Searaser

Congratulations to Alvin Smith from Dartmouth; his invention 'Searaser' has finally received the recognition it deserves. I first met Alvin before the election and was hugely impressed by his design for a marine renewable energy device which produces electricity via Hydro powered Pelton Turbines. Searaser in its complete form provides stored energy in the form of sea water pumped to a reservoir, stored for release on demand.

Searaser have recently signed up with Ecotricity, a British Utility hoping to make the product ready for market in 2014 but to test a 670mm diameter piston 12 metre stroke (½ full) size commercial Searaser by the end of 2012. This will be at the new "FabTest" nursery site in the newly announced South West Marine Energy Park off Falmouth, testing for sustainability in the harsh marine environment.

The new South West Marine Energy Park, announced by the Minster of State for Energy and Climate Change; Gregory Barker MP on Monday 23rd January will be the first of its kind in the UK. It is great news for the South West, where we have a wealth of marine energy expertise and experience across the region. Marine businesses, industry, Local Enterprise Partnerships, Councils and Universities will work together along with Cornwall Wave Hub to speed up the UK's progress in marine power so that we can become world leaders.

Britain has one the best energy resources in the world ready to be harnessed and hopefully the Government's investment in the South West will lead to greater investment and innovation not just for the South West but for the whole of the UK in the energy supply market. But none of this could happen without the creativity and determination of inventors like Alvin Smith.

 

South Devon Link Road

The Autumn Statement was excellent news for South Devon's drivers. At last after decades of waiting, we have confirmation that the Kingskerswell bypass has the funding it needs from the Government.

This will allow investment in Torbay creating up to 8000 new jobs as well as ending the hours wasted in traffic by individuals and businesses on the existing road.

On top of that the good news on fuel duty; the planned 3p rise in duty for January has been postponed until next summer and the 2p rise that had been due at that time has been cancelled altogether. Having campaigned on both these issues I am delighted to see such a good response to help hard pressed drivers

 

 

 

Ending violence against women

It was a pleasure to speak as a patron at the launch of Devon Rape Crisis. At long last Devon has a support service for women who have been affected by sexual violence. This has been made possible by 3 years of funding from the Ministry of Justice and upholds a manifesto commitment to take action to improve support services and cut violence against women and girls. The service is entirely confidential, can be by phone or face to face and will cover the whole of Devon.

If you have been affected, please call on 01392 204174 or visit the website at www.devonrapecrisis.org.uk 


 


Click here to see me being interviewed by Women2Win

 

Click  to listen to BBC Radio 4 Today programme interviewing Sarah and discussing "Do Westminster Primaries Work?"

 

 

 


13 JAN 2012

Transition Town Totnes

I met Rob Hopkins and Frances Northrop from Transition Town Totnes to discuss their new book, The Transition Companion, and the extraordinary progress of the Transition Movement both locally and nationally. The introduction to the Transition Companion asks the question, 'what would it look like ...


13 JAN 2012

Passivhaus Totnes

Today I met with Adam Dadeby and had the opportunity to look over a Passivhaus in Dartington. Passivhaus originated in Germany in 1991 but now countries around the world are adopting the standard and adapting it to their local architecture and climate. Since 2009, it has been taking off rapidly in t...


06 JAN 2012

Meeting with Baywide

Meeting with Dr Samantha Barrell from Baywide to discuss the proposed new arrangements for 2 clinical commissioning groups to cover Devon.



23 JAN 2012

Food prices and Food Poverty

Sarah Wollaston (Totnes, Conservative) In the brief time that I have to speak, I shall make three points: first, about the link between food poverty and obesity; secondly, about the impact of loss leaders; and thirdly, about the role of local food production. Data from the health and social ca...


17 JAN 2012

Future of Town Centres and High Streets

Sarah Wollaston (Totnes, Conservative) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that our high streets have a wider role in supporting local supply chains and increasing local resilience? In some areas, there is still a threat not only from out-of-town developments but from large distribution depots, which...


11 JAN 2012

Breast Implants

Sarah Wollaston (Totnes, Conservative) I welcome the clear commitment to putting women's health needs first in this context, but is not the heart of the problem the obvious conflict of interests for private clinics when it comes to the provision of long-term safety statistics? Will my right hon...


10 JAN 2012

Health

Oral Answers to Questions. Sarah Wollaston (Totnes, Conservative) I know the Secretary of State cares deeply about outcomes in health. Will he add his support to the campaign for a minimum price for alcohol in England and Wales? Andrew Lansley (Secretary of State, Health; South Cambridgeshir...


20 DEC 2011

Home Department: Smuggling: Tobacco

Written Questions Sarah Wollaston (Totnes, Conservative) To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the expenditure incurred by her Department on salaries for full-time investigation staff allocated to the tackling tobacco smuggling strategy for staff (...





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Sarah's Personal Blog

Debate on food prices

Today the House of Commons debated the issue of food poverty. It was reassuring to hear Richard Benyon MP confirm the commitment to introduce a Groceries Code Adjudicator to protect consumers. I hope that the adjudicator will also consider some of the wider issues around food poverty and the way that supermarkets can aggravate the situation particularly in the way that they operate loss leaders.

Data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre shows that almost a third of children are overweight or obese. It also shows the link between food poverty and obesity.

There is a clear link in reception year but this is even starker by year 6 where 23.6% of the poorest but just 12.8% of the richest are obese. Obesity not only affects children's life chances but will be costing us £10bn per year by 2050 because 85% of obese children go on to become obese adults and are far more likely to develop conditions like diabetes or joint problems.

The reality is that if you are on a tight budget price is a huge driver for choice and the supermarkets are driving those choices by discounting the kinds of foods that are harming their own customers. High fat, high salt food processed food is already cheaper than healthy alternatives yet loss leaders are so often based on products like alcohol, carbonated drinks, crisps and chocolates.

The Competition Commission, in their investigation of supermarket below cost selling did find that this practice distorts consumer choice and found many examples of loss making products being cross subsidised by other lines.

They were clear however that countries with outright bans on below cost selling, such as Ireland, Germany, France and Spain don't benefit from lower prices overall, in fact the reverse so I wouldn't want to see a ban...just some common sense.

Why tolerate the myth that all these loss leaders result in savings when they are being cross subsidised with more expensive products in the rest of your shopping basket?

The role of the Groceries Code Adjudicator should include:

Transparency in how these loss leaders are cross subsidised as well as clear price comparisons so that customers can easily identify the cheapest products.

A code of practice which promotes loss leaders only on healthy or unprocessed foods but which isn't subsidised by our farmers or local food distribution webs.

But Government cannot do everything; ultimately families have to take responsibility for their children's diet and exercise. It does not have to be expensive; the CPRE and Transition Town Totnes should be congratulated for their work on local food webs and for showing how local traditional shops and markets reduce food miles and deliver fresher healthier food with less waste. The view that local food is always more expensive should be challenged and boosting local seasonal produce is part of the solution.

Ultimately food prices are volatile and most of the changes are the result of global commodity prices and the influence of factors like fuel prices but that does not mean that Government cannot have a role in trying to make sure that the best choices are also affordable choices.

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust

Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust would like to become a Foundation Trust. For many people the question is what on earth is the difference? Basically a change to greater financial independence and flexibility over decision making as well as greater involvement by local people and staff. The hospital still has staff on NHS contracts and provides services to NHS patients free of charge in exactly the same way but financial probity and the quality of management is overseen by a different regulator known as Monitor. Follow the link to their consultation document and please let me know your views especially if you have been treated or worked at Derriford.

Transition Town Totnes

Today I caught up with Rob Hopkins and Frances Northrop from Transition Town Totnes to discuss their new book, The Transition Companion, and the extraordinary progress of the Transition Movement both locally and nationally. The introduction to the Transition Companion asks the question, 'what would it look like if the best responses to peak oil and climate change came not from committees and Acts of Parliament, but from you and me and the people around us'. The Transition movement is now working to put these ideas for increasing local resilience into practice.

 

NHS Reforms

Click here to watch Sarah on BBC Breakfast discussing the NHS reforms.

As the Health and Social Care Bill makes its way through Parliament, please get in touch to let me know what you think. If you have been a patient or carer or if you are working in our NHS I would like to hear from you.

In South Devon, GPs have been working closely with the Primary Care Trusts to get the new system to work and I am confident that we will continue to have an excellent local health service as a result.