Thursday, 17 February 2022

Newspaper column 17 February 2022 - Incident in Truro and an update on my work for you over the last week

 

Before I discuss my work for you in Parliament from last week, I must take a moment to address the horrific incident that took place in Truro over the weekend, with a homeless individual allegedly assaulted by a gang of young people, who filmed it and put it on social media. This was a disgusting and abhorrent crime.

I must pay tribute to our local police who ensured those identified from the video were all arrested on Monday.

I met with Truro’s police and various agencies dedicated to tackling ASB on Monday. I can assure the people who live and work in Truro that there will be a targeted and robust approach to tackling with the spate in crime and anti-social behaviour.

Tackling anti-social behaviour in Truro has now been made a strategic priority for the police force and we will get additional resource to tackle this. The biggest issue at the minute in Truro is a very small minority of youths. As well as action from the police, there needs to be more youth provision in Truro to get the youths causing the issues off the street.

All our focus on now is on de-escalating the issues in Truro and making people feel safe, and that Truro remains a safe place to live, work and grow up in.

Away from this incident, last week was a busy and varied one for me, with a lot going on in the time I was in Parliament, as well as in our constituency.

On Friday I held my first pop up surgery of the year, in St Agnes. Held in the parish council meeting rooms, it was great to be able to see so many people about a wide variety of topics, with housing issues, and the recent problems around the Saints Trail being the two raised most often.

I will be holding more of these in communities around the Truro and Falmouth constituency as the year goes on – part of my mission to be as accessible as possible to you as your Member of Parliament.

Meanwhile in Parliament along with the other Cornish and Devon MPs, I was pleased to meet with the Number Ten Downing Street Policy Unit to discuss our priorities for the areas we represent. These included social care, the NHS and housing, but also getting and maintaining the crucial infrastructure that we need and rely on, transport, broadband, schools and dentists. It is good to be working with a strong and united bunch of local colleagues to make the case to Government for what we need.

Going back to dentistry, one of the big issues we have in Cornwall is getting our children access to an NHS Dentist. This is so important in their formative years. When I was at school, the local dentist used to come into school and give the school children a check-up. This worked well.

I am pushing for Cornwall to be a pilot so that we have capacity for NHS Dentists in Cornwall to visit our local schools and give children the check-ups they need. Don’t forget to fill out my ongoing survey about dentistry on my website, which you can find at www.cherilynmackrory.org.uk

Also in Parliament,  I was pleased to join a cross-party group of colleagues as Vice Chair of the newly formed All-Party Parliamentary Group for Shellfish Aquaculture. Together we want to work to expose issues for the shellfish industry including water quality, classification and cumbersome paperwork. Water quality and shellfish are both very important to me and my constituents in and around the River Fal and this is something I look forward to working together with colleagues from across Parliament to make positive changes for in the future.

Finally, last week it was Children’s Mental Health Week, and I was pleased to be able to speak in Parliament on this subject, which means so much to me. I highlighted some of the challenges we face in Cornwall, looking at some of the work being done to support our young people, and thanking all of those who work in this critical area.

As ever, if you need my assistance with anything then my team and I are here to help. 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 in a covid-safe environment 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.

 

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment