I am acutely aware of how the cost of living continues to bite and cause great concern for so many of my constituents. So what exactly can we do about it? Whilst international events beyond our immediate control clearly play their part, there are steps that the Government could be taking at a national level to support our energy security. In particular, with little imported oil and gas coming through the Strait of Hormuz, it is even more extraordinary that the Prime Minister continues to rule out new drilling in the North Sea. These fields could be producing our own domestic oil and gas within months - reducing our reliance on imports; supporting British jobs - and ending the utter madness of Labour’s policy to import Norwegian oil and gas from the same basin they deny ourselves access to.
Another step that could be taken nationally would be to support motorists. With prices at the pump shooting upwards, I urge Rachel Reeves to scrap the 5p increase in Fuel Duty planned for September. In our rural part of the world, people rely on their cars – that’s one of the reasons I’m proud that in every one of our fourteen years in Government we found the cash to freeze fuel duty, protecting my constituents from more expensive petrol and diesel as much as possible.
But for all the attention on global events, and what the Government in Westminster can or cannot do about them, I strongly believe we can also take action locally to support our economy. I am passionate about helping people move from welfare to work, and that’s exactly why I hold my annual Jobs Fair. My latest event took place last Friday at the Stevenson Centre in Great Cornard.
More than 500 jobseekers attended; and I’m pleased to say there was an even greater number of opportunities on offer, from engineering and logistics, to social care and the Police. That said, whilst there were still plenty of jobs on offer, it’s clear to me that the overall trend is for falling vacancies. This is a serious concern, not least with the march of AI. That’s why I believe one way to spend the savings we would get by moving people off benefits and into work, would be to cut business rates – a tax that’s causing problems for so many of the local high street firms I chat to.
Supporting local businesses will always be one of my top priories and is exactly why I’ve been so passionate about the regeneration of Sudbury - campaigning for it ever since I was first elected in 2015. In my view, the best way to restore local economic strength would be to deliver an ambitious regeneration of Sudbury’s town centre.
Much has been said about restoring our town over the years, with many steering groups and plans being assembled and drawn up. But there has been very little progress, and the sticking point has always been one key factor – a lack of funding to move the bus station, and in a way that continues to deliver an effective bus service for the town. We now have that opportunity, with £26m of public funding from Suffolk County Council to bid into - funding that has to be spent on bus services in Suffolk.
To be clear, private finance to deliver new shops and housing would still be the main funding route to regeneration of our town, but we have to be realistic and accept such significant investment is going to be hard to mobilise for the Hamilton Road Quarter whilst it is next to a working bus station. At the same time, we also have to deliver a good bus offer in Sudbury, and any bid would need to involve detailed consultation with all stakeholders – including the district and town councils – on where a new site could be effectively located. After years without progress, and despite lots of good intentions, with this bus funding we have a one-off chance to attract the much-needed investment to transform our town. It’s time to be bold – seizing the opportunity to create jobs, new homes on brownfield sites, and restore our local economic mojo.
To conclude, these are really challenging times, and there is no magic wand to deal with the situation. Nevertheless, we battled through the pandemic and the energy shock that followed the invasion of Ukraine, and I will do everything possible to work with stakeholders at every level – national, regional, local – to address our latest challenges.
Published in the Suffolk Free Press.
