-
233,700 people in the South East are economically inactive due to long-term sickness, with 54,800 (23%) of these are keen to re-enter employment as soon as possible. Since the pandemic, there has been an especially sharp uptick in economic inactivity amongst workers aged over 50, a problem exacerbated by record NHS waiting lists leaving hundreds of thousands of people…
-
It’s hard to believe that a year has passed already since Labour members in Crawley chose me to represent them at the General Election. Part of the surprise is how little has really changed. The UK’s economy and people’s living standards remain in a dire state, the standards of our public services from the NHS…
-
In the context of households, the term ‘financial vulnerability’ refers to the ability of those family units to weather financial pressures or shocks. For instance, someone who has had a sufficiently high income over expenditure to build up some savings is less vulnerable than a household whose budget is so tight that they live payday…
-
Tomorrow is World Maths Day, one of many attempts by different organisations to promote appreciation of mathematics and particularly to try to get children to engage with it. The world is built upon mathematics and the importance of having strong numeracy skills keeps growing with every passing generation. Unfortunately, while the need for this understanding…
-
Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Over the decades we have seen considerable progress in the UK and across much of the world in working to remove racial discrimination from our society. Unfortunately, the road to equality is not without its obstacles, and looking at rates of hate crime in…
-
Wednesday 20th March 2024 Claire Coutinho MPSecretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero1 Victoria StreetLondonSW1H 0ET Dear Secretary of State, Re: Community Energy Over recent years, the economic and security risks posed to the United Kingdom from our dependence upon overseas energy has been made clear to all. Not only does our reliance…
-
Yesterday was Global Recycling Day, which gives me the opportunity to tackle a subject I’ve meant to write about for some time, Crawley’s local recycling rate. For some years now, the Conservatives have criticised the council for having some of the smallest recycling volumes in the country, much the same as when they ran the…
-
Figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility reveal that despite the National Insurance changes, the increase in the total tax burden over their forecast period means that Crawley households will be left an average of £870 worse off per year. A combined loss to Crawley’s economy of almost £40m. In his Budget statement, Jeremy Hunt,…
-
This week is English Tourism Week, albeit a rather long 10 week according to the organisers. While Crawley may well not be the obvious final destination for travellers, clearly the size of the town’s aviation industry and the hospitality industry which supports it means that–despite attempts to diversify local employment–the economic fortunes of the town…
Peter Lamb for Crawley 