Caroline Dinenage, local MP for Gosport, has been championing small and medium sized businesses throughout the constituency all this week. On Tuesday Caroline accompanied the Minister for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk and officials from the Solent Local Enterprise Partnership on a tour of the Daedalus redevelopment site – currently being considered for Enterprise Zone status. The following day, Caroline once again put the region’s best foot forward by tabling a debate on Government Support for small and medium sized businesses in the South of England. Caroline has a long standing interest in encouraging business growth and has used her experience as a small business owner to raise the agenda of this important local and national issue in Parliament.
Speaking after the debate, Caroline said, ‘It’s been a really productive week both in the constituency and Westminster, with some great opportunities for our area to demonstrate its need for Government support. It was fantastic to be able to show the Minister the Daedalus project and all the potential it has to regenerate the business fortunes of Gosport. I’m also pleased I had a chance to raise my concerns with him in Westminster on Wednesday, highlighting the divide between support being diverted north and the lack of help for constituencies in the South. Parts of Gosport exhibit the same levels of deprivation as many other North East towns that have received support from Government and I am determined to ensure my constituents are not excluded from the funding they need simply because they happen to live in the South. Lord Hesseltine [chairman of the board selecting successful Regional Growth Fund Bids] has already said that the South East will find it harder to prove that its bids will address an over reliance on public sector jobs – with this recent debate I think we have proved that Gosport does indeed fall well into this category.’
Caroline will continue to work with Solent LEP to drive forward the interests of businesses in her constituency and is planning to host a Gosport business networking event in the House of Commons later this year.