Five months on from the election feels like a good time to reflect on the progress we have made both locally.
Without doubt the most rewarding and satisfying part of being an MP is when I can help constituents with their problems. I am incredibly lucky to have a brilliant team of local people based in High Peak dedicated to helping resolve the – often complex – issues that many constituents face from time to time.
Since the election we have dealt with almost 4,500 new cases, far more than any other newly elected MP I am aware of. And we have had some real successes: for instance, we managed to secure £4,000 in backdated benefits for one constituent after the Department for Work and Pensions had made an error with their Universal Credit claim. We helped another constituent claim £4300 in Employment Support arrears that they were owed. And it was particularly satisfying to get school transport reinstated for a disabled child – whose family were having to hundreds of pounds a month to get them to school.
We have also supported and continue to support local people in campaigns across the constituency. We have helped the local community group in their fight to get Gamesley Community Centre back open after Derbyshire County Council closed and boarded it up, and we are hopeful it will be back in community hands once again in the near future.
It is fantastic that High Peak Borough Council is wanting to invest in leisure services in the area but having listened to local concerns about the proposals to redevelop New Mills Leisure Centre, I pressed High Peak Borough Council to come forward with a range of options for consultation. I am pleased to see they are doing just that. I am particularly pleased to see that the concerns about local schools being able to fully utilise the sports hall have been taken on board.
I have also stood up for local commuters and rail users by taking their concerns directly to Northern Rail. I demanded a meeting where I raised all the issues with cancellations, delays and overcrowding people from Buxton, New Mills, Glossop and across the Hope Valley had raised with me. Northern have promised improvements, and I will not get off their case until they deliver the services we deserve.
If you have a problem and you think my team and I might be able to help, please do not hesitate to get in touch on (01298) 918189 or email [email protected].
Share on Social Media
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Watching my father disappear into Alzheimer’s is something my family will never forget. It is a story that, sadly, will feel painfully familiar to so many families across High Peak.
People often say that with Alzheimer’s and dementia you lose the person twice. First, as the illness slowly robs them of the person they once were, and then again when their body finally gives up after a long and cruel battle.
As heartbreaking as that is, it is often accompanied by another burden: the constant worry about how to provide the care they need, and how that care will be paid for.
For decades, social care has been the problem every politician acknowledges but no government has truly solved. Almost everyone agrees the system is broken. Yet whenever serious reform is proposed, the debate quickly descends into scare stories, political point-scoring and accusations of “death taxes”, leaving families exactly where they started.
That has to change.
Last week, Andy Burnham said he was prepared to spend political capital on fixing social care and to work with other political parties to build the consensus needed to make lasting reform possible.
I know this is deeply personal for Andy. His own father is living with Alzheimer’s. But long before that, as Health Secretary, he argued that social care should be valued alongside healthcare as an essential part of the system, not treated as an afterthought.
For too long, social care has been the forgotten partner of the NHS.
When we think about our health service, we rightly picture doctors, nurses and hospitals. But social care is every bit as vital. It helps older people remain independent, supports disabled adults to live fulfilling lives, gives families reassurance, and frees up hospital beds by helping people return home safely when they are ready.
When social care fails, the NHS feels the consequences. Hospital beds stay occupied, ambulance queues grow longer, families are left exhausted, and vulnerable people do not receive the support they deserve.
Years of underinvestment have left providers struggling to survive, care workers undervalued despite the extraordinary job they do, and families facing impossible choices at the most difficult moments of their lives.
Getting social care right is not simply about one public service. It is about making our entire health and care system work better.
Andy has instructed that the review of social care should report much sooner, with conclusions expected by this time next year. That gives us a real opportunity to have the honest, grown-up conversation the country has avoided for far too long.
As your MP, I will work with anyone - whatever their political party - who is serious about delivering the lasting reforms families deserve.
My father’s journey with Alzheimer’s will stay with me forever. It reinforced something I have always believed: every one of us deserves to grow old with dignity. Every family deserves the confidence that, when the time comes, good care will be there without fear, uncertainty or impossible financial decisions.
We’ve talked about fixing social care for long enough. It’s time we finally did it.
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
KEEP UPDATED
GET IN TOUCH
I can help constituents on various issues, such as education, the environment, health and social services, highways, transport, and housing.
I would love to hear from you about what you think my priorities should be as your MP for High Peak and what matters most to you.
Please use the contact form to get in touch with me. Please remember to provide as many details as possible, including your name, address and full details of your issue.
