Being in London a lot of the week makes me hanker for the countryside. It’s a criticism sometimes levelled at politics that it is too focused on cities and towns. I’m happy to report though that there has been a strong rural theme running through much that has been happening recently and I will stay focused on making sure I represent every part of the Yeovil constituency.
I have joined two countrywide campaigns which involve Government funding for rural areas. One is the Rural Fair Share Campaign.
Over the years an unfair situation has developed where Councils in urban areas get more per head in grants from central Government than their rural counterparts. As we need to find ways to reduce public spending to balance the books it is more important than ever that rural Councils get their fair share. It is also the case that some services are actually harder and more expensive to deliver in the countryside.
Last year a Rural Service Delivery Grant was introduced but there is more to do to even things up and this group is MPs from various parties pushing for a better deal for the countryside.
The other campaign is about fairer funding for schools. I have written about this before and in fact it is similar to the above group but focussed on school place funding.
I was delighted earlier in the month to contribute over 500 signatures from teachers in the Yeovil constituency to a petition calling on the Government to update the school funding formula. I hope to be reporting back some positive news on that next year.
Of course last week our thoughts were with families across the country affected by the awful floods. I asked a question on this in the House of Commons and in response the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Liz Truss, praised help given from Somerset and mentioned the importance of the Somerset Rivers Authority in allowing decisions such as whether to dredge to be made at a local level by people who know the area.
I also took part in a debate about the future of one the more charming inhabitants of our countryside – the bee. Bee populations have been dropping for a while now and this could have serious consequences as they play a key pollinator role and help for example in fertilising our local fruit trees that cider producers depend on.
More research is needed into how we can help the bee population and it may include banning certain pesticides. Certainly if people give over a little more of their gardens and meadows to English native wild flowers that would make a difference.
I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy Christmas and New Year. I have chosen this year not to send Christmas cards and instead to make a direct donation to St Margaret's Hospice. I hope you are able to take a break and see your families and join me in looking forward to 2016.