Seeking Assurances from South West Water

I have been notified by South West Water that the South West region has been declared as being in a status of environmental drought.  However, I have been reassured that public water supplies will remain unaffected and we are in a good water resources position in the South West.

South West Water tell me that they foresee no need to apply for drought orders, permit or water restrictions affecting commercial and domestic customers this summer, which will be their sixteenth successive summer without such restrictions.  They say that their work in tackling leakage, transforming two china clay pits into reservoirs, upgrades to their distribution network and using less water in their own treatment processes, together with their customers using less water themselves, has all contributed to this good position. I will continue to press South West Water for further assurances as the situation develops.

Western Morning News Article on Computers in Education

Below is a link to an article I wrote for the Western Morning News earlier this year, on the importance of computers in education today:

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/learn-write-programs-ndash-just-play-games/story-14370040-detail/story.html

St. Petroc’s and the Winter Wellness Scheme

Most of my adult life I have volunteered with organisations providing help for homeless people. Before I was elected I cooked breakfasts with Truro Homeless Action Group and supported St Petroc’s fundraising. I also took part in the farce that was ‘the rough sleepers count’ - the process that ensured the true scale of the problem was hidden. I am proud to say that this farce ended with the new government. A better process has been put in place that has revealed the scale of the problem in Cornwall. Why is the rough sleepers count process important? Because based on the numbers, the Government provides specific funds to Cornwall Council to help homeless people, especially during the coldest winter months - £800,000 last year.

Last week I spent time with St Petroc’s understanding the extra help that their staff and over 350 volunteers were able to provide over the past winter. St Petroc’s have many years of experience helping homeless people in Cornwall. I also hard about the support they receive from local businesses and the important role this newspaper and other local media played to raising awareness of the problems faced by homeless people in Cornwall.

Just a small amount of the money that Cornwall Council received was given to St Petroc’s and their partners and yet they achieved significant results with people being helped into accommodation and a healthier future.

I am looking forward to reading a full report of how Cornwall Council spent the rest of the £800,000 and the lessons learned from the past winter as well as planned future actions. Helping rough sleepers is one part of a bigger housing problem. Tackling the legacy of chronic housing shortages in Cornwall and the complex web of social problems that often lead to homelessness is not easy work and will take determined and consistent effort. Few things can be more important for us all than trying to enable people, families, communities and the agencies of government, at all levels, to support each other and the most vulnerable people in our community, those in need of a decent home.

I also joined the summit reviewing Cornwall’s Winter Wellness Campaign. Cornwall Council successfully bid for a grant of £130,000 from the Department of Health to enable a wide range of organisations from the NHS to Social Services, care providers and voluntary organisations to come together and provide joined-up help for people suffering from the cold. Direct financial assistance has been provided to those living in cold homes unable to heat them, as well as advice and information on how to obtain free insulation and benefits. Donations given to Cornwall Community Foundation were also used and overall the campaign helped many people to have warm homes over the last winter. Over 5,000 ‘How to Save Money on your Fuel Bills’ booklets produced by my office have also been distributed. I am very hopeful that these organisations will continue to work together so more people have warm homes and save money on their heating bills going forward.

Welcoming my youngest constituents in Parliament

Below are some photographs of pupils from Shortlanesend and Cusgarne School who recently visited me in Parliament.  I always enjoy welcoming my youngest constituents to Westminster and answering their questions – which are always the most difficult and unexpected!

Apprenticeship Event with Lee McQueen

I was delighted to recently be part of the panel at Truro College’s Apprenticeship Event on 29 March, working alongside local businesses, as well as the National Apprenticeship Service and Jobcentre Plus, to publicise some of the great things currently going on with Apprenticeships in Cornwall.

Truro College’s press release from this event is below:

‘A major Apprenticeship event at Truro and Penwith College featured The Apprentice winner Lee McQueen who gave a fast paced and motivational speech at the largest Apprenticeship event in Cornwall. This special meeting of the college’s Cornwall Business Club was compered by Daphne Skinnard from BBC Radio Cornwall.   Over 180 business people from all over the county attended the event held at Truro College’s Fal Building.  Appropriately, Apprentices organised and hosted the evening, with 12 Apprentices studying their Professional Cookery framework at The Seafood Restaurant making and serving fabulous canapés. 

Truro and Penwith College, Cornwall Works, National Apprenticeships Scheme and Jobcentre Plus planned the event to showcase Apprenticeships and to reach out to Cornwall businesses, encouraging them to employ an apprentice.  Lee McQueen confirmed the need to give young people opportunities and to encourage talent. He shared his experiences of starting out with two jobs to earn enough money for a mortgage rather than paying rent.  His determination to work hard led to his learning a trade first in catering and later as a ‘Resourcer’ in the recruitment business. He gave up his £32M turnover business to work as Sir Alan Sugar’s apprentice. McQueen attributed his success in winning The Apprentice to the straightforward philosophy which leads to success in any business: “ Work together as a team, work hard as a team, and win as a team”.   

A panel of key influencers were there for a question and answer session, including MP Sarah Newton, Michael Rabone HR Manager at The Seafood Restaurant and Apprentice Ambassador, Helen France Head of Business Development - National Apprenticeship Service, Sally Wilson Learning and Development Manager, Cornwall Foundation Trust and Apprentice Ambassador, Rachel Jones, Fit and Fun Kids and Leading Women Network, Paul Masters Assistant Chief Executive Cornwall County Council, Carolyn Webster European Programme and Partnership Manager Jobcentre Plus, Mark Yeoman, Convergence Partnership and David Walrond, Principal of Truro and Penwith College.

The economic benefits of taking on Apprenticeships were reinforced by Michael Rabone, Sally Wilson and Rachel Jones who all employ Apprentices as part of their HR strategy, bringing dynamism, commitment and energy into their companies.

The advice, information and new government initiative designed to encourage higher employment; particularly within the 16-24 age group was reviewed.  David Walrond spoke of the crucial partnership between employer, learner and trainer to ensure that both businesses and apprentices gained long term and sustainable benefits. Work experience for young people was also debated, with McQueen explaining that in his recruitment business he is looking for the right attitude in people and his belief that the attitude for work often starts at home.  The panel fielded questions on how employers could get involved, the value of work placements for young people in Year 11, support available for businesses taking on Apprentices for the first time and many others.

David Walrond Principal of Truro and Penwith College commented on the evening:

“It was a great success in terms of the levels of interest and engagement from businesses and the quality of the discussions, including the many informal networking conversations that surrounded the presentations. We want more and more businesses to take on board the idea of employing apprentices and the feedback from this evening is really encouraging. There were serious messages to communicate but we wanted this to be an enjoyable occasion too, and the feedback in that regard was equally positive. We are very grateful to Michael Rabone and his team for their efficient and highly professional organisation and catering. Having the apprentices so successfully involved in running things meant that the event itself became powerful proof of what can be achieved through offering and serving apprenticeships.” 

A Busy and Varied Week

Last Monday I met with Danny Alexander the First Secretary to the Treasury and David Gauke Treasury Minister to pass on the considerable concerns of my constituents regarding the proposed ‘pasty tax’. These proposals are out for consultation until 4th May. I will be joining colleagues in making further representations to the Treasury in Parliament after the Easter recess.

My campaign to tackle the unfair fuel prices we are paying at the pumps, by asking the Office of Fair Trading to undertake an investigation,  is gathering momentum.

I feel that there is an urgent need for such an investigation to take place. The price of petrol in rural parts of the UK can now be up to five pence more expensive per litre than petrol sold in urban areas. I am well aware of the impact such high prices are having upon the finances of my constituents, who are often dependent upon cars to access work, school and public services. Local businesses, often with long supply chains which are road-based, are being hit as well.

I will be working with the Countryside Alliance and a range of my parliamentary colleagues to persuade Ministers that the particularly high fuel prices paid by rural motorists needs to be look at, to ensure that the regional fuel market is functioning fairly and competitively.

My  e-petition on the Government website e-petitions direct has also be launched, calling on Ministers to refer these high prices to the Office of Fair Trading. This e-petition can be accessed by visiting www. epetitions.direct.gov.uk   and searching for ‘Refer rural fuel prices to the OFT’.

On Tuesday, I joined the debate on Assisted Suicide. Many constituents had asked me to join the debate on this controversial subject that had not been debated for nearly 20 years. There were more MPs wanting to speak than the time allowed so while I couldn’t speak the wide range of opinions expressed by my constituents were covered. This debate was enabled by reforms made in the last Parliament to ‘clean-up politics’. In this Parliament there are new opportunities for back bench MPs to secure debates that are important to their constituents and the nation that the Government don’t make time for. This reform has been welcomed by many as have other changes to ‘clean up politics’ such as the open reporting of the cost of MPs.

The next urgently needed reform in the process of ‘cleaning up politics’ is how parties are funded. I am pleased that last week, Nick Clegg started the process he is leading to work with all political parties to find a new and better way of fund raising. As Nick Clegg so rightly said; “No politicians can claim the moral high ground on party funding. Every party has been tainted by funding scandals and mine is no different. Unless we reform our discredited and distrusted system of party funding, we may never restore that public confidence and trust that is the lifeblood of our democracy.”

Falmouth Energy Partnership Launch

I was delighted to be able to attend the Falmouth Energy Partnership (FEP) Launch event on 28 March.  The link below is a summary of the event and shows some of the important work that FEP are doing.

http://falmouthalive.org.uk/pg/blog/read/1142/fal-energy-partnership-pres