7 May 2021
Andrew Mitchell MP’s 57th weekly message to constituents and local residents across our Royal Town

Covid 19 & Vaccinations

An additional 9 cases of Covid 19 have been registered in Sutton Coldfield for the week of 24th- 30th April compared to an updated figure of 23 for the week of 17th -23rd April based on data from Birmingham City Council’s public health division.

The 7-day case rate between 25th April- 1st May in Birmingham is now 16.1 cases/100K population, compared to 26.3/100K for the period between the 18th- 24th April.

Over the 7 days leading up to 2nd  May, of 14,862 PCR pillar 2 tests, 114 (0.8%) were positive in Birmingham, consistent with the West Midlands average and lower than the English average of 0.9%.

Birmingham ranks 13th in the region for pillar 2 PCR tests, with 1,302 tests per 100k population. 60,091 lateral flow tests (LFT pillar 2 tests) were also carried out.

Hospital admissions range between 1 and 9 new cases a day at University Hospitals Birmingham Trust over the 7 days from 22nd- 28th April.

The attached image shows an overview of vaccinations across different wards in Sutton Coldfield, based on the data that was available on Tuesday. Over 30% of adults in the UK have now received 2 doses.

Royal Sutton Coldfield updates

It has been a busy week in the Royal Town with the Vesey by-election as well as the West Midlands Mayoral campaign and Police and Crime Commissioner election.

The counts for many elections this year have been delayed however we should receive our local results for the West Midlands some time tomorrow afternoon.

It has been wonderful news to see the second week of the Royal Sutton Coldfield Chronicle distributed across the Town, it will soon be a Royal Town local institution if it isn’t already!

Yesterday I met the Leader of Birmingham City Council, Ian Ward, to discuss a number of priorities for the Royal Town including funding opportunities relating to our town centre masterplan and the challenges facing Sutton Park.

It is one month until Birmingham’s Clean Air Zone comes into force. Birmingham City Council has published the Birmingham Clean Air Zone Charging Order 2021 which also includes details of temporary exemption permits: https://www.brumbreathes.co.uk/news/article/64/birmingham-clean-air-zone-charging-order-published-ahead-of-1-june-2021-launch-date

West Midlands Railway is introducing dozens of new and longer services as the Covid 19 restrictions ease. A new timetable comes into effect on Sunday 16 May: www.wmr.uk/timetables

A new Family Drug and Alcohol Court has launched in Birmingham and Solihull as a two year pilot following Government investment and support from the Police and Crime Commissioner. The Court is a joint initiative of Birmingham Children’s Trust and Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council. Eligible parents spend a period of around 26 weeks working with specialists who provide expert support relating to drugs and alcohol and help address other issues affecting the care of their children. The team includes professionals in areas such as substance misuse, domestic abuse and mental health.

 

Westminster news and Parliamentary business

This evening Transport Secretary Grant Shapps will outline plans for future transport corridors as the Covid restrictions ease further over the coming weeks.

The House of Commons will next sit on Tuesday morning following the State Opening of Parliament. As part of the State Opening, the Queen will read out the Government’s plan for the new session.

The Health Secretary has announced a £29.3 million investment into new state of the art testing facilities to help accelerate the deployment of vaccines tailored to tackle Covid 19 variants. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-cutting-edge-testing-centre-to-fast-track-covid-19-variant-vaccines

Earlier this week Boris Johnson and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a virtual meeting to agree a deeper relationship between the UK and India across trade, health, climate and defence. The meeting included an agreement to an Enhanced Trade Partnership to unlock new opportunities for British and Indian businesses, and a commitment to negotiate a UK-India Free Trade Agreement.

This week I spoke to representatives from the UN Refugee Agency to discuss our international development budget and the UK’s New Plan for Immigration. I also joined a meeting of the Iran All Party Parliamentary Group.

 

Opportunities and Events

Sport Birmingham is running a Virtual Learning and Networking Event next week following the launch of the third phase of Tackling Inequalities Funding. The session will help organisations to understand how they can access funding. The event will take place on Zoom on Wednesday 12th May from 10.30 – 12.00. https://www.sportbirmingham.org/events/2021/05/virtual-learning-networking-session-how-to-get-involved-in-tackling-inequalities-funding-phase-3-include-me

Teachers looking to diversify their curriculum can access the film “In My Blood It Runs” which follows Dujuan, a 10 year-old Aboriginal boy in Alice Springs, Australia, as he navigates balancing his Arrernte/Garrwa history, culture and identity. The film is an intimate & compassionate documentary from Dujuan’s perspective, and alongside a free educational license of the film, teachers can also access free lesson plans and resources. Use promo code IMBIREDU here: https://togetherfilms.org/shop/imbir-educational-license

The Midlands Engine Investment Fund is hosting an event on Wednesday 12 May focusing on debt financing. The Masterclass will explore debt financing, funding for start-ups and early-stage businesses, and growth finance for more established companies. The event is open to businesses looking to raise finance as well as advisers and the wider intermediary community that support smaller businesses. https://bit.ly/3eWJmho

For those of us missing regular trips to the theatre, the National Theatre has announced three new episodes as part of its recently launched interview series “Life in Stages” which features conversations with leading names in British theatre. New episodes will be available to watch for free on the National Theatre’s YouTube channel on Thursday evenings and their channel has a wealth of other videos to watch too: https://www.youtube.com/c/NationalTheatre/videos

 

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As your MP I am here to help. If you feel I can assist with any concerns, please do not hesitate to get in contact by emailing me on andrew.mitchell.mp@parliament.uk

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