I was very pleased to be able to speak with Susan Davy, the Chief Executive of South West Water recently. We discussed some of the challenges we are facing in North Cornwall, especially around reducing the outflows and the discharge of sewage, which I know is a concern to many constituents. I also reiterated my idea for South West Water to issue water butts to residents in Cornwall to help save rainwater. This is something which I had previously introduced in the House of Commons via my Bathing Waters Bill a few years ago. At the time I put forward the case that there should be an obligation on companies to provide rainwater storage butts and develop attenuation ponds and I feel this is even more important now as we experience the first drought in recent history. I hope that South West Water will consider rolling out water butts in Cornwall in the near future.
I met with community stakeholders, members of Cornwall Council and with Devon & Cornwall Police at the Davidstow creamery to discuss last month’s disruptive unlicensed music event. The illegal gathering which took place over the jubilee weekend was of great concern to local people and much of the discussion focused on preventing similar gatherings in future. The Police also gave a briefing on how their work proceeded over the course of the previous bank holiday and what action was taken. This was an important meeting which gave Devon & Cornwall Police the opportunity to debrief and answer questions from stakeholders and elected members, giving us a better understanding of what occurred and why. I have several action points from the meeting which I will be taking back to Westminster for the attention of the Minister. The Forestry Commission and residents have also put several forward ideas to stop unlicensed events on Davidstow in the future. Devon & Cornwall Police are keen to engage with the local community and ask that any information or intelligence relating to future events is passed on to them via DC Alert. Devon and Cornwall Alert is a two-way community messaging system operated by Devon and Cornwall Police. The system helps us to connect with our communities, it tells people what is happening in their area and allows them to respond directly with any information. You can sign up by visiting https://alerts.dc.police.uk/.
The Government is clear that patient handovers at A&E must take place within agreed times. Over 40% of tax revenue in the UK goes towards funding health so local decision-makers need to show real leadership to deal with some of the problems Cornwall’s NHS is facing. NHS England has given targeted support to the hospitals facing the longest delays in the handover of patients from ambulances, helping them to identify short- and longer-term interventions to reduce delays and get ambulances swiftly back out on the road. All integrated care boards are working out the capacity needed to support performance and how this can be delivered.
ENDS
