31/01/2010 by Steve Barclay.

The closure of the Wisbech Driving test centre highlights a problem with our current democracy.  The decision is being taken by expensively paid quango chiefs who have little if any accountability.  They are not elected, do not live in or know this area, and their pay and perks are unaffected by public delivery. 
 
The decision to close the driving test centre here is against the wishes of the local MP, town councillors, district councillors, and county councillors.  The money being saved - just £11,000 a year - is a fraction of what it has now been revealed these same quango chiefs claimed in expenses over the last year.  The result is that learner drivers, often the young and those on modest incomes, will have to pay more in driving lessons.
 
I have blogged before about how little democracy there is in Britain today. Seven of those attending the British Cabinet are unelected, not to mention many of those in Europe making laws here, and those at a regional and national level deciding issues as important as what medicines we can get on the NHS.  The relationship between power and democracy is illustrated by the fact that the elected leader of a local district council often earns around £15,000 when the unelected chief executive can earn ten times more, on £150,000 plus final salary pension.
 
Last summer I was contacted by Wisbech driving instructors.  They had been told by the Driving Standards Agency that opening a new test centre in King’s Lynn did not mean closing the centre in Wisbech, but they feared closure was the hidden agenda. I went along one evening to their meeting to discuss this, and then contacted the Driving Standards Agency.  The Agency refused to give any information other than to say the matter would be reviewed after 12 months (in July of 2009).
 
Malcolm Moss MP tabled a couple of Parliamentary questions to seek more clarity.  The Agency confirmed the low cost of the centre and the review timescale, but made no mention of the criteria on which they now rely for their decision.  When the 12 months came and went, I again contacted the Agency.  Again I was told no decision had been taken for closure.  Given that 12 months had passed, this suggested the review had passed positively.
 
Four months later over the Christmas holiday period, a press release was slipped out by the Agency.  This made the ludicrous claim that closing the driving test centre would “improve the local service” as the test centre in King’s Lynn had disability access.  As this centre was already available, it is difficult to see how closing Wisbech, with the added journey times, would improve service.  Disabled drivers could still use King’s Lynn.
 
The spin on the Agency’s claims sits at odds with the critical response of local driving instructors, residents, and Fenland District Council.  The Council has passed a unanimous resolution condemning the decision, setting out the costs to local people (which directly contradict the Driving Standards Agency claims), and calling for urgent talks on either keeping the centre or setting up a new, disability compliant centre in Fenland.  No response has been received to this letter - again highlighing the lack of accountibility and the sense the review was prejudged.  The Government’s transport minister has refused to intervene.  As so often with Labour, they care little for rural services and want to move these to urban areas.
 
This incompetence and misplaced arrogance is not new for the Driving Standards Agency and its Chief Exec Rosemary Thew.  In 2007 the Driving Standards Agency lost 3 million customer records which had been outsourced to the US and went missing, putting every learner driver (one in ten of all drivers) at risk of identify theft.  Just this summer, Private Eye and Motorcycle News commenting on further problems with the Agency, this time the daft new rules for motorcyclists, saying the following:
 
“Inept DSA chief executive Rosemary Thew boasts that the new test will make the roads safer by making it more difficult to get a full licence. But that seems unlikely. Not only are riders more likely to be killed or injured during the test itself, but there is evidence that more young tearaways and foreign dispatch riders are taking to the roads unlicensed - and therefore uninsured - rather than submit to the rigmarole of passing five tests to get a licence.”
From: Private Eye, No.1242, p.30 (August 2009)
 
With money short in a recession, and faced with higher costs for lessons travelling to and from King’s Lynn, some young people in Fenland may be tempted to take to the road without completing their driving test. This puts every road user at greater risk.  We already have a high fatality rate on Fenland roads.  Those who take their test face higher bills.  The Driving Standards Agency should now meet with Fenland District Council to agree a way forward.  Sadly, it looks unlikely such common sense will prevail.
 
I will be lobbying the new Conservative Government to reverse this short sighted decision and keep a driving test centre in Fenland.  Let’s hope the election comes soon, so it is not too late.

Posted in Fenland District Council, Malcolm Moss MP, Wisbech | No Comments »

26/11/2009 by Steve Barclay.

The Government’s Social Care Green Paper will hit 4,960 pensioners in North East Cambridgeshire, taking away their Attendance Allowance worth an average £60 a week.  A further 1,510 will lose their Disability Living Allowance worth £75 a week.  This is so Labour can pay for their latest eye catching announcement of a new National Care Service.

Both benefits are currently based on need.  Instead Labour plan to make them means tested.  So anyone who has been careful, lived within their means and saved will be penalised for doing so.

It is good to see Malcolm Moss MP giving a commitment to vote against this proposal and fight what is an attack on one of the most vulnerable groups in our community.  This is a bad policy, being introduced for political headlines at the expense of a vulnerable group. 

This is the tip of the iceberg for what Labour will do if Gordon Brown gets another five years in power.  If this money is to be pooled with the rest of the funding for social care, all disability benefits will become means-tested.

The message is also clear for anyone else with savings.  Labour will cut any benefits you are currently entitled to - if they have no care for the disabled then no other group will be safe from further means testing under Gordon Brown.

Posted in Labour Failure, Malcolm Moss MP | No Comments »

14/08/2009 by Steve Barclay.

Flooding, artificial limbs, feet and smashed windows - all in the casework this week

Helping residents with a varied range of issues this week.  A key point we need to address are the recent problems of flooding in Whittlesey. 

Delph Ward in Whittlesey has seen problems with flooding, and I am working with Cllr Kay Mayor and County Cllr Martin Curtis to ensure this is looked at as a matter of urgency.  Guidenburg Crescent has had problems, and there have been problems also in Coates  - Richardson Way has suffered in past downpours.  The issue came up at one of my regular coffee morning sessions, and I have a site meeting arranged to see first hand on Saturday morning.  Flooding is hugely distressing in causing damage to someone’s home, and when it occurs we need to ensure government agencies respond.  Also liaising with MP Malcolm Moss so we can arrange a meeting with Anglian Water, the Environment Agency, RSPB (some work to provide the ideal environment for wading birds is thought to be one of the factors), and Council engineers as soon as possible this month - more on this in later blogs.  Proposals for another 500 homes in Whittlesey must not be rushed through before we understand better the problems around flooding and the impact these homes will have.

Another issue causing concern locally is the treatment for those needing artificial limbs at Addenbrookes.  It is a world class hospital, but the service offered in this department raises a number of questions.  Issues include ill fitting prosthetic limbs (if an X ray is not taken when fitting an artificial leg then back pain can result), lack of regular skin covers for the artificial leg and a failure to match the cover to the patients skin colour, money wasted on limbs that do not fit (at £8,000 to £12,000 a time, and they apparently are not sent to be used in developing countries as happens in other UK hospitals but just thrown away), a lack of physio when fitting limbs - it is not sensible to expect those in North Cambs to travel for a 30 minute session separately when it could be done at the time of one of the 5 fittings, and a failure to provide artificial sports legs to enable activities like cycling - the rules appear to be that this is provided if the accident is recent but not if the requirement was caused at birth.  Draft a letter to the hospital setting out the concerns raised and seeking clarification.  What is alarming is that a quick internet search reveals another patient flagging many of these same points back in March 2000!  Surely if the problems were known then, 9 years is adequate time to address them?

Catch up again this week with podiatrist Karen Coppin who kindly lets me join her to watch treatments for some of her older patients.  It is helpful to see and chat first hand to those using this service to understand what is needed and the benefits offered.  With over 26 years experience, Karen has a first class understanding which she combines with a great caring touch.  One of the clearest points I take away is the benefit of prevention.  With the cost of a silver dressing at approx £50 a time not to mention the cost and time involved in providing anti-biotics in drips when infections occur, it makes more sense to treat things quickly and nip them in the bud.  The NHS used to offer a one stop shop but this has been stopped.  Training used to be hands on after 6 weeks whereas now some degree courses have no practical training at all in the first year.  Diabetics are involved in 100 amputations a week and are more likely to lose feeling in their nerve endings and so not know if they have hurt their feet.  However diabetics do not automatically have access to NHS podiatrists.  Some operations e.g. for bunions carried out in hospital could be done in Boston quicker and at less cost with a podiatrist surgeon.   Plenty of points emerge which I will pick up as part of my campaign for better podiatry services.

Also pop in to the clothes shop Start Dust in March which once again has suffered from vandalism with a smashed window. As the owner is out, have a brief chat and will go back on Saturday. In the meantime speak with the March Police Sgt who is dealing with the crime.  He confirms that an arrest was made, but that guilty party got just an £80 fine which is far less than the damage caused.  Will go in again on Saturday to see the boutique owner.

Finally this week, a more random discovery.  Was told I am not the first Stephen Barclay in North East Cambs.  Apparently the first Governor of Whitemore Prison had the same name, as did one of the previous local GPs.  From the prison, to the hospital, to potentially Parliament - not sure what to make of this.

Posted in March, Malcolm Moss MP, Whittlesey | No Comments »

01/08/2009 by Steve Barclay.

I call in with MP Malcolm Moss to see Principal David Pomfret for the latest news on the College of West Anglia.  It is clear that the Labour Government’s cuts are having a savage impact on courses and staff numbers.  It comes against the worrying news that unemployment in Fenland is now worse than anywhere else in Cambridgeshire. We are the only district in the County with unemployment above the regional average, and there are 840 youngsters locally not in education, employment or training.  The collapse of firms like March based MBMG which has lost 100 jobs makes the work of the College in offering training even more important.

What is disgraceful is that all of the 13 Colleges which received Government funding are in Labour constituencies.  Labour has turned their back on students in Fenland in what has been a blatantly biased set of funding decisions.  The case for funding in Fenland is strong - 18 out of 25 of the most deprived wards in Cambridgeshire are in Fenland, and less than half of pupils here achieve five or more GCSE grades A to C here compared with 70% in South Cambridgeshire.  The College of West Anglia is crucial to the future prosperity of the area if we are to attract new businesses as they expand from Cambridge and allow the next generation to fulfil their true potential.  Fenland is being short changed.  It is cynical politics of the worst kind by Gordon Brown.

Posted in Labour Failure, March, Malcolm Moss MP, Wisbech | No Comments »

28/03/2008 by Steve Barclay.

A focus on road and rail today started with a site visit to Network Rail’s Whitemoor Yard. Once again the weather is awful - I need to try and arrange these site visits in the summer!  Fortunately we are welcomed with a coffee in the site office as we go through the aerial maps of the yard, and get an update on the recent residents meeting.  Am keen to discuss what jobs will be created.  It is good to hear that phase two will include some new work and also a number of existing jobs being brought in-house.

After a tour of the yard, including a visit to the control tower, head over to the association office for a meeting with Andrew Walker and Graham Chappell.  Andrew’s 9 year old daughter Charlotte was tragically drowned near Bedlam Bridge when the car she was travelling in left the road.   It is a very sad meeting and important that we work together to address the safety concerns around Fen roads.  Cambs Times Editor John Elworthy is also at the meeting, and Graham takes Malcolm Moss MP and myself through the compelling data that he has collated.  Malcolm offers to follow up a number of points, including writing to the County Council for accurate and up to date data on the number of accidents in recent years.

After the meeting, I travelled up to Wisbech to meet Father John Doman.  Father John is concerned about the issue of homelessness and feels that we need to do much more to tackle this.  I agree and offer to help.  I will report back in the future so watch this space. Then it is on to Wisbech St Mary to help our by-election candidate Phil Wait with some canvassing.  A great response for Phil again - he is well known and liked locally.  It bodes well for polling day next week. 

Posted in Wisbech St. Mary, Malcolm Moss MP, Road & Rail, Cambs Times | No Comments »