Massive thank you to all who put in an appeal or asked for a change of name to Forest of Bere for the new Fareham Waterlooville constituency. It is a more inclusive name but we will see whether the Boundary Commission will accept it. It is an upheaval for MPs and constituents who like to have a connection with each other, but I hope that it will be sorted out shortly so we know where we are.
This week I had a very interesting Public Accounts Committee meeting in Westminster with various banks to talk about bounce back loans and other loans given to small businesses during the pandemic. It was clear that unless the loans had been handed out quickly to pay for things like employees pay, there would have been a lot of business closing and redundancies – so the policy was a good one.
However, there have been examples of fraud but also error. It was reassuring to hear these are being chased and people prosecuted. The furloughing has also been praised for helping people stay in work and enable businesses to get back quicker. There are a lot of lessons to learn from the whole pandemic. I hope we never have to go through it again
The Online Safety Bill went through its next parliamentary stages with a huge number of amendments. This is going to be continually amended once it is an Act so we can keep up with what is appearing on the internet.
Like many parents and grandparents, I am particularly anxious about the impact on the next generations. We have heard too many examples of how it has affected young people but also the scamming of older people. It is very difficult to control what is put online but we will soon have some legislation to at least help.
On Tuesday some of us on the Education Select committee took part in a SATS exam. These are the assessments given to year 6 pupils. I can tell you they are tough and full of grammatical terminology. Many of my generation educated in the 1960s and 70s did not learn grammar. I am afraid I find some of the terminology unnecessary. We should be encouraging children to have a love of reading and writing at this age, not analysing and breaking down each sentence.
These tests have been too high stakes as schools’ accountability are based on them. This means there is a lot of time taken to do well in the tests rather than a wider range of subjects. We did an English and Maths test and I did pass but admit I did not get 100%.
In the Education Select Committee on Wednesday. I was able to question the Education Secretary on the home-schooling Register and get a commitment that she would bring it forward quickly. As regular readers know, this was something I brought up with Rishi Sunak at Prime Minister’s Questions. I have had a lot of emails on this as professionals are very concerned vulnerable children are not being educated and even dragged into activities like county lines drug trafficking. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary is doing a very good job tackling this
I was on the Bill committee on legislation to make it easier for the General Dental Council and Midwifery and Nursing Council to register international applicants. We have a big shortage of many medical professionals and this should help but will also maintain standards.
We also had some good news on the Levelling Up Bill. The government agreed with our Amendment 21 to make housing numbers advisory and give back control to local communities to determine how many houses should be built while considering what should be protected. We have the South Downs National Park taking up much of the constituency so there is not much space for houses.
I was also pleased to see local authorities will now be able to increase the proportion of affordable housing being built – so important in an expensive area like ours. This should help young people and families to buy their own property but I will be putting pressure on local councillors to make sure they do this. We will be making sure the Green Belt is kept, brownfield sites prioritised and buildings reflect the local area. I am very pleased this is now accepted by the Secretary of State. A big win for the backbenchers
I am looking forward to doing some Christmas shopping at the market in Waterlooville tomorrow and visiting more local shops. I managed a lot of Christmas shopping last week but there is still more to do.
As usual, please email me with any concerns.
