It’s good to have the new Prime Minister, Liz Truss, in post now and I get the impression that she shares the view that the rising energy costs facing households and businesses alike requires a similar robust response that Government triggered during the covid pandemic. Obviously, it is not possible to mitigate every strain on household and business finances and whatever financial commitment made will need to be paid for. However, it is vital that the rising costs of essential items is countered somehow, simply to ensure households can heat and eat and businesses can function and keep people in employment.
The Prime Minister has said she will set out soon her plan to meet these increasing financial pressures and I’m confident she can help to ease the anxiety people are feeling. I’ll do what I can in Parliament and locally to help in any way I can. To this end, Helston Town Mayor, Helston’s Cornwall councillors and I have joined forces to host a Cost of Living Fair on Friday 16th September, 1 - 4pm at Helston Bowling Club. This is intended to provide an opportunity for anyone concerned about their own situation and anyone or any organisation that has an interest or responsibility towards others who may be anxious due to price rises of energy and food specifically. At the event there will be representatives of Helston Town Council, Helston Welfare Trust, my office, Helston and the Lizard Foodbank, Citizens Advice Cornwall, Inclusion Cornwall, Farm Cornwall, Transformation Cornwall, Community Energy Plus, Christians Against Poverty, Helston Community Larder, Western Power Distribution, Utilita, and Southwest Water. Refreshments will be served, and you will be warmly welcomed.
Returning to the evolving picture regarding the new Government, I was sad to see my friend and neighbour, George Eustice MP, leave his job as Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. I will not be alone as George is someone who had an almost supernatural grasp of the vast range of issues and responsibilities in his brief and impressed audiences with his ability to speak in depth about complex issues relating to the environment, food and rural affairs often without notes and little or no warning about the subject matter to be raised. He has been a tremendous help to me with my caseload and has a strong sense of public service which I share.
The beach where I swim when afforded the opportunity recorded the most combined sewer overflow notifications which presents a concern to swimmers. However, this is an issue that is being addressed but it will require creative methods to protect our foul drainage system from heavy rainfall. There are still staggering numbers of rooftops that ditch the water straight into the sewer, roads where rainwater runoff goes the same way and very little done to encourage us all to reduce our use of water within our homes. We will continue to measure high numbers of incidents of sewer overflows into the sea until we address this problem.
