Newspaper column 7th May 2024 - Welfare Reform in Truro and Falmouth

I would like to thank our Jobcentre teams in Truro and Penryn and their associated charities for the time and commitment they give to people, who are looking for work. I know that, in some cases, it can take months of careful one to one coaching to get someone to the point of an interview. When that person succeeds, it’s all worth it.

Recently the Government announced reforms to the benefit system, which will see support targeted to those who need it most, while ensuring people who abuse the system do not get away with it.

Last week, the first step to these reforms took place as The Modernising Support Green Paper was published, which explores how our welfare system could be redesigned to ensure people with disabilities and long-term health conditions get the support they need to achieve the best outcomes, with an approach that focuses support on those with the greatest needs and extra costs.

The caseload and costs for the benefit are now spiralling. There are now 2.6 million people of working age claiming PIP and DLA – with 33,000 new awards for PIP each month which is more than double the rate before the pandemic. This is expected to cost the taxpayer £28 billion a year by 2028/29 – a 110% increase in spending since 2019.

The Green Paper sets out proposals across three key priorities to fundamentally reform the system:

• Providing the right support to the people who need it most.
• Targeting our resources most effectively.
•   Supporting disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to live independently and reach their full potential.

You can access the Green Paper and read the proposals in depth by searching for ‘Modernising support for independent living: the health and disability green paper’. I would be interested in hearing the views of the people of Truro and Falmouth on these proposals as they proceed.

The Green Paper is the latest of the government’s welfare reforms to ensure disabled people and people with long-term health conditions can live full and independent lives. It builds on last year’s Health and Disability White Paper and the £2.5 billion Back to Work Plan which will break down barriers to work for over one million people. 

 

The Government is also delivering the largest expansion in mental health services in a generation, with almost £5 billion of extra funding over the past five years, and a near doubling of mental health training places

 

Finally I couldn’t pass this past week without congratulating the re-elected Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner for Devon and Cornwall Alison Hernandez for her superb election result last Thursday. Alison and I have worked together on numerous issues around Truro and Falmouth, including the reopening of police station front desks and in particular accessing more funding to combat violence against women and girls in Penryn and Falmouth, and I was delighted to see this result. I look forward to working with Alison for the good of our communities in the future.

 

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I

can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with

me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or by telephone on 01872

229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper Column 29th April 2024 - Increasing Armed Forces Spending

As last year’s successful National Armed Forces Day events demonstrated, Cornwall has many, many strong links with our fantastic armed forces. Last week the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the biggest strengthening of the UK’s national defence in a generation, with a fully funded plan to grow the defence budget to 2.5% of GDP by 2030.

With last week’s announcement, UK defence spending will increase immediately and then rise steadily to reach £87 billion at the end the decade – hitting 2.5% of GDP by 2030.

The Prime Minister has set out three areas of focus for our bolstered defence budget:

·         Firing up the UK defence industrial base: Investing at least an additional £10 billion over the next decade on munitions production, delivering high-quality jobs and investment across the UK and ensuring we have rapid production capacity and stockpiles of next-generation munitions.

·         Modernising our Armed Forces: Radically reforming defence procurement and creating a new Defence Innovation Agency to ensure the UK is at the cutting edge of modern warfare technology, with at least 5% of the defence budget to be committed to research and development.

·         Backing Ukraine’s defence: Ukraine’s security is our security. As part of this plan, the Government will commit an additional £500 million this year for the ammunition, air defence and drones Ukraine needs; the largest-ever single delivery of military equipment to Ukraine’s frontlines; and a cast-iron commitment to maintain existing levels of support to Ukraine for as long as it Is needed.

Falmouth in particular will benefit from the Prime Minister’s announcement because of its long and enduring relationship with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), a naval auxiliary fleet which provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by providing fuel and stores through replenishment at sea, transporting Royal Marines and British Army personnel, providing medical care and transporting equipment and essentials around the world. In addition the RFA acts independently providing humanitarian aid, counter piracy and counter narcotic patrols together with assisting the Royal Navy in preventing conflict and securing international trade.

A&P Falmouth is responsible for maintaining and supporting Argus, HMS Scott, Lyme Bay, Mounts Bay and Cardigan Bay under the terms of the Future In-Service Support contract which runs until 2028, and is a major employer for the town.

As Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth I will be doing all I can over the coming months to ensure that Cornwall and our constituency in particular gets its fair share of defence investment, so we can do our bit in ensuring our armed forces continue to be world leading.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Newspaper column 22nd April 2024 - Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan visits Truro and Falmouth

Last week I welcomed the Education Secretary, Gillian Keegan to Truro. One of the things I have been most proud of to promote during my time as Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth is the fantastic education opportunities available in our constituency. Whether at primary, secondary, further education or our wonderful university campuses, Truro and Falmouth offers something for everyone, at every stage of the learning journey.

One education institution that is certainly leading the way, not just in Cornwall, but across the whole country, is Truro and Penwith College, Cornwall’s leading academic further education setting. As such I have always been keen to promote the top class work that is done there to my colleagues in Government, last year memorably welcoming the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to see the facilities.

I believe that our children deserve the best education we can provide, and Truro and Penwith college has set the benchmark by providing local, quality courses. It was a privilege to visit with the Secretary of State, and to show her the fantastic work we have done to make sure our children can access the best possible education right here in the community.

During our visit we were given a tour of the faculties by Principal Martin Tucker, where we had the chance to see the new innovations introduced by his team employed.

The Secretary of State was shown art and design, engineering, and the college’s new construction unit. Students can use this facility to learn practical skills including bricklaying and carpentry as part of their education and are working to construct a building to completion which will be finished later this year.

As a former apprentice the Secretary of State conversed knowledgably with the students about their courses and experiences at the college. She was particularly impressed with the diverse training available, as well as the accessibility of the courses, and the opportunities for local high-paid employment to follow. A very positive visit and one which I know will have given the Secretary of State a good impression of what we do so well in Cornwall.

Combined with the official opening of the STEM and Health Skills Centre Bodmin, which I also attended on the same day, which is part of Truro and Penwith College group, and heavily recommended by staff at Treliske, it is clear that in Cornwall we have an impressive, cutting edge and growing further education offer, and I will continue to do all I can to ensure those delivering it get the support they need to do so.

As always, I am fully focused on the job at hand and if there is ever anything at all I can do to help, then please do not hesitate to contact me. Please get in touch with me by email at Cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk, or by telephone on 01872 229698. My regular constituency advice surgeries are held at my office, so please do get in touch should you wish to meet me about any matters that I can be of assistance with.

Campaign reply - Alcohol Duty

Thank you for contacting me about alcohol duty.

On 1 August 2023, the alcohol duty system became much simpler and fairer, taxing all alcoholic drinks based on their alcohol by volume (ABV). I welcome the Government’s commitment to supporting pubs through increasing draught relief from 1 August 2023 as announced at Spring Budget 2023. This freezes the duty charged on a typical pint of beer in the pub and ensures this will always be lower than in the supermarket.

To further support alcohol producers, pubs, and the hospitality sector, and to help consumers with the cost of living, the Government will freeze alcohol duty from 1 August 2024 until 1 February 2025, extending the six-month freeze announced at Autumn Statement 2023. This will result in 2p less duty on an average pint of beer, 1p less duty on an average pint of cider, 10p less duty on an average bottle of wine, and 33p less duty on an average bottle of spirits, than if the planned duty increase had gone ahead.

All tax categories, such as beer and wine, have been moved to a standardised set of bands, with rates for products between 1.2 and 3.4 per cent ABV, 3.5 and 8.4 per cent ABV, 8.5 and 22 per cent ABV, and above 22 per cent ABV. Above 8.5 per cent ABV, all products across all categories pay the same rate of duty if they have the same proportion of alcohol content.

Registration and payment have also been simplified, and the practice where individual products have different administrative rules has ended. The new progressive manner in which alcohol is taxed will ensure higher strength products incur proportionately more duty, and these rates will be the same across all product categories. This change addresses the problem of harmful high-strength products being sold too cheaply, and the new rates for low-strength drinks below 3.5 per cent ABV will encourage manufacturers to develop new products at lower ABVs, giving consumers greater choice and greater options to drink responsibly.

I welcome the introduction of a new Small Producer Relief, which builds on the previous success of the Small Brewers Relief and benefit cidermakers and other producers of lower ABV drinks. This will allow small producers to diversify their product range to other products below 8.5 per cent ABV while still benefitting from reduced rates.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Campaign reply - Abortion

Thank you for contacting me about abortion.

I completely understand what an incredibly emotive issue this is, and I appreciate the strength of feelings on both sides. It is for this reason that, as with other matters of conscience, the Government adopts a neutral stance on abortion and allows Conservative MPs to vote freely according to their moral, ethical, or religious beliefs. This is a convention which I support wholeheartedly.

The approach to abortion in Great Britain is set out in the Abortion Act 1967, which states that two doctors must certify that, in their opinion, a request for an abortion meets at least one and the same ground laid out in the Act. These grounds include “risk to the life of the pregnant woman”, and “substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.

Guidance for doctors on how to comply with the Act has been issued, which stipulates that registered medical practitioners should be able to show how they have considered the particular facts and circumstances of a case when forming their opinion. Full details can be found online at www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-for-doctors-on-compliance-with-the-abortion-act.

I am aware that all independent sector abortion clinics in England have been reapproved, which will ensure that abortion services continue to be available to women across the country. I understand that all current approvals are valid until 31 July 2026.

I know that making a decision regarding abortion can be extremely difficult, and I believe that we must do all we can to support women to make an informed decision, taking into consideration all their options, with medical professionals offering impartial advice. I will continue to do all I can to ensure plenty of information is available to women making enquiries relating to abortion including all options available to them.

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Campaign reply - Pensioner Poverty

Thank you for contacting me about Government support for pensioners.

 

The Government is fully committed to enabling older people to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. In April last year, the State Pension was increased by 10.1 per cent, in line with inflation. As a result, the full yearly amount of the basic State Pension is over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010. 

 

Regarding the uprating of the State Pension, the Government is maintaining the Triple Lock in full for 2024/25, meaning that in April 2024, the basic State Pension, new State Pension, and Pension Credit minimum guarantee will be uprated in line with September 2023 average earnings growth- 8.5 per cent.

 

Additionally, I am confident that the Government is providing substantial support for pensioners through the welfare system. The Government provides free bus passes and prescriptions; Winter Fuel Payments; and Cold Weather Payments for those in receipt of Pension Credit. 

Moreover, as set out at Spring Budget, the Government is providing an additional £500 million of funding to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England to September 2024, bringing the total funding to £3 billion since October 2021.

 

I hope that this response reassures you that pensioners in the UK are being adequately supported and that the most vulnerable will continue to be protected.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.

Campaign reply - Free School Meals for Children

Thank you for contacting me about the campaign to provide free school meals to all children in educational settings. 

 

I believe it is imperative that children have regular healthy and balanced meals throughout the day to ensure they are able to thrive in the classroom. The Government is also keenly aware of the impact that the cost of living crisis is having on families across the country. 

 

Over two million pupils are currently eligible for benefits based free school meals. Close to 1.3 million additional infants receive free and nutritious meals under the Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM) policy.

 

The Department spends over £1 billion each year on free school meals, including through the Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) programme and school breakfast clubs. This includes around £600 million on UIFSM.

 

Furthermore, the Government funds over £200 million a year on HAF, which provides healthy meals and holiday club places to children from low-income families. In the summer of 2022, the HAF programme reached around 600,000 children across England, including over 475,000 children eligible for free school meals.

 

The Government is allocating £30 million over two years for the National School Breakfast Programme (NSBP) until the end of the summer term in 2024, which benefits over 2,000 schools across the country. Family Action estimates that 270,000 children are currently receiving breakfast from the NSBP on an average school day. 

 

In 2023/24, the Free School Meal factor of the National Funding Formula designates £480 per eligible pupil. This is increasing to £490 in 2024/25. Schools are allocated un-ringfenced funding through their core budgets to provide these free meals for disadvantaged pupils. This system recognises that schools are best placed to make decisions about how they use their funding and gives them considerable freedom in how they best deliver educational provision to their pupils.

 

Additional funding for schools announced since Spending Review 2021 totalled more than £2.4 billion in 2023-24 and will be more than £2.8 billion in 2024-25. This will bring per pupil funding for 5-16 year olds to its highest ever level in real terms in 2024-25 – and represents a cash increase in average funding per pupil from £5,920 in 2019-20 to £7,690 in 2024-25.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact me.