This week, Parliament returns from summer recess, marking the beginning of this year’s autumn session. Recess offers Members of Parliament the opportunity to reflect, and to spend more time in our constituencies. I’ve appreciated the opportunity that this has afforded me to meet and engage with the people of Hitchin, Harpenden, and the villages, and to better understand your priorities for the rest of this Parliament.
However, with recess coming to a close, it’s now time to return to the work of legislating. In the upcoming session, Parliament will have the opportunity to move forward on a number of priority areas, and to finish a number of big legislative projects that were started earlier this year. In my capacity as the Chair of the Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group, I’ll be taking a particular interest in the Government’s Energy Bill, which is set to pass into law by the end of the year. This bill makes a number of changes to the rules around energy production, security, and regulation – including new rules around the use of hydrogen and nuclear power. Taken together, these new measures will reinforce Britain’s energy supply, and make sure that we never again see the sky-high prices of last winter.
We’ll also see changes to the rules around digital markets and data protection, which will update our regulatory regime, keeping it at pace with the rapid technological changes which are a feature of life in the modern world. Our Levelling-Up Bill, which we can also expect to see finalised this autumn, will work to make good on our manifesto pledge to deliver more investment in rural and left-behind areas of the country, ensuring that economic opportunities are spread evenly across the whole country. This is just a snapshot of our broad-based agenda for the end of this year, but it highlights just how wide-ranging Parliament’s work is, and how direct its impact on the country can be.
I look forward to working with my colleagues in Parliament and in Government to make sure that our policy agenda works in the best interests of Hitchin & Harpenden. Bringing our local priorities to the heart of Westminster is the foundation of everything I do as your MP.