After 3 solid days of constituency appointments following the house rising (See my write-up here) it was off to America to take part in a 10 day Parliamentary exchange trip with colleagues from both the Tory and Labour party (Guto Bebb, Julian Smith, Luciana Berger, Lilian Greenwood and John Healey). The trip was organised by the British American Parliamentary Group and the American State Department and gave us an opportunity to learn more about the American political system and how it worked. We had meetings with politicians and officials as well as lectures and briefings from academics and experts in a wide range of fields. We were also each allocated to a congressman or woman and attended meetings with them and travelled to their congressional districts to see politics at the grassroots level. It was a fascinating trip, with a great collection of colleagues, and many important lessons and facts to take away. A few of the top takeaways for me were: The Congressional Budget Office: The CBO was setup in 1974 and provides cost estimates for bills and policy changes, but rather than working solely for the executive a third of its resources are allocated to work with Congress. Rather like the Office for Budget Responsibility hey also carry out economic forecasting but do so for Congress and in response to changes proposed from there not just by the executive. I think something similar here in the UK would greatly help the work of Select Committees in scrutinising departmental plans and policies. Gridlock: Speaking to politicians and officials the one thing they all complained about was the gridlock caused by their Senate. When I told them there was a suggestion that we should abolish our House of Lords in favour of an elected Senate many people thought I was joking! As readers probably know I was strongly opposed to the introduction of an elected house of Lords and particularly concerned about the danger of it introducing gridlock into our system. Hearing directly from politicians and those within the system, just how the US system works, or rather doesn't, my views have only been strengthened. Importance of a flexible jobs market: For some time I have been arguing for the need for a more flexible labour market here in the UK. The US labour market may seem brutal at first glance, but notice periods as short as 2 weeks go both ways. When YouGov shared an office with Facebook ,who had deeper pockets and no qualms about poaching programmers, I learnt it's just as hard for employers as employees. What that flexibility does though is give employers the confidence to expand and take on staff even in difficult economic circumstances, as they know they'll be able to downsize if things don't go according to plan. The US appears to be recovering faster than the UK and I strongly believe that their more flexible labour market has something to do with that. Olympics and Paralympics From the first minutes of the opening ceremony to the last firework of the closing ceremony the olympics were fantastic. Team GB showed just what can be achieved by hard work, graft and commitment and Paralympics GB are proving exactly the same thing as medals rack up and records tumble. The games were and still are a fantastic showcase for our country, everyone involved from the Games Makers, to the armed forces and Police through to the athletes themselves were ambassadors for the UK and we couldn't have asked for them to do a better job. Growth Figures & Employment August meant it was time for another quarter's GDP figures which continued to show the challenges we are facing. As I told Eddie Mair when I appeared on Radio 4's PM programme, no one ever said that our rescue mission on the British economy would be easy. Britain is dealing with some very deep-rooted problems at home and a very serious debt crisis abroad, and that is why the healing of the economy is proving to be a slow and difficult process. Compared to two years ago the deficit is down by a quarter and importantly for hard working families inflation is down. There's still a long way to go but the Government will continue to give its undivided attention to the economy. August also saw the latest employment figures which were extremely promising. Since the election more than 600,000 have found work and the private sector is working hard to create jobs. 906,000 new jobs have been created since the general election, the vast majority of which are full-time and permanent. This is fantastic news and shows that the business men and women of this country are rolling up their sleeves and taking on new staff even in the face of continued economic uncertainty in Europe. Here in Stratford we continue to see improvements in employment figures, with the number of unemployed claimants in Stratford-on-Avon falling to 713 in July, 63 lower than in July last year and 12 lower than June. Immigration The release of statistics continued in August with net migration figures showing that our policies on immigration (such as the none EU cap, stricter visa controls for family members and students and english language testing) are beginning to take hold. The figures showed an overall fall in net migration and that the number of visas issued is at its lowest since 2005. But what's also encouraging is that the data shows that despite reducing overall numbers we are continuing to attract the brightest and best to our universities and businesses. In the Constituency Recess is a great time to spend some time in the constituency and to catch-up with case-work. People's issues and problems don't take a holiday, and over the summer I've continued to deal with issues for constituents from slow moving bureaucrats at the UK Borders Agency through complaints about parking, schools admissions and through to continued concerns over the upcoming Secretary of State's decision on Shottery. I've also been particularly concerned by the lack of information and advanced consultation on the possible closure of Redditch's Alexandra hospital. Although it's outside of my constituency it is a vital resource for residents of Studley and Alcester and I'm extremely concerned that NHS Worcestershire may not be taking into account the views and needs of Warwickshire because of an arbitrary PCT boundary. I have requested a meeting with the Chief executive of the trust to discuss their consultation and proposals and will be ensuring that the concerns of my constituents are taken on board. Footpaths Some time ago I was contacted by Colin and Sue Ray who were concerned about a footpath that went through their property. Unfortunately the law at the time meant nothing could be done about it but there is now a consultation at DEFRA on this subject that they are urging anyone affected by an intrusive footpath to respond to. They've also launched a campaign group at http://www.intrusivefootpaths.org.uk/ which is fighting for the rights of people who have public footpaths running through their properties. If you're affected by an intrusive right of way through your property do have a look.