Andrew Percy and local Councillors John Berry, Carl Sherwood and Nigel Sherwood, have slammed the decision to include Wrawby on the list of Post offices threatened with closure as part of the Government's closure programme.

Andrew explains, "We thought when Labour's closure list was announced in October, that Wrawby was safe. Then out of the blue it was added on to the list last week. That takes the total number of Post Offices scheduled for closure in this constituency to 6.

The local Councillors and I wasted no time getting on the doorstep in Wrawby to gather people's views. We have made sure that everyone in the village has the opprtunity to let the Post Office know their feelings on this important matter. If this closure is confirmed, local residents will have to go to Brigg to use the Post Office. They will also have to pay the new parking charges introduced by the Labour Council in November, so it's a double whammy for Wrawby residents."

Gordon Brown's Labour MP for Brigg and Goole has supported the Government's closure programme in Parliament and residents have not been fooled by his crocodile tears on this issue.

 

Figures revealed by the Government show that local cancer patients are receiving thousands of pounds less per patient in treatment than patients nationally.

Official figures show that patients in the East Riding receive just £6,198 in funding, as opposed to a national average of about £8,500. Patients in North Lincolnshire receive more but still receive thousands of pounds less in treatment than patients in other areas.

NHS Campaigner Andrew Percy says, "These figures are truly shocking and demonstrate how unfair funding arrangements are in the NHS. We need to ask serious questions about why our area is missing out when compared to other areas.

The current Labour MP has tried to attack me over these figures but has been embarrassed by the revelation that these are his own Government's figures. This is not the first case of hypocrisy we have seen from the local MP, who is perhaps too busy serving as Vice Chairman of the Labour Party in London to know what is really going on up here.

I won't name everyone in my family who has been touched by cancer as I find that sort of politics a little tasteless. Needless to say, like many families, I have lost close family members to this dreadful disease which is why I will continue to speak out on this appalling funding; despite the cheap attacks of my opponent."

Andrew at the home of East Riding PCT

For some time now my team and I have been raising concerns about breast screening rates across East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. Presently, just 7% of women aged between 50 and 70 are receiving their screening within the 3 year target set by national Government. No wonder so many local women have contacted me regarding the delays to screening which in some cases have been as much as 10 months.

Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a lady in Haxey who had to wait 46 months between screenings. With a diseases such as breast cancer delays of this kind can mean the difference between life and death and it is vital that the Humberside Breast Screening service moves swiftly to hit the target.

I have been raising this issue in every forum I can and I am delighted that neighbouring MP David Davis has raised this at Westminster. Local women deserve a first class service and we must continue to push until those important targets are met.

Andrew at the threatened Eastoft Post Office

Prospective Brigg and Goole MP Andrew Percy this week posted off his response to the Government's proposals to close 5 Post Offices in the local area; West Butterwick, Reedness, Wroot, Eastoft and Westfield Avenue in Goole. Andrew was quick off the mark to defend our Post Offices and surveyed local residents to ensure their views were known.

Andrew says, "It is an absolute disgrace that Labour want to close 5 of our local Post Offices on top of the many they have already closed since coming to power. I have tried to do my best to ensure that the views of local people are taken into account in the consultation process. Hundreds of local residents have written to me expressing their anger at the proposed closures.

The Government says local people's shopping habits are changing and less people use the Post Offices than in the past. This is nonsense when you consider the fact that the reason less people use Post Office's is because this Government has taken business away from Post Offices, e.g. pension books and the sale of TV Licences.

Our local Labour MP has repeatedly voted in Parliament to support the Government's Post Office policies which have lead to the closure of over 4,000 Post Offices.

Our Labour MP is treating local people as fools and I for one will be honest about my support for local Post Offices. No wonder so many local people have expressed their anger to me at Labour's local hypocrisy."

Hundreds Raised for Local Flood Victims.

Andrew Percy today handed over a cheque for £200 to the Real Aid Flood Relief Fund which is leading the flood relief effort in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The money was raised through a charity football match held in Southend in early July.

Andrew said,
“Shortly after the floods occurred in June, a friend of mine who works at Conservative Central Office in London rang me to ask if there was anything he could do to help with the flooding that had hit our area. I explained to him that the East Riding was going to be working with the Real Aid charity, based in Beverley, to set up a flood relief fund. Blaine went away and came up with the idea of running a charity football match with his team down in Southend. The match took place in July and managed to raise £200 which I have asked be used for people who have been affected by flooding in the Goole and Swinefleet area.

I want to say a huge thank you to Blaine for organising the football match and it is really heart-warming to know that people in other parts of the country were so concerned about the plight of flood victims here in the East Riding. The Rea Aid charity has done a great job and I know that, whilst the publicity of the flooding may have waned, many of those who were flooded are still waiting to get back into their homes. Hopefully this money will go someway to helping some of those people through this very difficult time.”

Local Politicians Support ‘Riding Around’ Event

Prospective Goole MP and Airmyn Parish Councillor Andrew Percy and East Riding Councillor Caroline Fox recently took part in the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s ‘Riding Around’ event in Goole and Snaith.

The ‘Riding Around’ events are taking place across the East Riding and seek to establish resident’s views on a whole host of issues. The aim is that the responses will be considered by the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP), made up of agencies such as the Police, the Council and the Firs Service, and will help to form the priorities for these services in the coming years. The responses will be used in formulating ‘Our East Riding’, the LSP’s community plan for the East Riding.

Andrew explains:
“Far too often politicians simply turn up to events and have their photos taken without really engaging with local residents. Caroline and I do not think that is the way to do business, so instead we decided to give up some time and take part as volunteers in the ‘Riding Around’ event in Goole.

We spent the morning surveying local people using a range of subject specific surveys provided by East Riding Council. Subjects included young people, sustainable communities, transport and older peoples’ issues. We had a really great response and practically everyone we stopped to ask was keen to take part.

This is a really excellent initiative on the part of East Riding Council, and ensures that local people have a real say in forming the Council and other agencies priorities in the coming years. We would like to thank everyone for their kindness in giving up their time to complete the surveys.”

Isle Tories Join Protest at Humber Bridge Tolls

Andrew Percy and Axholme Central Councillor Liz Redfern joined Councillors, patients and other campaigners at a protest against the Humber Bridge Tolls on Saturday September 1st. The protest was organised by campaign group Humber Action Against Tolls (HAAT) and took place at the Humber Bridge.

Andrew said, “I am delighted to support this campaign and pay tribute to the work of Humber Action Against Tolls group who have worked so hard to raise the profile of this campaign. The tolls on the Humber Bridge are a barrier to trade and operate as an additional tax on residents who work on the north bank. The whole of North Lincolnshire, including the Isle, is affected by these expensive tolls. The bridge cost £151 million to build and yet, due to interest charges, the debt presently stands at £350 million. This means that 80% of toll charges go straight to the Government to service the debt.

The tolls are particularly unfair to those patients who have to access healthcare on the north bank. With more and more services being centralised at just one hospital, the number of patients having to use the bridge to access vital healthcare is growing. It is outrageous that patients are having to pay £2.70 every time they cross the bridge to access NHS treatment.

The Humber Bridge debt is a complex problem and will not be easy to solve. That is why I supported the Humber Bridge Board’s idea of a 5 year toll holiday so that an assessment could be made to measure the economic impact of the tolls on the region. With all four of the Councils in the former Humberside region supporting this campaign I hope the Government will listen and act swiftly to end these unfair tolls.”

LibDem MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, Diana Wallis, also attended the event to show support.
The Humber Action Against Tolls group wesite can be found at www.humbertollaction.org.uk

Massive Response To Flood Petition

Hundreds of local residents have taken the opportunity to let the Environment Agency know their views of the controversial River Aire Flood Catchment Plan.

Andrew Percy explains, “As soon as we became aware of this plan Cllr Caroline Fox, Cllr Gordon Megson and myself decided to deliver a newsletter to every house in the affected area to let residents know about the Environment Agency’s proposals to increase flooding locally. On the bottom of our newsletter we asked residents who were concerned to fill in a tear-off slip objecting to the proposal. We also asked residents to include any additional objection letters they wanted us to pass on to the Environment Agency.

I am delighted to say that we have already received about 250 replies from local residents, and with replies coming in almost every day, we expect this figure to increase. Many residents also took the opportunity to include additional letters which I shall be passing onto the Environment Agency when we meet with them on August 29th in Selby.

This huge response clearly shows how concerned local residents are about this proposal and I am delighted that we have been able to ensure that people have had a real opportunity to comment on the plan. Many residents expressed concern that the first they heard about the proposal was via the local newspapers and our newsletter. There is clearly a lesson here for Government Quangos such as the Environment Agency; which after all wield a great deal of power over our lives.

We now need more detail from the Environment Agency on what exactly they propose to do locally. The plan as it presently stands is very light on detail which explains why local people are so concerned. That is why I hope the meeting on August 29th will ensure that more detail is forthcoming and hopefully this will help to alleviate some of our concerns.”

Whitehall plans for new bin taxes will mean surge in fly-tipping
New rubbish taxes will harm the environment warns Andrew Percy

The Labour Government’s plans to impose Euro-style taxes for the collection of household rubbish, on top of council tax, were slammed this week as Andrew Percy warned of a massive surge in fly-tipping. With the Whitehall ‘consultation’ on the new tax scheme having now closed, the small print of the Government’s own 228-page research reveals the new taxes will almost double the level of fly-tipping in England.

·The Government’s own research estimates that bin taxes will lead to an additional 155,000 tonnes of fly-tipping a year across England. This would be equivalent to an average of 440 tonnes of rubbish dumped across our area.
·The taxes will almost double the amount that town halls currently spend on cleaning up fly-tipping. Last year, East Riding Council had to deal with 1363 number of fly-tipping incidents.
·Illegal dumping includes household waste being placed in neighbour’s bins, in street litter bins, in next door councils, dumping waste at work, and fly-tipping.

Research by the Countryside Alliance has found that black bags full of domestic rubbish already account for 63 per cent of all fly-tipping; yet just one in every 100 fly-tippers is actually prosecuted.

Bin taxes have already been introduced in the Republic of Ireland where they have caused a surge in fly-tipping; families who do not or cannot pay the bin taxes have their rubbish collections stopped. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign has warned that bin taxes will lead to "people simply dumping their garbage illegally in a bid to avoid paying up".

Andrew said:
“In the last few years, fly-tipping has become endemic. Yet Whitehall plans for new taxes on family homes will make it even worse. We all want to increase the level of recycling, but bin taxes will harm the local environment by leading to a surge in illegal dumping and backyard burning.

“Whether they can’t pay or won’t pay, I fear some irresponsible people will dump instead.The Government also needs to understand that for large families it can be a real challenge keeping rubbish down to a minimum. And no-one believes that council taxes would fall if bin taxes were introduced. Bin taxes aren’t a green tax – they’re yet another stealth tax by another name.

The Keep Britain Tidy Campaign has warned, “the so-called, ‘pay as you throw’ scheme – which involves placing micro chips in bins to asses the amount of rubbish each home creates – may result in people simply dumping their garbage illegally in a bid to avoid paying up’.

We need the Government to listen to these concerns and to understand that, whilst we all want to increase recycling, big brother style micro-chips in our bins is not the way. Much more could be achieved if the Government stopped its under-funding of the East Riding and North Lincolnshire Councils and provided a fair grant which would allow the Council to develop its recycling facilities further.”

Fire service regionalisation will undermine flood & emergency response

Local Tri-Service Centres could do more to improve civil resilience

Andrew Percy warned today that the Government’s plan to regionalise the fire service could undermine the effectiveness of the emergency services as a whole in tackling future flood risks and other unforeseen events.

Under Labour’s ongoing regionalisation plans, the local fire control room for Humberside is due to be moved to Wakefield, covering a population of nearly 5 million people and an area of nearly 6,000 square miles (15,408 square km). Local knowledge and expertise will be lost.

Areas which currently have Tri-Service Centres (where the fire, ambulance and police are in one local command centre) will have the fire element taken away. A cross-party Committee of MPs warned last year that combined control rooms for the emergency services would do more to increase resilience than sprawling, regional fire control rooms.

Andrew said:
“The Government’s expensive plans for the regionalisation of the fire control services are flawed. I fear it could actually undermine the effectiveness of the emergency services in tackling disasters like floods – where co-operation between the local council, fire, police and ambulance services is essential. When I met with representatives of the Humberside Brigade recently, at a meeting to discuss the response to flooding in the East Riding, they explained that the move to regional control would mean a loss of local control over the resources of the Humberside Brigade. For example, if we saw a repeat of the recent flooding, resources from the Humberside Force could be despatched anywhere in the country without any local veto by our Chief Officer. That could leave our area exposed to risks.”

Haltemprice and Howden MP David Davis added, “Local Tri-Service Centres could do far more to improve resilience than creating a distant call centre in Wakefield covering all of Yorkshire. The arbitrary government office regions are too distant and too big. These proposals prove that the Government’s talk of localism and local accountability is nothing more than clever spin.”