The Elizabeth Tower, home to Big Ben, is closing at the end of the year for three years of renovation works. I get a lot of emails requesting tours of the Tower, but unfortunately they are now fully booked up to their closing date, subject to cancellations.
However, tours of the Houses of Parliament are still very much going on, so if you would like a tour, just email me on info@scully.org.uk and I will be happy to help arrange one for you.
This week I brought together UK Parliamentarians and Indian business leaders for a round table discussion in Parliament to look into the opportunities that may arise following Brexit.
Following productive trade talks at the highest level over the last year including post-referendum, I was keen to continue and build on the positive relationship between the two countries that already enjoy considerable bilateral trade and investment.
India was the natural place to start a series of events to discuss improving trade relations between the UK and its many global partners in the aftermath of the UK voting to leave the EU. I hope that this will show the Indian business community that MPs are serious about making Brexit work for everyone as well as demonstrating to MPs that despite the current uncertainty, successful trading between the two countries will develop regardless.
We explored how to broaden and deepen the bilateral relationship between the UK and India. The primary feeling at the meeting was one of great optimism and opportunity. We looked at particular sectors which could benefit from strengthening and broadening our already close and historic ties. These included IT, travel and tourism, luxury goods, aviation and financial services. Exporting brands that can appeal to the burgeoning middle classes in India, a country that is home to one quarter of the world’s under-25 year olds is an exciting prospect as well as looking at Indian brands that are unknown as yet here in the UK.”
The group resolved to build an informed view among parliamentarians of business opportunities; feed into discussions between India and the new Secretary of State for International Trade, Dr Liam Fox MP; look at visa rules to enable easier business travel and work with UK countries to make it easier to export, thus increasing the mere 12% of UK companies that currently have any trade outside the UK.
I intend to follow this event up with similar style meetings, fostering discussion and promoting trade relationships between the UK and other countries, particularly those with emerging growing economies, including the Middle East, Commonwealth and ASEAN countries.
I have backed a call by Diabetes UK for local action to improve the delivery of life-changing education for people with diabetes. Evidence shows that going on a diabetes education course can help people manage their condition more effectively and reduce their risk of developing devastating complications, enabling them to live a long and healthy life.
I attended Diabetes UK’s parliamentary launch of its State of the Nation 2016 report, which has highlighted that the vast majority of people with diabetes are not getting access to an education course to give them the tools they need to effectively manage their condition.
The report found that in 2014-2015 only 2 per cent of people newly diagnosed with Type 1 and 6 per cent of people newly diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes were recorded as attending a diabetes education course. Diabetes UK say this is a huge cause for concern as people with diabetes only spend around three hours with a healthcare professional every year and for the remaining 8,757 hours they must manage their diabetes, which is a serious and complex condition, by themselves.
Diabetes UK is urging clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to put in place an action plan to improve take up of diabetes education for people living with diabetes in their communities and ensure people are supported to manage their condition effectively.
Diabetes UK’s State of the Nation report shows that many people with diabetes are still not getting the support they need to help them manage their condition. This is leading to thousands of people with the condition developing life threatening health complications such as blindness and amputations. This is not only personally devastating to those affected but is also leading to huge costs to the NHS.
Action is needed so that all people with diabetes can have access to education as well as their key health checks. This is why I will be writing to NHS health leaders in my area asking them to commit to ensuring more people are attending education courses.
Robin Hewings, Diabetes UK Head of Policy, said: “We are pleased to have Paul Scully MP’s support on what is a very important issue. The poor state of diabetes education is fuelling a health crisis that if left unchecked threatens to bankrupt the NHS. Ten per cent of the NHS budget is spent on diabetes, but about 80 per cent of that is spent treating complications such as blindness, amputation and stroke. Not enough is being invested in good healthcare which could prevent these complications in the first place. Our State of the Nation report shows that with better integrated services and support to enable people to self-manage their condition, the NHS can save lives and money.
We are encouraged by the inclusion of diabetes care in the forthcoming CCG Improvement and Assessment Framework (CCG IAF) and we are calling for local clinical commissioning groups to implement these measures as a matter of urgency. With the right support in place, people with diabetes can lead long, healthy lives.”
The State of the Nation report can be downloaded at www.diabetes.org.uk.
You can support Diabetes UK’s State of the Nation report by clicking the following link and calling for local decision makers to provide more access to diabetes education.
Takeda UK Ltd has financially supported the production of the State of the Nation report; it has had no input into its development or content.
I was delighted to attend Sutton Grammar when they recently hosted the South West London Regional Big Bang Fair, sponsored by EngineeringUK. Schools from all across the borough came to experience a fun packed day of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning and hands on activities. With over 1000 pupils, over 40 exhibitors and workshops, the school was the place to be for Sutton’s budding scientists.
St Philomena’s, Nonsuch High School, Greenshaw High, Sutton High, Carshalton College and Overton Grange all delivered workshops to the pupils. There were also stalls from groups as diverse as the National Space Agency, Bletchley Park, Thames Water and King’s College Hospital NHS Trust.
Jamie Costello, Head of Science at Sutton Grammar, said: “What a wonderful day, providing the perfect mix of fun and learning. Encouraging our young people to consider careers in Science and Engineering is important and what better way to fulfil this goal than to attend a Big Bang event.”
Notable events included Kritin Nithyanandam winning a place at the national finals next March with his project to improve the treatment of Breast Cancer.
Also winning a place at the national event was an RHS sponsored Smart Watering System for plants, a satellite based tracking system for pupils on Duke of Edinburgh Trips and “Stackamals” a product that uses layers of wood to create an animal ornament.
This was the third time the event has been hosted in Sutton.
Special thanks to B&Q for allowing visitors to use their car park. It was also great to have such brilliant support from local company Subsea7 representing engineering and Sutton’s own specialist science centre – the Institute for Cancer Research.
You can watch the video from the day’s event here.
Yesterday I visited the Sutton High Street branch of BHS to express my disappointment that this much loved high street chain is closing down, and to offer whatever support I could to the staff needing to find new jobs.
I spoke to some of the employees and the manager there, all of whom said that one of the most upsetting things about the closure is not just losing their jobs, but no longer working with one another. Many were also concerned about finding new work, especially those who had been with BHS for over 20 years.
I was glad to hear that the Sutton Job Centre, which I also visited yesterday, had already been in touch and visited the store to help the staff navigate the benefit system if they have never claimed before, and to let them know what support they offer for finding new employment. I think this will be incredibly useful for older BHS employees who have been with them for many years, and who will be unfamiliar with the new benefits system and may feel nervous about finding new work.
It was also heartwarming to hear that other stores on the high street and beyond had come together to offer BHS staff a role in their stores. For example, M&S in Epsom has taken on a large number of former BHS staff to fill their vacancies. It is great to see businesses in the area supporting each other. If you an employer and may be interested in taking on a former BHS employee, then please get in touch.
Despite the unscrupulous nature of the BHS bosses and their actions, I was pleased to see the local branch manager had built a really strong team spirit and was doing her best by her employees. I wish them all the very best as the move on from BHS, but I’m sure I speak for many in Sutton that we are sorry to see them go.