16/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Has the civil service been muzzled, or are they deliberately letting Gordon’s daft ideas see the light of day?

Another week, another daft idea for a new tax.  This week it is the Government consultation proposing all dog owners pay a compulsory levy for their dog.  Whilst introduced under the guise of clamping down on dangerous dogs, it has the crazy logic that owners of poodles and chihuahuas would pay the tax but owners of fighting dogs like pitbulls would not (as they are already banned and so not subject to the levy).

It reminds me of watching Yes Minister, only Sir Humphrey has not bothered to intervene.  Gordon has pushed on regardless. Does he really think thugs using a dog as a weapon is really going pay this levy?

There are over 600,000 homes with dogs in the East of England alone.  Even Darcy, the trainee guide dog for the blind would be subject to a levy.  This will not stop the 100 cases every week in England of people sent to hospital because of dog attacks.

We should give the police and councils powers to tackle dangerous dogs through Dog Control Notices, so we target the minority who behave badly, not the quiet majority who are responsible.  This tax will instead disproportionately target the majority of responsible dog owners.  As ever, Gordon Brown sees tax as the solution to every problem.

Posted in Cats & Dogs, Labour Failure | No Comments »

15/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The Conservatives have taken a lot of flack over Lord Ashcroft, and the Lib Dems have still not paid back the £2.4 million from the convicted fraudster Michael Brown who used to be their biggest donor.  But the extent of the trade union funding and influence over Labour is now deeply disturbing, and questions how independently they will be able to act if elected.

The facts speak for themselves:

- £11 million in donations to Labour from the Unite trade union over the last four years, a quarter of all Labour funds;
- More than 100 Labour MPs are members of Unite;
- 59 Labour Parliamentary Candidates are members of Unite, including 8 who were Unite staff or officers;
- 25 Labour Peers are members of Unite;
- Unite’s Political Director is Gordon Brown’s ex spin doctor.

Many  senior Labour people themselves are now concerned at the extent of this influence.  Former Labour General Secretary Peter Watt has recently said: “It is fair to describe the Labour Party as the political wing of Unite”.

Even the Labour Parliamentary Candidate in North East Cambridgeshire is a member of Unite.  I suspect those in the Labour Party outside the grip of the trade unions will be feeling pretty isolated.  So farewell to New Labour.

Posted in Trade Unions, Labour Failure | No Comments »

14/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

A chance this week-end to catch up with Graham Chappell, who has done such a superb job to keep momentum going on this important issue. For those not already well aware of the campaign, the Fenland Road Safety campaign started following the tragic death of 9 year old Charlotte Walker on the Sixteen Foot bank and aims to mitigate accidents on Fen roads adjacent to water.

I am always greatly impressed by Graham’s commitment and energy, and it is good to get an update from him.  Progress has been made with speed cameras on the forty foot and rumble strips on the sixteen foot, and Graham himself has raised over £2,500 towards barrier work.  If the Conservatives win the General Election, we have a commitment from our Shadow Roads Minister Robert Goodwill MP that he will visit to see the issue first hand.

Bedlam Bridge is the most pressing area for a barrier, as it is a sharp turn when travelling from Christchurch towards March if the road has not been gritted in icy conditions.  Graham estimates it will cost £8,000 for barriers there.  When the Government is spending over £1 billion a week on debt interest, it seems odd that they cannot help fund road safety schemes.  Perhaps we can have a few less Government television and radio adverts, and use the money where it will make a real difference.

Posted in Fenland Road Safety | No Comments »

13/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

I had an interesting meeting in Wisbech with the Family Nurse Partnership, which is a pilot programme to help those who are 19 years or younger and having their first child. I was greatly impressed with the experience and positive outlook of the team, and it will be good to go back later in the pilot and hear more.

The pilot has been running since January and will be reviewed towards the end of this year by the Primary Care Trust. Each family nurse will see up to 25 families, initially weekly and then every other week up to 21 weeks after the baby is born. During what is a challenging and anxious time for all new parents, the experience of this team will be a great support.

This sort of pilot fits with the Conservative health priority to have more health visitors, as part of our commitment to guarantee to increase NHS funding. Many health visitors will retire soon, and they are already in short supply which puts more pressure on the remaining staff.

The meeting was also a chance to address a Labour lie. Some Labour MPs have falsely stated that the Conservatives would stop Sure Start.  This is not true, and it was good to put the record straight.

Chatting with those working at the sharp end of the NHS also often highlights stories of money being wasted.  Today was no different.  One area is multiple prescriptions which are often not reviewed for long periods.  Something for me to follow up.

Posted in Family Nurse Partnership, NHS | No Comments »

12/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Building on the day spent with Marc Hedding, who as Chairman of the Wimblington Internal Drainage Board gave me a hands-on insight on drainage issues a fortnight ago, I spent most of the day today with Russell Wright who is the Clerk to no less than five internal drainage boards at the Whittlesey end of the constituency.  Whittlesey Internal Drainage Board alone covers over 100 miles of water courses, which gives you a sense of why I regard this issue as so important to our community.

Russell was fascinating to listen to, with a deep practical knowledge of how we best protect this area from the risk of flooding.  The Government’s obsession with one size fits all means they are trying to merge drainage boards so they have at least £500,000 income, pay for an office staffed 9am to 5.30pm (as if flooding only happens in office hours), a chief executive with a legal or finance qualification, a finance director, and a whole load of other costs like a computerised rating (although no one seems to know what this is!).  By contrast, Russell works part time from home, has no office costs, is on call at any time including week-ends when there is heavy rainfall, and works in tandem with local farmers who volunteer their time for free.

Once again Labour are seeking to add regulation and cost to a system that works well now.  It might be that some of the internal drainage boards should and will merge, but in my view this should be organic and driven from the boards themselves, rather than imposed from Whitehall in a top down process. The admin costs of the smaller internal drainage boards are often around 12% in non election years, lower than the admin costs of some large boards (one board with an
income over £1 million currently runs at over 20% admin due to their office costs).  So the government position that a larger board “is a robust indicator of…..required management and technical capacity” is misplaced.

Not all that the current government has done on this issue is bad.  The Pitt Review recommendation of an asset register strikes me as a positive step forward.  One of the problems I have found in the past, such as with the flooding to homes in Delph ward, is the lack of up to date records as to who is responsible for what between Anglia Water, Fenland District Council, County Council Highways, the Environment Agency, and the Middle Level Commission.  However I am concerned whether the County Council will have the resources to lead effectively given the resource pressures from the Government’s underfunding, and the demands in other areas like child protection.  Will the Environment Agency release funding to County Councils?

It also is surprising that planning permission continues to be given so that building work starts before adequate drainage is agreed.  Drainage boards are not consultees on planning, even if they do comment.  My fear is that with a building then complete, the pressure is increased for a fudge on drainage, rather than getting the right solution before building work begins. For example planning went ahead on Gaul Road in March for 135 houses even though this was opposed by the Middle Level Commission.

Increased development is clearly putting extra pressure on the system, and so too are environmental concerns.  There is the reluctance to dredge rivers in certain areas because of environmental concerns, such as to protect voles.  The drainage boards themselves have issues to address, such as succession planning and cover for key staff.

Notwithstanding these challenges, none of the areas of the UK with internal drainage boards flooded last year, in contrast to many other parts of the country.  The Middle Level is unique, as the only part of the country which pumps water twice.  Internal Drainage Boards play a key role in protecting the Fen landscape.  They are staffed by people with practical experience on the ground not stuck behind desks.  Labour should leave them alone.

Posted in Drainage Board, Wimblington, Labour Failure, Whittlesey | No Comments »

10/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The Labour Government’s top down approach to planning risks serious traffic problems in Whittlesey.  A plan has just been submitted for 460 homes on Feldale fields as you come into Whittlesey from Eastrea.  We need significant improvements to the transport infastruture of Whittlesey before another major housing development is considered. 

This proposed scheme would mean up to a thousand extra cars, most of which will travel into Peterborough along the A605.  This road is already congested at peak times.  Some cars will also travel onto Drybread Road and past the Alderman Jacobs school. Few trains stop at Whittlesea station with most passing straight through, and Network Rail has no plans to extend the platform and encourage more trains to stop locally.

Whittlesey also has issues with flooding, and such a major development will put further pressure even without the potentially added risks we hear about from climate scientists.

Cllr Martin Curtis is leading the fight against this development, and has set up a facebook site to gather local views.  If you agree that this planning development would be bad news for Whittlesey, please add your support at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=384643594767

Posted in Labour Failure, Whittlesey | No Comments »

08/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

On the 25th September I blogged that the Labour Government would sign a number of contracts at the 11th hour, which would prove to be poor value.  “I suspect we will see a surge in last minute Government contracts being signed early next year before the General Election”.  So it is little surprise to hear today their announcement of £11 billion of new IT contracts.  As David Blackburn writes in the Spectator online:

“An £11bn bender is irresponsible in this climate, plus Labour has a baleful record on IT contracts. It has bungled a staggering £26bn on flawed IT systems, many of which were introduced without pilot schemes. Ever the optimist, I’d hoped the government might become responsible; yet again I’ve been mugged by the reality of Brown. Rushing implementation is a concern. These latest programmes are for the most part extensions of the failed NHS and MoD super-computer systems; will they be any more effective than their predecessors?

But this episode speaks more of the government’s mindset. Whatever the question, Brown’s answer is to throw good money after bad. It is scarcely credible that he can reduce the deficit within four years.

After years of wasteful spending (which Labour spin calls prudent investment), Gordon Brown cannot give up his addiction to spending our cash. Do you believe rushed contracts on IT systems, most of which have a disastrous track record, are going to be a good way of spending money we do not have (paid for with extra borrowing?).  For those who say they will not bother to vote, or indulge in a protest vote, are you happy to go on like this for another five years with Gordon Brown wasting our cash?

Posted in Labour Failure | No Comments »

03/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

Not a joke, but an example of how your money is wasted by some trade unions.  The answer depends on which part of the country you are in.  In some areas, the RMT have restrictive trade union practices which mean a fixed gang of four people must respond to any job.  So even if very minor work involving one person is required, a fixed gang of four people still have to be sent.  Elsewhere flexible work gangs are permitted.  So two people can be sent to minor jobs, one to do the work and one to act as a train look out for safety.

Likewise trade union restrictions means that Network Rail must have stand-by emergency crews at Kings Cross station and also at Euston, even though they are less than one mile apart.  It would make more sense to have emergency crews located where they could respond most quickly to problems.  These were just two of the issues highlighted at a meeting this morning with Iain Coucher, Chief Executive of Network Rail.  I was also struck at how little incentive there is for Network Rail to get more freight on the railways - they receive just £48 million in revenue from freight against £3.6 billion revenue from passengers.

An issue we discussed was Network Rail’s plans for rural lines, including how people now commute further by train.  In the 1990s, the majority of commuters were not prepared to commute more than 45 minutes by train, when adding on the rest of their journey at either end.  Now that train element of the journey has increased up to 1 hour 15 minutes, after which there is a significant drop off in commuters.  This is not a surprise, as the increased number of travellers from Littleport, Manea and those driving from the constituency to King’s Lynn or Peterborough highlights the willingness now to commute further.

It was positive to hear of Network Rail’s plans for Peterborough and Cambridge, but also frustrating that the focus seems to be almost exclusively on city to city journeys with little investment in rural areas where significant house building has taken place.  Whilst Network Rail have access to cheap capital, rural lines take time to pay and so there is little short term incentive for them to open up more rural lines.  Cambridgeshire is the fastest growing county, and it is telling that Network Rail have no plans to spend any money in North East Cambridgeshire at all.  I raised the issue of extending Whittlesea station, and connecting Wisbech and Chatteris, and Iain Councher’s team kindly agreed to follow this up.  Improvements to the journey from Cambridge and Peterborough will help locally, but we need to be able to get to these stations in the first place.

Overall it was a interesting and positive meeting, and hopefully the start of a constructive dialogue on how we improve train transport to and from the constituency.

Posted in Road & Rail | No Comments »

03/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

I met up with Amanda McLean this week who is the Chief Executive of Prostate UK, to add my support to prostate cancer awareness month. It was a chance to learn more about the prevalence of prostate disease in North East Cambridgeshire, and to try and raise awareness of what men can do to be aware of their own prostate health.

Around 31,800 men in the Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trust area are likely to suffer from what is technically known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (a non cancerous enlargement of the prostate), with 23 men in every 100,000 suffering fatally from prostate cancer. Whilst many of those diagnosed with prostate cancer recover, we should not lose sight of the fact that nationally prostate cancer kills one man every hour in Britain. Early detection vastly improves the chances of successful treatment so education of the public and of healthcare professionals is vital.

I was surprised to learn from Amanda that one in two men will suffer from a prostate disease at some stage in their lives. Given that I am one of three brothers, such figures hit home. To find out more about the simple steps you can take to help prevent this, please visit their website at http://www.prostateuk.org/

Posted in Cancer Research | No Comments »

02/03/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The examples of government waste just keep coming.  I thought I would share with you one from today’s press.   45 years ago, there were just 18 government economists. Today the civil service has nearly 1,600 economists. Are we so much better governed for this increase?

Economists cannot agree on the key decision facing the country - when to start tackling the deficit with cuts. Some recently wrote in the Sunday Times in support of the Conservatives approach of tackling our massive debt sooner than the Government plans.  Others backed Labour’s plans to wait another year.

What we do not need to wait to know is that it now costs more for the British government to borrow than Italy.  We are paying almost an extra 1% to borrow compared to Germany.  The markets are already speaking - will the voters act or wait until we are forced to do so like Greece?

Posted in National Deficit | No Comments »