St Matthew’s Church, held an Open Day to encourage residents and visitors to learn about the Church and its history in Walsall. The Heritage Day took place on Saturday 7 September 2024.

St Matthews Church is a Grade II* listed building, as the oldest building in Walsall and main parish church of the town. Re built in 1820-1821, there are some remains of the earlier church built around 1220 and dedicated to All Saints. St Matthews is in the Diocese of Lichfield.

The first school I visited after General Election was Christ Church C of E Primary School, Bloxwich on 6 September 2024.I met the Head,  Sean Davies and the Deputy Head Natasha Molineux.  I was able to call in on the classes and met the teachers and pupils. Christ Church is a warm and welcoming School and the children were hard at work. In one class they were discussing who their hero and heroines were and we were included in the discussion. The outdoor space, the forest , is part of the ethos of the School to show the importance of the environment. 

On Thursday 5 September 2024, the Great British Energy bill had its second reading. The Bill will enable the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero to create a company called Great British Energy and make it a legal entity. GB Energy will operate independently but will be fully owned by the Government. Its main focus will be to support, promote, and get involved in producing, distributing, storing, and supplying clean energy. The Bill will allow the Department to work to cut down greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels, improve energy efficiency, and ensure the UK's energy security.

An amendment was tabled at second reading and I voted against the amendment:   Ayes: 94 Noes: 348

I voted for the Second Reading of the Bill:  Ayes: 348 Noes: 95    The Bill will progress to Committee stage from 8 October 2024.

The House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill was introduced and received its First Reading in the House of Commons last week on Thursday 5 September 2024.

In our manifesto and King’s Speech, we committed to immediately reforming the House of Lords, and we have introduced this Bill within 100 days of the new Government.

In 1999, a compromise amendment was made to the House of Lords Act and most hereditary peers had the right to sit and vote in the House of Lords removed with the exception of 92. This Bill will repeal this amendment and the remaining hereditary peers will no longer have this right by the end of the parliamentary session.

I am delighted that the Government has followed the manifesto that we stood on at the election, ensuring that the House of Lords can be fairer and more representative of the people it serves.

The House considered the Budget Responsibility Bill in a Committee of the Whole House on Wednesday 4 September 2024. The Bill seeks to ensure that fiscal announcements in respect of fiscally significant measures made by the Government are subject to an independent assessment by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). It would achieve this by requiring the OBR to produce an assessment of the fiscal impacts of fiscally significant measures, without a request from HM Treasury if necessary. These measures intend to preserve market stability and public trust in announcements on fiscally significant measures, by ensuring there is independent and transparent scrutiny of the Government’s fiscal plans.

Under the last Government and in particular the mini budget, the OBR was not asked for an independent assessment. This is now enshrined in law.

There were 2 Amendments to the Bill and I voted against both: Amendment 9 -: Ayes: 109 Noes: 36  Amendment 2 : Ayes: 73 Noes: 375

The Bill received Royal Assent on 10 September 2024.