After an exceptionally busy January and staff changes in her office, Heidi reflects on the tail end of 2015 and the start of 2016.  She writes:

The victory in the fairer funding campaign for our schools was one of the highlights of 2015 – but the chance to see our schools finally get the funding they deserve has been a long time coming.

My time as MP for South Cambridgeshire has shown me, however, that schools are not the only ones drastically underfunded for the service they provide.

In the first week back after Christmas, one of the founding partners of Cambourne GP surgery and I met with Alastair Burt, Minister of State for Care and Support.  GP surgeries in new settlements such as Cambourne face even tougher funding challenges than established GPs.

I have visited a number of practices over recent months and am acutely aware of the difficulties GPs face as they try to recruit new doctors in an increasingly stressful environment.

But trying to set up a new practice is even harder – I am pleased to say Alistair listened intently and promised to go away and review the way the funding model works.  Watch this space!

Villiers Park
On January 8, I experienced first-hand the fantastic work carried out by the Villiers Park Educational Trust in Foxton.

Villiers Park offers intense supplementary education and mentoring to potential high achievers from the lowest socio-economic backgrounds across the country.  So impressed was I by the work they do and the success they have achieved in developing life opportunities for gifted students, I invited the Secretary of State Nicky Morgan to join us in early February.

She too was extremely interested in what she saw and will be considering whether the model could be rolled out nationally.

Police
The safety and security of the residents of South Cambridgeshire is a top priority of mine and I work hard to keep a close relationship with our police force.  That’s why on 15 January I met with the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire, Alex Wood.

It is clear policing challenges are very different across the County, but I am confident Alex is in tune with both our rural and city challenges.

Broadband
One of the key irritations for residents in some of our rural villages is broadband provision.  Over the last couple of months I have been working with District and Parish councillors to try and identify any 'cold' spots around the constituency where provision is simply not good enough.

On 22 January I took my hit list to Noelle Godfrey, Programme Director of Connecting Cambridgeshire, so she can ensure these areas are not forgotten in their on-going work with BT.  This won’t be an overnight fix, but I am confident over time we will be able to provide decent broadband to everyone.

You can read about progress in your area at www.heidisouthcambs.co.uk/broadband.

Refugee children
Finally, I’d like to talk briefly about my trip to Lesbos with the charity Save the Children over the last weekend of January.

The issue of refugees, in particular unaccompanied children, has been in the news for some time now.  I wanted to see for myself the refugee camps of the island of Lesbos, one of the Greek islands at the forefront of migration into Europe. You can read the full piece I wrote for the Cambridge News and the story we carried on this website.

The situation on the ground is just desperate – the Greek authorities are beyond struggling to cope, and although I believe Britain’s strategy of giving assistance to refugees in the region in Syria is the right one, I do feel we should do more to help those orphaned children who have made it to Europe, alone and with not a soul in the world.

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Heidi's next surgery dates
     Friday, 11th March / Melbourn
     Friday, 19th  March / Sawston
     Saturday, 9th April / Cottenham

Please contact her office for further details.

Heidi Allen MP
South Cambridgeshire
153 St Neots Road
Hardwick
CB23 7QJ

Phone
01954 212 707

E-mail
heidi.allen.mp@parliament.uk

Twitter
@heidiallen75

Website
www.heidisouthcambs.co.uk

Voting record in Parliament

www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25348/heidi_allen/south_cambridgeshire

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