I’M so glad to be back to some semblance of normality out and about in the constituency. This included meeting a delegation from the UK Hydrographic Office (UKHO), a facility responsible for generating most of the worlds shipping charts.

I am proud that when I first became the MP for Taunton Deane, I worked to ensure that the UKHO would remain in Taunton rather than being moved to Exeter. With almost 1000 people working at the UKHO, it remains a key employer in the constituency.

I was also pleased to visit the Maidenbrook Country Park and Somerset Wood at West Monkton which is a phenomenal asset to all the new housing developments in the area.

A £62,000 grant from Somerset County Council’s climate emergency fund has just enabled the creation of a Forest School and a lake which will be a wonderful additional habitat.

This week, the Chancellor met with Councillor David Fothergill, leader of Somerset County Council to discuss the significant economic benefits and opportunities for the new Somerset Unitary authority and to offer his support.

Still on an economic theme, on the jobs front, latest figures show that the unemployment rate fell by 0.4% clearly showing that our Plan for Jobs is working and helping to bring economic security to workers, and this is definitely playing out in Taunton Deane.

In other news, it has been a particularly busy fortnight in my ministerial capacity at DEFRA where I have launched several consultations. This includes a Biodiversity Net Gain consultation on proposals to help developments better protect wildlife by requiring every new development to put back 10% more nature than was there when they started.

Also, on Saturday, we published our response to the Glover Landscape Review and announced that a new charity is being formed as a single, strategic body for all National Trails (which includes the South West Coastal Path).

Rebecca Pow
MP for Taunton Deane