View From The House - 7th October 1999

Reprinted From The Lichfield Mercury

How far has the Government got after two years?

In 1997, a Labour Government was elected on a tidal wave of support after 18 years in Opposition. They inherited low inflation and steady growth. They pledged to improve education, health, and law and order. Just over two years on, where are we now in Staffordshire?

EDUCATION
The Government pledged during the election campaign they would give schools in Staffordshire the same funding as in other English counties. The Government now says they won't even begin to look at the problem 'til after the next General Election. Teachers are now burdened with paperwork and bureaucracy like never before. When in the past they might be taking out of school classes and helping with school clubs, now they are filling in forms and reports. Money which the Government has promised never appears at the chalk face: the classroom. The Government did keep one promise: the abolition of the assisted places scheme where parents received financial assistance to send their children to private schools. But as the assistance often cost less than educating them in state schools, the resulting transfer of pupils from the private to the state school sector has meant less money for education all round. Labour has succeeded only in disrupting the education of the pupils concerned and satisfying the vindictive left who wanted the assisted places scheme destroyed.

HEALTH
Another sop to the left has been the abolition of fund holding for GPs. For the last few years, the future of the Victoria Hospital and the Hammerwich Hospital had been secure. Local doctors have had the financial muscle and the freedom to decide where they, not health service officials, want their patients to be treated. The abolition of fund holding has put an end to that. There is now a review of what health services should be available in Lichfield and Burntwood. There is a strong possibility that the maternity, the renal dialysis, and other units at the Victoria might be axed and heaven only knows at the moment what might happen to the Hammerwich hospital. People needing dialysis two or three times a week do not care about the decorative condition of where they undergo the treatment. They do care about having to travel long distances into Birmingham or elsewhere for dialysis.

LAW AND ORDER
"Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime" makes a good soundbite. But what of the reality just two years on? Lichfield's courts are now likely to close with witnesses and victims having to traipse around Staffordshire to seek justice. And a huge shortfall in funding means that the Staffordshire Police will have to lose 250 personnel of which around 240 will be police officers. The equation is simple. Less Police equals More Crime. Even the Sheriff's Ride will be affected. There are plans to abolish the Mounted Police Division who also accompany the Ride.

Of course, I understand that any new Government cannot be expected to achieve everything overnight. But with a healthy economy inherited from Ken Clarke, you would have at least expected something. "Things can only get better" they sang on election night. But they haven't. They have actually got worse! Instead of concentrating on tinkering with the constitution and devolution, Labour should have concentrated on their promises. They did not and the results are, or soon will be, in Lichfield for all to see.

LICHFIELD SIDELINED
And what of the sidelining of Lichfield? The Courts, Health Services, Police Station, could all soon be moving away from Lichfield to elsewhere in the County. But there is more to come. Labour's obsession with fiddling around with the constitution means we will soon see a "Regional Parliament for the West Midlands". Now, even John Prescott who is in charge of this admits that this will be yet another tier of bureaucracy. So Labour is now considering abolishing County Councils altogether and would force Lichfield in with Tamworth and Burton to create a single tier authority. When that happens, Lichfield will lose its District Council and the council offices in Frog Lane and we'll end up having 'local' government from Tamworth. Madness, isn't it?