Local Policy

What is it that makes a good MP an excellent MP? How can one MP be better than another?

The answer to this frequently asked, but rarely answered question is about how an MP uses his or her time in office and what causes and policies they champion. It is about how they represent their constituents and how they can use their skills and expertise to the best benefit of their constituents.

Mark says of this: “It is down to three things. It is firstly how an MP acts in Westminster, how they vote and how they are effective for their constituents when legislation is being passed. It is how they can be effective whilst policy is being created and not simply waiting for Parliament to vote and then hope that one vote out of 646 will make a difference. It is about being part of a party that can make a difference. It is about working with other people to leverage your influence, and to help fellow party members in return for their help with your issues. It is about being an effective part of a strong organisation.

“But it is also about making Westminster work in the constituency. It is about making sure all public services are delivered locally and that laws are effective and right.

“Finally, it is about the special value added that an MP can bring and how he or she can add to their constituency.”


In Westminster

Mark Garnier is standing as the Conservative Candidate for Wyre Forest and as such will be standing on the Conservative manifesto. IN this respect, he is telling his constituents about how he will represent them before going to Westminster. What this means is that Wyre Forest residents will be given a chance to see and understand how they will be represented when they vote at a general election, and not have to wait and see how their MP will decide, on the hoof, how he will represent them. Mark will reverse the history of 8 years of Wyre Forest representation being made up on short notice.

“To me,” says Mark, “being a Conservative means three things. Firstly it is about the function of the state – to be there to provide public services and to help people back onto life’s ladder when they fall off, and in extreme cases, to be there to support people who are genuinely otherwise unable to help themselves. It is about the state being small so it gets off the back of everyone else who want to get on with their lives and cut their own furrow. The state must never be intrusive or burdensome: it is the servant of the people.

“Secondly, I feel that the family is the building block of our society and that it must be protected and nurtured. It is through solid families that one generation can instil values on the next and that we can move forward.

“Finally, I believe being a Conservative is about tolerance – tolerance for everyone’s views, opinions, religion, and a range of other differences that make our society so colourful.”

Mark is committed to the Conservative manifesto and the policies contained in it, determined to make them work well for Wyre Forest.

 
Local Services

Westminster and the Government is there to serve people. That is why it is important that a local constituency MP is there to champion all the public services that all our taxes pay for. Whilst health and the provision of healthcare is incredibly important – indeed, it is the Conservative Party’s main aspiration to continue to improve health provision - it can never be right that an MP restricts himself to just working for health issues. Being a balanced MP is about working for all the public services locally and not just one.

“Of course I care passionately about health,” says Mark. “I care not only that we continue to improve services locally, but that we stop using the hardworking health workers locally as political footballs. But I also realise that education is incredibly important, as is policing, local transport, the environment, and other public services.”
 
- Health provision

The key to health provision is that it is available to all, free at the point of delivery.

Mark is committed to continuing to restore services to Kidderminster Hospital and the wider Wyre Forest.

Conservative national policy supports more involvement from local people.

It also supports the recent change of the Worcestershire Acute Hospital Trust to a foundation trust supports that local involvement.

By supporting Conservative national policy, and then pushing for local improvements, Wyre Forest should see more services returning to Kidderminster Hospital.

- Education

Worcestershire is the second lowest funding per pupil in the whole of England. The current situation means that a child in Oldington and Foley Park – one of the ten most deprived wards in England – gets just half the education funding of a child in Edgbaston. Mark says: “this is completely absurd. Wyre Forest and Worcestershire needs better pupil funding and this inequality must stop.”

Mark is already working with his colleagues to put and end to this unfair situation and increase funding for Wyre Forest and Worcestershire’s school children.
 
- Support for the Local Authority

It is vital that local councillors are able to propose and then enact their local policies and ambitions. That is why a constituency needs a strong MP to reinforce councillors’ efforts both at the local level and again in Parliament.

Mark already works in the background with his district and county council colleagues on a range of local services, but Mark is committed to supporting the whole council on its policies should he become the MP.
 

Mark’s Work specifically for Wyre Forest

Wyre Forest enjoyed a period of prosperity with a booming carpet industry and local forging plants. But in recent years, those big industries have dwindled to a shadow of their former selves. Now, the majority of people in Wyre Forest either work for the public sector, or work in businesses with fewer than 10 employees. Average wages are lower than the national average, but Wyre Forest benefited from lower than average unemployment.

But as the recession bites, Wyre Forest is seeing a surge in unemployment. Claimants have risen 100% since the start of the recession and some of the big employers are either cutting back or closing.

Meanwhile, Wyre Forest has within its boundaries one of the ten most deprived wards in England.

“These issues are interlinked” says Mark. “These issues can be dealt with as a whole and a co-ordinated effort needs to be made.”

The important areas where Mark is proposing to use his time as MP (if Wyre Forest chooses him) are:
 
- Local infrastructure

Wyre Forest suffers from poor communications with the wider road networks. This makes the district a poor choice for businesses to invest. Yet Wyre Forest has a fantastic area where local light industry can establish new business and that is along the Stourport Road Corridor in southern Kidderminster.

Mark has been campaigning for the Stourport Relief Road since 2004 and is working with the Conservative front bench transport team to secure funding for this incredibly important project.

This road will bring a significant drop in congestion at both the Worcester Island end and the Stourport’s Gilgal end. Not only will this make life easier for local residents, but it will make the Stourport Road Corridor an attractive area for businesses to locate.

“Businesses need to get their raw materials and workforce into their factories on time, and their finished products out when they are ready.” says Mark. “We need to be helping the existing businesses that are already in the area prosper, and we need to attract more businesses in.”
 
- The Overall Direction

With the demise of the carpet industry, Wyre Forest lacks an identity. There is an existing tourist industry that can prosper and grow with the right support, and the district’s local towns will both support and benefit from that tourist industry. But Wyre Forest needs more.

Political leadership is needed to bring together all the interested groups to be able to help Wyre Forest find the right direction; to find a vision and then to drive it forward. Mark strongly believes that his job as MP would be to deliver that political leadership – finding that direction and then making it happen.
 
- Wyre Forest’s ambassador

Having determined the vision, Mark is committed that his job would be to act as Wyre Forest’s ambassador, meeting with businesses and striving to attract inward investment to the district. Importantly, finding businesses of a critical mass that would bring with them education budgets, helping to develop a workforce of skilled workers and starting to put an end to social deprivation in Oldington and Foley Park.

Mark is unique amongst politicians locally as he is the only one with extensive business and investment experience. Mark knows exactly what is needed to make a business invest in an area, making Mark highly qualified to provide the political leadership so lacking at the moment.

“The recession will end and the economy will grow,” says Mark, “but if Wyre Forest lacks the political leadership it needs, Wyre Forest will not grow with the rest of the country. If Wyre Forest is left behind, it will sink. The opportunity is right now and it must be seized with both hands, or lost forever.”