I hope you have been enjoying the good weather recently, suitably socially distanced and without gridlocking Shoreham Beach- and on Saturday when many of our favourite pubs re-open I hope everyone will be drinking responsibly as propping up the bar will not be permitted in any case! The highlight of my week this week will be getting a haircut at long, long last. I am booked in at 9am on Saturday at Bruno’s.
Parliament is gradually getting back to normal though we are still taking rather longer to vote than usual in long queues 2 metres apart and many colleagues who are shielding are able to be ‘Zoomed’ into the Chamber. Select Committees and other committees scrutinising legislation are meeting in large committee rooms with witnesses still largely appearing by video link. I have given an account of some of the recent legislation below. I also hosted my first virtual lobby today as well with a group of constituents appearing virtually to talk about environmental issues, one year on from the Government committing the Uk to a ‘Net-Zero’ carbon target.
Thank you to all the nominations for my Coronavirus Community Champions Awards and I am delighted to list the ‘roll of honour’ below.Keep safe everyone.
Best wishes Tim Loughton MP
Surgeries
I will be opposite Tarmount Lane Car Park in Shoreham on the 11th July for a socially distanced street surgery - advice surgeries will still be conducted by phone until further notice.
Homestart and Safe in Sussex donations
Last month I put out a plea on behalf of the local charities ‘Home Start’ and ‘Safe in Sussex’, asking for new or good quality toys (not soft toys) which they can distribute to the families they are supporting. Half the residents of refuges are of course children who have often had to leave behind many of their possessions.
I was overwhelmed with the response, and in particular want to thank JSPC Computers in Sompting who donated no fewer than 10 giant beanbags - we had Wendy houses, we had seesaws, we had 5 scooters - all sorts of games and sports equipment as well. It has been really appreciated so thank you to all those who helped us do that.
We are still looking for any donations so if you have anything you think would be appropriate please drop me an email with the details to loughtont@parliament.uk and I will arrange for one of my volunteers or me to collect it (appropriately socially distanced) give it a once over, and deliver to one of the two charities.
Coronavirus Community Champions
I’ve been announcing the winners of the ‘Coronavirus Community Champion Award’ on Facebook each week and we now have quite a list of worthy winners. You can click HERE for more details.
Crafting for Covid, Tom Smith, Focus, Truffles Bakery, Martyn Feather, Mel Humphreys, Debs Stainforth, Jill Lennon, Andy McGregor, Emily Harris, Southwick Square Meats, All-Sorts Charity Project, Abdul Noor, Frank and Linda Patten, Parafix, Sue Wellfare, Henry and Martha Deery, Shaun Oliver, Elizabeth Doran, Fircroft News and Syed Ahmed - congratulations!
The Time is Now!
Last June I hopped on a rickshaw across Lambeth Bridge to the South Bank of the Thames to meet a large group of constituents (amongst a crowd of over 16,000) to discuss climate change - the climate emergency and what we can do to tackle it. There had to be a few changes to the event this year, but it was a pleasure to hold a virtual meeting with a number of constituents to discuss this incredibly important topic. We had a large focus on how we can incorporate eco thinking into our post-Covid economic recovery, Kelp Beds, cycle paths and more. Thank you to all of you who joined, and I look forward to discussing this further face-to-face in the future!
Impulse Leisure
I have had a number of concerned constituents and employees from Impulse Leisure email me regarding the current situation. My full statement is available on Facebook HERE but in a nutshell, Impulse Leisure looks set to become a victim of the Coronavirus lockdown which has impacted on the hospitality, leisure and fitness interests particularly harshly. However even before the current crisis there have been concerns over the long-term position of Impulse Leisure which operates leisure interests well beyond their interests in just Adur.
In order to keep the whole group going Impulse approached Adur Council and others for a very substantial sum in excess of 6 figures I gather. Clearly a small council such as Adur is just not in a position to produce that sort of money particularly as it has not been clear that this would be anything other than a short-term sticking plaster and that money could then be lost to Adur residents with little prospect of getting it back.
The important thing is that if Impulse is unable to continue operating the 3 premises in Adur then Adur Council works hard to find an alternative operator to continue the popular activities which are carried out there and preserve jobs and I have offered my support in this.
Further to the statement link above, Adur Council have also issued a statement which you can read HERE.
Beach Overcrowding
With the hot weather we have had recently, it is completely understandable that people would want to flock to the beaches - but this has to be done in a responsible manner. Last week Shoreham beach in particular was were completely overwhelmed, although not as bad as the 500,000 people that drove to Dorset! I had numerous complaints from residents who live near the beach saying that there were cars parked on double yellow lines - it was absolutely gridlocked.
I do fear that some people have become complacent - yes, we’ve had some good news with declining infection rates, but we mustn’t forget that the virus has not simply disappeared, and we need to continue to act responsibly. We must take warning from the situation in Leicester where pubs and restaurants are still having to stay to closed due to the surge in cases there. That would be a disaster should it happen across East Worthing and Shoreham and will be entirely preventable - if people continue to stick to the rules. I appeared on BBC R4 ‘The World at One’ to discuss this last week, you can listen HERE.
Waterloo Uncovered
It has been a privilege to be involved with the ‘Waterloo Uncovered’ Project - an archaeological project which is using veterans digging at the site of the Battle of Waterloo in Belgium who have suffered from trauma and other mental illnesses to combine archaeology and help for mental health. It’s a really good project so if you’ve got time have a look at the report that’s just come out - available HERE.
Home Affairs Select Committee
It’s been another busy month on the Home Affairs Select Committee - we’ve published the 3rd report into ‘Home Office preparedness for Covid-19: Immigration and Visas’ which you can read here. Amongst other important issues, we hosted the ‘Internet Watch foundation’ to discuss how we can better deal with online harms, particularly in relation to protecting children on the internet. We also had a Counterterrorism briefing from Senior Police at Scotland Yard following the Reading atrocity.
Queen's Voluntary Award
Congratulations to Turning Tides who have won the prestigious ‘Queen’s Award’ - the highest award a voluntary group in the UK can receive. You can read more about this HERE.
Trade and investment support for the agri-food and drinks industry
A ‘bounce back’ package of trade and investment measures has been announced to help support agriculture, food and drink businesses impacted by coronavirus.
I know that the food and drink industry plays a vital role in the cultural and economic life of many of my constituents - it employs 4 million people, contributes around £120 billion to our economy every year, and is the UK’s largest manufacturing sector.
Yet like other parts of the economy, our producers and manufacturers are struggling with the economic impact of coronavirus. More trade and investment is absolutely critical if the industry – and our whole economy – is to overcome the economic challenges posed by the pandemic and succeed in future.
The new strategic interventions jointly announced by the Department for International Trade (DIT) and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) will offer immediate support to help businesses in the industry grow their trade activity overseas, and I fully welcome them.
Zoom Calls
I had an interesting Zoom call with my Adur clergy in mid-June - and they were confused. One vicar said to me, “So is it right that I can invite five members of my congregation to the church grounds for a barbecue and some beers, but if we start saying prayers, we’ll get busted?” I suggested that he could advertise his services as a barbecue with a very long grace.
I am pleased therefore that following the update to our climb out of lockdown, venues of worship including churches will be able to reopen from 4th July (with suitable physical distancing in place). Frankly, they should never have been put out of use in the first place.
I also had an interesting call with Worthing Job Centre and the benefits team who have obviously faced a huge increase in their work - with a near quadrupling in applications for Universal Credit, particularly from people who are struggling who were self-employed - and I have to say they have coped remarkably well. It’s a really proficient system that we’ve got in Worthing and they’re now proactively speaking to people to see what further support that they can be given.
Carers Week
From the 8th to the 14th of June we celebrated Carers’ Week - this year, perhaps more than any previous year, we recognised the importance of our carers. I took part in a webinar for this event hosted by ‘Commonweal Housing’ which was held to mark the launch of the ‘Move On Up’ project. You can watch the Webinar HERE.
EYE Summit on Youtube
Another event that has been impacted by the coronavirus outbreak is the E.Y.E. Summit - this year it will be a virtual event on the 2nd July held on YouTube - please click HERE for more details.
Divorce Bill
We have passed the Divorce Bill which I supported. I know some people have concerns about this but this is at last to reform divorce law so we can now have a no-fault divorce system which doesn’t make it easier to get divorced, but it takes away the need to have a portion of blame which can so often extend the acrimony when couples do split up. You can click HERE to read more.
Immigration Bill
Today (June 30th) we will be debating the Immigration Bill which will possibly be ongoing as you read this newsletter. I am supporting three amendments: NC29 - which seeks to continue with the current family reunion provisions for child refugees after December, NC2 which is based on the Children’s Society amendment to give automatic registration to remain in UK for EU children in care and finally the David Davis amendment - which introduces a 28-day time limit and early judicial oversight over decisions to detain.
I wrote a joint-article with my colleague Yvette Cooper on the first two amendments which you can read HERE, and yesterday, wrote an additional article for the Times explaining why I was backing the David Davis amendment - which you can read HERE.
Sussex Day
Celebrating 'Sussex' Day (June 16th) with a collection of my Sussex colleagues! I also read out the official 'Sussex Charter' on the terrace of the Houses of Parliament which you can watch HERE
Issues in Parliament
It’s been another busy month in Parliament with more opportunities to speak in the Chamber rather than when we were operating remotely - I’ve spoken on a range of topics, from Tibet to Windrush, from schools re-opening to weddings. I’ve also issued statements on a range of topical issues, including the tragic death of George Floyd in the US which sparked worldwide anti-racism protests. My full statement is available HERE.
Lions Charity grants
Do you know any young people (14-18)who are doing amazing voluntary work in your community? The Lions charity run a Young Ambassador scheme with a prize of £500 initially, increasing to 3500 euros at European level.
If you can think of anyone that fits the bill, please do email Val (roberts764@virginmedia.com) for more information.
Clapham & Patching School
Good news for Clapham and Patching School which had been earmarked for closure by West Sussex but has now been given the go-ahead by the DfE to remain open as part of the academy chain led by Worthing High School in my constituency - the solution that my Arundel MP colleague Andrew Griffith and I put forward right at the outset.
Arundel Chord
I have joined my colleague Andrew Griffith MP (Arundel and South Downs) in renewing the call for the ‘Arundel Chord’ - enabling trains to travel West from Worthing to get to London instead of going East. Andrew discussed this in Parliament last month - you can read the Hansard extract HERE
The LTA
The LTA (Lawn Tennis Association) have introduced a new drive to support local authorities with a package of initiatives to make local tennis venues accessible and open-up park tennis to their communities. They’ve identified a list of over 1,000 parks across Britain that we want to prioritise including one in East Worthing and Shoreham - click HERE to find out more.
Surgery details:
If you have a problem you think Tim could help you with and you would like to meet him to discuss it please ring 01273 757182 to book an appointment at one of his fortnightly surgeries.
