During the last few years I was lucky enough to service my town as a local councillor, I wanted to achieve a progress on cycle and multi use paths, try to achieve social housing, achieve arts funding and raise money to invest in our local communities to create and achieve wealth locally.
I was surprised to be asked to chair the Scrutiny Board at Mendip District Council after the conservative member resigned. I also lead on the social deprivation working group.
Politics to me is about finding solutions to real problems, based on evidence that works with local stakeholders.
I was keen to interview local stakeholders to find out what the issues are for local people. Unsurprisingly, talking to Mendip Citizens Advice, we heard evidence that people on the lowest income needed more resources, needed more sympathetic communication and ending heavy handed bailiffs.
In response to this evidence, Mendip increased the hardship fund to support people, looked at how to write to people in arrears and encouraged people to talk about their arrears this allowed people not to be taken to court. Clearly this was not a solution, but at least this mitigated hardship.
We wanted to see people use the credit union, small saving allows access to low cost loans, many low income people cannot access financial services and credit unions can help people getting short term help and stop them getting involved with loan sharks.
Another major issue, this before the Ukrainian war, was fuel poverty. The housing stock in rural areas has poor insulation and energy efficiency, this causing low income to spend a disproportionate amount of their income on fuel.it is essential that grants were increased and access to low cost loans to improve the housing stock, if this is done, the residents will have lower fuel bills and help with climate change, using less energy.
Living in rural areas the lack of public transport is particularly acute, effecting young people and poorer older people the hardest.
In West Somerset access to education is effected by the lack of transport and the high price of it, opportunity is badly effected because of the lack of services. People who live in cities have colleges close with public transport, in rural communities there is a disincentive to go into further education, long days and high costs put barriers in the way of opportunity
Without decent public transport people without access to a car have to use more expensive local shops, those living on low incomes are disproportionately effected by this.
In the neighbouring constituency of Somerton and Frome there is a by election, caused by the conservative MP resigning amid allegations of wrong doing.
Imagine the opportunity this offers the opposition parties, rural deprivation has grown in recent years, imagine you are the Liberal Democrat and you are asked a question by John Harris a guardian journalist about deprivation in the area, Sarah Dyke the Lib Dem candidate replied she had drunk her coffee a bit too fast, before asking: “What do you want to know? Something that’s a subject I don’t know anything about … I mean there’s pockets of deprivation.
Never mind this question was an open goal, but most deprived people cannot afford a coffee from a coffee shop, if people are unaware of what deprivation is, how can those same people tackle these social ills.
This year the cost of food has rocketed with One in five people say they have missed a meal because they cannot afford food, over 2.5 million children receive free school meals, food inflation is 20% those on low income are being badly affected by the rising costs of food.
I find it astonishing that someone wishing to represent an area in parliament appears to be unaware of this hardship.
We need our representatives to focus with a lazar on supporting the champions of the disadvantaged, Citizen advice are one such champion, as the state withdrawn this community based group offer the safety net for the disadvantaged who cannot access services.
More support is required to allow young people to achieve their dreams and aspirations, rural areas need champions to raise these issues, the conservatives have failed our communities who are standing up for a better country for everyone?
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