Bassetlaw MP backs plans to give Cottam site a renewable future

This was a long-anticipated decision as Britain moves towards using greener and renewable energy sources.

There has been a move to decarbonise electricity generation and this has resulted in the planned Cottam site closure.

This was much earlier than anticipated because the Government had given 2025 has the target date for the end of coal-fired power stations.

It’s very sad to see this closure six years early but I fully back the call that the trade unions are making to transform the Cottam plant to one that creates renewable, green energy.

EDF has been a significant employer in Bassetlaw for more than 50 years and I am pleased it is supporting existing employees to move within the organisation to different roles and I understand that there should be no compulsory redundancies as a result of the closure.

One piece of slightly better news is that West Burton has now agreed capacity agreements up and until the end of September 2021 with EDF committing to keep everyone updated on this.

My recent casework from constituents is predominantly from people who are facing crises due to the delays in Universal Credit payments.

In my 18 years of being an MP, I have not experienced so many people contacting me because of the same thing.

I am seeing the most vulnerable people in our communities, people who are not used to filling out forms online or uploading photos of themselves onto the computer.

The delays in Universal Credit mean that there are more people than ever relying on the food bank, which this week, is in need of coffee, jam, tinned meat, tinned pasta, tinned custard, dilute squash, men’s toiletries and washing-up liquid.

It is also now collecting Easter eggs to distribute in April.

If you can, please consider buying some items to donate. You can drop them into my office on Stanley Street in Worksop.