A nice pacey week in Westminster this week.
On Monday the Mayor of Greater Manchester was in Parliament for discussions with the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and so local Conservative MPs requested a meeting with him and the Levelling Up Minister to talk about how wr improve our devolution settlement, with better accountability and safeguarding before any more money is released.
I also had the first of several meetings focused on the nuclear industry and specifically how we get more of their high skilled, well paid jobs into communities like Heywood and Middleton.
On Tuesday I had more meetings about apprenticeships, including with Rolls Royce - there are some brilliant careers available and I want our area to benefit.
I also had a discussion with the Terence Higgins Trust. Our area has a very high prevalence of HIV/AIDS and I was keen to hear their thoughts on simple changed to health care, like opt put testing and the benefits they could have.
On Wednesday I had the great treat of welcoming the team from Heywood based brewery Phoenix to Parliament. I had requested that their beer be put on at Strangers Bar before Christmas and it finally went on tap last week.
The team are doing amazing things for the local community and economy so it was a great pleasure to showcase their work.
The end of the week was spent on my PPS duties, supporting various ministers in Parliamentary debates. Whist it might seem like a dry or technical job, it's a fantastic way to see how Parliament works and how I as a junior MP can influence decisions on your behalf.
There's a short week next week as Parliament goes on Half Term recess, but I'm sure I'll still pack lots in!
