This country’s first ever independent Armed Forces Commissioner, a voice to champion service personnel and their families, is one step closer to reality this week, as it passed its third reading in the House of Commons.
This change, a vital one for our brave service personnel, can’t come soon enough.
The importance of the Bill can’t be overstated for the people of West Cumbria and I was pleased to vote in favour.
The first duty of any Government is to keep our country safe, and at the heart of our security are the men and women who risk their lives for our nation. We are deeply proud of our Armed Forces – theirs is the ultimate form of public service – and their professionalism and bravery are rightly respected the world over.
The Armed Forces Commissioner is a central part of this Government’s plans to renew the nation’s contract with those who bravely serve.
The Commissioner will be a direct point of contact for personnel and their families to raise service issues affecting their lives, from kit, to housing, to childcare.
After 14 years of Tory hollowing out and underfunding of our Armed Forces, morale in the military fell to record lows – with just four in ten personnel reporting satisfaction. And the forces are facing a Tory-manufactured recruitment and retention crisis.
Just last month, shocking statistics revealed that nearly 5,000 members of the armed were relying on Universal Credit before the election.
This Labour Government is determined to turn this around.
We want the independent Commissioner to have proper powers to investigate issues affecting service life, make recommendations, and report to Parliament. And to have access to personnel, information, and to defence sites.
And we want them to hold us to account, too.
This Labour-run Ministry of Defence, led by Secretary of State John Healey, understands just how vital the safety and security of our forces personnel are.
Just months after we confirmed the largest pay rise for our personnel in over 20 years, today’s Parliamentary vote shows again that we will always stand up for those who serve our country.
This Labour Government is on a mission to raise military morale. This Bill is just one step of many to right the wrongs of the last 14 years and ensure that our personnel know just how much they are valued.
People will always be at the heart of our defence plans: those who make great sacrifices to keep Britain secure at home and strong abroad will always be championed under a Labour Government.
In September last year, two months into my time as your MP, I was confronted with one of my first major challenges.
Dozens of residents in the Slipway flats in Whitehaven had been issued with eviction notices and given two months to find new homes. Some had lived there for decades. Many struggled to find alternative accommodation and had to present as homeless to the council, putting further strain on already stretched homeless provision.
The residents were evicted not for bad behaviour, criminal activity or failing to pay their rent. They were evicted for no fault at all. Alongside local councillor Emma Williamson, I did everything I could to help those who contacted me and convince the building owners to change their minds, but, under current law, this practice is entirely legal.
Last week I had those residents in mind when I voted for the Renters’ Rights Bill, which will finally ban these ‘no fault’ evictions for good, protecting thousands of private renters in West Cumbria.
Banning no fault evictions was a promise made by Theresa May in 2017, yet, in seven years, successive Conservative Prime Ministers failed to get it done. It is a promise made and a promise kept by this Labour government.
The Bill doesn’t just ban no fault evictions, it is the biggest package of protections for the private rented sector in over 40 years. It applies the Decent Homes Standard to private rented homes, to give private renters safer, better value homes; includes new rights to request permission to keep pets; strengthens local authority enforcement powers and sets up a new Ombudsman to deal with complaints; ends the practice of rental bidding which drives up prices; and much more.
Shamefully, every Conservative and Reform MP present voted against the Bill (Nigel Farage didn’t bother to show up – perhaps he was busy with one of the other eight jobs which earned him half a million pounds in the last six months on top of his MP salary).
Good landlords have nothing to fear from this Bill. This puts into law good practice already followed by the vast majority of good, responsible landlords. But dodgy landlords are on notice – clean up your act or face the consequences.
The problem the Bill doesn’t solve is exorbitant rental prices and the lack of availability of homes for private rent here in West Cumbria. It’s a demand and supply issue that we need to solve by increasing the supply of homes and that’s where our planning reforms and commitment to build 1.5 million new homes come in. Including many more affordable and social homes. Homes like those at the new Harbour Place development I visited in Workington last week.
I’m fully behind and determined to see us deliver these new homes for the many thousands of people across West Cumbria locked out of the housing market or stuck on waiting lists for social housing.
Patients in West Cumbria will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster under Labour’s plan to tackle hospital backlogs.
In the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board area there are 354,743 people on waiting lists at huge cost to their health. 110,532 of these have waited more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Tackling the 7.5 million strong waiting list inherited by the government so that the NHS once again meets the 18 week standard for planned treatment is a key milestone in the government’s Plan for Change. Restoring this standard will mean patients in West Cumbria no longer have to have their lives put on hold.
Currently, too many patients face long waits for appointments or surgeries and may be referred to hospitals they don’t choose at inconvenient times, while appointments and staff time are being lost to inefficiencies or inconsistencies in care.
The Labour Government’s Elective Reform Plan, published this week by NHS England, sets out a whole system approach to hitting the 18-week referral to treatment target by the end of this Parliament. This includes opening Community Diagnostic Centres on evenings and weekends so that many more people will be able to access tests and checks while going about their daily lives, and the NHS will also increase the number of surgical hubs, which help protect planned care from the impact of seasonal and other pressures.
The plan will drive forward progress on the government’s commitment to deliver 2 million extra appointments in its first year, equivalent to 40,000 every week. The reforms will put patients first, harness technology to support staff and help the NHS to do things more efficiently.
Under the plan, 65% of patients will be treated within 18 weeks by the end of next year. Based on the size of the current waiting list, that would mean a fall of more than 450,000 people waiting more than 18 weeks for treatment.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“This Government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.
“NHS backlogs have ballooned in recent years, leaving millions of patients languishing on waiting lists, often in pain or fear. Lives on hold. Potential unfulfilled.
“This elective reform plan will deliver on our promise to end the backlogs. Millions more appointments. Greater choice and convenience for patients. Staff once again able to give the standard of care they desperately want to.
“This is a key plank of our Plan for Change, which will drive growth that puts more money in people’s pockets, secures our borders and makes the NHS fit for the future so that working people live longer, healthier, more prosperous lives.”
Josh MacAlister, MP for Whitehaven and Workington, said:
“Hundreds of residents in West Cumbria are stuck on the record long waiting lists inherited by the Labour Government at huge cost to their health.
“That’s why the reforms announced this week to cut NHS waiting times from 18 months to 18 weeks will make such a huge difference. With so many people waiting for treatment, it is more urgent than ever that we reform our NHS so it will always be there for you when you need it.”
I have spent my career supporting vulnerable children. First as a teacher in some very tough schools, then as the founder and leader of a national charity bringing new people into frontline children’s social work to give every child the champion they need, and then as the Chair of the landmark national Independent Review of Children’s Social Care for the previous government, which included meeting with and hearing evidence from many victims of sexual abuse.
I have therefore been deeply troubled to see a gravely serious issue like child sexual abuse exploited by an ill-informed American billionaire and political opportunists here in the UK to score cheap points at the expense of delivering justice for victims and ensuring a scandal like this never happens again.
MPs are elected to be problem solvers, not problem exploiters. But what Conservative and Reform MPs did last week was attempt to vote down a Bill – the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – which contains significant measures to keep children safe and protect them from this sort of abuse. I know this because I recommended many of the measures it includes in my Independent Review back in 2022. Measures which were ignored by the previous Conservative government but which will now be delivered in this Bill by a Labour government, who I have been working with on the content of this Bill for several months.
The Bill also saves parents money by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school and limiting the number of branded uniform items schools can require children to wear. If you’ve got a child in primary school these measures could save you approximately £500 per year.
I was proud to vote for the Bill and not for the Conservative wrecking amendment which would have seen all of these measures fail and put more children at risk of abuse.
We do not need another lengthy national inquiry which will delay justice even further. We had one under the last government, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA). As part of this seven year inquiry, there was a dedicated two year investigation into child sexual exploitation specifically by gangs which took extensive evidence from across the country.
I want to see recommendations from previous reviews delivered and I’m very pleased that the Labour government has committed to delivering the recommendations from the IICSA and is already getting on with that work.
Finally, I think it is important to note that only 5% of child sexual abuse is group-based. It is very important that we tackle grooming gangs, and that we are candid when there is a racial component to this, but we must not overlook the 95% of child sexual abuse not carried out by grooming gangs. Victims of these crimes also deserve our attention.
I have spent my career supporting vulnerable children. First as a teacher in some very tough schools, then as the founder and leader of a national charity bringing new people into frontline children’s social work to give every child the champion they need, and then as the Chair of the landmark national Independent Review of Children’s Social Care for the previous government, which included meeting with and hearing evidence from many victims of sexual abuse.
This should assure you that this issue is important to me and I know it intimately.
I have therefore been deeply troubled to see a gravely serious issue like this exploited by an ill-informed American billionaire and political opportunists here in the UK to score cheap points at the expense of delivering justice for victims and ensuring a scandal like this never happens again.
MPs are elected to be problem solvers, not problem exploiters. But what Conservative and Reform MPs did this week was attempt to vote down a Bill – the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill – which contains significant measures to keep children safe and protect them from this sort of abuse. I know this because I recommended many of the measures it includes in my Independent Review back in 2022. Measures which were ignored by the previous Conservative government but which will now be delivered in this Bill by a Labour government, who I have been working with on the content of this Bill for several months.
Here are some of the key child protection elements:
Introducing a register of children not in school and new powers to protect children who are at risk of significant harm who are not in school to make sure no child falls through the cracks. If this had been in place two years ago when first recommended, the horrific murder of Sara Sharif by her parents might have been prevented.
Implementing multi-agency child protection teams and strengthening existing multi-agency safeguarding arrangements; bringing social workers, schools, police, health providers and others together to quickly and accurately identify and respond to harm to children who are at risk.
Introducing a single child identifier so that information can be shared live between agencies, removing the fog of confused or partial information sharing.
The Bill also saves parents money by rolling out free breakfast clubs in every primary school and limiting the number of branded uniform items schools can require children to wear. If you’ve got a child in primary school these measures could save you approximately £500 per year.
I was proud to vote for the Bill and not for the Conservative wrecking amendment which would have seen all of these measures fail and put more children at risk of abuse.
I expect this sort of thing from Nigel Farage, who is never happier than when he is exploiting tensions for political gain (that is when he bothers to turn up to Parliament when he isn’t selling gold bullion or appearing on GB News (second jobs which earned him half a million pounds in the last six months)). But I expected better from the Conservatives, some of whom I have worked with in my previous roles and who I know take this issue seriously. Unfortunately their new leader clearly does not. Kemi Badenoch has been an MP for eight years. She served as Children’s Minister and as Women & Equalities Minister in the last government. Until this week she hadn’t once raised child sexual abuse in Parliament.
The politician who has raised this consistently and repeatedly throughout their career in and out of politics is the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer. He knows this issue inside and out, cares passionately about tackling child sexual abuse and delivering justice for victims, and has an undeniable track record of taking action. As Director of Public Prosecutions from 2008 to 2013 he prosecuted dozens of grooming gang members in Rochdale and other towns – including overturning some decisions not to prosecute made before his appointment – and completely overhauled the way the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) deals with child sex abuse and grooming cases to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators. And he regularly meets with victims of child sexual abuse, unlike Kemi Badenoch, who was forced to admit this week that she has never met any victims of grooming gangs and has no plans to do so.
I’ll highlight this 2013 report from the cross-party Home Affairs Select Committee which said that, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, “unlike many other official agencies implicated in this issue”, the CPS had “readily admitted that victims had been let down by them and have attempted both to discover the cause of this systematic failure and to improve the way things are done so as to avoid a repetition of such events”.
It is simply not true, as the Conservatives are claiming, that IICSA did not consider grooming gangs. The problem is that the recommendations were not implemented under the Conservatives. Labour has committed to delivering on 19 of them and we have already started that work. The leader of that inquiry, Baroness Jay, agrees that there is no need for a further inquiry. Many victims who engaged with that inquiry agree that we do not need another inquiry. We should listen to the victims and the experts, not Elon Musk, and get on with delivering justice and preventing further abuse.
I want to see recommendations from reviews delivered, including those from my own which now form part of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill. I will be following the development of this Bill closely as it makes its way through Parliament to ensure it contains robust provisions to protect children from harm and gives professionals who work with children the tools they need to identify issues at the earliest opportunity and take all necessary action.
Finally, I think it is important to note that, according to the National Police Chief’s Council, only 5% of child sexual abuse and exploitation crimes are group-based. It is very important that we tackle grooming gangs, and that we are candid when there is a racial component to this, but we must not overlook the 95% of child sexual abuse not carried out by grooming gangs. Victims of these crimes also deserve our attention.
I hope you will be assured from this response that I understand this issue, I have been actively engaged in this issue for many years, and I am committed to taking serious action to address this issue, as is the government I support.
Thanks again for getting in touch and if you have any other questions or concerns to raise with me or if I can help you with anything, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
If you’d like to keep up to date with my work with and on behalf of local people, please subscribe to my monthly e-newsletter at joshmacalister.uk/enews
Best wishes,
Josh MacAlister OBE MP
Labour Member of Parliament for Whitehaven & Workington
It was a delight to see a dozen Cumbrians recognised in the King’s New Year Honours List for their service to communities in Cumbria and beyond.
The List recognises the achievements and service of extraordinary people across the UK. Unsung heroes in every community. The List ensures that people from underrepresented communities and a wide variety of types of work are rewarded, to celebrate the fantastic contribution of people throughout the country.
I was pleased to see several names from here in West Cumbria awarded. Dr Amanda Jean Carson, from Seascale, will receive an MBE for her outstanding work over decades protecting our Herdwicks and other rare breeds of sheep. While BEMs were awarded to four other inspirational local community leaders – Dr Christopher Jeremy Ayling, David Davidson, Stuart McCourt and Chris Young. My heartfelt congratulations go to all of them.
I’m lucky in this job to come across such unsung heroes almost every day. Too many to name here. I do, however, want to single out for praise this week those who stepped up to support those affected by the suspected gas explosion on Hugh Street last week.
From all of the council and emergency services personnel who went above and beyond, to those local residents who went out of their way to support their neighbours in their hour of most need. Brave local veterans John Dunleavey and Darren Parsley, who ran into the fire to rescue people. And Matthew Stephenson and Sarah Buchanan, who set up fundraisers which have raised thousands of pounds for those affected.
I am available for anyone affected if there is anything I can do to help. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office.
Speaking of unsung heroes, our brilliant carers and NHS staff were given a boost this week as the Government made two major announcements – significant new funding and major reforms to transform adult social care services and a plan to end NHS waiting list backlogs through millions more appointments.
An extra £652,033 for Cumberland Council to spend on Disabled Facilities Grants will enable more older and disabled people to live independently in their own homes. And care workers across West Cumbria will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways.
On waiting lists, the reforms announced this week will deliver up to half a million more appointments a year and help to achieve the government’s promise that 92% of patients waiting for planned treatment will receive it within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament. Under the Tories, more than 40% of patients are waiting far longer.
This Government promised change and that is what I am fighting every day to deliver.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting, joined local MP Josh MacAlister on a visit to West Cumberland Hospital this week to meet staff and patients.
Wards were off limits due to flu outbreaks, but Josh and Wes met with the hospital leadership and with staff and patients in A&E and the Same Day Emergency Care Unit. It was an opportunity to thank staff for their hard work during the difficult winter period and discuss some of the challenges facing the hospital and our NHS and social care services.
The Health and Care Secretary’s visit to Cumbria included the announcement of major reforms to fix the broken social care system and extra funding to keep older people out of hospital and in their homes, alongside the launch of a new cross-party independent commission to establish a National Care Service.
On a visit to a recently adapted property in Carlisle, Wes confirmed a £652,033 funding boost to Cumberland Council as part of an extra £86 million for the Disabled Facilities Grant, on top of the additional £86 million already announced in the Budget. This brings the total investment in adaptations allowing elderly people to live independently in their own homes to £711 million.
Alongside the funding, the government’s immediate action to support adult social care also includes using technology to transform care and support older people to live at home for longer, cutting red tape to ensure funding is keeping people healthy and taking pressure off the NHS.
Care workers across West Cumbria will be better supported to take on further duties to deliver health interventions, such as blood pressure checks, meaning people can receive more routine checks and care at home without needing to travel to healthcare settings. The national career structure for care staff will also be expanded, ensuring there are opportunities for career progression and development pathways.
The government will also develop a shared digital platform to allow up-to-date medical information to be shared between the NHS and care staff, including when someone last took their medication, to ensure people receive the best possible care.
Alongside these immediate steps, the government is also kickstarting work on the necessary long term reform to overhaul social care. As set out in the manifesto, this deep reform will include the creation of a National Care Service underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country.
The government has launched an independent commission into adult social care, chaired by Baroness Louise Casey and reporting to the Prime Minister, to work on a cross-party basis to build a consensus for how to build an adult social care system to meet the current and future needs of the population.
Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:
“I’m very thankful that the Secretary of State took the time to visit our local hospital to thank staff and hear directly from those working on the frontline of the NHS about the challenges they’re facing after the previous government almost brought our NHS to its knees.
“One of the key issues raised by staff was the number of older people stuck in hospital because the social care system isn’t functioning properly and people can’t be sent home because they don’t have support. The extra money announced for Cumberland Council will be vital in supporting more people in West Cumbria to live at home with the dignity, independence and quality of life that they deserve.
“We also had the chance for a good discussion with Wes about some of the opportunities that the government’s additional funding and reforms could unlock to improve health and care services in West Cumbria. Improving these services is a top priority for me as your MP and I will use every lever at my disposal to deliver the improvements we need and deserve.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“I was in Cumbria to announce immediate investment and reforms to help modernise social care, get it working more closely with the NHS, and help deliver our Plan for Change.
“But our ageing society, with costs of care set to double in the next 20 years, demands longer term action. The independent commission I also announced in Cumbria this week will work to build a national consensus around a new National Care Service able to meet the needs of older and disabled people into the 21st century.”
We are passionate advocates for devolving as much power and money as possible out of central government down to our county. Local problems can and should be solved locally and residents and locally accountable decision makers who know our areas best should be in the driving seat coming up with solutions to the challenges we face.
The English Devolution Bill released last week is the Labour Government’s plan to give those of us with skin in the game the funding and the tools we need to make a real and lasting difference. This isn’t the weak tea offered by the Tories in years past on devolution. The Bill lays out nothing less than a devolution revolution, which will deliver the greatest transfer of power and money from Whitehall to our communities in a generation, empowering those communities to realise their potential.
The plans set out a strong preference to see Mayors in place across the whole of England – making it the default status. And it is those areas which embrace the mayoral model and the local accountability that comes with it which stand to benefit most from the rich rewards that devolution has to offer.
Taking buses back into public control; a new statutory role in governing, managing, planning, and developing the rail network; control over adult skills funding and a role in employment support programmes; and new powers over strategic planning to build the homes we need. These are just some of the opportunities available to us in Cumbria if we seize the opportunity being presented.
Making this work for Cumbria would mean retaining Cumberland and Westmorland & Furness as two councils and introducing a combined authority led by a directly elected mayor for the county. It should mean merging the role of our Cumbria-wide Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner into the mayor’s office. This would mean no extra politicians in Cumbria, but access to a lot more funding than we currently have.
We as Cumbria’s Labour representatives are up for this and we know from speaking to many residents and businesses that there is an appetite for it among the public too. Indeed at the recent Cumbria Economic Summit there was strong support from the business community. There is widespread and cross-party support for Cumbria to benefit from these opportunities, and we cannot let one party block the greatest transfer of power to Cumbrians in a generation.
We urge all parties to clearly back an ambitious Mayoral combined authority. Whether it’s Greater Manchester, Tees Valley or the North East, we are seeing our near neighbours move ahead with the powers and resources that come with a directly elected Mayor. The rest of England is moving towards this model of devolution and we in Cumbria deserve the same opportunities.
A Mayoral Combined Authority with the right powers and resources is our best route to improving local bus and train services, upgrading roads like the A66, A595 and A590, driving forward major regeneration projects, improving the health and wealth of our population and expanding access to opportunity in every corner of Cumbria.
We’ll continue making the case alongside businesses and civic leaders in the months ahead and we hope that we can work together to put Cumbria in the driving seat of our own future.
Josh MacAlister OBE, MP for Whitehaven & Workington
Cllr Mark Fryer, Leader, Cumberland Council
Julie Minns, MP for Carlisle
David Allen, Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner for Cumbria
Markus Campbell-Savours, MP for Penrith & Solway
Michelle Scrogham, MP for Barrow & Furness
Cllr Derek Brook, Leader, Westmorland & Furness Labour Group
Government consults with British Medical Association on measures including largest boost to GP funding in years and reducing outdated targets to free up time
Reforms are part of Government’s Plan for Change to get more patients through the NHS front door and bring back the family doctor
GPs in West Cumbria will be able to spend more time treating patients under Labour’s proposed reforms to general practice which will bring back the family doctor and slash red tape.
Josh MacAlister MP has today welcomed Labour’s plans to bring back the family doctor and end the 8am scramble for appointments – key manifesto commitments with action being taken to deliver on those promises and get the NHS back on its feet. Under the proposals, patients in West Cumbria, including those with complex needs, long-term conditions, or the elderly would experience greater continuity of care.
The proposals fall under the new GP contract for 2025/26, which is now out for consultation with the British Medical Association’s General Practice Committee to provide its feedback.
The proposals are backed by the biggest boost to GP funding in years – an extra £889m on top of the existing budget for general practice.
The proposed measures would also reduce the number of outdated performance targets that GPs must meet, in a further step to reduce bureaucracy and ensure doctors can spend more time with their patients.
Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister said:
“When I knock on doors in Whitehaven, Workington and across West Cumbria I hear time and time again the difficulty that residents have in making a GP appointment and how important the front door to our NHS is to them and their families.
“I promised residents in West Cumbria that we would help bring back the family doctor and I’m delighted to see proposals that would deliver on that promise.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“General practice is buckling under the burden of bureaucracy, with GPs filling out forms instead of treating patients. It is clear the system is broken, which is why we are slashing red tape, binning outdated performance targets, and instead freeing doctors up to do their jobs.
“We promised to bring back the family doctor, but we want to be judged by results – not promises. That’s why we will incentivise GPs to ensure more and more patients see the same doctor at each appointment.
“Through our Plan for Change, we are acting to fix the front door to the NHS and we have already started hiring an extra 1,000 GPs into the NHS.
“We are proposing substantial additional investment and greater flexibility to employ doctors so patients get better care. I call on GPs to now work with us to get the NHS back on its feet and end their collective action.”
For my final column of the year I want to first thank everyone I’ve had the opportunity to meet over the last six months since I was elected as your MP.
I’ve crammed in as many meetings and visits to local businesses, schools, charities and community groups as possible. I’ve knocked on hundreds of doors at my street surgeries and met hundreds of people at my advice surgeries and public meetings. Thanks to all of you for taking the time to meet with me, sharing your stories, your concerns and your ideas about how we can build a better future for our community.
It has been the greatest honour of my life to wake up every day and go to work for you to try to deliver that better future we deserve. The government has faced some tough challenges – challenges that were ducked by the previous government – and I know not everyone is happy with some of the choices that have been made. But these choices were made with the aim of restoring economic stability and investing in working people, our crumbling infrastructure and our broken public services – making people better off and rebuilding our country.
Our Plan for Change, which I wrote about last week, is your way of holding me and the government to account for delivering on these priorities over the next few years and I’m determined to repay your faith in me by getting results for West Cumbria.
I want to highlight a few specific things I was very proud to see the government deliver in the final days before Christmas. Record investment in our hospices to improve end of life care; giving veterans priority for social housing so no one who served our country ends up on the streets; £1 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping; more money for councils and neighbourhood policing; and tough new laws to hold water company bosses to account for spewing filth into our waterways. Change promised and change delivered by this government.
My office has now dealt with more than 3,000 cases since the election and we’ve been able to help many people with a range of issues, from successfully securing welfare and pension credit to chasing up hospital test results and getting streetlights fixed and potholes filled. My office is now closed for the holidays but my team and I will be checking e-mails and ensuring any urgent issues are picked up. We’ll be back full time from 6th January ready to keep working for you and you can get in touch and see my programme of public events up to April next year on my website at joshmacalister.uk/meetjosh
I’m looking forward to some time off over the next couple of weeks with my family and my dogs and I hope you are able to enjoy some down time too with your loved ones. I wish each and every one of you a very merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year.
Josh MacAlister MP 