Jason would like to wish all his family, friends and constituents across the Holme and Colne valleys, Golcar and Lindley a very happy New Year as we look forward to a positive and successful 2024!
A big thank you for my fab team who have helped thousands of local people with a huge range of issues over the past 12 months.
Here’s a quick A to Z look back at 2023 and look ahead to 2024:
A for A&E unit as the swanky new £15 million Accident and Emergency unit at HRI opens in the New Year.
B for Brockholes. Brockholes railway station, along with Honley, will benefit from a £48 million Levelling Up fund grant for improvements to the Penistone Line.
C for Childcare. Free childcare will be available for 2 year old children of working parents from April.
D for Development. Labour run Kirklees’ Local Plan keeps seeing the wrong kind of houses being built in the wrong places.
E for Environment. I love volunteering with and supporting local community groups litter picking and tree planting.
F for Friend to Friend community group providing companionship and activities for local older people.
G for Golcar United. I’m a season ticket holder and love the community spirit at the club with youngsters and a women’s team. Up the Village.
H for Health Innovation Campus at the University of Huddersfield which is getting lots of Government support.
I for Inflation which has been halved. A year ago it was 11.1%, now it’s just 3.9%.
J for Jobs. Congratulations to our fantastic local businesses who are expanding, exporting and creating quality local jobs for local people.
K for Kirklees. The shambolic Labour-run Kirklees Council’s poor financial management brought them to the brink of bankruptcy and are now hiking up car parking, permit and allotment charges.
L for Levelling Up. Over £64 million of Government investment to help regenerate Marsden Mills, the Penistone railway line and Huddersfield Market.
M for Milnsbridge including the Village Hall community group which is a focal point for community activities.
N for National Insurance cut of 2% in January, meaning £450 for 27 million people.
O for Officers. An additional 974 Police Officer in West Yorkshire to help tackle crime and anti social behaviour.
P for Pensions. State pensions are going up by 8.7% in April.
Q for Q&A. I’ve enjoyed holding a wide range of Q&A sessions at the WI, Probus clubs, schools, colleges and community groups.
R for Remembrance. I marked Remembrance Sunday with the Royal British Legion in Golcar, followed by a veterans lunch in Lindley.
S for Section 106. Shambolic Labour-run Kirklees need to start paying out the developer cash they’ve banked to help fund schools, roads and local infrastructure.
T for Tours of Parliament. I’ve hosted dozens of local people on tours of the Palace of Westminster in 2023. Please email me if you’d like a tour in 2024.
U for Upgrade. The £11 billion Transpennine Rail Upgrade is well underway, with huge improvements at Huddersfield, Slawit and Marsden stations - including step free access.
V for Veterans. As an RAF veteran, I’m proud to be Honarary President of Huddersfield RAFA, who help and support local veterans and their families.
W for Wages. The National Living Wage is going up to £11.44 from April which will mean in a pay rise for 2 million working people.
X for Stopping illegal small boat crossings, which are down by a third compared to last year.
Y for Young People, who can look forward to better opportunities thanks to Greenhead, Kirklees and New Colleges as well as many quality apprenticeships.
Z for Zero. The UK has cut carbon emissions faster than any other G7 country as we transition to Net Zero by 2050.
