Newspaper column 30 March 2022 - The Spring Statement

 

Last week people in living in Mid Cornwall were shown once again that they can count on the support of this Government to help them through hard times. 

We must, however, remember that as we emerge from the pandemic the aftermath of the once in a hundred year event will be felt for some time to come, and that the steps we are taking to sanction Putin for the continued war in Ukraine are also not cost free for us at home.

The biggest impact will be on the cost of living for working families and I understand it is a big concern for many people living in the constituency and rightly so.

Rest assured that this Government is constantly listening to people's needs and responding to new challenges. That is why last week the Chancellor announced a new package of measures, which will see the biggest cut to personal taxes in over a quarter of a century to support not only workers and employers, but also help the most vulnerable.

These steps include:

•           Immediately slashing fuel duty by 5p for only the second cut in twenty years, the largest ever cut across all fuel duty rates. Conservative governments have frozen fuel duty for twelve consecutive years, but in recognition of the unprecedented circumstances pushing up fuel prices, this Government has gone even further and will be saving on average, car drivers £100, van drivers £200, and HGV drivers £1,500 this year. Furthermore, 40 per cent of the cut will benefit businesses.

•           Doubling the Household Support Fund - money for councils to support vulnerable households - to £1 billion from April, which is expected to help 3 to 4 million vulnerable households.

•           Raising the threshold people earn before they pay National Insurance. From July, people will be able to earn £12,570 a year without paying a single penny of income tax or National Insurance, a £6 billion personal tax cut for 30 million people across the United Kingdom and a tax cut for employees worth over £330 a year. This is the largest increase in a basic rate threshold ever, and the largest single personal tax cut in a decade.

•           Around 70 per cent of all workers will also have their taxes cut by more than what they will pay through the levy to sustainably fund the NHS and social care.

•           Increasing the Employment Allowance to £5,000, a tax cut worth up to £1,000 for half a million small businesses.

The Chancellor also announced that in 2024, for the first time in sixteen years, the basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20% to 19%, a £5billion tax cut for over 30 million people.

I am pleased, but not surprised to see the Government recognise that it must once again do everything it can to help families in Mid Cornwall through these challenging times. 

I know that some people will say these measures don’t go far enough to help people. However, you only have to look at this Government’s response to the pandemic to see how far it will go to ensure people receive the help they need. This Government took unprecedented action to support families, individuals and businesses through the furlough scheme and others, saving millions of jobs and thousands of businesses.

The Government has also already taken steps to help with the cost of living which has included reducing the Universal Credit taper rate, increasing the National Living Wage, and launching the Household Support Fund to help the lowest-income households with their bills.

Earlier this year the Chancellor also announced the Energy Bills Rebate, which will help households across the constituency with £9billion of support measures, including a £200 ‘smoothing’ rebate on energy bills for households, a non-repayable £150 cash rebate for homes in Council Tax bands A-D, equivalent to 80% of all households, and providing Cornwall Council with a discretionary fund of nearly £150m to help lower income households in higher Council Tax bands.

However, we can’t just continue to spend without limits, and it is only because this Government is capable of making responsible decisions to fix our public finances that we can help people out when they need it the most.

As ever, if I can be of any further assistance, my office is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 9 March 2022 - St Piran's Day and more

The past week ended with St Piran’s Day, Cornwall’s day to celebrate our identity, heritage and history, and I will come back to what I got up to mark this occasion later in the column. Cornwall’s motto is ‘Onen hag oll’ (One and All), and this apt description of our community spirit was in evidence like never before in the past week as communities from across the Duchy rallied to support the people of Ukraine following the continued invasion of their country by the Putin regime.

In Mid-Cornwall residents came together to provide donations of items to help displaced Ukrainians and these items were collected in Newquay from where they will be dispatched to Poland. My office has been helping to enable a smooth journey across Europe. However, Poland has now asked for donations of items to cease, due to cost and logistical issues with transporting and distributing it.

People are of course very welcome to donate towards the disaster relief efforts and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), 15 leading UK aid charities, have launched their Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal. The Government will match pound-for-pound the public’s first £20 million and look to increase this over time. This is our largest ever aid-match contribution. You can donate via this link: https://donation.dec.org.uk/ukraine-humanitarian-appeal   

A huge thank you to everyone who has worked to mobilise this support from our constituency. Once again demonstrating the generosity and big heartedness of people in Cornwall.

Away from the Ukraine situation, last week was a busy one for me. On Monday along with my Cornish MP colleagues I met with the Health Secretary to discuss a variety of health issues that impact on Cornwall. In particular we discussed NHS dental care and waiting lists, which I recently conducted a survey on, as well as access to GP services, ambulance waiting times and the particular pressures that are on Treliske Hospital. It is always good to be able to feedback issues reported to me to the very top of Government and I look forward to doing all I can to working locally and in Westminster to resolve them.

Keeping Cornwall connected is also still top of my priority list and last week I caught up with senior officers from GWR, Network Rail and Cornwall Council in Parliament to discuss the latest updates on the return of the London night sleeper, the upgrade of the Newquay Station and the exciting proposals for the Mid Cornwall Metro direct service from Newquay to Falmouth.

I also attended a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) reception hosted by the Renewable Transport Fuel Association in Parliament. SAF is fuel produced from sustainable feedstocks (such as commercial waste or biomass) that can be used in commercial and civilian aircraft with the potential of reducing carbon emissions by up to 70%.

SAF will play a crucial role in making flying greener in the coming decades. The Government wants to see SAF make up 10% of aviation fuel by 2030 and is investing to support the fast-growing SAF industry, an excellent way to make this method of travel greener.

Finally, back to St Piran’s Day, and on Saturday I was delighted to join the World Pasty Championships at the Eden Project as a Pasty Judge. Well done to St Columb Major’s Cornish Premier Pasties who won both Gold and Silver in the Company Cornish Pasty category as well as to all of the other amateur and professional entrants for taking part. After having to celebrate St Piran’s Day virtually last year because of the pandemic, this year it was brilliant to see everyone celebrating together in person again, the sun shone and it was a brilliant showcase for everything Cornish, once again our ‘One and All’ motto serving us well, at times of celebration as well as at times of crisis.

If I can be of any further assistance, my office is always available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

 

Newspaper column 2 March 2022 - Ukraine

Last week the world woke up to the horrific events unfolding in Ukraine. Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has led to war returning to Europe after decades of peace.

This act of reckless aggression is not just an attack on Ukraine, but on democracy and freedom around the world and my thoughts and prayers are with the Ukrainian people at this terrible time.

The Kremlin’s indefensible actions in undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty have been condemned by the UK and our allies, NATO, and the EU.

The Prime Minister has made it clear that the UK will not stand back and watch the Russian invasion of a democratic country of 44 million entirely unprovoked and with no legal basis. Our Prime Minister and government have been taking a global lead in building a coalition of likeminded countries to stand united against the actions of the Russian leadership against an independent and sovereign country, whilst providing support to the government, military and people of Ukraine.

Boris Johnson is in regular contact with Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to assure him of the UK’s full support and the UK has set out an unprecedented package of sanctions, which show Putin that there will be severe, long-lasting consequences for his inexcusable actions.

The UK, in partnership with our international allies, has hit Russia with a wave of sanctions, which so far have included: starving the country of access to finance; expanding measures to prevent key goods and technologies from being exported to Putin’s regime; sanctioning over 100 more individuals and entities, including major bank and major defence sector organisations; and banning the Russian airline Aeroflot from our skies.

We need to be clear that our fight is not with the Russian people. Many of whom have made clear that they oppose the actions of their government. We need to take steps that will have the maximum impact on Putin and those that keep him in power and this is what we are seeking to do in our targeted approach. Putin and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have been hit directly by an assets freeze as part of the UK’s punishing sanctions to degrade the Russian Federation’s economy and military infrastructure.

A further package of military support to Ukraine is also being provided – on top of the support we have already provided – and will include lethal aid in the form of defensive weapons, and non-lethal aid such as body armour and helmets.

The UK is also in talks with our allies to ensure we have a coordinated response to prevent Russia from further undermining European stability.

Many have written to express their concerns over the displacement of Ukrainian refugees as a result of this conflict. I am pleased that the Home Secretary has confirmed to the House that a new humanitarian route enabling up to an additional 100,000 Ukrainians with family connections in the UK seeking safety and sanctuary here is already in operation. Home Office staff are working around the clock to prioritise the processing of Ukrainian applications and various requirements such as salary threshold have already been lowered. Where family members of British nationals or those with settled status do not meet lowered entry criteria but pass security checks, the Government will be going even further by offering them discretionary leave outside of the rules for 12 months. So far UK officials have already assisted hundreds of British nationals and their families in Ukraine to flee the conflict and this vital work continues.

We are also: Opening a new visa application centre for those applying for family migration to the UK; allowing Ukrainians to also apply through a visa application centre in nearby countries including Poland, Moldova, Romania and Hungary; enabling existing Ukrainian nationals in the UK to switch to the family visa or points based immigration route, free of charge; extending temporary visas in some sectors so Ukrainians can stay in the UK until December 2022.

I understand that invasion of Ukraine has left many of us feeling helpless and wondering what we can do to help. I am in discussions with local Cornwall councillors over how we can arrange a joined up and practical way to donate items.

In the meantime, you can donate via The British Red Cross which has launched a emergency appeal to help.

While we have seen some of the darkest days in recent history, we have also witnessed some extraordinary acts of bravery and heroism from the Ukrainian people, and I remain determined to do all I can to ensure they receive the support necessary to defend their country at this critical time.

If I can be of any further assistance, my office is always available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

 

Column 16 February 2022 - Changes to private parking rules

Last week saw the culmination of something which I have campaigned for over many years, as the Government published its new Code of Practice for private car park operators. These new measures will be very good news for motorists and go some way to reducing the number of Parking Charge Notices received.

Private car parks feature all around Mid-Cornwall, and there are many reputable and well-run local operations. But sadly, there are also others, often run by faceless national organisations, that behave poorly and often fine car park users for minor or accidental breaches. These firms can often be incredibly inflexible and officious in imposing strict and unclear terms and conditions and will not listen to reasonable points when genuine mistakes have been made.

I am regularly contacted by both visitors and local people who have been stung by these unfair charges. For residents, this can result in people being discouraged from parking in and using their town centres, and in the case of visitors, these experiences can ruin a holiday and lead to them not coming back to Cornwall in the future. Both cause ripple effects that impact on many other local businesses while the parking firms rake in the fines.

The Government’s changes in this area have been being planned for some time, understandably delayed by the pandemic but were announced last week and operators have until next year to apply them.  

I first supported them when they came forward as a Private Members Bill in 2018 and subsequently sat on the Bill Committee in Parliament where the government backed the bill, to ensure this legislation was given the detailed scrutiny and input that it deserved.

At the time, evidence showed that, private firms issued roughly 22,000 parking tickets every day, and parking firms were issuing almost 13 times more tickets than a decade ago. often adopting a system of misleading and confusing signage, aggressive debt collection and unreasonable fees designed to extort money from motorists.

In the face of this evidence, the Parking (Code of Practice) Act was subsequently passed by Parliament and became law in 2019, which meant the Government could then consult widely on the contents of its Code of Practice.

This in turn led to the announcement last week of the Parking Code of Practice

The Code includes a maximum cap for parking fines, a 10-minute grace period before a late fine can be issued, and a requirement for parking firms to clearly display pricing and terms and conditions.

In England outside of London and in Wales, charges will be reduced from £100 to £70 or £50, depending on the seriousness of the breach.

Private firms which breach the new Code could even be barred from collecting fines from motorists at all.

Currently, private parking firms are able to hide behind non-specific, pseudo-legal and aggressive language when pursuing motorists. The Code of Practice will provide new higher standards.

Firms which break these rules could be barred from requesting Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) data, making them unable to pursue motorists for their charges through the post.

A new, simpler appeals process is also being created, to make it easier for disputed fines to be cancelled.

This is an issue on which I have spent many years campaigning for change and it is pleasing to see the work I and other MPs have put in, bringing about real positive change at last.

I hope that these sensible and practical changes will provide better regulation for an industry that does need it and will reduce the number of miserable experiences that people have when they are unfairly fined when using private carparks both around Cornwall and across the UK in the future.

 

Newspaper column 9 February 2022 - Support for energy bills

Last week saw two important announcements for Cornwall.

The first was the Government’s Levelling Up White Paper and it was good to see Cornwall feature significantly in this.

But the announcement I want to focus on this week is the financial support for energy bills.

The cost of all energy, commodities and the cost of living has increased following the reopening of economies across the globe and I am aware of the impact this is having on household bills.

We must be honest that there are limited levers the government has to deal with these global problems. It is only our Government’s energy price caps that has kept electricity prices down to their current level. They would have been much higher, much sooner without it.

With that being said, the increases are now going to happen. Ofgem has confirmed that the energy price cap will rise by almost £700 per year from April.

Our Government has already taken steps to help which has included reducing the Universal Credit taper rate, which means those in work and on Universal Credit will keep up to £1,000 a year more of the money they earn, increasing the National Living Wage, freezing fuel duty for the twelfth year in a row, and launching a £500 million Household Support Fund to help the lowest-income households with their bills.

But we recognise that we must go further to help families with pressures from the increasing energy bills.

Along with my colleagues in Parliament I have been working with the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his Treasury team to explore ways in which the Government can help offset these rises.

Last Thursday I was pleased to see the Chancellor announce the Energy Bills Rebate, which will help households across the constituency with £9billion of support measures.

These measures include a £200 ‘smoothing’ rebate on energy bills for households, to be recovered over the next five years at £40 per year – starting from April 2023.

They will also see a £150 cash rebate for homes in Council Tax bands A-D,  which is 80% of all households, helping both lower and middle-income families.

Cornwall Council will also be provided with a discretionary fund of nearly £150m to help lower income households in higher Council Tax bands, and households in bands A-D who are exempt from Council Tax.

The Chancellor has also confirmed that he will expand eligibility for Warm Homes Discount by a third, so that 3 million vulnerable households will now benefit from that scheme which provides a further £140 reduction in bills.

Other political parties’ proposals are less generous and far slower to reach households – and they can’t pay for them.

Their plans are less generous for those not on benefits – hard-working, middle-income families. Most middle-income households – those who don’t receive means-tested benefits – would only benefit by £89 through temporarily removing VAT. But under this Government’s plans, middle-income households will benefit by £350, all households will receive the £200 smoothing rebate, and 80 per cent of households, excluding the wealthiest, will receive the £150 council tax rebate.

Our approach gets more help to those who need it most – and faster. The council tax rebate is worth £3.6 billion and reducing VAT would not be targeted meaning it would benefit wealthy households. The Chancellor’s Energy Bills Rebate focusses on all low and middle-income families – not just those who receive benefits.

This announcement is great news for people across the constituency, who have been concerned about the cost of living increases. As a firm believer that Government money should be distributed fairly, I am also delighted to have been given assurances from the Chancellor, who I spoke to before these measures were announced, that the council tax discounts will not apply to second home owners. 

As always, my office is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 19 January 2022 - Closing the second home tax loophole

I wanted to start this week’s column by commenting briefly on the various allegations around Covid-19 restriction breaches at Number Ten Downing Street. Like many people I have been concerned about these allegations. I completely understand the anger that many people feel when it appears that those working at the heart of government were not keeping to the rules they helped put in place.

The Prime Minister has done the right thing in apologising. There is an independent investigation led by a senior civil servant, Susan Gray, into these incidents that will hopefully get to the bottom of what actually went on. We expect the report from this investigation to be published in the coming days. I believe it is right and sensible to await this report. As such, until I have seen the report I will not be commenting further, rather than give a running commentary from the constant drip feeding of stories, which appears an orchestrated campaign by a former No10 employee (and others) with their own agenda, designed to create maximum uncertainty and damage.

However, it is clear that there needs to be significant changes in the culture of how Number 10 Downing Street is organised. Whatever the outcome there are important lessons to be learned. I am determined to ensure this happens.

 Away from this, last week I was delighted to see an issue I have campaigned on for several years, the loophole that some second home-owners have previously exploited to avoid paying any rates for their property, be resolved as the Government announced it will be closed.

To me, this issue has always been about fairness – everyone should pay the correct rates for their property, much as people who have businesses should not unfairly take advantage of services provided for householders, such as the domestic waste collection service. Apart from the fairness issue, businesses using domestic waste collection when they should not, will increase the cost of running these services for the council and potentially result in more costs via council tax rises to residents.

With all that being said, I have campaigned to reform the system and remove this loophole for some time. As much as some people might like to pretend otherwise, achieving change in matters such as this, which involve changes in primary legislation, are never quick or easy – there is no way around the scrutiny of legislation through Parliament and consultations which need to be held to make changes. The time it has taken to get them, since I first raised the issue in 2018, not forgetting the Brexit and Covid issues which have occupied Parliament during this time, is frustrating, but we have nonetheless now got there.

The changes, based on similar rules used by the devolved Welsh administration, which I suggested back in 2018, mean that in order to qualify as businesses, second home owners now need to show proof that they have actually let their property out for a portion of each year, rather than just saying they had advertised it to let, which was the case previously. This closes the loophole and is a good step forward in addressing some of the damage that an abundance of second homes can have for our Cornish communities.

There is a lot more to be done though. Critics have argued that this step, in isolation is not enough, and my response to that would be there is always more work being done behind the scenes in this area to improve things. For example another two areas where I have been working with Cornwall Council is around additional charges for council tax for second homes, and possible change of uses in planning permission, both of which would be helpful in different ways in lessening the impact of second homes in Cornwall. But it is part of a combined approach, with other measures such as the one I have mentioned above, that we will best support our Cornish communities and I remain committed to doing this both now and in the future, however long it takes for the changes to be made.

As always, my office is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk

Newspaper column 12 January 2022 - Celebrating community pharmacies

For this week’s column I wanted to highlight the excellent work of community pharmacies across Cornwall and also the new NHS services they are now providing. I am delighted to see that until the end of March, all pharmacies in Cornwall will be offering face to face consultations for a wide range of minor ailments. This is the first service of its kind in England. It follows a pilot scheme over the Christmas period where more than 90% of people that used the service had their symptoms successfully treated on site.

Patients can visit the pharmacy (without an appointment or referral from their GP), consult with the pharmacist in  a consultation room and receive NHS treatment if appropriate. A record of the service will be electronically sent to the patient’s GP for completeness. I welcome this latest initiative.

Throughout the pandemic there have been many organisations that have gone above and beyond in the fight against COVID-19. Pharmacies have been one of them - particularly in the testing regime and vaccine rollout. As a former chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pharmacies I know the impact and importance of our pharmacies both locally and country-wide. It was during my tenure as chair of this APPG that the whole issue of further utilising the qualifications, skills, and knowledge of pharmacists came up. It was well known that other countries have long since adopted this wider use. I raised this with ministers and am delighted to see the government introduce these new roles. From the early feedback already obtained, I am hopeful that the government will make this a permanent feature of our NHS.

For instance, they have distributed nearly 300 million lateral flow tests, which have been vital in our national effort of testing and tracing the virus. This is particularly the case in recent weeks, where testing has never been so important in helping key-workers stay at work, and the country running.

They have also delivered over 17million covid boosters, with community pharmacies supporting our NHS in running walk-in appointment-based vaccine clinics. I must give a special mention to Reeds Pharmacy, who have run regular walk-in clinics in St Austell, and helped thousands of local people get their booster in recent weeks. Thank you again.

Community pharmacies have also taken on additional services and responsibilities to support wider health services, including the Discharge Medicines Service, where NHS Trusts can refer patients who would benefit from extra guidance around new prescribed medicines to community pharmacies, with the aim of reducing avoidable harm from medicines and hospital readmissions. They have also been involved in initiatives during the pandemic, such as supporting victims of domestic abuse via the Ask for ANI (Action Needed Immediately) scheme.

It is brilliant to see Cornwall trail-blazing yet again with this rollout out of new NHS services available via community pharmacies. I encourage residents across Cornwall to take advantage of these new services over the winter months, and help relieve pressure on our NHS during this ongoing, exceptionally busy time.

As always, my office is available for any constituents needing help, advice or guidance. Please do get in touch if I can help – tel. 01726 829379, email – office@stevedouble.org.uk