At least £21m of help for victims could be wasted if controversial government plans to hand control of budgets to police and crime commissioners go ahead, according to the charity Victim Support.

Even by the Government’s own estimate the costs of this form-filling would mean the loss of:

•  intensive support for 25,000 victims of domestic violence
• support for 20,000 victims of antisocial behaviour
• installation of 15,000 home alarm kits for victims of burglary and
• 100,000 personal alarms given to victims of personal or street crime.

Victim Support is therefore calling on the Government to rethink plans which it believes are unworkable, damaging and dangerous and could abandon people when they are at their most vulnerable.

Dr Lee MP commented: “Victim Support volunteers do an amazing job in Bracknell.  We need to ensure that those who are affected by crime get the support they deserve. That’s why I’m backing Victim Support’s calls on Government to rethink its plans.” 

To support its conclusions Victim Support has launched an e-petition on the HM Government website, calling on the Government to reconsider its plans for local commissioning. Members of the public can find out more about this at www.victimsupport.org.uk/dontsuffertwice.

The event, held on 25 April organised by the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, indicated to parliamentarians first hand how Cystic Fibrosis damages the lungs. The average lung capacity for an adult with Cystic Fibrosis is just 65.1% compared to someone without Cystic Fibrosis that would achieve results of 80% or more. 

Cystic Fibrosis is a progressive disease with the average age of death for a person with CF of around 29 years old.  Despite this, because of advances in treatment and access to clinical expertise, many people with CF are living longer than ever before.

Dr Lee commented: “I was delighted to attend the event to show my support for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. Seeing how healthy people’s lung function is so much higher has shown me how much more effort people with Cystic Fibrosis have to make just to take a breath. I can see how arduous the burden of treatment is to try to stop lung function from declining. It highlighted to me just what a battle it is living with this condition that claims two young lives a week. I hope as many people as possible take part in an event in their area during CF Week to help to raise awareness and fundraise for research and support for CF”.

Cystic Fibrosis is one of the UK’s most common inherited conditions, affecting over 9,000 babies, children and adults. CF is caused by a faulty gene that causes the lungs, digestive system and pancreas clogging them with a thick sticky mucus.

Claire Francis, Policy and Public Affairs Manager at the CF Trust said: “Through our events for Cystic Fibrosis Week we hope to show politicians how the disease effects the body and how important daily treatment and expert care is to help people live longer lives and improve their quality of life. People with Cystic Fibrosis don’t get a second chance once the damage is done. Providing the best quality of care is crucial to maintaining lung function. We know that services are suffering because of cut backs in posts vital to Cystic Fibrosis care and cut backs in beds suitable for accommodating people with Cystic Fibrosis when they need inpatient treatment.”

More information about Cystic Fibrosis Week, which runs from 29 April to 5 May and events going on can be found at www.cfweek.org.uk.

The Portas Pilot Scheme is a competition which been launched by Mary Portas and Local Government Minister, Grant Shapps, to allow towns to compete to become  ‘Portas Pilots’, where the winning towns will receive Government funding to improve their high streets. As part of a plan to regenerate Bracknell’s town centre, Bracknell’s Landlord has submitted an application for the town to become a ‘Portas Pilot Town’. If the application is successful, the town could receive a portion of £1 million of Government funding to help boost its High Street.

As part of its application, the town was required to submit a video bid, stating the case for why Bracknell should become a ‘Portas Pilot Town’. The video bid can be viewed here:

The main vision for the town centre is to market the high street better and more effectively to businesses, customers and visitors in order to change their perceptions of ‘Bracknell’, thereby improving footfall and profit for the town’s independent and small business. One way the town hopes to make this vision a reality is through working with the local press, stakeholders and interested business groups. The town also has an experienced ‘town team’ backing the bid.

The bid has many supporters including Bracknell Forest Council, Bracknell Town Council and the Bracknell Regeneration Partnership who manage and own 90% of the town centre freefold.

Dr Lee has also pledged his support for the application. Whilst appearing in the video bid he commented: “I am a big supporter of the Government’s action for trying to support developed town centres. We’ve had some tough times; the future can be bright which is why the Mary Portas Review is so helpful. Bracknell should be one of the Portas Pilots; you only have to visit here to know this”.

 Successful applicants will be notified in May.

Dr Lee commented: “I was very pleased to welcome Bracknell and Wokingham College at Westminster. I am very fortunate to have young people in my constituency who are interested in the parliamentary process.”

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On Wednesday 11^th April 2012, Bracknell MP, Dr Phillip Lee, visited Pinewood Starr Boxing Club. As a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Boxing Group, which acts as a political liaison group for the sport, Dr Lee met with coach Tim De Meyer who outlined the benefits of the club for local youth.  

The Club supported well established boxing names such as Frankham, Stevens, Blair, Roberts, Smith and Price, mixed in with great prospects like Reuben Shields and Paul Meyerhoff, who were the first in their families to box.

Dr Lee commented: “I was pleased to meet the team at the Pinewood Starr Boxing Club. The Club is a community hub for young people. It was set up to support local community sports and engages young people into sport that may even save them from a life of punch-ups, drugs and alcohol abuse. I was very pleased to see the great talent that this club offers and I think that there might just be the next Mike Tyson amongst them.”

He added: “The value of sports clubs and particularly boxing clubs for kids is immense. We could see a significant return because of the effective way it deals with social problems and allows kids who will not engage with other forms of society an opportunity to build a community free of crime.”

Clearfleau designs and builds on-site anaerobic treatment and renewable energy generation plants. This on-site renewable energy technology is designed for applications in food and drink processing and other industrial sectors.  It reduces carbon emissions and provides significant cost savings. 

Clearfleau’s anaerobic treatment plants convert liquid organic materials into biogas.  The energy, heat and power, generated from the biogas can be used in the factory reducing the site’s carbon footprint. Following the treatment, cleansed effluent can be discharged to sewer at much reduced cost. The process can also be extended to allow cleansed liquids to be recycled as grey water.

Dr Phillip Lee said:

“I was pleased to meet the team at Clearfleau and learn more about their business. Many UK food and drink suppliers are faced with the challenge of rising energy prices, concerns about water use and increased effluent disposal costs, plus the need to reduce their carbon footprint, so it was stimulating to meet a British company that can provide the solution”.

Craig Chapman, CEO of Clearfleau commented:

“Our technology enables food and drink processing companies to reduce their environmental impact, providing them with on-site renewable energy generated from processing residues. As our workload continues to expand we will recruit new members to the team at Lily Hill Court”

The company is now working on several UK dairy projects, as well as building on-site plants for a confectionery manufacturer at one of their main UK manufacturing sites and a malt distillery in Scotland.  These novel on-site digestion plants have the potential to assist in an industry-wide reduction in carbon emissions for the food and drink industry. 

Walk-in centres deliver ambulatory care in a facility outside of a hospital emergency department, usually on an unscheduled, walk-in basis. They are primarily used to treat patients who have an injury or illness that requires immediate care but is not serious enough to warrant a visit to an emergency department.

The Minster, Paul Burstow, said that the average cost of an attendance at an NHS walk-in centre was £36 in 2008-09; £42 in 2009-10; and £39 in 2010-11. Following on, Dr Lee said that he remained to be convinced of the long term financial justification of commissioning walk-in centres.

Dr Lee commented: “I am not convinced about the long term financial justification of commissioning walk-in centres.  A visit to the walk-in centre which is mainly staffed by nurses would require the patient to visit their regular GP anyway. There is a significant cost involved for the NHS in the usage of walk-in centres which could easily be avoided or reduced.”

Read the full debate here

Sport England’s ‘watt bike’ competition is hotting up with several MPs breaking the 500m mark in 30 seconds, after receiving some expert tuition from the team at British Cycling.

The Conservative MP for Beverley and Holderness, Graham Stuart has taken first place with an awesome 512m, closely followed by Dr Phillip Lee, the Conservative member for Bracknell, with 504m. Ian Austin, the Labour MP for Dudley North is chasing hard with 502m.

Dr Lee commented: “I am very pleased to win the silver medal in the Watt Bike Competition. It was a very tough challenge. With the Olympics coming up I would encourage everyone to join me in getting in a sportive and festive mood.”