As we enter the summer holidays and Parliament goes into recess, we take this time to look back over the Fellowship activities that have taken place during July. Whilst we have seen a slight decline in engagements compared to other months, July has still been a successful month, with a mixture of both visits and briefings, online and in person.

We began on Wednesday 9 July with Baroness Berridge meeting with the Drinking Water Inspectorate, as part of her IPT Fellowship about the Water Sector. Through this meeting she got to discuss their role and the work they do as well as learning about their importance to ensure the safety of UK water.

On Thursday 10 July, Chris Webb MP continued his Fellowship with a briefing from the Food and Drink Federation (FDF), which represents UK food and drink manufacturers. FDF’s focus on skills, workforce development, and food standards supports jobs across the supply chain, vital for hospitality and tourism in Blackpool. Later in the day, Max Wilkinson MP met with one of Viasat’s key cyber security experts, who is based in America. During the meeting they discussed the importance of cyber security and the work that Viasat do to ensure that. They delved into what the future might hold with all the changes taking place and the possible increase in threats as technology continues to progress.

The next day, Mike Reader MP visited the Great Billing Water Recycling Centre in Northampton with Anglian Water. The visit included a guided tour of Anglian Water’s advanced treatment site, showcasing how sludge is broken down through advanced digestion and how final effluent is filtered and treated with UV. The session concluded with a discussion on environmental priorities, local concerns, and Anglian Water’s plans for the future.

Then, on Friday 18 July, Baroness Smith began her Fellowship with a visit to the Crown Estate in Cardiff. Discussions focused on how the Crown Estate operates in Wales and explored the potential for devolution, similar to the model in Scotland, and what that could mean for local control over land and marine assets.

On Wednesday 23 July, Baroness Sater met with EDF Energy to discuss their work on Corporate Social Responsibility and Employee Volunteering campaigns and projects that they have. As a large employer she was keen to learn about what they are doing to ensure these schemes are taken up and how they are promoted so others can do the same. They also explored the effect these schemes have on employee satisfaction and the effect it can have on the local community.

Damian Egan MP continues his IPT Fellowship focusing on the Defence Sector with a visit to NATS at one of their sites in Swanwick, Hampshire on Thursday 24 July. This visit highlighted how civil and military aviation interacts with each other and the important role air traffic control (ATC) plays. It began with a discussion around the wider work of NATS, the role they play and their importance to the UK economy. 78 Squadron, who are based at the site, gave Damien an overview of ATC in military terms and the work that they do as controllers within the military at the site. Damien then got to meet with controllers speaking to pilots within the airspace over Bristol. He then got to hear from the trainers about how people learn the skills required, but also about the challenges they are facing in recruitment. Airspace modernisation was also discussed during the visit and how that can help the sector achieve Net Zero goals but also improve efficiency as well.

On Monday 28 July, Perran Moon MP began his Fellowship with a visit to the University of Plymouth, in partnership with The Crown Estate, where he toured the COAST Lab – the UK’s first facility for testing floating offshore wind turbines – and the cutting-edge Marine Navigation Centre, which simulates real-world maritime environments. The visit showcased the South West’s leadership in floating offshore wind following the announcement of the Offshore Wind Leasing Round 5 auction conclusion. Discussions focused on innovation, research, and the commercial potential of the sector, including a visit to the University’s Marine Station to explore how advances in marine autonomy are helping to de-risk and accelerate the deployment of floating wind in the Celtic Sea.

We would like to thank the parliamentarians taking part in IPT Fellowships and all the organisations who made these visits possible. We look forward to continuing our engagement with parliamentarians on Fellowship programmes, furthering their understanding of business.