As we head into the Bank Holiday weekend, it has been encouraging to see shops, pubs, and restaurants in South Shropshire bouncing back, with restrictions easing as part of this month's move to Step 3.
After such a torrid year for the hospitality industry, I encourage people to support their favourite local cafe, pub, or restaurant, to give a much needed boost to our local economy and the thousands of jobs which rely on a good trade.
We are all hopeful that this is the beginning of a return to normality next month, and that the current spike in cases of the new variant can be contained, so that we proceed with Step 4 as anticipated on 21st June. But as I write, this remains uncertain.
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The vaccine rollout continues at pace, and now everybody 30 years old and over can book a vaccine appointment here. I have volunteered at vaccine centres, and will be doing another stint this weekend. There is a great sense of the community pulling together at each clinic, and I thank everyone involved in the rollout who has helped us get to this point.
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Big win against sewage pollution
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When the last Parliamentary session ended, so did my Private Members Bill. But nonetheless, all the momentum was not lost, and this month, my campaign to tackle sewage pollution has had two major wins. Firstly, I am delighted the government has confirmed it is taking up the key principles of my Private Members Bill through amendments to the Environment Bill. While not everything I wanted through my Bill, this does represent a great start and a major step forward in the fight against sewage pollution.
Secondly, this month water companies announced some £850m of green initiatives, and as part of this, Severn Trent Water have confirmed that the Teme at Ludlow will be one of two major pilot schemes to deliver bathing quality water, backed by £78m of investment. I met Severn Trent Water this week to discuss the scheme, and I shall be doing everything I can to support it and its aim to deliver bathing quality water. I am also pleased that over £14m is being spent to upgrade treatment works at Hampton Loade.
As part of my campaign to deliver cleaner water, I had arranged with an innovative local hydrology instrumentation company Proteus, to install a real-time water quality monitoring device at the Teme (above), to get a sense of the frequency and severity of polluting events are occurring in the river. I am collating the data which will be extremely helpful in establishing a baseline with which to evaluate improvements.
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Visiting local green tech company
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This month I was pleased to visit AceOn, based at Telford, to see some of their work to develop cutting edge battery technology, which includes recycling old electric bus batteries to store solar power – the first of its kind in the country – and an integrated energy storage system, powered by rooftop solar panels, being installed by a local housing association to save energy and cut bills. This kind of pioneering work will be critical in meeting net zero by 2050, but can also deliver new jobs in areas like Shropshire.
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Unemployment falls in South Shropshire
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It is great news that, for the second month in a row, latest figures show unemployment has fallen in South Shropshire. This reflects the opening up of the economy as we moved to Step 2 in the middle of April, which saw non-essential retail and personal care able to reopen, as well as hospitality outdoors. I am hopeful that once latest figures are released reflecting the move to Step 3, we see businesses continuing to create and sustain more of the jobs lost during the pandemic.
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Ultrafast broadband rollout
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Today I received the excellent news that Openreach has announced plans to connect more homes and businesses in rural areas with full fibre broadband, including 16,269 across South Shropshire, helping to boost local connectivity. This is in addition to existing coverage or planned build from other Openreach programmes, Community Fibre Partnerships or funded programmes, so should finally help many of those areas yet to be upgraded.
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Commonwealth service personnel visa fees
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When I was a Defence Minister, I met many Commonwealth service personnel, and indeed this has helped shape my work as one of only two MPs who are current Commonwealth War Graves Commissioners, helping to commemorate the sacrifices of so many.
I have called for Commonwealth troops to have their visa fees waived for years, so I am pleased the government has announced it is acting on this issue, following a public consultation. It is right the government act, and scrap these fees for Commonwealth service personnel who have served 12 years. You can read more details here.
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I have campaigned for 15 years on restoring the vote to those British citizens living overseas who were disenfranchised by last Labour Government. So I'm very pleased to see government announcement to give Votes for Life. You can read more about this issue here.
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Supporting local Park Runs
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Following a joint letter from the Secretaries of State for Communities, Housing & Local Government, and Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, calling on local Councils to resume permissions for Park Run events to take place (above), I am urging Ministers to encourage Forestry Commission to allow immediate return of Park Run events at their sites. This includes Ludlow Park run at Mortimer Forest, currently not due to resume until September. I've also written to Shropshire Council for the Severn Valley Park Run at Alveley.
These free timed running events are a big boost to many people's efforts to stay fit and healthy, and it is right they are allowed to resume as soon as possible.
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Shropshire Council elections
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Earlier this month, voters in Shropshire headed to the polls to elect both their local Shropshire Councillors and Police & Crime Commissioner. The Conservatives retained an overall majority on Shropshire Council, winning 43 of the 74 seats, with several new faces in the South of the county.
New Council leader, Lezley Picton, has put together a balanced Cabinet (above), bringing in some new Councillors and including more representation from the South, which is encouraging. I look forward to working with her and her team going forward. You can find out more details about the Cabinet here.
Our incumbent Police & Crime Commissioner, John Campion, was also returned, winning over 50% of the vote on the first round.
My congratulations to all who were elected, in particular those representing wards in South Shropshire.
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