thrive as the economy opens, it is often a cash flow challenge that either stops a business growing or, indeed, can close one. It was clearly very disappointing to see that all the efforts made to save Cleveland Bridge came to nothing, demonstrating how even a business with a strong order book and great workforce can still collapse. I hope that all the employees can find alternative employment.
An aspect of Westminster you may not be aware of is what are called DLs. These are Delegated Legislation committees and are used to pass legislation that does not need to go to the main chamber. They are constituted with appropriate numbers of members from different parties and are whipped in the same way as any other votes, they are, however, typically quite technical and more attuned to tidying up nuances of legislation. As an example, one of mine this week was ‘Draft Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information’ (lighting products) regulations 2021. Its purpose was to avoid technical disparities between the EU and NI protocol legislation. They are regularly not contested votes.
I attended PMQs on Wednesday, with the Chamber feeling very much back to being a more normal place. Westminster is close to how it was, apart from the Covid sensitive procedures we now must physically attend committees and the chamber when we are participating. During parliamentary recess we moved offices and as mine is one of the furthest from the Chamber it can mean a bit of travelling time needs incorporating into the diary. One of the best things about returning to Westminster though, is the access to Ministers. You may have seen in the press or on Facebook a couple of examples of unduly lenient sentencing by the courts. Not only have I written to the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC MP, but I was able to have direct conversations with him.
On Thursday and Friday last week the Left Behind Neighbourhoods APPG that I chair held a St George’s House consultation. We had around 16 people there, mainly from organisations working right at the sharp end of the voluntary community but also civil servants. We discussed the important issues the APPG should cover and promote. It was fantastic to actually meet physically with people I had previously only talked to on Zoom. Hopefully by working with this group we can encourage Government policies to help them, our primary objective being around a community wealth fund to provide some patient capital.
It’s called a St George’s House consultation because it takes place in the Vicars Hall at St George’s House in Windsor. For those of you who watch The Crown, this is a hall in the grounds of Windsor Castle that Prince Philip facilitated being available for exactly this type of discussion. One of the other delegates was from The Wharton Trust in Hartlepool and I fully intend to get across to see them to see what I can learn.
Monday saw me back in Westminster and able to ask a question to Mims Davies, the Minister for Employment, about the Kickstart scheme, as a constituent has had some frustrations in getting help in her Kennels at Sedgefield. The Kickstart scheme has seen many of your young people helped to take a first step in employment, but where frustrations exist, we need to address them so that even more can benefit.
DVSA are in the process of publishing a consultation report to tackle the shortage of lorry drivers. Whilst steps need to be taken to address this shortage, this report is a cause of concern for those businesses who depend on offering car and trailer lessons as well as wider concerns about road safety. I have already made representations to the Transport Secretary about these concerns and I will continue to seek advice about the wider implications of this report.
We see normality creeping towards us, but we must avoid complacency. Covid is still with us so please remember, the Hands, Face, Space and Fresh Air mantra continues, and it remains important to get vaccinated if you have not already. Please be considerate of others and help us all stay safe.
Paul Howell
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield