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GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my South West Surrey update No.224
Another packed week at the Treasury saw me hosting the IMF as they announced a positive verdict on the UK economy. Locally, a jam packed constituency day including visits to Farnham Maltings, Waverley Abbey, Haslemere Festival, Highfield South Farnham School and the Barista Lounge in Farnham. The weekend was topped off with a fantastic afternoon at the Bramley fete.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

IMF UPDATE At the start of the week I hosted ([link removed]) Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund. You may have seen that we held a discussion on the UK economy and the importance of global economic stability, which you can watch here ([link removed]) . Encouragingly there has been a major upgrade ([link removed]) to our forecast economic growth with higher long-term growth prospects than for Germany, France, and Italy. There are still some challenges in our levels of productivity and business investment as well as a labour market still feeling the long-term effects from the pandemic. But the IMF praised measures announced in the Budget, including our expansion of childcare and my ‘full expensing’ policy, which means the UK has the joint most generous capital allowance in the OECD. The OBR, Bank of England,
and the IMF now all forecast that the UK will avoid recession so this amounted to a decisive vote of confidence in the UK’s economic management - but we need to stick to the plan to get inflation down.

INFLATION UPDATE The fact that inflation has fallen to 8.7% - the lowest rate in over a year - shows we’re on the right track ([link removed]) . Food inflation, however, remains too high so on Tuesday I hosted a roundtable for food manufacturers to discuss what can be done to bring down the cost of the weekly shop. And another way we can help people with the cost of living is this decision to extend the £2 cap on bus fares ([link removed]) in England until the end of October.

WHAT’S THE GROWTH PLAN? As I explain in this video ([link removed]) , if we are going to be successful in growing our economy, we need to be good in those parts of the economy that are likely to grow fastest over the decades ahead - particularly technology, medicines and clean energy. Another area is advanced manufacturing, where we make - for example - half the world’s large aircraft wings. So last week I hosted ([link removed]) a Business Connect event in Coventry which you can see more on here ([link removed]) . Overall, while we still have many challenges to overcome, there is lots to be positive about as I wrote in the Telegraph ([link removed]) on Saturday and also the Herald.
([link removed])

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

GREEN SPACES Tackling climate change is one of the greatest challenges we face globally and so far almost half the respondents to my current survey have said that it is their top priority. 25% of you also said you would like to see more support for carbon neutral transport - so good news that Surrey has signed a £60 million contract to install thousands of electric vehicle charge points. Hoppa have also introduced their second electric bus, and it was great to take part in its unveiling ceremony ([link removed]) .

SURGERY STORIES For my surgery on Friday, I spoke to a lady worried about domestic abuse and the lack of support the system has given her. She was prompted to call me by the changes to the domestic abuse legislation which tackle the issue of coercive control but she felt that even more help needs to be offered. I said I would raise it with the Home Secretary. I then spoke to a Farnham resident about pedestrianisation (a topic of course close to my heart!). He wants to do some research in Farnham on the impact on the cognitive abilities of pedestrians who are walking next to busy roads. I said I would put him in touch with Tim Oliver and the Farnham Project Board to see if they could help him progress his ideas in order to improve the final shape of the town centre.
Next I spoke to the SEN lead at a local school about anomalies in the way funding is allocated. Because the school has to pay the first portion of any EHCP award, they end up being severely out of pocket. They also find the process of awarding EHCPs incredibly slow and inefficient. I then spoke to a Farnham resident who was extremely knowledgeable about suicide prevention and we discussed the additional support I was able to give it in the Budget. Finally I spoke to a very helpful lawyer from Bramley about the smell issue and what the next steps are and the role of the Environment Agency. I will get in touch with them - we now know the cause of the problem but have still not identified a solution.

QUIZ SUCCESS We had a fantastic evening on Friday at the Friends of the Royal Surrey Charity fish & chip quiz night in Farnham, and a huge thanks must go to organiser Judith Storey and her team. So far, the community fundraising group’s events have netted £5,000 for the Royal Surrey’s new Cancer & Surgical Innovation Centre, and they raised a further £2,000 from the quiz night alone! They have also raised an additional amount of over £1,200 from selling a number of donated items such as a trike and a golf day in Hindhead. Their next event is on 14th July at the Guildford & Godalming Croquet Club and is a Croquet taster and afternoon tea to celebrate 75 years of our brilliant NHS. For tickets and further information, please contact 07932 411108 or email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

BOURNE SHOW TOMBOLA The Friends of the Royal Surrey Charity are also looking for bottles of any kind (be it ketchup, wine, coca-cola etc) to be donated for their tombola stand at the upcoming Bourne Show ([link removed]) . If you have a bottle you’re willing to donate, please contact: 07932 411108.

WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK? There’s some fantastic local events on over the May half term at Watts Gallery ([link removed]) , Winkworth Arboretum ([link removed]) , and Gostrey Meadow ([link removed]) - all guaranteed to keep the kids occupied!

JOIN ME Want to get more involved locally? Email me at [email protected] to join my growing team supporting our work in our community

AND FINALLY… Ahead of the weather forecast promising some sun for half term, it looks like humans aren’t the only ones planning picnics according to this photo ([link removed]) !

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Promoted by Sean Donovan-Smith on behalf of Jeremy Hunt MP and South West Surrey Conservatives, all at 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD.

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South West Surrey Conservative Association . 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road . Hindhead . Surrey, GU26 6TD . United Kingdom