During the last few weeks I have visited some of our major manufacturing firms to find out directly about their problems in the current financial situation and their views on possible ways the Government might help medium-sized businesses.
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By immense good fortune I was able to catch the Speaker's eye during Prime Minister's Questions last week and to put this question to him as a result of these meetings: 

"Will the Prime Minister consider providing Government help to enable medium-sized businesses to increase the pay to their workers on short-time working, as that might help stem the flow of redundancies of skilled, and possibly irreplaceable, staff?"

As an Independent MP I am not seen as an automatic opponent even though I sit on the opposition benches but even so I was amazed by the helpful reply I received as follows: 

"The hon. Gentleman is right there are things that can be done in this area........... In each area where we can take action, we will take action, and I will be very happy to look at any proposal that the hon. Gentleman puts forward."

What an offer! 

By coincidence the District Council had invited business leaders to a meeting last Friday to list and discuss sources of aid for businesses that are available now and I was able to ask for suggestions to be sent to me that we should put to the Prime Minister. I have another meeting planned for the end of this week to finalise these suggestions which I plan to pass on next week not only to the PM but also to Ministers in the Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
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There is good news from Bewdley. 
After pressure from the town's traders, Town and District Councils and myself the major road works that were to take place in the town this summer have been postponed until next winter when the disruption to the tourist trade will be less significant.
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Another struggle that we face in Bewdley, and probably elsewhere, is to try to obtain help for the unfortunate home owners who have only recently discovered that their homes are built on top of crumbling culverts that carry significant water courses under parts of the town to the river. 
These now need extensive repairs and I understand that they are not mentioned on title deeds and were not even known about until recent floods overwhelmed them with dire consequences. 

I am meeting home owners soon and have suggested that this is an urgent topic for the All Party Parliamentary Floods Group to look at as it must involve other locations as well as Bewdley.
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I was pleased to support a recent Early Day Motion that stresses the importance of local newspapers, possibly threatened financially, and calls on the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport to meet representatives of the industry to discuss how local papers can continue to deliver a much cherished and needed service in the future.

RT

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