Bassetlaw MP will lobby Government for money to build proper flood defences

This week in Parliament I attended my first two select committees for International Development and Housing, Communities & Local Government.
Brendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw. Photo: London Portrait Photoqrapher-DAVBrendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw. Photo: London Portrait Photoqrapher-DAV
Brendan Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw. Photo: London Portrait Photoqrapher-DAV

These committees examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the departments concerned and are a vital part of holding them to account.

There is a lot of cross-party expertise on the committees in various areas and I’m looking forward to working with my fellow members on the things that matter.

One issue we debated in the Commons this week was flooding, which is something very relevant to us in Worksop and indeed the rest of Bassetlaw.

We were all thankful that Storm Dennis didn’t end in a repeat of November’s floods and whilst there are many different views on what could have been done to mitigate the damage, what we really need are proper flood defences

I am lobbying for Worksop to receive money for the town centre and made the point that it also needs flood defences to make sure it isn’t subject to damage further down the line.

The Government is spending £2.6 billion on flood defences with another £4 billion on the way during the course of this Parliament.

I have been pushing Bassetlaw’s case and want to make sure it get its fair share of this, as well as allowing things such as the dredging of the River Ryton or work on Retford Beck.

I also met with the Home Secretary Priti Patel, following an earlier meeting with the both the chief constable and police and crime commisioner for Nottinghamshire.

I am disappointed at the way Mrs Patel has been treated in the last couple of weeks and she has my full support as I believe she is doing a great job.

She came to visit us in Bassetlaw and I was very encouraged by what she had to say about increasing police numbers and sentencing powers, as well as the new points-based immigration system the Government is introducing.

Finally, I had two other highlights this week.

The first was meeting one of my childhood icons, Anneka Rice, supporting Marie Curie UK.

The other highlight was attending what is now billed as one of the top events in the calendar – The British Kebab Awards.