Plenty going on at Westminster

Constituents continue to be alarmed at the very concerning and potentially deep impact on our area of the updated MSDC local plan requirements taking us to 2038. I believe MSDC have been prudent in its plan-making to date and it’s always taken its responsibility seriously.

I am very pleased about the action being taken by the council leader councillor Ash-Edwards, alongside my MP colleagues Jeremy Quin and Andrew Griffith, in highlighting major, local concerns, as well as emphasising their support for making sure we find the right balance and infrastructure for our special area.

I’ll further update constituents on my actions to raise this at the highest level next week.

I do want to reassure readers more is happening in Westminster than perhaps you are seeing on the 24-hour media.

For example, as the Employment Minister, I’m really delighted to highlight our bold, new DWP campaign Way to Work, to help get our job-ready Universal Credit claimants progressing into the 1.2million vacancies available across the country.

This drive will help half a million people, including many in Mid Sussex, currently out of work into new jobs.

We pleasingly have more people on company payrolls than before the pandemic, including over 122,000 young people under 25 on our Kickstart programme, giving them the exciting, life changing positive start they need.

Our goal is to help people take these opportunities and move into the right roles for them so no one is left behind.

Meanwhile, we’ve launched the UK Agriculture Partnership (UKAP), a new forum on issues facing the agricultural sector.

We know sustainable agriculture has a vital role to play in helping to solve many of the most pressing issues, such as biodiversity decline, meeting net zero targets and growing the food needed to feed an increasing population.

A big boost for dentistry, with an extra £50million being provided in government funding for dental services to secure up to 350,000 additional dental appointments across the UK and give more people access to high quality dental care, including £6,887,000 for the South East.

Thanks go to the incredible and tireless hard work of our dedicated NHS dental teams locally, but some people still require urgent access and have real treatment needs to catch up, which is why this extra funding is vital.

I also want to remind everyone of the changes to the Highway Code in a number of areas for all road users, which will be important for all of our local roads and lanes. Full details are available on gov.uk

To keep up with all matters and all other local, national and international issues, please do visit my website here: www.mimsdavies.org.uk