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GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 137. If you’ve been forwarded this email and find it useful sign up to get your personal copy here. ([link removed]) You can of course unsubscribe at any time.

PANDEMIC LATEST As of today, we had a total of 4,470,297 positive cases of COVID-19 with 127,748 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 5,884 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 246 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 60 active cases in Waverley – a sharp increase. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning. Most worrying is that the Indian variant is now present in the majority of local authority areas and has now become the dominant strain in the UK.

VACCINE UPDATE My Monday newsletter explored the idea of inoculating over-12s and as a follow-up, I asked the Vaccine Minister, Nadhim Zahawi whether it is time to follow the US and vaccinate children ([link removed]) as although children don’t tend to get bad symptoms, they can spread the virus. I received a flood of correspondence on this and to be clear (not that it needs to be said) I would only support vaccinating children if it was approved as clinically safe to do so as with the other vaccines we give to children now. Nor would I ever support making vaccines compulsory, something that is anyway against the law in the UK. But yes, I do believe unashamedly that vaccines are the way to save lives and keep us all safe from this and future pandemics. In other vaccine news, as of yesterday, people aged 30+ can get vaccinated ([link removed]) which is fantastic.

CUMMINGS COMMITTEE Yesterday my Health and Social Care Select Committee questioned the former Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, Dominic Cummings as part of our joint COVID-19 Lessons Learnt inquiry with the Science and Technology Committee. It was a mammoth 7-hour session which, if you are a glutton for punishment, you can watch here ([link removed]) . Mr Cummings shed light on a number of the debates we have been having on issues like herd immunity, speed of the lockdowns, and the tensions between economic and health priorities - all of which will help my committee in our report as to the main lessons that need to be learned. He also made some bombshell allegations, but it is important to note that until he provides evidence for them (as he promised) they should be regarded as unproven. Matt Hancock will be coming before the committee for his right of reply in a fortnight.

CELL MEMORY New research demonstrates that immunity to coronavirus lasts at least a year after infection, perhaps even a lifetime. Predictably, protection improves when coupled with vaccination. More information on the two studies here ([link removed]) . In more good news, recent ONS data ([link removed]) shows that antibody levels continue to increase across the country with around 3 in 4 people in England testing positive for antibodies against COVID-19 because of vaccination or prior infection. The number of people with the disease has started to tick up but from a low base of just one in a thousand.

The key number to remember for anyone with pandemic-related difficulties remains 0300 200 1008 the Surrey Helpline run by Surrey County Council (Mon-Fri 9 am to 5 pm).

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

SUICIDE & SELF-HARM There has been a lot of talk about the cancer backlog following the pandemic, but less about a massive spike in demand - and waiting times - for mental health services. This should concern us all as around one in six of us have a mental health condition at any one time - as the Deputy CEO of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery told the Health and Social Care Committee ([link removed]) on Tuesday. We also heard from Steve Mallen who lost his son Edward to suicide in 2015 and has become the country's most formidable campaigner on suicide prevention. Listen to this harrowing account ([link removed]) of what happened, as told today to the Committee.

CATASTROPHIC CARE COSTS The Health Committee also questioned Care Minister Helen Whately on the care costs faced by those living with dementia and their families as well future plans to support unpaid carers. Importantly, any reforms to social care must be up and running before the next election - but will they? My question to the Minister here ([link removed]) .

CLIMATE CHANGE One of my proudest achievements as Foreign Secretary was to secure the hosting of COP26 ([link removed]) , the big climate change conference, for Glasgow. It was due to be held last year but ended up being postponed because of the pandemic. My Herald article ([link removed]) this week explores the importance of this conference and examines the government’s environmental record. In short, much done, much more to do (oops wasn’t that a New Labour election slogan?). As Bill Gates says we are going to have to find a way to reduce the 51 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide we pump into the atmosphere to zero - and it is by no means impossible to do so.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

FARNHAM TRAFFIC Delivery vans are continuing to exacerbate existing traffic issues in Farnham and I have therefore written to Richard Homewood, Head of Environmental Services at Waverley Borough Council to ask him about the Council's strategy to address the problem in the immediate future. I have also written to Katie Stewart, Head of Highways at Surrey to request for the pelican crossing at Royal Deer junction, which has a stuck button, to be fixed as a matter of urgency.

GODALMING POTHOLES Please feel free to e-mail me the location of any potholes so that I can enquire about upcoming plans to tackle this problem to ensure roads are safe. Back in February, the government allocated £500m to fix potholes ([link removed]) across the country.

See my list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents here ([link removed]) .

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

NISSAN FACTORY Nissan is reportedly planning on building a new electric car battery ‘gigafactory’ in Sunderland ([link removed]) which would support thousands of jobs. The UK is already a leading a manufacturer of Electric Vehicles. For example, the Nissan Leaf, produced in the UK, was the third highest selling EV in Europe in 2019.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

HAPPINESS INDEX The ONS has published a happiness map ([link removed]) (scroll down to point 5), with Waverley scoring 6.4/10. Overall happiness was higher in rural than urban areas, and lower in younger rather than older people, with a national drop caused unsurprisingly by the pandemic. Then again Monday is a bank holiday…see you on Tuesday for my next newsletter.
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Promoted by Sean Donovan-Smith on behalf of Jeremy Hunt MP and South West Surrey Conservatives, all at 2 Royal Parade, Tilford Road, Hindhead, Surrey GU26 6TD.

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