From: Conor Burns MP news@conorburns.

com
Subject: News Bulletin from Conor Burns MP #127
Date: 22 December 2014 10:26
To: news@conorburns.com

In this edition:

Issue 127 - Monday 22nd December 2014

Conor Burns MPs Diary

Photo news:
Talbot Heath Sainsburys
Conor in the papers:
Tories at war with 'biased
BBC'
Photo news:
Westbourne residents visit
Conor in Westminster
Conor in the papers:
NO psychiatric intensive
care beds for women so
they're sent to Yorkshire
instead
Photo news:
Kinson Memorial Garden
Bournemouth West MP
Warns Navitus Bay Hearing
of 'Hammer Blow to Local
Economy'
Photos news:
Talbot Village parking
concerns
Conor in the papers:
Navitus Bay: EDF
'concerned' over damage to
reputation by opposition to
wind farm
Conor in the papers:
Legal threat to 'bed
blockers' by Bournemouth
Hospital 'harsh and
disrespectful', says MP
!
How to contact
Conor Burns MP

Conor Burns MP would like to wish all

Bournemouth, Alderney and Branksome East
residents a very Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year.
Artwork by Lauren Reilly, aged 8. A Year 4 pupil at Heathlands
Primary School, Bournemouth. Winner of Conor Burns MPs
Christmas Card Competition 2014.

Since the past edition, Conor has:

Spoken at the Planning Inspectorate open-floor hearing on
the Isle of Wight to reiterate his opposition to the proposed
Navitus Bay wind farm.
Been quoted in the Daily Telegraph commenting on the BBCs
coverage of the Autumn Statement.
Met with Branksome Easts Cllr Karen Rampton and Prof.
Stuart
Bartholomew,
Principal
of
Arts
University
Bournemouth, to discuss parking issues raised by Talbot
Village Residents Association.
Visited the RNLI College in Poole with Cllr John Beesley to
gain an insight into their facilities.
Been quoted in the Bournemouth Echo about psychiatric
care, bed-blocking and the Navitus Bay wind farm.
Attended the West Howe community pantomime in the
Henry Brown Youth Centre.
Paid his respects to Kinsons servicemen and women at a
ceremony to unveil a new plaque in Kinson Memorial Garden.
Visited Dorset Community Foundation to hear more about
how he can help with their work.
Attended an event at the LV=Streetwise Safety Centre to hear
more about their work to improve road safety in Bournemouth.
Held a surgery in Kinson Hub to help constituents with their
problems.
Spoken at the Bournemouth University Student Law
Society Ball about his life as an MP.
Attended the Nativity play at Kinson Playgroup, and spoke
with staff about their work.
Spoken in Parliament during a debate on the Recall of MPs
Bill.

Photo news:

Talbot Heath Sainsburys

Conor Burns with staff at Sainsburys in Talbot Heath.

Conor in the papers:

Tories at war with 'biased BBC'

Christopher Hope, Daily Telegraph
Thursday 4th December 2014
The
Conservatives
have
accused the BBC of bias and
systematic exaggeration after
David Cameron and George Osborne launched an unprecedented
attack on the corporations coverage of the Autumn Statement.
The row threatens to cause tensions between the Tories and the BBC
five months from what is shaping up to be one of the most
unpredictable general elections in decades.
One senior Tory MP suggested there was a risk that unless the BBC
was scrupulously fair in its reporting it could drive voters into the arms
of Labour, and even find its future funding arrangements affected.
The news came as it emerged that:
Britain faces public spending cuts on a colossal scale after
the election, which will lead to a fundamental reimagining of
the role of the state, according to the Institute for Fiscal
Studies, with an estimated 55!billion worth of cuts still to come
by 2020;
Green levies on household energy bills are to triple over the
next five years to nearly 10!billion, due to an increase in wind
farms, said the Governments independent Office for Budgetary
Responsibility;
The state pension will rise by 2.5 per cent to 115.95 a week,
up from 113.10 next year. Experts said it would have risen by
more if the Coalition had not changed the way the rise is
calculated.
Mr Cameron, Mr Osborne and other senior Conservative figures
criticised two separate television and radio reports broadcast by the
BBC within hours of the Autumn Statement on Wednesday.
BBC Radio 4s Today programme compared forecasts from the Office
for Budget Responsibility to a book of doom and said that Britain was
heading back to the time of George Orwells The Road to Wigan Pier.
That came hours after BBC Twos Newsnight broadcast black and
white footage of rioting workers over a commentary by its presenter,
Evan Davis, comparing the UKs prospects to the depression of the
1930s. Mr Davis told viewers: You have to go back to the depression
of the 1930s to find a crisis comparable to the one we are in it is
one of those once-in-a-lifetime experiences.
The Prime Minister and the Chancellor both said that the coverage on
the Today programme was hyperbolic because it exaggerated the
economic threat to the UK.
Mr Osborne said the comparison with Orwells Britain was nonsense,
adding: I would have thought the BBC would have learnt from the last
four years that its totally hyperbolic coverage of spending cuts has not
been matched by what has actually happened.
Mr Camerons spokesman said that the reporting impeded a clear
and sensible and measured debate about the decisions that are being
taken and that need to be taken in the future.
A senior government source added: There have been examples in
the past of bias from the BBC. But its when it slips into references to
George Orwell and the idea of people living in penury that it becomes
a real issue.
The BBC needs to address subjects like this in a serious way. Their
approach was so wildly inaccurate that we had to challenge it.
Grant Shapps, the Conservative Party chairman, added: With an
election approaching, it is vitally important that the BBC adheres to the
highest standard of editorial impartiality. Conor Burns, a Tory member
of the culture, media and sport committee which scrutinises the BBCs
work, said it was patently absurd for Newsnight to suggest either
political party will be intent on taking Britain back to a pre-welfare
state, pre-health service Britain.
Being overly critical of the Coalitions attempts to find efficiency
savings could swing votes to Labour, he said.
He added: Any ideas that a future Conservative government would
undo the National Health Service or undo the welfare state could have
consequences of sending voters into the arms of Labour and that
would be more than unfortunate, it would be deeply unprofessional for
our national broadcaster.
The row could have a bearing on the corporations attempts to
renegotiate its Royal Charter which sets its budget for the next 10
years.
Mr Burns added: Our national broadcaster that wanted its charter
renewed in 2016 will be under even more scrutiny than normal.
Andrew Bridgen, the Conservative MP, on Thursday wrote to Rona
Fairhead, the BBC Trusts chairman, to complain about a pattern of
systematic exaggeration in the BBCs reporting of the Autumn
Statement.
Mr Bridgen said he wanted to seek assurances that in the remaining
six months until the general election your coverage will demonstrate
the impartiality and balance that the public, and indeed the BBC
charter, demand.
He went on: Over the last four years the entire nation has pulled
together to achieve something many said could not be done: we are
now the fastest growing advanced economy in the developed world.
The sacrifices and hard work of the British people are ill-served by
pessimistic reporting which obscures our economic success with the
language of fear and doom.
A BBC spokesman said that it was satisfied that the Today
programmes coverage had been fair and balanced and we gave the
Chancellor plenty of opportunity to respond on the programme.
The comments on Newsnight were justified because the Office for
Budget Responsibility had itself said that nominal government
consumption will fall to its lowest level since 1938, the BBC said.
The spokesman added: The BBC takes its responsibility for impartial
coverage very seriously. It is the duty of all journalists to ask politicians
difficult questions. We will keep asking them.
Well undoubtedly get more criticism from across the political
spectrum as the election gets closer, but well keep doing our job.

Photo news:

Westbourne residents visit Conor in

Westminster

Conor with constituents from Westbourne after their tour of the

House of Commons.

Conor in the papers:

NO psychiatric intensive care beds for

women so theyre sent to Yorkshire instead
Toby Wadey, Bournemouth Echo
Tuesday 25 November 2014
A psychiatric hospital in Poole
has no intensive care beds for
women and routinely sends patients hundreds of miles for treatment
at a cost of more than 1.8million in the last year.
Following a Daily Echo investigation, Dorset HealthCare University
Foundation Trust admitted it has just five intensive psychiatric care
beds in the county, all based at St Anns Hospital in Canford Cliffs, and
none are used for females.
In the last year, the lack of facilities resulted in patients being
transferred as far away as Bradford in Yorkshire, Cheadle in Greater
Manchester and other institutions scattered across the country on 60
separate occasions.
Of the 1,875,031 paid to other care providers between September
2013 and September 2014, more than 1.4million was handed to
private company Cygnet Health Care with just 11.5 per cent of the
total money spent staying in the NHS.
A parent with a daughter at St Anns, who is in her 80s and did not
want to be named, said the service for women was like something
from the dark ages, branding the facilities disgusting and unfit for a
dog.
They only told me she would be transferred to Bradford 30 minutes
before they took her away by ambulance, she added.
I was so upset they told me I was hysterical and that I would not be
allowed to see her before she left.
It took six hours to take her there and left her very distressed she
was so far away from her family and we desperately wanted to be by
her side.
It was horrendous, like a nightmare. She hated being so far away.
After complaining, she said the next time her daughter required
intensive treatment, she was taken to a facility in London.
However, accompanied by her husband, also in his 80s, she said
travelling around the city had proved difficult and cost 150 for the pair
in train and taxi fares.
Asked by the Echo how much each ambulance journey to make such
a transfer costs, a spokesman for Dorset Healthcare said it varies
and the number of staff used to accompany patients is determined by
a full risk assessment.
He added that such a transfer is always a last resort.
Statement from Dorset HealthCare
Eugine Yafele, lead director for mental health at Dorset HealthCare,
said: We agree it is unacceptable that there are currently no
psychiatric intensive care beds available for women in Dorset.
We are already taking steps to change this and are working towards
finalising detailed plans by Christmas to have beds in Dorset as soon
as possible.
Transferring someone away from their home when they are unwell is
always a last resort after all local options for care have been
exhausted.
If we send someone out of the county, we will always try to find an
available bed as close to Dorset as possible and if a person is out of
the area we stay closely involved in their care with the priority to bring
them back as soon as clinically possible.
We have recognised that improvements are needed in some of our
mental health inpatient services.
We have already agreed to invest several million pounds in significant
improvements to a number of the facilities at St Anns hospital,
including the inpatient female ward, which will greatly improve the
experience and outcomes of those we support. This investment and
commitment to continued improvement and upgrading follows on from
the improvements for patients already made with the brand new
buildings opened at St Anns hospital in October 2013.
Matter of inequality says MP
The non-existence of beds for women suffering with serious mental
illness in Dorset is a matter of inequality, according to an MP.
Annette Brooke, MP for North Poole and Mid Dorset, raised the issue
in parliament last month after being contacted by two affected families
and met with health minister Norman Lamb to discuss increased
funding.
She said the situation is appalling and extra money is needed
urgently.
It is shocking, because these are young ladies and they need the
support of their families, she added.
Mental healthcare in this country has been grossly underfunded for
years. It is a matter of speaking up we have got to have our own
provision in Dorset.
She said Mr Lamb has now written to Dorset HealthCare to address
the issues.
She added that after meeting with the trusts management, she was
confident there was a real determination to improve.
Conor Burns, MP for Bournemouth West, also called for this
distressing situation to be put to an end.
He added: Mental health care has long been the poor relation in the
NHS it is the Cinderella service.
It is something that, other than cancer, affects more families than
another illness.
It is distressing enough to have a close family member suffering with
mental illness, but for them to then be taken away to Bradford and
other parts of the country, and to not be able to see their loved ones,
makes it even more distressing.
It is something that is not just economically bad, it is emotionally
damaging too.

Photo news:

Kinson Memorial Garden

Conor Burns with Commodore Jamie Miller and other attendees

at the Kinson Memorial Garden unveiling ceremony.

Bournemouth West MP Warns Navitus Bay

Hearing of Hammer Blow to Local
Economy
On 2 December 2014, Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns
addressed the final Planning Inspectorate hearing on the proposed
Navitus Bay wind farm.
Following two written representations, three debates in the House of
Commons and numerous meetings with interested parties, Conor
reiterated his concern at the hearing over the damage that Navitus
Bay would do to both Bournemouths tourism economy and the wider
Dorset economy.
Quoting research carried out by Bournemouth Borough Council, the
Bournemouth West MP claimed that the wind farm would cost 2,000 of
the 10,000 local jobs supported by tourism, accompanying a fall in
tourist income of 100 million per annum. This, he said, would be a
hammer blow to our local economy.
He also raised his concern that the wind farm could threaten the World
Heritage status of the Jurassic Coast, and revealed that he has
spoken to Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and
Sport, about his departments role in the process.
Speaking after the event, Conor Burns said: Having been unable to
attend previous hearings because of commitments in the House of
Commons, I was determined to speak at this final hearing to represent
the vast majority of my constituents who have contacted me to oppose
this development. Bournemouth was last week named as the UKs
best coastal resort, and to have that reputation and the tourists that
come with it threatened would deal a grave blow to the local and
regional economies. I hope that the Planning Inspectorate will note the
persuasive arguments that I and others have made during this
process, and recommend that consent for the project be refused.
The Planning Inspectorate examination is timetabled to end in March
2015, and the final decision will be made by the Secretary of State for
Energy and Climate Change by September 2015.

Photos news:

Talbot Village parking concerns

Conor Burns with Cllr Karen Rampton and Prof. Stuart

Bartholomew at Arts University Bournemouth to discuss parking
issues raised by Talbot Village Residents Association.

Conor in the papers:

Navitus Bay: EDF concerned over damage

to reputation by opposition to wind farm
Andy Martin, Bournemouth Echo
Sunday 30th November 2014
The French energy giant behind
the 3bn Navitus windfarm
scheme is becoming increasingly concerned at the damage to its
reputation by opposition to the proposal, the Daily Echo understands.
The chief executive officer of the French-owned EDF Energy, Vincent
De Rivaz, and other senior figures in the company met with
Bournemouth West MP, Conor Burns, at their request in the House of
Commons.
And Mr Burns says the company has been taken aback by the level
and strength of opposition to the plan for up to 194 turbines off the
coast of Dorset.
And he believes the firm may be coming round to the idea that the
potential reputational damage may begin to outweigh the commercial
benefits of the scheme. Mr Burns, who has been at the forefront of the
opposition, told the Daily Echo: They clearly didnt ask for the meeting
to tell me how well they think its going.
Something must be going sufficiently wrong for the chief executive to
be getting involved in the project to the extent of requesting a meeting
with an MP. My sense is they have been taken aback at the strength of
feeling.
Mr Burns said engagement with local communities had been
disastrous.
At the meeting, Mr Burns said he did more talking than listening.
He told Mr de Rivaz: We are going to fight this every step of the way.
Bournemouth Borough Councils leader, Cllr John Beesley, was also at
the meeting.
EDF bosses asked him what they could do turn public opinion around
and he told them there was nothing they could do because of the total
breakdown in trust with the company.
Mr Burns had raised the Navitus Bay issue with David Cameron.
Committed to the development
The scheme is a 50/50 partnership between EDF Energy and the
Dutch-owned energy company Eneco.
A spokesman for Navitus said: Both EDF and Eneco have met local
representatives and discussed the opportunities provided by the
project as well as covering any potential concerns. Both shareholders
are fully committed to the successful ongoing development of the
project.
EDF Energy and Eneco, have now submitted plans for a smaller wind
farm that would involve a maximum of 105 turbines and be further
from the shore.
The new plan was drawn up in response to a request from planning
inspectors, implying they have concerns about the visual impact of the
initial plan.
According to the Daily Telegraph, one industry source with links to the
project said they believed that while Mr De Rivaz was willing to stake
his reputation on fighting for a nuclear plant, he would not fight for a
wind farm.

Conor in the papers:

Legal threat to bed blockers by

Bournemouth Hospital harsh and
disrespectful, says MP
Katie Clark, Bournemouth Echo
Saturday 22 November 2014
Proposals
by
Royal
Bournemouth Hospital bosses
to take legal action over bed-blockers who monopolise spaces has
been condemned as harsh and disrespectful.
The Royal Bournemouth and Christchurch Hospitals Trust plan to give
a weeks notice to patients fit enough, who have a safe place to go,
and could even evict them if they refuse or families refuse to take
them.
If a case went to court, families and patients could be liable for legal
costs of up to 50,000.
Katie Whiteside, of the Royal Bournemouth Hospital said too many
families were refusing to take their relatives home which could lead to
waiting in corridors and cancelled routine operations.
Holidays, dislike of care homes and their staff all contributed to the
problem, she added.
But Bournemouth West MP Conor Burns described the proposed
measures as harsh.
He said: I am always hostile when the state starts talking about suing
private citizens.
I think its a bit like Big Brother.
That said, I think families have a responsibility when a relative is
medically fit to ensure that the relative comes back into the community
as quickly as possible, particularly when there is a high demand for
beds for people who are medically unwell.
It is a very, very, harsh reaction though.
The hospital is funded by the tax-payer and the people in hospital are
tax-payers.
The hospital has a duty to talk to them and about them with a little
more respect.
David Leighton, chief officer, Age UK Bournemouth said: Whilst
hospitals are under enormous and increasing pressure, threatening
vulnerable people with eviction is not the way to tackle what is an
underpinning problem with the way in which services are organised
and funded.
Health and social care agencies need to be working harder to provide
effective services to help people return home from hospital.
Mr Leighton said Royal Bournemouth and its main funder Dorset
Clinical Commissioning Group should work more in partnership with
other authorities for a long term solution rather than victimising
vulnerable older people for a problem that they did not cause
themselves.
In response to media coverage surrounding the issue, the Trust said:
This policy is in the patients best interest, whether they are awaiting
discharge from hospital or waiting for a bed from our admissions unit:
we need to ensure the patients are in the right place at the right time.

Three ways to contact Conor Burns MP:

By Phone: 020 7219 7021
By email: conor.burns.mp@parliament.uk
By post: Conor Burns MP
House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA

www.conorburns.com

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