This week brought the first Parliament sitting in the New Year, and it was straight back to a flurry of work.
The extremely moving ITV drama of Alan Bates versus the Post Office has shone a public eye on the dreadful miscarriage of justice faced by sub-postmasters over so many years. The stories are truly harrowing. None of this should have happened.
It is vital to establish what went wrong and make sure that those affected get proper answers, proper compensation, and proper support. The public inquiry is making progress and over £148 million compensation has been paid out so far. A fast-track new law has been promised. This will overturn convictions.
There has also been much in the press about the steep rise in persistent absences from school which have doubled since the start of the covid pandemic. We should be very proud of our nations young people. Our children now rank 11th in the world for Maths and 13th for Reading. Back in 2010, when today’s school leavers were just starting out in reception, the same league tables placed our children at 27th for Maths and 25th for Reading. There has been phenomenal progress.
Having a world class education is vital for young people to give them the freedom to access opportunities and jobs in the future. Therefore, it is right to be concerned about the rise in non-attendance.
This issue has been looked at in depth by the Education Select Committee. Their number one recommendation is that all schools should have to follow new detailed guidance on attendance. Before Christmas, I tabled a Private Members Bill which will make this happen. It will also ensure that local authorities support schools, parents, children and families to improve attendance, especially with targeted support when there are particular barriers such as for children with Special Educational Needs. This week, I met with the Children’s Commissioners Office to discuss my Bill.
I also spoke with the Chelmsford and Maldon District Commander from Essex Police. Crime has dropped by over 50% since 2010 and continues to drop across Essex. However, in recent months there has been a spike in vehicle crimes and in thefts from sheds. Our local Police made a very important break through over New Year when they arrested and charged an individual for persistent vehicle thefts in our area.
In Parliament, I am working with a small group of MPs on a new Criminal Justice Bill. The Bill will criminalise the possession, importation, making, adapting, supplying or offering to supply an electronic device (such as a signal jammer) for use in theft of a vehicle or theft of anything in a vehicle. Once the Bill passes, the maximum penalty will be five years’ imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both. Criminals are always adapting, innovating and finding new ways to commit crimes. I hope that having this new legal offence will help the police to crack down on these vehicle crimes.
Locally in Chelmsford, I met up with our Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Roger Hirst to check the new CCTV camera that has now gone live covering the areas between the Bunny Walks and the pathway at the bottom of the Avenues. This is the latest in a series of over half a million pounds of investment in Chelmsford from the Government’s Safer Streets Fund.
On Friday evening, I attended a helpful briefing for all MPs by the Defence Secretary. Whilst the UK did not want to have to take military action in the Red Sea area, it had given many warnings that if the attacks on shipping continued, then action would be taken. Forcing commercial ships to have to detour many thousands of miles from the Red Sea route risks having a severe impact on the world economy, as well as our economy at home. Therefore, action needed to be taken. Care was taken to minimise risks to civilians.
Putin will have expected the events in the Middle East to have distracted our attention from Ukraine and reduced our support. The support package announced today of £2.5 billion is an increase to previous years. It is important to stand up for democracy and freedom and this underlines our continued support for Ukraine both now and in the longer term.
It is excellent to see the immense amount of work that has taken place on Beaulieu Station over the holiday period. Trains are now using the new tracks to the north of the existing railway. Passers-by will now see intense work on the south side of the site which is enabling the ground works for the platform on that side of the track. The station is due to open next year. It is also excellent that we have £68 million of government funding for a new junction at the Army and Navy. I have been doing a Local Transport survey across Chelmsford since the new year. Thank you to everyone who has already taken time to give their feedback.
I popped down to Chelmsford markets on Friday. They are a treasure trove of goodies. Please do take time to check them out and support our local traders.
It was a very early, pre-dawn start on Saturday morning when I joined Chelmsford volunteers from the South Essex Bird Ringing Group at the Wilderness Foundation. Bird Ringers are extremely highly trained. Their work monitoring the health of different species has been vital to the conservation of wild birds for many decades. It was truly magical to be so close to nature. Thank you to all those who volunteer in our community.
