GOOD AFTERNOON & welcome to my South West Surrey update No.208
This week I have been busy launching the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (see below) as well as our first Cabinet of the year which looked forward to key moments including the Spring Budget (my first) which has now been announced for 15th March, just 9 weeks away. Locally, I had a family Christmas in Hambledon and Godalming and have been busy scheduling surgery and other appointments for my first constituency day of the year this Friday, which I will report back on in full in next week’s newsletter.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN WESTMINSTER
TREASURY UPDATE As Chancellor, I have already got to work with the Energy Bills Discount Scheme which will take effect for businesses from April. No government can continue to subsidise indefinitely higher energy prices, but we want to help families and businesses as much as possible. Although less than what we are spending this year, the package is around £5.5 bn (nearly a penny on income tax) and will help businesses to broadly the same extent we are helping families with the £3,000 energy price cap. In the end though, the most important thing is to bring down inflation (including inflation in energy prices) as much as possible. This week, I met Tony Danker, head of the CBI. We are both giving speeches on growth later this month, so it will be interesting to compare.
STRIKES BILL The House of Commons returned from Christmas recess this week, and began tackling one of the biggest issues of the day - the ongoing strike action, which I know many of you have been impacted by. Having been directly involved in the NHS for more than a decade, I know how incredibly hard people are working on the frontline and understand the concerns felt by many - not just nurses - about the cost of living. The government wants to engage openly and sincerely, which is why ministers held meetings with union leaders this week. But we will not take any decisions that mean inflation stays with us for longer. We also think it is reasonable to insist on minimum levels of service in our key services (as happens in France, Italy and Spain) which is why we have now presented a bill to the House of Commons covering the NHS, education, fire & rescue, border security and nuclear decommissioning. You can monitor the progress of the bill here.
NHS PRESSURES 9,000 people are currently in hospital with Covid and over 5,000 with flu (compared to just 50 in 2021) so this winter continues to push our health service to its capacity (and beyond). Health Secretary Steve Barclay announced a £500m support package and NHS England has now put in place plans for the equivalent of 7,000 additional beds.
COVID UPDATE As of 6th January, the total number of Covid cases in England has risen sharply, with the ONS now reporting that 1 in 20 now have the virus, compared to 1 in 45 on 23rd December. However, the government’s Coronavirus dashboard shows that in the last 7 days, cases are down 15.4%, hospitalisations down 6.1% although sadly, deaths up 0.6%. Although (as of 3rd January) 64.1% of eligible people in England have received their autumn booster, a mix of the cold weather and increased social interactions over Christmas has resulted in a greater prevalence in the community. Book your bivalent booster jab!
The key number remains 0300 200 1008 for anyone with pandemic related difficulties. Also please check out my full list of local groups working to support vulnerable residents.
WHAT’S GOING ON IN SOUTH WEST SURREY
GREEN SPACES A big win for the environment this week - the government has announced that it will be banning single use plastics. I have been campaigning for this alongside Farnham Rotary, so it is a brilliant step forward. According to DEFRA, in England, each person uses an average of 18 single use plastic plates and 37 items of plastic cutlery every year, only 10% of which are recycled. This is another step to help protect our green spaces by preventing litter. If you’d like to join me on another of my South West Surrey litter picks later in the year, please do email me at [email protected] to register your interest.
CANCER CAMPAIGN The delays to both cancer diagnosis and treatment is one of the reasons I pushed, and continue to campaign so passionately for a new Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre at the Royal Surrey (which regular readers will know all about). The new facility is due to open next year, and will be a game changer for local cancer care. As we await the final building designs and approvals, my focus continues to be on raising awareness and support for this campaign, and to ask people to donate whatever they can, to make the difference between a great facility and a state of the art, pioneering hub to help those undergoing cancer treatment. For more information (and donations!) visit the Royal Surrey website.
WITLEY STATION HOUSE Many of you will have noticed the empty station house at Witley Station. South Western Railway and a local consultancy company are now inviting charities and community groups in Witley to submit proposals for its use. The space, which consists of offices and a meeting room, has been recently refurbished and would be ideal for a local community group, charity or Community Interest Company. Proposals, along with requests for more information, should be directed to Ian Chalmers: [email protected]
CASH FOR CASCAIDr The brilliant CASCAIDr (Centre for Adults’ Social Care - Advice Information and Dispute resolution) in Farnham, has recently been awarded a Help Accessing Legal Support (HALS) grant of £100,000 from the Access to Justice Foundation on behalf of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In July 2022, the government announced the new HALS grant of £3.2m to support vulnerable people to resolve their legal problems, primarily social welfare issues including: debt, housing and employment. 55 organisations were awarded funding, one of which being CASCAIDr. The grant will build on progress made under the previous Litigants in Person grant provided by the MoJ between 2020-2022, through which around 33,000 people were supported on 36,000 legal issues by both local and regional services. Hopefully this is the first of many grants for South West Surrey organisations, as in November, the government announced a further £12m in grant funding to be awarded to charities providing support for people facing legal problems until March 2025.
CRIME & POLICING IN FARNHAM As ‘Farnhamites’ know, I was very concerned to hear of an increase in crime in Farnham last year, including the vandalism at The Maltings, the burglary at the Boots shop in The Borough, and of several attempts to break into cars on Folly Hill. I’ve been working closely with Surrey Police, and next Wednesday (18th Jan) Lisa Townsend, Police and Crime Commissioner for Surrey, will be available to discuss your concerns about crime and anti-social behaviour from 6-7pm at the Ivy Club, Ivy Lane, Farnham GU9 7PQ. No need to book ahead.
AND FINALLY… “Newquay, we have a problem” are the words none of us wanted to hear. But despite Cosmic Girl’s mission ending in disappointment on Monday night, it was a moment which will go down in history, as the UK embarked on its first ever orbital rocket launch. If we are going to be a science and technology superpower we should remember how important failures are in any discovery process - as Thomas Edison said when challenged about his thousand failed patents ‘I didn’t fail, I just found 999 ways not to invent a lightbulb’ or a more accurate version of the quote here. Watch the full launch footage here.
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