MP Newsletter #3: Flooding, Melksham Hospital, Parliament Update

Dear reader,

This will be my final newsletter before Christmas and for 2024. It has been a real joy to begin this newsletter and to be able to communicate with you directly in the past few weeks.

I’m pleased to say that the feedback has been positive so far and I’ll certainly be continuing it on a fortnightly basis to give you all the latest updates on what I’ve been up to as your member of parliament, both in Westminster and here in the constituency.

I want to wish all of you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. One often takes time to reflect at Christmas, and this year, my first as your MP, I will be thinking about how we can all come together for the common good. In the words of the late Jo Cox MP we “have far more in common with each other than that which divide us”.

I wish you all a happy Christmas and a peaceful 2025!

Please do consider forwarding the contents of this newsletter onto interested family and friends, and if they’d like to sign up they can do so here.

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For casework, feedback on this newsletter, or to book a surgery appointment, please email brian.mathew.mp@parliament.uk

Now, on with the updates….

Flooding Latest

Since my last update I have led a meeting in Bradford on Avon alongside Wiltshire Council, the Environment Agency and Bradford on Avon Town Council.

This meeting was set up to reflect on the recent flooding in Bradford on Avon and the surrounding area and with key people around one table.

I was pleased at the willingness to learn lessons from last month’s flood and welcome the EA’s commitment to reassessing the previous 2019 flood management plan for Bradford. They will report back early in the new year as to the feasibility of any such large-scale project before other options are considered. They agreed to a subsequent event to brief residents.

Other options could include additional resilience measures in individual properties and businesses, as well as smaller scale mitigation measures. I have also asked them to investigate any physical work which could alleviate flooding in the area, particularly around widening the channel or removing silt.

I will also be writing to the government again to ask about the status of financial assistance for affected residents and business owners across the area. I know many in Bradford and Melksham are desperate to upgrade their resilience for events like these, and extra guidance and small pots of money would be a huge help.

We need clearer communication between the relevant authorities in the run up to any flood event. Co-ordination between our local town councils, Wiltshire Council and our emergency services is vital in these emergency incidents. I look forward to seeing an updated Wiltshire Council flood plan in very near future.

We know these incidents will sadly become more frequent as climate change continues, and I am working hard to make sure we do all we can to help those affected by this.

Melksham Hospital Update

Earlier this week I met with Sue Harriman, Chief Executive of the NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board (ICB), to discuss Melksham hospital and how the current services can be expanded.

It is vital that we improve health services here in Melksham and right across this constituency. Being a rural area, the distances and driving times that patients face to reach care are a real cause for concern. It is disappointing that there are no active plans for expanding services at Melksham hospital at the moment, and I have made clear that in the long term this must be a priority. We need more access to minor injuries units and to see those open for longer hours too.

I have asked the ICB to provide fuller information on the distances patients are expected to travel, which will hopefully clearly demonstrate the demand and need for improved health services. They committed to doing this along with providing fuller answers to questions I raised on behalf of constituents who have contacted me.

We’ve seen years of hot air from the previous government on investing in new and existing hospitals evidenced by the fact that nothing has been done and nothing is in the pipeline for Melksham Hospital. Once I have further information from the ICB, I will be contacting the Secretary of State for Health to ask him to not repeat those mistakes. I will also be inviting him to visit us here in Melksham to see the situation we currently face.

I was pleased that the ICB did recognise that, at the very least, Melksham Hospital needs buildings renovated and a plan of how to use the site more cost-effectively without impacting services for patients.

Westminster round-up

It’s been another busy couple of weeks up in Westminster and I thought I’d give you a little round-up of some of the bits I’ve been up to.

I was incredibly proud to visit 10 Downing Street earlier this week alongside Corin & Tricia Dalby as part of an all-party group of MPs.

I give my full support to their petition which asks for the first £100m of fines from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to be redirected to support our hospices.

I have also signed a letter to the government written by my Liberal Democrat colleague Sarah Olney on an issue close to my heart.

The letter pushes the government to create better opportunities for young people by setting up a Youth Mobility Scheme between the EU and the UK.

It would give our young people the best possible opportunities to have life changing experiences and also foster co-operation instead of division.

All of this can be done without returning to freedom to movement, we have similar arrangements with 13 countries already, so why not the EU?

The EU has said they’d welcome this, so now it’s up to the government to make it happen. Let’s invest in the future and create opportunities for the next generation!

Hospice Petition outside No 10 Downing Street

I have also signed two key Early Day Motions (EDM). These are a mechanism for MPs to draw attention to important causes and to bring them further into the spotlight. I was very proud to sign Josh Babarinde’s EDM which notes that there is no specific criminal offence in England and Wales for domestic abuse and seeks to address this. I also lent my name to my neighbouring MP Wera Hobhouse’s EDM to push for breast cancer screening to be offered to women from an earlier age.

Finally, it was my privilege to act as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson in the Commons chamber to speak about the plight in Sudan. You can watch my full statement here. I continue to closely work with colleagues across party lines as part of the International Development Select Committee too.