I hope you all had a lovely Easter and enjoyed a four-day weekend, lots of Easter eggs, and time to relax. I also want to wish all Muslims in Stoke-on-Trent Ramadan Mubarak in this holy month. It has been a busy start of the year for Stoke-on-Trent, and I am excited for the next chapter towards levelling up opportunities in our great city.
We all know here in Stoke-on-Trent, we don’t do things by halves. I was very excited to attend a very special Easter event with our Lord Mayor Cllr Faisal Hussain just before the Easter weekend. The Crescent Academy and Sandon Primary Academy in Meir teamed up to break the world record for the most Easter bonnets. 1,406 bonnet wearers from both schools attended on the day in their hope to break a world record. Students designed the bonnets themselves and it was wonderful to see such amazing craftwork from our young people.
For Christians, Easter is the most important festival of the year in which we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. This symbolises new life, a new beginning, and a fresh start. Most of us will celebrate spending the day with family and friends, attending church, and enjoying a well-deserved chocolate egg or two.
The Crown Works building in Longton has found itself at a new chapter, with hoardings going up to give an insight of what is to come. I am pleased OVI Homes has finalised an agreement with Stoke-on-Trent City Council that will see £6.3 million of funding from the Levelling Up Fund unlock the redevelopment project.
The Crown Works is a physical reminder of our ceramic’s history. Since 1841 the factory produced Stoke-on-Trent ceramics for 160 years until the Tams Group sadly went into receivership in 2006 under the last Labour government. This historical building is one none of us wanted to lose and it is great to see it will now have a new life. Plans will redevelop the site into a retirement village for over-55s, whilst preserving many of its important historical features.
In the last couple of years our city secured record funding, which includes £56 million through the Levelling up Fund, £40m through the Transforming Cities Fund, £31m from the Bus Service Improvement Fund; a Priority Education Investment Area, 500 Home Office jobs, and the Family Hubs programme.
Residents are starting to see the physical result of our city’s hard earned Government funding and they can be positive in the knowledge this is just the beginning. This huge investment will help to deliver major improvements our city needs, as the focus of Government attention. Decades of neglect aren’t reversed overnight, but under strong and effective leadership we can take our city forwards and deliver improved opportunities to fully unlock the potential of all our communities.
This also comes on the back of a major announcement; Stoke-on-Trent has been picked as an area for a Levelling Up Partnership. Set up through the Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities this will help unblock some of the barriers to opportunities and economic growth. This follows the roundtable meeting at Number 10, Downing Street, with Stoke-on-Trent MPs and the Leader of Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Abi Brown, where we took key local issues facing our city to the centre of Government.
One of the Ministers attending that meeting was the Immigration Minister, Robert Jenrick MP, allowing us to also discuss the Home Office hub being developed in Stoke-on-Trent and the opportunities it will bring. It was also great to have him visit Stoke-on-Trent on Friday and accompany him to one of the asylum hotels locally. I have repeatedly been clear in Parliament we must end the use of hotels, stop the boats, and take the toughest possible approach to illegal migration. It is right we support those in greatest need, but Stoke-on-Trent has already done more that our fair share which has put significant pressure on local services and housing.
These pressures have been caused by the huge rise in the number of people coming to the UK illegally who have no right to be here. The Prime Minister has made stopping the boats one of his top five priorities. I fully support this robust action to increase processing, with new return agreements with countries like Albania and the introduction of tough new laws to deport those who come here illegally. I am also supporting in Parliament further measures to ensure there can be no legal loopholes which have thwarted previous efforts.
Parliament returns from its Easter recess this week and it is all systems go. I will be back in Westminster representing Stoke-on-Trent South and continuing to push for investment and support to ensure we have the city we deserve. Whilst I always enjoy meeting with residents at home in Stoke-on-Trent, I would like to also remind residents they can come and visit parliament for a tour.
Recently, I welcomed year 6 pupils from The Crescent Academy for a big tour of the Palace of Westminster. I will also be welcoming Sandon Primary School in May, and I will be running a coach tour open to all Stoke-on-Trent South residents in late June. If you would like to visit parliament, please email me at [email protected] for more details.
First published in the Sentinel Newspaper 17/04/2023
