Romsey Advertiser 27 April 07

Written by Sandra Gidley MP on Fri 27th Apr 2007

Last Sunday was spent on parade with the Scouts. It was the St George's Day parade but this year we were also celebrating 100 years of scouting and the vicar had insisted on a cake with 100 candles. The good news is that more and more young people are getting involved and the opportunities available to the young people are second to none. This is, in large part, due to the commitment of the leaders.

I feel as though I haven't seen daylight for some time as I have been heavily involved with the Mental Health Bill. On Monday the opposition MPs held some impromptu hearings, attended by members of the Mental Health Alliance, to discuss some of the more controversial aspects of the proposed legislation. It was a useful exercise and we all learnt a lot.

Tuesday was the official part of the committee stage of the Bill and this was unusually well attended. After five hours of deliberations we had only got to the end of clause 3 so it is unclear whether we will be able to deal with all the material in the bill. Depressingly, it was clear that the Government intend to overturn all of the changes that had been painstakingly won in the House of Lords despite the fact that the changes had been widely welcomed by all of those who work in the field of mental health.

Wednesday was time for a breather and a pop in to a couple of health related receptions. I had my blood pressure checked courtesy of the Stroke Association and was fully expecting it to be higher than usual. I was pleased to be told that I have "the blood pressure of a teenage girl" - it is just a shame that the rest of me is not in quite such good nick!

The rest of the week will involve yet more mental health, a Select Committee session where we will question the Head of the NHS IT project and a meeting with Lord Hunt.

The health kick ends when I return to the constituency on Thursday night to visit a residents association and talk to them about some of the local problems. A constant theme is antisocial behaviour but each area also has its own individual problems and it is useful to be aware of them.

Something to look forward to is the Romsey and District Society lecture on Friday evening - always a thought provoking event.

Published with kind permission of Romsey Advertiser