It was good to be able to join local councillors Curtis Flux and Bazil Solomon at The Gap Open Day in Park South last Saturday.
The Gap is a new gardening project which has been launched to encourage the local community to get together and grow their own fruit and vegetables. It is also a fantastic opportunity for people to enjoy and contribute to an inclusive community garden.
Founder of the Group, Matthew French, has done a fantastic job working with Gail Collins, Mark Collins, Melanie Hall, Val Dickens and other community members in bringing this exciting project to life.
I am honoured to have been able to attend the Open Day and to support a fantastic project within our community that will help improve the mental health and wellbeing of local residents.
Today the Chancellor will be setting out his Budget and the Government’s plans to build a stronger economy for the British people.
At the time of writing this article, the Chancellor had not yet given his speech, but I am pleased to see that within the Budget the Government will reconfirm its commitment to a skills revolution in this country.
As part of this, the Chancellor will announce a new £1.6bn spending package to roll out new T-Levels for 16-19 years old – these are the Government’s new vocation qualifications, equivalent to three A-Levels, which have been developed with businesses to meet the needs of industry.
An extra £550m is also being invested in adult skills through the Skills Fund by 2024-25. This fund offers short courses and so-called “skills boot camps” for adults who have no qualifications beyond GCSE level.
I am passionate about levelling up opportunities for young people and adults alike here in Swindon and these announcements by the Chancellor will certainly help us achieve that aim.
The Chancellor will also announce an additional £5bn for health-related research and development over the next three years – this is a 57% cash increase since before the pandemic.
A total of £95m of this funding will be aimed at increasing uptake of cutting-edge innovations in the NHS and addressing cancer, obesity and mental health. Financial support will also be given for genome sequencing technology that can detect over 200 conditions in new-borns (compared with existing tests that can identify just nine). This will potentially save the lives of 3000 babies per year.
Our vaccine rollout has been phenomenal, and I believe it is vital that we do everything possible to prolong the protection vaccines offer. That is why it is great that more than six million people have come forward to get their booster jab.
The booster doses of Covid-19 vaccine are being given to those who were vaccinated in the first phase of the rollout earlier this year. This will be no earlier than six months after an individual’s second dose. The NHS will send an invite once someone is eligible, however if that invitation does not arrive, the national booking service can be used either online or by calling 119.
Getting your booster jab is the single best step you can take to protect yourself, your loved ones and the NHS this winter. So please take up the offer when it is your turn.
