HEALTH
As the provision of healthcare services by the Government is obviously one of great concern, I therefore closely monitor developments in this area to ensure that the people of the Vale of York always benefit. In particular, I would like the health providers to acknowledge and recognise that we are a large, rural and sparsely populated County.
I recently met Chief Executive, Dr Janet Soo-Chung of North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust to discuss the current financial position of the PCT. I was briefed on the plans for financial recovery that have recently been put forward and their implications for Constituents in the Vale of York.
The funding must be based on clinical need not a postcode lottery. The fact that we are being funded below the national average, means we are losing out on £70 million which could be spent on front line patient care in North Yorkshire.
As David Cameron has recently established, the NHS is the Conservatives’ number one priority. It is vital that my constituents receive the front line clinical services they require. I discussed with Dr Soo-Chung the practical implications of the plans she is putting in place and was assured that whereupon tough decisions have been made, including in some cases suspension of services, they are only temporary measures. I will continue to monitor the situation very closely and push for a return to full services as soon as possible.
Conservatives have long been concerned with the issue of funding problems in the NHS and have drafted recent proposals including a pledge to abolish targets and to refocus the NHS on the issue of clinical need. I believe these are positive ideas and I hope that by working with the Chief Executive we can find solutions to the problems facing North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust.
POST OFFICE CLOSURES
Sub-post offices have been let down by the Government. This Government has presided over the largest ever annual closures of sub-post offices. There is grave concern at plans to close 2,500 Post Offices across the country, on top of the 4,000 already shut since 1999. The Vale of York alone has lost 19 branches and further cuts could potentially mean that up to 36 more could shut their doors.
The Government announced that there will be a further 2,500 sub-post office closures, a decision which is based on how many post offices the Government think that they can get away with closing, rather than on a real business case or on an understanding of what the consumers want and need. The Government’s vision is to have fewer sub-post offices, providing fewer services to fewer people and I am concerned that this will affect the most vulnerable across the country.
The Conservatives believe that the Government have not adequately addressed the requirements of the Post Office network. In my response to recent Department of Trade and Industry consultation, I made it clear that the Government’s preference for subsidies over the need for additional business opportunities for the individual offices is unsustainable. Indeed, they are attempting to manage the decline of the Post Office network rather than provide a platform from which postmasters can launch sustainable business models.
The Government has failed to acknowledge the importance of the Post Office to those living in rural areas or the difficulties vulnerable groups have in accessing what is often the centre point of the community. The rural post office provides a social service and focal point for village life. The Government simply fails to recognise this fact.
Under Conservative plans, we would support local branches by:
• encouraging local councils to consider opening ‘council counters’ in local branches;
• giving sub-post offices greater freedom to offer a wider range of commercial products; and
• pushing for more post offices to be ‘one stop shops’ for central Government services.
I am grateful for the many letters of support from constituents in regard to their local branches, and rest assured I am continuing to campaign for the future of all Post Office branches in the Vale of York.
THIRSK FLOOD SCHEME
Thirsk has been flooded twice in the last five years, which has created serious implications for the local residents and businesses when trying to obtain insurance cover. Anne feels that it is totally unacceptable for this issue not to have been effectively tackled.
Over the last seven years, Anne has lobbied both the Environment Agency and the Secretary of State for the Environment to impress upon them the urgency of a flood alleviation scheme in Thirsk. There have been numerous delays over a such a scheme, mostly due to a severe shortage of funding experienced by the Environment Agency’s budget. Funding has been slashed because of the substantial fines imposed by the EU for delays in Single Farm Payments. There was, therefore, great disappointment in February 2007 when the Environment Agency announced the Thirsk Flood Alleviation Scheme would not be reconsidered until at least 2010.
In April 2007, the rules changed for funding for the Rural Development Fund and this has given fresh hope for the possibility that Flood Alleviation Schemes may now qualify for funding. Anne has, therefore, written to David Miliband, Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and also the Environment Agency to ask them what these new rules will mean for flood prevention schemes, how much money would be available and whether Thirsk may now be eligible sooner to apply for such funding to creates a Flood Alleviation Scheme.
The Environment Agency has informed Anne that these funds are available to farmers and land managers via DEFRA’s Environmental Stewardship Scheme, administered by Natural England in return for delivery of environmental benefits.
SINGLE FARM PAYMENTS
There have been numerous delays and problems facing many farmers in North Yorkshire accessing their Single Farm Payments both for last year and this year, which the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Government seem to have done very little to resolve.
Local farmers are unable to plan a budget without knowing when their payment will be made. The fact that their budget is under threat and being stretched because of Government incompetence is unacceptable. The Environment Agency has also raided its budget in order to pay the substantial fines imposed by the EU for delays in these Single Farm Payments. This in turn has had serious implications for other important rural issues such as flood alleviation schemes (see earlier). It would seem the whole scheme has been a complete “fiasco.”
Anne has therefore been in constant touch with David Miliband, Secretary of State for DEFRA, and the Rural Payments Agency to call upon the Government to address the many delays in issuing Single Farm Payments and to ensure such payments are paid as soon as possible.
NURSERIES
When I was Shadow Minister for Children, Young People and Families, I actively supported the Save Our Nurseries Campaign, which was set up to fight the Government’s ideological opposition to mixed economy provision in the nursery sector.
Since April 2004 all three and four year olds have been entitled to a free, part-time early education place. This was introduced on the basis that two good years of early education can boost development by up to six months at the age of five. 96% of children have taken the free entitlement up. Free places can be provided by a variety of providers in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent (PVI) sectors including pre-schools, playgroups and registered childminder networks.
The 2006 Code of Practice requires that the minimum free entitlement of 12.5 hours per week will be extended from 33 to 38 weeks of the year. Crucially, it states no top-up fee can be charged for the two and a half hours of free entitlement, even if the funding does not cover the actual cost of delivering two and a half hours of free entitlement. This is the crux of the issue: for many PVI providers, the entitlement does not cover the cost of delivering the place, and so have been charging a top up fee to cover the shortfall.
This issue is of crucial importance, as many excellent private, voluntary and independent nurseries across the country, and in North Yorkshire, face closure, as a result of the way in which the Government is implementing free early years education places for three and four year olds. I am extremely concerned that the effect of Government over-regulation, Sure Start Children’s Centres, and ideological opposition to mixed economy provision in nursery education, is threatening many private, voluntary and independent nurseries with closure. Extended maternity leave and higher staff costs are also having an impact.
I want to see the widest possible provision of childcare available to all families, which is affordable, sustainable, fair and competitive. Conservatives are committed to a mixed economy in the provision of nurseries. This is currently not the case - there is not a level playing field among nursery providers, and the financial pressure on private, voluntary and independent sectors is unsustainable. Maintained nurseries and Sure Start Children’s Centres located within schools are not eligible to pay business rates, while private, voluntary and independent nurseries located within a school have to pay Ofsted Inspection rates, VAT and business rates. This is causing concern to these providers who cannot hope to compete with the expensive costs of running a business against others who do not.
I am having regular meetings with various providers in the nursery, day-care and pre-school sectors to help galvanise support and raise awareness of this issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me regarding this issue either as parent or provider, if you have concerns or further questions on this issue.
