As July draws to an end it sometimes felt like summer-madness swept through the corridors of Westminster this month! The Parliamentary term concluded with 11 pieces of legislation having passed through the House of Commons, and MPs have now returned to work from constituency offices during August.

The Conservative party leadership contest dominated the gossip in Westminster - and a good deal of the headlines! Following the last ballot, two candidates remain, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, who will spend the next few weeks taking part in hustings around the country before the 200,000 Conservative Party members choose the next Prime Minister. The result will be announced on the first day back in the new Parliamentary term, 5 September.

Many of you will be aware that I supported my friend, neighbour and colleague, Penny Mordaunt in her bid for the Leadership. I enjoyed appearing on a whole range of TV and radio programmes, not least BBC Politics South, to champion her candidacy. While Penny has now been knocked out of the contest, I am bursting with pride at what she achieved in such a short period of time, making it to the final three and only missing out on the final by a handful of votes!

With all this grabbing the headlines this month, you’d be forgiven for missing the launch of the Government’s first ever Women’s Health Strategy, which aims to tackle the gender health gap and improve understanding & treatment of female health conditions. I kicked off the Women’s Health Strategy, when I was the Minister of State at the Department for Health and Social Care, so I feel proud to see it finally cross the finish line. I spoke on this in the House of Commons, and I was pleased to hear the Minister’s commitment to equalise access to IVF and to address some of the health inequities faced by vulnerable women & hard to reach areas.

I have previously raised the issue of inequality of access to IVF treatment in the Chamber, and have met with former Health Secretary, Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, to discuss this extremely important issue.

Another piece of legislation that I worked extremely closely on - albeit in a different Department - as Minister in the Department of Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, was the Online Safety Bill! This was back in the House of Commons this month and took the opportunity to outline how this new legislation will help both protect vulnerable internet users and safeguard freedom of speech .

This month, I was lucky enough to meet several inspiring people - including the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Meri Akopyan , who I hosted in Parliament alongside representatives from fire services in the UK, Ukraine, Poland and Germany, FIRE AID UK and Fire Industry Association. They have been working together to supply equipment to Ukraine and I took the opportunity to introduce them to Home Secretary, Priti Patel MP, who thanked them for this vital work.

I hosted One Small Thing Charity Parliamentary reception on the intergenerational traumatic impact of maternal imprisonment and the need for urgent reform. This is an area that is often overlooked and yet can have such dramatic outcomes.
It was very powerful and upsetting to hear the testimonies from Farhana and Jamilah, whose mother was unexpectedly given a prison sentence for a non-violent offence. The girls and their siblings, one of whom was just 5 years old, had gone off to school that morning as normal. Nobody came to collect them, and they ended up going straight into the care system with their belongings in a black bin bag. The long-term trauma on these children, for a crime they had no part in, has a cost to both themselves and society. Sophie Mitchell from Northumbria University talked us through her research into this extremely important topic. Find her research at https://onesmallthing.org.uk/research.

In Ministry of Justice Questions, I raised this issue with the Minister.

Earlier in the year I met the fantastic Hampshire Youth Parliament candidates from Bay House and Brune Park Schools and invited them to visit me in Parliament.

What an eventful (and scorching hot) week they chose!

It was lovely to see this bright and brilliant bunch again.

I also caught up with Bay House Sixth Form politics students and 6th Gosport Cub Pack when they came to Parliament for a tour and a chat. I also enjoyed visiting years 3 to 6 from Meoncross School, who had some ingenious questions and thoughts on topics from the voting age to online safety!

I enjoyed taking part in the National Parliamentary Prayer Breakfast where I was blessed to be joined by one of Gosport’s very own great community champions – Reverend Sean Blackman.

I spoke to Asthma and Lung UK about the work they are doing improving the lives of everyone affected by a lung condition.

I met with Kidney Care UK to discuss their work piloting home kidney function tests for high-risk patients in the Gosport area - and the importance of improving early detection rates of chronic kidney disease.

I joined the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Unpaid Carers, which I Co-chair, to discuss the Private Member’s Bill we are supporting, which will introduce a right to employment leave for carers.

Also in Westminster, Stubbington lady, Alice Hendy won ‘NHS Rising Star’ at the NHS Parliamentary Awards.

I nominated Alice for her inspiring work, establishing Ripple Suicide Prevention in memory of her brother.

This award was well-deserved recognition of a wonderful innovation, born out of great sadness, which is already saving lives.

In the Chamber

• In Women & Equalities Questions I stressed the need for more targeted support for women led enterprise - a potential £250 billion is at stake if women were starting & scaling businesses at the same rate as men.
• In Department for Education Questions I highlighted the need to improve support in schools for children who lose a family member to suicide. You can read more about the work led by local lady, Anna Wardley, who set up the Luna Foundation here.
• In Health Questions I asked the new Secretary of State Steve Barclay, to prioritise a Chilldhood Cancer Mission as part of the forthcoming 10 Year Cancer Plan. This continues the work I have been doing in partnership with Stubbington’s Charlotte Fairall, to drive awareness that Cancer is the biggest cause of death among children. I was grateful for the Minister’s engagement on this.

It was great to attend the launch of Gosport Community Hub at Brune Park Community School. This new site will host events, workshops, and groups to support Gosport residents to connect and empower individuals and families. You can find out more here.

It’s vital to ensure our education system gets the best out of all our children. I had a great meeting with Cllr Lesley Meenaghan to discuss autism training for school staff - we are working together on a pilot which we hope could be launched here in Gosport… so watch this space!

I also caught up with the GFMAT Team to discuss the way forward for their Special Educational Needs provision at their Spring Garden Lane site.

The Fareham & Gosport Health and Wellbeing Fayre took place this month and members of the public came along to explore a whole host of stands, presentations, taster sessions, indoor sports activities, and initiatives. Thank you to Fareham and Gosport Health Forum for organising this great event.

My youngest son, Freddie, and I enjoyed cheering on the Lionesses, England football team, at their Group Stage Euro’s match at St Mary’s Stadium.

We wish them luck for the Cup Final this weekend!

I joined in the fun at the MHA Communities' brilliant Lunch Club in Bridgemary.

It was a pleasure to join Gosport Cats Protection’s 40th birthday celebrations and take the opportunity to thank all the volunteers who work extremely hard to find good homes for unwanted and stray cats and kittens, as well as providing vital support for owners who need it.

The Facebook group Gosport's Women Supporting Women was set up during the pandemic to offer friendship and support for local ladies. It has gone from strength to strength and gained dozens of members who interact both online at events across the area - from bars to beaches and everything in between! I joined this friendly, fabulous group of women for a picnic lunch at the RNA Club.

I visited the Yellow Edge Gallery in Stoke Road to see the fabulous new exhibition of Ella Kilgour – a self-taught portrait artist. So inspiring as always to see such amazing local talent!

I had a fabulous evening at Little Woodham 17th Century Village watching the Villager’s performance of Love’s Labour’s Lost – such a magical setting and fantastic performance!

I enjoyed kicking off the Gosportarians' Fayre and Dog Show in Walpole Park, where I met the lovely Sheeran (after Ed!)

At Lee Hub’s Gala Day I met the knitting club and picked up some tips on playing Rummi!

The Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust impressive regeneration of the former munitions factory in Priddy’s Hard continues apace, the latest transformation of the former Shifting House, reimagined as a fantastic holiday cottage, with the most stunning views of Portsmouth Harbour.

I went along to the launch to hear ‘what’s next’ in their plans for this historic site.

It was also great to meet the winners of my Queen's Platinum Jubilee Bunting Competition. I received over 1200 entries which helped decorate Stoke Road for the Jubilee event and I enjoyed visiting the 9 winners at their school to present them with their prizes!

I've been on some interesting visits this month, including Victoria Quay.

Less than 2 years after purchasing the disused area of Royal Clarence Yard the Victoria Quay is going great guns, already 11 maritime and marine businesses have located there, employing over 50 people. It was great to meet with some of them including Rubicon 3, UK Docks, and Momentum Electrical Ltd and to hear about the exciting projects ahead.

It was great to catch up again with Daedalus Development Company, the successful bidders for the Daedalus Waterfront site, to tour the Lee on the Solent site and hear more about their vision. You can find out more about their exciting plans at https://daedaluswaterfront.co.uk/.

I visited Shangri-La Residential Home to celebrate Care Home Open Week where I had a tour of the 25-bed home.

They have an open day on Saturday 6th August between 2pm and 4pm if you want to pop down.
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I loved watching schools from across the region taking part once again in the Powerboat Challenge at QinetiQ’s Gosport site in Haslar. Teams designed and built their own miniature powerboat, which was put to the test in QinetiQ’s massive ocean basin facility. A brilliant result for Gosport with the Bay House team coming 4th overall and Brune Park receiving the Perseverance Award!

There are a number of exciting activities taking place across the school summer holidays for youngsters. The Gosport Summer Passport Scheme is already in full swing.

I also went along to see the Hill Head Sailing Club Dinghy Week in action.

It was good to catch up with the Gosport Voluntary Action team to hear their plans, including the expansion of the Community Spirit Group. You can find out more about GVA at https://www.gva.org.uk/.

I met with the new HMS Sultan CO Johanna Deakin. We discussed the importance of this site for the Royal Navy and the Gosport community, and the importance of ensuring that it remains an exceptional place to work and maintain its strong connections with the local area.

I also caught up with Hospital Bosses at the Queen Alexandra to hear about their latest, improved CQC ratings, and how their services were coping with latest COVID variants and the extremely hot weather.

I met with Cllr Tony Jessop to discuss concerns raised by his residents regarding Vivid housing. I raised these issues with Vivid boss, Mark Perry, and we are pushing for improvements.

I had a wonderful visit to my pals at the Gosport Shed, which provides a network of friends, as well as activities and interests for older men. I was there at its very first inaugural meeting back in 2013 where there were just eight members – there are now over 130! If you would like to join, just turn up to the shed located at St Vincent College and you will be made welcome. More information on this can be found at https://thegosportshed.org/

Many residents will be all too familiar with the regular traffic congestion on the A32 and I met with Hampshire County Council Highways and a local civil engineering company to discuss potential improvements which could ease the flow.

I am pushing for another optimisation study to take place soon!
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Other announcements:

Donna Jones - Police Commissioner Hampshire & IOW is awarding over £641K in grants to local organisations over the next three years! This includes One small Thing Charity, VIVID Homes, Stop Domestic Abuse, Spurgeons Children's Charity, & Victim Support
Households eligible for cost-of-living support payments received their first instalment this month. Almost one in four families across the UK got £326 sent directly to them, with the second instalment of £324 coming later this year. This is part of the Government’s £37 billion support package. More information here.
New Government legislation introduced this month makes it easier for sectors affected by strike action to use temporary agency workers. This will minimise the impact on public services and ensure Gosport, Stubbington, Lee on the Solent, Hill Head and the rest of the country keeps running.More information here.

Wishing you a safe, happy and sunny August. As ever, my team and I are still standing by ready to assist you with any issues or concerns.

Please contact my team and I at [email protected].

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