Romsey Advertiser 4 January 2008

Written by Sandra Gidley MP on Fri 4th Jan 2008

I have managed to take a few days off over Christmas and it is now back to work with a vengeance. Some of the threads have been picked up from the old year but it is clear that there are new challenges ahead too.

My plans for a quiet first week in January were scuppered when my Westminster researcher handed in her notice. A small ad was placed on the Working4anMP website for a few days before Christmas and I have been inundated with high quality applicants. One day this week will be spent in Westminster interviewing the short-listed candidates.

Nearly all of the short listed candidates will be able to start fairly quickly. This will be a distinct advantage as I will be spending most of my Westminster time this month on the committee dealing with the Health and Social Care Bill. This generally leaves little time for anything else.

At a constituency level the problem of the Rail Link bus continues to exercise hearts and minds and it remains to be seen what will eventually be salvaged. Transport continues to be a theme and many of the local "Good Neighbours" schemes are concerned by the Council's decision to change the way the schemes are run. I have some sympathy with the Council who find themselves between a rock and a hard place. They have to implement the Government's wish to provide free, nationwide public transport for pensioners. Pensioners have a choice between a rail pass or a bus pass. This is fine if there is a decent public transport system but for those living in villages wishing to access health care (or even a post office in some cases) there are few options. Even Romsey residents have difficulty in easily accessing Southampton General Hospital. The Council say that they can no longer afford to subsidise every journey as they do not yet know what the financial impact of the move to nationwide free travel will be. I can't help thinking that this decision will put an extra burden on patient transport services which are probably more expensive than a small fee to Good Neighbours. I do wonder if we could benefit from some joined up thinking here.

Housing will also be a hot topic in 2008. The plans for Abbotswood will soon be under discussion and there will be debate about the proposed locations for further housing allocations. Yet, despite all the build there is no sign that it is becoming any easier for young couples to afford to buy a place of their own.

It looks as though the New Year is going to be a busy one - and I hope that for all of you it is a happy one.

Published with kind permission of The Romsey Advertiser.