stouravonmagazine.co.uk
14 New Stour & Avon, July 29, 2022
Political round-up
Opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publisher
Government staff massively underperforming The House of Commons has risen for the Summer Recess and on its return in September there will be a new Prime Minister. Let us hope that there is no crisis which requires Parliament to be recalled before then and that our civil servants use the interregnum to improve their performance in the delivery of key public services. My constituents should not have to tolerate the current chaos caused by record numbers of taxpayerfunded employees massively underperforming. As a believer in the use of Parliamentary questions as a means of holding the Government to account, the answers are sometimes revealing. One such example is this answer. ‘As of 30 June 2022, 275 patients in National Health Service hospitals in Dorset had
Christchurch & East Dorset CHRIS CHOPE MP waited for discharge for more than seven days following completion of hospital care’. This is a scandalous waste of NHS resources. The bed blocking creates the need for ambulances to be used as ‘de facto’ hospital beds. Their crews are then unable to respond to 999 calls. This misuse of hospital beds also results in the need for major
surgery cases to be cancelled. Despite all the talk of social care being integrated with health care, Dorset still seems to be in the dark ages. Is it any wonder that productivity in the NHS is still falling? The NHS is not alone in underperforming. Passport and immigration services and the administration of driving tests and issuance of driving licences are other examples. So also is the record backlog of cases awaiting trial. Delays in Land Searches, applications for Powers of Attorney and the grant of Probate are also frequently the subject of complaints. Constituents should not be having to contact their MPs in order to obtain levels of service which used to be taken for granted. n There is much talk about the impact of Net Zero on individuals but what about
businesses? ReidSteel is the largest private sector employer in Christchurch. It manufactures and supplies steel structures in the UK and across the world. It is dependent upon the UK having a strong domestic steel industry and has high regard for the excellent quality of British steel. But, like most serious businesses, ReidSteel needs long term regulatory certainty. When I intervened in the debate about a two-year extension of tariffs on some imports of steel I pointed out that it would be wrong for the Government to require British steel to comply with the Net Zero targets if the consequence is that their steel becomes too expensive for exporters such as ReidSteel to be able to compete in global markets. Let us hope that the new Prime Minister takes some action to address this.
We must nurture our wonderful rivers As national government is paralysed by the Conservative leadership contest, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on how our town and parish councils are getting on. Most of them toil away generating little attention nor controversy, completing the essential work of the upkeep of our towns and villages. Small allowances are available to councillors, although the hours most spend on parish or town activity would leave them at an hourly rate far below the minimum wage. They have an important role of statutory consultee on planning matters, but the decisions on what gets built and where are ultimately taken by the unitary authority in Dorchester. This often causes much consternation! Town and parish councils also set policy, in a limited fashion.
My Labour colleagues on Blandford town council are proposing a ‘motion for the ocean’ and I hope by the time this column is published, it will have been approved. The motion declares an urgent need for ocean recovery to help meet net zero targets. But crucially, it recognises that inland communities like those in the Stour and Avon valleys have an important role to play in ocean recovery as the custodians of the rivers, waterways and tributaries that run through our towns and villages on the way to the sea. There’s a call to support ocean recovery by embedding the protection and recovery of the River Stour in the Neighbourhood Plan as soon as possible. The motion also acknowledges the important role the River Stour has in our community
Dorset Labour GREG WILLIAMS in creating a shared sense of place and identity. The key point, to me, was the call to grow something called ‘ocean literacy and marine citizenship’ in Blandford Forum, through: Ensuring primary school-aged children in Blandford Forum are encouraged to engage with the River Stour first-hand
Promoting sustainable and equitable access to the River Stour through physical and digital experiences for all residents Embedding an understanding of the ‘source to sea’ approach and how all people, wherever they live, impact and are impacted by ocean health. Town councils may not have policy control over drainage (that’s Dorset) or single use plastics (that’s Westminster). But through adopting such clear goals and educating our children on the same, the quality of our waterways and oceans can be improved. We can also reconnect with our landscape in the process. Our waterways may not be the thoroughfares for trade and transport they once were, but they are still a resource to be nurtured and cherished.
