Following the Government’s statement that the Staffordshire Ambulance
Service will be merged into the West Midlands "within 24 months" and the
Health Minister Andy Burnham’s refusal to deny this deadline after close
questioning in the House of Commons Chamber earlier this week, Janet
Dean (MP for Burton) now claims she has received private assurances that
this deadline has been lifted.

Michael Fabricant says: "If the Government has performed a U-turn over
the merger in the face of opposition from all Staffordshire MPs, this is
wonderful news. But private assurances are meaningless and can easily
be reversed.

"I have, therefore, today formally tabled Parliamentary Questions to the
Secretary of State for Health. The ministerial replies are public,
official, and are published in Hansard for all to see. I expect to
receive replies within the next week or so.

"Only then, and not before, will we know for sure if the Staffordshire
Ambulance Service has been saved. If the answers I receive continue to
be equivocal, then the campaign to save our Ambulance Service must
continue."