19 November 2021
Andrew Mitchell MP’s 85th weekly message to constituents and local residents across our Royal Town

Covid 19 & Vaccinations

An additional 387 cases of Covid 19 have been registered in Sutton Coldfield for the week of 5th-11th November compared to an updated figure of 371 for the week of 29th October- 4th November based on data from Birmingham City Council’s public health division.

In the 7 days up to 11th November, there were 2,848 cases in Birmingham (249.7 cases/100k population), a decrease compared to 3,165 cases (277.5/100k population) in the previous week.

Over the 7 days leading up to 12th November, of 20,528 PCR pillar 2 tests, 2,699 (13.1%) were positive in Birmingham, marginally higher than the positivity rates for West Midlands and England as a whole.

Birmingham is 14th in the region for pillar 2 PCR tests rates, with 1,800 tests per 100k population. 45,654 LFD pillar 2 tests were also carried out.

The attached image shows the number of first and second vaccines per age group for Sutton Coldfield from data published yesterday.

Vaccine Data w/e 18 November 2021

Walk-in appointments are taking place at a mass vaccination centres across the Birmingham City Council area for those aged 16 and over. Please check the latest availability via: www.birminghamandsolihullcovidvaccine.nhs.uk/walk-in over 16s can also continue to book in advance online as normal including bringing forward your second dose if your appointment is more than 8 weeks from your first vaccinewww.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination.

The Health and Social Care Secretary has accepted independent advice to extend the booster programme to people aged 40 and over, and offer a second dose to people aged 16 to 17.

Royal Sutton Coldfield updates

On Sunday I attended our local Remembrance Day ceremony. After the wreath laying and church service I visited our British Legion club to speak to local veterans and their families. While Covid 19 meant that the full schedule of activities did not take place this year, the service and the laying of the wreaths were still incredibly poignant and a fitting tribute to all those that have served our country. https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/birmingham/sutton-coldfield/2021/11/15/how-sutton-coldfield-paid-its-respects-on-remembrance-sunday/. On Saturday I had the honour of attending the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall which celebrated 100 Years of the Royal British Legion.

Remembrance Service 2021

Having had a very good meeting this morning with Tina Swani, Chief Executive of the Sutton Coldfield Charitable Trust I am pleased to say that there is no question of any building taking place at Manorial Wood which will come as a relief to the hard working local councillors who were naturally concerned about this. It is clear that the planned harvesting of the wood is both necessary and sensible and I congratulate the charities on their ecological plans for planting broadleaf replacement and sustainable forestry for the long term . Their plans for involving local schools are an added bonus. https://www.suttoncoldfieldcharitabletrust.com/news/manorial-woods/17.htmI

This afternoon I also met Ian MacLeod from Birmingham City Council together with Simon Ward the leader of Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council and Cllr Ewan Mackey from Birmingham City Council. We discussed progress on the Masterplan for the Town Centre and the further steps now required to speed up progress.

Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Hall is to receive £34,000 from the third round of the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund. The heritage venue, which formed as a charity in 2016, is among 925 recipients to benefit from the latest round of awards from the Culture Recovery Fund. Our Town Hall, which also houses the Sutton Coldfield Group Practice’s rollout of the Covid-19 and Flu vaccination programme, returned to hosting productions and functions in September 2021.  The grant will be used to keep the building safely maintained and secure and to support the return of shows and events, including the December pantomime, Cinderella.

Yesterday the Commonwealth Games team announced that Wyndley Leisure Centre will become one of ten key Games Time Training Venues across the West Midlands. The centre will become the official training venue for hockey, triathlon and para triathlon athletes. Hockey teams will use the new upgraded International Hockey Federation standard full-size pitch. The works for the centre have already started and will be complemented by enhanced floodlighting and new fencing. Triathlon and para triathlon athletes with use the 25m pool and the athletics track. https://www.expressandstar.com/news/local-hubs/birmingham/sutton-coldfield/2021/11/18/sutton-coldfield-sports-venue-unveiled-as-commonwealth-games-training-base/

As part of the Government’s Plan for Jobs, the £2 billion Kickstart Scheme pays businesses to create high-quality jobs for 16-24 year olds on Universal Credit. The scheme gives young people the opportunity to find work, develop their skills, and get a crucial first step on the career ladder. 100,000 young people across the country have now started a Kickstart job across all types of employers, ranging from sole traders to some of the biggest companies in the country. In Sutton Coldfield the latest figures show that 120 local young people have benefited from the scheme so far.

The latest unemployment figures suggest that Sutton Coldfield’s current unemployment rate is 3.3% of the population aged 16-64. The equivalent UK claimant rate was 4.8%. For those aged 18-24 locally the rate is 5.1% compared to 5.9% across the whole of the UK. There is still more to do in order to bring these figures down but it is welcome news that the end of the jobs retention/furlough scheme has not created a spike in the figures.

Good to see that hundreds of people have taken the first step towards securing a new job or training opportunity following the Birmingham Jobs Fair at Villa Park. The event attracted more than 1,000 job seekers and 63 employers and with data still being collated, 250 people have already secured a job or training place with hundreds more awaiting the outcome of applications and interviews- meaning that more than half of the attendees are likely to end up in work or training. Employers recruiting on the day included Greggs, B&M, getir, West Midlands Police and the NEC Group. 

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands, has announced a region-wide programme to build a series of ‘Net Zero Neighbourhoods’, where homes are retrofitted with insulation and green heating on a street-by-street basis alongside other low carbon infrastructure such as on-street electric vehicle charging points.

The City Council has launched a 4-week consultation on their Private Rented Sector strategy. The strategy will set out how the Council will ensure that it helps develop and sustain a diverse, high quality private rented sector that is safe, secure and energy efficient, in neighbourhoods that are diverse, sustainable and pleasant to live in. https://www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/place/private-rented-sector-strategy

The BBC has started a procurement process to explore future options for their presence in Birmingham with future plans to  have more staff based in Birmingham. The BBC is looking at different options, which include staying at their current site at The Mailbox or moving to a new base elsewhere in the city. 

Final preparations are underway for Birmingham Community Healthcare to join the Birmingham and Solihull Shared Care Records programme, helping to deliver better, safer care for patients. The system – previously called the Health Information Exchange – enables health and social care professionals to see a holistic view of a person’s care and treatment across all settings in our local area. https://www.bhamcommunity.nhs.uk/about-us/news/latest-news/shared-care-records/

Flybe has announced that Birmingham Airport will become the airline’s HQ. The company was bought out by Thyme Opco after collapsing in March last year as a result of the pandemic. It is set to begin domestic services and flights to the EU from Birmingham next spring and plans to create 600 jobs, around 200 of which will be in Birmingham. The news comes after Condé Nast Traveller selected Birmingham as one of its best holiday destinations for 2022- a good sign for inward tourism too. https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/best-holiday-destinations  

Westminster news and Parliamentary business

This week I have signed John Baron’s New Clause 19 to the Health & Care Bill which if passed will ensure that outcome measures are put above process targets by NHS England. This will encourage the NHS to focus on improving earlier diagnosis for cancer. John was Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Cancer from 2009-2018 and has championed the importance of earlier diagnosis as a means of improving cancer survival rates. The amendment would require the Secretary of State to set objectives for the NHS on cancer treatment which are defined by outcomes (such as one-year or five-year survival rates), and would give those objectives priority over any other measures.

I have also signed David Davis’ amendments to the Nationality and Borders Bill which focus in particular on the Offshore Processing proposals. Clause 28 and Schedule 3 of the Bill would allow the immediate removal to a “third country” of anyone seeking to claim asylum in the UK with claims processed in the third country. There are no provisions to require the receiving country to comply with our standards of human rights. For Afghan refugees in particular I agree that this an insufferable infringement of liberty and a dereliction of the assurances we’ve made to the Afghans who served with our armed forces. The Australian experiment (on which this has been modelled) has proved ineffectual, has resulted in sexual abuse, deaths and serious mental illness, and is eye-wateringly expensive. People have been detained by Australia on Nauru & Papua New Guinea for years and years on end, with no resolution re-settlement in sight.

On Monday I asked the Prime Minister about the UK’s plans to share excess vaccines with developing countries https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASUDi-NqJ0o I also joined Matt Chorley for the Red Box Times Radio Podcast https://www.thetimes.co.uk/podcasts/red-box. On Tuesday I met Dr Vishal Sharma who is chair of the BMA’s consultants committee and pensions committee to discuss current NHS workforce issues, the backlog of care, and the impact of pension taxation on recruitment and retention.

Yesterday Ministers announced details of our Integrated Rail Plan, with £96 billion of rail investment for the Midlands and the North. Through our Integrated Rail Plan we will build three high-speed rail lines:

  • HS2 Western Leg from Birmingham to Crewe and Manchester (journey times from Birmingham to Manchester will be cut by two fifths – to just 51 minutes and journey times from Manchester to London will be cut by almost half)
  • A new high-speed line from the West Midlands to East Midlands Parkway, meaning direct high speed rail services to Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield, and Sheffield (Journey times from Nottingham to Birmingham will be cut by two thirds – to just 26 minutes)
  • A new high-speed line between Warrington, Manchester and Yorkshire, combined with upgrades on existing lines to deliver NPR services from Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester. (Journey times from Liverpool to Manchester Piccadilly and Manchester Piccadilly will be cut by a third and journey times from Liverpool to Manchester Airport will be cut by two thirds)

The Midland Main Line will also be fully electrified with work beginning by the end of this year to electrify a new section of the line between Kettering and Market Harborough.

On Wednesday the Government launched a new ‘Made in the UK, Sold to the World’ plan to help businesses double exports and sell their products around the globe. The 12-point export strategy will give businesses the tools they need to reap the benefits of our free trade deals. It includes an Export Support Service and the launch of a new UK Tradeshow Programme better-tailored to help businesses (particularly those outside London and the South East) to promote their products around the world. The Department for International Trade will also be expanding its Export Academy. The UK exported £600 billion in goods and services last year, but only around one in ten GB businesses currently export. Unlocking our exporting potential will help boost the economy and support British businesses to grow.

Opportunities and Events

Tomorrow the Christmas lights in the centre of town will be turned on, thanks to funding from our local Business Improvement District https://suttoncoldfieldtowncentre.co.uk/2021/11/16/sutton-coldfield-set-to-sparkle-with-annual-christmas-lights/

The Royal Sutton Coldfield and North Birmingham Parkinsons Carol concert will take place on Saturday 4th December at St Margaret's Church, Great Barr at 2.00pm.

Applications for the Social Mobility Foundation’s 2022 Aspiring Professionals Programme are now open. The Social Mobility Foundation supports ambitious young people from low-income backgrounds to access top universities and professional careers. They run programmes which are completely free of charge that feature mentoring, internships with top companies, university application support, and skills workshops. The charity provides support in 11 professional sectors, including Law, Medicine and Accountancy. Students apply to join the programmes in Year 12. Support continues from this point throughout university to help young people obtain graduate jobs.  https://www.socialmobility.org.uk/programmes/#programmes

The annual STEM for Britain exhibition of posters by early-career researchers will be held in Parliament on Monday 7th March 2022. Hundreds of entries are anticipated from early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers, mathematicians and technologists who wish to exhibit posters in one of the following areas: Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, Biological and Biomedical Sciences and Engineering. Medals and cash prizes will be awarded for the best scientific posters presented in each discipline, and the presenter of the poster judged to be the overall winner will receive the Westminster Medal, in memory of the late Dr Eric Wharton. Full details of the competition and exhibition can be found on the STEM for BRITAIN website at: www.STEMforBRITAIN.org.uk The closing date for applications is Monday 6th December.

The Morrisons Foundation awards grant funding for charity projects which make a positive difference in local communities. In the main grants are available to fully fund projects up to £25,000. https://www.morrisonsfoundation.com/grant-funding-request/

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