Newspaper column 28 June 2023 - Armed Forces Day

 

It was great to see Cornwall host the national Armed Forces Day 2023 event at the weekend, celebrating our Armed Forces and the role they play in protecting us both at home and overseas. 

Armed Forces Day is a time to reflect and thank those who have served and continue to serve our country, and I had the honour of being invited to attend the day in Falmouth, where the event was based.

Members of the Armed Forces took part in a tri-service parade which featured more than 1,000 military personnel, veterans and cadets, and demonstrated phenomenal precision and professionalism.

The parade was watched by The Duke of Gloucester, who was presented with the Royal Salute, before a flypast by the RAF Red Arrows, A400M, Merlin and Avenger aircraft. It was a remarkable display and something I will remember for a very long time to come.

While the event itself was held in Falmouth, Cornwall’s strong military tradition and close and continuing links with our forces saw it chosen as the location to host Armed Forces Day 2023, following a competitive bidding process.

Cornwall is home to around 39,000 veterans and one in five people in Cornwall have a personal or family connection to the Armed Forces, and so I was pleased to have the opportunity to pay my respects to those who selflessly serve our country, especially given the constituency’s links to the Armed Forces.

RAF St Mawgan is the only RAF station in the South West and I know the personnel based there work tirelessly throughout the year to keep the UK safe. It was great to see such a big turnout of public support to recognise the work they do and have done to defend our freedom throughout the station’s 80-year history.

I don’t believe a better backdrop could have been found for this year’s Armed Forces Day national event. Cornwall should be proud of the role it has played in this year’s event, which saw around 100,000 visitors from all corners of the UK welcomed to the county to share in the celebrations and more than £5.5 million brought into the Cornish economy.

I want to congratulate Armed Forces Champion for Cornwall Council, Newquay Councillor Louis Gardner for the strong and successful bid that ensured Cornwall secured this national event and for a brilliant day. This would not have been possible without Cllr Gardner’s hard work and determination. People I spoke to throughout the day told me it was the best Armed Forces Day they have ever been to which is testament to the fantastic job Cllr Gardner and Cornwall Council did. It was a very proud day for Cornwall and shows just what we can achieve.

I am also proud to be part of this government which holds the welfare of its military personnel and veterans at its heart. While we do not see much of the service that goes on, we do recognise the sacrifice that serving personnel, and their families, make for us.

Last year I was pleased to see the Government come forward with its new UK Armed Forces Families Strategy which sets out how we will make the recognition and care of our Service families a national priority. It is absolutely right we do all we can as a country to support them and this strategy is an important step towards achieving that.

I was also privileged during my time on the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme to visit the Falklands and talk to residents who lived through the war. The Falklands have several close connections to Cornwall - 30,000 sailors, marines, soldiers, airmen and merchant mariners took part in the Falklands War along with many civilians who supported the war effort.

We must never forget the heroic efforts of all our veterans and the importance of our military and the huge sacrifices they make to protect our freedom. I have nothing, but the highest respect for members of our Armed Forces. Their service to King and Country sets an example to us all.

If I can be of assistance or help on any matter, please get in touch with my office on 01726 829379 or email office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 14 June - More support for rural communities

On Saturday it was great to visit the Royal Cornwall Show, always a highlight of the year. As ever it was good to catch up with so many rural businesses and organisations, along with many others who had come to spend some time seeing the best our rural economy offers over the busy three days.

This year the Secretary of State for the Environment attended the show and apart from having the experience of seeing the many varied stalls and activities, also took the time to meet with groups representing rural businesses in order to better understand the challenges they face and how the Government can support them.

At the same time, last week the Secretary of State produced the new Government strategy – “Unleashing Rural Opportunity” in which she set out four broad priorities that are key to rural communities being able to thrive.

The first priority is connectivity, with the Government pledging to continue to deliver gigabit broadband and mobile coverage in rural areas and increase access to public transport. New measures announced include providing £7 million to test new ways of bringing together satellite, wireless and fixed line internet connectivity in remote areas across the UK. This will help support farmers and tourism businesses in those areas to access lightning-fast, reliable connectivity for the first time, and will help rural businesses in trial areas to make the most of new technologies.

The next priority is growing the rural economy, supporting rural areas so they can prosper, in line with the Prime Minister’s key priorities for the country as a whole. The Government has announced new measures to help rural areas prosper, including consulting on changes to permitted development rights to support rural diversification. This will look at whether there should be changes to the current rules in England, cutting red tape to make the planning process more straightforward for farmers so they can more easily improve their redundant agricultural buildings, helping to make their businesses more productive.

The third priority is homes and energy. The Government will facilitate the building of more homes for local people to buy where local communities want them and we will provide secure and resilient energy supplies. New measures announced for England include funding of £2.5 million for a network of rural housing enablers to boost the supply of new affordable housing by identifying development opportunities, supporting site owners and community representatives to navigate the planning system, and engaging with local communities to help shape developments. The Government is also providing local authorities with new powers to manage the impact of holiday lets on local communities—recognising their contribution to the tourism sector, something I have long campaigned on. We will also consult on making it easier for farmers to change their redundant agricultural buildings into family homes.

The final priority is communities. The Government will improve access to high-quality health care and take further action to tackle rural crime. New measures include the imminent publication of a dental plan for England that will help improve provision in rural areas. We will also put in place legislation this summer to increase fly-tipping and litter penalties, and intend to ringfence those penalties to tackle this blight on the countryside. We are also supporting the National Police Chiefs’ Council to establish a new National Rural Crime Unit to support police forces across Great Britain in their response to rural crimes. In addition to additional funding from the Home Office, DEFRA will fund a post within the National Rural Crime Unit to tackle fly-tipping across Great Britain.

This is all good news for the rural communities that cover much of Cornwall, and I look forward to working with the Government to realise these exciting plans for the future.

As always, if I can be of assistance on this matter or any other, please get in touch with my office on 01726 829329 or email office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 7 June 2023 - More good news for Cornwall's NHS

I am now back in Parliament after a busy week working in our constituency and meeting with local people and businesses. This is the best part about being an MP for me and I was pleased to get the chance to talk to many constituents while I was out and about in St Austell and Newquay.

One of the things I was offered the chance to do was visit the new Naturally Learning nursery at Nansledan in Newquay. I got to see the amazing new facility in the Duchy of Cornwall development and learnt more about the approach they take to early years from the team. I was very impressed with both the new building and the care and education provided. It's great to see this new nursery up and running.

Speaking of children, while I was in the constituency one of the things many constituents spoke to me about was the recent good news about the new Women and Children’s Hospital at the Treliske site.

This is something I have spent several years working hard to achieve along with my Cornish MP colleagues, the Department for Health and Social Care and the Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust.  It is great to see these ambitious plans moving forward and delivering improvements to patient care. 

I regularly meet with health and care services colleagues, as I did last week, to discuss the delivery of NHS priorities for Cornwall and so understand the importance of this much-needed state-of-the-art facility which will bring all women and children’s services into one building.

It will include a consultant-led birthing suite, a midwife-led birthing suite, a neonatal intensive care unit with transitional care facilities, dedicated operating theatres, a paediatric assessment unit, and cardiology, pharmacy and pathology relocation.

It is great to see the government bringing top-class healthcare services to more people locally with this new Women and Children’s Hospital, delivered as part of the government’s ambitious £20 billion New Hospital Programme which will see 40 new hospitals built across the country by 2030.

The upgrading of the Women and Children's Hospital is a very welcome investment in our hospital estate in Cornwall. However, I am very much aware that more is needed. I continue to work with government ministers and local NHS leaders to secure further funding in order to improve and expand our hospitals in Cornwall.

This is also just one of the measures I am pleased to see this government taking to ensure people in Cornwall can access the best health services. Last month the government also announced its new Primary Care Recovery Plan, which means patients in St Austell and Newquay will be able to access care more quickly for their health needs through their GP or pharmacy services.

This comes following the government’s Urgent and Emergency Care plans earlier this year and focuses on three main areas to make it easier for people to get the help they need: tackling the 8am rush for GP appointments; funding pharmacists to offer more treatment to free up GP appointments; and also providing more GP staff.

I was also pleased to see the government introduce a new NHS service, Pharmacy First, backed by £645 million over the next two years to enable pharmacists to provide treatment for minor illnesses and supply prescription-only medicines for common illnesses such as ear pain; severe sore throat; skin infections and urinary infections. This will not only help to alleviate some of the pressure our GPs face, but also provides a convenient alternative route for patients.

As I have previously mentioned, this is something that has already been trialled in Cornwall and last year pharmacies in the Duchy began offering face-to-face assessments for a wide range of minor ailments, and NHS treatment as required – the first service of its kind in England.

I am pleased that the government continues to listen to concerns raised with me by constituents, however we must remember that the challenges facing our NHS and primary care services are long-standing and will not be resolved overnight. However, I do believe this government is going further than any government ever has to ensure patients in Cornwall receive the care they deserve and I will continue to work with the NHS and Ministers to make sure this happens.

If I can be of assistance on this matter or any other, please get in touch with my office on 01726 829329 or email office@stevedouble.org.uk