I hope you are well. This week has brought a number of developments that matter for our community and the country more widely. New figures show teacher numbers have fallen rather than risen, placing further pressure on schools, while long-promised defence plans continue to be delayed at a time of growing global instability. Taken together, it’s yet more evidence of a Government struggling to turn commitments into delivery.
Greg
FEATURED NEWS
NHS lay-offs could cost us millions
Labour announced its plan to abolish NHS England some time ago - but closing down any organisation comes with one big cost: redundancies. I asked the new - probably interim - Health Secretary how much taxpayer cash will be handed to outgoing staff, and whether he would simply rehire them in the Health Department. Unsurprisingly, he couldn’t answer.
A new SEND school in Haslemere?
The Royal School has sat dormant on Farnham Lane ever since Labour’s education tax closed it down.This comes as our area desperately needs more school capacity for SEND children. So I’ve written to the Education Secretary to see if she will support the Council to explore taking it on as a new SEND school.
Building a stronger, safer community
Safe neighbourhoods depend on what we each put into them, but our area also needs protection from harm. The Police play an enormous role in that. I’ve heard from residents who want to see improvements to local policing, from greater powers to more bobbies on the street. So I’ve launched a survey to hear more.
What do you think needs to change?
Key data is needed for grooming gang inquiry
I spoke in a debate on Monday afternoon about the deeply troubling national grooming gang scandal. There is a national inquiry - which is happening thanks to the Conservatives - but I argued that collecting more data on child sex offenders would help the inquiry deliver justice to the many victims who were targeted through these vile grooming networks.
WHAT MUST CHANGE AFTER THE MURDER OF HENRY NOWAK?
As I wrote in my letter to Home Secretary, anyone that has seen the recently released body-worn camera footage will have been deeply shaken by the events of the night of Henry’s murder. The appalling circumstances under which this tragedy occurred in Hampshire have, rightly, brought the conduct of the Police into question, and our laws under scrutiny.
Henry’s family have asked the country to respond with dignity - that was so unfairly stripped from him when he died. As Kemi Badenoch said, we must react with courage, not rage.
On Tuesday I wrote to Shabana Mahmood to set out my concerns, and explicitly called on the Government to set out how and when things will change, but importantly asked for a review of the specific legislative issues that led to a man, known to have a “weapons obsession”, come to have the 21cm knife used to murder Henry.
LABOUR IS DELETING PATIENTS FROM NHS WAITING LISTS
The Government removed more than 350,000 patients from NHS waiting lists in March - almost all of which hadn’t actually received any treatment. This comes as Britain has seen no net improvement in A&E waiting times, no net increase in GPs, junior doctors still striking and the worst April on record for 12-hour waits for treatment.
This is the reality of the pressure the NHS is under with Labour in power - despite what they promised before the election. There’s no surprise that they are just deleting patients off waiting lists to produce fake headlines that paint a very different picture to the one hundreds of thousands of people are facing.
Have you been removed from a waiting list without receiving treatment? Please get in touch and tell me more, so I can hold Labour to account.
THIS WEEK’S CASEWORK 'WINS’
Another busy week, with more constituents getting in touch about delays to their civil service pensions. I held a virtual meeting on Tuesday but came away without the concrete answers I was looking for - only that cases are being escalated. I have secured another meeting on Monday and will keep pushing until every single one of my constituents receives the pension they are owed.
Good news from the Churt Pavilion, where building works are on track. I was happy to support their grant funding bid, and the new kitchen should be finished in time for the fete next weekend.
I am also urgently chasing Thames Water over a serious issue at a constituent's property in Tilford, pressing Surrey County Council for updates on SEND cases, and waiting on a report about safety improvements at Hickley's Corner.
