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GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome back to my South West Surrey update No. 151. I won’t repeat cliches about a week being a long time in politics etc but I hope you had a good summer (as the Hunt family did including having a wonderful time at the Hambledon fete. ([link removed]) ) To avoid over-cluttering inboxes I am going to move to doing this email weekly on a Thursday but will send out more targeted emails on specific local campaigns earlier in the week. If you know anyone who might like to receive this email please forward it…anyone can sign up here ([link removed]) to receive them and of course unsubscribe at any time.

PANDEMIC UPDATE As of today, we have had a total of 6,825,074 positive cases of COVID-19 with 132,742 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 9,121 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 242 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 361 active cases in Waverley which is not dissimilar to some of the earlier waves - but with much less impact on hospital admissions of course because we are now so thoroughly jabbed. In the last week in the UK coronavirus cases are down 0.2%, hospital admissions up 4.6% and deaths down 0.4%. All data is accurate as of 11am this morning.

WHERE ARE WE ON COVID? The virus is still very much with us as the latest ONS stats show ([link removed]) with 756,900 people (1 in 70) having COVID-19 in the week ending 20th August. The Times notes that the rolling average has declined for the last week ([link removed]) but conversely we are all expecting it to go the opposite direction as schools go back, a big concern to scientists on SAGE ([link removed]) . It feels like we’re at a plateau of about the level of mid-December last year with about half the number of daily new admissions to hospital because of the vaccine programme.

WHAT NEXT? We need to get cracking with our vaccine booster programme. If we look at Israel, we can see why. 80% of adults and 60% of the whole Israeli population have had two doses of vaccine (much higher than us) and yet they have just had their highest level of daily cases ([link removed]) . However, since they started a campaign of third doses the number of people being hospitalised has started to slow down ([link removed]) . Their experience supports the findings of this ZOE study ([link removed]) that vaccine effectiveness drops over time but suggests that additional doses can increase it quickly again. So if we want to avoid another lockdown, we need to get a move on - not least because now the WHO has now changed its views
([link removed]) on booster programmes (arguing countries should press ahead with them when previously they said developed nations should prioritise sending vaccine doses to other countries). Our own programme is due to start with severely immunosuppressed individuals this month, but why are we hanging around? There seems to be a concern ([link removed]) about having enough doses to also roll out a booster programme although the government denies this. One for the Health Secretary to deal with in the inevitable Covid statement next week. My twitter thread ([link removed]) on this yesterday was picked up in the splashes in the Mail ([link removed]) and Times
([link removed]) today.

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

AFGHANISTAN All eyes were on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee yesterday afternoon as they heard from the Foreign Secretary regarding the situation in Afghanistan. You can watch the full session here ([link removed]) . Away from the predictable exchanges about holiday dates Dominic Raab confirmed that the intelligence reports predicted a "steady deterioration" rather than the rapid collapse we saw. He also revealed ([link removed]) the government isn't sure just how many people eligible to come to the UK have been left behind. There are some very serious lessons to be learned, but the biggest questions are surely the extent to which we can rely on the United States to protect democratic freedoms. Thoughtful pieces from Iain Martin in the Times and Christopher Meyer in the Telegraph today and you can watch my speech in the Afghanistan debate here
([link removed]) . The most pressing issue is to save those Afghanis who risked their lives working for us so thank you to those who have emailed in offering help with housing.

NEXT WEEK Parliament returns on Monday and the Health and Social Care Select Committee kicks off a new inquiry ([link removed]) into how to deal with the NHS backlog on Tuesday. I’m expecting the government to announce their plans to fund additional NHS operations and social care reform next week, with the word on the street being it could be a levy of 1p on employers and employee national insurance that is also paid by working pensioners and would bring in about £10bn a year. Whether this is enough isn’t clear as two NHS organisations argue today all of that just to clear the backlog ([link removed]) , but if it happens we should welcome the political courage involved in a Conservative government pushing through a tax rise.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

TRAIN TROUBLE I have received lots of correspondence about South Western Rail’s (SWR) proposed reduction of peak time trains from Farncombe, Godalming and Haslemere (from 4 an hour to 3). On Tuesday, I had a meeting with their new CEO Claire Mann - the situation is complex, but essentially driven by changes in travel patterns post Covid. Currently, they are only seeing 50% of their normal passenger numbers (and down to between 30% and 40% of normal commuter volumes). SWR believe the new service will be more reliable and trains less crowded, due to a reduction in passenger numbers. However, how can we know what post-pandemic commuting patterns will be at this stage? There will also clearly be variation within the week, with lower numbers, for example, on Fridays. I recognise there will need to be some changes but lobbied SWR to keep the door open for the possibility of an additional service every hour if numbers turn out to be greater than anticipated. More positively, I was told the
off-peak services from Milford, Witley and Farncombe will be reinstated next year and that the new changes would not see any reduction in peak time trains from Milford and Witley. SWR are also looking into whether services to Clapham Junction can be protected, and I stressed the negative environmental impact of people having to drive from Farncombe to Godalming if services at the former were reduced. This is a consultation ([link removed]) (lasting until the end of September) so I will continue to press these points over the weeks ahead.

LATERAL FLOW DEVICES I have also been liaising with Defra about what more we can do to make the disposal of lateral flow device (LFD) test kits more environmentally friendly. A cross-Whitehall review on this issue is already underway, and in the meantime, there are alternative waste management options to landfill that are available for LFDs. In accordance with the ‘waste hierarchy’ Defra recommend that where material such as LFDs cannot be recycled, it should be incinerated at an energy from waste facility. For further guidance regarding the correct way to dispose of personal or business waste, including face coverings, personal protective equipment and LFDs, click here. ([link removed])

SURGERY STORIES I had my first constituency surgery of the autumn yesterday and unsurprisingly, health issues dominated. Caroline Graham from Godalming has been running an extraordinary 20-year campaign to get a drug called Kuvan available for her children Callum and Holly, who have a rare genetic condition called PKI. The drug was finally approved this year - but maddeningly only for children, and Callum and Holly have now grown up. It is a totally unsustainable situation and I have been in touch with both NICE (who decide on cost-effectiveness) and NHS England to get things changed. How can you give a life-changing drug to a child but tell them they will be denied it when they grow up? Our hope is that a generic - and much cheaper - equivalent drug will be licenced this autumn but it is critical NICE does not go back to square one on the assessment process (which can take years) given they have already assessed the same drug under a different brand name.

I also spoke to Judith Storey from Farnham about her experiences in both the Royal Surrey and Farnham Hospital over the summer. She qualifies for a wheelchair, but the wait is a ridiculous one year for 'non-urgent' patients. Apparently, the problem has been exacerbated by interruptions in production caused by the pandemic. Although Judith herself hopes to be better before the year is out, she was very concerned about the general impact of the shortage on others. She was also concerned about a shortage of physios at Farnham Hospital at weekends which I will raise with the local NHS.

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

THE ECONOMY AND JOBS

E10 Look out for the introduction of a new type of unleaded petrol ([link removed]) this month. E10 has more ethanol than current unleaded fuel and switching over to it could cut carbon emissions by 750,000 tonnes a year. Not all cars are compatible - those built after 2011 should be fine, but older vehicles may not be, so it’s worth checking if your cars can run on it here ([link removed]) .

AND FINALLY The new trailer for the latest Bond film No Time To Die was released this week ([link removed]) and the Hunt family are looking forward to it like most of the nation. It is Daniel Craig's last appearance as 007 making him the longest serving Bond. Congratulations from the longest serving Health Secretary, think he got the better deal!

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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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