by Paul Scully | Feb 4, 2016 | News |
Recently I had the pleasure of welcoming some Sixth Form students from Sutton Grammar School to Parliament.
They went on a tour of the Palace of Westminster and then joined me for a Q&A session, where questions covered everything from life as a new Member of Parliament and the UK’s Membership of the European Union. I hope everyone enjoyed their visit and I want to thank all the staff and students at Sutton Grammar who came along.
If you would like a tour of the Palace of Westminster, or of Big Ben, then email my team at info@scully.org.uk.
by Paul Scully | Jan 23, 2016 | News |
Yesterday I met with Cyrus Dana, the Store Manager, and staff at the Sainsburys Supermarket in North Cheam as part of their Active Kids programme.
Sainsbury’s launched Active Kids in 2005 to inspire school children to do more physical activity. The scheme was created to appeal to kids of all ages and abilities – not just those who excel in sport. It’s since been extended to include nurseries, Scout and Girlguiding groups and sports clubs, who can all collect vouchers to exchange for equipment and experiences.
Active Kids has also evolved by recognising that eating well is just as important as moving well. That’s why schools and groups can now collect for a large range of cooking equipment too. They’ve also created a suite of Cooking and Nutrition Toolkits for teachers, which have been endorsed by the British Nutrition Foundation, to help kids learn the importance of a balanced diet.
It was a pleasure to meet with the staff at North Cheam Sainsburys and I’m looking forward to working with them in the community in the future.
by Paul Scully | Jan 22, 2016 | News |
Last Friday I had the pleasure of visiting the Orchard Hill College in Carshalton to meet staff and students at the College and take a tour of their site.
It was interesting for me to hear about how the college is helping students with access to work opportunities, as well as engaging then with the local community. I was even able join in with a Skype session with fellow students at the Beaconsfield Centre in New Malden.
The teaching staff in the centre showed me some of the students work and explained more about the destination packages and study programmes they offer.
I would like to thank all the staff and students at Orchard Hill and I’m looking forward to doing more with them in the future.
To find out more about what they do, you can visit their site here.
by Paul Scully | Jan 21, 2016 | News |
Last week I visited Barclays on Sutton High Street, where I met with staff at the branch to tell me about their work in the community, changes in banking, where the industry is currently at and new features appearing in their branches.
I was joined by Peter O’Shea, Community Banking Director, Mandy Bell, Sutton Branch Manager, and Danny Reardon, Head of Corporate Relations for London and South East.
One of the main topics of discussion was how banking was changing and adapting to new technologies. With the rise of internet banking and many people able to do many, if not most of their banking online, I was interested to hear how branches were responding to this. Apart from the obvious need to be there for people who want to pay-in money, I learned how branches were introducing more interactive counters. Rather than staff sitting behind a counter when I visited, I was shown how, manned with tablets, staff would interact with customers and assist them using new banking technologies.
I was also impressed to hear about the work Barclays does in the community. They encourage their staff to take two volunteering days a year and how branches get involved in local events sponsoring good causes.
I was delighted to also meet JD Adams during my visit. JD was taken on by Barclays as an apprentice and her story really impressed me. She told me about where she’d come from and what a good opportunity it was to get an apprenticeship with Barclays. She was incredibly professional and I am sure she is going to excel as she makes her next career move.
I would like to thank everyone at Barclays in Sutton for having me, and I look forward to working with them on more community projects in the future.
by Paul Scully | Jan 14, 2016 | News |
Yesterday the Disability Benefits Consortium took part in a ‘mass lobby’ of parliament. Over 100 disabled people came to Parliament to talk to MPs about the Welfare Reform and Work Bill.
At this lobby, I met with one of my constituents, Katy, who came to the event with the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) to speak to me about their work, as well as her personal experiences.
As I sat on the Committee that examined this Bill when it went through the House of Commons, it was really useful for me to hear first hand accounts of welfare reform. I used the opportunity to reassure Katy and others that the focus of changes to welfare were directly aimed at protecting the vulnerable.
Rather than look at each type of benefit individually, we have looked at welfare reform as a package of measures, not just to reduce the amount we spend on welfare in cash terms, but also to tackle the causes of worklessness, particularly long term worklessness. For those who can work, but either have found it difficult to get into work or find it difficult to work more hours, we are providing a package of measures to help them back into the workplace.
This allows us to shift the focus of the safety net that is welfare onto those most in need and those who cannot work. This government will always protect those people.
I want to thank Katy and everyone I met at the lobby, and for sharing their stories with me.
by Paul Scully | Jan 14, 2016 | News |
On Monday I had the privilege of leading a Westminster Hall debate about NHS Bursaries following an e-petition that had reached over 150,000 signatures by the time we came to debate it.
I was delighted to be joined, among others, by Maria Caulfield, the new Conservative MP for Lewes, who used to work at the Royal Marden Hospital in Sutton. She is a great addition to the House, even if she is a great loss to nursing in Sutton!
You can watch the debate here.
