On Friday, 28th May, I had a virtual meeting with the newly-elected Leader of West Northamptonshire Council and the Council’s Chief Executive.
During the meeting, we discussed the Northamptonshire Covid-19 roll-out of vaccines, which has been progressing very well. We also discussed the Government’s levelling-up agenda including, following my lobbying, the announcement that Northampton will receive up to £25 Million from the Towns Fund.
The money from the Towns Fund can be used to boost the local economy and create more jobs. This £25 million from the Towns Fund is in addition to the £265 million of Local Growth Fund which has been awarded to South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership, supporting for Northampton’s Enterprise Zone, the £7 million ‘Smart Commuting’ and ‘Smart Corridors’ projects, the £6.3 million regeneration of the Vulcan Ironworks and the £2.25 million into the new Advanced Engineering Centre at Northampton College.
The meeting also gave me the opportunity to learn of the Council’s new plans around health and social care, and I was updated on the progress being made towards their new integrated care systems and also their plans to manage MPs’ queries effectively, which will better allow me to support my constituents in instances where I write to the Council on residents behalf for various matters.