James Naish MP writes his February monthly update for Rushcliffe constituents.
James writes:
‘As I write, the Government has just announced that there will be extra support offered to pubs and music venues in advance of the re-evaluation of the property rental market values in April. This was causing significant problems for many businesses because the last evaluation of market values took place in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic when there was a surge in empty business properties and, as a result, abnormally low rents and valuations.
‘Great British pubs and live music are at the heart of many communities across Rushcliffe, so I’m pleased that industry voices and backbench representations have been heard.
Today’s support will mean:
15% extra off new business rates from this April.
A two-year real-terms freeze on bills.
A review of how pubs and hotels are valued for business rates.
Greater flexibility to open for major sporting events.
Extra help for pubs providing community services.
‘Three-quarters of pubs will see their rates bill fall or stay the same next year, while rates across the sector as a whole will be lower in 2028–29 than they are today.
‘There is more to digest, but this announcement was undoubtedly a step in the right direction. I have previously called for changes to stimulate market demand, including looking at targeted VAT reduction, and will continue to work with ministers on this.
‘I also welcome the commitment to developing a dedicated High Street Strategy to ensure retail, leisure, and hospitality businesses can thrive, as the bedrock of strong communities. This is long overdue.
‘Elsewhere, there have been more positive announcements in education, notably the launch of the National Year of Reading, the publication of guidance to schools about being mobile-phone-free environments by default, and a commitment to publishing the first-ever guidance for parents about screen time for under-fives by April.
‘But I was especially pleased to hear that schools across the country will benefit from £200 million for the most ambitious Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) training offer ever seen in English schools. This is something I called for in Parliament last September when I said a standardised national framework was needed to make sure that SEND training is properly embedded across all schools.
‘Almost half of teachers say more training would help their confidence in supporting pupils with complex needs, and now they’re getting it. New courses will be available to all teaching staff to deepen their knowledge of how to adapt teaching for SEND in the classroom.
‘There’s still more to do – including boosting access to specialists like educational psychologists and speech and language therapists – but this is a positive development which shows that campaigning works.
‘15 January is National Pothole Day – the day when we collectively remember the most visible impact of austerity across the UK.
‘Despite the recent wet weather taking its toll on our roads, there is some good news to celebrate with £1.6 billion being spent on road maintenance this year – a £500 million increase on last year.
‘Next year, through Claire Ward, the East Midlands Mayor, £46.9 million will be made available to spend on Nottinghamshire’s roads – part of a 60% uplift in road maintenance funding across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, meaning Nottinghamshire County Council should have more money to identify and fix the roads most in need of repair.
‘The Government is also turning up the pressure on councils by trebling the share of funding tied to transparency, from 8% to over 30% of the budget.
‘I’ll be launching a constituency-wide pothole campaign in the coming weeks to make sure Rushcliffe gets its fair share of this new money. With funding for pothole repairs doubling over this Parliament, it’s vital we see action.
‘Another important local story this month has been unacceptable delays to Royal Mail deliveries.
‘Thank you to the 686 constituents who responded to my survey. The results showed that 78.7% of respondents had received late post, with over a third receiving late financial post and nearly 30% receiving late medical post. This simply isn’t good enough.
‘After my team spoke to Royal Mail on my behalf, I spent an hour at the Nottingham South depot with the Director of Operations for the Midlands, looking at outstanding mail for West Bridgford, Radcliffe-on-Trent, Tollerton, Keyworth, and other parts of the constituency. I could see with my own eyes second-class post being held back, beyond the contractual three-day delivery window.
‘I’ve met with the relevant minister, signed an application for a parliamentary debate about Royal Mail’s winter performance, and spoken to posties directly to get their perspective. Royal Mail has assured me that it’s closing resource gaps and making operational changes.
‘I’m tentatively confident things have turned a corner, but I’ll be sending out a follow-up survey in four weeks’ time to check whether delivery performance has genuinely improved.
‘As always, I’ve been spreading myself thinly in Parliament this month, speaking in debates on animal rescue centres, play-centred learning, warm homes, the new Water White Paper, horse-rider safety, and fireworks. I’ve also spoken on Rushcliffe’s behalf on several important international matters, including in support of Greenland and the protestors in Iran, and against the Chinese mega-embassy, which was approved in the middle of the month. The mega-embassy risks becoming not only an excessively large diplomatic site but a focal point for the intimidation and surveillance of Hongkongers and members of the Chinese, Uyghur, and Tibetan diaspora – over 700,000 people in total. I maintain that an embassy on this scale isn’t needed.
‘Locally, I kicked off the year with my first “roaming surgery” in Wysall. I also hosted a very engaging panel discussion and roundtable with parents and students from across Rushcliffe on smartphone and social media use. The local BBC team covered the event, which was headline news on Friday 23 January, and shows how important this conversation is for families across the East Midlands.
‘Finally, I don’t want to close without noting the critical incident at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) earlier this month. This was stood down within 72 hours but was declared because the emergency department at QMC, which is designed to treat 350 patients a day, was regularly seeing more than 500 patients.
‘I spoke to the Chief Executive directly during this period, and when we last spoke, he assured me that services such as respiratory, geriatrics, cardiology, and acute medicine were in a better position. The demand on beds had decreased, the impact on elective care had been minimised, and the overall staffing position had improved.
‘However, there is no escaping that this type of situation is unacceptable and should be avoided at all costs.
‘There were no elective operations cancelled in Nottingham during the recent strikes, and ambulances are reaching patients 15 minutes faster for serious emergencies than 12 months ago. Thank you if you’re on the front line making this difference.
‘As always, my team and I are here to help with any local or national concerns. Please get in touch at james.naish.mp@parliament.uk or call 0115 646 6404.’
