Earlier this week to mark the half-way point of this Parliament the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister took stock of the progress the Coalition Government has made since May 2010.
The Government has already cleared a quarter of the financial deficit to ensure that Britain is able to pay its way in the future. We have made difficult choices, taken tough decisions and enacted bold reforming legislation to secure our country’s prospects.
I regularly correspond with many of my constituents, from a range of backgrounds and political persuasions, about the progress of the Coalition Government. This includes discussion about the important areas where the Government has implemented Conservative values such as in welfare reform, education, the NHS, immigration and crime.
Of the new announcements that the Prime Minister made on Monday, five are of particular importance to Sutton Coldfield:
Childcare
The Government will support working families with their childcare costs and at the same time will take action to drive-up the quality of childcare.
Mortgages
The Government will do more to help families who can afford a mortgage but are unable to raise a deposit to buy their own home.
Transport
The Government will set out plans to help modernise Britain’s transport infrastructure.
Single-Tier Pension
The Government will set out detailed plans later to improve the State Pension by introducing a new Single-Tier Pension approach.
Social Care
The Government will bring forward detailed proposals to cap the huge costs experienced by those who fund their own long term care.
I also wanted to take this opportunity to set out some of the significant Conservative achievements which I believe help those living in my constituency. Since the General Election over a million private sector jobs have been created and we have seen a record number of apprenticeships, we have made welfare fairer by capping benefits so that no-one can get more on benefits than the average family earns by going out to work and we have provided support to local Councils to allow for them to freeze Council Tax for a third year to help hardworking families and pensioners. .../2
-2-
Finally, I would like to congratulate the nine men and women associated with Sutton Coldfield who were named on the New Year Honours list. They included the Executive Head Teacher of Arthur Terry School, Christopher Stone, Principal of Birmingham Metropolitan College, Christine Braddock and Chair of the Sutton Coldfield Civic Society, Elizabeth Allison. Sutton Coldfield’s success in the New Years Honours list shows the great contribution our Town makes to the wider world.