Campaign reply - Pensioner Poverty: Age UK Campaign

The Government is fully committed to enabling older people to live with the dignity and respect they deserve. I welcome that in April, 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 will be over £3,050 higher, in cash terms, than in 2010. 

Regarding your specific concerns, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions is required by law to undertake an annual review of benefits and the State Pension. The outcome of this review will be announced in the year following the publication of the relevant indices by the Office for National Statistics, with new rates coming into force in April 2024. Additionally, while I note your concerns about the eligibility requirements of the Cost of Living Payments, I am confident that the Government is providing substantial support for pensioners through the welfare system. 

At the Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced a substantial support package for the most vulnerable for 2023/24, including £300 Cost-of-Living Payments for pensioners; £150 for people on disability benefits; and £900 for people on means-tested benefits, including the 1.4 million pensioners currently in receipt of Pension Credit.

Alongside this, all households, including pensioner households, will benefit from the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee (EPG). This guarantee limits the amount consumers can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. The current price guarantee, set at £3,000, will support households until April 2024. Although energy prices are currently below the level at which EPG payments would be made, it will remain in force until the end of March 2024 to protect households from price spikes, putting in place a safety net for the most vulnerable.

Moreover, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund (HSF) this financial year, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. I welcome that since its launch in October 2021, the HSF has issued early 26 million awards to those in need of support.

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 during the months ahead. 

Campaign response - The former Home Secretary

I would like to start by saying that Suella Braverman is no longer the Home Secretary or a Minister in Government. The Prime Minister is clear that the Government must speak with one voice and that all departments and teams should work as one Government. Further, the Prime Minister has also said that all Ministers have a responsibility to be careful with their language.

I understand that the Prime Minister has said that he condemns the violent and wholly unacceptable scenes that took place over Remembrance weekend from the EDL and associated groups and Hamas sympathisers attending the National March for Palestine. The despicable actions of a minority of people undermine those who have chosen to express their views peacefully.

I welcome that the Government is also clear that everyone should be treated fairly by the police and the Prime Minister firmly believes that they continue to do this. 

I can also assure you that there are no plans to introduce a ban on charities handing out tents to rough sleepers. 

Campaign response - Trophy Hunting

Thank you for writing to me about trophy hunting.

I appreciate the strength of feeling around this issue. Around a million animal and plant species are threatened with extinction and the abundance, diversity and connectivity of species is declining faster than at any time in human history. Ministers take the welfare of all animals extremely seriously and are committed to strengthening and supporting long-term conservation of animals both internationally and at home.

In 2019, the Government held a consultation on the scale and impact of the import and export of hunting trophies. Over 44,000 responses to the call for evidence and consultation were received and 85 per cent of responses were in favour of further action. The Government’s response to the consultation set out plans to ban imports of hunting trophies from thousands of endangered and threatened species.

The Hunting Trophies (Import Prohibition) Bill was introduced to Parliament in June 2022 as a Private Member’s Bill to ban the import of hunting trophies from around 6,000 species, including lions, elephants, rhinos, and polar bears. My ministerial colleagues and I were disappointed that despite the overwhelming support from MPs and the public, this Bill failed to progress through Committee stage in the House of Lords in the last parliamentary session. I understand that accepting the amendments proposed by Peers would have undermined the Government’s important commitment in this area.

I am aware of the campaign in relation to the King’s Speech and trophy hunting. While I have noted your comments about this issue, I would like to assure you that the Government remains committed to delivering on the manifesto pledge to ban the import of hunting trophies, and Ministers will continue to explore ways to bring this forward. I will continue to monitor this closely.

Newspaper Column 22/11/23 - Green energy and our environment

Last week in Parliament there were a number of interesting developments and a lot of changes in Westminster. I wish the Prime Minister and his new Cabinet well, but while all this was going on, I continued to do what I do best, working hard to be the voice of Truro and Falmouth to the Government, by ensuring you are represented in matters that will bring investment and positive economic impact to our area.

One of the areas that readers will know I am passionate about is the potential for renewable energy in Truro and Falmouth, both as a base for actual renewable energy installations, which have never been so important in our current climate and economic demands, but also for Falmouth in particular as the potential manufacturer for floating offshore wind apparatus.

Over the past week I have worked in a number of areas to progress these issues.

I sit on the Environmental Audit Committee (EAC), a cross party group of MPs whose remit is to consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets.

On Wednesday the EAC held an evidence session titled ‘How can we get more net zero energy projects connected to the grid?’ Along with my Parliamentary colleagues I was about to question the Electricity System Operator, Ofgem and power operators on plans to make the electricity grid ready for Net Zero Britain and the challenges they may face in doing so.

The session focused on the barriers in the roll-out of greater grid infrastructure, how resilient the grid is and how it needs to adapt to maintain resilience in the future. It will examine planning constraints and the future role of localised power generation, such as through community energy projects.

It was fascinating session, which you can watch on the Parliamentary website. The challenge in Cornwall is to increase the overall capacity of the grid itself, and doing so using renewable energy is the natural and best way forward.

On Thursday there was a Westminster Hall debate on floating offshore wind. Developing this type of renewable energy has to be done in a considered way with long-term planning at its heart. This means consultation with existing industries, marine and fishing, so that the future directions of the impacted ports are clear.

It is also vital that we ramp up our support for this industry to signal to the private sector that the Government is serious about FLOW. The external investment into these projects is what will make it worthwhile for communities like Truro & Falmouth.

We also need to move away from a competition culture between the South West and devolved Government in Wales. FLOW benefits will only be worthwhile if we can develop a network of clusters across the entire region and can only be effective at bringing in outside investment with a long-term clear direction for future expansion.

Following the debate I went on to have a meeting with the responsible Minister to make these points and continue the press Falmouth as the ideal location for the manufacture of future FLOW devices.

Finally on my renewable energy list for last week was an informal consultation I am planning to write to local residents about proposed plans to build a new solar farm near Mitchell.

As part of this work I will be inviting residents both in the affected area, but also more widely to complete my short survey on the role solar farms can play in your community, and to let me know what you think of proposals like the one currently on  the table, and of the future of green energy in your community.

You can fill out the survey on my website via the link below:

https://www.cherilynmackrory.org.uk/form/solar-farm-survey

If you would like a paper copy of this survey, please get in touch and I will be very happy to provide one.

Renewable energy is an exciting and growing field, and I will continue to do all I can, both in Westminster and here in Cornwall, to ensure options around it are fully explored and that our communities will be able to benefit from it both now and 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 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.

Campaign Reply: Down's Syndrome

I know that with appropriate help and support, most people with Down Syndrome lead healthy, active and more independent lives, achieving more than ever before. I do recognise, however, that those with Down Syndrome face significant challenges across all stages of life.

The Down Syndrome Act requires the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to publish guidance for public bodies to ensure they are clear on how they should meet the needs of people with Down Syndrome. Authorities will be required to take the guidance into account when providing health, education, social care and housing services.

In 2022, a call for evidence was launched to inform draft guidance and the Government encouraged people with Down Syndrome, their families and their carers, to respond. A consultation on the draft guidance will then take place before the final guidance is published in due course.

A named lead on Integrated Care Boards will be responsible for the implementation of guidance, which will go a long way towards ensuring that the guidance is implemented fully and as intended. The guidance will also be laid before Parliament, giving MPs the opportunity to scrutinise it and look, in real time, at how it is working.

It is essential that the voices of those with Down Syndrome, their families and their carers are heard, and that the guidance is fit for purpose.

Campaign Reply: Pandemic Treaty

The Covid-19 pandemic has been one of the greatest challenges to the established international order since the Second World War; a global threat that has required global solutions borne out of global cooperation. I pay tribute to people and nations across the world in confronting such a threat. International collaboration was immensely heartening to witness in the darkest of times.

As in the late 1940s, where, to avert a repeat of the cataclysm of total war, world leaders united to establish the multilateral system we have today, I think it is reasonably fair to argue that a similar effort is required on the part of world leaders to strengthen preparedness for potential future pandemics.

As such, I welcome the suggestion of the former Prime Minister, writing with other world leaders in 2021, that the international community should commit to producing a new international treaty for pandemic preparedness and response. I understand that the UK has engaged with academics, civil society organisations, trade associations, and other non-state actors to ensure the treaty would foster greatly enhanced cooperation in order to better protect the UK from the health, social and economic impacts of pandemic.

 

Discussions are ongoing at the World Health Organisation to this end. I appreciate your concerns about this; however, the Government will not support any treaty which compromises the UK's sovereignty. There is nothing in the proposed treaty that would impact our ability to take decisions about national lockdowns or associated measures at the national level.

 

Once adopted, international treaties only become binding in the UK when ratified by Parliament in accordance with our constitutional process. No international treaty can by itself change UK law. If changes to the law are necessary, then a treaty could not be ratified until domestic legislation, agreed by Parliament, was put in place. 

Campaign Reply: Bipolar Disorder

Living through the pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health of people across our country, including those with bipolar disorder, and I know that the Government is taking steps to improve access to mental health support and services.  My thoughts go out to anyone who is affected.

 

As part of the five-year funding settlement agreed in 2019, mental health services will receive an additional £2.3 billion a year in real terms by 2023/24. This funding will enable further service expansion and faster access to community and crisis mental health services for adults, young people and children. This will allow an additional two million people, including 345,000 children and young people, to get the mental health support they need, such as a diagnosis for bipolar disorder. The Government aims to increase the mental health workforce by an additional 27,000 healthcare professionals by 2023/24 to support this expansion and transformation of services.

 

In March 2021, the Government announced that it was expanding its mental health services as part of the Mental Health Recovery Action Plan, supported by £500 million of investment. The Plan aims to respond to the impact of the pandemic on mental health of the public, specifically targeting those who have been most affected, such as young people, frontline staff and those with severe illness. Of this investment, £20 million is being used to intervene early in preventing mental ill-health and reduce suicide risks.

To support the NHS mental health services in the longer term, £111 million is being invested to train the workforce of the future. This will ensure staff are in place to support two million more people to access mental health care and treatment by 2023/24.

 

In the Government's Our Plan for Patients published in September last year, the Health Secretary committed to expanding mental health support for children at school, given that half of mental health conditions take root by the age of 14. This included a commitment to boost the number of mental health practitioners in primary care and to strengthen mental health support in schools. It also included a commitment to improve access to NHS talking therapies and to enhance community support for adults living with severe mental illnesses.

 

Finally, the Government is also investing £150 million in new mental health care facilities, providing compassionate care for those who need it whilst easing pressure on emergency departments, including 100 new mental health ambulances to take staff directly to patients, providing compassionate care in a safe environment.