On the week of St Piran’s Day, I hope you were all able to spend some time on 5 March reflecting on what makes our Cornwall so special, our unique culture, heritage and history.
On St Piran’s Day I was delighted in Parliament to host a
‘Taste of Cornwall’ event, to showcase some of the best food and drink
companies from Cornwall on a national stage. From St Ewe Eggs to St Austell
Brewery and Knightor Vineyard, there were a huge variety of Cornish businesses
represented and suffice to say, the event was very popular. Thank you to
everyone who made the journey and it is good to see ‘Brand Cornwall’ doing so
well.
It was also good to see the Prime Minister wish the Cornish
people and everyone who lives in Cornwall a Happy St Piran’s Day. This was part
of his response to my question to him last Wednesday in Prime Minister’s
Questions. My question was about the future of the Government’s Shared
Prosperity Fund. The Shared Prosperity Fund is £132 million allocated to
Cornwall to replace EU funding. It has supported dozens of businesses and organisations
around Cornwall, as well as funded projects across the duchy, ranging from
plans to fix the harbour gates in Charlestown which were successful last year,
to an ambitious £2million Youth Employment Programme (Yep!) spearheaded by
Cornwall Council and Careers South West which launched last week.
The Shared Prosperity Fund is confirmed for this spending
review period up to the end of March 2025 but, as with all Government funding,
decisions regarding the fund’s future are a matter for the next spending
review, hence my question. I was pleased in his reply to get assurances from
the Prime Minister that the Government remains committed to an ambitious
levelling-up agenda in Cornwall.
Last week I was also pleased to go to the launch of Keep
Britain Tidy’s Great British Spring Clean campaign for 2024. The Great British
Spring Clean is the nation’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign and
this is its 9th year, as well as marking the 70th
anniversary of the formation of Keep Britain Tidy.
Last year more than 400,000 bags of litter were pledged to
be collected during the duration of the campaign. That’s a huge amount of
rubbish removed from our environment! This year it is taking place from 15 - 31
March, and you can pledge to pick up a bag of litter – or more via their
website on the link below:
https://www.keepbritaintidy.org/
After Parliament rose for the weekend on Friday I was
delighted to visit Trenance Academy in Newquay, who have recently been
recognised as an Oracy Centre of Excellence.
Oracy is the ability to articulate ideas, develop
understanding and engage with others through spoken language.
In school, oracy is a powerful tool for learning; by
teaching students to become more effective speakers and listeners they are
empowered to better understand themselves, each other and the world around
them.
It is also a route to social mobility, empowering all
students, not just some, to find their voice to succeed in school and life.
Trenance Academy have recently been accredited as an Oracy
Centre of Excellence in recognition of their commitment to developing their
students’ confidence and competence in spoken language, embedding it across
teaching and learning within the school. It was great to visit the school and
talk to the staff and pupils about this excellent achievement.
This week, the headlines will be dominated by the Chancellor’s
Spring Budget. I will go into this in more detail next week, as it will happen
after I have to send my column in, but in the run up to the Budget I have asked
the Chancellor to consider taking more measures to incentivise landlords to
rent properties to families all year round instead of using them as holiday
lets, as well as pushing for more support for our tourism and hospitality
businesses. International challenges still mean that we are facing a lot of
pressures around the costs of living, but I am sure the Chancellor will be
looking at all options available in order to deliver a Budget that works for
everyone.
As ever, if I can be of assistance on any matter, my office
is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance – tel: 01726
829379 or email: office@stevedouble.org.uk
