Introduction - This month’s newsletter will focus on the work i’ve been involved in since the end of the Recess. Whilst we’re moving into conference season i’m really pleased that some of the hard work i’ve been up to behind the scenes is starting to pay off.
Over the past year, i’ve dedicated myself to securing new employment for the people of Swindon, with 800 jobs announced so far. We all know just how devastating the loss of Honda and other major manufacturers has been for the town. When I came into office, although we had an abundance of land within the town that could be used by business there had been no guiding light on how to bring business to the town. I saw this challenge as an opportunity, one where we could take advantage of the government’s commitment to raise Defence spending to 2.5% by 2026 and bring back high-skilled jobs to a town with a proud military, innovation and manufacturing history.
TEKEVER
About 6 months ago I learnt that TEKEVER were seeking to expand their operations in the South West. A number of regions were being considered but i’d not heard Swindon mentioned despite our excellent links to areas right across the country and our skilled workforce. That’s why I and the Swindon Borough Council inward investment team concocted a plan to show TEKEVER that swindon was much more than a warehouse town, it would be the Drone Hub of the UK.
To convince them I invited the TEKEVER CEO to Swindon, scouted the Spectrum building and co-ordinated with the inward investment team to ensure that Swindon was open and ready for TEKEVER’s arrival. After my direct involvement with both the Council’s inward investment team and TEKEVER I was really pleased that they chose to expand their UK operations to Swindon as part of their £400m Overmatch programme, bringing 400 high skilled jobs to the old Renault building.
FLYBY
Alongside TEKEVER, FLYBY have announced they will be setting up in Swindon to bring forward 300 jobs, 85 jobs in just the first 6 months and a plan to set up a factory in the town. FLYBY are at the cutting edge of drone technology and previously supported the NHS in delivering medicines to remote areas of the Isle of Wight and designed their modular JACKAL drone with the support of the RAF.
Veteran’s Roundtable
The Defence Secretary joined myself and two local veterans, Mike and Richard for a roundtable discussion on how we can improve access to support for veterans, both in terms of their employment prospects and mental health provision. The discussion covered a number of topics including the lack of educational opportunities for members of the Army who are often put through level 2 training opportunities that aren’t recognised outside of the forces. Or the poor housing options for serving personnel and their families. As well as that feeling of shattered brotherhood/family when someone makes the decision to leave the military. It is so often an institution that so many of us get used to, as well as a fellowship many veterans find it difficult to live without.
As a follow up to that conversation, I have contacted the Defence Secretary around advancing opportunities for service personnel in their last year of service to work alongside the reserves, meeting people who’ve been in their shoes and are able to offer post-service for both their future career prospects and their personal wellbeing.
Owen’s World Anti-knife crime summit
Since being a councillor i’ve been working alongside Owen’s world and a number of other local charities on organisations, on the need to reduce knife crime on our streets. I set up the Moredon neighbourhood watch and have worked with Owen’s world and local Parish Council’s to install bleed kits in the Constituency.
The event brought together a number of charities and community groups as well as frontline services from Change Lives Say No To Knives, BEST, Street Doctors, and the South West Ambulance Service. We all agreed that a community approach is needed to tackle this problem and I was really pleased to see the Police and Crime Commissioner support the initiative and emphasise the importance of the event for creating sustained, multi-agency action.
At the event we heard from Martin Cosser who founded the charity Charlie’s promise, a group focussed on ending knife crime throughout our society. Charlie was killed by a knife at a house party, showcasing not just the dangers of knives on our streets but also in our homes. He highlighted just how important sharing the aftermath of a knife incident is not just for the victim and perpetrator but the many ripples a single incident has on society. I’m committed with working alongside partners to reduce knife incidents in our community and make it safer.
The Space Agency & Harwell Science and Innovation Campus
I recently joined Angus Horner, former Director of the campus, on a visit to the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxford to see some of their world leading research and technology facilities and take part in a roundtable alongside a number of experts in the fields of Engineering, Lasers, R&D as well as members of the UK Space Agency - the HQ of which sits within in Swindon North.
The work being done in Harwell is vast and focussed on pioneering research to build all of us a better tomorrow, from space exploration to the discovery of life saving vaccines with companies like Moderna setting up on site, the sheer scale of research and innovation being undertaken on the campus is incredible.
Seeing Harwell not only inspires me for what the Panattoni site in Swindon could become it also inspires me to go further in delivering a Drone Cluster for Swindon, a place where experts can gather, share expertise and advance the next generation of technology, so that we can have more companies like FLYBY flying life saving medicines to remote areas or scouting in hard to reach areas so we can find lost people easier, drones have so many uses that can make our society better.
Community Champion Certificates
Over the summer I asked for nominations of people who make a real difference to their community, bringing positive change to those around them and have really enjoyed celebrating some of those achievements over the last month.
Clare Bridge - Clare was nominated because she cares deeply about about the outcomes of the children she teaches, many of whom come from deprived backgrounds and have learning issues. The person who nominated her noted she “is usually the first member of staff in school and the last out.” and as the KS 1 Literacy Lead she has overseen the introduction of the Read Write Ink phonics programme, across the whole school, training staff, continuously improving and managing its delivery in a way which has notably raised Literacy standards within the school.
Mike Harrison - Mike was nominated primarily because of his role as a Forest Schools Instructor. Through his work at Green Trees Forest school Mike has been supporting young people to re-discover a love of learning, outside of the traditional classroom and embedding them in the natural world. He’s also joined the work of anti-knife crime charities to teach young people what a knife is truly for and how to respect them as tools for bushcraft rather than treat them as weapons.
Welcoming the Secretary of State for the Department for Environment,
Food & Rural Affairs - Emma Reynolds
I attended a visit alongside the DEFRA secretary and organised by the National Trust to experience some of the work they’re doing at the very north-east of the Swindon North constituency around farming diversification, nature restoration and flood defences. The National trust toured us around tow of their key project areas, Cuckoo Pen Plantation and Fresden Field.
At the Cuckoo Pen Plantation the National Trust showcased the entire landscape of the Buscot and Coleshill Estate, introducing the high volume of woodland and habitat preservation projects, whilst also noting how the government’s investments in Environmental Land Management Schemes which is due to increase by 150% from £800m in 2023/24 to £2 billion by 2028/29 have assisted local farm tenants in expanding their farming operations and putting them on a more sustainable footing.
At Fresden Field I discussed with the Secretary of State discussed the importance of flood defences for the farming community and the work the National Trust are conducting to develop more flood reservoirs, which delay the speed water through wetlands, preventing flooding, and promoting reforestation. I also have followed up with the Secretary of State on a digitisation plan that would put the various schemes available to farmers in one place. For too long farmers who’ve been entitled to funding have been left unaware of that funding or unsure how to bid given the complexity and variety of available schemes. I want to simplify funding options and make sure British Farmers gets the support they need.
September casework
This month we created over 700 cases. Of these 589 of these were Campaign & Policy cases whilst the extra 111 cases related to individual circumstances. During this month we closed 142 personal cases and are still working to support residents as their own cases progress.
Case Highlights
A local business that employs over 150 people in Swindon reached out to me regarding an issue with HMRC that they’d been having for the past 7 months in which HMRC owed them a large sum of money, without which they’d have been unable to continue to operate effectively due to the strain HMRC had placed on their cash flow. After my intervention HMRC resolved the issue, immediately giving the company £207,000.
A resident who’s HGV license had been revoked after a stroke for a period of 12 months struggled to get in contact with the DVLA to request the return of their license after this 12-month period had expired. My team contacted the DVLA and thanks to a clear medical their license was returned to them and they returned to full time work.
How to reach out for support:
Email me and my team on Will.Stone.MP@Parliament.UK if you need support from me or my office.
That’s it for this month’s newsletter, it’s covered a few of the major things i’ve up to in the recess and I look forward to keeping everyone updated in the future and would appreciate any comments on content you enjoyed/would like to see more of.
Until the next newsletter, I hope you have a fantastic month.
Will
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.