6 May 2011
Harriett Baldwin will this week mark her first anniversary as MP for West Worcestershire by setting out a series of aims for the coming year. Harriett was elected to Parliament on May 6, 2010 and has worked hard to deliver on her local election pledges. As the coalition was formed, Harriett lobbied Communities Secretary Eric Pickles to ensure that the government abolished the top-down Regional Spatial Strategy which threatened to impose 24,500 homes on fields in South Worcestershire. The MP has also lobbied Environment Minister Caroline Spelman for funding for flood defences in Pershore, Upton-upon-Severn, and Powick and will next month celebrate the completion of work in Uckinghall. She continues to lobby the Environment Agency about schemes for Kempsey and Tenbury. Harriett has welcomed increased funding for the local NHS, helped secure a local community hospitals trust and celebrated the opening of the brand new Malvern Community Hospital. Harriett commented: “This has been a challenging first year but I am incredibly proud to represent the people of West Worcestershire. “During the election, I made a series of pledges and I am pleased with the progress on these. “I will continue to keep up the pressure on the Government to allocate funding for local flood defences. “I am also pushing for further improvements to train services between Worcestershire and London. Our future economic success depends on decent transport links and this is a major area for improvement. “It is also important that Worcestershire secures investment in the broadband network to help homes and businesses to benefit from superfast broadband and allow people in rural areas to work from home where possible reducing pressure on our roads. “I will also be working closely with Ministers, the local county and district councils to do our best to drive an economic recovery bringing jobs and prosperity to Worcestershire.”