Steve Gilbert MP

Dear Sir,

I was born and bred in St Austell and I'm proud to call the area my home.

The town and its surrounding area offer something unique to Cornwall: the world famous Eden Project, beautiful coastal settlements like Fowey and Mevagissey, the most stunning countryside I've ever seen and a tradition of clay mining, fishing and farming that helps defines Cornwall's culture and heritage.

Stephen Gilbert MP has welcomed the launch of the Coalition Government's Coastal Communities fund which will help tackle some of the unique problems faced by rural, coastal communities such as those in Stephen's constituency.

Commenting on the launch of the fund, Stephen said:

"We all know that Cornwall and other coastal communities face very different challenges to the inner cities and countryside of the rest of the country and I welcome the Government's commitment to support these beautiful parts of the UK now and in the future so they can benefit from business, tourism and economic growth.

New figures reveal that in Cornwall, 5,050 people benefitted from an apprenticeship last year, an increase of 36% from 2010.

The figures have been released by the Coalition Government during National Apprenticeships Week. The promotion is seeking to build on last year's success with events in schools and businesses.

Stephen Gilbert, Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for mid-Cornwall, has declared that he will fight for local businesses in Westminster following his survey of over 2,000 companies in his constituency.

Over 60% of local business owners reported that spending was down with 40% saying that they need the banks to start lending again and for the cost of car parking to come down.

The Liberal Democrat MP for mid-Cornwall, Stephen Gilbert, has backed moves to take 3 million low paid workers out of income tax altogether and put £60 back into the pockets of hardworking people every month.

The campaign is based on the Liberal Democrat's election pledge to raise the threshold at which you start paying income tax to £10,000, the party is now calling on their Conservative coalition colleagues to back them and to move faster in bringing the tax cut forward in this year's budget.

Young people in St Austell and Newquay given the Chance to be Chancellor and share their opinions on the Youth Budget 2012.

Local MP Stephen Gilbert is supporting the launch of Chance to be Chancellor 2012 and is calling on schools and young people in St Austell and Newquay to take up in the challenge to learn about, and share their opinions on, Budget 2012.

MP Stephen Gilbert has welcomed government funding which will give Cornwall Council over £5million pounds over the next two years from the New Homes Bonus, a multi-billion pound programme which rewards communities for accepting more house building in their areas. It includes an extra reward for building new, affordable homes and for getting long-term empty homes back into use.

Stephen Gilbert, the Member of Parliament for St Austell & Newquay, went back to school this week to visit pupils from his former secondary school, Fowey Community College, to answer their questions after a recent visit to Westminster.

Stephen Gilbert, who was a pupil at Fowey from 1988 to 1993, met with the schools "Amber Club" to discuss what they had thought about a recent trip to London to visit the Houses of Parliament.

St Austell & Newquay MP Stephen Gilbert has called for more action to help homeless people in Cornwall today when closing the "Friends of St Austell Homeless" conference at St Augustine's Church in St Austell.

The local MP, who is also Chair of Parliament's All Party Housing Group, said:

"The test of a decent society is how it treats the most vulnerable people within it. Homelessness can and does affect people from all walks of life and we are all just a few steps away from finding ourselves with no option but sleeping on the street through no fault of our own. The loss of a job, the end of a relationship and domestic violence are all key causes of homelessness and rough sleeping."

St Austell & Newquay MP, Steve Gilbert, is taking part in the second annual Parliamentary live music competition, Rock the House, and invites under-18s, solo artists, bands and live music venues in the St Austell & Newquay constituency to write and nominate themselves.

The competition was founded in support of the UK live music sector to raise the profile of intellectual property rights issues and counts rock legends Alice Cooper and Deep Purple's Ian Gillan as Patrons.