THE Online Safety Bill was debated just over a week ago in Parliament, and I was one of 37 MPs to sign and support an amendment to this Bill. This amendment proposes to give Ofcom the power to prosecute individual executives from tech companies if they were proven to have ‘connived or consented to breaking the elements of the Bill designed to protect children’s safety’. It would also give power to judges to send such individuals to prison for up to two years.

On Tuesday two weeks ago, I was very pleased to welcome Sherborne School for Girls to visit Westminster. It was great to meet the students and discuss the issues that matter most, as well as the world of politics in general right at the heart of our Parliamentary democracy.
Back in West Dorset, I met South Western Railway at Dorchester South Station to urge it to go even further with its plans to refurbish the station by demolishing the derelict parcel building and finally resolving properly the disabled access issues which I have at every opportunity outlined in the House of Commons. I wrote to the Transport Minister shortly after this to urge him to support a vital ‘Access for All’ bid to install a new lift at the station which I know would make a huge difference to so many.

Last Friday, 20 January, it was great to speak to so many from in and around Thorncombe at a parish surgery at the village hall and, the next morning, warming up with tea and coffee at Bradford Abbas to discuss another wide range of issues with local people there.
I have been a strong voice in Westminster over the past several months arguing for fair treatment of the many people, particularly in rural areas, reliant on oil tanks for heating in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Last week, the Government set out more detail on which households will be eligible to receive £200 of support under its Alternative Fuel Payments (AFP) scheme, with most eligible households due to receive the payment automatically from 6 February. Most households will not need to take any action to receive the support. A small proportion of households will need to apply for the AFP if, for example, they do not have a relationship with an electricity supplier. More information on the AFP is available on the Gov.uk website.

Considerable concern has been expressed to me in recent weeks over the future of apprenticeship schemes at Kingston Maurward College. I share these concerns both locally and of land-based college programmes across the UK. I spoke out about this on Tuesday during a Westminster Hall debate in the House of Commons. At a time when food security and food sustainability needs to be encouraged however we possibly can, I believe it is imperative that land-based apprenticeship programmes are afforded priority of resources to properly empower young people to take up fulfilling careers in farming.