As Parliament wound down for half-term recess the focus has been on getting caught up with outstanding jobs at Westminster.
One of the big issues facing the country is the increasing cost of energy and whilst I welcome the measures introduced by the Chancellor to offset these in part through a rebate in Council tax and a softening measure to spread the sudden spike in prices, I was keen to speak to the regulators themselves. To that end I had a meeting with Ofgem about how they plan to protect consumers against any further rises.
The other big piece of news was the appointment of MP Steve Barclay as the new No.10 Chief of Staff. I'm glad to see an elected person take on the role as I think this will make the whole operation of Downing Street more accountable to MPs - the interim report from Sue Gray highlighted serious deficiencies in the structure of No.10 and the Prime Minister rightly promised to address this. Appointing Steve along with new comms chief Guto Harri is an excellent first step.
I met with Steve on Tuesday Morning for an honest discussion about what was working and what wasn't. I want us to get back on to the priorities of the people, not be obsessing about internal processes.
On Wednesday after Prime Minister's Questions I had a sit down meeting with the Home Secretary and other North West MPs where we discussed policing in our area. I highlighted my concerns about the way GMP still isn't living up to its responsibilities and raised several local issues, including the serious ASB in Heywood - the Home Secretary has undertaken to come up to the area to see for herself the challenges we have and it was encouraging to see how seriously she takes these matters.
Later on Wednesday I had the privilege of meeting Air Vice Marshal Byford of the RAF for a briefing on the future of the Forces - she's an impressive woman and I learned a great deal.
This week also saw Children's Mental Health Day - the younger generation have had a particularly difficult couple of years, missing out on peer interactions and learning - I went to a drop in session to talk to experts about what we can do to better support Children as we get back to normal.
On Thursday I met with the Second Sea Lord as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme - my colleagues and I were able to ask about the future of the Navy, force readiness and the situation in Ukraine - it was an extremely informative visit.
This weekend I'm jetting off to Norway to visit the Royal Marines in the Arctic Circle, so there probably won't be the usual catch up, but keep an eye out for more information.
