Tuesday 27th June started early – 7.30am in Westminster Hall at the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast. where the theme was ‘The Power of Forgiveness in Public Life’. It is an annual event to recognise the contribution that Christianity makes to the national life of the UK. The main speaker was Dr Amy Orr-Ewing, who is an honorary lecturer at the University of Aberdeen School of Divinity. In her address she explored the significance of forgiveness. The event was live streamed to ensure as many people could be involved as possible. The message really was that it is just as important in political life to be able to forgive people. Forgiveness has the power to transform all our lives, including public life. It heals divisions, and fosters unity. At the Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast, we reflected on the importance of forgiveness in shaping how we live and how it can help us build a more compassionate society.
It was lovely to meet up with faith leaders, Paul and Natalie, from Kings Church who came to the breakfast – I would encourage more to come next time!
I caught up on some emails before going to meet Robin Millar MP whose constituency is in Wales. He set up the Conservative Union Research Unit (CURU) shortly after he became an MP in 2020, during the first lockdown. I am a committee member – it is important that we think about our Union in policymaking. It is sometimes surprising how little thought many English MPs of all parties sometimes give in thinking about policy which unites our Union. We should all care about our United Kingdom
We discussed the lack of a clear timetable admitted by Yousaf Humza ahead of the SNP independence convention. Separatists were emerging to reconfigure their plan for Scottish independence following the Supreme Court’s decision last October. It was interesting to hear the SNP’s plans for a written constitution and very irritating to hear that the series of ‘Building a New Scotland’ papers were compiled by civil servants at a cost of more than £700,000. We agreed this was an unacceptable use of public finances. It is not right that the SNP use taxpayer’s money for their political agenda. We agreed to raise our concerns with the Prime Minister.
Discussions regarding Northern Ireland included the possibility of legal action by the Irish Government against the U.K. under the ECHR to prevent the U.K. Government passing the Troubles Legacy Bill. We expressed concern that the U.K. Government’s position on direct rule may appear inconsistent.
For Wales it was the uptick in NHS waiting lists – again. 4.7% of patients in Wales are waiting 2 years or more for treatment, compared to 0.01% in England. Waits of a year or more in Wales stand at 20.3% and in England 5%. That Welsh voters continue to express greater confidence in the Labour run Welsh Assembly’s handling of Welsh NHS is indicative of the extent to which devolution undermines democratic accountability and, by extension, public service delivery. We all have to highlight Labour’s utterly appalling legacy in Wales. And the SNP’s in Scotland. The trouble is that these governments never have to take responsibility for their failures; they just blame the U.K. Government for all their woes.
I then had a virtual meeting with an organisation from Cornwall called Smart Working Revolution which as an effective model in dealing with the employment challenges in coastal communities in Cornwall. They have trained up people from Cornwall in remote and hybrid working skills. Once trained, the aim is to match them with some of the businesses they know in Cornwall, or the rest of the UK. The organisation is grant funded so there are no charge recruitment fees. The organisation has ‘got on with our version of levelling up down here’ and has placed a significant amount of underemployed talent into good remote roles – bringing longer term prosperity into coastal areas of Cornwall. Some of the people Smart Working Revolution has trained and placed can now afford mortgages, younger people get the chance to remain in the local area rather than move away to find work. Over 50’s have got access to a new purpose in life that fits around their other responsibilities and people with disabilities and parents benefit too – they have access to more relevant opportunities and many have found part time roles.The organisation would like to share its formula with other parts of the country. I have put it in touch with the secretariat for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Coastal Communities and the local DWP.
This was followed by another virtual meeting CPRE Sussex, the countryside charity (formerly the Campaign to Protect Rural England), which has joined a nationwide CPRE campaign to unleash the power of rooftop solar. I was invited to become a ‘Parliamentary Rooftop Solar Champion’. I agreed to do so - in Sussex, we get more sunshine than most places in the country. Solar energy - alongside energy efficiency, smart grids and other forms of low-carbon energy - is critical to our fight against climate breakdown. Also, as we can see from high energy bills, solar energy is a growing part of our energy security and critical for consumers too.
We need to significantly expand the amount of solar capacity in the UK. The potential of 'grey space' - our rooftops and car parks - for hosting this solar capacity is huge. New research shows that installing solar panels on existing rooftops and other land such as car parks could provide at least 40-50GW in England by 2035. In 2050, with further investment, there is potential to generate 117GW of low carbon electricity from roofs and other developed spaces.
By becoming a Rooftop Solar Champion, I am calling for the Government to set a target for at least 60% of solar energy to be delivered through rooftop solar installations on new builds, commercial buildings and car parks; making solar PV or thermal panels a standard expectation for all suitable new builds; and asking Ofgem to require Distribution Network Operators across the country to invest in local grid capacity to better accommodate increased generation from solar and heat pumps.
I walked over to Portcullis House to meet with the Director of Heritage and Chief Curator of the Houses of Parliament. She wanted to discuss the ‘sensitive objects’ in the collections with me directly as I am on the Speaker’s Works of Art Committee. This stems from the intense debate following the removal by vandals of the statue of the former MP, Edward Colston in Bristol. The Black Lives Matter activists took down the statue because Colston was a slave trader. However, the statue of him was not erected because he was a slave trader but because he did so much for the poor; he was a philanthropist. He built schools, hospitals and almshouses. I am insistent that we cannot change history and that whilst colonial history, including slavery links, are part of the history of Parliament, it is our past. The past is fact, whether we like it or not. We cannot erase it. There is good and bad and this means that we must achieve a balance and keep any explanations on Parliament’s art collections factual and balanced.
I ate a sandwich whilst I caught up with emails and wrote my Hastings Observer column (on inflation, the impact of increasing interest rates and their impact on mortgage rates).
I then attended the Children's Charter launch with SSAT (Schools, Students and Teachers Network) on redesigning schooling to achieve deep social justice. This event highlighted how important excellent leadership and teachers are, and discussed strategies that raise achievement, improve teacher recruitment and retention, narrow the gap between non disadvantaged and disadvantaged students as well as other strategies in fighting for deep social justice. SSAT was formerly the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust and has been working with schools and governments across the whole of the United Kingdom for nearly 40 years.
I agreed to follow up with the Chief Executive to find out how SSAT can help our schools in Hastings and Rye.
At 7pm the APPG for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities held its AGM and I agreed to continue as a vice-chair. The SEND minister, Claire Coutinho attended to update us; in March 2022, the government published a Green Paper on SEND and alternative provision system in England. Measures proposed in the Green Paper included setting new SEND national standard, creating a simplified and digitised Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) and increasing the number of staff with an accredited level 3 qualification in early years settings. The APPG had published an inquiry setting out our recommendations – one of the major issues was regarding EHCPs. Claire explained about the new SEND improvement plans following last year's consultation on a range of proposals to improve the accessibility and availability of SEND provision from the ages of 0 to 25. Key policies include the creation of a new SEND system, which covers ages 0 to 25 and aims to "fulfil children's potential" and a review of SEND funding to ensure it is "appropriate and well-targeted". It was also good to hear that there will be training for 5,000 early years professionals to gain a Level 3 SENCO qualification – this will help with early intervention – something I consistently campaign for.