On Monday 11th April the House of Commons and MPs will return from the Easter recess ready for a full agenda of Government business and current issues, and a priority will definitely be working on how we can help the Steel Industry come back from its recent turbulent times. I thought my article would be a good opportunity to talk about two different subjects, Flood Re and the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner Elections.
Flood Re went live at the beginning of this week. It is an industry funded and led reinsurance scheme, which is a system where insurance companies are able to reinsure themselves against losses, in this case flooding. Homes which flood often have to pay the first several thousand pounds of any flood claim which is outside most family’s budgets. The scheme will reduce the amount to an affordable £250 and is predicted to help over 350,000 homes.
People in South Derbyshire and the rest of the UK will benefit tremendously from this new venture. It will mean those thousands of houses affected by the recent and past floods will have the reassurance the rest of us sometimes take for granted of knowing if the worst happens they will receive the money to clean up, repair and rebuild. I have supported and been involved with this project since its conception at the beginning of the previous Parliament because of my professional background working as an Insurance Broker and my involvement in the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Insurance and Financial Services of which I am now Chair. Seeing this innovative scheme come to fruition is very satisfying and brilliant for all involved and I implore all of my Constituents and other readers who think they might benefit into to check with their Insurance Companies.
Since the Conservative lead Coalition Government introduced the directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC’s) and the first elections in 2012 our Police forces have finally been accountable to the people they protect and serve. On May 5th the Country will elect our new PCC’s and I encourage all of my constituents to go out and vote in these elections as they will have a profound effect on local Policing and your safety. A good example of an exemplary PCC is in neighbouring Staffordshire. Matthew Ellis introduced innovative solutions to problems which has saved local taxpayers money whilst maintaining and providing a better safer service. In Derbyshire we need the same, and the Conservative candidate Richard Bright will do just that by bringing efficiency and utilizing new ways of fighting crime to make both our urban and rural areas safer. I encourage all to vote for Richard Bright at the upcoming elections in May to give Derbyshire the Police and Crime Commissioner it deserves.
(This piece was originally written for the Burton Mail).