The Articulate HLC Breakfast in association with Dan's opening remarks The Country is faced with paying interest on debt of £120 million pounds every day and as a result an increase in taxes is needed to ensure public services are well funded. Therefore there needs to be a greater emphasis on stimulating the economy. Other important local issues include the need for faster broadband as broadband is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity. Q&A 1. Have you seen 'The Iron Lady'? If so, what did you think of it? Dan had not seen 'The Iron Lady' but was very aware that previous colleagues of Baroness Thatcher were concerned about its content. Dan was with Lord Marlesford having tea in the House of Lords. Baroness Thatcher joined them for 5 minutes and was in robust health. 2. Are Tourist Information Centres now a waste of taxpayer's money, with everyone using the Internet to find what they need? Has Trip Advisor got your vote? Having grown up in a Coastal Tourist area, Dan values and understands the importance of the local Tourist Information office and considers them to be a very valuable resource. He finds Trip Advisor to be very useful. Dan also stressed how the Government wants to reduce the tourism sector's reliance on taxpayer funding, and create a 'sustainable new model of destination marketing and management' on the back of the 2012 Olympic games, utilising local businesses and LEPs as the drivers for local tourism initiatives. He also noted that Tourist Information Centres are the responsibility of local authorities, and in the case of Suffolk, the New Anglia LEP will be the only driver for tourism and tourism industries. 3. How can we make the supermarkets support British SMEs to promote growth in the British economy? Since being elected, Dan has emphasised the considerable importance of buying local products. In the Central Suffolk and North Ipswich Constituency we have excellent examples of food and drink providers, Gressingham Foods, Aspall Cider. Dan also stated that making the choice to eat locally produced Suffolk food is about supporting our local farmers and that he continues to campaign for more honest food labelling in Parliament, so that the British food stamp is applied only to food that has been farmed in the United Kingdom. Providing origin of food labelling will give consumers the choice to buy high-quality British food. Dan also mentioned that The Department for Business is due to bring forward new legislation in order to set up the Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA), which will have the power to receive complaints about the way supermarkets interact with their primary suppliers from anyone in the supply chain. 4. Are Business Rates for small businesses fair, particularly in the rural areas of your constituency, where you tend to get less 'bang for your buck'? Dan was firmly of the opinion that the current system of Fixed Business Rates is not fair and does not support small businesses in rural areas. Dan is of the opinion that Councils are better placed to understand and set reasonable rates and ensure an appropriate level of flexibility. 5. What is Dan's view on the results of the Mary Portas report into the reinvigoration of the great British High Street & if he could implement just one thing from it what does he believe would have the biggest impact? Dan acknowledged the findings of the report but believes there was not a one size fits all approach to reinvigorating High Streets, Framlingham is very different from Southwold. Reinvigoration needs to be driven by strong local leadership. Dan stated that Putting in place so-called 'town teams' to provide strong operational management team for high streets, was one of the Mary Portas Review proposals that he believes would have a positive impact on our high streets. 6.How do you view local progress on Broadband? Will rural Suffolk be treated as a priority and is Suffolk County Council moving fast enough, noting that tenders for the work have yet to be sent to contractors? Rural broadband is vitally important and is being taken seriously by SCC and other local authorities. However from a BT perspective, the implementation of high speed broadband is more commercially viable in urban areas. Jeremy Hunt has indicated that Suffolk's bid status is 'green', meaning that Ministers are confident that the process and procurement will occur within the necessary timeframe this year. Action that can be taken by MPs, the LEP and local businesses is by registering interest as a rural business/community with Suffolk Broadband, by filling out a survey at http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/broadband. There is a need to help publicize the ongoing broadband bid for both businesses and residents of Suffolk to ministers, BT, and other firms who have submitted an interest in rolling out broadband across the county. By maintaining publicity for the campaign for better broadband in Suffolk, it can help make the bid as attractive as possible for potential providers.
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PDF archives of Dan Poulter Breakfasts Q&A - for copies of all the questions that were asked, and Dan's answers that you can download if you wish 7. Mindful of the proposed London to Birmingham HS2, when do you think that there will be any A12 road improvements North of Ipswich? The passing loop on the East Suffolk line at Beccles is important, as is the investment in the Felixstowe to Nuneaton Railway. This will reduce the pressure on the A14 as congestion is largely caused by freight traffic from the east court port to the Midlands. The A12 needs greater dualing; however capital investment from Central Government is being allocated to the A11 London to Norwich route. The A140 was de-trunked some 20 years ago and is likely to require local "match funding" in order for improvements to take place. 8. Why is this government so obsessed with taxing us more when the government has proved over and over again that it spends our money very badly? The government has had to raise taxes in order to ensure public services are maintained in these difficult times. Dan firmly agrees that people are best served when they have more of their own money to spend. 9. Is anything being done to stop the gravy-train which the no-win-no-fee accident solicitors are on? The vexatious litigation is often a cause of considerable harassment and is a cause of concern to the government; often individuals and businesses settle, pre-empting the likelihood of being held responsible. Dan mentioned that The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, which is currently going through Parliament, will address these problems by redefining the scope of civil legal aid so that it is more focused, effective and sustainable and will restore proportion to "no win, no fee" Conditional Fee Arrangements. 10. Were you aware that under the 1972 H&S at Work act, you are guilty until proved innocent and that people subjected to the attentions of the HSE, Environmental Health, HMRC, Environment Agency etc, etc, are increasingly choosing to plead guilty rather than defend themselves and suffer extortionate costs? Dan is of the opinion that this is, again, the breeding ground for vexatious litigation and the majority of stems from European directives. In order to ensure economic growth the balance needs to move away from this type of litigation and enforced bureaucracy. -The Government is dealing with this problem by launching an Occupational Safety and Health Consultants Register to simplify health and safety legislation and guidance, and in doing so ease the burden on business. Dan said he supported the need for reform in the NHS. On the wards nurses do an excellent job and provide excellent care. There are just not enough of them. Dan also feels that better care need to be provided in the home for the elderly and vulnerable. Dan stressed that the Government, through its Health and Social Care reforms, is dealing with the problem of looking after our growing elderly population by better integrating health and social care and focussing on delivering community-focussed healthcare that prevents patients from having to be admitted to hospital in the first place. Dan also mentioned that the Government is cutting £5 billion worth of unnecessary bureaucracy and waste in the NHS, and ensuring that this money can instead be put into frontline patient care and the care of elderly patients. 12. Can we expect that this forum will be used as the basis for a regional forum at which all the MPs for East Anglia will be present? Dan conveyed how valuable he thought such meetings were and that he often meets local MP's to discuss key issues. However, due to individual scheduling, a regular pan- regional forum is simply not practicable.
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