I know that our thoughts are with the King this week as he starts his cancer treatment. One in two people get cancer and it can be a devastating disease for anyone. I hope he has a speedy recovery and can continue his usual strenuous programme.
This week it has been a shortened week because of recess but I still managed to pack in time in the Chamber.
I was delighted to see Wessex Pharmacy in Alresford publicising the new services that can be provided in pharmacies through the government’s Pharmacy First initiative. I hope that this will help people get medication and advice quickly, saving waiting for a GP appointment for seven common ailments. This week we also heard about the Dental Recovery Plan to catch up with the backlog from covid and enabling more dentists to be trained and work in areas where there are few NHS dentists at present.
On Monday morning, I went with the education select committee to Google’s headquarters in London as part of our inquiry into online learning and safety. I was reassured that it has put in measures to stop children from accessing inappropriate websites although it is somewhat alarming to know that Google can tell by how old you are by the way you use the internet. The company has a programme to educate young people to become Internet Legends and know how to navigate the internet safely. We are looking to see whether spending too much time online is affecting education and mental health but we are hearing different opinions from across a wide range of people.
I got back to Westminster in time for the Department for Work and Pension questions. I asked about saving for pensions, especially for those on low incomes as we now have auto-enrolment, which is making a difference. The number of women with pensions has risen from 40% in 2012 to 86% now -in line with men – and this is good news. I then went on to the Public Accounts Committee where we asked the Cabinet Office about the civil service workforce that has increased hugely since Brexit and covid. There is a freeze on numbers now and a new People Plan to reform the HR element of the civil service. In the evening, we voted on the remaining stages of the Finance Bill from the Autumn Statement, including the abolition of the pension lifetime allowance that affected many senior public servants. The Labour Party has said it will reinstate it meaning there will be uncertainty for many people. Labour has done U-turns before so I hope this is one of them as it affects doctors, air traffic controllers and other essential senior people.
The Education Select committee on Tuesday concerned the strikes at universities. The first panel consisted of student representatives who support the industrial action even though it has an impact on their learning and marking. We did some tough questioning on this as I thought they might be cross with the disruption of their education. They did comment that they would like a different model of funding universities with free education. Anyone who has been watching what is going on with Scottish universities will know that this is no longer a good idea as they have gone down the league tables and numbers of Scottish students are increasingly limited. At least in England, every one who wants to go to university has the chance to do so.
I had to leave the Committee early to attend Treasury questions. I have been lucky in the ballot this week with three questions in a row. I asked about business rates and empty offices. We have given a lot of business rate relief but there are still empty offices following covid as people work from home more and I am concerned about landlords who rely on this income. I did not get a good answer but hope that treasury officials will have noticed.
On Wednesday I asked the Women and Equalities minister about girls going into Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) and mentioned that University Technology Colleges (UTC) are an excellent way of getting girls into these subjects. There will be a new UTC in Southampton linked with the very successful Portsmouth UTC. Several constituents attend the one in Portsmouth so I hope that this will mean that more young people can learn STEM subjects in a more practical way. Many of them go onto study engineering and other science subjects either at university or as an apprentice.
It is Apprenticeship Week so it was good to meet with several apprentices from around the country and hear how thrilled they are with the courses they are doing. There were 752,150 people participating in apprenticeships over the last year.
I got some stick in the national media for my article in my latest leaflet asking people to be sensible during heavy rainfalls when it makes sense not to pour too much used household water into the sewers which can overflow. Until we replace all the Victorian sewage systems which water companies are doing at pace, we need to make sure that we don’t have overflows that go into our rivers so I thought this is a useful reminder that we all contribute to our sewers. Some of the headlines were amusing but it is a serious subject and I hope that people will think about it before turning on washing machines, having baths and even flushing the loos if heavy rain is forecast. We don’t want sewage backing up into people’s houses as much as not wanting any pollution in our rivers.
It is recess next week so I will be spending some time with my grandchildren who I have not seen for ages before being out on the campaign trail.
Have a great week.
