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Welcome to the one hundred and twenty-eighth edition of my Westminster Report.
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WESTMINSTER REPORT

 
Dear Constituent,
 
The last two weeks have, once again, proven to be very busy across Corby & East Northamptonshire and I have been working hard, listening to you on the issues that matter, and then campaigning on them for you back in Westminster. Below are some of the things I’ve been up to in the last few weeks.

As ever, if I can be of any assistance to you or your family, please don't hesitate to get in touch using the contact details at the bottom of this newsletter. 

With best wishes,




Tom Pursglove MP 
Member of Parliament for Corby & East Northamptonshire

Working for you across Corby & East Northamptonshire!

The death of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh:
 
I was incredibly saddened on Friday to hear of the death of HRH The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. The nation has lost a truly remarkable public servant and I know that so many in Corby & East Northamptonshire will be united in their grief and sympathy for the Queen and the wider Royal Family at this difficult time. The Prime Minister captured the mood of the nation in his remarks following the very sad news and I wanted to share his words here.
 

Our local COVID-19 response here in Corby & East Northamptonshire – my latest comprehensive update on case rates, enforcement, testing, vaccination and the easing of restrictions:

After several weeks of having seen our infection rates come down locally, it was frustrating that we saw cases tick up again once more, particularly in Corby, but it is not completely unexpected as ‘lockdown’ eases.  As I understand it, however, welcomely, it is the case that we have not seen this translate into unmanageable hospitalisations and mortality as we saw at earlier points in the pandemic and the rate is now coming down and at a level faster than the national average. 
 
Without question, as we move forward, there is also a need for us all to learn to live with this virus, as ultimately, there is no credible road to a ‘Zero COVID’ UK, or world, as some advocate, but we cannot persist indefinitely with restrictions that debilitate our economy, our physical and mental wellbeing, and the life chances of our children. 
 
That said, we should not be complacent about doing all we reasonably can to contain it and given our public health leaders believe that these cases are predominantly as a result of mixing, the onus remains for us all to show common sense and consideration for others, by adhering to the rules as they stand at any given point in time.  I also just want to say that I am hugely grateful to all those locally - the vast majority - who have been, and continue to, do right by sticking to the rules. 
 
To tackle these case rates, what is welcome is that we have seen resources significantly boosted in Corby & East Northamptonshire over recent months, with solid progress on the vaccination roll-out locally, with our supply significantly increased and more resources are being provided to quicken the pace. And to track and shut down chains of  infection, testing capacity has been further bolstered too, most recently with door-to-door testing having been carried out in the Beanfield and Kingswood parts of Corby over the weekend, with a view to piloting our county’s ‘variant of concern’ contingency plans.

You can find my most recent written update detailing all of that additional capacity and the latest situation,
here.  My earlier updates can be found at the same tab too.

 

The Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill:

The Police, Crime, Sentencing & Courts Bill is an important piece of legislation that has public safety at its core, across a whole range of serious issues and harms affecting our society – tightening the law, increasing sentences and keeping people safe from dangerous offenders. It is right that we consider the Bill in its entirety and I’m looking forward to further debate on this crucial topic in the weeks ahead. You can find my update video,
here.

You can also find an open letter I recently wrote, setting out why I voted for the Bill at Second Reading and detailing the measures in it, here:
https://tinyurl.com/jc2ppkfa.

 

Our ‘New Plan for Immigration’:
 
The other week, the Home Secretary announced the ‘New Plan for Immigration’ – a welcome step, building on our earlier reforms. This is a very welcome set of proposed changes – that deliver genuine fairness, ensure we do right by those who legitimately require asylum, whilst working to punish those who seek to capitalise on human misery through people smuggling, and ensuring foreign national offenders are swiftly deported.  Common sense reforms that deliver on our promises. You can find my update video on this topic,
here.
 
 
Cowthick Plantation development - meeting between the developer, local authority and residents:
 
I was pleased to be able to organise a meeting between local residents and Mulberry Developments to discuss the development planned at Cowthick Plantation on the edge of Corby. Also in attendance were representatives from local parish councils and the new North Northamptonshire Council and this was a useful opportunity to start an ongoing dialogue about how, now this has been given planning permission by what was Corby Borough Council, the development can be the best neighbour possible and how that can be ensured in practice. Topics of discussion included mitigation of flooding, creation of employment opportunities and how our local infrastructure, including our local roads, can keep pace with this development.  Some encouraging early updates were outlined on these matters, but I will continue to follow progress closely and will bring people together again in future as the situation evolves.

 


Latest objection to the Brick Kiln Road (20/00960/FUL) planning application in Raunds:

In the light of a recent appeal, I wanted to reiterate my support for local residents and Raunds Town Council in their objections to planning application 20/00960/FUL, which is now with the Planning Inspectorate for determination.  As such, last week, I wrote to the Planning Inspectorate and I have included a copy of my letter above. Essentially, this is the wrong development for this residential area and it risks creating undue pressure on local infrastructure.  East Northamptonshire Council was right to reject it and I hope that decision will be upheld.

 


The Great British Spring Clean!

The Great British Spring Clean is coming back and running from the 28th May to the 13th June 2021. The campaign aims to clear litter from across the country to help the environment, but also to make our local area cleaner and more pleasant. Litter lying around is an awful sight and I’ve long campaigned for people to put it in their pocket and take it home, given the devastating environmental impact and the massive sums we spend each year to clean it up - a total waste of money of itself, which could be far better spent on our schools, hospitals, policing and other priorities. So if you can get involved, please do – I’m backing the campaign and we can all do our bit! To find out more, visit:
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/get-involved/support-our-campaigns/great-british-spring-clean.

 

Fire at Stanwick Lakes play area:

I was so sorry to hear what had happened to the play area at Stanwick Lakes over the weekend and I will help the brilliant team there in any way I can to get this damage put right and these great facilities back open ASAP. If you have information about how the fire started, please come forward and I wish Northamptonshire Police and Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service all the best for their ongoing enquiries.

 

Community Alcohol Partnership 2021 awards – success for Corby CAP!

The other week, I was pleased to virtually join the Community Alcohol Partnership Awards. This organisation, through its local network, does vital work tackling underage and problem drinking and it was great to present a prestigious award to Laura Shaw and Suzanne Preston of Corby CAP - well done to them and all involved in the project locally! You can read more, 
here.

 

Tackling anti-social behaviour in Corby:

After listening to the understandable concerns of local residents about ongoing anti-social behaviour in an alleyway at Laxton Close in Corby, I am pleased the council are proposing to apply for a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to help address this. You can find more details on my website,
here.

 

Traffic calming in Weldon and getting the new ‘spine road’ open:
 
A number of Weldon residents have been in touch regarding speeding traffic and the need to get the new ‘spine road’ open in the village. At the very end of March, I had a good meeting with Corby Borough Council, Northamptonshire County Council, Persimmon Homes and local residents, to pull together a plan of action, with the aspiration to get the spine road open sometime in June – progress towards which I will continue to monitor carefully. It was also great to be able to visit recently and see these issues for myself on the ground. You can read more,
here.

 
 
Cultural Recovery Fund – more local funding allocations for Corby & East Northamptonshire:

It was great to hear recently that as part of the latest round of funding through the Cultural Recovery Fund, a number of organisations and businesses in Corby & East Northamptonshire have received grants to help them weather the COVID storm and gear up for reopening. You can find more details about this funding,
here, but those receiving allocations this time were:

 
  • Savoy Cinema, Corby
  • The Wonder Circus
  • Deep Roots Tall Trees
  • Rockingham Castle
 

My 2019/20 Westminster Report!
 
My 2019/20 Westminster Report, updating local people on some of the work I have been doing over the past year, has recently been printed and went through doors across Corby & East Northamptonshire during March – but if you missed it, you can find it online too! See:
Westminster Report 2019 - 2020.

 


The ‘road map’ out of ‘lockdown’ continues:

Thanks to the hard work and enormous sacrifices of the British people, as well as the incredible success of our vaccination programme, I'm delighted that we continue to cautiously, safely and irreversibly ease ‘lockdown’ restrictions, with ‘stage two’ of that journey having come into effect yesterday and you can see a handy graphic above about what it all means. You can also read a full update about the wider ‘road map’ plans for easing restrictions on my website,
here.

 


Unprecedented volumes of correspondence on all manner of issues and concerns – please bear with me!

My inbox is always heavy, but I've never known it this busy with all sorts of queries and concerns coming in, particularly COVID related. I just wanted to say that I am working hard to get back to everyone, but it may take a day or two longer than normal, so please bear with me.

 
Local engagement, help and support – March & April 2021 in numbers:

To give local people an idea about the work I have been doing on the ground in recent weeks, actively raising local issues, feedback and concerns, and taking up individual cases, I thought it would be useful to include the pie chart below which includes the data for the month of March. Notably:
 
• Last month, my office received well over 1,800 emails from local residents and 868 specific new cases were created for individual constituents.
 
• While Coronavirus and the wide-ranging impacts that it is having on our society still account for a large proportion of the cases being dealt with, last month saw a continued increase in other issues being raised.

 

And so far across April:
 
• Across this month, so far, I have received over 200 constituent queries, with 122 specific new cases being opened, and with more coming in all the time. Once again, almost all the correspondence received so far has been linked to topical issues around Parliament, Government, COVID-19 and other current issues, but I will provide another full update at the end of the month.

Of course, if I can ever be of any assistance to you or your family, please do not hesitate to get in touch – I am always really happy to help!

 

• The Royal Mail is launching a design competition for UK school children to honour our COVID heroes, including key workers and others, who have done amazing things since the start of the pandemic to help the country and our community through what we all know has been a very challenging period. Visit www.royalmail.com/stampcompetition to sign-up for one of 6,000 resource packs available and get involved with this great competition!

• Marie Curie nurses and hospices provide incredible care and support to families facing terminal illness, and this year their Great Daffodil Appeal is more important than ever with the pandemic putting its usual fundraising on hold. Please join me in supporting the appeal by wearing a daffodil and donating, if you can, at www.mariecurie.org.uk/daffodil.

• Only one third of people in the UK realise that it is possible to reduce their risk of dementia and I am aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle to overall brain health.  With this in mind, I am happy to further highlight the importance of brain health through Alzheimer’s Research UK’s ‘Think Brain Health’ campaign.  This is a fantastic initiative, which raises some very valuable points about how to keep our brains healthy and you can find out more on the Alzheimer’s Research UK website, here: https://tinyurl.com/4wky4s6w.
 
• Given the flooding issues we have seen locally of late, the Environment Agency has developed a factsheet to explain what their responsibilities are, the maintenance activities they may carry out in local areas, and actions people and businesses can take to help address flooding. I thought it would be worth sharing it and you can find it, 
here. Of course, if there are flooding issues affecting you or your community, please don’t hesitate to approach me if I can be of any help, as others have had cause to do this winter.

• I have been informed that the National Lottery have reopened applications for heritage grants and I wanted to share this good news which may be of help to a number of organisations locally. You can find the details on their website, 
here.

• A particularly concerning aspect around our collective national effort to fight Coronavirus is the impact it is understandably having on people’s mental health. In response, I am pleased that the local authorities in the county and the NHS have launched a mental health support line, and whether you are feeling lonely, anxious, frightened, or struggling with other issues, there is friendly, professional support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, by calling 0300 330 1011.
 
If you have anything you would like to be featured next week, please email all the details to 
pursglovet@parliament.uk.
 
Also, if you have taken any photos of constituency landscapes or landmarks, which could be featured in my ‘Community Notices’ headers, please send them in and I will try to use as many of them as possible (and credit them accordingly!), as a celebration of the fantastic place we live and work in. I know we have many budding photographers in our community and it would be great to showcase their work!

Address:
Tom Pursglove MP
House of Commons
London, SW1A 0AA


Email:
pursglovet@parliament.uk

 
Telephone:
020 7219 8043



Website:
www.votepursglove.co.uk
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