After an action-packed recess spent meeting local businesses, charities and residents in North Swindon, this week I joined other MPs as we returned back to Parliament.
My role as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ed Vaizey, the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries has kept me busy on my return. As PPS, I have an active role in working alongside the Minister on issues that fall under his portfolio. These include creative industries, broadband, telecoms, libraries, the arts and the media.
It was for this reason that on Wednesday I was asked to be the keynote speaker at the Parent Zone's Digital Families Conference at Microsoft’s Headquarters. Parent Zone works alongside all of the Internet Service Providers, as well as Google and other online companies, to ensure the safety of children online, whilst looking at how we can equip both parents and young people with the abilities to properly protect children when using the internet. I was happy to give an overview of the Government’s progress in developing policies around internet awareness - an issue that is hugely important in the digital age that we live in.
It is important to acknowledge that the World Wide Web has been a fantastic global phenomenon (proudly created by an Englishman) which has transformed our daily lives and allowed businesses to grow and develop. Decent broadband access has now become a right for every household - I have continued to campaign for this in North Swindon and was delighted when Swindon Borough Council secured increased funding for the roll out of fibre broadband.
But the internet can present many dangers, especially to children, who are getting access online at increasingly younger ages. And now, with internet access being provided on most mobile phones, parents are finding it harder and harder to police their children's activities on online. That’s why I was proud to support the Parent Zone and work with them as they talk to parents about online risk and share effective ways to ensure that they know how to keep their children safer. Ultimately I believe that with the collective work of government, charity, education and industry; we can help keep young people safe online.
Elsewhere, I was delighted to see yesterday the new unemployment data for North Swindon which shows a staggering fall of 51.7% since May 2010. This means that there are 707 more people in North Swindon in work since September 2013, and 98 more since August 2014. Similarly youth unemployment has fallen by a total of 49.1%. This is fantastic news and I am proud that the Government is backing small businesses and enterprise with lower jobs taxes and better infrastructure, while reforming welfare so work always pays.
