Mary Glindon

I welcome the positives in the Chancellor’s Budget, some of which include the freeze on fuel duty, increases in the minimum and national living wage and the small business rate relief threshold for retail, hospitality and leisure properties. There is also the fact that almost 56,000 households in my constituency will benefit from the £100 payment for properties in council tax bands A to D. However, I must advise the Chancellor that there will not be good growth in NE6 and NE28 postcodes unless Ministers pull every lever at their disposal to support industry on the Tyne. The overhead electric cables are a constraint on investment, as they prevent the movement of large structures used in the offshore energy sector. News that the project to underground the cables is now effectively paused will push the 2034 completion date even further into the future. International yards are already capitalising on our offshore wind leasing rounds. Fixed-bottom assets are increasing in size and investment in floating offshore wind, which will see integrated units towed to sea, is set to overtake fixed-bottom by the early 2030s. My constituency has the skills and infrastructure to sit at the forefront of the UK’s green future. It is home to a cluster of offshore supply chain firms and an expanding energy skills academy, and it is less than 100 nautical miles from the world’s largest offshore wind farm. Ofgem, National Grid and Ministers must act decisively, so that Tyneside can seize the opportunities that the green transition offers.