THIS week I will be visiting the Alexandra Hospital to see trust managers for an update meeting.

I will be seeking information about the number of operations the trust has undertaken, its recruitment of new nurses and doctors, its plans to manage accident and emergency waiting times and improvements in cleanliness.

I will also be looking at plans to upgrade the fracture and ENT clinics at the hospital.

When I was first elected in 1997, the first issue that faced me was the potential running down of the Alex and the closure of the A&E.

Now the future of the hospital is secure and, in fact, has more services.

Some people want to undermine the NHS. I support it and I use it.

But there is more to be done and I will continue pushing local managers and the Government to get the best deal for Redditch.

Recently I visited Hymatic Engineering and was shown around its Church Hill factory.

The company employs 250 highly skilled, highly trained staff, many of whom are graduates.

This week, there was good news because of a new Government order that will create and sustain jobs at the plant for up to 10 years.

It is a credit to a company which competes with cutting-edge technological skills, training and investment.

Britian's industrial future lies with a highly skilled workforce.

That is why our investment in better education is so important and why the Labour Government is so ambitious for greater participation in higher education.

New arrangements for student contributions, announced last week, abolish up-front fees and encourage more students from poorer backgrounds to go to university.

That's good for students and good for Britain.