While most attention is, rightly, focused on the latest Post Offices to be closed as part of the Government’s cutbacks, a further threat is just a few weeks away.  Later this summer, the Government is set to finally make a decision on whether the updated version of the popular Post Office Card Account is to remain within the Post Office or transferred to another organization.

The Post Office Card Account offers low cost, hassle-free banking to almost five million people.  The card allows easy access to their pensions or benefits at their local post office.  It doesn’t have an overdraft and won’t allow people to get into debt.  Every time someone uses the card at their local post office, the sub-postmaster receives a small payment from the Government.  This is worth up to 12% of some sub-postmasters’ pay.  It is the reason why some branches can still survive.

The National Federation of Sub-Postmasters and the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee both want to see the Post Office run the Post Office Card Account.  It is vital to the remaining post offices in this area that the Government agrees.

Yours sincerely

Brandon Lewis

In Norfolk we also have hundreds of volunteers who support our hospitals and hospices and they also need to be recognised this week.  

David Cameron was at the celebrations of the 60^th Anniversary where he launched our new plans on how to improve the NHS to help save even more lives. Our proposals include:

·           Scrapping top-down Whitehall targets which distort clinical care – for example, crude targets for waiting times in A&E, has led to the indignity of patients being left in ‘trolley waiting areas’ and ambulances.

·            Focusing instead on outcomes, looking at the results of treatment – such as survival rates and patients’ satisfaction.

Brandon added:

“We should mark this historic milestone by looking at ways of improving the NHS. We need to give more information to patients and focus on improving outcomes - not ticking Labour’s Whitehall boxes. Rather than constant, costly reorganisations, that we have seen in our Country, we should allow doctors and nurses to get on with their job of saving lives.”

Notes to Editors

David Cameron launched the Conservatives' latest policy paper on improving the NHS on 24 June.

http://www.conservatives.com/tile.do?def=news.story.page&obj_id=145415

It outlines plans to improve healthcare outcomes such as cancer survival rates, after-care service and patient satisfaction. This will be done by scrapping Labour’s bureaucratic process targets and replacing them with outcome measures. Patients will able to compare and contrast different care providers on the things that really matter to them.

ENDS

Ellwood: Government's failure on bingo and seaside arcades risks driving more people to harder forms of gambling

Commenting on today’s announcement by the Government on gaming machines in bingo halls Shadow Gambling Minister Tobias Ellwood said:

“This announcement is a massive missed opportunity demonstrating a clear lack of understanding of the evidence and is likely to see a continued migration of punters to Fixed Odds Betting Terminals as more bingo halls and family arcades close. Not only are they further delaying a decision for bingo but they’ve completely missed a chance to offer a lifeline to seaside towns. After months of dithering and hollow promises, arcade operators have been given pitiful 'support' from the DCMS which will do little to rescue many family run entertainment centres.”

There is widespread concern across the Great Yarmouth area that the Government is about to force the local PCT to impose a large impersonal polyclinic on our community, which the community will not see any real benefit from. My letter to Mr Stonnard also asks for some assurance that a polyclinic will not be imposed on the local community where it can be demonstrated that public opinion is firmly against its creation.

 Large polyclinics could well mean the closure of many local GPs’ surgeries across the county. Our local GPs’ surgeries, like Post Offices, lie at the very heart of our local community. For many, especially the most vulnerable, it takes a long time to build up a level of trust with their GP and a large impersonal polyclinic will make this much more difficult to achieve. The Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association and the Family Doctor Association have all voiced their opposition to these proposals. These are the people on the frontline in healthcare and it is to them that we should be looking for advice – not faceless bureaucrats in Whitehall. 

Last week the independent King’s Fund published a report which concluded that there is no evidence larger GP practices deliver a higher quality of care. In the face of this advice and the opposition of medical professionals it seems staggering to me that Gordon Brown is persisting with these plans. 

We have a PCT in Great Yarmouth that works hard for the community and I look forward to Mike Stonnard’s response and want to assure local people that I will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them on this issue and will be relentless in my support for our hard working nurses, doctors and support staff.”

The Government intends to change the way that Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) is calculated – family cars face higher VED as well as ‘showroom tax’ for new cars. The VED will be retrospective – so any car purchased after 2001 will be hit by the higher tax rates. These changes will raise an extra £2,500,000,000 in tax.

Under these changes, the tax bill for a typical Ford Mondeo will rise from £210 to £310 a year, with a new £500 showroom tax on top of that.

Brandon said:

“Families across Great Yarmouth, and the wider Norfolk area, are really feeling the pinch from the rising cost of living. Therefore, the Government must consider scrapping these plans for a big increase in road tax on family cars.

“Any change to road tax must focus on the most polluting vehicles and be offset by reductions in family taxes. Of course climate change should be at the top of the political agenda but we need to look to create policies that address the problem rather than using such an important issue as an excuse to hit hard working families with another tax hike.

“The Government’s own research show carbon emissions will be hardly cut at all by these changes. Gordon Brown should admit that this is just another cynical tax increase hiding behind the veil of a ‘green’ policy.

“As these changes to VED are retrospective it will mean residual values of cars made after 2001 will take a hit. Replacing or upgrading the family car will become more difficult when people visit their local showroom and discover the trade-in value of their car has plummeted.”

“This change will be yet another slap in the face for Yarmouth families and I will be fighting to ensure that this policy never sees the light of day.”

There is widespread concern across the local community, and among healthcare professionals, that a polyclinic will open in the area and force smaller GPs surgeries to close.

Brandon said:

“There is widespread concern across the Great Yarmouth area that the Government is about to force the local PCT to impose a large impersonal polyclinic on our community.

“Therefore, I have today taken the matter up with Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT’s Chief Executive, Mike Stonard, asking that he release details of all sites currently being considered for a polyclinic in the Yarmouth area and that he give me his personal assurance that a polyclinic will not be imposed on the local community where it can be demonstrated that public opinion is firmly against its creation.

“Large polyclinics could well mean the closure of many local GPs’ surgeries across our county.

“Our local GPs’ surgeries lie at the very heart of our local community. For many, especially the most vulnerable, it takes a long time to build up a level of trust with their GP and a large impersonal polyclinic will make this much more difficult to achieve.

“The Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Medical Association and the Family Doctor Association have all voiced their opposition to these proposals. These are the people on the frontline in healthcare and it is to them that we should be looking for advice – not faceless bureaucrats in Whitehall.

“Last week the independent King’s Fund published a report which concluded that there is no evidence larger GP practices deliver a higher quality of care. In the face of this advice and the opposition of medical professionals it seems staggering to me that Gordon Brown is persisting with these plans.

“I look forward to Mike Stonard’s response and want to assure local people that I will be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them on this issue and will be relentless in my support for our hard working nurses, doctors and support staff.”

Everyman’s campaign urges people across the country to focus on prostate and testicular cancer to increase both awareness and funding for vital research into these cancers.

Brandon said:

“Male cancers, in particular prostate and testicular cancer, do not always get the publicity they need. It is vitally important, if combating the disease is to get the funding it needs, that we rectify this. Everyman’s excellent campaign seeks to do just that.

“Men can find it very difficult to talk about what is a very personal issue, however, I would urge my fellow males across Great Yarmouth and Norfolk to cast off their embarrassment this month and join Everyman in trying to raise awareness of male cancers.

“Research conducted by Everyman suggests that only 28% of men check their testicles regularly for signs of testicular cancer. While testicular cancer is still quite rare the number of instances of the disease has more than doubled since 1975.

“Thanks to advances made at the Everyman Centre, testicular cancer is 99% curable if caught early. With treatment, the overall cure rate is over 95%. This underlines the importance of regular checks and a visit to the local doctors’ surgery if necessary.

“In the words of the excellent Football Association campaign to raise awareness of testicular cancer I would urge Norfolk men to ‘keep their eye on the ball’ on this vital issue.

“Prostate cancer has overtaken lung cancer to become the most common cancer in men. Nearly 35,000 men are diagnosed every year in the UK. Around 10,000 men die from prostate cancer every year in the UK – this works out at a staggering one death an hour.

“It is equally vital that regular checks are made for prostate cancer. If you are suffering from any of the symptoms associated with prostate cancer visit your GP as soon as possible so that the cause can be diagnosed and any relevant treatment administered.

“This June I hope that men across Yarmouth will begin to ignore the embarrassment that surrounds these cancers and ensure they keep an eye on their health and encourage their friends and family to do the same.”

Impersonal polyclinics will mean further to travel to local doctor

Local people face having to travel three times as far to visit their local doctor, Brandon Lewis warns. This has emerged from a detailed analysis of Government plans to introduce ‘polyclinics’ across England whether local residents want them or not.

Labour Ministers want to replace local GPs’ surgeries with impersonal super-surgeries. 1,700 family doctor surgeries could be closed down across England. 90 per cent of NHS care is administered by GPs.

·         London is being used as the test bed for these severe GP cuts. Currently, the average local GP in London is under half a mile away - but the Government has admitted that this will more than treble to 1.5 miles once its planned 150 polyclinics are introduced.

·         If the same approach was replicated across the country, the average family doctor could be more than three miles away. In Great Yarmouth, GP surgeries are currently an average of less than a mile away. Under Labour plans, this could increase to more than 3 miles. The elderly, infirm and young families will suffer the most from these increased journey times.

Brandon remarked,.

“I am very concerned that Labour’s planned cuts to GP services will mean local residents will have to travel further to see their local doctor when they are ill. These polyclinics will also be impersonal, breaking the valued link between patients and their family doctor.

“This latest round of cuts comes on top of plans to close down local Post Offices. Gordon Brown doesn’t seem to care about the social value of keeping services local.”

The proposed closure is part of HMRC’s reorganisation of its office accommodation in ‘cluster’ and ‘individual’ locations within the East, North West, South West, Yorkshire and The Humber, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Brandon said:

“This is a real blow to the many staff employed at HMRC’s site in Great Yarmouth. My sympathy is with them and their families at what will undoubtedly be a very upsetting time.

“Given that Yarmouth is one of the locations in the East that suffers most from unemployment it is incredibly disappointing that HMRC should choose to add to this burden – especially at a time when families are already struggling under difficult economic conditions

“I will be doing all I can to fight this proposed closure and will looking for assurances from HMRC that they will be helping to find alternative employment for all the staff unfortunate enough to be made redundant.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Confirmation of the HMRC proposals can be found at:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/local/review-of-cluster.htm

The IFS has said that eighteen million families will be worse off by an average of more than £150 a year from tax and benefit changes over the next two years, unless the Government finds the money to extend the ‘one-off’ income tax cut and to continue topping up the winter fuel allowance.

Brandon said:

“This report from the IFS underlines that the ‘compensation’ offered by Gordon Brown and his Chancellor for the abolition of the 10p tax rate was nothing more than a stunt to attempt to win over voters in Crewe and Nantwich.

“According to the IFS the next two years will see many families across Great Yarmouth and the rest of the country worse off as the one-off income tax cut and this year’s higher winter fuel payment disappear.

“By 2010-11 the IFS suggests eighteen million families will be worse off than they are in 2008-09 as a result of these changes.

“Unless the Gordon Brown is prepared to extend this ‘compensation’ many families across our area will find their finances increasingly stretched over the next few years. Voters in Crewe and Nantwich showed just how hungry this country is for a change of Government – in the light of this new report that change can’t come soon enough.”

According to research by the NHS Information Centre:

• The number of admissions to NHS hospital due to alcohol has soared by 52 percent over the last decade
• 1 in 10 of all these incidents now involves those under 18
• Across the East of England Strategic Health Authority Area, there were 14,116 admissions due to alcohol last year
• 1 in 3 of all 15 year olds think it is acceptable to get drunk at least once a week
• Half of all violent attacks are committed by those under the influence of alcohol

Spiralling alcohol misuse has coincided with new 24 hour licensing laws imposed by the Government, and a failure to enforce effectively the laws which exist against under-age drinking. The Government has also raided budgets for the promotion of healthy living to meet NHS deficits.

Brandon said:

“There is nothing wrong with adults enjoying a night out, but under-age and binge drinking fuels crime and anti-social behaviour.

“Government Ministers talk endlessly about cracking down on alcohol-related violence, but these new figures expose Gordon Brown’s complacency and the knock-on impact this has for our all ready over-stretched NHS.

“The failure of this Government to enforce the law sends completely the wrong message about under-age drinking. We need greater social responsibility, more power for local communities over licensing, and an end to some parents turning a blind eye to their children’s drinking.”

The report published by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at Kings College London reveals that that the Government’s wide ranging youth justice reforms have had no measurable impact on levels of self-reported youth offending. The report also highlights that far more children have been criminalised and imprisoned and that youth offending teams have struggled to meet the multiple social needs behind their offending.

Brandon said:

“The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies has exposed this Government’s failure on combating youth-offending.

“Since 2000 spending on youth justice by the Youth Justice Board, and other agencies, has increased by 45percent in real terms. With the exception of probation, youth justice has received the largest increase of all the major criminal justice agencies.

“Despite this investment the Government has missed its own targets. In the words of the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies: ‘all the expenditure and activity to reduce youth crime has had no measurable impact’.”

Last week Brandon attended a meeting with the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB). The FSB informed Brandon that three roads in the area were in urgent need of upgrading or construction. These were:

• The A12 from Seven Hills interchange nr Ipswich through to Great Yarmouth
• A47 – Acle Straight
• Norwich Northern By-pass

The FSB feels that investment in these roads is necessary to ensure the long term economic success of the area.

Brandon has already done extensive work lobbying for improvements to the A47 and the A12 at the Gapton Hall roundabout. In addition he is now calling on Suffolk County Council to thoroughly investigate congestion on the A12 as it approaches Yarmouth.

Brandon said:

“The A12 is one of the main arterial routes into Great Yarmouth and the FSB has expressed strong concerns over the level of congestion on the road between Ipswich and Yarmouth.

“Essex County Council has recently conducted a public enquiry into the A12 in the county and the FSB would like to see a similar exercise conducted in Suffolk. Therefore, I have today written to the leader of Suffolk County Council, Jeremy Pembroke, calling on him to conduct a similar enquiry in Suffolk.

“We must ensure that the road infrastructure in Great Yarmouth, and the wider catchment area, matches the aspirations of businesses in and around Yarmouth. In this uncertain economic climate we must do all we can to assist businesses and inadequate transport links can threaten the viability or large and small firms alike.”

The James Paget University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust came in the top 20 percent of trusts in the following areas:

• Waiting time for a bed
• Room cleanliness
• Toilet/bathroom cleanliness
• Storage of personal belongings
• Quality of hospital food
• Confidence in nursing staff
• Quantity of nurses on duty
• Staff cleanliness
• Privacy when discussing treatment
• Privacy during examination and treatment

The Trust came in the bottom 20 percent of trusts in the following areas:

• Choice of admission dates
• Clarity of answers to the questions asked
• Explanation given of operation or procedure
• Receipt of letters sent between doctors and GP

Brandon said:

“Overall this is a fantastic report for the James Paget University Hospital. Nurses, doctors and support staff alike deserve our congratulations for so many positive responses from patients.

“I am particularly delighted that the Hospital scored so highly in terms of cleanliness and the quality of nursing staff. This reflects the real hard work that has been put in across the Hospital.

“There are, of course, areas for improvement but it is a credit to our hard working NHS professionals that the Hospital came within the top 20 percent of trusts in 10 different areas.

“The Healthcare Commission must be congratulated for yet another excellent report and the staff at the James Paget should take great pride in their performance.

“This performance is all the more remarkable given this Government’s mismanagement of the NHS and the imposition of endless targets on its hard working staff.”

Brandon has also written to the leader of Norfolk County Council, Daniel Cox, to find out what more can be done to encourage parents to ensure their children are prepared for the hot weather.

Brandon said:

“With a background in education, I have seen children coming to school inadequately prepared for the good weather on too many occasions.

“As a parent, I am aware there are lots of things to remember each morning when we get the children ready for school and something like applying sun cream is easily forgotten. However, as this recent spate of good weather has demonstrated, children burn incredibly quickly and, aside from the immediate discomfort, this can lead to problems in later life.

“Therefore, I am urging parents across our area to make sure they apply sun cream to their children every morning this summer – especially to the face, neck and arms and, if they are likely to be swimming outside, the body and legs as well.

“Children have thinner, more delicate skins than adults and are at higher risk of burning.  It is best to use waterproof sun cream because it is less likely to be sweated or washed off. A factor 60 sun cream should block 98 percent of harmful UVB rays.

“In addition, if your child is old enough please send them to school with their own sun cream to reapply during the day.

“I have taken this issue up with Daniel Cox, the Leader of Norfolk County Council, to see what more can be done to ensure children are adequately protected in the hot weather. Norfolk County Council do some excellent work in our schools and I am keen to offer what assistance I can to tackle this problem.”

Brandon said:

“Norfolk County Council does an excellent job processing applications for student loans, however, as these figures make clear, a substantial number of students are going into higher education with a lack of clarity surrounding their finances.

“A the start of the current academic year 14 percent of students, 1360 individuals, began their first semester without their application for a loan being fully processed.

“Going away to university, especially for the first time, can be a stressful and emotionally charged experience. It is imperative, therefore, that students know where they stand financially at the start of the year and have the resources available to them on hand from the outset.

“The number of applications fully processed in the 2007/08 academic year was at its lowest, meaning more students began the semester without a loan, since 2004/05.

“I will be contacting Norfolk County Council to see what reasons there are for this. It may be that more students applied late, through clearing, or that the County Council had more applications than they anticipated.

“I will continue to monitor the situation and do my utmost to ensure that students from Great Yarmouth, and the wider Norfolk area, have the best possible transition into higher education.”

Estimates suggest that, across the Great Yarmouth and Waveney PCT area, 4 GP surgeries could be shut under the plans.

Polyclinics are little different from a small hospital, and nothing like the independent, local GP practice with just a few doctors that patients know and trust. Government Ministers are planning to end the era of local GP surgeries in almost every area. This will mean that patients will have to travel further to receive treatment, which will particularly disadvantage the elderly and families with small children.

Brandon said:

“Hot on the heels of the closure of local post offices across our community the Government now has GP surgeries in their sights.

“These proposals will be of particular concern to the elderly and families with young children. Patients will have to travel further and will find it much more difficult to see the same GP twice.

“Many vulnerable patients across the Great Yarmouth area rely on building up a rapport and substantial level of trust with their GP – this will be that much more difficult to achieve in a large impersonal clinic.

“The Government and their faceless bureaucrats in Whitehall must not be allowed to force polyclinics on the people of Yarmouth. They are unwanted and they are not needed.”

Brandon Lewis, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Great Yarmouth, has today hit out at Great Yarmouth’s MP, Tony Wright, for failing to protect the interests of the town in the House of Commons.

Seaside arcades, bingo halls and high street arcades are seeing a collapse in their income. New laws have reduced gaming machine stakes and the number of machines that these arcades can have. Simultaneously, the Government has failed to tackle the rise in problem gambling from betting offices as a result of ‘fixed odds betting terminals’ and of online gambling.

The British Amusement Catering Trade Association has described the impact of the Gambling Act on the industry as ‘devastating’, warning that ‘at this rate half the industry will be gone in six months’.

A move in Parliament by Her Majesty’s Opposition to change the law to tackle this unfairness was rejected by Labour Ministers and Labour MPs. Yarmouth’s MP, Tony Wright, flip-flopped on this issue – he signed a cross-party motion to change the laws then voted against a change to the laws in the House of Commons.

Brandon said:

“Like many other people living in Great Yarmouth, I want to know quite where Tony Wright’s loyalty rests; is it with his political masters at Labour Party HQ or here with the people of Yarmouth?

“Tony has flip-flopped spectacularly in his support for Yarmouth’s seaside attractions. First he signs a cross-party motion calling for a change to the laws then he votes against a change to the law in the House of Commons. It is conduct typical of a party that says one thing to the people they represent then does quite another in the Commons chamber.

“The Government is letting down our local community and its economy. Many of these arcades are part of our historic seaside heritage. This is no way to treat local firms that are so vital to seaside communities such as Yarmouth. A green light has been given to hard-core gambling, while safer forms of entertainment are being unfairly treated.

“It is estimated that the British Amusements industry has seen a 21percent fall in revenue year on year. This is an industry which directly employs 26,000 people. In the bingo industry, over 80 clubs gave closed in the last three years and 108 are under threat.

“Gaming arcade businesses are often family owned – passed on from generation to generation. They are the lifeblood of many seaside economies which rely heavily on tourism. They have been let down by this Government and by Tony Wright.”

The Conservatives gained two seats, Magdalen and Bradwell North, ousting the leader of the Labour Group in the process.

Patricia Page was elected with 816 votes in Magdalen ward in a straight fight against the incumbent Labour Councillor, Monica Walker. In Bradwell North the leader of the Labour Group, Trevor Wainright, was defeated by Alan Grey.

Brandon said:

“These are some fantastic results. Not only have we held onto our seats, we have also made gains in two key wards – Magdalen and Bradwell North.

“The people of Great Yarmouth have sent a resounding message to Gordon Brown and his cronies in Whitehall; for too long they have neglected communities such as Yarmouth. Issues such as the abolition of the 10p tax rate have hit many Yarmouth families where it hurts – in their pocket. This, coupled with the positive record of the Conservative led Borough Council, has seen Conservatives returned to office with a clear mandate to continue to work hard on behalf of everyone across our community.

“However, we will not be complacent. We have done some really great work in Yarmouth but we can do better and we will do better. The people of this Borough have put their faith in the Conservative Party and we will not let them down.”