Romsey Advertiser 8 December 2006

Written by Sandra Gidley and published in Romsey Advertiser on Fri 8th Dec 2006

The week began with a meeting in the constituency to discuss the future of Eastleigh Carers centre. It is threatened with closure because of cuts in funding by Hampshire County Council. The Council has a difficult job to do but I can't help thinking that any reduction in help and assistance to carers is short sighted. carers often take a lot on and are ultimately saving the tax payer a lot of money. The few support services that exist help carers to continue and I hope that the cut in services does not lead to the unintended consequence of an increase in the number of carers saying that they can't cope.

After a visit to Lloyds Bank in Romsey I headed for London. The RNIB had organised a mass lobby of parliament in support of their campaign to secure higher rate mobility allowance for those who are registered blind. A couple of constituents had made the journey and it was good to meet them to discuss some of the problems.

Much of the rest of the day was spent preparing for the Public Health debate on Tuesday. The subject was chosen by the Conservatives on their opposition day and the debate generally generated more heat than light.

Tuesday was an early start as I was chairing a breakfast meeting on the subject of "Tackling Health Inequalities". One of the speakers had undertaken a lot of research to demonstrate that the wider the income gap in society the more problems ensued. It was fascinating, and provided much food for thought. My lunch time engagement was also related to the public health agenda as I was hosting a reception for Slimming World. They have introduced a family programme and there wasn't a dry eye in the house when Chris and his mum described how help had been refused until Chris (then 14) reached the 18 stone and went on to describe how their lives had been turned round.

As I write this we are gearing up for the pre-budget report and it is noticeable that Gordon Brown has had a much higher profile in the media than is usually the case. In these media dominated days most of the report has usually been trailed beforehand so there is no great sense of excitement or speculation. Most of that centres on the date when the Prime Minister will finally stand down.

This Saturday is late night shopping and as usual we will be providing coffee and mince pies in the Town Hall. Please pop in and say hello..

Published with kind permission of Romsey Advertiser