Some of the Things We’ve Achieved So Far
A Fairer Deal for Thirsk, Malton & Filey
- Linton on Ouse: After many months of campaigning with some fantastic and hard-working individuals, the plans for an asylum processing centre was scrapped. Serious credit to all the campaigners, local residents, Linton Action Group, North Yorkshire Council, Hambleton District Council, local councillors, the parish council, North Yorkshire Police and the NY Police Commissioner's office, as well as the media outlets who helped keep pressure on Government.
- Improved facilities at Thirsk and Malton Railway Stations. Increased car parking and £1m for new lifts and footbridge at Thirsk. £150k for a raised platform at Malton. In May 2024, Thirsk made the list of stations selected for initial feasibility work and if that is successful, will be taken forward as part of the Access for All programme, after many years of campaigning with TPE & NYC.
- Helped to secure funding for our cultural and historical institutions here in Thirsk and Malton such as the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, Castle Howard and the Rural Arts Centre.
- Fighting for the residents of Linton-on-Ouse. Worked tirelessly on pressing the Prime Minister, Home Office and ministers to halt the planned asylum processing site, standing up for local residents’ wishes and ensuring their voice has been heard.
- More money for services. £80m of extra monies per annum for schools, special needs, social care and 58 additional police offices in North Yorkshire
- New A&E at Scarborough/Filey. Secured £40m for a brand-new Accident and Emergency facility at Scarborough Hospital, work should start in 2020
- Lambert Hospital, Thirsk Saved. Worked with Hambleton District Council to keep Lambert Hospital in Thirsk in public ownership, which is now being developed as a new Herriot Hospice
- A64 route to Malton, Pickering and East Coast. £22m in safety improvements at Crambeck Village, Barton Hill Crossroads, Rillington and Sherburn
- New bridge at Dalton Industrial Estate, Thirsk. £4m investment that helped to secure and create hundreds of jobs
- Easingwold School. £5.4m investment in school buildings and a new £2m sports hall and 4G pitch
- Fighting for Filey Fishermen. Successfully challenged plans to reduce fishing season to unviable levels and established potential pathway for a long-term future for heritage fishing in Filey
- Fought for Fire Fighters. Successfully argued to increasing manning from three officers to four on Tactical Response Vehicles to improve safety for public and personnel
- 500+ surgery appointments, 5000+ constituents directly supported, prolific parliamentary speaker
- NHS Dentistry in Helmsley and Thirsk. Despite unacceptable delays, we successfully campaigned to restore dental surgeries in Helmsley and Thirsk
- Received assurances that Filey's Cobble Landing Toilets would be up and running again in time for the high season.
- Hosted a hugely successful Engineering Apprenticeships Fair to connect local people with engineering businesses based here in the constituency, which will now become a yearly event.
- £50,000 funding for Malton Museum secured for a new permanent home.
- Helped secure temporary home for Helmsley postal services.
- Water quality and the environment: I’ve met with Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water and I’m working with local groups to clean up our waters and restore the pride of clean waterways for local generations to come. In addition to this, I have met with DEFRA officials and Ministers to discuss what can be done about improving our local water quality going forward. Moreover, I was a founder member of the Conservative Environment Group as well as leading a cross party group focussed on combatting littering.
- Filey Town Bus: I'm working with residents, town and county council and other stakeholders to try and bring an internal transport system back to Filey.
- Banking hubs: Working to mitigate the impact of bank closures by helping to secure interim and permanent banking and post office services for towns like Filey, Pickering & Helmsley.
A Fairer Deal for the North
- Rural Mobile Phone Coverage - Led successful campaign supported by 80+ MPs for a £1bn Shared Rural Network that will increase 4G coverage from 67% to 95% by 2026
- Northern Powerhouse. Co-chair of All-Party Group for Northern Powerhouse Partnership which helped to secure government commitment to first stage of NPR between Manchester and Leeds and £3bn upgrade of Trans-Pennine rail route.
A Fairer Society
- Big Banks v Small Business. Our fight for justice and compensation for small and medium-sized businesses mistreated by their bank led to the establishment of the new Business Banking Resolution Service that is now open to applications at www.thebbrs.org
- Lloyds Bank Compensation Scheme. Throughout months of engagement with Lloyds Banking Group, the Foskett Panel and the SME Alliance to improve the customer experience of the Re-Review Process, we pushed to make it clear that many victims of the HBOS Reading fraud simply cannot continue to wait any longer for compensation. Look forward to continuing to work with all stakeholders to ensure that this resolution is carried out effectively and efficiently.
- Parent Bereavement and Guardianship Acts. Successfully introduced two new Private Members Bills that became Acts of Parliament - Guardianship, also known as Claudia’s Law, will allow loved ones to manage the affairs of a missing person. Parental Bereavement Act requires employers to offer paid holiday for bereaved parents
- Discounted homes for local first-time buyers. Our campaign to include home to purchase of up to 50% discount has been adopted by Government as the First Homes programme https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-to-cut-the-cost-of-new-homes-by-a-third
- Council Tax Debt Collection. Co-chair of All-Party Group for Poverty which successfully campaigned for government to implement best practice guidance for council tax debt collection nationwide.
- Universal Credit. Contributed to campaign for reform of UC that led to immediate upfront payments, reduced waiting times and improved housing benefit rules.
- Combustible Cladding Ban. Following devastating tragedy at Grenfell, as member of Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, successfully campaigned for a ban on combustible cladding and insulation on new high-rise buildings and for a £10bn+ remediation fund for existing buildings.
- Antibiotic Resistance. Our fight for more action on this clear and present danger to humanity contributed to the government’s establishment of its 5 and 20-year plans to tackle this huge problem and the world’s first pilots of non-commercial development of new antibiotics
- Well-funded public services. Consistently argued for more money nationally for the NHS, schools, social care and local services.
- Living Wage. Campaigned for a higher minimum wage, which has now increased from £6.70/hr in 2015 to £9.50 today.
- Tackling Economic Crime. Successfully campaigned to bring forward the first Economic Crime Bill to help tackle dirty money, successfully launched the Economic Crime Manifesto with ministerial support, secured a Backbench Business Debate on Economic Crime Law Enforcement Resourcing.
More on the way
A Fairer Deal for Thirsk, Malton & Filey
- A64. Campaigning for first dualling of A64 since 1978. While I'm disappointed that the RIS3 projects have been delayed, the A64 dualling project is still very much on the Government's agenda and we hope to get a decision in the next 12 months so National Highways can begin detailed costing and acquisition of land, with a planned start date of 2030. I will continue to fight for the upgrades to be prioritised going forward.
- Farming, Fishing, Tourism and Rural Businesses. I pledge my continued support to all rural businesses which create vital employment and are the backbone of our large rural constituency
A Fairer Deal for the North
- Northern Powerhouse. Continued campaign for £120bn of transport infrastructure investment over next 30 years and more resources for investment in education and skills
- Greater Powers. Campaign for devolution of powers to the region and for an elected mayor of a York City Region
A Fairer Society
- Universal Credit. Further improvements to waiting times and improving scheme rules covering those on weekly and 4-weekly salary payment cycles.
- SME and consumer champion. Will continue to champion the interests and small and medium-sized-businesses (SMEs) and consumers, particularly relating to financial services matters as Minister responsible for this area.
