Last Wednesday we saw the publication of the Chancellor’s Spending Review, which is when the Government sets out public spending plans for each Government department. There was a lot of talk about extra cash for the NHS, but we now need to see if this actually translates into better health outcomes locally – including priorities in South Suffolk such as reduced ambulance waiting times and patients who require elective care to be treated more quickly.
As I said before the Spending Review was published, as an MP for a rural constituency, I had hoped that Rachel Reeves would resist hitting our farmers again - the people who deliver our all-important food security are under enough strain as it is. It was therefore all the more disappointing when she didn’t mention farmers at all during her speech. There was no mention of the Family Farm Tax, which affects every farmer I have met since this punitive measure was announced. Farmers have also been left in the dark about the consequences of grouping sustainable farming and nature recovery, and how a reduced budget will be split across different projects. Let’s hope we get more positive news soon.
On the Spending Review and economy more generally, we need further clarity on how the Government’s spending commitments are going to be paid for, after all, the wealth in this country is created by businesses, not the Government, and I sincerely hope they won’t be penalising successful businesses when it comes to tax rises in the Autumn Budget – but I fear these may now be inevitable. I also appreciate how the cost of living remains a challenge for many people, particularly with inflation rising, fuelled in part by unfunded public sector pay rises forcing up the cost of goods.
One way we are repeatedly told the Government will support growth – despite precious little evidence of that in practice – is through spending on infrastructure. So I was disappointed that money for infrastructure improvements in East Anglia were not included in the review. The importance of investing in the infrastructure at the core of our public services cannot be stressed enough. This is why I’ve campaigned for years to improve West Suffolk Hospital, now on track, and exactly why it was so important to me to secure the funding for the brand-new school building at Ormiston Academy in Sudbury. The original commitment to overhauling the Ormiston site was secured under the previous Government and therefore – as with any spending when an election leads to a different administration – was potentially under threat. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was confirmed the funding would remain in place. With works commencing on the school this summer, the new building will be a real boost for pupils and teachers, hopefully raising standards in parallel. Having said that, I was particularly concerned by reports that state-funded nursery and primary schools saw a decrease of 2,900 teachers - or 1.3% this year. Thankfully, very few of those are in South Suffolk, but I will continue doing all that I can to push for raising standards in schools, ensuring local children are receiving the best education possible.
In many ways, perhaps the most disappointing spending news was confirmed after the Spending Review, with a notice on the Locality Neighbourhood Planning website stating that funding for producing a plan will be stopped. I have written to the Deputy Prime Minister, Angela Rayner, to understand exactly what the position is - but if the news is confirmed, it will be a real blow to our villages, parishes and market towns.
I explicitly stood at the election on a promise to preserve the ‘local voice’ in planning. I knew if the election led to a different Government, which was pretty much inevitable, there may be changes to the planning system that undermined that local voice. But I never imagined that Neighbourhood Plans would be put at risk in this way. With statutory planning targets in Babergh rising by more than 80%, my communities are increasingly losing the opportunity to shape the future of their own villages and towns.
I have long championed Neighbourhood Plans, holding several meetings with communities to encourage and assist them with developing plans. In 2018, I hosted a meeting in Hadleigh that was attended by 38 parish representatives. At that time, there were only two adopted neighbourhood plans in the Babergh district. In March of this year, I held a similar meeting in Sudbury, which was attended by many parishes looking to either start the process of creating a plan – or update an existing one. Now, we have 24 plans adopted, and an additional 16 in progress. Therefore, the withdrawal of funding not only threatens the progress of the plans, but also sends a clear message to communities about the value of their input in the planning process. I will keep fighting to ensure that the voices of my constituents are heard, and above all, listened to.
Published in the Suffolk Free Press.
