I am receiving a great deal of letters and emails at the moment about national issues and these help me to represent you effectively in Parliament. Westminster is an extremely busy place at the moment as you can imagine, but a Member of Parliament must always remember their constituency and living here in Lancashire with my family helps me stay focused on what is important to my constituents. I believe it is important to escape the bubble of Westminster and speak to the people I represent as often as possible.
Recently I took part in the ‘Give a Day to Policing’ initiative run by Lancashire Constabulary. My day with the local Police began with a full brief from Officers at Fleetwood Police Station. This was a great opportunity to speak to local Officers about local issues and the pressures they are under day to day. We discussed everything from local Officers working from the Civic Centre in Poulton to cyber-crime. Then in the afternoon I went on patrol with a local Officer. First we went to Poulton where we took the opportunity to chat with people before the officer had to visit a few locations to carry out daily tasks. We then continued the day by going on a vehicle patrol in Over Wyre. It was very interesting to hear the views of a local Officer on a host of different issues. The Police here in Lancashire do an outstanding job in an ever changing environment. The Officers were keen to highlight how their work has changed over the past decade with new challenges from complex crimes such as online fraud, child sexual exploitation, domestic abuse and serious violent crime. They also talked about the growing amount of Officer time which is spent helping to safeguard vulnerable people, such as missing children and people suffering from mental ill health. I know from my own involvement in the individual cases of constituents just how valuable this work is. I found the day fascinating and I would like to thank all who were involved for giving up their time.
I am delighted that after strong representations by the local community and me, the Secretary of State has blocked the new fracking site at Roseacre. It was always in the wrong location due to the impact of the HGV traffic on the narrow local roads and I hope now my constituents can rest at ease. I agree 100% with the opinion of the Secretary of State when he stated in his report that the proposed development would have a serious and very significant adverse impact on the safety of people using the public highway.
This has been hanging over the local community and I am extremely pleased that common-sense has prevailed. I am also pleased that earlier this month my efforts on behalf of Lancashire Police has meant they have got extra funding to police the more advanced fracking site at Preston New Road.
I have mentioned a few times in this monthly article about how I am seeing an improvement in the state of the highways locally. My Office receives notice of works and I have been pleasantly surprised with the number of planned improvements in the area. I do know how bad the roads were and in some areas still are but I am convinced we are moving in the right direction. As always, I welcome your views on this issue.
I continue to meet residents at my advice surgeries to discuss a wide range of issues. Please remember if you would like to attend one of my surgeries, the most effective way to contact me is by email, with a brief description of the issues you wish to raise and your contact details.
It is worth bearing in mind that I can often offer assistance without the need for a meeting. National issues are filling my mailbag at the moment. Please remember I am here to represent you and your views are important to me so please keep them coming.
If I can be of any assistance to you please ring my Office at the House of Commons on 0207 219 5804 or my Constituency Office on 01995 672976, email me at [email protected] or write to me at the House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.