GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome to my regular South West Surrey update No. 151. 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 STATS As of today, we had a total of 5,563,006 positive cases of COVID-19 with 128,896 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 7,180 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 239 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 569 active cases currently in Waverley. Nationally, 82,793,310 vaccines have been administered with more than two-thirds of adults having had two doses and 88% one dose (86% in Waverley). All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

PAY, PASSPORTS, PINGDEMIC Yesterday the government accepted in full the recommendations of the NHS independent pay review bodies and offered NHS workers a 3% pay rise ([link removed]) . It’s the right decision (although it took too long to get there) and as Sajid Javid highlights here ([link removed]) is a real-term increase which amounts to £1k a year for the average nurse. The question is where the money will come from: clearly the £1.5 bn cost cannot come from cuts to other parts of the NHS budget so the Times is quoting ‘sources’ who say it will come from the new social care tax that has not been announced. If that is the case it opens the huge question of what exactly will be left for social care. One to watch carefully. Earlier in the week, I expressed two other concerns about our current pandemic strategy, namely the pingdemic and COVID passports. On Monday in the Commons I asked Nadhim Zahawi why we don't
immediately scrap the 10 day isolation period for the double jabbed ([link removed]) and also why COVID passports are being introduced for nightclubs only at the end of September - if we need them, surely we need them right away? Covid passports are controversial and I understand the arguments on both sides but personally would feel more ‘free’ going into a restaurant if I knew everyone in there had been inoculated or tested.

SOCIAL CARE Disappointingly the social care announcement has been postponed with the PM, the Chancellor, and Health Secretary all self-isolating and therefore unable to make a statement in Parliament. However, there’s lots of noise on social care and a possible new tax to pay for it... my full Twitter thread here ([link removed]) , including the funding options. It is at least progress that the social care debate has moved on from 'whether' to 'how.' This isn’t just because it would breach the PM's words on the steps of Downing Street, but a growing realisation that with the pressures of the COVID backlog we’ll never get the NHS back on its feet without social care reform. In my view, a Health and Care Premium is the most honest solution which will allow a sensible debate on whether we want to fund things like the new dementia drugs on the way, improvements to our cancer survival rates and proper social care.

TRIBUTE & BACKLOGS Click here ([link removed]) to watch my tribute to Lord Stevens who is about to step down as the NHS Chief Executive and plea for the government to redouble its focus on patient safety as we seek to bring down waiting lists. My Health Committee has also launched a new inquiry on clearing the NHS backlog caused by the pandemic ([link removed]) . Submit your views here ([link removed]) – the deadline is 3 September.

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

BABY LOSS We had a really productive All Party Baby Loss meeting with Minister Nadine Dorries who gave her response to our Select Committee report ([link removed]) . Excellent the government is focusing on the management of baby's heads in the birth process - breaches are one of the risks that can be reduced to prevent our currently high levels of brain injuries. There is also an important focus on cases where there is a deterioration in labour where there is still too much variation between our best maternity units and our less well-performing ones. Overall the key will be to get better at identifying higher risk births earlier so that those mums can be given wrap around care with earlier intervention if necessary. We are making progress nationally since I announced the ambition to halve stillbirths, baby deaths, and maternal deaths with a 30% reduction in neonatal deaths in the last decade. But still much more to do and if we
had Swedish safety levels 1000 more babies would live every year so the potential to change the lives of many, many families is enormous.

COMMUNITY PHARMACIES I also took part in a webinar on community pharmacies. Milford Pharmacy was a lifeline for my family during the pandemic when we were able to pick up prescriptions for my children at a time when it was not possible to visit our GP. They even got us a prescription when the whole family was down with COVID (kindly delivered through our letterbox by the one and only Peter Martin). So it was good to speak at a webinar that explored the role of pharmacies going forward, particularly in the light of the government Health and Care Bill which proposes some major new structures for the NHS. My message was that the Bill is a big opportunity for pharmacies. This is because it focuses on place-based care which is designed to look at all the capabilities in an area and the best ways to ensure effective collaboration. My further thoughts on my Insta here ([link removed]) .

GP DATA The Health and Social Care Committee held a lively session on General Practice Data for Planning and Research ([link removed]) . I’ve had a few e-mails from SW Surrey constituents on this matter and I agree that it is important that we are able to use data to save lives, but it is equally important that we do so in such a way as to ensure people fully understand the process and have every opportunity to engage. Importantly, NHS Digital will not collect patients' names or addresses - any other data that could directly identify patients, such as NHS Number, date of birth or full postcode, will be replaced with unique codes produced by de-identification software prior to any sharing.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

SURGERY HIGHLIGHTS Good surgery discussions yesterday morning with a Tilford resident who has won a 10-year battle to persuade Waverley to change its policies to reflect the environmental impact of burning of commercial waste and not just the anti-social elements. He is now concerned about the issue of planning enforcement, in particular hedgerows and designated woodland being ripped up without permission so I am going to try to find out how enforcement could be improved on such issues. Also spoke to Milford resident about traffic in Milford (which I see every weekend) and whether it could be addressed by speed restrictions or other means. He is also worried about the closure of Broadwater Park golf club, which was one of the best value clubs around and the closure of high street banks following my intervention with Lloyds Bank in Haslemere. This resident also has an ingenious idea that banks could share a branch in high streets which I am going to follow up by writing to the Competition
and Markets Authority to check it would be legal. Finally, I spoke with a constituent in Elstead, who has won a long-standing whistleblowing case against her blue-chip employer and wants better protection for whistleblowers going back to work - I am going to look out for any forthcoming legislation on this.

HASLEMERE FOOD BANK After seeing a post on the Haslemere Information Board, I wanted to give a special mention to The Haslemere Food Bank, who urgently need your help to re-stock their shelves. They have very low or no stock of the following items: Tinned food such as tuna/pasta/vegetables/fruit/meat, shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, coffee, soup, noodles, couscous, chocolate, crisps, cereal, UHT milk, and small bottles of fruit juice. Drop off points are located at Tesco and Waitrose in Haslemere (any time) and at the Methodist Church on Wednesday and Friday mornings between 10am-12pm. If you are unable to get to a drop off point but would still like to donate, you can do so via their Just Giving page ([link removed]) and the team will use this money to buy items from the list.

HASLEWORKS In other Haslemere news, last Friday it was fantastic to open HasleWorks ([link removed]) . As we finally look at coming out of this awful pandemic, many people want greater flexibility when it comes to working/meeting away from their old offices. HasleWorks ([link removed]) fits the bill with first class facilities. Congratulations to Helen Bowcock in particular and good luck to all the team! Read more about it in my Herald article this week ([link removed]) .

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

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

FUTURE FUND The Chancellor has announced a new £375m scheme to help R&D companies and to supercharge the UK economy. The Future Fund Breakthrough is now open for applications - more information here ([link removed]) and Rishi’s explanation video here ([link removed]) .

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

WATER YOU DOING? Imagine training for years to compete at the Olympics only to find out you are unable to participate at the last minute. Well, Poland had to send six swimmers home after selecting too many by accident for the Tokyo games ([link removed]) which start tomorrow. Poor poles and poor Japanese too - as parliament’s biggest Japanophile I find myself feeling incredibly sorry for a nation that put enormous effort into hosting the Games and found itself thwarted by the pandemic.

SUMMER RECESS begins today and although I’ll be continuing to work in the constituency, the House will not be sitting and I will be taking a break from this email until the start of September, during which time I will be hoping (ping-permitting) to take 3 Hunt children on a holiday. This is also the last email that my trusty assistant Raf Kochaj will be helping me to draft as he moves on to become a schoolmaster - we wish him every success and are sure his sense of humour will be a huge hit with his lucky pupils (he won’t mind me outing him as the author of many of those terrible jokes!). As always, thank you for your useful feedback, interesting questions and the occasional sarcastic comments…all in the best traditions of British politics. Have a great summer.
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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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