Message from city MP: Some good news for Exeter...

Behind the gloom of this week’s Winter Statement from George Osborne promising at least six more years of austerity because of his failed economic policy there were two bits of potentially very good news for Exeter and the South West, writes Ben Bradshaw.

The first was that Exeter was being invited to bid for a slice of Government money to help fund the upgrading of our flood defences. It shouldn’t have needed the recent floods and Exeter’s “near miss” to spur the Government into action, but this is welcome none the less. We’ve been campaigning for more than two years – ever since the independent Environment Agency said Exeter’s defences were no longer adequate given the more frequent and serious flooding expected because of climate change and identified upgrading Exeter’s defences as is top regional priority.

Because of the Government’s 30% cuts to flood defence investment and the introduction of a requirement that a substantial portion of the cost of new schemes should be met by local councils there had been serious concerns about whether Exeter’s scheme would go ahead and under what time-scale. So, hopefully, this announcement can mean the scheme being formally approved as soon as possible so that the several thousand householders and businesses in Exeter at risk of serious flooding can rest a little easier in their beds.

The other bit of good news was the clear message delivered by health Minister Daniel Poulter to an all party delegation of South West MPs that 19 NHS Trusts in our region (including the RD&E and Devon Partnership Trust) should rejoin national pay bargaining and give up their attempt to introduce regional pay.

The following day the Chancellor re-enforced the message telling the Commons he’d rejected the idea of regional pay in the NHS. This was a dramatic turnaround from Ministers’ previous statements in which they’d declined to intervene and said the issue was a matter for the Trusts concerned. It was clear from the meeting with Mr Poulter that the Government has become seriously worried that the “heavy handed” activities of the South West pay cartel are acting as a barrier to clinching a deal with the unions on changes to national pay and conditions.

Some of the Trusts involved have continued to make noises about continuing the cartel, but it is inconceivable to me, as a former Health Minister, that hospitals would defy their Ministerial pay masters in this way. They should end the uncertainty now and make clear they will abide by the agreement we all hope can now be reached at national level.

The political week ended with high farce in the House of Commons when the Minister responsible for farming, David Heath, the Liberal Democrat MP for Somerton and Frome, refused to answer my question on the devastating impact Government plans for a minimum alcohol price will have on cider makers. Mr Heath claimed he couldn’t answer because he has cider makers in his constituency. But this is ridiculous. He has dairy farmers and all sorts of farmers in his constituency and that didn’t stop him answering questions on them in the same Commons session.

Are Education Ministers to be able to avoid answering questions if they have schools in their constituency, or Health Ministers hospitals? This is patently ludicrous and if replicated would prevent MPs doing their jobs properly. I have asked the Speaker and head civil servant in Mr Heath’s department, DEFRA, to intervene. Minimum pricing will have a particularly damaging impact on cider putting the price of most brands up significantly and more than doubling the price of farm gate sales because it is currently relatively cheap. Westcountry cider makers need a champion within Government who will fight to kill this stupid idea rather than someone who avoids talking about it for spurious reasons.