Health Services in Cornwall

Last week I returned to my weekly routine of spending Monday to Thursday in Westminster and Friday, Saturday and Sunday working for my constituents in Cornwall. I met with constituents to discuss support for local small businesses with the Federation Small Business and Cornwall Council transport to go through plans for our new train services and road improvements, including the A30. I enjoyed meeting voluntary community groups at the Perranporth Memorial Hall.

I also met with the Chief Executive of the RCHT to discuss the recent CQC report of an unannounced inspection of Treliske in January. One of my top priorities remains supporting our local NHS and care services. The Chief Executive told me that the full CQC inspection in July is an opportunity to demonstrate the action taken to improve and to provide the evidence that the trust’s care is safe and effective.

It’s important to note that urgent and emergency care services have improved their CQC ratings and shown their professionalism under pressure. Other parts of the report are very disappointing reading but the Chief Executive assured me that since the January CQC inspection, measurable improvement in areas such as emergency care, sepsis, mortality and stroke have been made.

The trust have just received the latest inpatient survey published by the CQC and seen good scores in important areas including, confidence in doctors and nurses, feeling safe and well looked after and treated with respect and dignity.

The very significant issue of delayed discharges remain and I have written to Cornwall Council to seek assurances that the considerable additional funding that they have been given for adult social care, £12 million alone this year, will be spent to tackle this issue. The delayed discharge of patients is not good for patients and leads to delays in planned surgery.

First published in the West Briton 19/06/17

General Election

It’s good to see that more people participated in last week’s General Election than in the recent past. More people registered to vote and the turnout for the General Election here is growing from 69.1% in 2010 to 70% in 2015 and 75.8% last week.

I am pleased that many more people are getting actively involved in our precious democracy too and am grateful to the enthusiastic team of local Conservative campaign volunteers. Despite the tactics deployed against me by an aggressive minority of keyboard bullies and poster defacers, whose intimidation seeks to undermine our democratic process, I am pleased that more people voted for me last week than the previous two General Elections. I am looking forward to continuing my work for all my constituents, irrespective of who they voted for. It is a great honour to be the local MP for this great constituency.

The General Election campaign, like the Referendum campaign, highlighted divisions across the UK. Gaps that need to be closed. From the many conversations or email exchanges I have had with local people, listening to their concerns, I know that there is more that unites us than divides us. I am confident that this community shares my passion and determination to face up to the challenges and opportunities we all face and build a stronger, fairer society that works for everyone.

While the Government does not have the majority it hoped for, it does have the ability and resolve to lead our nation through the Brexit negotiations that begin in a few days time. As I said on election night, I will be working hard to build bridges across the political divide, to find the common ground for the best Brexit and bring the country together with a shared vision of a united Britain.

First published in the West Briton 14/06/17

Upcoming Elections

I campaigned to remain part of the European Union but I completely respect the decision to leave. The time has now come to make Brexit a success. So, I welcome the Prime Minister’s decision to seek a personal mandate in a General Election to help her negotiate the best possible result for our Duchy and country.

We also have local elections on 4th May and it is important to elect a council that will work with the government to secure our economic future and our vital public services.  Cornwall Council, like the government, must spend public funds wisely.

I have always supported Cornwall’s culture, but the LibDem/Independent Cornwall Council is wrong to spend up to £536,000 over the next 2 years on a bid to be the European Union’s Capital of Culture in 2023.  It is a competition promoted by the European Commission as part of the process of ‘ever closer union’  in the EU. That is clearly not going to happen.

Last Friday, Cornwall Council’s Audit Committee were told that the legacy of over £300m of debt inherited from the LibDem led County Council (some of this debt will be around until 2069) means that the Council’s accounts are still under investigation by the National Audit Office. The auditors are seeking to establish if the debt was incurred so unreasonably as to be illegal.

With an increased borrowing requirement of £1 billion, the Council should not pretend that its debt is likely to go down over the next few years.  Nor should it think that spending £200,000 a year extra on PR experts will alter the facts.

It has been the greatest honour and privilege to serve as your MP for the last seven years. I hope with your support on 8th June to continue to do so.

First published in the West Briton 26/04/17.

Cornwall Councillor, Parish and Town Council Elections 4th May 2017

May has always been a special month for me, as towards the end of the month, I celebrate the anniversary of my marriage at St Budock Church. While its almost impossible to say when Cornwall looks at its best, weather depending, I think May might just achieve that accolade. Thanks to the great efforts of hundreds of local people both Falmouth and Penryn are looking good after the various ‘Spring Clean’ activities. I believe anyone living here is more aware than most of the natural environment, as a source of inspiration, wellbeing and employment.

Elections play a big part in my life and this May, like most years, brings elections. I am proud of one of our most important manifesto commitments: to work hard to ensure that we leave our natural environment in better shape than when we took office in 2010. Being custodians of the environment for our children and generations to come involves making difficult choices.

While each of us has a responsibility to think about the choices we make and their impact on our environment, elected representatives have particular responsibilities. So one of our important choices is deciding who to vote for in elections.

Balancing the need to grow more of our own food, generate more of our own energy and build more homes and work spaces for a growing local population while protecting our environment is challenging. Ensuring the necessary infrastructure investment is secured is essential too.

The planning system has been reformed by the Government to enable smarter and more local decisions to made about how we use our land and work with our natural environment. Through the Local Plan, people have been enabled to have more control over shaping communities. The LibDems lead Cornwall Council with ‘Independents’ and they have developed a Local Plan that is currently operating.

The next Council, that will be elected this month, will have the vitally important job of evaluating the Local Plan and updating it. Making sure it is delivering for local communities, particularly genuinely affordable homes for local people. The evolution of the Local Plan should take account of the aspirations of the local community as reflected in the Neighbourhood Plans being developed in both Falmouth and Penryn.

With such important opportunities to shape our communities, protect and enhance our precious natural environment and also support the local economy, we need to elect councillors who have the motivation, skills and ability to make the best decisions for Falmouth and Penryn.

Cornwall faces many challenges and significant opportunities. We will soon be marking the anniversary of the date the majority of people in our country decided our future lay outside the European Union. Whatever our feelings about that milestone in our history, I am confident that we can make a success of what lies ahead. We are a strong country with great values including, freedom, tolerance, compassion, respect for the rule of law and characteristics such as creativity and enterprise; all have served us well and I believe will for centuries to come.

We are leaving the EU not Europe and I am determined to ensure we remain an outward facing global nation with excellent relationships with our neighbours and allies across Europe.

Right now, I believe Cornwall needs all its elected representatives looking confidently to the future, not lamenting the decision to leave the EU. People with a positive attitude to work constructively with the Government, united in a shared ambition to get the best possible outcome for our Duchy and our country. It’s really important that you vote not only for the person that you think will be a strong local champion for the immediate area where you live but also someone who is part of a team of people from across Cornwall who have a positive, shared vision for the common good. People who are able to deliver the changes we need to see in Cornwall, particularly working more effectively in partnership to tackle the challenges facing our local NHS.

As a result of devolution of power from Westminster to Cornwall Council, these local elections really matter to you so please do vote. I want to see a double devolution of power from Cornwall Councillors to local councillors so please make sure you vote in both elections. The next few years will shape the destiny of our Duchy and country for years to come, your vote really does count and will make a real difference.

Government’s Commitment to Honouring Cornwall’s Funding

I thoroughly enjoyed a spectacular Easter Sunday with my family. Cooking delicious locally produced food was a welcome break from a very busy week meeting lots of local people and local businesses, urging them to make use of the significant levels of EU support for growth.

The Government is honouring its commitments and delivering the EU funding that Cornwall would have received if the country had voted to remain.

Local businesses can access this funding and other sources of support to help them flourish, grow jobs and boost the Cornish economy.

EU funding programmes are open for applications and tens of millions of pounds has already been allocated.

The Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme is the European economic regeneration programme for the region.

Running until 2020, it is helping to deliver smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.

So far it has committed £170million European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funding, with £103million unallocated and available.

Further funding will be made available to support businesses later this year, as well as funding for community-led local development programmes using European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD).

New figures show that more than 20,000 people in Cornwall are in work since 2010. This is good news for them and the Cornish economy but more needs to be done to improve access to skills training and increase wages.

There is a significant skills gap in the workforce in Cornwall and the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Hub is the one stop location for all advice and information for businesses in Cornwall, including information on access to skills training.

There is great employment support for people with a wide range of abilities and ages. Don’t forget that there is no upper age limit on apprenticeships. Please contact me for information about employment support opportunities.

Stadium for Cornwall

Last week’s front page headline “Council bail-out to save stadium?” poses an important question. It is good news that Truro City Football Club and the Pirates want to work together and share one stadium. Many of us have been pushing for this for some time. Truro & Penwith College’s loyal support is commendable too.

I believe a Stadium for Cornwall could be a real boost not only for these two sports but for others too.

The questions are where it should be located and how to pay for it. Developers asserted that the new facilities could be paid for from some of the profits made from building and selling homes and retail businesses. However supermarkets and other out of town retailers are pulling back their investments so this is not a viable option.

In less than a month, on 4th May the people of Cornwall will elect their parish and Cornwall councillors. It is vital that you vote for representatives who you believe will not only be an effective local champion but also a member of a party or group with a shared plan for delivering your priorities for Cornwall.

I believe that the new Cornwall councillors should consider the new scheme for delivering a Stadium for Cornwall alongside all the priorities they were elected to deliver. Consideration of this new scheme should not be hurried and made solely by officers of the Council and a few Cabinet Members without the proper scrutiny of all of Cornwall’s councillors.

A scheme of such significance needs to be considered openly and thoroughly, not only by the Cornwall councillors but with the residents of Cornwall too.

All of Cornwall’s MPs have offered support to enable a Stadium for Cornwall. We stand ready to work with the new Cornwall Council to deliver it.

First published in the West Briton 12/04/17

NHS Investment in Cornwall

It’s really important to me that mental and physical illnesses are treated equally. So I am delighted that after years of hard work the Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has secured the funding for a new child and adolescent mental health unit that will be built in Cornwall following an announcement made by NHS England last week.

This news means that for the first time, children and young people in Cornwall will have access to specialist mental health beds in county. The new 12 bed unit will accommodate young people up to the age of 18. Previously children from Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had to travel out of county for this kind of service. The ability to regularly see family and friends while in hospital is a key element in people’s recovery, and especially in the case of children.

The Trust will build the new unit on land adjacent to Bodmin Hospital where it will benefit from close links to the Trust’s other specialist mental and physical health services. It is hoped that building work will begin in Spring 2018.

I am also delighted that NHS England is funding new mental health facilities for local mums suffering post natal mental illness. While the location has yet to be decided, it will be much closer to home than current specialist services.  This builds on the new service introduced into Cornwall in 2013, following the campaigning and support of the Angela Harrison Foundation.

NHS England has also offered RCHT funding for a fully-staffed team operating 24/7 in hospital, offering a one-hour response to emergency mental health referrals in A&E.

Ensuring all young people have good mental health is important.  I am determined that all parents and schools have good links to advice and services.