Dear <<First Name>>
Welcome to my March newsletter for you to enjoy relaxing in your garden in the warmer weather at last just ahead of the Easter weekend. I am sorry if I have been a little tardy in responding to some constituent’s emails recently but being an enemy of the Chinese state is quite a time-consuming business. The media interest from around the world has been intense showing how bad a miscalculation this was by the Chinese Government if they wanted to keep the lid on their genocide against the Uyghurs and I am very grateful for the many emails of support from many of you closer to home. More information below.
Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible and with the start of the long route map out of lockdown I hope that you are cautiously re-establishing contact with family and friends. We are certainly looking forward to seeing close friends in our garden on Easter Sunday but not before been back for a Good Friday shift at the Lancing Vaccination Centre which continues to go great guns. I hope that everyone is continuing to find my weekly COVID update reports useful.
As a tentative step back to normality we will be at the next Shoreham Farmer’s Market on April 12th for a street surgery, suitably socially distanced. As there are still restrictions on meeting outside I am not restarting face to face constituency surgeries yet and will continue with telephone or Zoom consultations if you do need to speak to me directly. Send me an email or ring the constituency office to arrange an appointment.
Thank you to all those who have generously contributed to the St John Ambulance Southwick HQ appeal and particular thanks to Southwick fitness instructor Jo Gibson for laying on the fundraising Zumba class. I certainly needed the services of the St John Ambulance after that.
As always if there are nay things you would like me to cover in this newsletter in the future then please let me know.
Very best wishes for a relaxing Easter.
Tim Loughton MP
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Whilst we are still not doing face-to-face surgeries, the street surgery at Shoreham Farmers’ Market is to resume on April 10th. Looking forward to seeing you there.
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Well, what a week it’s been! I found out (via Twitter) that I was one of the 9 UK citizens that China has imposed sanctions on - which makes a difference from a standard Friday. Fortunately, I have no plans for a holiday home in Wuhan and resisted the lure of investing in Uighur forced labour sweatshops in Xinjian, so I am not going to lose too much sleep.
Last week the British Government ministers in unison with EU states and our American and Canadian allies applied Magnitsky sanctions to certain Chinese officials, complicit in human rights abuses on an industrial scale. We were able to push to Government to include a genocide amendment to the Trade Bill but there is still work to be done. More details HERE
The seven Parliamentarians now sanctioned warmly welcomed this move and have urged the British Government to go further. Bizarrely it is we five Conservative Backbench MPs, two Members of the Lords, a lawyer and an academic who are now the target of Chinese reprisals, not members of the Government itself. The action lays bare the Chinese Government’s complete lack of understanding of how democracies work.
In full, the other sanctioned individuals are: Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP, Nusrat Ghani MP, Tom Tugendhat MP, Neil O’Brien MP, Baroness Kennedy, Lord Alton, Sir Geoffrey Nice QC, Jo Smith Finley.
The ‘crime’ of British Parliamentarians is to call out what many see as constituting genocide against the Uighur people by the Chinese Government, on top of 62 years of suppressing the peace-loving Tibetan people resulting in deaths of more than a million. This is of course something I have a longstanding interest in as co-Chair of the Tibet APPG.
Thankfully I know the Government and the vast majority of right-minded people across the country stand in solidarity, and it was good to be invited to Downing Street to meet Boris with some of my sanctioned colleagues where his support for our actions was unwavering.
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Earlier this month we had the fantastic news that the Sussex IFCA Nearshore Trawling Byelaw 2019 was signed off - this means a ban on bottom trawling across a whole swathe of waters off the Sussex Bay Coast. There is now some exciting work being led by Worthing and Adur Councils to assess whether we can have a Kelp Farm there - which would be beneficial for marine life, helps sea defences, is edible but most importantly, absorbs significantly more CO2 that a land-based forest. One study said “Coastal ecosystems sequester away surprisingly large amounts of carbon – they can sequester up to 20 times more carbon per acre than land forests”. You can find out more about the possibilities of Kelp on the ‘Help our Kelp’ website HERE. I have spoken directly to the Chancellor about this project to discuss possibilities so certainly something to keep an eye on!
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After a long delay and much lobbying of the Post Office - and following a delay to the refurbishment works for the branch - the Southwick Branch has reopened.
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Get Up & Active - Play Streets Scheme
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Adur & Worthing Councils' Play Streets Scheme is a resident-led activity for the purposes of children's play on the street. It involves temporarily closing the road for up to three hours and restricting car access (residents take turns to 'steward' cars leaving or returning to their properties). Children are supervised by parents and local residents and all residents are welcome. Why not get involved? Click HERE for more details. A great opportunity to have a celebration after lockdown as rules allow!
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Having co-chaired the All Party Parliamentary Group for 1950’s Pension Women with the formidable Labour MP Carolyn Harris, we decided it was time to hand over the baton to new blood and so have both stood down at the recent AGM. This is a cause that I have been actively involved in over many years and will continue to support from the side-lines, but not as an officer of the APPG. Alas we are still a long way from achieving justice for the many millions of women disproportionately affected by pension age changes and this has not been helped by the abortive legal action by one WASPI faction, against our advice, and which ended in a costly failure and strengthening of the Government’s case.
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Thanks to Tim Wilkins from West Sussex Alzheimer’s Society for organising a Zoom call with members of the Town Criers Group suffering from dementia and their carers. It is always a pleasure to go and have a chat with them in Worthing usually over a delicious cream tea but as with everything we had to adapt to circumstances and had a great chat over the internet instead. Tim and his team do a great job and if you are affected you can find help HERE
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On Monday (29th March), the Stay at Home order was removed and restrictions eased on outdoor activities, where the risk of transmission is lower. Social contact limits will be relaxed to allow groups of up to six people, or two households, to meet outdoors; outdoor sport and leisure facilities will reopen and organised sport outdoors can resume; and parent and child groups can meet outdoors with up to 15 attendees (and no limit on children under five). You can visit the Government website HERE for the full changes.
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Vaccination report and Brighton Centre visit
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It was good to see the Brighton Centre mass vaccination operation recently when they were in full swing and gearing up to give 2500 jabs a day. A lot of constituents have told me just how impressive and slick the whole facility is, made easier by the free parking. I was struck by just how many former cabin crew had been trained up to work there and were even giving the jabs, even including a BA pilot. There were all really enjoying themselves and praised the great teamwork with everyone doing such a worthwhile job. I only hope they will still want to go back to flying us all off on our holidays when we are allowed to travel again.
Many people have raised concerns about how they will cope with engaging with other people again when we return to some degree of normality. I was struck as well by the numbers of older people coming to the vaccination centre earlier on, for whom that had been their first trip out for months. For them the isolation has been particularly challenging, punctuated by the wonderful fleet of volunteers who have come forward locally.
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A ‘Thank-You’ on behalf of ‘We Are FoodPioneers Slow Cooker Appeal’
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I mentioned the appeal in a recent newsletter and I am delighted that they far exceeded all expectations and finished on a mighty £1330. Thanks to the fantastic effort of local Councillors Brian and Val Turner amongst others, over 300 slow cookers can be purchased, as well as providing starter packs which include recipe cards and a wooden spoon - with their partners and volunteers they will start distribution and delivery next week to their neighbours in Adur and Worthing who need them most. You can also sign up for their newsletter via their website HERE
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Measures to reduce harm from storm overflows to be made law
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I had been a big supporter of the PMB by Philip Dunne MP and I welcome that the main objectives in that Bill are to become law. Measures to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows will be put into law, the government confirmed on Monday, as part of an ambitious agenda to build back greener from the pandemic.
During wet weather, storm overflows act to prevent sewers becoming overloaded with a combination of sewage and rain and release diluted wastewater into rivers. However, their use has increased in recent years as climate change has led to greater rainfall and water infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth.
Reducing the reliance of water companies on storm overflows is important to help cut pollution in waterways and the government has confirmed that a number of key policies will be made law. This will create three key duties to oversee some of the changes needed to improve our water environment:
- a duty on government to publish a plan by September 2022 to reduce sewage discharges from storm overflows;
- a duty on government to report to Parliament on progress on implementing the plan; and
- a duty on water companies to publish data on storm overflow operation on an annual basis.
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The Sir Robert Woodard Academy Allotment Club are raising £500 to help build a larger shed that can be used as an outdoor classroom.
The old shed was small, had extensive water damage. The club also had received grants from both Lancing and Sompting Parish Councils. In total, grants of £1500 have been awarded. To get value for money the governor who runs the club has bought a second-hand larger shed and is in the process of repairing it and erecting it. To complete the project, it needs another £500 to replace some of the roof with Perspex to allow natural light in, and funds to kit it out with benches. You can find out more HERE
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For many years there has been talk of developing the old Decoy Farm landfill site to the east of the Willowbrook Road industrial estate in East Worthing on the edge of the gap between Worthing and Sompting. The land has now been decontaminated by the owners Worthing Council and plans will go in soon for industrial use effectively extending the existing business usage. Up to now the site has been a largely unusable wasteland so it is good that it will be put to good use and there is a shortage of business use space in Worthing and Adur as we know. However, there are problems with accessing the site largely due to congestion on to Dominion Road caused by people using the household waste recycling centre. I have raised this with the team behind the development and an initial consultation has been underway. Before any new building takes place there will need to be planning permission with further consultation at that stage. I will provide further details as they become available.
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Immunosuppressed people vaccination
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On Monday, the JCVI recommended that adults living with adults who are immunosuppressed should be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccine. This is very welcome news and you can find out more HERE
Yesterday, surgeries were sent specific details of new guidance by the NHS - this jab will only be offered by surgeries so if you think you are eligible, please contact your GP surgery.
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The Little Guide for Children’s Wellbeing in Worthing
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The University of Brighton have been working with parents at the West Sussex Parent Carers Forum to produce “The Little Guide for Children’s Wellbeing in Worthing”. It contains some really useful tips regarding talking about mental health with children and lots of other information. You can download it HERE and if you would like printed A6 copies of the book please let me know and I’ll point you in the right direction. Many thanks to the team at Brighton Uni for putting this together and in particular Lucie who put so much into the project
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Gasworks site virtual consultation
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The former Gasworks site at Lyndhurst Road has been identified for redevelopment as a 'brownfield site' in the emerging Draft Local Plan.
The developer, St William Homes LLP, are holding a second Virtual Public Consultation from 29 March to 1 April. I understand the format of the Consultations will be in the form of discussion groups. You can find out more HERE
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Cycle lane progress report
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West Sussex Highways Department launched a comprehensive consultation on whether we need a permanent (but greatly improved) version of the Shoreham pop-up cycle lane, and if so - what it should look like and where it should go. This follows the comprehensive survey carried out by Shoreham councillor Kevin Boram and I before Christmas which in the end attracted more than 1600 responses, and those responses have fed into this formal consultation.
Unfortunately, the original pop-up lanes were poorly thought out, not helped by an almost complete absence of proper consultation given the Government needed them set up in a hurry. In the case of the one based on Upper Shoreham Road it proved very contentious as it failed properly to accommodate people who needed to park their cars or have access to their driveways. However, many people did agree that a cycle lane would be good in principle if done properly, would certainly benefit young families and children travelling to school and is one of the solutions we need to look at for improving air quality. As a result, many practical suggestions for improvement came out of our survey.
The grand ambition is to link up Shoreham Academy by safe cycle route with the Sir Robert Woodard Academy given how many Shoreham pupils now travel westwards to school. There is the added benefit of a new crossing on the Steyning Road which we know is possible because of the temporary version set up after the Shoreham Air Show tragedy to reach the Old Toll Bridge. It could be used by cyclists, dog walkers and pedestrians alike.
These are just initial ideas which can be turned into a fuller blueprint for further consultation if the support is there. I will share any details that come from that as soon as they are released.
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Civil Partnerships, Marriages & Deaths Act Regulations
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I was absolutely delighted to report that thanks to regulations passed on 10th March resulting from my Civil Partnerships, Marriages & Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act, couples will be able to have the details of both of their parents recorded in the marriage entry, instead of just details of the father, which incredibly has been the case in England and Wales since 1837.
This might seem like a small or insignificant piece of legislation but many people getting married may not realise that mothers cannot sign the register until they actually get to that part of a wedding ceremony and instead only the name of the father can be included, harking back to the days when a woman was regarded as a ‘chattel’ to be given away! Fortunately we have moved on a lot since then but until now this was not reflected in certain aspects of marriage law.
For many this can cause a double insult if they have effectively been brought up by their mother and the father for whatever reason has not been on the scene and become estranged, yet only he is entitled to sign the marriage register. As a result of the legislation which I piloted through Parliament and which became law in 2019 this has now changed and we have been waiting on these technical regulations to bring it into effect which will be the case now from May 4th. In conjunction with this change all marriage records are switching to electronic form so the whole process of registering a new marriage will be much simpler.
Thankfully this anomaly has now been corrected. This will come into effect on Star Wars Day (May 4th) - a long time coming!
My wide-ranging Act has already extended the right of Civil Partnerships to opposite sex couples giving full ‘marriage equality’. It also includes measures to give powers to coroners to investigate stillbirths and to look into ways of registering the existence of babies who are stillborn before 24 weeks gestation, but more work needs to be done on the details there. So 2 down, 2 to go.
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Helping high streets re-open safely
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Our new £56 million Welcome Back Fund will give councils the funding they need to boost tourism, improve green spaces and provide more outdoor seating areas, markets and food stalls, with part of the funding specifically allocated for coastal areas across England. Within this funding, Adur is set to receive £121,721 and Worthing £163,168.
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Thanks to Jo Gibson for an exhausting Zumba in aid of the Southwick St John Ambulance Appeal. You can follow the fundraising update HERE
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New scheme to target persistent domestic abusers
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Earlier this month a new multi-agency unit, jointly led and monitored by the office of the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner and Sussex Police, was launched to tackle some of the county’s most prolific and harmful domestic abusers. Katy Bourne OBE, Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner secured £402,000 of Government funding to set up this new High Harm Domestic Abuse (DA) Perpetrator Unit.
It is estimated that 40 of the highest harm Domestic Abuse perpetrators in Sussex will receive tailored intervention from this team during 2021. Mental health and intervention experts will work with them to address the reasons why they continue to hurt people in the ways that they do and to look at the more complex drivers of their actions, such as substance misuse.
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HGV Provision at Shoreham Port
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Are you an experienced HGV driver, with a proven track record of delivering excellent service? Shoreham Port are now hiring professional HGV drivers to join their friendly haulage team. View the careers section of their website HERE for more on this exciting opportunity .
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Copyright © Tim Loughton MP. All rights reserved.
This newsletter is published by Tim Loughton MP, House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
Contact details:
Email: loughtont@parliament.uk
Tel: 01273 757182
Write: 88A High Street, Shoreham-by-sea, BN43 5DB
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.
Please visit www.timloughton.com for more information about Tim.
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