Wyre Forest would have more of its police officers out on the beat, fighting crime under plans being considered by David Cameron's Conservatives. Other policy recommendations include directly elected police commissioners, freeing police officers from unnecessary paperwork by hiring more civilian staff, giving residents access to detailed crime information in their neighbourhood and introducing new part-time, paid police reservists.
The Countryside Alliance are launching National Fly-tipping Awareness Week, beginning on the 23rd April. Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest, has added his support to this important campaign. The Countryside Alliance has uncovered 2.5 million incidents of unlawful dumping across the UK in the year April 2006 at a cost to local authorities of nearly £100 million. Unbelievably, fewer than 100 cases led to a successful prosecution.
Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest, expressed disgust at reports that Labour Ministers in Whitehall are considering plans for new rural taxes that will hit already beleaguered farmers. Gordon Brown's review into town hall taxes, published on Budget Day, not only recommends higher council tax bands, regular council tax revaluations and new bin taxes, but also contains proposals to hike taxes on rural England.
Labour Ministers have published new figures revealing that council tax bills across England will rise from April by an extra £53 on a Band D bill, pushing the typical bill to £1,321 a year. However, in Wyre Forest, bills have risen by whopping 114% since 1997 - an extra £725 a year.
This week, Gordon Brown detailed what will almost certainly be his final budget. Yet again, it was a masterpiece of presentation over substance, headline over fine print and spin over delivery. As is always the case with Gordon Brown's budgets, when the 'tax cut' headline is yesterday's chip wrapper, the detailed analysis highlights the bitter truth.
Today, a representative from the Conservative Social Justice Policy Unit visited Oldington and Foley Park in Kidderminster to learn more about local social deprivation. With the southern Kidderminster ward featuring in the bottom ten wards in the whole of England in terms of social deprivation indices, there was a lot to learn.
Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest, together with fellow Conservatives Cllr John Holden, Cllr June Salter and Cllr Gordon Yarranton, yesterday visited Kidderminster treatment centre for an update on progress and declared themselves: "impressed".
Shadow Secretary of State for Trade, Industry and Energy Alan Duncan MP was a visitor to Kidderminster on Monday when he talked to business students at Kidderminster College. The visit was organised by Mark Garnier who is a governor at Kidderminster College.
Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest, today expressed concern at new official figures which have exposed an alarming spread of a new hospital superbug - Clostridium difficile ('C-diff'). Twice as many people are now dying from major hospital-acquired superbugs than are killed each year on the roads.
Mark Garnier, Conservative Parliamentary Spokesman for Wyre Forest, has today congratulated Cllr George Lord, Leader of Worcestershire County Council, for doing a terrific job and securing a four star rating for Worcestershire County Council. The four star rating was awarded by the Audit Commission and their report was published today.
