Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

Some constituents have written to me and raised worries and questions about the UK response to ebola. I attended the Statement by Mr Hunt on Monday, when he dealt with the issues people have been asking about.

He confirmed that they are changing the procedures for handling a returning health worker who says at the airport on arrival in the UK they are concerned about their health, though they are not experiencing at that stage a high temperature.  A review is being conducted of all the procedures adopted to protect healthworkers in the field, to see if there is a weakness that needs eliminating. He is also inspecting the facilities and examining staffing levels for screening returners in the light of recent criticisms made.

The government in conjunction with Wellcome Trust is spending on ebola vaccination research and development. They are seeking to speed up this process given the urgency of the problem.

Over the holiday period I posted the details of how a rail traveller could   apply for compensation if they had been disrupted by the overrun of engineering works during the holiday period. Yesterday I attended the Statement by the Transport Secretary on this matter. I asked for confirmation that compensation would be paid where people could show they had been adversely affected, which he gave. I asked him to take further steps to improve the efficiency and value for money of Network Rail, as it is clear this big spending nationalised business performed badly in recent weeks. The Secretary fop State apologised on their behalf and agreed they needed to improve engineering scheduling and performance, improve back up and contingency plans, and ensure a proper flow of information to travellers when things do go wrong.

I am grateful to the readers of Conservative Home for voting me their Conservative Parliamentarian of the Year, with 37% of the vote. Penny Mordaunt came second with 21%.

First Group have let me know they are sorry that overrunning engineering works prevented them from running the promised services on Saturday. They adapted the services when they found out they were  not getting rail access to Paddington back at the specified time early on Saturday. They are also willing to compensate people for loss where passengers were not able to undertake the journey they had paid for.  As the train operators explains, they can run a sensible timetable adapted for engineering works, but they do need to be able to rely on the start and end times for these works, and need proper notification of any changes to plans.  There is now to be an enquiry into these difficulties caused by Network Rail. Passengers can contact if they have points they wish to make.

In recent years the most pressing demand I have heard on the doorsteps in the West Berkshire part of my constituency is the need for more road repairs. There are too many potholes and collapsed road edges.

I and others have pressed this government to make money available to catch up with the large accumulated backlog of repairs that has resulted from years of too little maintenance. We now have heard that there will be substantial sums made available for Councils to do their job in the next 6 years, starting next year.

West Berkshire will receive £4.314 million next year, and £22.52 m over the six year period. Wokingham, with a smaller geographical area to cover, will receive £2.655 m next year, and £13.859 m over the six years.

I attended the Christmas party for Building for the future in Toutley Road on Thursday evening.

The new building is superb with great facilities for disabled children and their families. First founded in 2007, the charity has moved into the new p[remises and done a wonderful job equipping them for play, relaxation, and the provision of mutual support between families with caring responsibilities.

I congratulated all involved with establishing, expanding and supporting this welcome initiative to help disabled children in the Borough.

When the Post Office introduced a new computer system for its sub post offices there was a sudden rash of cases of accounting difficulties, with more cases of alleged false accounting. This resulted in difficulties for some postmasters and their businesses. Many have said that the system was at fault, or the training and explanation of the system was insufficient, and have sought review and mediation of their disputes with the Post Office.

A group of MPs led by James Arbuthnot has taken up this issue with the Post Office and urged it to seek to sort out these worrying cases. I attended the debate in Westminster Hall on Wednesday, thanked James for his work on this, supported the work he has been doing and urged the Post Office to apologise and compensate where it is established that no false accounting or fraud was taking place.

This Christmas we will hear more of the extraordinary events 100 years ago. In the midst of the most merciless and death soaked war the world has ever witnessed, the soldiers of the UK and Germany in various places along the front organised informal truces. They sang carols for themselves and for each other. They exchanged coat buttons, tobacco and other rations. They swapped addresses and talked of home.
We know that the senior officers were appalled, and issued instructions for the troops to maintain a hostile purpose and aggressive stance to the enemy. We know that some at home were also alarmed by the outbreak of fraternisation. Most of us today see these events as the triumph of the spirit of peace and commonsense over the evils of war. Others still are disturbed by the break down of military discipline. The UK high command wisely decided not to take action against the units who had disobeyed orders by trying to make trench life just a little more bearable for a few hours over Christmas. The tragedy of the Great War is a reminder of our current good fortune not to be engaged in a major conflict.
Today we have our problems, which many of us are impatient to tackle. Today’s suffering for many who need our help is different from the mass suffering of our troops and the anxiety and grief of their families in 1914. As Christmas approaches we can all do a bit more to help the lonely, assist the incapacitated, bring some joy into the lives of those who suffer from low incomes, poor opportunity or disability.
I would like to thank all who work so hard to provide good services for our local community, and especially to those who provide for us over the Christmas period itself.
All can take heart from the great Christmas stories, revel in the pantomimes and Christmas tales, see old and new favourite Christmas films, and join in the carols and local events that mark this time of giving and celebrating. For me Christmas begins when the Mayor switches on the Christmas lights and we sing our first carols of the year in the Marketplace. It takes off when I hear the choirs of our local primary schools performing along to the music of the Berkshire Maestros.
Young and old, children and parents can all take pleasure in the magic of Christmas. The lights, the decorations, the Christmas trees, the great displays in the shops conjure up the images of Santa and thoughts of fun and relaxation. Dasher, Dancer, Prancer,and Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen the reindeer add that touch of exotic mystery to the story. May this Christmas bring some good cheer and rest to you and your family.

Settled communities are often understandably apprehensive about too much new development. One of the reasons is the fear that the arrival of new homes places strains on schools, surgeries, roadspace and public transport. These facilities need to be improved and expanded if new homes are going to be built.

In part recognition of this the present government offers new homes bonus payments to a Council allowing new housebuilding to take place. The sums are paid for 6 years following completion of the new dwellings. The Minister Brandon Lewis has recently written to me to bring me up to date with the money involved for 2015-16.

For 2015-16 Wokingham receives a bonus of £3,426,328, taking the total to £9,661,854. West Berkshire receives £3,062,256, taking the total to £8,144,500.

The government announced the money for our local NHS yesterday for next year. Wokingham CCG received an increase of 7.29%, taking the total available for local health services to £160 million. The Thames Valley as a whole got an increase of 6.6%, taking the total to £2195 million.

These are large sums of money which I hope will enable the local NHS to provide a good service and cope with increased demand. The sums reflect the government’s decisions to allocate an extra £2bn to the NHS in 2015-16, and their wish to give larger increases in money to the worst funded parts of the country. All CCGs in England received an increase ahead of inflation, but those with lowest per capita funding and with the worst demand pressures were given higher real increases.