Recent News

MP challenges Minister on Equitable

April 2010

On 16th March, Sir Paul took part on a debate in the House about Equitable Life, asking questions on behalf of his constituents.

Sir Paul Beresford (Mole Valley) (Con): I thank the Minister for the letter that he sent to each member of the all-party group, which I found quite useful. In that response he states:
"I am currently of the view that it is neither desirable nor administratively feasible to means test every individual policyholder."
Does that mean that the payment, whenever it comes, will directly relate to the pension that policyholders paid for and expected but did not get, or can we anticipate some other artificial reshuffle of the moneys paid?
Mr. Byrne: I will come to that point directly slightly later in my remarks. First, I want to repeat the apology to policyholders for the delay. This was an apology first made by my predecessor, now the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. I would also like to repeat what I put on the record in our first debate in October, which was a word of thanks to the parliamentary ombudsman for her work. It is right and appropriate for the Government to record our gratitude for her work. Her report was substantial, careful and sympathetic, and it contained a weight of analysis that reflects the complexity and scale of the issue. It took the ombudsman four years to put together, but it demonstrated a commitment to get to the heart of a difficult issue. It is also fair to say that we did not wholly agree with the ombudsman's conclusions, although on many things we did agree. In nine out of 10 of her findings we agreed wholly or in part with the charge of maladministration, and in five areas we said that we believed that injustice followed. So it was not to provide a compensation for regulatory failure, but to answer an ethical demand for help that the Government proposed an ex gratia scheme be set up.
Sir Paul Beresford: The Minister has nicely said, as far as I can tell, that he is not interested in means-testing. However, does he envisage a payment that is directly related to that which the policyholders anticipated but did not get, even if it is a proportion of the amount, or does he have some other artificial way of changing it?
Mr. Byrne: The answer is yes-Sir John Chadwick has tried to compare the relative losses of different classes of policyholders. Let me conclude by saying that all Members of this House will have constituents who have been affected by the injustice of Equitable Life, which now stretches back almost two decades. We are committed to acting urgently and fairly, even in the current fiscal climate. That approach is reflected in the Government's proposed amendment to the motion.

February 2010

Westcott’s Conservative team of Sir Paul Beresford MP and District Councillor James Friend are delighted to announce that work is expected to commence to repair the pot hole ridden surface of the main A25 through the village by Friday 26 February 2010. Read full story

Quickquid Concerns Constituents

February 2010

A number of Mole Valley constituents have, over the years, complained about a variety of scams. Some Mole Valley residents have been persuaded to part with large sums of money, particularly to internet scams. Paul Beresford explained, “Although action is now being co-ordinated by police and others, the chance of prosecution and return of lost money is remote. Having had my name used by an Australian and USA property scam website I am very aware of the lengths some criminals will go to fool people in to parting with their hard earned funds.”
The latest issue raised by constituents with Paul Beresford are the activities of a particular UK loans company. The company is called Quickquid and the high Annual Percentage Rate (APR) it advertises will make your eyes water – 2,356%.
Paul Beresford says, “It is amazing that such companies are allowed to offer such high-cost consumer credit and yet when I contacted the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) I was informed that the Consumer Credit Act 1974 “does not stipulate what is, and what is not, an acceptable rate of interest.” However the OFT are currently carrying out a review into the supply of high cost credit which will focus on whether consumers have appropriate protection. There are many money-making scams, schemes and loan-sharks out there. Individuals must stay vigilant, read the small print and guard the more vulnerable members of society against these unscrupulous companies too.”

Mole Valley Village Inn Prize

February 2010

Last Wednesday the Parrot Inn, received the prestigious South East Local Food Winner award in a big ceremony at the House of Lords. The prize was presented by the Countryside Alliance as part of their celebration of our rural communities. There were over 2500 nominations in four categories and only 12 regional winners in each category. The relatively new owners of the parrot in started farming and the Surrey Hills 17 years ago with a determination to produce fantastic meat which they sell through their farm shop and pub restaurant at the Parrot Inn in Forest Green. The whole family is involved in the pub, restaurant and local produce shop.
At the ceremony, Head Judge Michelle Nudds explained, “this pub is a great role model for our threatened British pubs. Its ethos is simple: to reconnect customers with local produce. It is done through serving produce from its own farm which is only 4 miles from the pub will stop they also support other local producers and are very strict on local provenance. There should be Parrot Inns everywhere!”
Paul Beresford, Mole Valley MP, who has championed rural village revival, was delighted to join the Parrot Inn team at the House of Lords and then at the weekend in Forest Green. He commented, “The battle to save our rural villages and our rural businesses is constant. The Mole Valley constituency has approximately 30 villages. Many have village shops, but many more have village pubs most of whom are now restaurant and pub combinations proving to be extremely successful businesses in an unusually difficult climate. This award to the Parrot Inn I hope will remind everybody of the importance of supporting our village businesses.”

January 2010

Sir Paul welcomed Surrey Council’s plans for extra spending to repair road damage caused by the recent adverse weather conditions. Surrey County Council is taking immediate action to tackle the increase in potholes following the severe weather by investing an additional £½ million into pothole repairs. Read full story

December 2009

On Tuesday 15th December, Surrey County Council announced that there are no longer plans to build Energy from Waste (EfW) incinerators in Surrey. Sir Paul was full of praise for their decision.

Outlining the council’s new waste strategy plans, Leader of the Council Dr Andrew Povey said: “I am very pleased to announce that we are scrapping plans for any EfW incinerators in Surrey. Today I will be instructing that the planning applications for incinerators at Capel and Trumps Farm be withdrawn.
Read full story

Council Audit Controversy

December 2009

A website charting the performance of Councils went live on Wednesday 9th December amid controversy about its cost-effectiveness and accuracy.

Oneplace is a consumer guide to public services which brings together various data and assessments to rate Councils on everything from children’s services to rubbish collections.
The Conservative party has since announced that they would do away with Comprehensive Area Assessments (CAAs) by the Audit Commission, which provided many of the facts and figures for the new ratings. In fact, two Conservative-led councils, Wandsworth and Hammersmith & Fulham, announced they would no longer participate fully in CAAs due to the excessive demands on their time and finances, despite coming out with excellent results on the website.
Sir Paul contributed to the House of Commons debate that followed the launch of the website saying, “Once again, valuable senior council officers will spend hours of valuable time rushing around, tailed by Audit Commission officers, ticking boxes that are more about process than the situation on the ground that the public would like. To make matters worse, many of those partnerships are now going to be tied into a system that does not reflect the fact that different partners may have different, conflicting priorities. Those should, but will not, be reflected in the flags that go on the appropriate website.”
“It is about time-long overdue-that central Government, whichever party is in control, gets off the back and out of the pocket of local government.”

Mole Valley District Conservative Group sign up to 10:10

December 2009

Mole Valley District Conservative Group has made a commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by signing up to 10:10. This is a national project that the Group strongly support.

10:10 is an ambitious project to unite every sector of British society behind one simple idea: that by working together a 10% cut in the UK’s carbon emissions is achievable in 2010. Signatories to 10:10 pledge aim to achieve carbon reductions in their organisation as close to 10% as possible during the year 2010.

The commitment to 10:10 builds on its previous successes in reducing its carbon footprint. In the last few years the Council has invested in a number of projects which are intended to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint. These include: installing energy saving computer technology; using alternative fuels in its vehicles; promoting energy awareness to its staff and installing a combined heat and power (CHP) generator in the newly refurbished Leatherhead Leisure Centre. All of these projects have resulted in lower carbon emissions as well as lower energy costs for the benefit Mole Valley residents.

Mole Valley District Council has a clear strategy to reduce its carbon footprint in 2010 and beyond. In partnership with the Carbon Trust, the Council is developing a carbon management strategy and identifying a set of practical actions that will reduce its energy bills and carbon emissions.

November 2009

There has been widespread speculation and concern over Surrey Police’s plans to sell off many of its buildings and place police officers in local councils instead, after snippets of the proposals were leaked last week.
Read full story

Average Surrey home over 14 times average income

November 2009

The economic climate is doing little to help Surrey families looking for their own home, with affordability still a huge problem here according to a new report published on 11th November.
The National Housing Federation’s ‘South East Home Truths’ was launched at a special reception at the Palace of Westminster and attended by South East MPs, including Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford.
Surrey is the second least affordable county in the South East. The average house price for the county in 2008 (£370,132) stood at over 14 times the average (median) individual income (£26,343), with even homes in the lowest quartile costing an average of £215,000. Mole Valley and Elmbridge are in the top five least affordable areas in the South East. Broken down by affordability, a ‘league table’ for Surrey shows Elmbridge as the least affordable part of the county and Spelthorne the most affordable. In Mole Valley £402,921 is the average house price, which equates to17.1 x £23,514 average income.

It’s not surprising then that people are turning to social housing, with almost 26,000 (25,517) households in Surrey on waiting lists – an increase of almost 63.8% in the last five years.
The situation is exacerbated in rural parts of the region where homes cost nearly 14 times local incomes on average, increasingly pricing younger people out of the communities in which they grew up or have families. In addition, the South East has seen the largest increase in the number of second homes in the country, up by 25% to nearly 44,750 in 2008.

Nick Ronald, Chief Executive of Mount Green Housing Association said: ‘We operate in an area of the South East which to the casual visitor would appear to be mainly affluent. This veneer of wealth hides the tremendous challenges that people on low and even moderate incomes face in affording decent housing. The many people who are in these income brackets are of equal importance to the economy and to the diversity of the South East as those earning high incomes. Increasing the supply of affordable homes is vital to the continuing and future success of the South East.’

Sir Paul hosts school trip

November 2009

Children from Charlwood Village Infant School’s Cherry Tree Class went to London for a Remembrance tour along Whitehall.

As Big Ben struck midday the children headed for the Houses of Parliament. Great excitement as they were given security passes and then met by Sir Paul Beresford M.P. for Mole Valley, who led them into Westminster Hall. He answered their questions and even promised to email the answers to the couple about Big Ben that had defeated him! The visit was a great privilege and much enjoyed.

After a picnic lunch, a photograph and thanks to Sir Paul Beresford they set off again, this time, to Westminster Abbey to see the field of poppies organised by the Royal British Legion.
Walking across Westminster Bridge they spotted possible sites where Guy Fawkes may have landed his gunpowder in 1605.

Then past the London Eye followed by a quick stop at the Jubilee Gardens Play area and then home by train from Waterloo after a very successful and instructive day.

Swine Flu vaccination under way

October 2009

The first vaccinations for Swine Flu have begun across the UK. Seriously ill, hospitalised patients and the staff who care for them will be the first of 14 million people in the “priority groups” to receive the vaccine.

Local GPs will then offer the H1N1 jab to people with health problems, damaged immune systems and pregnant women, all who are believed to be at greatest threat from Swine Flu. The decision as to whether the whole population should be immunised lies with the government despite sufficient doses being ordered to vaccinate the country.

The Swine Flu pandemic peaked in England in July and up to this point over 100 people have died in the UK from Swine Flu out of the 500,000 who have contracted the virus. Despite the reduced numbers of infection since the summer high, health experts have warned that numbers have begun to rise again and that precautions should still be taken to prevent contracting the virus.

Surrey County Council warned in September that the numbers of reported Swine Flu cases would increase and although the levels have not risen as expected, the news of this vaccination will come as a relief to all.