Adrian Sanders

Torbay MP Goes to Downing Street to Call for Improved Support for Pupils with Health Conditions

Adrian Sanders MP for Torbay, yesterday accompanied five children with a range of health conditions as they delivered boxes of letters to 10 Downing Street asking Gordon Brown to improve support for them at school.

To tackle this issue, Jim Cunningham MP is putting forward the Schools (Health Support) Bill which is due to have its second reading in Parliament this Friday (8 May).

Adrian said: "It is appalling that some children with health conditions are not receiving the support they need to manage their condition at school. This can have a devastating impact on them for the rest of their lives. All children must have equal access to a full education."

Douglas Smallwood, Chief Executive of leading health charity Diabetes UK, added: "A lack of training and support for school staff means that pupils’ medical needs are not always met and they miss out academically and socially. We are calling for as many MPs as possible to support the Schools (Health Support) Bill and make a real difference to these pupils’ quality of life."

Background

The health and education of many of the estimated one million children and young people with health conditions in England could be at risk because pupils do not always receive adequate support to manage their condition at school and are not being fully included in lessons and activities.

A lack of training and support for school staff means that children and young people’s medical needs are not always met and they miss out academically and socially. To address the issue, schools, primary care trusts and local authorities must work together.

The Schools (Health Support) Bill aims to ensure:

· Schools are required to produce and implement medical conditions policies – in line with current guidance and best practice

· School staff receive appropriate support and training to support children with health conditions

· NHS bodies, local authorities and primary care trusts help schools fulfil their responsibilities

· School inspections also look at how a school supports children with health conditions

· Every child with a health condition has an individual healthcare plan

Charities supporting the Bill include The Anaphylaxis Campaign, Asthma UK, British Heart Foundation, Children and Young People's HIV Network, CLIC Sargent, Coeliac UK, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action, INPUT, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, MS Society, National Centre for Young People with Epilepsy (NCYPE), National Voices, Royal College of Nursing, TreeHouse, Scope, Sickle Cell and Young Stroke Survivors (SCYSS), Stroke Association, UK Children with Diabetes Advocacy Group, Vision 2020 UK, Young Minds.

Government Pledges More Jobseeker Help

Help from the Government is finally starting to arrive for those made unemployed by the recession.

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has been pressing Ministers to provide better advice and support to ensure those made unemployed receive the benefits they are entitled to and that they have easy access to training and job application support. Support work will now be returning to Paignton as operations in the Bay are expanded.

Roland Ginn, the national Job Centre Plus director of finance said that the DWP: "are in negotiations with one of our provider organisations, Action for Employment, for us to locate some of our Advisory work and Group Information sessions in their premises in both Torquay and Paignton."

Adrian added: "It is essential that jobseekers are provided with all the support they need. It is very good news that the Government is finally responding to the need for better help and hopefully this will be part of a wider strategy to develop a more diverse and skilled workforce that employers can benefit from."

Swine Flu leaflet

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Torbay MP questions Health Minister on Swine Flu

Following the news of the outbreak of Swine Flu in Paignton, Torbay MP raised the matter with the Secretary of State, Alan Johnson, after his statement in the House of Commons.

With the situation firmly under control by the health and education authorities, Adrian has sought further clarification in writing on a few matters to provide additional reassurance to the residents and visitors of Torbay.

Below is a copy of the letter to Alan Johnson

Dear Alan

Thank you for your statement yesterday evening.

Just to clarify, as Anthony seemed a little confused last night, Paignton college is a split site school. The upper school in Borough Road is in the Totnes constituency. The lower school, in Waterleat Road, that the infected pupil attends, is in the Torbay constituency.

I did have some further questions that constituents have raised with me that I hope you will be able to answer.

I would be very grateful if you could offer reassurances that treatment will be available in Torbay to all who need it and that stockpiles of antiviral drugs are now readily available in the locality.

Secondly, could you clarify the positions of vulnerable people? Torbay has a high number of elderly residents, and together with many other constituents, they are recommended to take the annual flu jab. What is the medical advice for these groups?

Finally, I understand that the information leaflet for each household will be distributed next week. Obviously this will be slightly late for the people of Torbay and I would be grateful if anything could be distributed to residents as soon as possible.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely

Adrian Sanders MP

Statement on swine flu in Torbay

You will have heard reports in the media concerning a confirmed case of swine flu in Torbay.

I have been reassured that the Government are monitoring the situation very closely and are following the regularly updated advice being issued by the Health Protection Agency (HPA).

The Health Protection Agency is advising that while we should all be alert for symptoms of infection and that everyone should take reasonable steps to protect themselves and prevent the spread of infection, at the moment there is no cause for alarm, and business should carry on as usual.

I encourage you to take the following simple precautionary measures which have been shown to be effective in reducing the transmission of all viruses - this information is also being made widely available in the national press, on health agency websites and elsewhere:

• Cover your nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing, using a tissue when possible.

• Dispose of dirty tissues promptly and carefully.

• Maintain good basic hygiene, for example washing hands frequently with soap and water to reduce the spread of the virus from your hands to face or to other people.

If you have any health concerns, you should seek advice from NHS Direct on 0845 4647.

The symptoms of swine influenza in people are similar to the symptoms of regular human seasonal influenza infection, a feverish illness accompanied by one or more of the following: headache, fatigue, muscle ache, lack of appetite, coughing and sore throat. Some people with swine flu have also reported vomiting and diarrhoea. For most people, this illness at present appears to be mild and infection is treatable with anti-viral drugs.

The HPA has issued specific advice for people returning to the UK from a country affected by swine influenza. See the HPA website - http://www.hpa.org.uk/

Sanders Reacts to Budget

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has given his initial reaction to today's budget announcement by Chancellor Alistair Darling: "This is a pick and mix budget, when we needed tough long term decisions. It presents some difficult challenges for Torbay and South Devon."

• No help for people struggling to make ends meet. The Government has tinkered with tax credits, when it should have offered a permanent big tax cut, paid for by closing tax loopholes and cracking down on tax avoidance. By raising personal allowance to £10,000, vast majority of people would have their income tax cut by £700 and 4 million of the lowest paid will be taken out of tax altogether.

• 50% top tax makes clamping down on tax avoidance even more essential. The Government claims that by raising the top rate of tax to 50% for people earning over £150,000 it will raise £1.1bn. The IFS however says it will raise far less than this as people will simply avoid it, for example by presenting their income as capital and therefore only have to pay 18% of CGT. CGT should be taxed as income and other loopholes closed.

• Continuing the wasteful VAT cut. The Government will waste an extra £8.5bn on the VAT cut, it should have been reversed and the money put into creating jobs for today and assets for the future, through projects such as building social housing, insulating homes, schools and hospitals and re-opening and upgrading railway lines.

• We have been saddled with decades of debt because of no long term tough choices. The Government budget deficits over the next 5 years are going to cost £32,000 per household. The government has not made the long term tough choices which will return our economy back to stability in the future.

• Ludicrously optimistic on cost of banking rescue. The Government has claimed that the bank bailout will cost just £49bn, when the IMF claims it will cost more than double that at £130bn. They have also failed to get banks to lend to solvent business and there is still not strategy to sort the banks out, break them up and re-privatise them in the longer term.

There were four areas of the budget that will directly impact on our local economy:

• The gaming machine tax increases will hurt amusement parks, arcades and others who derive an income from small stake machines.

• The £8 to £48 per tonne rise in the landfill tax will hit Torbay hard. The low priority Torbay has given to recycling in recent years needs to be reconsidered and radical policy changes implemented.

• Guest houses and small hotels trading just below the VAT registration rate of £67,000 will need to be alert to the fact that a turnover rise of just £1,000 will lift them over the threshold for VAT.

• Pub closures locally are unlikely to be stemmed with the beer and other alcohol tax rises. Local landlords wanted a beer tax cut to give local pubs a chance against supermarkets subsidising prices below the wholesale prices pubs have to pay.

Budget Must Build Economy and Help Struggling Families

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has submitted the views of Torbay residents to the Chancellor ahead of Wednesday's budget. Several hundred people have responded and as well as putting the main case for a budget to help Torbay, Adrian will be raising a host of isolated issues with Ministers to try and get them resolved.

Adrian commented: "The Government has been making changes up to the last minute for the Budget and hopefully there will be real measures now to help the people of Torbay. The Budget has two key tasks. Firstly it must help those being hit hardest by the recession-small businesses, pensioners and those on low incomes. Secondly it must start laying the foundations for a return to a stable and fair economy."

"The response from residents has been fantastic; there is a very strong frustration that the Government is not doing enough to help in a situation it partly caused."

"Although the Government has already borrowed heavily and is currently re-announcing efficiency savings, there is still room to shift the economy to get real help to people now."

Adrian is also supporting Nick Clegg's campaign to have the tax free threshold for income tax raised to £10,000, ensuring more people on low incomes are able to survive through tough times.

Torbay Wins Bid for Better Care Programme

It has been announced that Torbay Care Trust has been sucessful in its bid to participate in a Department of Health programme for integrated health and social care.

There are 16 Integrated Care Pilot schemes nationwide and the programme for Torbay will focus upon care for the elderly. The aim is to provide a more personalised delivery of services to the needs of elderly patients. Partner organisations will include those across primary, secondary, social care and mental health services.

Torbay Care Trust fought off considerable competition throughout the rigorous assessment process to secure the programme which began on 1 April 2009 and will run for two years.

Torbay MP, Adrian Sanders commented: "This is great news for Torbay Care Trust and the Bay's older residents. The pilot programme has a real opportunity to improve the integration of local health services."

"This should ease pressure on local healthcare staff and resources in the long term, as well as making patient care increasingly tailored to individual patient needs."

Phil Hope, the Care Minister said: "The Integrated Care Pilots programme aims to test a number of diverse models, focusing on innovation and on delivering an improvement in outcomes, quality and service user satisfaction."

Sanders Tackles Minister over Poor Deal for Pensioners

Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has been calling on Rosie Winterton, Minister for Pensions, to provide a better deal for Torbay pensioners. With somewhere between 20% and 40% of pensioners living below the poverty line, thousands of Torbay residents are being hit hard by the recession with no help from the Government.

Rosie Winterton claimed that: "the average pensioner household will be £1,600 a year (£31 a week) better off in 2008/9 than in 1997 due to our tax and benefit changes."

However, the OECD has showed that fuel bills rose by 12% in the last year alone, with food prices rocketing by over 18% in the same time. Increases in the basic state pension have failed to keep pace with the cost of living, forcing pensioners to make difficult  decisions on what necessities to go without.

Adrian said: "The Government is putting its head in the sand over pensioner poverty. As a society we need to ensure that no one, especially vulnerable individuals, lives below the poverty line."

"Although the Government has provided some well received add-ons such as free swimming and free bus travel, at root this is a patronising dodge of the real issue. If pensioners had a reasonable income, they would not need these hand outs. This is why I am campaigning for the Government to recognise the contribution pensioners have made to our society and provide them with a guaranteed income above the poverty line."

The Minister's response to Adrian's questions comes as Age Concern and Help the Aged announced today that research has revealed a deteriorating standard of living for older people.

The Devon Pensioners' Action Forum has also called for the basic pension level to be raised to the poverty line, currently at £165 a week for a single person. 

Government Calls South West Water Users Polluters

Adrian Sanders has reacted with dismay at the Government's continuing backing for higher water bills in the South West than the rest of the UK.

DEFRA Minister Huw Irranca-Davis stated that the polluter pays principle is being used to justify high water bills for the region.

Following questions from Adrian, the Minister stated: "in the South West, 5% of the nation's customers are paying to clean up 30% of the nation's beaches. However, it is difficult to justify, under the polluter-pays principle, for taxpayers or other company's customers' to meet the costs of treating another company's customers' water and sewage."

The distribution of water companies was, however, allocated by central Government at the point of privatisation and unless customers move out of the region, there is no opportunity to change supplier.

Adrian commented: "It is hard to see how the average water user in the  South West pollutes more than the rest of the country. If anything South West customers are the most environmentally friendly; the high cost of bills even forces some to cut back water consumption to the bare minimum."

"The Government is using one spurious argument after another to justify this water bill apartheid. It is purely an accident of geography and arbitrary central Government demarcations, stemming from privatisation, that cause this."

"It is clear that privatisation has failed for water consumers; there is no chance to change supplier and there can be no competition on price. The Government needs to face facts that water is an essential public resource and that the principle behind these regional water monopolies is fundamentally flawed." 

In Adrian's consultation with Torbay residents over the state of the economy, many highlighted water bills as problematic, contributing to the high poverty rates in the South West region. Adrian is pushing for water provision to be treated as a universial service obligation, like the NHS or royal mail, to be delivered equally to all citizens regardless of their location in the country.