The Mail Column 29 February 2020

A week in Parliament

Nine weeks into the job, and another first. On Tuesday morning, I was invited to join nine other colleagues from a range of political parties to scrutinise planned changes to the rules around the payments made to people suffering with Mesothelioma and Pneumoconiosis. 

This was an uncontentious session - the government was proposing to increase the payments to sufferers of these conditions and so every party backed the changes. The payments for the whole of the UK are managed in the DWP office in Barrow, so for the first time I felt a tangible link between a law that I helped pass, and the work that some of my constituents will now carry out. It reminds you of how important this job is, especially when those connections between a law, and the impact of it, are less easy to see.

Mesothelioma and Pneumoconiosis are conditions which affect people who inhaled dust and, in particular, asbestos over the course of their working lives. As you might imagine, given Furness’ heritage, this is a big issue here and I have a number of constituents who live and suffer with both. The advantage of being on this Bill Committee (entirely by accident, I should point out) is that I’ve had some time with the Minister now and have secured a separate meeting to discuss some of the more difficult issues related to this that are being raised with me by many of your family and friends.

Keeping a GP service in Askam

On Saturday, I met with a group of Parish, County and Borough councillors to discuss how we can go about maintaining a GP service in Askam.

I’ll be honest - the odds are stacked against us. But that said, it is clearly the case that local people will be better served by a GP practice that is local to them. Askam isn’t blessed with public transport that would support easy access to other local practices. That puts a good number of people in a difficult spot - forcing them to make the choice of a trip the GP being a multi-hour affair on the train, or a costly one with a return taxi journey.

A further concern is availability of access to GPs - other surgeries may be willing to put residents on their books, but if you can’t get an appointment as quickly or easily as you can in Dr Jain’s practice, then that is a worse service.

So, we want to keep a practice open in Askam. Doing so needs three things to fall into place, and quickly: securing premises, finding GPs who will practice there, and ensuring that patients are still there to support the service.

The team is working on all three of these. It’s a difficult task, and one not made easier by the CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) issuing poor information to residents. 

We have until 30 June to force the stars to align on this - and I very much hope that we can. To do so, we need your help. 

If you live in Askam or Ireleth, we will be issuing a petition shortly - online, and paper. We’ll make it available throughout the area in shops, and public spaces, and will be doing some door-knocking to drum up support. Please sign up, as doing so is a vital sign of confidence that this service is required. I’ll present the final petition to Parliament so that the Government knows we’re serious about retaining services.

Semper Sursum

Friday saw the second meeting of the Barrow Towns Deal board. It’s remarkable to sit around the table with representatives from Barrow and Cumbria’s business, government, education, arts and health bodies and see them pull together. The opportunities on the table for Barrow are simply enormous.

Later that same day, I met with Professor Julie Mennell, the Vice Chancellor of Cumbria University, to discuss opportunities for our area. Bringing a campus to Barrow would be transformative, and it’s clear that Cumbria University recognise the opportunities that it brings to capitalise on the skills and business in Furness. 

One of my biggest concerns for Furness as a whole is our population - it’s aging, declining and we’re seeing a brain-drain to the big cities. A campus in Barrow would be a line in the sand which would start to turn that trend around. Watch this space.