This month, I have been able to ask the Prime Minister two questions in Parliament about general practice. I am using the answers that I was given to continue to put pressure on our Integrated Care Board (ICB) to show the flexibility it has available to it on providing additional consulting rooms for our increased primary care workforce that we now have in place. I am emphasising to the ICB that it is unfair that primary care receives such a small allocation of funds within the ICB’s capital budget. The ICB does have the flexibility to spend more money on primary care.
The hard work undertaken by our Department of Health and Social Care is crucial, and I was pleased to be able to visit Dukeminster Court care home, where staff treat all residents with kindness and compassion. I continue to support our local mental health groups like Minds2gether which is now becoming Branching Out.
We have made progress on policing issues this month and have achieved full recruitment in our community teams in Leighton Buzzard, Dunstable, and Houghton Regis. I hope to see further progress being made in this area, but this is a substantial step in the right direction. I have been working with Bedfordshire Police and the Home Office to discuss how the police can use CCTV to convict dangerous and illegal motorcyclists, and I am optimistic about the progress being made. However, I am dissatisfied with the limited progress on tackling shop theft or looting.
I have had the privilege of spending time with the Headteachers and Chairs of Governors at Houghton Regis Primary School, Vandyke Upper School and Southcott Lower School this month. I am working to support all three schools on the different challenges that they are facing. I was able to highlight the amazing work that Vandyke is doing with apprenticeships with the Skills Minister in Parliament this month.
I have met with the Environment Agency regarding flooding issues in Leighton Buzzard and elsewhere, and I am working to make sure that they collaborate as closely as possible with the water companies, the Internal Drainage Board and the Central Bedfordshire Council. I am also working with Natural England to see how we can best stop badgers destroying people’s gardens.
I met with London Northwestern to ask for increased capacity to get people home on late night trains. While they have committed to increasing the number of carriages, faster services are also required.
I visited Pedalworks, a great bike shop in Dunstable which I have made use of. I continue to do all that I can to encourage safe cycling in the local area, as it is important to try and minimise our car usage where possible. Also, it good to see the face-to-face service which Barclays continue to provide in Dunstable.
Our parish councils undertake vital but often unseen work to make our towns and villages better places to live in, and I would like to pay tribute to their hard work and dedication. I had a good meeting with the Heath and Reach parish council recently and I am looking forward to going to the Chalgrave Parish Council annual general assembly shortly.
It was a privilege to speak in the crucial debate on kinship care alongside my neighbouring MP from Mid Bedfordshire. We must make better progress on fair treatment of kinship carers compared to foster carers.