It's almost here... The eighth annual Tynedale and Ponteland Jobs Fair is this Thursday (26th) at the Wentworth Leisure Centre.
We have over 60 employers with full and part-time opportunities, apprenticeships and career advice all on offer.
If you are looking for work, please come along!
60 local employers, charities, community groups and volunteering networks came along and set up their stalls in the new state of the art sports hall.
Farmers across West Northumberland are at the heart of our rural economy, including tenant farmers, not least given the essential role they play as a route into farming.
Their voices must be heard, which is why, following the comprehensive review of tenanted farming chaired by Baroness Rock, the Government has made some key announcements:
These are positive steps, building on previous work, such as making it easier for tenants to participate in the sustainable farming incentive by offering 3-year agreements, making all productivity grants accessible to tenant farmers, including the £168m of investment launching across 2023, and around half of the 22 long-term, high-ambition landscape recovery projects selected in the first round involving tenants working with other farmers and land managers.
On Thursday, 1st June, I will be holding the Ponteland Over 50s Fair. The Fair is sponsored by Newcastle International Airport and supported by Northumberland County Council and Newcastle Jobcentre.
The Fair aims to inform local people about social organisations, services available and job opportunities in and around Ponteland, Northumberland.
The event will benefit everyone over 50, residents who have retired, or people who know someone who is retired and would like to discover local activities and support. The Fair is an excellent opportunity to increase awareness and interest in local organisations.
Many stalls will be from local clubs and organisations to charities, utility companies and banks. Organisations will also offer support and advice on care services, pensions and wills.
The Fair will be held:
Date: Thursday 1st June 2023
Venue: Sports Hall at Ponteland Leisure Centre
Time: 10 am - 2 pm
I recently met the new Chief Executive of Northumberland County Council, Dr Helen Patterson, at County Hall in Morpeth.
I made clear to the CEO my priorities for Tynedale and Ponteland.
We discussed many issues, such as improving our roads, environment, housing, crime and anti-social behaviour and improving active travel across Tynedale and Ponteland.
I look forward to working with Dr Paterson to deliver for my constituents across West Northumberland.
The Government are making it quicker & easier for you to get the care you need from your GP practice & local pharmacy
The plan includes:
✅ tackling the 8am rush with better phone & online systems
✅ pharmacies supplying medicines for more conditions
✅ more staff & more appointments
This feels like a very sensible and effective plan to make the most of both our GPs’ time and the skills of our community pharmacies.
The Plan will:
Implement ‘Modern General Practice Access’ so patients know on the day how their request will be handled, based on clinical need and continuing to respect their preference for a call, face-to-face appointment, or online message. We are re-targeting £240 million – for a practice still on analogue phones this could mean ~£60,000 of support over 2 years.
Build capacity so practices can offer more appointments from more staff than ever before.
Cut bureaucracy to give practice teams more time to focus on their patients’ clinical needs.
I had a brilliant day on Friday, the day before the Coronation, in Prudhoe, chatting to residents about their views.
Firstly, Cllr Gordon Stewart and I visited the Miners Lamp Community Hub and Café.
For the Coronation, the community and pupils from Adderlane Academy are making a pathway of painted pebbles around Eastwoods Park. The pebbles will be laid into the ground around the park.
This project is a fantastic initiative, and it was great to see how excited everyone was ahead of the Coronation!
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| Pupils of Adderlane Academy at the Miners Lamp Cafe |
It was then great to be out and chatting to local residents on doorsteps in the pouring rain! If I missed you, please do complete my local issues survey, so I know your VIEWS: click HERE.
I was delighted to award Stocksfield business Bongo Barn with this year's Business of the Year Award.
Tim and the team at Bongo Barn restore bespoke camper vans. They import them to the country, restore and recommission them and then build them into state-of-the-art camper vans with modern comforts, safety and reliability.
The company also received orders from customers nationally and sometimes outside of the UK.
This happens in their rural Northumberland workshop in a beautiful setting, a few fields from where Tim's family has ran businesses for over 100 years.
This is a tremendous local Northumberland business going from strength to strength. Congratulations to Tim and the team!
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This is always a special day for me. 12 years ago, in 2011, I was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Thankfully, I was one of the lucky ones and made a full recovery, but the experience of meeting others along the way who weren’t so lucky has made me a committed campaigner for brain tumour awareness.
Locally, the place to be is always Wylam for ‘Wylam Wears a Hat Day.’ Thanks to the amazing efforts of Viv Smith, a local and tireless campaigner, residents in the village dig out their craziest hats and put on special events, all to raise money for the incredible Brain Tumour Research charity.
The beauty of Wear a Hat Day is that it is family friendly and fun for all. This year, I joined a pre-school cookery class at the Wylam Institute where the ‘Tiny Tasters’ made Easter treats while their parents sported some fetching headwear, all in aid of brain tumour awareness.
Locals in Wylam never fail to impress. Well done to everyone who took part. I’m looking forward to next year already!
Over the weekend I joined Jane Hodson-Hamilton, a community volunteer from Ponteland to pick up litter in the the town.
Jane regularly sacrifices her Saturday mornings to clean up the local environment and I was delighted to present her with a Community Champion Award to recognise her fantastic work.
In Ponteland, we filled ten full big bags in just an hour. The amount of litter was staggering. Without local volunteers like Jane and her team, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the natural beauty that Northumberland has to offer.
Well done, Jane!
I was delighted to welcome St Joseph’s Middle School from Corbridge to Parliament. Pupils enjoyed a full tour of both Houses of Parliament and the wider parliamentary estate before sitting down for an interactive Q&A seminar with myself at the Parliamentary Education Centre.
Pupils at the school are clearly engaged with politics and history, and I want to pay tribute to Head of History Mr Hudson for all of the hard work he puts in and for giving the children the opportunity to experience the heart of democracy for themselves in Westminster.
The Houses of Parliament don’t belong to MPs, they are yours! If you are interested in visiting, please email me at guy.opperman@parliament.uk
Yesterday, I was in the chamber of the House of Commons to listen to the Chancellor’s first Budget.
There was a genuine sense amongst my colleagues of a brighter future ahead - the economy is growing and inflation is falling.
Halving inflation is one of the Prime Minister’s key pledges, and we are on the way to achieving that goal. The Chancellor said yesterday that the Bank of England forecasts inflation to fall to 2.9% by the end of this year – meaning that inflation will be cut by a third.
A growing economy and falling inflation will have a direct effect on people’s lives and livelihoods across Northumberland. What struck me most listening to the Chancellor yesterday was the emphasis he placed on helping families, including young parents in Tynedale and Ponteland.
I want every child in Northumberland to have the best start in life. We continue to see significant investment in our local schools to make this a reality. Last year, the government announced an additional £2.3bn for our schools. This investment is having a direct impact on the life chances of our children. This coming year, Northumberland County Council is receiving an additional £9.4m for our local first schools, middle schools, nurseries, and high schools to raise standards and the quality of teaching in our schools so that our kids can enjoy the best education possible.
The Budget builds on the investment we have seen in our local schools over the last decade. Since 2015, £98.1m has been invested in our four local high schools, with the schools at Haydon Bridge, Queen Elizabeth High School, Ponteland and Prudhoe having been fully rebuilt or refurbished.
As well as investing in school-age children, the government is supporting families with younger children with the cost of childcare. The extension of free childcare - 30 hours a week for working families with children between nine months and four years is truly transformational. It will help young parents juggle family life with working life, helping them with the costs of raising a young child, saving the average family £6,500 every year, and reducing their childcare costs by nearly 60%.
I know it’s been a tough year for families across Tynedale and Ponteland as we struggle with the cost of living and the pressures of raising young children. I am confident that the measures in this Budget place us well on the way to economic recovery and a prosperous future.
I am lucky to represent one of the most rural constituencies in England, and with it, some of the most rural schools.
I recently caught up with staff and pupils at Kielder Primary School and Slaley First School. Kielder and Slaley are rated as 'Outstanding' and 'Good' respectively by Ofsted, and it is clear to see why. Teaching staff are dedicated at both schools, and the pupils benefit greatly as a result. There is an eagerness from the children to engage in learning - that much was obvious from the sea of hands and subsequent grilling I got in the Q&A session!
What is always apparent in my visits to rural schools in particular is the real pride the children have for their small school, and their understanding of it as the beating heart of their local community. I look forward to visiting again soon.
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| Getting a grilling from Class 2 Pupils at Slaley First School |
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| The school is going from strength to strength under headteacher Angela Hayward |
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| Catching up with pupils at one of Northumberland's most rural schools, Kielder Primary. |
The Government has announced the results of its rapid review and has announced some additional Mental Health resources in our region.
Extra funding of £150m was announced, with £7m being specifically used to fund 100 specialised mental health ambulances. The funding also includes £300,000 for a Crisis Café based in Northumberland.
Once I have further details on the number of these specialists ambulances in our area and the site of the new Crisis Café - I will update you further.
I am delighted with the news that the Government has announced £14.7 million of funding for cycling infrastructure in Northumberland as part of the Levelling Up Fund.
Part of this money will go towards improving cycling and walking infrastructure between Corbridge and Hexham.
My huge thanks to Northumberland County Council, Cllr Nick Oliver and Cllr Trevor Cessford for putting together the bid and making this happen.
Read more about the original bid HERE
Full courant report HERE
It was great to be at the Hexham Auction Mart yesterday morning for meetings with NFU North East, local farmers and a drop in surgery working with Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials.
If you are a farmer in Tynedale and Ponteland and we missed you, please get in touch: guy.opperman@parliament to raise any local issues with us.
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| With Anna from the NFU |
Last night, we held a meeting with over 100 of our Ukrainian guests, many of their sponsors and supporters in Hexham.
Massive thanks to Wendy and the many other organisers and helpers, and Phil from Northumberland County Council who came along to help answer key questions.
Many answers on issues as varied as work, skills, language training, kids education, references, housing, Ukrainian qualifications, cars, the rise in sponsor support and visas were able to be given on the night, even if only in part.
Our key project is to create an FAQ website on the Northumberland County Council website in English and Ukrainian. This will have all the key updated links and information and will also be linked on my website and for use across Northumberland to the many hundreds of guests, sponsors and supporters.
Our hope is that this is resolved and publicly available in the next 2 weeks. As explained at the meeting, my office continues to provide assistance on a whole host of issues: email in and we will help: guy.opperman@parliament.uk.
Representing our rural communities and making their voice heard is my central priority.
Storm Arwen affected so many across Northumberland. Thousands were without power for days, and some were without power for 13 days. Northern Powergrid’s response was totally unacceptable. Their communications completely failed – leaving everyone with no information of when their power would be restored.
I held six public meetings across the constituency, including two in the North Tyne at Bellingham. The meetings were a chance for local people to have their voices heard by the companies responsible for the response to Storm Arwen.
The Department for Business, Ofgem and I each released
a report setting out clear recommendations as to how to improve the technical
resilience of the grid for future storm events.
As a result, Northern Powergrid has recently launched their
£7.5 million foundation, which provides up to £20,000 grants to Parish
councils, village halls and community groups. So far, I have sponsored 17
applications, of which, X have been approved. The scheme will be formally
launching in the new year and I will provide further details of how you apply
when the information is available.
Rochester Village Hall Committee were awarded an £18,000 grant as part of their application to fund key pieces of equipment, such as a generator.
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| With Susan and David from Rochester Parish Council |
I recently had the opportunity to meet with David, Susan and local residents at Rochester Village Hall. ITV Tyne Tees also came along to cover the new generator they have bought with the money they have received from Northern Powergrid. You can see the ITV report here: https://www.itv.com/news/tyne-tees/2022-11-26/arwen-aftermath-generators-installed-to-keep-village-running-during-blackouts
I also popped into Rochester Relish –
The last café in England, where I presented my Small Business Award. Rochester
Relish is a fantastic local business. Please do support them is you are going
past!
I have also knocked
on doors and surveyed local people in Rochester and Byrness to ensure residents have had their local concerns heard.
Visiting the local school in Otterburn recently
