May issue - Magazine - Page 21
Glenside
News
GlensideNews@mail.com
COMMUNITY
Alicia Kearns MP
Our local representative in Parliament writes exclusively for the Glenside News
Summer has arrived! That means more time enjoying the
sunshine and our beautiful countryside. If you bank in
Stamford, I've been working with Cash Access UK to
explore suitable locations for the new Banking Hub
ahead of the Lloyds Bank branch closure later this year.
Whilst there's still a lot to get done, I am hopeful we can
get the Hub up and running before September – watch
this space!
For many of us living in rural communities, cars are
an essential form of transport, meaning rising fuel costs
are hitting families especially hard. I raised this in
Parliament earlier this month, and wrote to the
Chancellor calling for action, so I'm relieved the
Government has finally seen sense and will scrap plans to
hike fuel duty by 5p a litre from September. I know this
U-turn will come as a relief for many households locally.
I've also asked them to consider introducing the Rural
Fuel Relief scheme we introduced to areas like ours
given how tough things are at the moment.
Meanwhile, work continues to secure a fair
compensation deal for our communities affected by
Mallard Pass Solar Plant. After unacceptably low levels
of compensation were offered by the developer
Quinbrook Infrastructure, I brought them together for a
meeting with local Parish Councils and County
Councillors for the affected wards to move negotiations
forward. Let's see what progress we can make.
Down in Westminster, I recently presented my
petition calling on the Government to reverse its decision
to discriminate against veterans and our Armed Forces.
The Government has legislated to protect railcard
discounts for young people, the elderly and disabled
passengers, yet voted against doing the same for our
veterans and Armed Forces personnel. Presenting my
petition with 1,848 signatures gave the Government a
real opportunity to guarantee lasting protection for those
who have served our nation, yet disappointingly they
have chosen to ignore this show of support. Our Armed
Forces, veterans and their families deserve more than
warm words - they deserve certainty the support they rely
on cannot simply be changed or removed at the
Government's discretion.
As Shadow Minister for Safeguarding, I have been
working over the past year to ban self-swab rape kits in
the UK. These kits are not empowerment, they push
survivors of sexual assault away from the police, away
from rape crisis centres, and away from the professionals
who can help them get justice and begin to heal. This
week the Advertising Standards Agency has ruled that the
company has misled women and girls by claiming that
self-swab rape kits are admissible, and false statistics
such as claiming 430,000 people were raped in the UK
last year, almost three times the ONS figure of
approximately 150,000. I will not stop until these kits are
taken off the market - survivors deserve truth,
professional support, and justice, not a product that
monetises their trauma and destroys their chance of
justice in court.
In other good news, I welcome the Government's
decision to finally commit to social media restrictions for
under 16s. For months we have pushed for stronger
protections, now we have forced change to ensure our
children are safe online. Thank you in particular to the
Conversation Stamford who is doing fantastic work to
drive the discussion about the role of phones and social
media in our children's lives.
In Parliament I also recently joined fellow
Lincolnshire MPs to meet the Minister for Dentistry as
we continue to support the campaign led by the
University of Lincoln for a Lincoln Dental School. I am
hopeful this will be successful, as it would significantly
boost local dentist appointments, grow the future
workforce, and help more dentists train and stay locally.
Out and about in our communities, it was good to
hear from residents at one of my regular surgeries in
Uffington about the issues that matter most to them, and
to meet the CEO of the local charity Inspire+ to discuss
young people's health and sports, as well as the Chief
Executive of the Lincolnshire NHS Partnership
Foundation Trust to discuss mental health and special
educational needs support. I've just responded to the
Government's public consultation on Special Educational
Needs and Disabilities after a number of meetings with
local parents, and I hope they will listen to our
communities. Visiting Stamford Welland Academy I
heard from local students and teachers about their school
culture, the work they are doing to support young people
in our communities, and about their ambitions for the
school and the community they serve – good luck to
everyone with exams in coming weeks!
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