Last Friday, I spent my day at the 8th Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair. This is an event which I have been proudly involved in since 2016. The aim of the first Jobs Fair was to put Bexhill on the map as town ready for growth. We knew that Bexhill and the surrounding area had a vast range of businesses and industries, some global. We wanted to showcase these local businesses and help them connect with our talented young people who are starting out on their careers. The involvement of Bexhill College on the Jobs Fair steering group and as a key sponsor has been critical to the Fair’s success.
Last week, Ofsted published their latest report on Bexhill College, it was graded ‘Outstanding’. This is a fantastic achievement and reflects the hard-work and dedication of the college staff. It also demonstrates the ability of Principal, Karen Hucker, and her senior leadership team to take every opportunity to expand the college’s offer to students. The new T-levels block, which I visited last year, has been transformational in creating new career-led qualifications for young people. This provision is set to expand further. Ofsted also stated “the staff provide students with plentiful opportunities to broaden their wider skills and knowledge which prepares them well for life in modern Britain.” This is certainly the case, the College is well connected with the local business community which helps to broaden students experience of the workplace and careers.
The Jobs Fair saw hundreds through the door, it was busy from the start. We had 55 exhibitors from a wide range of industries and training providers, plus zone. A big thank you to the team at the De La Warr Pavilion for their hard work in organising the truly dynamic event. Feedback from exhibitors and job seekers was incredibly positive. Also, thanks to all our sponsors, it would not be possible to run such a successful event without them.
The Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair is fantastic for the town and the surrounding area. Bexhill College’s Outstanding Ofsted grading is also really good news for our area. But one issue I am still working hard on is raising the standard of our local bathing waters which are currently graded as ‘Sufficient’. I want to achieve ‘Outstanding’ for this too.
Earlier this month I met with Southern Water and the Environment Agency, alongside my colleague, Sally-Ann Hart, MP for Hastings and Rye, to continue our important discussions on sewage pollution. During the meeting, I asked them about their plans to improve the water quality testing along Bexhill beach. Southern Water provided an update on their continued shadow testing regime which has testing points along the coastline and inland. This regime is allowing the company to not only monitor water quality but to highlight key areas that are causing a spike in the water being polluted.
A number of these high pollutant areas are caused by illegal connections. Investigations have found several residential and commercial properties illegally connected to surface water drains rather than the mains sewerage system causing water pollution. Often this has happened without the property owner knowing. When Southern Water find these illegal connections, they work together with the property owner to resolve and correct the connection.
We also discussed Pollution Risk Forecasts (PRFs) and the alerts that many of you receive from Surfers Against Sewage. I am keen for there to be a change in the language used in the PRFs, as it does not make clear enough that there may be a Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) release, whereas at the moment it is being interpreted that there has been. Majority of the times these releases are not sewage, they tend to be road run off or run off from agricultural land.
Related to this, I am pleased that Southern Water and the Environment Agency are looking at the potential to install digital information signage along the beach allowing real-time information on the quality of the bathing water. Residents and visitors will know for certain that the sea is safe when visiting our beaches. This is a scheme that I am keen to see followed through.
Southern Water have a ‘Pathfinder’ scheme which is an integral part of the company’s investment plan to remove surface water from the mains sewerage system, as a preventative measure to stop the overloading of CSOs. An early Pathfinder project on the Isle of Wight has resulted in a 70% reduction of CSO releases. This is achieved by slowing down the volume of water entering the mains sewerage system during times of heavy rain using water butts and Sustainable Urban Drainage Schemes (SuDS). I am keen to see a Pathfinder project rolled out in the Bexhill and Battle constituency as soon as possible.
