Lytham St Annes High School will be among the first in the country to get the benefit of the Government’s new £1 billion fund to renew school premises.

Headteacher Ray Baker put forward an ambitious building project to replace 70 per cent of the classrooms at the school, and I was pleased to support that bid by making representations to the Secretary of State for Education.

The school has just had a new £8 million technology block built – this further work will ensure students are in state-of-the-art premises for years and years to come.

This week the first meeting of the South Fylde Line major partners took place as we look at the best way of doubling services on the line.

This follows my successful bid to the Government for Restoring Your Railway funding. We have an initial £50,000 to put together the Strategic Outline Business Case and I am delighted to see all of the partners, including Lancashire County and Fylde Councils, Network Rail, Northern Rail and Community Rail Lancashire all single-minded and determined to get this line back into proper use.

I was sad to hear of the death of Arnold Sumner. Arnold was for many years the leader of St Annes Chamber of Trade, was a business owner in the town, property owner and one of the first parish councillors elected to St Annes Town Council. He was a great champion for St Annes and he will be sadly missed.

I also met with Cancer Research UK to discuss the impact of Covid-19 on services and research. Cancer and the impact of cancer have not stopped because of the pandemic. We need to work together to make sure those living with and affected by cancer get the treatment they need.

The take-up of the Covid-19 vaccine in Fylde and across the country has been fantastic. More than one in four adults have now been vaccinated. If you are aged over 70 in Fylde, please contact your GP, call 119 or visit https://www.nhs.uk/ to book a vaccination.