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GOOD AFTERNOON and welcome back to my South West Surrey update No.169. Westminster has been dominated by further depressing revelations of lockdown parties and speculation about the Prime Minister’s future - whilst in the background the threat of Covid slowly but surely appears to be receding.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

NOT MY PARTY My emails - and those of my colleagues - have been red hot with anger about the lockdown busting party held in Number 10 in May 2020. I am proud to be a Conservative MP but cannot defend what happened and won’t try. The Prime Minister has apologised for what happened and said he made a mistake in not closing down the gatherin ([link removed]) g which was a necessary first step but we should now wait until the independent verdict from Sue Gray. I know her well from my time in government when she was responsible for policing the ethics of ministers accused of breaking the ministerial code. She is firm, fair and won’t pull her punches in her report which is expected at the end of next week. Obviously the police must make their own decision about what inquiries they want to make - but if they do take the issue up that could mean putting on hold the Gray inquiry which I suspect will be quicker and clearer.

COVID LAST HURRAH? The ONS recent report estimated thatan extraordinary 1 in 15 people in England (1 in 10 in London) ([link removed]) had the virus in the last week of 2021. But with a pretty dramatic decline in daily new cases fromnearly 250,000 on 4th January to 115,000 on 11th January ([link removed]) there is a general sense that we are past the peak and the NHS will just about get through it. The number of hospital admissionshas increased quite sharply ([link removed]) but is still only around half the peak a year ago. Optimists (and they need a few of those in Downing St right now) - including some serious academics such as David Heymann at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine - think we areleading the Northern Hemisphere
([link removed]) in the race to emerge from the pandemic. There has even beena slight decrease ([link removed]) (admittedly from a very high level) in the number of covid related NHS staff absences. The BBC’s Nick Triggle has a nice summary of where we are overallhere ([link removed]) but it does feel like sunshine is edging through the clouds. Here’s my question to Sajid Javid ([link removed]) this morning after he announced a welcome cut in isolation from 7 to 5 days about what we now need to do to ensure the NHS can tackle the backlog in elective procedures.

VACCINE WORKFORCE The vaccine roll out continues apace with 40 million second doses now administered ([link removed]) in England and nearly 36 million booster doses ([link removed]) it continues to go from strength to strength. But this has only been possible thanks to the amazing extra work that NHS staff and volunteers have done so I asked the Vaccine Minister earlier this week ([link removed]) what the government is doing to ensure we have enough GPs and other staff to cope with their new vaxing responsibilities which are surely here to stay.

AND THE STATS As of 11am we have had a total of 14,862,138 positive cases of COVID-19 with 151,007 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 24,335 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 256 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 1,443 active cases in Waverley. In the last week in the UK coronavirus cases are down 19%, hospital admissions up 5.2% and deaths up 44.3%.

A HANDY £2 BN FOR THE NHS is on the table if we gripped the issue of litigation costs. We currently spend more on settling litigation claims than it costs to run our biggest hospital Barts - and when it comes to maternity settlements (more than half of the total) we spend more than the cost of every single maternity doctor and nurse in the country. We have been looking at how they do things better in Sweden, Denmark and Japan on the Health and Social Care Select Committee this week ([link removed]) and particularly considering whether the way the legal process stops doctors from being open and learning from mistakes, partly why our baby death rate is double that of Sweden.

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

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

SURGERY STORIES Grayshott Gigabit ([link removed]) is a brilliant local business which connected its first customer with full fibre in Hunters Close in Hindhead last month. They are now connecting customers in Tower Road, Tilford Road, Pine Bank, Morlands Close and the other closes off the London and Portsmouth roads. They get vouchers from Broadband Delivery UK ([link removed]) to subsidise the costs as we are in a rural area, but are worried the vouchers may stop for Surrey addresses in June (they have already stopped for Hampshire ones) and not become available for another year or so. Knowing how important fast broadband is (having designed current policies when I was culture secretary) I will get in contact with the CEO of BD UK to urge a rethink.

FARNCOMBE ROBBERY Last Friday, Surrey Police ([link removed]) responded to reports of an armed robbery of a Cash in Transit Officer on St John’s Street in Farncombe just before 9 a.m. Such an out of character thing to happen in our area, but shows you can never be complacent anywhere of the risks of violent crime. Surrey Police do not believe there was any wider threat to the public but if you have any information and/or concerns, please speak to them directly or private message Surrey Police via one of their social media channels. ([link removed]) Reminder: police officers in Surrey are going up with an extra 83 so far following the 20,000 more nationally promised by the PM.

CARBON LITERACY TRAINING More than 75% of millennials would pay more for products from sustainable brands, so now is the perfect time for small businesses to rise to the challenge - but how? That's where Inspiration Space ([link removed]) comes in. In January, Waverley-based businesses will have the opportunity to join a seven week programme ([link removed]) that will teach you how to measure your carbon footprint and create a plan of action to reduce it by up to 15%. You'll work with experts in sustainability and what is known as the ‘circular economy’ to create your own plan. The programme is free, as is funded by the government’s Additional Restrictions Grant ([link removed]) , but places are limited, so click here ([link removed]) to register your interest.

HALE YOUTH CLUB Hale Community Centre ([link removed]) are urgently seeking volunteers to support their rapidly expanding youth club, to ensure it can continue to provide a safe and engaging space for young people in our area. In just a few months, the team have created a vibrant and well-attended youth club, so why not help them build on their success? If you can help, (even on a temporary basis) get in touch with Tracy on 0752 388 5728 or email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .

CALLING ALL CASEWORKERS A vacancy has opened up in my team for a Caseworker to join my busy constituency office in Hindhead as part of a friendly team (with flexibility for occasional home working). The successful candidate will already have solid casework experience and should be familiar with the case management system Caseworker (or other similar system). The closing date is 21st January, so if you think this could be the role for you, please click here ([link removed]) for more information and details on how to apply.

AND FINALLY Do us a ‘favor’! If you’re one of the 2 million people swept up in the latest craze that is ‘Wordle’ you will no doubt have been put out by the American spelling of one of the answers ([link removed]) . Whether it is quite the diplomatic incident some are claiming I’m not so sure but it goes to show you don’t mess with the Queen’s English!

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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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