Ben Bradley, member of Parliament for Mansfield and Warsop, has recently been meeting with the Chancellor and other senior officials in the government in order to raise Mansfield’s priorities with the government. These meetings include meeting the Prime Minister’s policy team inside Number 10 Downing Street to discuss towns and town centre regeneration on the 12th September and a meeting with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, in Parliament on the 13th September.
During the meeting in Downing Street, Ben discussed with the Prime Minister’s policy team his priorities for the regeneration of Mansfield town centre. This focussed on ensuring that the money and projects promised were delivered in a timely manner so that Ben’s constituents in Mansfield can see the benefits and the town centre can be regenerated. Ben highlighted the ongoing projects in Mansfield, such as the redevelopment of the old Beales building and the regeneration of Stockwell Gate and pressed home to the Prime Minister’s policy team the importance of removing barriers so that these projects can be delivered in a timely manner.
Ben’s meeting with the Chancellor took place with other colleagues from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire in order to discuss the coming Autumn Statement. During the meeting, Ben utilised his unique position as both Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council and Member of Parliament for Mansfield and Warsop to raise the concerns of the council and how these affected his constituents in Mansfield and Warsop. In particular, Ben raised the issue of Nottinghamshire’s highways and how, despite significantly increasing investment and reforming how Nottinghamshire’s highways have been managed, there is still a gap in the funding that is needed to properly maintain Nottinghamshire’s roads. Ben pushed the Chancellor hard on this and expressed his wish to see announcement on this in the upcoming Autumn Statement.
Commenting, Ben Bradley stated:
‘When I came back to Parliament last week I stated that one of my key priorities this autumn and winter was to bring the concerns people had told me about during meetings over the Summer Recess directly to those key players in government. This week I have been doing exactly that through meetings with the Prime Minister’s policy team in Downing Street and meeting the Chancellor with other colleagues from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.’
‘During my roundtable with the Prime Minister’s policy team I made sure to highlight how important delivering on our promises is, be that on towns and town centre regeneration, illegal immigration, the economy or any other subject. I also highlighted the local projects that we have going on to rejuvenate Mansfield town centre such as the Beales redevelopment and the regeneration of Stockwell Gate. It is vitally important to Mansfield that these projects are delivered properly and in a timely manner and I made clear that government should remove the barriers often faced by councils when delivering these projects.’
‘I was also lucky enough to have a meeting with the Chancellor alongside other colleagues from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. In this meeting I highlighted one of the biggest issues that constituents spoke to me about during the summer recess, namely the state of Nottinghamshire’s highways. Our counties roads are a £10 billion asset and if the council was a business it would be spending well over £100 million a year on maintaining each year, but our Budget is just a fifth of that. While we have significantly increased the funding available to our highways team and fundamentally reformed how we maintain our roads, I know that residents still want us to do more. That is why in my meeting today I pushed the Chancellor to deliver more funding for local authorities like Nottinghamshire County Council so that we can spend this money on improving our roads, which I know is one of people’s top priorities.’
‘I would like to thank the Downing Street staff and the Chancellor for allowing me to meet with them and I would like constituents to know that I will continue to raise the issues that matter the most to you with key figures in government.’
