Newspaper column 26 July 2023 - A weekend with our emergency services

 

After a busy time in Westminster over the last few months, Parliament has now risen for the Summer Recess. This means I will be spending the rest of July and August working in our constituency. I look forward to being out and about meeting with local people, businesses and community groups in order to understand what matters to you and how I can best represent you as your Member of Parliament.

Towards the end of last week it was good to spend time with members of our emergency services. Firstly, I met with representatives from the police, fire service and ambulance service to discuss the Tri Service Support Officer (TSSO) role.

TSSOs are jointly funded by the police, fire service via Cornwall Council and the NHS, and work across Cornwall. They are embedded in local communities and are available to respond to urgent needs across all three services. This often means a quicker response to help save lives, treat people, solve incidents, and reduce demand on Cornwall’s three emergency services.

There are currently 13 TSSOs across Cornwall including in St Dennis and Fowey, with more planned for our constituency in the months ahead.

As well as responding to urgent incidents, they also visit homes, businesses, community venues and care homes to provide support and advice, gather intelligence and be a visible presence in the community.

TSSOs also attended 604 police logs, responded to 493 ambulance calls, conducted 486 home risk reduction visits, and spent nearly 4000 hours on safeguarding activity.

Their presence also enabled fire engines to be available to respond to emergencies 1207 hours more than if they weren’t in post.

The emergency services are looking to continue growing the service in Cornwall, by increasing the number of Tri-Service officers to 20, with recruitment starting subject to obtaining the necessary funding before the end of 2023 and I will be doing all I can to support them in this.

Later in the day I went out with St Austell Police as an observer on the late shift. Thanks to PC Jo Holmes for allowing me to accompany her on patrol and see a wide variety of the actions that the police carry out over the course of a shift.

It's always enlightening to spend time with the Police, and it is important to ensure the Government gives them the tools they need to get the job done.

In April of this year the Government fulfilled its commitment to provide an additional 20,000 police officers nationally since 2019.

This included 600 more police officers for Devon and Cornwall, making it easier for our police force to crack down on crimes and be pro-active in tackling issues such as anti-social behaviour that I am often contacted about.

Alongside this, the Government’s Beating Crime Plan will deliver a safer Britain alongside record funding for our police, with a £17.2 billion policing budget for 2023–2024. This is alongside the Police, Crime, Sentencing, and Courts Act which is giving the police and courts the powers they need to tackle serious crime head on. The Government is also delivering its Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, backed by £100 million in funding, making our streets and neighbourhoods safer for women and girls.

Since 2010, crime excluding fraud has been cut by over 50 per cent – making our communities safer. Theft has been reduced by 20 per cent and domestic burglary by 30 per cent. The Government has also taken 90,000 knives off our streets through stop and search, surrender initiatives and targeted police action since 2019.

I will continue to work with our local police force to ensure they are fully represented, and with the Government as we give our police and court systems the powers and resources they need to fight crime and punish offenders appropriately.

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 19 July 2023 - Cleaning up our waters

The poor weather last week and over the weekend saw numerous alerts across our beaches as storm discharges occurred from the wastewater network.

As ever this will lead to people criticising the Government over their perceived lack of action in this area, despite these claims being very far from the truth.

We have a very antiquated sewage infrastructure across much of the country. Apart from anything else, if the outlets don’t discharge, they would be backing up and the contents would end up in peoples houses and businesses. And the discharges themselves are not a new thing – they have been going on for many years. What is new is that this Government is the first to actually grasp the problem and try to do something about it. The first step to doing something about it is to establish the scale of the problem, in order to be able to understand and deal with it, which is what we have done with the alerts. This now shows the scope of the problem, and it is now for the Government to work with the water industry to take practical and sensible steps to resolve it.

Part of this work is done by the Environment Agency, the body responsible for regulating water pollution. The Environment Agency produces an annual assessment of the environmental performance of all nine water and sewerage companies in England which includes star ratings for each company. Last week they published the latest set of annual results, which showed that South West Water improved its performance slightly, moving up to a 2-star company (from 1-star in 2021). The Environment Agency states that they hope this shows the start of a positive shift in culture under new leadership within the company. Yesterday I met with Susan Davy, CEO of the Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, about these results, and was clear that the Government will continue to apply robust regulation and conduct thorough performance reviews to ensure this momentum is maintained.

There is still much work to be done and I hope that this year South West Water will reduce pollutions further via focussed investment in infrastructure, applied learning from past mistakes and an improved data driven approach driven by the additional alert system put in place by the Government via the Environment Act.

Of course, while the increased monitoring and assessment of water companies such as South West Water appears to be getting things to head in the right direction, we still need to be able to take strong action to punish offenders when things go wrong.

Currently, the maximum variable monetary penalty that can be imposed for a wide range of environmental offences is capped at £250,000. This is not an effective deterrent for very large operators, such as water companies, as it may be cheaper for them to pay the penalty, or several penalties, than to solve the underlying issue.

This week the Government is putting legislation through Parliament that will remove the cap entirely to make the penalty unlimited, meaning that penalties can be proportionate to the degree of environmental harm and culpability and can act as a powerful deterrent.

The Government is also introducing unlimited variable monetary penalties as a civil sanction for offences under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, so in future the Environment Agency has all the tools it needs to change the behaviour of organisations who break the law.

There is always more to do when it comes to tackling the pollution of our seas and waterways. This is something I know is so important to our constituency and I will continue working locally and in Westminster to ensure the views of local people are represented and that the Government continues to do all it can to tackle this issue.

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 12 July 2023 - Childcare changes

One of the things raised most often with me, both by local parents and by childcare providers, has been the urgent need to reform the childcare system. The current model has often been described as a hindrance to helping parents get back into and continue in work, as well as difficult to deliver effectively by the many excellent local businesses and charities who do so.  

I was pleased to see the Chancellor recognise these issues earlier this year, with his Spring Budget Statement containing measures in this area which I have long campaigned for. These included reforms to childcare, in terms of additional government funded childcare for children under five, as well as increased hourly rates for nursery providers which will make it so much easier for parents to work, and also support the providers of this essential service.

Last week, I was pleased to see Cornwall given a key early role in the Government’s plans to deliver another priority announced in the Budget, its ambition for all parents of primary school aged children to access childcare in their local area between 8am and 6pm.

Cornwall Council is one of 16 local authorities from across England that has been selected to work with the government to develop plans for this universal provision, with some of these areas expected to be the first to rollout the wraparound care as early as summer 2024, with the provision expected to roll out to the rest of the country later in the year.

This is great news for Cornwall and I look forward to seeing Cornwall Council working with primary schools across our Duchy to deliver this provision early for the families and children that need it.

On top of this, the Government also confirmed last week that nurseries are set to receive a £204 million cash boost as part of the Government’s promise to deliver the largest ever investment in childcare.

Every area across the country is getting a share of the government funding which childcare providers can use to ease cost pressures such as staffing costs, training and other running costs.

The increase in funding will support the early years sector to deliver the biggest investment in childcare ever, and I am sure will have been welcomed by the early years settings across Mid Cornwall that I have met with about the changes that were needed in the past.

From April 2024, eligible working parents of two-year-olds will get a new offer of 15 government funded hours per week. From September 2024, eligible parents will get 15 government funded hours from nine months until their children start school, and from September 2025, they will get 30 government funded hours from nine months until the start of school.

Altogether, these reforms to childcare, along with additional changes to how childcare is taken into account for people in receipt of Universal Credit, and additional changes to the operation of childcare settings, will help with overall operation of the childcare system, removing significant barriers to support parents to return to work and help to grow the economy by making childcare more accessible to all.

Aside from this, I also wanted to touch upon the changes to ticket office provision proposed at various stations, including St Austell, by GWR last week. GWR have announced that as part of a national exercise, they are looking at potentially closing a number of ticket offices at railway stations around their rail network.

Under these proposals the ticket office staff at St Austell Station would be redeployed to different roles at the station, and the ticket office closed, within a year. GWR say that their plan is to redeploy ticket office staff to be more visible and accessible in the wider station and on platforms, to provide help, advice and information to all passengers.

GWR say this is because on average less than 15% of tickets are purchased from ticket offices at their stations. However their own figures show that in St Austell the numbers of people buying tickets from the ticket offices are more than double that.

GWR are consulting on their proposals for the next two weeks.

I am running my own survey on this issue, so you can let me know how often you use the ticket office at St Austell Station and what you think about these proposals, so I can feedback to GWR as the Member of Parliament on behalf of local people.

You can fill out my survey on the proposed changes at St Austell Station via the link on my website below:

https://www.stevedouble.org.uk/st-austell-station-survey

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 5 July 2023 - good news for lithium extraction in Cornwall!

Over recent years, Cornwall has increasingly become a leader in the UK in delivering sustainable energy and green industries.

Just recently we have seen, for example, the switching on of the Eden Geothermal plant, which harnesses the geothermal energy beneath our feet to power both the Eden Project and other associated infrastructure in a green and sustainable way.

Last week saw even more progress in Cornwall’s sustainable ambitions, with the announcement of a new joint venture partnership between Imerys Minerals and British Lithium to extract and process commercial battery grade lithium right here in Mid-Cornwall.

Cornwall of course, has a long history of mining. In the 19^th Century we were the silicon valley of the UK, leading the way in the extraction and production of materials needed to drive industry and the economy at the time.

In the 21^st century we are looking more than ever to a green and sustainable future – it is a necessity, and something that the Government takes very seriously, looking to end sales of new petrol and diesel cars to end in the UK by 2030.

Lithium is a major component in electric vehicle batteries, and as such is a highly sought out mineral, one of the most coveted in the world. Having a supply of it and the means to extract and process it in Cornwall, is a major boost, not just for our Duchy but for the UK, for which having one of the only available sources of lithium in this part of the world will be a strategic advantage, decreasing our dependence on other sources. As well as the implications nationally, there will of course be a significant benefit to our local economy, in terms of hundreds of well paid, highly skilled jobs, a real boost to our existing mining operations in this area, and just the sort of investment that we need.

One thing that has been raised with me in the past is around the potential environmental impact that lithium extract will have on our area, based on the significant works we have seen for the extraction of china clay and the similar way in which lithium is extracted in other places internationally. I am pleased to see that British Lithium have again innovated and have pioneered an extraction method for lithium which will keep environmental impact to a minimum, as well as typically operating at the bottom of existing china clay pits. This is really good news as it means that there should not be any major changes to the landscape beyond what we already have, and additional work to extract lithium will be taking place on brownfield sites that are already in use.

I look forward to seeing the partnership between British Lithium and Imerys evolve and develop and their operations to extract and process lithium start in Cornwall over the coming years.

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 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