At the start of the year, I wrote in the Sevenoaks Chronicle to reflect on 2021 and look ahead to the 2022. If you missed this, please do visit here.
Despite the challenges we faced with Covid last year, I am pleased we made excellent progress on many of my local priorities including:
- Protecting the Green Belt, by successfully arguing down the increased housing targets proposed by the Department
- Opening the Sevenoaks campus for Tunbridge Wells Grammar School for Boys, and securing funding from the Department for Education to rebuild Orchards Academy in Swanley
- By working together with Kent Police, Sevenoaks District Council and Matthew Scott, Kent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, excellent progress is being made to ensure women feel safe in our community. Southeastern have agreed to upgrade the lighting on the platforms at Bat and Ball and Otford stations and are looking at the lighting in the car parks. Over the next two years, all older CCTV across the whole estate
- Securing a Nightingale Court for Kent to help to reduce delays to court cases, and deliver speedier justice for victims
- To align with COP26 I hosted the Sevenoaks and Swanley Climate Change Conference. It was encouraging to hear the fantastic progress already underway to ensure we are playing our part
- And finally, secured £211,908 for The Stag in Sevenoaks as part of the second round of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund, and I will continue to offer my full support to ensure its survival until normality is restored.
There is of course more still to be done, however I am pleased 2022 has got off to a strong start with the lifting of Plan B restrictions – which I know will make a huge difference to many of our wonderful local businesses and schools. People are no longer advised to work from home and children are no longer required to wear face marks in the classroom. And, from Thursday COVID passes and face coverings are also no longer mandatory in certain indoor settings. Thanks to our community stepping up and getting boosted, our amazing vaccinators, new antivirals and incredible scientists and medics, we are finding our way out of this. And we’re leading the world in doing so.
Finally, I cannot let this newsletter pass without acknowledging the wider political context. I want you to know I am very angry about the reports of parties at Number 10. Enormously difficult restrictions were in place at the time, and residents across Sevenoaks and Swanley followed the rules, often at great personal cost. Everyone, whoever they are, should obey the law, and anyone who is found to have broken the rules must face consequences. Please be reassured that I am listening closely to my constituents’ views on the matter.
Laura Trott
MP for Sevenoaks and Swanley
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Below is a snapshot of what we have been working on. If there is anything, I can do to support you, please get in touch.
- Having raised the difficulties our local hospitality, leisure and accommodation sector faced over Christmas due to the omicron variant with Ministers, I welcomed the news that £1 billion of targeted financial grant support was being made available by the Government to protect jobs and businesses. Throughout the pandemic, Sevenoaks District Council has been excellent in getting business grants to business owners as soon as possible – with million pounds of support for our business community distributed since March 2020 – and I am sure this excellent service from the council will continue with this latest round. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Thursday 10 February 2022, and for more details on the funding available and the eligibility please visit: https://www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/omicronsupport
- Following my question in the House of Commons at the end of last year, I met with Minister Cartlidge to make the case for the continuation of Kent’s Nightingale Court. While I welcome the announcement from the Justice Secretary that Magistrates are to have their sentencing powers increased in order to reduce pressure on the Crown Courts, we also urgently need our Nightingale Court to remain open to help with the backlog. I will keep up the pressure in Westminster and hope to be able to share an update with you soon.
- I was very pleased to hear last week that troops from Operation Pitting will be recognised for their heroism in Afghanistan. They should be very proud of their success in evacuating 15,000 people – many connected with us here in Sevenoaks and Swanley – just as we are proud of them. This month also saw the launch of the Government’s Veterans Strategy Action plan, which promised £70m in funding and contains 60 commitments. I will be following up to ensure we are playing our part locally. Veterans make a huge contribution to society and I am please veterans and their families across Sevenoaks and Swanley will now benefit from this.
- Further to an accident on Bayleys Hill, and my calls for urgent action, I am pleased National Highways have agreed to finance the gritting of Bayleys Hill (and will continue to do so until Gracious Lane Bridge reopens), and Sevenoaks District Council have agreed to start the gritting from tonight. Unfortunately, we have now seen three accidents reported due to the cold and icy weather. I do hope this update will mean no future accidents take place.
- It was a pleasure to join the Kemsing Every Step Counts walk last week, which was brilliantly organised by Martin and Yvonne Watt. More than 20 walkers turned out on what was a beautiful winter morning, and it was great to enjoy a coffee at The Bell pub afterwards to help us all warm up. Every Step Counts is a brilliant initiative set up by District Councillor Irene Collins, with the support of Sevenoaks District Council Official. There are currently eight groups running across the constituency – which allow residents to come together for both friendship and fitness - so if you are interested in taking part, please do visit here.
- It was brilliant to see the Bricklayers Arms getting the international recognition it deserves from EU Ambassador to the UK Joao Vale de Almeidia, during his visit to the Foreign Secretary at Chevening. Click here to view his tweet.
- As we transition towards a net zero economy, it is important that households in the rural areas of the constituency are not forced to pay higher costs to replace their oil boiler with greener alternatives. I asked the Business Secretary for his assurance that safeguards will be put in place to ensure that Sevenoaks and Swanley residents reliant on oil boilers will not be financially worse off as fossil fuels are phased out.
- I am pleased the Government have announced plans to introduce mandatory digital waste tracking, which will enable regulators to better detect illegal activity and tackle waste crime, including fly-tipping and illegal waste sites. Fly-tipping is a perennial problem in our area and must not be tolerated. I will be working closely with DEFRA and Sevenoaks District Council to ensure the residents of Sevenoaks benefit from these changes as soon as possible.
- I absolutely loved going to see the Sevenoaks Panto, The Pirates of Treasure Island, over the Christmas break with my family at The Stag Sevenoaks. The cast, crew and orchestra are incredibly talented, and went to huge lengths to keep things Covid safe. Well done to all those involved in putting on such a wonderful show.
- I visited St Thomas’ Catholic Primary School in Sevenoaks. I enjoyed a tour of the school, before answering questions from some of the Year 5 pupils. I also met with the school council – which is made up of two representatives from each year group. They shared with me some of their brilliant ideas on how to make Sevenoaks a better place to live and work – which I will now be taking back to my office to explore in more detail. My thanks to all the pupils, Academy Principal Ms Leahy, as well as teachers Mrs Busvine and Mrs Williams for making my visit so enjoyable
- And finally, I am a proud supporter of The Sutton Trust, who work to ensure every young person – no matter who their parents are, what school they go to, or where they live – has the chance to succeed in life. This month they opened applications for their university and apprenticeship Summer Schools, which any Year 12 state school pupil can apply for. I attended one of these courses and it was fantastic, so if you know a child who might be interested and could benefit, then please do visit their website. If anyone is successful in their application, I’d love to know about it, so please do email me.