Friday visits in the constituency are often the best part of the week and last week’s visits to North Weald, Brentwood, Ingrave and Ingatestone certainly gave me the chance to enjoy our beautiful countryside in the fine, cold weather.
Scribbles Day Nursery, under the leadership of Lesley Saville, has been on my list of visits for some time. Having moved into new premises in North Weald at the start of the pandemic, Lesley and her staff were some of the ‘forgotten’ pandemic workers, taking care of the youngest children of keyworker nurses, police and civil servants.
Recruitment in the childcare industry is challenging, partly because of wages, and partly due to the requirements for GCSE maths and English (or equivalent) at Grade 4 or above. Lesley told me about the needs of pre-school children when it comes to numeracy and how the requirements placed on staff don’t always enable the nursery to deliver for their children in the most cost effective way. I will be taking a few pointers back to ministers the Department for Education.
In the last year, my office and I have helped dozens of Ukrainian refugees get visas to travel from Ukraine to the UK, through the Homes for Ukraine programme, so it was delightful to meet one of the newest arrivals – a three month old baby, who was born in the UK after her mum travelled to the UK while pregnant. So many local people have opened their homes to those feeling the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and it was very helpful to hear what has worked well, and where the Government and local councils could do more.
Friday ended with a very well-attended public meeting in Ingatestone about National Grid’s proposal to build a line of super-pylons from Norfolk to Tilbury. These will cast a shadow across miles of beautiful countryside, not least around Ingatestone, and it was extremely valuable to hear the objections of the hundred or so local residents at the meeting. We were all in agreement that an offshore alternative would be far more preferable. I am in regular talks with my Parliamentary colleagues from Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex who agree, and will continue to raise these concerns in Parliament with Ministers in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
