Reminder- the clocks go forward tomorrow!
Spring Booster
I am pleased that the Sutton Coldfield Group Practice will be running the vaccine Spring Booster programme from the Town Hall.
This will be for the older adult care home patients from w/c 3rd April and then from w/c 17th April for over 75s, immunosuppressed and housebound patients. The difference in this programme will be the intense focus on the beginning few weeks from when the programme goes live as it is due to finish in a shorter time frame, by end of June.
Start and finish times are likely to be the same 9am – 6pm and likely Tuesday to Saturday clinics.
If anyone would like to volunteer from w/c 17 April, please get in touch and I would be happy to refer you to Dr Rahul Dubb, Chair of Sutton Coldfield Group Practice.
HS2 Jobs
With work on the next 3.5 mile tunnel planned to begin this year, linking Water Orton in Warwickshire and Washwood Heath in Birmingham, BBV’s tunnelling team is seeking to bolster its crew. In readiness for this, around 100 additional roles will be created, with the recruitment programme launching later this month. In addition, applications for the 10 Tunnelling Operative apprenticeship roles, which are being delivered in partnership with Tunnelcraft, went live on Wednesday.
Please see here for more info.
Royal Mail
This week it has become clear that a number of people across the Royal Town are not having their mail delivered on time.
I have written to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail to understand what is going on and when postal delivery will return back to normal. I will report back next week.
National Reading Quiz
Bishop Vesey School is joining in taking part in the regional heats of the National Reading Champions Quiz! A great initiative from @Literacy_Trust and @ALCS_UK to encourage and celebrate a love of reading in students across the UK. #NRCQ23
The quiz is an initiative from the National Literacy Trust, generously supported by ALCS (the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society) and aims to build a love of reading and celebrate reading for pleasure in schools across the country.
My visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo
At the beginning of this week, I was in the Democratic Republic of Congo to launch the UK’s flagship education programme in Kasai which will support 60,000 children to attend school, and at least 60% of these students will be girls.
https://twitter.com/AndrewmitchMP/status/1637529117041016835
I also visited the Kamelenga Health Centre which Britain helped set up 10 years ago, situated in a very poor part of the DRC. In the DRC, the maternal death rate is high and more than a third of children are not fully immunised. I met mothers and children in DRC and saw how UK support helps Kasai strengthen its health system and work to end preventable deaths.
https://twitter.com/AndrewmitchMP/status/1637804460549259268
USAID conference
Over the weekend I gave a speech at the significant USAID conference outlining the UK’s support to earthquake survivors across Turkey and Syria. The UK will continue to assist those affected by this awful natural disaster.
https://twitter.com/AndrewmitchMP/status/1637870315979038724
Boosting energy efficiency
It is right that our mission to reach net zero does not saddle taxpayers with unrealistic costs.
I am pleased to learn that the Government has awarded Birmingham City Council the amount of £25 million to boost energy efficiency and cut emissions from homes.
This will boost the efficiency of heating systems across low-income households and cut bills by up to £400.
These will be through:
• The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund,
• The Home Upgrade Grant,
• And the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.
In the face of Putin’s war driving up prices, we have already stepped up to pay around half of the average household’s energy bills to help get through the winter months.
Now, we are going even further to boost energy efficiency and bring down bills for those who need it the most.
Commotion on social media
Since last Friday, I have had a significant number of emails, letters, and other forms of communication from anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists amid a flurry of misinformation spread on social media.
Becoming the topic of conversation among conspiracy theorists from as far away as the United States has been surprising. However, perhaps I could set the record straight. After intervening in the House of Commons on Layla Moran MP’s Private Member’s Bill (Palestine Statehood), I had to attend a meeting at the foreign office – pausing for just a moment to thank Layla for her speech. It is safe to say that the conclusions for why I left the chamber and what I said to Layla have been quite wide of the mark and completely misinterpreted!
Further information
Avanti West Coast Easter 2023 Engineering Works
Between Friday 7 and Monday 10 April there will be changes to Avanti West Coast services, as Network Rail carry out an £88m programme of essential engineering work across the rail network. No trains will run to and from Euston station over Easter weekend. Other parts of the West Coast Main Line are also affected by work, with no direct trains to many stations.
MHRC locations
Please see below the visits scheduled for the week commencing 27th March 2023 of the BCC Mobile Household Recycling Centre in Sutton Coldfield:
Mon 27/03/2023 Stonehouse Road B73 6LJ 07:00 12:00 Sutton Vesey
Tue 28/03/2023 Longley Avenue B76 9AL 07:00 12:00 Sutton Walmley & Minworth
Wed 29/03/2023 Vesey Road B73 5NZ 07:00 12:00 Sutton Wylde Green
Thu 30/03/2023 Mulroy Road B74 2PY 07:00 12:00 Sutton Trinity
