MIKE HILL: Our needs may be historic, but are every bit as important

I say unfortunately because she was sacked in the Cabinet reshuffle a few days later. Nonetheless, with all the talk about free ports, carbon capture and storage, hydrogen technology, wind technology, the resurrection of steel production and the Green Industrial Revolution fighting to keep Hartlepool as a main player in the Tees Valley is essential. That is why I have been pushing hard on nuclear energy, but also for Hartlepool to be part of the free port strategy for PD Ports and for a well known Hartlepool based company to resurrect steel manufacturing on Teesside and breathe life back into the industry. What could happen here for our industrial sector is potentially massive, but it must translate into jobs and must be to the benefit of our local economy here in the Town.I said as much to representatives of the Federation of Small Businesses, who I met on Friday. We had a long and constructive chat about things like business rates, incentives to small businesses, late payment issues, the IR35 controversy, meaningful apprenticeships and training connectivity, but more importantly, we talked about a vision for Hartlepool. Apparently our Town, according to the FSB, has received less funding from the Tees Valley Combined Authority led by Mayor Ben Houchen than any of the other Tees Valley Councils. Now that’s not necessarily a political thing, and we are undoubtedly benefiting from TVCA funding, but it does beg the question why? Is our local council missing a trick or are devolved funds naturally orientating around Redcar and East Cleveland, where the industrial landscape was laid waste by the closure of the blast furnace and SSI site. As I said to the FSB reps who came to visit me, when the steel works shut at Redcar and thousands of jobs were lost, it was rightly seen as an emergency. Yet in Hartlepool we have the same numbers of people out of work, in fact, arguably more, but our equivalent of Redcar happened decades ago with the closure of our steel works and our ship yards, and now we have second and third generation household unemployment. Our needs may be historic, but are every bit as important.I was pleased to see Hartlepool Borough Council at long last recognising the value of Community Wealth Building, something which I have been advocating for a long time alongside the local Labour Party. Community Wealth Building is all about local procurement of goods and services, securing investment in local supply chains and productivity, improving local economic competitiveness, investing in local manufacturing and co-operatives. Put simply, if you can invest locally, manufacture locally and procure locally then the local economy will reap the reward, jobs will increase and the unnecessary carbon footprint of goods transportation will diminish.”UK Parliament Disclaimer: this e-mail is confidential to the intended recipient. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender and delete it from your system. Any unauthorised use, disclosure, or copying is not permitted. This e-mail has been checked for viruses, but no liability is accepted for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this e-mail. This e-mail address is not secure, is not encrypted and should not be used for sensitive data.