I am pleased and humbled to be able to report that I was reselected by the Royal Sutton Coldfield Conservative Association last weekend (I gather unanimously since you ask!) to fight my seventh election as the Conservative candidate in the Royal Town.
I have now been your Member of Parliament for 22 years and not a day goes by when I am not conscious of the privilege and honour that this is.
Above: some of the senior members of the Royal Sutton Coldfield Conservative Party Executive Council
Meetings in the Royal Town
Today I had a whole collection of meetings throughout the Royal Town, including with a distinguished local consultant Professor Gatrad, the former Lord Lieutenant and Royal Town resident Paul Sabapathy, and Raaj Shamji.
Among the things discussed was Professor Gatrad’s campaign against single use plastic which I, and many throughout Sutton Coldfield, support
CQC report on UHB
The Care Quality Commission recently shared with me their report into the maternity services at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust.
The trust delivers over 8,700 babies and has 150,000 outpatient appointments every year across three sites.
The overall rating for maternity at Good Hope Hospital went down from ‘good’ to ‘requires improvement’, the safe domain remains ‘requires improvement’, and the rating for ‘well-led’ went down from ‘good’ to ‘inadequate’.
UHB have let me know what urgent action they are taking to drive improvement, including how the NHS England’s Maternity Safety Support Team is now supporting UHB’s maternity team, and the establishment of a maternity and neonates improvement programme.
I am in close contact with Chief Executive David Melbourne and I will be monitoring the situation very closely.
Meeting Dr Tedros
On the 75th anniversary of the World Health Organisation, I met with Dr Tedros, the director general of WHO, and the health minister Will Quince MP.
For all of us in Sutton Coldfield and across the world, Dr Tedros as head of the WHO is a very important leader with whom we are working closely on pandemic preparedness and other world health issues.
The UK and WHO work together to tackle some of the most pressing global health challenges, including boosting health systems and ending preventable deaths.
Meeting the King with DEC and Birmingham-based Islamic Relief Worldwide
Yesterday I had the great privilege of an audience with His Majesty the King, followed by a meeting with the DEC (Disaster Emergency Committee).
Many of my constituents donate generously to the DEC charities and their local partners have provided life-saving aid in the months following the floods in Pakistan, with donations providing healthcare, clean water, shelter, food and more where Islamic Relief played a most important part.
Throughout the Royal Town there was great generosity and support for the DEC over the Turkish earthquake, with people across or country providing a staggering £150m of support to the DEC appeal.
I was particularly proud to present the greetings of his majesty’s Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield.
International development Committee
On Tuesday I gave evidence to the International Development Committee which scrutinises UK aid spending and key government strategies.
I faced questions from the committee about British International Investment (BII) which I put at the forefront of development finance as minister for international development some years ago.
It is important to demonstrate how British taxpayers’ money like my constituents in the Royal Town is well spent by BII and is being used to help the world’s poorest, delivering a return to British taxpayers in the best possible way.
If you would like, you can watch the session here.
Two Westminster Hall debates on Government policy on Hazaras in Afghanistan and on Iran
On Wednesday I spoke at two Westminster Hall debates, the first was on government policy in Iran, and the next was on the situation of the Hazaras in Afghanistan.
A number of my constituents wrote to me during the protests in Iran after the death of Mahsa Amini.
It is essential that girls in Iran and across the world are able fully to exercise their right to education without fear. The UK has imposed more than 70 new human rights sanctions on senior Iranians since the protests in September.
Those sanctions send a clear message to the regime that we will seek to hold it to account for violent repression of its own people. The Government will continue to protect our security and that of our partners in the region by holding Iran to account for its destabilising activities
The Government urge Iran to stop its practice of unfairly detaining British and other foreign nationals. We will continue to work with like-minded partners to hold the regime in Iran to account.
You can watch the debate here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/853ac44e-b422-4225-91f8-0c58a49b3ff3
The next debate on the Hazara population of Afghanistan was another important topic about which I have regularly received correspondence from my constituents.
As one of Afghanistan’s most persecuted groups, they face continued repression under the Taliban which the government greatly condemns.
The British Government will continue to work closely with international partners to press the Taliban on our human rights concerns, including the treatment of the Hazara people. We will also continue to work to ensure credible monitoring and accountability mechanisms are in place, including by supporting the UN special rapporteur. It is a tragedy to witness the reversal of the human rights progress made in Afghanistan over the last 20 years.
If you would like, you can watch the debate here:
https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/8d705733-8d74-4fb6-8719-acdb293804e0?in=16:27:13
Statement on Kosovo
On Monday I made a statement to the House regarding the latest spike in tensions in Northern Kosovo. Britain deployed troops in the 1990s as part of our contribution to tackling the crisis in the Balkans.
Violent protests in northern Kosovo on 29 May resulted in injuries to at least 30 troops from NATO’s KFOR mission, along with 50 civilians, including journalists
The government is working closely with international partners to de-escalate the situation and encourage a return to dialogue, the UK has stood by Kosovo in the best and worst of times and will continue to do so.
You can watch the statement here
Royal Sutton Coldfield Community Games 2023
Outdoor Cinema in the Parade
A cinema will be opening in Sutton Coldfield this summer - a pop-up version in the Parade showing films and sporting events from Friday, July 14 to Sunday, July 16 with the films to be shown set to be announced nearer the time
The pop-up venue will feature a large cinema screen, deckchairs to sit back in, a grass floor and white picket fence. And it will show a ‘selection of films and this year’s men’s and women’s Wimbledon tennis finals’, with those days featuring morning movies.
BUPA Foundation Green Community Grants
The BUPA Foundation have launched a Green Community Grants Fund nd are looking or grass-roots projects.
They are looking to support practical community projects which help both people AND planet health.
· Grants are available between £250 - £2,500
· Applications are welcome from all schools, registered charities and not-for-profit organisations across the UK and ROI
· The application window is open from 1 - 30 June.
Example projects could be:
· Improving green spaces for community activities to improve wellbeing
· Tree planting to improve air quality and biodiversity
· A school wanting to create an outdoor classroom or forest school
· A community group who’d like to create an allotment
· A voluntary organisation wanting to install sustainable equipment, such as a heat pump
Apply here: https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/4imACoVxqfrJRQJBu1-L5m?domain=groundwork.org.uk/
MHRC Locations
Please see below the visits scheduled for the week commencing 12th June 2023 of the BCC Mobile Household Recycling Centre.
· Mon 12/06/2023, Pilkington Avenue B72 1LA, 07:00 - 12:45, Sutton Wylde Green
· Tue 13/06/2023, Langley Heath Drive B76 2XB, 07:00 - 12:45, Sutton Walmley & Minworth