JILL MORTIMER: The vital role of industry and small businesses to our town

Last week was National Apprenticeships Week and I was delighted to visit Hartlepool Power Station and chat to some of the apprentices – it was great to hear their views on the future of nuclear in Hartlepool and I know they all have very bright futures ahead of them.

I also joined Darren Hankey, Principal of Hartlepool College of Further Education at the Big Apprenticeship Event last week. The atmosphere was amazing – I thoroughly enjoyed talking to representatives and apprentices from all the businesses present and hearing about the opportunities they can provide for our young people.

Industry, production and the processing of raw materials form the backbone of our economic and commercial activity here in Hartlepool. I visited the Materials Processing Institute in Redcar last week – the site has commercial relationships, providing Research and Development to both TATA and Liberty Steel in our town.

I toured the site and had discussions with Chief Executive Chris McDonald about the future of steel production, as well as how we can make our outputs more productive and how we can pursue the move towards decarbonisation. I was impressed by the Institute’s innovative approach to production; the site and the materials being developed there are taking us closer to Nuclear Fusion reactors becoming reality, and it’s happening right here in Teesside.

While industry and nuclear are very important to our town, smaller businesses play an equally vital role in supporting local people and local jobs. I was delighted to visit Footprints nursery recently and speak with Sharon Birch and other staff members about the importance of early years education, as well as the importance of recognising that private nurseries are businesses as well as educational providers. Footprints is a great facility and helps to ensure that our youngest generations get the best start in life, while also allowing parents to continue to pursue their careers. However, Footprints and other private nurseries must be supported as businesses so they can continue to provide a good service. The Government has already committed to supporting Hartlepool as one of 55 Education Investment Areas – I would like to see this support extended to early years and will be engaging in discussions with Ministers to see how early years learning can benefit from further investment.