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GOOD MORNING and welcome to my South West Surrey update No.188. The controversial Rwanda policy was centre stage this week but Lord Geidt’s resignation as the Prime Minister’s ethics adviser also grabbed the headlines. At the Select Committee my push to bring back people having their own family GP continued and there was some welcome good news for renters as the government published a white paper with new protections.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER

RATE RISE At lunchtime the Bank of England announced that they were increasing interest rates to 1.25% ([link removed]) . Perhaps more worrying than the headline was their forecast that inflation will reach 11% in the autumn and the economy is going to shrink in the second quarter of the year. I think we should be focusing on economic growth every bit as much as the cost of living as the latter is ultimately a symptom of the former - and I was intrigued to see reports that Boris Johnson does not want to proceed with the planned corporation tax rises. Although corporation tax is the most painless of taxes to raise (few voters notice it), it also does the most long term damage to our competitiveness so I hope Boris wins that particular argument.

GEIDT GONE Lord Geidt has resigned as the Prime Minister’s adviser on Ministers’ Interests without giving much detail regarding exactly why. You can read his short statement here ([link removed]) and his full resignation letter and PM response here ([link removed]) . It looks like the PM wanted advice on the use of tariffs to protect the British steel industry which Lord Geidt saw as a deliberate breach of the Ministerial Code. I can’t quite understand what was going on here but no doubt we will find out. Anyway we do need to have someone who can give independent oversight of ministerial adherence to the Code so it is a matter of great regret that Lord Geidt felt his position was untenable.

RWANDA FLIGHTS Implementation of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership with Rwanda was delayed this week as the European Court of Human Rights blocked the deportation ([link removed]) of the final asylum seekers that were on the first plane to Kigali. I realise this is a controversial policy and it would have been better to wait for the UK court process to complete before starting the flights. But I do think the government is right to try new options when the global refugee population has become so much more mobile than it ever used to be. That surely means it is better to do our bit for refugees and asylum seekers with properly organised schemes (as we do for Hong Kong, Syria and Afghanistan) rather than encourage people smuggling gangs to transport people at great peril in small boats. Remember every single person to whom this policy applies is coming from a safe country such as France where they could have chosen to claim asylum but chose not to so I
do not think it is as heartless as is being made out.

FAMILY DOCTORS Getting these back for everyone is rapidly becoming my patient safety theme of the year as the evidence it improves health is becoming so stark. I raised this issue with the Secretary of State during Health and Social Care oral questions ([link removed]) on Tuesday and he promised to read the recent Norway study that demonstrated the incredible benefits - a staggering 30% fewer hospital visits and 25% lower mortality rates for people who see the same GP over a number of years. He made the often repeated point that some people don’t mind seeing a different GP if they can see someone quickly. That may be true in terms of patient preference but continuity of care matters for everyone - only through a regular relationship is a doctor like to find it easy to spot the signs when something is going wrong. This issue was also discussed at the latest Select Committee session where Sir Robert Francis from
Healthwatch England set out how patients want both access and to see the same doctors. ([link removed])

HELP FOR RENTERS Some sensible reforms have been published today ([link removed]) to give more support and protection for those who rent. These proposals will end blanket bans on benefit claimants or families with children, give tenants the right to ask their landlord to consider a request for a pet, end rent review clauses, double notice periods for rent increases, and extend the Decent Homes Standard to the private rented sector. All good protections which will help the growing population of renters without discouraging investment by landlords in buy-to-let.

COVID UPDATE The ONS has said that there are early signs of an increase in cases in England ([link removed]) . Around 1 in 70 people had the virus in the week ending 2nd June which is the same broad number as the previous week. The dashboard seems to bear this increase out as cases in 7 days were up 70% and hospitalisations are up 31%. Deaths thankfully are still heading down so no one is pressing the panic button (yet). As of 10am the Covid dashboard shows that we have had a total of 22,239,303 positive cases of COVID-19 with 177,977 confirmed deaths in the UK. There have been 42,519 confirmed cases in Waverley and sadly 330 confirmed deaths, with an estimated 223 active cases in Waverley.

Nonetheless that key number is 0300 200 1008 for anyone with pandemic related difficulties. Also please check out my full list of local groups ([link removed]) working to support vulnerable residents.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY

DUNSFOLD DISAPPOINTMENT As I mentioned last week I’ve written to Michael Gove ([link removed]) about the terrible decision to allow drilling to go ahead at Dunsfold. I have since been in touch with the minister who made the decision Stuart Andrew and am arranging to meet him. I’m also due to speak with the government’s Chief Planner about it shortly as well as the CEO of UKOG. I set out more details on what happens next ([link removed]) in my Herald article this week.

RAIL STRIKE LATEST It currently looks like the rail strikes will be taking place next week and the advice is not to travel by train on the affected days ([link removed]) . The disruption is also expected to continue on the non-strike days when services will only be running at 60%. It is incredibly disappointing that the unions are pursuing industrial action before engaging in meaningful talks to try and find a resolution. I realise times are tough but with taxpayers funding rail workers wages we cannot support demands for huge government funded pay increases which would both add to inflation and make the cost of living crisis worse for many others.

STOP THE SEWAGE! On the issue of sewage being discharged into the River Wey I highlighted just how unacceptable it was in the House of Commons at the end of last week ([link removed]) . I visited the Haslemere sewage treatment plant ([link removed]) a few weeks ago with Thames Water CEO Sarah Bentley and will be hosting a public meeting on this issue soon. There are lots of issues causing the overspills but the main one seems to be that excessive rainfall causes our surface water system to fill up meaning it flows into - and overwhelms - the sewage system. No quick fix - but something we should definitely be able to make year on year progress on, something the government has legislated to ensure.

ROYAL SURREY CANCER CAMPAIGN UPDATE Things continue apace for the new centre at the Royal Surrey with considerable work now going on behind the scenes by the Project Management team as they refine and tweak the design and equipment specification needed to create one of the leading Cancer Centres in the country. My thanks to all those individuals, organisations and groups that are pledging their support for this campaign through donations and/or an indication to fundraise for the project. If you are interested in getting involved, please email me on [email protected] The total to date now stands at £140,000 (plus the £25m already in the bank!). More details can be found here ([link removed]) .

SURGERY CALLS My first call was to a Farnham dentist who is concerned that the government is not doing enough to address the problems in NHS dentistry. I have corresponded with the Secretary of State and he wanted to point out that it was a pre-Covid issue dating back to the 2006 contract changes which disincentivises dentists from taking on complex new cases. The result is that whilst the number of dentists is going up, the number of NHS dentists is going down. This issue actually came up in health questions this morning and has been mentioned frequently at my select committee hearings. The government has promised to address these issues before the summer break and I will be pursuing this at my select committee where we will be doing an inquiry into the issue.
The second call was to a teacher from Godalming having difficulty selling her house because of cladding issues. The government has secured undertakings from banks that they will not block mortgages from people buying homes where repairs are due but in hand. Her issue is that she bought it with the Help to Buy scheme but they won't allow the sale until the cladding issue is solved. I will write back to the housing minister Stuart Andrew to ask him to look into this specific case and the broader issue.
My final call was to a Tilford resident who runs the Tilford Eco Network. He wanted to talk about the issue of sewage overspills into the River Wey and the noise from Farnborough. On the former we talked about the work I have been doing with Thames Water and the dangers of tick repellant from dogs affecting the delicate eco-system in the rivers. On Farnborough, the CAA review of the new flight paths is only going to consider noise within 3 miles of the airfield which excludes many places that are affected - I will write to the Chief Executive to ask him to change the criteria and potentially for a meeting if necessary.

FARNHAM NATWEST Disappointingly Natwest have decided to close its Farnham branch in October of this year. I’ll be writing to their CEO about this decision because when something similar happened in Haslemere we managed to secure a cash machine for the community there and I want to see what may be possible for Farnham. Cash still remains an important part of daily life for many of us which is why the Government has committed to legislate for the protection of access to cash in the Financial Services and Markets Bill ([link removed]) which will ensure the continued availability of withdrawal and deposit facilities across the UK.

AND FINALLY For the more digitally minded amongst you I have joined the social media site Tik Tok ([link removed]) . I am not planning to do any dancing (although some of you may know I used to be a passionate lambada dancer) but I’ll be posting short videos there showing what I get up to and in some cases providing some behind the scenes glimpses of life as an MP. So if you’re on there do give me a follow. Beware, there’s also a parody Jeremy Hunt account so don’t confuse the two!

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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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