Back to business with focus on improving job support

I asked Police Minister Mike Penning about CCTV systems and whether there was any help for districts whose CCTV needs replacing.

While the replacement of CCTV isn’t something I as the Member of Parliament would be directly involved with I will be meeting with the Policing Minister to see if he has any funding options which can be accessed by the district council and the police locally.

On Friday I also met with the chamber of commerce who updated me on the Morecambe Business Improvement District. I am pleased the Morecambe BID has been so well received by businesses at the moment and that the chamber has been going out and engaging with businesses across Morecambe.

The BID in Morecambe follows on from a successful BID in Lancaster run by the same team at the chamber. The chamber will be conducting a ballot of the businesses in May 2016 with a hope the scheme will start in October 2016 should the ballot be successful.

I also met with Jobcentre managers Jo Monk and John Lowe,as part of our regular update meetings. These meetings allow the Jobcentre to raise with me any issues they have been experiencing and to share their successes.

This week some more unemployment statistics were announced which were 30 per cent down since 2010. In the meeting we discussed encouraging employment and the pilot of the food banks initiative.

I am hoping to meet with Iain Duncan Smith again this week to ensure the DWP, food banks liaison project is piloted here in Morecambe where the idea was formulated in a meeting with Morecambe Jobcentre.

This week I have also received some good news on crime statistics. Crime in Lancashire is continuing to fall as we have increased the number of front line officers and cut waste from the force. Crime has fallen by 11 per cent since 2010.

If you need to contact be please email me [email protected] or call the office on 01524 841225.