In a letter from the Department of Health and Social Care this month, I learnt that there were 47 more full-time equivalent GPs in December 2023 in the Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes area than there were in December 2019. In the South West Bedfordshire constituency we also have 43 more full-time equivalent direct patient care staff working in general practice then we had in September 2019. Although the demands of an aging population mean that people can still struggle to get an appointment, we are scaling up to meet this challenge.
I was pleased to learn that our Integrated Care Board will shortly be hosting a summit to see how we can deliver more investment in GP surgeries locally, and this is crucial due to the high level of housing growth in our area. I am researching other Integrated Care Boards which provide minor injuries clinics to understand why they are provided in other areas when we have a similar need locally.
I know that Bedfordshire Police are putting plans in place to deal with illegal nuisance motorcyclists, and that they have invested in new equipment to combat this menace. They will now be making greater use of CCTV footage to get convictions. I’m pressing for the urgent adoption of a public space protection order to help with this issue, similar to the one which has been set up in Medway. We are not on top of this issue yet, but I’m determined that we will tackle it.
I’m very committed to working with the owners of the Old Palace Lodge to bring it back into use for the people of Dunstable and local residence once the Home Office contract ends before the end of June. Many people, myself included, want to return to the Old Palace Lodge, and I want to see it thrive as a successful business in the future.
I’ve been engaging with London Northwestern Railway to increase the late-night capacity on trains back to Leighton Buzzard. Many local residents need these trains in order to work and visit London in the evenings, and London Northwestern have committed to increase capacity on these services. I commute into London and I know how important a reliable service is.
I have been working with the residents and businesses in Leighton Buzzard on flood protection issues and will continue to do what I can to get the Environment Agency, the Internal Drainage Board, Anglian Water and Central Bedfordshire Council to work cooperatively together with clear lines of accountability on the next steps to be taken. We must put in the necessary before the wetter weather in the autumn.
I’ve been privileged to visit three more important local businesses. Miniclipper are a local success story with strong growth, and on my visit, I learnt that over 8% of the UK workforce now work in the logistics and transport sector. Peli Biothermal in Leighton Buzzard have won two Queens awards and played a vital role in getting Covid vaccines around the world during the pandemic. The Synergy LMS laundry in Dunstable cleans all the laundry for many of our NHS hospitals, including the Luton and Dunstable. They are an integral part of keeping the NHS working, and I’m working with them to help with their energy issues. It was also good to support Central Bedfordshire College with their supported internship work for 16 to 24-year-olds with EHCP is to get them into work.
We should never forget that it is businesses like these who have created on average 800 jobs per day in the UK in recent years. They have played their part in making the UK a bigger manufacturer than France and helping the United Kingdom to become the fourth largest exporter in the world, overtaking France, the Netherlands and Japan last year. It is only through technological innovation to boost productivity in our businesses that we can hope to remain a prosperous country with the sustainable tax revenue to pay for all the public services we care about.