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Derek Thomas MP

St Ives, West Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly

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Derek Thomas

MP Derek Thomas, with Emily Kent, Cornwall Council’s Head of Economy, Skills and Culture, has formed a new group which aims to investigate how best West Cornwall can bring prosperity to areas of deprivation through Government investment. This follows a meeting between Derek and the Chancellor where Derek stressed the need for Government to ensure the proposed Shared Prosperity Fund (to succeed European Social and Structural Funds) continues to meet the needs of the most deprived communities including West Cornwall. The Chancellor invites contributions from communities to inform the discussions relating to what criteria should be applied to new funding awards via the proposed Shared Prosperity Programme.

The group, comprising around 20 local business people, stakeholders, Cornwall Council officers and elected representatives, share a commitment to ensuring that areas of deprivation are brought out of poverty into a future with well-paid, sustainable jobs with the help of the Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund, targeting the areas that need it most and using the funds effectively. Meetings occur every 3 months.

Timeline:

18 May, 2018: Derek meets Emily Kent to discuss the proposed group.

13 July, 2018: Inaugural meeting of the West Cornwall Jobs and Growth group is held at Penzance’s St John’s Hall. Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Liz Truss MP, is the first guest and gives a Government perspective on Shared Prosperity as well as asking the group for further information on how the group feels that Government can help address deprivation in West Cornwall.

12 October, 2018: Group meets to discuss High Street vitality and the barriers to growth in the area; issues raised included the difficulties involved in bringing redundant High Street buildings back into use, the over-valuation of High Street buildings, the importance of a shared community vision and the challenge of attracting sufficient skilled staff to West Cornwall.

2 November, 2018: Derek meets a sub-group to finalise the group’s submission to the West Cornwall.

19 December, 2018: Submission posted to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

18 January, 2019: Emily Kent reports that a bid for Penzance for Future High Street funding stands a chance of being accepted by Cornwall Council to be put forward for funding. Cornwall Council's Growth Team present a detailed report looking at employment, economic activity, housing and deprivation in West Cornwall - the presentation will help inform which areas benefit most from a future Shared Prosperity Fund.

6 February, 2019: Penzance is confirmed by Cornwall Council as the focus for its bid for a share of the Government's £675m Future High Streets Fund. Cornwall Council say Penzance has been selected due to the unique mix of regeneration opportunities available to tackle challenges in the town and which have been supported by local partners and stakeholders, the Penzance Place Shaping Board and Regeneration Group, businesses and community organisations. Proposals for workspace, housing, connectivity, transport, skills and inclusion activity will be considered over the coming weeks to prepare the submission by March 22nd.

15 March, 2019: Derek Thomas writes a letter in support of the bid, saying that the Future High Streets fund represents "a genuine opportunity to drive transformational change in Penzance, unlocking wider investments in the public and private sector, meeting local need for housing, employment and social prosperity".

3 May, 2019: The group meets to discuss how to address the skills gap; issues raised included the recruitment of skilled staff, future-proofing skills so that they are relevant in the future, the lack of a major industry in West Cornwall which could act as inspiration for college leavers and the need to improve transport infrastructure.

7 June, 2019: Industry and apprenticeships are the focus of the meeting.

5 July, 2019: Government announces that Penzance has successfully won through to the second stage of the £675 million Future High Streets fund and is in with a chance of attracting up to £25m of Government investment in its town centre thanks to work led by the local community with support from Cornwall Council.

6 September, 2019: The Government announces that St Ives and Penzance have both been selected to benefit from the Towns Fund, launched two months earlier. Each town will benefit from up to £25 million (separate to the Future High Streets funding) to help make them 'vibrant, prosperous, connected places'. Robert Jenrick MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, said: “We want to level-up our great towns, raising living standards and ensuring they can thrive with transformative investment in transport, technology, skills and culture."

20 September, 2019: Derek hosts meeting with Penzance stakeholders to discuss ideas for projects that could access Towns Fund investment.

4 October, 2019: A similar meeting is held in St Ives - initial plans are outlined for the town to set up a place-shaping group, similar to the one already working well in Penzance.

 

 

News

Derek Thomas

G7 summit highlights Cornwall at the heart of a 'green industrial revolution'

Friday, 22 January, 2021

Following last weekend’s announcement that Carbis Bay will host the G7 Summit of world leaders in June, West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas has pressed the Prime Minister to ensure that the summit focuses on the climate change agenda and a green industrial revolution.

Derek Thomas

Carbis Bay G7 Summit gives Cornwall great opportunity on world stage

Monday, 18 January, 2021

West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas says Prime Ministers and Presidents from the world’s leading democracies will enjoy the ‘warmest of welcomes’ when they meet at Carbis Bay in June for the G7 Summit.

Derek Thomas

Win £50k with your ideas on how to 'level up' the UK

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

Photo by Alan Walker

West Cornwall MP Derek Thomas is encouraging people who feel they have solutions to the issue of ‘levelling up’ the country to take part in a £50,000 competition.

Derek Thomas

Derek welcomes £500k Towns Fund boost for St Ives and Penzance

Tuesday, 29 September, 2020

Penzance and St Ives are both to receive £500k of funding for projects that will give each town an immediate boost as they  look to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

Derek in Helston

MP's Column

Thursday, 2 July, 2020

The focus is on a healthy green balanced recovery and what better example of this than the news that West Cornwall fishing has secured £220,000 to help projects that increase the sale and consumption of locally caught fish.

Penzance

The Prime Minister’s ‘New Deal’ for Britain: Additional investment to level up Penzance and St Ives

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

Government to kickstart the economic recovery from coronavirus with £5 billion of infrastructure projects.

101 places to receive at least an additional £500,000 to spend on projects such as improvements to parks, high streets or transport links, including Penzance and St Ives

By Nilfanion

Newlyn has been 'unjustifiably overlooked' in Towns Fund discussions

Friday, 8 November, 2019

Photo by Nilfanion

Claiming that Newlyn has been ‘unjustifiably over-looked’, Derek Thomas has called on the Local Government Secretary to intervene so that the fishing port can potentially benefit from millions of pounds of investment.

Penzance

Penzance and St Ives selected to receive millions of Government Towns Fund!

Friday, 6 September, 2019

MP Derek Thomas says it is “truly excellent news” that West Cornwall could benefit from up £50 million of new Government funding.

The announcement follows persistent lobbying and dialogue between Mr Thomas and Government Ministers.

Derek School

Derek welcomes £14 billion cash boost for schools in West Cornwall 

Tuesday, 3 September, 2019

The Prime Minister has announced that we are boosting schools with a record £14 billion, levelling up per pupil funding across the country so every child in West Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has a world class education.

Thumbnail for Derek makes the case for modernisation with defence spending

Derek makes the case for modernisation with defence spending

Tuesday, 16 July, 2019

Today in Parliament I was glad to have the opportunity to take part in a Westminster Hall debate on defence spending secured by Anne-Marie Trevelyan MP. 

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Derek Thomas, MP for St Ives, West Cornwall and The Isles of Scilly

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