Dear Resident,
I hope you are well. It has been a busy couple of months both here in Scunthorpe and in Westminster, with local elections and the King’s coronation among many other events!
I have, as ever, continued to work hard to meet our local priorities, fighting for investment into Community Diagnostic Centres and increasing police numbers, as well as fighting for our steelworks alongside many other important issues.
Late last month, I was able to meet with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to talk about the issues that affect Scunthorpe, including the cost of living and our steelworks. As you all know, I will never miss the chance to share the concerns of residents in Scunthorpe with Ministers and MPs in Parliament.
Community Diagnostic Centres
Residents will know that I have been raising the issue of Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs) in Parliament for a while. In January, I asked the Health Minister to consider giving Scunthorpe an additional Community Diagnostic Centre. As we have one of the geographically largest ICB areas with a relatively small population, it would make more sense to have two CDCs, ensuring that everyone in the area has access to quick and local diagnosis. At the time, I was informed that Ministers were looking into the proposal.
Since then, we have received a positive update! I’m delighted to say that the funding has now been secured from the Government to help build a new CDC in our town centre.
The new £19.4m centre will be a one-stop-shop where patients can access a range of services like health checks, scans and tests. Our local healthcare team have done a fantastic job in making plans for this to happen.
It is hoped the number of people coming into town will also help bring more customers to our local businesses, shops and market.
Watch me ask the Health Minister about giving Scunthorpe an additional Community Diagnostic Centre.
Police numbers
Back in 2019, I stood on a manifesto that promised to increase national police numbers by 20,000 and I am so pleased to announce that we have surpassed our goal! Here in North Lincolnshire, as of this year, Humberside Police have seen an increase of nearly 200 more police officers since 2010.
Continuing with the incredible amounts of investment into Scunthorpe, I am delighted to share with you that there are now plans to build a new police station in Scunthorpe! This project is being supported by the Towns Fund Board, and is one of many schemes designed to transform Scunthorpe using the £21 million of Government investment.
Fighting crime and making our communities safer is one of the Government's priorities, and getting more police on the beat like this is how we do it. The new police station alongside additional officers will bring police officers into the heart of the town, creating a more positive and much safer environment for everyone here in Scunthorpe. Together these projects will create a new future.
Please also find below my progress reports on key local issues:
- Protecting and promoting our world class steel industry
- Improving local health provisions
- Improving local transport links
- Supporting our local businesses and community groups
- Working with our schools
Progress Report: Protecting and promoting our world-class steel industry
What’s Being Done?
It should come as no surprise that I have been back in Parliament highlighting the importance of steel to the UK economy. Steel is such a vital industry, and we need to make sure that the future plans of the Government continue to have steel at the forefront. At PMQs recently, I questioned the Prime Minister on whether he was committed to a UK-based steel industry. His reassurances in his commitment to help build to improve the steel industry here in the UK is fantastic news and something I will be closely monitoring.
In my last local update, I shared that Jingye, the owners of British Steel, had announced that they would be closing the coking ovens with a loss of 260 jobs. However, I am delighted to share that none of the people affected by the closure have lost their jobs, but have instead been offered alternative job roles within British Steel.
I was delighted to welcome the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kemi Badenoch, to the home of British steelmaking, British Steel, here in Scunthorpe after the Prime Minister’s commitment to keeping the steelmaking industry thriving here in the UK. I hope that, by showing the Secretary of State how we operate and making clear the struggles that the industry is facing, the fight to support our steelworks will only be strengthened.
After this visit, I was then able to question the Secretary of State on the introduction of the Industrial Supercharger to help industries such as steel. While the Supercharger is an amazing step in the right direction, it needs to be delivered quickly in order to address the issues. With the Secretary of State intending to deliver the Supercharger as quickly as possible, I hope that our steelworks will come out of this difficult time facing a long and sustainable future.
Additionally, my colleague, Jill Mortimer MP, and I met with representatives of Tata Steel to discuss the wider issues faced by the steel industry, and what the Government can do to help. I will be taking the topics we discussed and raising them in Parliament to continue fighting for the best possible governmental support for our steel works. There have also been meetings including with the Steel APPG.
Finally, when I was in the Commons Chamber, the Government made a statement on the future of the car manufacturing industry, reaffirming its importance to the UK. I raised the valid point that these industries rely on a whole supply chain of businesses, including steel. The reassurance by the Government once again, only encourages me in believing that the future of our steelworks is headed in the right direction.
What’s Next?
The progress made on maintaining and supporting the steelworks industry here in Scunthorpe and the rest of the UK, through the industrial supercharger and meetings on future plans for steelworks shows that the Government cares about the prosperity of our steelworks. I will continue to advocate for the longevity of our steelworks, providing them with a sustainable future.
Improving local health provisions
What’s Being Done?
I am all for supporting our NHS both on a local and national scale, and so I have been working hard to make sure that all of our existing local health provisions feel valued and recognised for their efforts, alongside pushing for improvements and investment to ensure the best treatment for each and every resident.
In mid-March, I welcomed one of our own, Nicki Hopkins, to Downing Street to celebrate all the work she has done to raise money and awareness for brain tumour research. Nicki is a real champion in our community and is truly deserving of recognition for all her hard work. It is always such a privilege to be able to tell the PM and other MPs about the incredible efforts of people right here in Scunthorpe, and this includes Nicki. Her tireless fundraising efforts are truly inspirational, and I would like to thank her once again for the enormous contribution she has made to our community.
We have also seen the Government take action in reducing NHS waiting lists. Improving access to GPs and cutting NHS wating lists has been a big issue here in Scunthorpe and is an issue that I have raised with Ministers. To cut down the number of unnecessary appointments, the Government have announced that they are expanding the services that pharmacies can provide to open up more appointments for those who really need them. Before, you needed an appointment for medicines to treat easily identifiable problems, but now these can be accessed at a pharmacy instead. This is a common-sense proposal, which will free up over 15 million appointments across the UK over the next two years to limit the 8am rush to book an appointment.
Since my last update, I have been able to visit the Prostate Cancer Lincs and Humber awareness stand in the Scunthorpe Foundry twice. The work done by Prostate Cancer Lincs and Humber is inspiring, and a fantastic example of one of the many incredible community groups we have here in our area. I would like to thank all of the team for their commitment to such a worthy cause, providing support to patients and families as well as raising awareness to help break the stigma surrounding prostate cancer.
The group is voluntarily funded and has a monthly support meeting open to anyone wishing to attend on the second Tuesday of every month (except December), from 2-4pm at Old Brumby United Church, Ashby Road.
In April, I was able to go and visit many of the other local health provisions here in Scunthorpe, including Lindsey Lodge and Hope House.
Many people here in Scunthorpe will have had friends or family supported by Lindsey Lodge. For 30 years, they have been providing high quality, specialist palliative care and wellbeing services to local people and families living with life limiting illnesses. I was invited to Lindsey Lodge to look around and learn more about what they do for the people of North Lincolnshire. Everyone here works so hard to improve the quality of lives of both patients and their families and carers, and I would like to thank them for taking the time to show me around and to explain their work.
Hope House founder, Joanne Sowerby, also showed me around her amazing community hub. Joanne founded Hope House 9 years ago after being diagnosed with breast cancer at 36. Her vision was to eventually open a “community hub” which she did 3 years ago. Hope House offers help and support to individuals and families when a cancer diagnosis has been given, supporting people both during and after their treatment. They also run many Community Activity Groups to promote well-being and to reach out into the community beyond those affected by cancer, developing strong links with cancer departments locally and with Community Nurses, local Hospices, Schools and the Local Authority.
Based at their community hub, they can help with: support groups, counselling, holistic therapies, and meal delivery service. It really was a privilege to visit Hope House and meet a truly inspirational lady in our community. A huge thank you to Joanne and all who contribute to Hope House.
As you all know, supporting the NHS is one of my biggest priorities, and since I was elected it’s something I’ve consistently campaigned on down in London. The Government agrees on the importance of supporting the NHS, and so I was absolutely delighted when they invested £130m into our local NHS Trust, which paid for the new A&E unit at Scunthorpe General Hospital.
In March, I was able to visit the new A&E. This new A&E replaces the old and outdated area, and it twice the size of the previous A&E. It gives our NHS staff a fantastic place to work, and whilst I hope my constituents won’t have to use it, I know they’ll get much better care thanks to the state-of-the-art facilities this investment brought. A huge thank you to everyone who has played a role in bringing this together for our area.
Finally, on a more national scale, I was once again voicing the concerns of people in Scunthorpe in the Commons Chamber, when in Health Questions I asked the Secretary of State what steps he is taking to increase cancer survival rates. While £40 million has been pledged, a cross-party group of MPs that I am a member of published a report on brain tumour research funding, and we discovered that of the pledged funds, only £15 million had reached researchers. The Secretary of State answered, stating that the funding is ready and waiting to be allocated to quality bids. I look forward to seeing more of this funding invested into such a worthy cause.
Improving local transport links
What’s Being Done?
On 11 May, after months of chaos and unreliable service delivered by the TransPennine Express (TPE), the Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, announced that TPE would be brought under government control. I was in the Commons to support this decision.
Further, Scunthorpe railway station received a donation from TPE which was used to add new planting beds around the station. I was invited to come and see the new planting beds by TPE, and when I raised the issues that our community had been facing with the service, they apologised.
While the problems within TPE will not be solved overnight, I am hopeful that we will start to see the well-needed improvements to the service – and the planting beds add so much positivity to our local area and look great!
I also took the time, along with my friend and colleague, Cllr Trevor Foster, to visit Mill Road in Hibaldstow to look at the increase in HGV traffic that has been using the road. We had a productive discussion, and are continuing to closely monitor the situation to address the issue wherever possible.
Watch this video to see me ask the Transport Secretary about the progress made with TPE.
What’s Next?
I am always taking the time to raise concerns regarding our roads with the Council. Emails from local residents continue to be the main way I am made aware of problems, so please do get in touch if you see any problems on our highways and I would be happy to help.
Supporting our local businesses and community groups
What’s Being Done?
This March, I had the pleasure of meeting small businesses from across North Lincolnshire at the North Lincolnshire Growth Group’s inaugural event. With over 40 businesses in attendance, I thoroughly enjoyed having the chance to hear from business owners themselves, giving their ideas on how we can grow the local economy and support jobs in the area.
To support these local businesses and community groups, the Government has provided various funds to invest and improve our area. This includes the Rural England Prosperity Fund, which enables eligible local authorities to fund activities that address the particular challenges rural areas face. It will provide capital grants to rural communities and businesses to help in supporting their development, and will help people starting local businesses to supercharge growth and create employment opportunities. In the latest Allocations, North Lincolnshire Council received £789,520, which is great news for our local area.
A great example of Government investment into Scunthorpe is at the Forge Homeless Project. I am delighted that the 'Bid Writing Service' I offer from my office has once again been able to secure thousands of pounds of support for a local project. We have been working with the Forge Homeless Project, particularly manager Andrea Houghton, over the last 12 months, helping to secure £169k of remodelling funding from Bernard Sunley Foundation, SSE Sustainable Development Fund, North Lincs Council and Albert Hunt to help the Forge with all the fantastic work they do.
We also secured £234k of National Lottery Funding to help fund wages for specialist support workers and £50K of Lloyds Foundation Funding for administration, cleaning and supervisory staff. I’m so pleased that we were able to help acquire this funding for Andrea and the team. It was brilliant to visit recently to meet volunteers, staff and service users and see where the money has been put to use.
Additionally, the Government launched the Grassroots Facilities Grants program, providing funding for essential facility improvements, and forms part of the commitment to level up across the UK. As of this month, the following groups in Scunthorpe have received funding: Appleby Frodingham FC (£3,600), Park Tigers Junior FC (£5,040), John Leggott College (£790,831) and Bottesford Town FC (£952,919). This is great news and I am excited to see the funding being put to good use in our local facilities!
Another prime example of the incredible funding being put into action in Scunthorpe is the investment in the Enterprise and Innovation Hub. This is an incredibly exciting project happening right here in Scunthorpe, which is supported by the Government’s Towns Fund and High Streets Fund. The funding will see the construction of the Enterprise and Innovation Hub which is already underway, bringing vital office and working space as well as 46 apartments right into the centre of the town. This kind of investment draws people in and I can’t wait to see the project completed soon.
I have also been able to get out and about, visiting some of the local community groups and businesses here in Scunthorpe that make our town such a wonderful place to live.
I have had the great opportunity to kick-start the North Lincs Rotary Swimarathon at the Pods. It was amazing to see so many teams taking part for so many worthy causes that will benefit many people in North Lincolnshire. I would like to offer a huge thanks to all those who organise, sponsors, and take part in this event, which will undoubtedly make a positive impact across North Lincolnshire.
On a similar note, It was a real privilege to visit Scunthorpe Anchor Amateur Swimming Club for both of their sessions, one at Riddings Pool and one at The Pods. Many of the young people had just returned from the recent Yorkshire County Championships and it was brilliant to see how successful they had been representing our area. The volunteer coaches are fantastic, we are so lucky to have such brilliant people in our area who give their time to support our young people in sport. We will be meeting again so I can see how to help deliver the club’s improvement projects and ensure our local swimmers can hit their full potential. Yet another group of adults and young people, to be incredibly proud of.
Down in Westminster, I have also been highlighting the importance of communities here in Scunthorpe and nationwide.
These communities include the Afghans who have come to the UK after helping our armed forces. In the Commons chamber, I received assurances from the Veterans Minister that his opinions match my own, in that the members of the Afghan community put themselves at incredible risk to help British soldiers in Afghanistan, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. This has been shown by the Government, who announced in March that those Afghans are to be moved out of hotels and helped into permanent accommodation. Local councils have been provided with additional funding in order to help with this.
Further, in Parliament on 29 March, we discussed the issue of people under the age of 18 being strip searched by police in England following a report from the Child’s Commissioner which raised concerns. Whilst I recognise we need to give the police the powers they need to do their jobs, we must ensure that all people under 18 who are searched have an appropriate adult with them if they wish. It is so important that we instill trust between our community and the police to maintain a positive and sustainable relationship that will help our area flourish.
Working with our schools
What’s Being Done?
Every child in Scunthorpe deserves a world-class education provided by our hard-working teachers. That’s why I was so pleased to hear in April that schools across Scunthorpe are being given an extra £2,712,522 from the Government to support them. Additionally, the Government has launched the Condition Improvement Fund, which is a £456 million pot to improve eligible sixth forms and academies. Excitingly, three schools in the Scunthorpe constituency are being given funding: John Leggott College, Scawby Acadamy and Huntcliffe School will all get funding to improve their buildings.
I always enjoy the opportunity to visit the schools in our area and seeing the phenomenal education provided by such hard-working teachers. It was great to visit Willoughby Road Primary Academy recently, where I spoke to Year 5s who will soon be looking at politics. I was able to tell them all about my job as MP for Scunthorpe and how I always do my best to represent our area down in Westminster. They had some brilliant questions for me, and I am incredibly grateful to the school for inviting me along.
As mentioned in my last local update, we had a very exciting project coming up with the UTC and Phillips 66. I am now happy to share that in May, I had the honour of speaking at our local UTC’s Inspiring Women in STEM event, which was organised by Phillips 66. It was originally meant to coincide with International Women’s Day, but unfortunately it had to be postponed due to the weather. I’m so pleased that the event was reorganised, as I had a fantastic time and got to meet some inspiring and dedicated students. I’d like to thank the organisers, especially Jen and Nina, for inviting me.
This month, I was also able to visit the Kip McGrath Tuition Centre. I am proud to say that this centre is doing some incredible work, providing high-quality educational support. During my visit, it was inspiring to see first-hand the tutors provide tailored support and guidance to each student, helping them to build their confidence and achieve their full potential. I am delighted to see such a valuable resource in our area, providing expert tuition and support. It was a real pleasure to meet the dedicated staff and students.
Most recently, I visited the site of the new purpose-built P16 Special Free School. This has been a project worked on jointly by the Government, North Lincolnshire Council and the Wellspring Academy Trust. The School is looking amazing so far and I am very much looking forward to seeing the school open and educating our children in September!
This Spring, North Lincolnshire’s Community Energy program has launched its first Community Share Offer. Making schools greener while helping them reduce their energy bills is a great cause, helping reduce our area’s carbon footprint. I am looking forward to seeing the positive effect that this program has on Scunthorpe and the surrounding villages.
This Spring, North Lincolnshire’s Community Energy program has launched its first Community Share Offer. Making schools greener while helping them reduce their energy bills is a great cause, helping reduce our area’s carbon footprint. I am looking forward to seeing the positive effect that this program has on Scunthorpe and the surrounding areas.
Earlier in the year I was asked by the Government to serve as a member of the High Speed Rail (Crewe - Manchester) Bill Select Committee (Commons)
The Select Committee, which is of course unpaid, was set up to oversee the Bill’s petitioning period. The Committee provides individuals and bodies directly and specially affected by the Bill with the opportunity to object to the Bill’s specific provisions and to seek its amendment. The Committee sits on Mondays and Tuesdays and also at additional times as required. Unfortunatly this can occasionally mean I miss debates that I would like to speak in but I can reassure residents I’m still able to speak to ministers and raise issues in all the other usual ways.
As ever, if you need any assistance or have any questions, please do get back in touch with me, and I would be more than happy to assist or address any concerns you may have as soon as I can.
Kind regards,
Holly