Covid 19 & Vaccinations
An additional 306 cases of Covid 19 have been registered in Sutton Coldfield for the week of 18th - 24th September compared to an updated figure of 250 for the week of 11th- 17th September based on data from Birmingham City Council’s public health division.
In the 7 days up to 24th September, there were 2,738 cases in Birmingham (equivalent to a case rate of 239.8 cases/100k population), a marginal increase of 0.7% compared to 2,718 cases (equivalent to 238.0/100k population) in the previous week.
Over the 7 days leading up to 25th September of 23,741 PCR pillar 2 tests 2,603 (11.0%) were positive in Birmingham lower than the rates for the West Midlands region but higher than England as a whole.
Birmingham is 14th in the region for pillar 2 PCR tests, with 2,079 tests per 100k population 54,745 LFD pillar 2 were also conducted.
The attached image shows the number of vaccines per age group for Sutton Coldfield from data published yesterday.
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 vaccine: www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination.
Royal Sutton Coldfield updates
This week I held a number of phone call appointments with constituents as well as meetings via Zoom and Microsoft Teams. While I am holding face to face meetings in my office I appreciate that phone or virtual appointments can be more convenient for many people and I intend to keep running a flexible appointment system for my advice sessions.
Birmingham Children’s Trust has published their Holiday Activity Fund Impact Report for 2021. The Trust worked collaboratively, bringing together a wide range of teams to deliver activities throughout August. 5,078 places were filled as part of the programme which were supported by over 2,500 parents, carers and staff.
Great to see that local community station Switch Radio’s Christmas Crackers (which I appeared on last year!) has been nominated for two awards at the National Community Radio Awards. Switch Radio has been nominated for Station Of The Year and their Community Show “The Big Show” has been nominated in the Covid response category. https://www.switchradio.co.uk/christmascrackers. Best of luck to the whole team at Switch Radio!
Yesterday Andy Street and the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) set out a package of measures to help unemployed people gain the skills needed to get back into work. Working with our region’s colleges and providers, the WMCA’s support will be targeted at up skilling for roles in sectors where jobs are being created - including digital, logistics, health and social care, rail, and construction. The £25m funding package also includes a specific focus on jobs with good long-term prospects, such as teaching assistants, housing officers, and software developers.
People in eight surgeries and health centres across Birmingham can now receive cycling, walking and other physical activity on prescription from their GP to improve both their physical and mental health thanks to a new social prescribing scheme. Social prescribing aims to reduce health inequality and make active lifestyles more attractive to people by offering free-to-access cycling and walking activities, such as walking groups, free bikes and cycle training. Working with the WMCA, The Active Wellbeing Society launched the programme in response to an ever-growing need to find new and innovative ways of tackling key health issues including obesity, poor health, inactivity and loneliness. Due to early success, further funding has been sought to roll out the programme to more areas.
UKActive, the national association for gyms and leisure centres has joined “Include Me West Midlands” the campaign headed by the WMCA to provide a level playing field for physical activity for all by engaging disabled people and people with long term health conditions. Developed following extensive consultation with disability groups and national research institutions, it puts disabled people at the heart of the conversation around activity, wellbeing, housing and transport.
With the ballot for Commonwealth Games tickets closing this week much of the focus has rightly been on local plans for the Games. However it is easy to forget how significant the Games are right across the Commonwealth. This week the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games unveiled the design of the Queen’s Baton and details of the international route for Queen’s Baton Relay. The Queen’s Baton Relay is a Games tradition that celebrates and connects communities from across Commonwealth during the build up to the Games. The Relay begins on 7th October at Buckingham Palace, where Her Majesty the Queen will place her message to the Commonwealth into the Baton. It then takes on an incredible 294-day journey through all nations and territories of the Commonwealth, arriving back in England in July. As Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Rwanda I have been informed that the baton will reach Rwanda on 11th October!
Universities UK has published new figures on the economic contribution of universities in the West Midlands which show that universities contribute £8.6 billion to our region’s economy and support 67,000 jobs.
Severn Trent has published ‘Caring for Our Environment’ which details their environmental ambitions and commitments around four key areas of ensuring a sustainable water cycle, enhancing our natural environment, making the most of our resources and mitigating climate change. https://www.severntrent.com/sustainability-strategy/reports-and-publications/caring-for-our-environment/
Westminster news and Parliamentary business
The Government has taken action to ease the immediate pressures on the fuel industry. There is no shortage of fuel in refineries and storage areas the UK, however unprecedented demand is exacerbating issues at fuel station forecourts. A number of military tanker drivers are ready to be deployed and Ministers have temporarily eased competition rules to enable better communication between suppliers. I know that we are continuing to see issues at petrol stations across the Royal Town and I have raised this with the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.
Thank you to everyone that has emailed me inviting me to attend various stands at the Conservative Party Conference which begins this weekend. I have made a list and will try to attend as many as possible. While Party Conferences always contain headline speeches they are also useful forums for policy conversations too. Many charities and third sector organisations host stands at party conferences and I hope to speak to quite a number of different charities over the next few days.
GDP figures released yesterday show that the UK economy grew by 5.5 per cent in the period April to June, up from the previous estimate of 4.8 per cent – with the arts, entertainment, and recreational sectors growing by over 20 per cent. The impact of the creative industries on our economy including in the West Midlands is often overlooked but it is a sector of growing importance and after a difficult time during the pandemic it is good to see a strong recovery.
Yesterday Ministers announced a £500 million Household Support Fund to help vulnerable families and to assist those who are at risk of struggling to keep up with their bills this winter – cash grants will be available from October for daily needs such as food, clothing and utilities via local authorities.
Monday was World Tourism Day and VisitBritain and VisitEngland are working to foster inclusive growth in support of the Government’s ambition to make the UK the most accessible tourism destination in Europe by 2025. As tourism recovers, we want to see the benefits shared across every nation and region. VisitEngland provides direction and support to businesses and destinations on harnessing the valuable and growing accessible tourism market with a dedicated section of guidance and resources on their Business Advice Hub www.visitengland.org/access. The Commonwealth Games next year will be an excellent opportunity to continue to grow tourism locally and I hope that the Games will be a boost to businesses across the Royal Town.
Earlier this week the Government published the UK’s first ever National Space Strategy and the UK Severe Space Weather Preparedness Strategy. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-space-strategy and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-severe-space-weather-preparedness-strategy
Opportunities and Events
Tomorrow the Sutton Coldfield Railway Society will be holding a model railway exhibition at the Trinity Centre on Mill Street from 10am until 4.30pm https://www.ukmodelshops.co.uk/SCRS/exhibition.html
Holy Trinity’s 8th season of concerts kicks off on Saturday the 9th October with the return of the City of Lichfield Concert Band. Up until the 9th October a special season ticket is available which offers all 6 of their 2021/22 concerts for the price of 5. https://www.htsc.org.uk/whats-on-and-groups/friends-of-holy-trinity/season-2021-22/
The Ironmongers’ Company offers grants of up to £10,000 to registered charities that work with disadvantaged young people under the age of 25. In particular the Company wishes to support projects that provide opportunities for young people to fulfil their potential through educational activities that develop learning, motivation and skills. https://www.ironmongers.org/helping-charitable-organisations
Entries are now open for the second SJL Foundation "SJL National Start-Up Business Awards”. Start-up owners shortlisted could receive a free £2,000 or £5,000 business grant and access to a free mentorship with entrepreneur Simon Lancaster and the staff at SJL Insurance Services and associates, as well as free publicity and PR coverage. https://www.sjlins.co.uk/latest-news/business/
The University of Birmingham has announced a return to live music this autumn, with a programme of concerts and events at the Elgar Concert Hall in the Bramall Music Building https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/lcahm/departments/music/events/index.aspx
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