1 MARCH 2007

The debate and the divisions on the House of Lords reform will take place next Wednesday, 7 March. 
To enable all the votes to take place on a day when the House adjourns at 7pm, a motion was passed last Tuesday to allow the divisions to commence at 5.30pm. There could be at least seven votes. Any division takes about 16 minutes so we could need all the time the earlier start will provide. 
I have had only a few responses to my request for help with deciding how I should vote. These range from requests to support a wholly elected second chamber to the good old British compromise of 50% elected and 50% appointed. 
I shall own up next week to my decision and as the Shuttle's deadline will not allow the results to appear in this column the Editor has promised to post them on the web on 8 March.

As a regular user of Virgin trains I was appalled by the horror of the disaster that occurred in Cumbria last week. But the amazing, reassuring fact emerged that the Pendolino carriages, including the windows, were so strong and damage resistant that casualties were minimised even following a reported 95 mph accident.

Soon after I was elected in 2001 a difficult and noxious problem arose on the Marlpool Estate when serious flooding occurred inside residents' homes and gardens because of inadequate, unadopted sewers. 
This led me to join the All-Party Parliamentary Sewers Group and after many meetings with Ministers, other MPs and civil servants we heard, at last, at a meeting of the Group last week that we have achieved a promise from the Government that adoption of all unadopted sewers is to take place. This cannot happen immediately as consultation on how to achieve it will commence in May. No legislation is necessary as appropriate powers were included in the last Water Bill. Attempts will be made to keep the increases in our water charges to a minimum but the costs of the adoption must be covered.

I attended a briefing on Legal Aid Reforms last week and the main changes are aimed at obtaining better value for money by paying for legal services on a fee per case basis rather than the current system of paying lawyers by the hour. 
There are no plans for cuts in the civil or family legal aid budgets but it is hoped that this change will allow more people to obtain legal aid.

The Health Select Committee has a tight schedule ahead as we are completing inquiries into Patient and Public Involvement in Health (PPIH) and NHS Workforce Planning. The report on PPIH must be published before the Easter Recess as the Government are rushing ahead with their own reforms which appear to be unwelcome to almost everyone involved and we hope to have some influence on the end result.

R.T.

© Independent Kidderminster Hospital & Health Concern 1995-2007
(webdesign@chaddesley-corbett.co.uk)