2022

The Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Bill is designed to repeal of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 (FTPA) and would make the maximum term of a Parliament (rather than the period between general elections) five years. This would enable Governments, within the life of a Parliament, to call a general election at the time of their choosing. It does not envisage a role for Parliament in deciding when general elections are held. The Bill includes an ‘ouster clause’ that states questions relating to the use of the powers, preliminary work on dissolution and the extent of the powers cannot be questioned by the courts.

On Monday 14 March 2022, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities made a statement to the House on the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme. Excerpts from the statement are below. “The Home Secretary has already expanded the family route. She has also confirmed that from tomorrow Ukrainians with passports will be able to apply for UK visas entirely online without having to visit visa application centres. We also know, however, that the unfailingly compassionate British public want to help further. That is why today we are answering that call with the announcement of a new sponsorship scheme, Homes for Ukraine. The scheme will allow Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored by individuals or organisations who can offer them a home. There will be no limit to the number of Ukrainians who can benefit from it. The scheme will be open to all Ukrainian nationals and residents, and they will be able to live and work in the United Kingdom for up to three years.They will have full and unrestricted access to benefits, healthcare, employment and other support. Sponsors in the UK can be of any nationality, with any immigration status, provided they have at least six months’ leave to remain within the UK.

Joseph Leckie Academy was awarded £17 million for major refurbishment through the Building Schools for the Future Programme under the last Labour Government, but did not receive the majority of the funding after the BSF Programme was cancelled by David Cameron in 2010. 

On Monday 14 March 2022 I answered questions from Year 4 and Year 6 pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary as part of an online session organised through the Parliamentary Education Service. During the session, the pupils learnt about Government and Parliament the work of MPs and members of the House of Lords, how laws are made and how they can get their voices heard. I was asked about my work in Parliament, and I outlined a week as Member of Parliament for Walsall South. I explained that each morning from Monday to Thursday a different Government department answers questions in the House, in the afternoons new laws are debated, and on Fridays I am normally in Walsall meeting and talking to constituents and having a surgery. 

I serve as the Vice-Chair for the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries, Information and Knowledge. On Thursday 10 March 2022, the APPG released the following statement on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. “The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Libraries, Information and Knowledge (APPG LInK) wishes to express our deep concern over the impact of the current invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces on the safety and security of the Ukrainian people as well as the threat which this action poses to libraries, archives and the public record in Ukraine. We note the Statement of Solidarity with librarians and archivists in Ukraine, produced by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) with signatures from more than 800 leading national institutions including the British Library, the National Library, Wales and the National Library Scotland.