Local MP for Hastings and Rye, Sally-Ann Hart, has today welcomed the Prime Minister’s speech on the Government’s plan to recover after the Covid-19 pandemic and get Britain building again.
Following the Prime Minister’s speech this morning (30 June), Sally-Ann said, “I really welcome this ambitious and optimistic plan from the Prime Minister today. I have been calling for us to locally turbo-charge our economy and now the Prime Minister is setting Britain up to “build, build, build”, which is exactly what we need to do. Building more homes for younger generations; build the transport infrastructure for the future; building new hospitals to protect the sick; and building new schools to give the best start in life to our children. It’s an ambitious plan that will kick start economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The Prime Minister announced that the Government is bringing forward £5bn of capital investment projects, supporting jobs and the economic recovery, including:
§ £1.5bn this year for hospital maintenance, eradicating mental health dormitories, enabling hospital building, and improving A&E capacity;
§ £100m this year for 29 projects in our road network to get Britain moving;
§ Over £1bn to fund the first 50 projects of a new, ten-year school rebuilding programme, starting from 2020-21;
§ £560m and £200m for repairs and upgrades to schools and FE colleges respectively this year;
§ £142m for digital upgrades and maintenance to around 100 courts this year, £83m for maintenance of prisons and youth offender facilities, and £60m for temporary prison places, creating thousands of new jobs;
§ £900m for a range of ‘shovel ready’ local growth projects in England over the course of this year and next, as well as £96m to accelerate investment in town centres and high streets through the Towns Fund this year.
“I am delighted [art of the announcement today will see Hastings received between £500,000 and £1million from the Towns Fund, ahead of schedule, to help with immediate impact of Covid-19. This funding is for projects such as improvements to parks, high streets and local transport.
“My priorities locally are to ensure we turbo-charge our economy, support the most vulnerable and fight for social justice and the Prime Minister’s speech today sets out how that is possible, and I will do all I can locally to make it a reality. I believe we have a wealth of talent here in Hastings and Rye that we can unleash as we build our way out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Together we got control of the virus, and together we can rebuild our economy” said Sally-Ann.