JILL MORTIMER: Fund cash will help transform library sites such as Seaton’s

Seaton Carew Library, in Station Lane, is to receive £200,000 of improvements.

The main aim of the fund is to safeguard local collections in cultural venues or public libraries such as in this case – helping to level up these important venues and ensure that everyone has access to arts and culture venues.

The Libraries Improvement Fund will transform library services in England through investment in sites such as Seaton Library, enabling upgrades to buildings and digital infrastructure for example.

This investment in our local library comes just after the Chancellor boosted the cultural sector as part of the Budget through an extension of tax reliefs for a further two years.

Last week I was pleased to meet with local residents Tracy and Jo who have started up the first Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) support group in Hartlepool.

These inspirational women have retrained as specialist counsellors and support workers to help others like themselves who have been bereaved by suicide and I know this service will have a real impact on our local community.

The Government takes suicide very seriously and as part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are boosting the suicide reduction programme in England by £57 million this year to support local suicide prevention plans and establish suicide bereavement support services. However, it takes people like Tracy and Jo who have experienced this devastating personal loss to make a real difference and offer insight to others struggling, and I know their passion will be greatly appreciated – they can be contacted at [email protected]

Finally, I would like to end this week by highlighting some main takeaways from the Spring Budget. The Chancellor has recognised that to enable the economy to grow, we must help people into, or back into work.

I am therefore very pleased by the introduction of 30 free hours childcare from nine-months old, bolstered by upfront support for parents on Universal Credit to pay for childcare.

The announcement of the launch of Great British Nuclear was also very good news for Hartlepool – I will continue to push for investment in our Power Station and for the inclusion of AMR technology in plans for new nuclear nationally.