THE second part of our interview with local MP, David Warburton; this week, he answers your questions on local issues.
FT: How do you see your role as a local constituency MP?
DW: It’s a very strange job being an MP because it’s effectively two jobs. You have your job here in Westminster where you have to represent your constituency, but also speak on national and often international issues and on specific issues that might be of interest to your constituents or your constituency. And then there’s the role which is two or three days a week back in the constituency which is trying to support and help local people.
I get perhaps 400 or 500 emails a day and many, many messages a day from people and many of those from Frome, because Frome is a third of my constituency by numbers, it’s 30,000 people and it takes up an enormous amount of my time.
Also I hold surgeries, which is my favourite part of the job by far which is where you meet individual people, often with enormously difficult or harrowing problems and you’re in a position where you can actually help them and often they’ve got nowhere else to go. I hold surgeries regularly in Frome, usually at the Cheese & Grain.
Speaking of the Cheese & Grain, I’ ve spoken in Parliament on behalf of the Cheese & Grain, I’ve spoken to ministers, I intervened with the Arts Council and the Heritage Fund and they got £96,000 funding which kept them going during the pandemic. I’ve also helped Frome College, theatres, churches in Frome with Covid problems, I’ve got PPE for a care home in Frome who were running out a few months ago. I’ve got funding for dozens of Frome small businesses, I helped accelerate Government grant applications for self-employed people in Frome and people accessing the self-employed Income Support Scheme for example, with bounceback loans, I got a local business in Frome to win a large Government contract for PPE procurement which was great.
There were people from Frome who had relations who were stuck abroad and I managed to get them repatriated; I think these things go under the net and obviously people don’t know all this goes on, but there’s so much.
The Saxonvale issue, I’m closely involved with that and I’m trying to help Mayday Frome; I’m in touch with Damon Moore (part of the Mayday Saxonvale team) on a pretty much daily basis about that. School buses as well – people who are unable to get to school in Frome because there aren’t sufficient school buses, so I’m running an entire campaign with that and I’m talking to the council, to bus companies, to schools. There’s no end to it.
So there’s a huge amount that you do on a local level and are in touch with on a local level in each area.
My constituency is 900 square miles, it’s enormous and it’s very different in different parts of it. It’s very rural right down in the South West of the constituency, and right in the North East of the constituency it’s almost in Bath, so there are vastly different issues and vastly different things that you can concentrate on, which I love.
FT: You mentioned Saxonvale and that you’re supporting the Mayday application; do you think that’s the best long term option for Frome?
DW: I do, I do. It’s not technically an MP’s role to get involved in planning issues. It’s a district council matter. Often district councils don’t like me wading in to these things but I do feel the Saxonvale area has been under discussion for some- thing like 30 years, and there have been so many different schemes, but it’s such a crucial opportunity to have something right in the centre of the town which really should reflect the character and the feel of the town and shouldn’t be imposed on the town.
So, yes I think that the Mayday Frome solution is one that I would support. Having said that, I have to say, it’s not my responsibility to make the decision, but I will do all I can to support them.
FT: Policing and crime. Do you think there’s enough police at the moment or do you think more should be done to improve policing in and around Frome?
DW: I met with the new Police & Crime Commis- sioner about two weeks ago and said exactly that. I think that it’s less of an issue in Frome than it is in some of my more rural areas where it’s incredibly difficult to get police there within any time at all, but people need to have a reassurance and a perception that police are around and available and it also does hold crime at bay to some extent. So yeah I think that we do need to look at that and that’s what I spoke to the PCC about, and what I’ve often said to the superintendent.
But I understand their concerns that they don’t have the numbers necessarily. It is a balancing act but certainly it’s something that I’ve continually brought up.
FT: If they said we’re going to need more police officers, you’d support that proposal and go to Government to say we need more police in Frome?
DW: Yeah 100%.
FT: One of your campaign pledges was connectivity in Somerset. Some of the areas in Frome are still quite poor for broadband. When do you think that’s going to improve and linked to this, are you in favour of 5G?
DW: The job of connecting Frome and Somerset altogether with superfast broadband is managed by ‘Connecting Devon and Somerset’ ; they’ re given the money by the Government and they have to manage it, so they’re a sort of autonomous organisation. They work with Somerset County Council, BT, OpenReach and everybody else and it has been a bit of a chaotic ride. They initially contracted to Openreach, then that went wrong, then they contracted to Gigaclear; then that went wrong, then it was put out for tender and we hope that we’re now in the final stages.
At the moment though, numbers-wise I think we’re up to 90 something percent – I think 92 percent of people who are now connected throughout all of Somerset to superfast broadband. But for those people who aren’t, like me, it’s incredibly painful and they’ re in contact with me all the time and I continually have meetings with CDS – both in Parliament and in my constituency, in order to understand what their issues are, when they’ re going to get to the next stage and how best we can kick things forward.
They’ve just had an extra £93 million from the Gov- ernment, thanks to lots of efforts from us, in order to kick it over the line so I hope that people start seeing the proper coverage that we need, because without it, rural areas get left behind; Somerset will get left behind and the longer we’ re not fully connected, the further behind we get, so the less easy it is for us to compete. It’s something that we absolutely must have.
FT: Timescales. Do you want to put a timescale on when this will be completed by?
DW: I’d have to ask CDS to come back to you so I don’t want to promise something. As I say, it isn’t me that does it, it’s me that gets them to do it and it’s me that tries to get the money for them to do it. So if I give you a timescale they’ ll probably email and tell me I’ve got it all wrong.
FT: What are your big successes in Frome over the years that you’ve been really happy about?
DW: I’m pleased with the support that I’ve managed to get for so many small businesses in Frome, for self-employed people, for care homes – which was quite huge. Getting people back from abroad, people with grants and bank loans, for people on benefits slipping through the net, the Cheese &Grain–as I said I got them £96,000 which kept them going. So it’s such a broad spectrum that you do and sadly most of goes under the wire but, hey, that’s the job and we keep on battling.
FT: What are you still hoping to achieve in Frome?
DW: I think that Frome is a very uniquely community- led area, with a very specific character and a very exciting, buzzy place. I think the independents running the town council have done an absolutely fantastic job over the years and they have transformed the place.
And so, I think my job is to try and work with them as much as possible and try to encourage this creativity and the artistry of Frome. I should also mention I’ve been working hard to help artists, musicians, creatives and so on in Parliament with various bills but also at the moment I’m running an enquiry into artists and musicians travelling in the EU from the UK, which loads of people from Frome have been in touch with me about. I think it’s just about continuing and encouraging the flourishing particular personality that makes the town so exciting.
FT: Do you think the council is better as an independent group?
DW: 100% better yes. It’s definitely better, at parish and town council; there should be no parties involved. I don’t understand why parties should be involved. It should be about encouraging independent people who are able to offer the most, to get stuck in and get involved.
FT: You mentioned the surgeries that you hold – since David Amess’ sad death, things have changed around security for MPs, so are you still holding them? Are there any new processes in place?
DW: Yes of course I’m still holding them, the sad thing is I have an upcoming surgery in Frome and I’m not actually allowed to tell you when or where it is because it has to be appoint- ment only and I’ m not allowed to advertise it anymore. The police are pretty strict about this and the police have to attend. I had a surgery in Somerton the other week and I normally hold it in a pub; they wanted to lock down the whole place and search everyone that came in and have ID, so it all got a bit out of hand.
The police are doing a great job but I now have to give the police my entire diary up until February and let them know where I am all the time, I have to have personal alarms, my wife has a personal alarm as well at home. They’ve reviewing our security all the time. So yes I’ m still holding surgeries and I’ m trying to encourage the police to come along but perhaps to keep a low profile because I really don’t think it’s necessary.
If anyone wants to book an appointment, just email, call or write. They are 15 minute slots and I see maybe 10 people or 10 groups of people. But I’ m not even allowed to say when it is, it’s so ridiculous but there it is.
