Ruth Edwards MP writes to update Rushcliffe constituents.
Parliament has a short sitting in September before the party conferences start at the end of the month.
In the last few weeks, we’ve passed some important new laws such as the Energy Bill and the Online Safety Bill, both of which I have taken a key interest in.
The highlight of my month in Westminster, though, was arranging for the Prime Minister to personally present Rushcliffe resident, Sam Perkins, with a Point of Light Award for the fantastic work that he and his charity, Stand Against MND, have done to raise money. Sam has raised over £190,000 for research into Motor Neurone Disease and palliative care for those who, like Sam, have the illness. Well done Sam, you really deserved this award!
In Rushcliffe, we have had the great news that one of the 40 new hospitals promised in our 2019 manifesto will be here at Stanford Hall.
The Government gave the green light to the UK’s first National Rehabilitation Centre. This £105 million, 70-bed centre will have the latest technology and work closely with the world-leading Defence Medical Rehabilitation Centre next door. The new centre will be finished by the end of next year and I look forward to visiting the site next month to see the work that’s been started.
I know that, like me, many of you support our fight against climate change and our transition to net zero by 2050. But some of you have also contacted me with concerns about the speed and cost of some of the changes, like moving from gas boilers to heat pumps.
We are very aware that household budgets have been put under a lot of strain in the last couple of years.
In fact the latest round of Cost of Living Support payments, the second of three, have just been made in Rushcliffe totalling £1.8 million. That is why I support the changes that the Prime Minister announced to our approach to achieving Net Zero by 2050. It gives households more time to adjust to the expensive changes such as switching to a heat pump, as well as doubling the grant money available to help make this possible. Let me be clear, the UK will remain a world leader in the fight against climate change. We have cut emissions by nearly 50% since 1990 and remain committed to cutting them by 68% by 2030. That is more than the EU, Germany, France, the US or Canada, and it has been achieved with a host of funds and measures that you can view here.
There is also tremendous opportunity for the East Midlands to lead this transition. I spent a morning this month at Toyota to discuss ambitious plans to make the region into the UK’s largest inland “Hydrogen Cluster”, so we contain a group of businesses that produce, consume hydrogen or form part of the supply chain for the sector. This cluster is projected to create and protect around 110,000 jobs across Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. In Rushcliffe, Uniper has announced plans to develop low-carbon hydrogen generation at the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station site, which is also part of the East Midlands Freeport. The Freeport itself is designing a hydrogen skills academy to support the sector as it further develops. All of this shows the huge potential benefit of transitioning to a greener economy, and I am incredibly proud that Rushcliffe and the East Midlands are at the forefront of that.
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