One hundred days in, many of us are probably wondering why they voted Labour. The answer is that they voted against the incompetent bumbling of the last Conservative government, or in many cases stayed at home. Yet what Keir Starmer and his merry band do has a major impact on all our daily lives.

There have been some major blunders ranging from the handling of the Winter Fuel Payments for pensioners to criticising P&O using intemperate language leading to the potential cancellation of a £1 billion investment. My biggest worry is that the chancellor, a former treasury official, will behave more like a former treasury official than a chancellor. The models used by the treasury stifle investment and lead to cost overruns. The Prime Minister, his popularity hitting new lows, has made some howlers. Taking thousands of pounds and freebies for clothes and specs is a donation too far. True, it is not the millions of pounds received by Tories from property developers where local planning authority decisions were overturned.

Looking forward I suspect that we will see more centralised control of our country. We will move from a belief that the market knows best to one where the state or rather Labour knows best. Both approaches gouge us. The latest indicator of this is a mandated requirement for Test Valley to increase its housing allocation by 75% leading us to build 1000 new houses every year without considering the practicalities including infrastructure and construction capacity. A similar situation applies to Basingstoke and Deane.

What does this all mean? The old adage of judging people by what they do rather than what they say comes to mind. Past performance is a good indicator of future behaviour, and we really need to challenge more.

Cllr. Luigi Gregori

A big thank you goes to Test Valley Borough Council and its officers for putting on the excellent Taste of Test Valley event last Sunday. Although the first of its kind, it had a good selection of food stalls and band. I particularly enjoyed the layout with chairs around the stage which provided an atmospheric setting. I do hope its success will encourage Test Valley to produce more cultural delights.

As new developments change the face of Andover, we are in danger of losing our cultural and arts heritage. Not because it is not there but because too often it is lost amidst all the other things that are going on. I will give two examples: Andover museum and the library. The museum, often subject to speculation about its potential closure, is a little jewel, but it is run by a trust funded predominately by the nearly bankrupt Hampshire County Council. Currently, it has an exhibition on the Roman town of Silchester which is well worth a visit. The museum, only open from Fridays to Sundays, is tucked away in the old grammar school. The county funded library is within the Chantry Centre. When I was a child you could visit a library outside working hours but that has gone, though to be fair it is open on Saturdays. Museums and libraries are important public spaces but like all public space need investment.

The problem with culture and arts is that they rarely make money and often have to be subsidised by councils. However, there is a strong link to footfall and the local economy. Culture and arts attract visitors and they bring money. Such synergies do not come about through chance. If we are to spend money on culture it would be useful if the council had a strategy. This is particularly important with the town centre redevelopment and the new theatre facilities.

Cllr. Luigi Gregori

Two things are certain in life: taxes and death. Close to 600,000 people die in the UK annually post pandemic. About half pass away at home or in a care home with most of the rest in hospital. Yet about 30,000 people need specialist end of life care (nearly 5% of all deaths) and they will receive it in a Hospice. A much larger number receive palliative care from Hospices deploying staff into the community with more than 80% of the Hospices’ work accounted this way. This work is delivered in partnership with the NHS. Importantly hospices also support the relatives of the dying and dead including children, but they are now hit being hit by a major funding crisis. This funding shortage is leading to staff cuts and reductions in services.

Governments, both Labour and Conservative, have ignored that Hospices rely on a combination of NHS contracts and donations. Medical inflation is greater than normal inflation, and the rising costs and demands have not overall been met by increasing levels of funding from whatever source. Palliative care is not a sexy subject, but all of us may require it in some way for ourselves or loved ones. However, having experienced end of life care abroad and in this country, both through family and friends, my strong belief is that we do not understand what a great service we have here.

A true NHS should provide care from cradle to the grave. With annual deaths predicted to rise by about 130,000 by 2040 the need for end of life care will grow. Expecting that this will all be funded through donations is impractical. We need to cough up more in tax money to support these vital services provided by a Hospice - but please carry on donating. Every little bit helps.

Cllr. Luigi Gregori

The cost of living crisis has put significant additional stress on families particularly if they have children. It effectively forces both partners to work if possible. Key to this is the ability to gain access to childcare. Yet the number of childcare places in Hampshire alone has fallen by over 1000 since 2019 according to the House of Commons Library research.

This comes as applications opened last week (13th May) for parents to register for 15 hours of free childcare from September for children from 9 months old. You would expect that the Conservative government would ensure that there would be additional capacity for childcare provision to meet this demand. Clearly this is not the case, and the fall in providers is putting the deliverability of the government’s plans into doubt. The Government needs to review the rates paid to providers for free hours to ensure they cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality childcare. 

In Hampshire, 1,008 childcare places have been lost since 2019, equating to a 2.5% fall in the number of places. The number of childcare providers has also seen a decline, being 395 fewer than in 2019, a 20% fall. The difference in % falls suggests that childcare providers are getting bigger but there are less of them. Smaller, local providers are being forced out which will lead to less choice for parents. Nationally, the number of childcare providers, including nurseries and childminders, has dropped by a fifth. Every area in the country but one has seen a fall in the number of childcare providers since 2019, leaving parents with less choice. Last month the National Audit Office criticised the Government’s roll out saying that dates for the scheme were decided without understanding whether the sector would be able to provide the number of places needed.

Childcare has been driven to the brink by years of neglect from this Conservative Government. Free hours are no good if parents cannot find a nursery or childminder for their child. The government urgently needs to review the rates it pays providers to ensure they cover the actual costs of delivering high-quality childcare and early years education.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NW Hants

 The local press has rightly highlighted the shenanigans of water companies and in particular the dumping of sewage in our rivers. Last year, sewage was dumped into England’s rivers over 460,000 times for a total of over 3.6 million hours. 9 in 10 constituencies in England saw a rise in the duration of sewage dumping and 90% saw a rise in the number of spills in 2023 compared to the previous year.

Across North West Hampshire sewage dumping has soared by 166% for a staggering 5672 hours in 2023 based on data from the Environment Agency. This is a shocking 166% rise in the duration of sewage spills compared to the previous year, showing how the sewage scandal has worsened under the Conservative government’s watch. Sewage was dumped into local rivers on 367 separate occasions in 2023. This is a 125% increase in the number of sewage spills, up from 163 in 2022.

It is disgusting that there has been such a sharp rise in water companies pumping their filthy sewage into our waterways. People are sick to the back teeth with Conservative MPs voting time and again to allow water companies to get away with this environmental vandalism. The whole thing stinks.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC North West Hants

The Liberal Democrats have led the way in campaigning against sewage dumping. The party is calling for strict measures including replacing Ofwat with a tougher regulator, a ban on bonuses for water company bosses whose firms have dumped sewage and the declaration of a national environmental emergency. Come any election, the Conservative Party faces a reckoning at the ballot box from people fed up with this sewage scandal.

We will all have noticed the decline in council services ranging from potholes to school funding. These cuts affect us all. Hampshire County Council is consulting on what services they should cut further as the Local Government Association estimates that councils in England have a funding gap of over £4 billion over the next two years. One in five English local authorities are in danger of bankruptcy this year or next, with half not confident that they have the money to fulfil their legal duties next year. Concern about funding is cross-party with both Tory Hampshire and Labour Southampton unable to meet their needs under current arrangements.

Why have we got to this place? Basically, cuts in the central government grant whilst expecting councils to do much more. The National Audit Office estimates that between 2010/2011 and 2021/2022 the real spending power of English councils was reduced by 29%. An ageing population requires increasing complexity and cost of care - the Health Foundation suggests that £14 billion may be needed by 2030/31 to fund Adult Social Care alone. Meanwhile, the number of looked after children is over 80,000 and rising. The Conservative government's approach for councils to use reserves and capital receipts to subsidise their revenue expenditure is fundamentally wrong and unsustainable. Most councils have reached the limits of what can be achieved by efficiency savings.

How do we move forward? As the pandemic demonstrated, local government is key to delivering cheaper and more effective solutions to the biggest issues for the public. The next Government must put in place a proper long term funding of local government and, as a matter of urgency, close the £4 billion funding gap. We must also address the elephant in the room and build a consensus on long-term funding of social care.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NW Hants

Research by the Resolution Foundation think tank has found pensioners are set to lose out from last week’s Budget. This is due to the Conservative government’s decision to freeze income tax thresholds, which will lead to a £8 billion tax bombshell for pensioners across the country by 2027-28, or an average of £1,000 each. The much vaunted cuts by the Chancellor on the rate of National Insurance do not affect pensions as they are not subject to National Insurance.

This demonstrates that the Conservative Party has ‘abandoned’ the nearly 15,000 pensioners in North West Hampshire who are already struggling to pay their bills. The Liberal Democrats introduced the pension triple lock and were the first party to commit in full to the triple lock for the upcoming general election, which ensures pensions will see an increase by whichever is highest of average earnings growth, CPI inflation, or 2.5%. We have also called on the government to double the Winter Fuel Allowance to offer extra help to pensioners, paid for by a proper windfall tax on the oil and gas companies.

I do not think it is fair that pensioners who have worked hard and paid taxes all their lives are now being punished by this Conservative government with a £1,000 stealth tax. Many elderly people are already struggling to make ends meet as heating bills and the cost of the weekly shop go through the roof. Now these Conservative tax hikes will only pile on the misery. As Liberal Democrats we are proud of our record of introducing the triple lock to protect people’s pensions. We will continue to stand up for the pensioners in our community who have been cruelly abandoned by the Conservatives, including by calling on the Government to double the Winter Fuel Allowance.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NW Hants

I do not know how many of us struggle to get a GP appointment within a reasonable time, but the stories told are not impressive. Recent figures show our community has been abandoned by this government when it comes to local health services. Over 500,000 people in Hampshire waited for more than 4 weeks for a GP appointment last year. This was a 40% rise on those waiting more than 4 weeks since 2022. NHS data collated by the House of Commons Library found that the number of appointments that saw patients wait two weeks or longer in Hampshire has spiked by 19% to 1,845,132 in 2023, up from 1,545.000 the previous year.

The Liberal Democrats have criticised the Conservative government for letting the community down with their neglect of local health services. We are calling for a legal right to get a GP appointment within seven days, or 24 hours if in urgent need. The policy would enshrine this right in the NHS Constitution, putting a duty on the government and health service to make sure it happens. It would be achieved by increasing the number of GPs, and increasing the number of nurses and pharmacists fully qualified to prescribe day to day medicines. 

Whilst there has been a 7% increase in Hampshire GP appointments requests there is a widening gap between our needs as a community and the ability of government to meet it. This gap is causing people huge anxiety because they cannot be confident any more of getting the care they need.

Being able to see a GP when you need to, should not be too much to ask, but even on this measure people are being failed after years of neglect by this Conservative government. That is why we, the Liberal Democrats, are calling for a legal right for all patients to see their GP within seven days or 24-hours if in urgent need.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Lib Dem PPC NWHants

We are all still suffering from a cost of living crisis, and whilst inflation is falling, it is still high compared to recent decades. The Conservative government is reportedly set to break the triple lock introduced by the Liberal Democrats once more by not uprating fully in line with earnings. Instead, they will exclude bonuses meaning that pensioners will receive a 7.8% rise in the state pension, not the 8.5% the triple lock should guarantee them.

How will this affect pensioners in our local constituency of North West Hampshire? Lib Dem analysis suggests that failing to properly implement the triple lock in 2024 could result in a hit of around £1,296,581 for our pensioners next year alone. This comes after pensioners suffered a major cut in 2022 when the government opted not to uprate the state pension in line with earnings, instead using CPI. The effect of both cuts since 2022 could result in an eye-watering hit of £11,858,901 for North West Hants pensioners alone. That equates to a £550 raid on each pensioner. It comes as the Liberal Democrats have been the only major party to commit to the triple lock in full ahead of the next General Election. 

To row back on the triple lock would be another in a long list of callous Conservative party broken promises. Pensioners have contributed for decades to our society. This Conservative government should not turn their back on them once again during a cost of living crisis. The triple lock must be maintained. Instead, this out of touch Prime Minister looks set to punish them for his own party crashing the economy.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Since I last wrote on our local Hampshire hospitals’ inability to meet their targets, I have been approached by a number of people highlighting the misery and concern thrown up by the long delays in treatment. One couple in their 70s who paid their taxes and worked in the public sector all their lives find that a much needed operation is not available within the foreseeable future under the NHS. At this stage of their lives, while some discomfort may be acceptable, the level of pain is unacceptable and so is the poor quality of life. The solution to maintaining a reasonable quality of life in their mature years is to go private. In another case, an elderly male with cancer cannot get the necessary appointments or drugs. I am sure that Mr Sunak has no such issues. But of course, Mr Sunak does not use the NHS.

One indication of the current situation within the NHS is the waiting lists for diagnostic tests like MRI or CT scans. We all know that diagnostic tests are a key tool for our doctors. Yet within the NHS there are shortages in both the machines and technicians to use them. Within our Hampshire hospitals NHS trust, the waiting lists rose from 6,142 in June 2019 to 12,563 in July 2023. The NHS target is that less than 1% of people should be waiting more than six weeks for these important tests. In July, 29% of patients in our area waited six weeks or longer. Therefore, not only do we get major delays seeing the doctors and specialists, but then we get further delays before getting treatment as we have to join another queue for diagnostic tests. When Mr Sunak tells us the NHS is in good hands and healthy, we know better.

Cllr Luigi Gregori

Our NHS is just not working for us. We have all seen the recent reports over our local Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT) which is nearly £28 million in deficit. This makes it one of the worst in the country for its size. Meanwhile, the backlog in referrals let alone treatment increases. The situation is in reality worse as many are going private, if they can afford it.

One area of particular concern is cancer treatment. The latest NHS figures show that, in the last year, 637 cancer patients in HHFT waited more than 62 days to start treatment after being referred. This means only 65.5% of patients in our area were treated within two months, below the government target of 85%. In short HHFT is missing a key target and causing untold misery. Note that a referral needs a doctor’s appointment first which can be problematic. The shame is that once we enter the treatment pipeline, the actual service provided can be excellent.

With the NHS there is no easy fix. We need to move forward on getting a proper work force plan in place and we need to pay people fairly. The hospital estate needs to be upgraded as too much money is being spent on maintenance or vanity projects. We also need to invest in new radiotherapy machines, cut the time for new medicines to reach patients, and better support for cancer patients and their families. This will all cost money, The Liberal Democrats suggest £1 billion a year for England alone. However, spending money on cancer not only reduces human misery, but also makes economic sense.

Cllr Luigi Gregori