Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones » local

Standing up for Bird’s Marsh

Wilfred — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 10:02:56 +0000

Yesterday I arranged for Jane Scott, Leader of Wiltshire Council and Bob Neill MP, Shadow Minister for Local Government and Planning, to meet with protesters at Bird’s Marsh.

Bob explained in detail what a Conservative Government would do with regards to planning. There is a full report online from the Gazette and Herald here

Supporting Local Farmers

Wilfred — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:42:14 +0000

This week Nick Herbert, the Shadow Environment Secretary, announced a Conservative pledge for a supermarket ombudsman to help settle disputes between supermarkets and farmers. I am all in favour.

Nick Herbert, the Shadow Environment Secretary, explained that an ombudsman could stop supermarkets’ practice of “retrospective discounting”, where supermarkets go back to farmers and say they want to drive down prices that have already been agreed. The Competition Commission recommended an ombudsman in April 2008, yet the current government have failed to implement this recommendation.

I do believe supermarkets could do a huge amount more to support British farming and help to bridge the gap in understanding between food and farming.

One aspect of the supermarkets ability to control their costs is by having as few suppliers as possible. This in itself causes problems when it comes to supporting small local suppliers. Why buy one line of cheese from one small producer, when they can buy ten lines from just one of the multi national companies? By supermarkets not having the infrastructure to support small suppliers, it means that small suppliers have very few outlets available to them who can give them the volume they need to create a viable business.

I very much hope that an ombudsman would be able to help resolve this and give greater opportunities to local farmers. The benefits of local produce on the environment are clear as goods travel less far before reaching the consumer, thereby reducing our groceries carbon footprint.

I also hope as part of the ombudsman’s plans for labelling there will be carbon information on packs so the consumer is aware of the cost to the environment of each of the products they have purchased. I would like to see a system where a product is not only measured for value for money, but also value to the environment.”

Two thirds of people rate local healthcare services as good

Wilfred — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:48:58 +0000

As responses from the 12,000 residents in the Chippenham area surveyed about their experiences of the NHS are analysed, initial analysis shows over two thirds were found to rate local healthcare services as good.

My own experiences locally of the NHS have always been very positive. My visit to Chippenham Community Hospital last week reinforced the work being done at a local level to ensure all patients receive the best possible care. The new Cedar ward in Chippenham is excellent and the new Beech ward due to open at the end of January really shows the kind of hospital facilities patients across the UK should experience.

Thank you to Elizabeth Sexton, Chairman of The League of Friends of Chippenham Hospital, for arranging the visit.

The League of Friends was founded over 60 years ago, and still does fantastic work for the hospital. Elizabeth is an inspiration to others, having been a volunteer for over 30 years.

Local Press

Wilfred — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 15:24:23 +0000

For the latest local news and information visit the local media websites that can be found here.