Levelling-Up Funds - updated 22/11/23
For too long our local high streets have been neglected. Since being elected I have been campaigning for more investment into our town centres so that local businesses can thrive, and people can take pride in calling this area our home.
That’s why I’m delighted to welcome today’s £15 million investment into the heart of the Bolsover Constituency. The funding will support small businesses and regenerate our town centre to make it a more vibrant, convenient, and exciting place at the heart of our local community, as well as attracting tourists into our town.
Along with the recently announced sixth form and new dental provision we are making great progress in Bolsover. And I look forward to working with partners to deliver these much-needed improvements for the town centre
Bolsover Net-Zero
In light of the Government’s commitment to make Britain net-zero by 2050 I know that we in Bolsover will do our part. Moving towards Net-Zero provides a fantastic opportunity to embrace new technology and create new sustainable jobs in a Green Industrial Revolution.
I am working with businesses, national and local government to ensure that we grow in the right direction towards a sustainable economy which will create skilled jobs that are here to stay.
Superfast Broadband
Many people, often residents living on new housing estates, have contacted me regarding poor broadband connections. After twelve months of working from home and home schooling, ensuring good quality broadband has never been more important. I am working with local groups to help facilitate the rollout of superfast broadband to all of our communities by 2024.
Skilled Jobs
The average weekly wage for someone in full-time employment in Bolsover is £460, compared to £530 in the East Midlands and £570 in the UK. We need to focus on attracting more, higher paid jobs to our constituency.
Our constituency is well located, with brilliant access to the M1. We need an MP who understands how to work with business so that we can capitalise on this and create new opportunities.
Former Coalite Site
I am working with Derbyshire County Council, Bolsover District Council, D2N2, and the developers to help attract high paid, skilled and sustainable jobs to the constituency.
Affordable Housing
For too many young people in Bolsover, the dream of owning their own home is out of reach.
Bolsover District Council is approving lots of new housing developments, but very few are affordable for local residents. Research shows that in 2017/18, only 34 new affordable houses were built in the constituency. In 2016/17 it was 7, and in 2015/16 there were none.
Young people are being forced into decades of rental agreements or living with their parents for longer. Even those who are working hard and saving are struggling to get on the housing ladder.
The median salary in Bolsover is £23,500, while the median house price is £134,000. That means that, on average, houses cost 5.7 times what someone earns in a year.
Boris Johnson’s Government are working tirelessly to make owning your own home easier, by speeding up the planning system and giving housing association tenants in new properties the right to a shared ownership of their home. But we need action here in Bolsover as well. We need to make sure the Council makes affordable housing a priority and doesn’t just approve expensive five-bedroom houses that are out of reach of most local people.
Working with Parish Councils
I will continue to facilitate good working relationships with parish councils within the constituency by organising regular meetings, keeping updated on their work, and providing information from Government which may be useful to them.
