Andrew Mitchell visited Peddimore Hall, with its famous old words above the door in Latin “God is our Refuge” which he referred to in the debate in Parliament when the town secured the reassertion of our Royal status.

Photo shows Andrew with Richard Wallis, who owns the Hall and whose family have lived here for more than a century on one of the Royal Town’s oldest residences.

Andrew Mitchell opened the Royal Sutton Coldfield Chamber of Commerce Exhibition 2023 at the Town Hall along with President Phil Arkinstall and the President of the Greater Birmingham Chamber, Deb Leary. 

The Town Hall was packed with exhibitors, with around 400 people involved in this important annual event. The Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council was exhibiting too, in particular in respect of the Master Plan for our Town Centre. 

Among the sponsors to were Enoch Evans solicitors, Royal Sutton Coldfield BID and our Royal Sutton Coldfield Town Council. 

Andrew Mitchell met with the Gracechurch Centre manager, Angela Henderson, and Julie Hopkins, the Head of Operations at CSO, the security company who look after the Gracechurch centre’s security and cleaning.

He said:

“I was relieved to hear that the media reporting of the ‘mass brawl’ incident was overblown and that the security guard who broke up the fight was not injured at all.

“However, I understand that many of my constituents are concerned about anti-social behaviour in the centre of our Town and would like to see the revival of our High Street.

“Sutton Coldfield is very lucky to have the BID (Business Improvement District), on which Angela is now a Board Director.

“BID is in its 11th year and is an important politically-backed approach in helping address problems seen across the whole country and notably in Sutton Coldfield- the effect of the digital economy on brick and mortar retail.

“I would like to thank CSO for keeping Gracechurch clean, tidy and safe.”

Andrew Mitchell MP visited The Spires retirement home in Boldmere to speak to residents about rising energy costs.

Rising energy costs, provoked by surging demand after the pandemic as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, has increased inflation and in turn put pressure on living costs.

The Government has taken steps to help households through these extraordinary times: reducing the Universal Credit taper rate; increasing the National Living Wage; freezing fuel duty for the twelfth consecutive year; and launching a £500 million Household Support Fund.

Andrew spoke with residents at the Spires about energy rates at retirement homes with communal areas such as theirs.

The Energy Bill Discount Scheme (EBDS) was introduced and will run until March 2024 to provide a discount on gas and electricity unit prices in such circumstances, similar to the Energy Price Guarantee put in place for households.

Last Sunday Andrew Mitchell attended the annual Civic Service at Holy Trinity Church in the presence of the new Royal Town Mayor, Cllr Tony Briggs, leader of our Town Council Simon Ward and others.

The service was conducted by Revd Canon Becky Stephens of St Peter's, Maney.

Andrew commented:

“We were all delighted the deputy lord Lieutenant Nasir Awan was able to join us for the service.

“It is always something I look forward to as we come together to celebrate what the Royal Town and our community has achieved.”

I paid my first official visit to the huge new Amazon warehouse at Peddimore. I have been watching closely as the infrastructure is being put in - roads etc - as well as the landscaping, in order to protect my constituents’ quality of life and try to preserve the beauty of the surrounding countryside. 

I was accompanied by Cllr Ken Wood who along with our local town councillors and Cllr Barrie is diligently looking after the interests of local residents - particularly those in Minworth most directly affected by this and indeed in Walmley. 

From the pictures below, you can see the sheer scale of it all: there are 600 people working on the site. The warehouse will stock 30 million items!

The construction sees 7,200 Solar panels producing 3.6 megawatts. 

We always said we wanted to see high quality and highly skilled local employment created if this goes ahead, and that does indeed seem to be the case. Between 1300 and 2000 such jobs are being created with advertising and recruiting locally taking place. We are probably 3 years from opening but there will be high quality apprenticeships, ranging from 14 months to 4 years in duration.

This is the future and of course part of the reason for the decline in our Town centre. However, I thought the Amazon management were sensitive to local concerns (such as light pollution - for which they are putting in blinds), committed to local jobs and bringing in good neighbours.

Very much a day of driving forward objectives on local policing: - this morning I had a meeting at our local police Headquarters in Sutton Coldfield with Chief Superintendent Richard North, who looks after local policing across Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield.

We discussed a number of local issues noting that crime across the country has fallen sharply since 2010 and that challenges remain in terms of resource management and visibility. Residents want to see police officers around and about. This is one of my regular meetings on local policing supporting our local priorities.

I also had an excellent meeting with our new Chief Constable Craig Guildford whom I had the pleasure of welcoming to the Town this afternoon. 

It was an opportunity to introduce him to our interests and concerns on policing and related matters.

Simon Ward, the Leader of the Town Council also joined our meeting, and we were both greatly encouraged to hear of the reforms and changes he is making. I was particularly pleased to hear the importance our new Chief Constable attaches to Local Policing- something which I know will resonate with my constituents.

Andrew Mitchell had another meeting with members of Eco Sutton church group. They discussed important topics such as water quality, investment into the water industry, growth of green skilled jobs and the instillation of heat Pumps.

The Government’s Strategic Policy Statement to Ofwat sets out long-term priorities for the sector, and how ministers expect the water companies to deliver for consumers and the environment.

Andrew Mitchell visits the Sutton Coldfield Job Centre and met with Cathy Beck, the Senior District Operational Leader, Riaz Khan, Senior Safeguarding Leader, and Frank Harris, Employment and Partnership Manager.

Andrew said:

“I wanted to raise the fact that the job centre in Sutton Coldfield is moving to Erdington at the end of April. Obviously the caseload in Erdington is many times that of the Royal Town. Unemployment here in Sutton has fallen by nearly a fifth in the last year, while unemployment among young people, which reached over 500 at the height of Covid, is now at 230.

“I was reassured to hear that there will be a smooth transition of Sutton Coldfield cases to the Erdington branch, which is easily accessible by either train or bus.”

Andrew Mitchell MP visited the Sutton Coldfield Adventure Group – an independent youth group based in St Nicholas Church in Boldmere.

The Group, which is run by John and Jo Garvey, caters for children between the ages of 7 and 18, offering these youngsters an array of different activities designed to challenge and engage them.

The activities range from party games to archery, walking in the park to leadership exercises, mountain biking to visiting the Christmas Market.

With 200 members and a waiting list, it’s fair to say it is hugely popular!

The Group is always keen to welcome new members. To find out more, please contact: enquiry@scau.co.uk.