The three policing issues which my constituents have raised with me the most over the last month have been dangerous illegal motorcyclists, shoplifting often accompanied with threats to shop-workers, and the danger and distress caused by car meets which lead to illegal drag racing along many of our roads. On the police response to dangerous motorcyclists, I sought clarification from the police minister that Bedfordshire Police are able to pursue the riders and I note that the Chief Constable has made this clear to all of his officers.
I am horrified about the impact of shoplifting on shopkeepers and their staff and I visited a local Co-op this month to see what more can be done to prevent these thefts from our shops. The car meet dates seem to be announced every month and I have asked the police to get ahead of the curve to keep our roads safe and to enable residents to sleep.
I was very encouraged by my visit to Priory Gardens GP surgery where they have taken on four more GPs as well as being a training practice for medical students, paramedics pharmacists and nurses. This is a really good way for a surgery to attract and retain primary care staff. They are also the first GP practice locally to have GP assistants to handle a lot of the administration, which enables GPs to have more time with patients. GP assistants have also been shown to help the retention of GPs. I was also very encouraged to learn about the introduction of micro suction to remove earwax across the constituency.
The primary care networks are also now employing social prescribers, and I had the pleasure to sit with one based in the Citizens Advice Bureau, who was helping local people with a lot of the underlying reasons why people have gone to see their GP in the first place. This is an exciting and important initiative, which I am delighted to see being rolled out.
It was wonderful to be able to visit Houstone school in Houghton Regis, Weatherfield Academy in Dunstable, and Heathwood Lower School in Leighton Buzzard. I am always humbled when I go into schools by for dedication of the teachers and all the staff to do their very best for all of the children in their care and we are very fortunate to have so many brilliant schools locally.
It was also very good to be able to visit Elm Lodge care home and to see the dementia awareness training they do as well as seeing the dementia outreach which Morrisons in Houghton Regis also do. It was also very good to see the great progress being made on the Kingsland leisure centre, funded from government levelling up money. I also met with council officers to talk about proposals for traffic relief in Hockliffe and how we can make the A505 safer.
When I visited the Dunstable Royal Mail sorting office I learnt of their plans to employ an additional 18 staff, but I’m still waiting to learn what the comparable number is for the Leighton Buzzard sorting office.