Last Tuesday saw me at the BEIS select committee, where we were having a pre legislative brief as regards the downstream oil resilience Bill, a pretty dry subject but actually very enjoyable as the witness was so on top of his knowledge and a pleasure to listen to. At that time, I didn’t know that it would be my last attendance at the BEIS select committee for a while as I have now been placed on the Nationality and Borders Bill for the Committee stage. The Nationality and Borders Bill is my first Bill committee and will occupy every Tuesday and Thursday for me for the next 5 sitting weeks. The first two are taken up with evidence and then we have 3 weeks of line-by-line review.
We also had a session of the APPG on left behind neighbourhoods where we discussed the impact of climate change initiatives. It was interesting that one of the conclusions was that some of the things that need to be done to help these communities also help climate change, as opposed to doing them purely for the climate change agenda. We need to be aware that sometimes we can do the right thing to help the climate, but the core reason is correct for other reasons too.
I had the pleasure of attending a dinner where the key speaker was Air Marshall Ian Gale MBE who is the Director-General of Joint Force Development Strategic Command and he gave us a briefing on the Battle of Britain which was fascinating. Last Wednesday was a full day starting with meeting the team Backing British Farming before a DL (Delegated Legislation) on Merchant Shipping Pollution. This was followed by a briefing with the Board of Trade Advisors before I dashed off to the Excel Centre (Docklands, not Aycliffe!) for the DSEI exhibition, (Defence and Security Exhibition International). This event covers the full spectrum of defence and security and it was great to catch up with several Sedgefield based businesses. Once back in Westminster, that night, I had the opportunity to host a dinner for a number of businesses interested in the potential space hub development at NETPark.
It was back to Aycliffe on Thursday and a catch up with the team. Friday saw me meeting a law business recently moved into my constituency and then to the office for a couple of constituent meetings before meeting the Head of Greenfield Community College and having a tour of the school. This was followed by an online discussion along with some local councillors hosted by Livin where we debated the concerns of stigma associated to social housing.
Saturday was all about meeting people, I started at Hurworth Grange where they had a fantastic fair happening before going to Durham to the Fire Service Training Centre at Bowburn where they were holding an open day in memorial of ACFO Dom Brown. Dom was appointed ACFO when I was on the combined fire authority and sadly was diagnosed with a brain tumour and has since passed away, he was such a nice man and Saturday would have been his 50th birthday. RIP Dom. I then went back to Hurworth for a couple of hours, it was great to see so many people enjoying themselves.
Monday, in Westminster, I introduced the launch of a report on “No Place Left Behind” which was hosted by the Left Behind Neighbourhoods APPG before asking a question of the veterans’ minister in Defence questions where the minister complemented both our Veterans Community Hub and the efforts of our centenarian William ‘Billy’ Cooksey. It was a privilege to get a mention for them in the House.
This was followed by legislation that temporarily suspended the pensions triple lock. This is for one year only and will be reinstated next year. The reason was due to the statistical peculiarity of wages falling due to Covid last year and then more than recovering this year. Government last year protected pensioners by giving them 2.5% when the triple lock rules would have meant they got nothing and this year, because of the peculiar maths, they would have received over 8%. Instead, they will get just over 3% which is more in line with everyone else’s real position over the two years.
Just a quick reminder that a constituency advice surgery will be taking place at Middridge Village Hall on Wednesday 29th September. Appointment slots are available from 17:45 onwards so please get in touch by email, paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk if you’d like to book an appointment.
We continue the release process from Covid with more relaxations on international travel but please remember Covid has not gone away yet so please respect it. Hands, Face Space and fresh air remains a sensible approach.
Stay Safe
Paul Howell
Member of Parliament for Sedgefield