Our petition calling for the Humber Mental Health Trust to reconsider the proposed closure of Barts was officially handed over to the Trust today. Myself and a number of carers went down to Barts House to hand the petition over to Lisa Smith of the Trust.

We have over 1200 names on the petition which clearly shows the strength of feeling against this decision. Following the handover, I had a brief meeting with the Trust and with Cllr Ros Jump, East Riding Council Portfolio Holder for Health. The Trust then had a meeting with some of the carers.

I made quite clear to the Trust that if the closure is going to proceed then they need to address a number of issues including -

• Transport Arrangements- For both patients and their families who will now be forced to travel to Cottingham or Brid for treatment.
• Respite Care Arrangements - This really needs to be improved as if not, carers themselves can end up suffering mental health problems.
• Complaints - I also asked them to provide a clear 'route map' of how carers who are not happy with the replacement service can make their concerns clear.
• Communication - Regular and on-going contact between the Trust and the carers is vital. I have asked that this continue and that the Trust pro-actively and positively engage with the carers.
• Out of hours care - Between 8pm and 8am, there will be little or no service provided from Barts for patients in Goole who are in crisis.

I met with Cllr Ros Jump again following this meeting and she has very helpfully asked to remain involve in this issue. Ros is a very dedicated Councillor who I know will be a real advocate for mental health patients in the area.

Prospective MP Andrew Percy has expressed concern at new European Union regulations that could lead to cuts in Humberside’s fire services and force up council tax bills. The European Parliament, including local Labour MEPs for the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire Euro region, has voted to impose new red tape through the EU Working Time Directive.

If the new EU rules go ahead, workers’ rights to opt-out from the working time rules will be abolished. Employers would have to ensure workers work no more than 48 hours a week. ‘On-call’ time in the workplace, even when inactive, would be counted as working time. This will have a devastating impact on retained (part-time, professional) fighters, who double up their fire work with other jobs. Many have pagers – on call in the event of emergencies.

This will cut the number of retained firefighters on active duty especially in rural communities. The most recent figures (December 2008), showed that in the Humberside Fire area, there are 347 retained firefighter posts. Only 282 posts are filled, reflecting difficulties in recruiting them. Such shortages would worsen if Euro-MPs get their way.

Andrew says, “I share the concerns of the Chief Fire Officers Association and I want to support our retained firefighters who do a superb service to our community, helping tackle fires, floods and road accidents. I am very concerned at the effect of these new rules which would cut back workers’ rights to work when they choose. We rely heavily on retained firefighters in our area, with retained stations in Brigg, Epworth, Snaith, Crowle and Winterton, as well as Goole in the future.

“This red tape, backed by our local Labour MEPs, would cut local fire services, put lives at risk and force up council tax across the Humberside Fire area. It is vital that the Government stands firm on this crucial issue and does everything it can to stop these changes damaging the important role of retained firefighters.”

Apologies for the lack of updates of late. I have been very busy out and about at various events in the constituency as well as teaching in local schools.

Last Saturday was spent in Brigg visiting several people and helping the team to deliver our latest newsletter. Fortunately, we have a strong team of volunteers in Brigg now who deliver most of the leaflets for us. What was striking was just how many people wanted to chat to me about local issues. I actually had people coming out of their homes and chasing me down the street to raise issues and, more often that not, tell me they wanted rid of Labour asap. Yet further evidence of the huge swing we are finding from our canvassing.

I also had a very successful meeting in the Village Hall in Flixborough on Wednesday night and will this weekend have the pleasure of attending a few events in Goole.

This being a candidate lark certainly keeps ya busy! Not only do I also have to make a living, I don't have the added support of a load of taxpayer funded staff like the current MP does, to help make it easier.

Last Saturday I attended the open day for the consultation on the Haxey Parish Plan which was held in the Memorial Hall in Haxey. I went to the open day in Westwoodside the weekend before too but arrived towards the end of the event so I didn't really get much time to take it in. That's why I popped down to Haxey on Saturday to take a look.

The Parish Plan will help set priorities for the Parish Council and seeks residents views on what they want for the Parish. There seemed to have been plenty of residents through and plenty of post it notes full of ideas stuck on the various sheets of paper around the room. I also had a long chat with Parish Chairman Ron Alcock about flooding issues on the Isle.

On Wednesday I formally presented the results of the Airmyn footpath survey to Airmyn Parish Council of which I am also a member. The survey sought residents views on extending the path out of the village to Rawcliffe Road. This is an important issue now as there is no shop in the village, following Labour closing our Post Office, and so more and more people now walk up to Glew's Garage.

Cllr Caroline Fox will be presenting the results to the East Riding Council who will make the final decision. Caroline has been pushing to issue hard and so I hope she will be successful in getting us our path!

In other news, we had Excellent responses on the doorsteps in Brigg and Wrawby this week! So many people saying they voted Labour last time but never again!

Andrew Percy has welcomed news that the return of a permanent NHS dentist to Snaith has taken a step closer and could be in place by the summer. At a meeting last week, NHS East Yorkshire confirmed that they hope to have awarded the contract for the new service by this May.

Andrew Percy says, "Today is the closing date for applications from dentists bidding to provide the new NHS surgery in Snaith. This will be a welcome improvement in the Town which has been without a permanent NHS dental surgery for some time.

It was back in 2007 that I first revealed just how many dentists had left the NHS as a result of Labour's newly introduced NHS contracts. Labour's changes did massive harm to the provision of NHS dentistry in our area and I am pleased that we are starting to see some improvements. We still have a long way to go to return the provision of NHS dentists to that seen in the past, but this is a welcome start.

Our campaign will continue and I hope that in the coming months and years we will see more action to address the appalling lack of NHS dental provision in our area.

I presently travel quite some distance to access my NHS dentist and so I am looking forward to having an NHS dentist on my doorstep in the Snaith area."

Prospective MP Andrew Percy gave evidence at the public inquiry into the proposed rise in tolls on the Humber Bridge which was held this week in Willerby. The Humber Bridge Board is seeking to raise the cost of a crossing from £2.70 to £2.90 with rises also proposed for goods vehicles.

Andrew Percy reports, "I gave evidence on the first day of the Inquiry and made clear my view that raising the tolls at this time was inappropriate and would only further damage our already struggling local economy. The Bridge Board began the day by explaining that the reason they wished to raise the tolls was to ensure they could keep up the payments on the Government debt on the bridge which now stands at about £330 million. The Government keeps telling us they will do what it takes to support the economy, yet so far as the Humber is concerned this is clearly not the case!

I told the Inquiry Inspector that I did not feel local residents could afford the increase and that with unemployment rocketing, people are going to have to look much further for work. The tolls already make looking for work on the opposite bank of the river fairly unattractive, and any increase will just make this worse. I also asked the Inspector to recommend to the Government that they launch a formal study to look at how the bridge debt can be dealt with and the tolls removed or substantially lowered.

This Inquiry was very limited in what it could look at as it was constituted to just consider the proposed toll increase which means the Inspector is very limited in what he can decide. He is able however to express our views in full and make other recommendations to Government. 

The final decision rests with the Secretary of State and so we will have to wait and see whether or not he is prepared to listen to the concerns of local people or not!"

I spent Saturday morning in Goole with the Belgravia Carers getting signatures on our petition against the closure of the mental health in-patient unit at Barts House. The Humber Mental Health Trust are proposing the closure as they try to implement Government policy which aims to treat more patients in their homes.

Whilst I have no problem with home treatment, it is clear that in the case of mental health care, there has to provision for in-patient treatment too. We got over 500 signatures in the couple of hours we were there and there was strong feeling from local people that Goole should not lose another facility.

I was moved by some of the people who came to sign who told me of their story of being treated at Barts. They clearly felt very attached to the unit and appreciated all it had done for them. One e-mail I got from a chap was particularly sad as he explained to me he had not dared break the news of the closure of Barts to his loved one as he knew how much upset it would cause her.

I can't accept the closure of this unit as it would leave people having to travel to Cottingham or Brid for treatment. That is not acceptable and we have to do all we can to ensure that Barts is saved. Our hope is that the local Labour MP will intervene and prevent the closure.

Saturday was also very encouraging with many people coming up to tell me they had got my latest newspaper this week. It was one of the most positive feedbacks I have ever received in the town with more than one person expressing their desire to see Labour booted out. One lady came up to me with her granddaughter to tell me that they had been reading my leaflet that morning and had decided that I looked like Tony Gordon from Corrie. I googled the actor who plays him when I got home and found out he was 10 years older than me!!!! Still, I am sure it was meant as a compliment!