Above: Anne Marie Morris visits Trinity School to collect paper plates to deliver to the Prime Minister.
Recess
The House is currently on its Easter Recess and business will resume in the House of Commons on Monday 15TH April. Recess is always an opportunity for Members of Parliament to spend more time back at home in their constituencies and I do enjoy the chance it gives me to get out and about so I can meet as many of you as possible.
I began the week by hosting a meeting in my constituency with South West Water to discuss how they are implementing the £50 water bill rebate. Regular readers of this column will know I held street stalls in Newton Abbot and Dawlish to ask local residents to back my campaign calling on the Government to take action to address our unfairly high water bills. The Chancellor accepted our argument and the Government has pledged to make money available every year until 2020 so that all domestic water bills in our region can be reduced by £50. You should see the discount come through on your next water bill. I wanted to meet with South West Water to make sure that everything has been done that can be done to ensure all who are entitled to the rebate receive it. I am particularly keen to make sure that those who pay their water bills through an intermediary, perhaps because they live in a block of flats or in a park home, receive the discount. If you believe you are entitled to the £50 discount and you don’t see it included on your next bill, then please do get in touch with South West Water and they will be happy to assist.
I was also delighted to welcome Neil Parish, Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Honiton, to a farmer’s breakfast I organised. We have a wonderful farming community in South Devon and the breakfast was a good opportunity for some of them to tell me what they believe the Government should be doing to help their industry. Neil’s knowledge on farming matters is second to none and he is a recognised expert in Parliament on agricultural issues, so it was good to have him there to help during the question and answer session. The farmers have given us plenty to report back to Ministers when the House is back in session.
I also accepted an invitation to attend and address an open public meeting organised by Devon Senior Voice to discuss the impact of the Budget on pensioners. We also covered state pension changes and the question and answer session that followed was enormously informative. I will be raising many of the points put to me from the floor with Ministers.
During the first week of recess, I was delighted to visit Trinity School in Teignmouth to make a short speech at one of their assemblies about my role as the local Member of Parliament. The children talked to me about paper plates they had been decorating with ideas on what steps need to be taken to ensure everyone in the world has enough food to eat. It really is regrettable that, in 2013, so many people across the world do not have enough food to eat and I promised to take some of the plates to Downing Street. I will also be contacting the Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening, to ensure she sees the plates and the messages they represent.
I have also used recess to pop along to Seale-Hayne. Every time I visit this outstanding organisation I am truly bowled over by the wonderful work they do. On this occasion, I was privileged to see first-hand some of the audio-visual and artistic facilities and opportunities on offer at Seale-Hayne. I was particularly impressed by what can be made out of coke cans! I have long championed what is being done at Seale-Hayne and I will continue to ensure as many people in Government are aware of the inspiring work they do.
Newton Abbot Community Transport then came to see me to discuss the increasing demand they are facing to get people to and from healthcare appointments. This is an important issue that I believe requires the NHS, local government and the third sector to work together on in order to resolve. Organisations like Newton Abbot Community Transport really do perform a vital role in our community and it is important we do everything we can to support what they do.