After the General Election, we asked our Cumbrian MPs to contribute a regular update for Cumbria Crack readers.
The majority said yes and we’ll be carrying them each month. These are their words and their views.
It’s only been a few weeks since the new Government ministers were appointed to their new roles, but their inboxes are already full to the brim with requests from me to look into crucial local issues which urgently need sorting, writes Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland & Lonsdale.
One of the most important things I’ve raised with the Health Secretary is the six-month suspension of birth services at Westmorland General Hospital due to staffing problems.
I am greatly concerned that this temporary suspension could become a permanent closure unless urgent is action is taken. The trust needs to be given the funding and resources to properly staff Helme Chase and give the unit a new lease of life after years of underinvestment.
The new Government has inherited enormous problems, and I want to be a constructive critic to help get the best results for our area.
In that spirit, I was pleased to see the Government announce a new bill designed at tackling the scandal of sewage being dumped in our waterways – an enormous issue here in Cumbria.
In the coming months I want to work with MPs from all parties to make sure these measures are as strong as possible so that we protect our rivers and lakes from pollution.
Speaking of cross-party working, I am encouraging MPs to get behind my new motion in Parliament which would ensure that all new homes would be accompanied with solar panels.
Making our homes more energy efficient is absolutely essential to us reducing soaring energy bills and also reducing our carbon emissions. It’s a no brainer.
Back home, we recently saw another tragic and fatal accident take place at Junction 37 on the M6 in between Kendal and Sedbergh.
Over the past few years, there have been several accidents and many near misses at this junction. It’s absolutely critical that this accident blackspot is addressed. That’s why I have joined forces with the new MP for Morecambe and Lunesdale (which now covers Sedbergh) Lizzi Collinge, to ask National Highways to look into this as an urgent priority.
As always, if you live in Westmorland and Lonsdale and want me to look into an issue – no matter how big or small – then please do contact my office on 01539 72403 or email tim@timfarron.co.uk and I will do my very best to help.
