WE had a major victory this week on our campaign to protect North Cornwall's volunteer coastguards.

After months of pressure, the Government has finally now confirmed that their plans to scrap the hourly call-out payments for Coastguard Rescue Officers this September will not go ahead, with the current arrangements remaining in place while further work is undertaken. This follows repeated questions I raised in Parliament, direct challenges to Ministers, media interviews, and campaigning alongside our brilliant local coastguard volunteers themselves - especially the ‘Save our Service’ campaign group. These volunteers perform an absolutely vital role, putting themselves in danger to keep local people and visitors here safe, and I’m delighted that the Government has listened to our calls.

I again highlighted North Cornwall's NHS dentistry crisis in Parliament recently, drawing attention to the thousands of local people still unable to access an NHS dentist while Cornwall's Integrated Care Board (ICB) underspent £1.2-million of its dentistry budget. It is completely unacceptable that patients are left waiting in pain (some of them for years now), having to put additional pressure on our Minor Injuries Units and A&Es when their problems become more serious.

Tackling these health inequalities is one of the reasons I recently introduced my ‘Rural Healthcare Bill’ to Parliament, which seeks to strengthen healthcare provision in rural parts of the country like ours, including improving access to urgent treatment and addressing the unique challenges we face.

Over the past few months I have also been campaigning hard for North Cornwall to be included within the Rural Fuel Duty Relief scheme, which would reduce the cost of petrol and diesel by 5p per litre. I’ve continued making that case these last few weeks following my recent meeting with Treasury Minister, Dan Tomlinson MP. People here in rural areas like North Cornwall rely heavily on cars (much more than those in cities, for example) because public transport simply does not provide a realistic alternative for many journeys, particularly when travelling to hospitals and healthcare appointments. My constituents should not be penalised because of the rurality of where they live.

There was also an important development on the education front this week, when I very much welcomed the decision for Athena Learning Trust to step away from Launceston College and transfer it to a new trust. Over recent months I have spoken to so many parents, pupils and staff, after which I raised their serious concerns directly with the Education Secretary about SEND provision, student welfare and school culture. While there is still work to do, this decision is quite an important step forward, and I’ll be liaising closely with the Department for Education and supporting the families, to make sure pupils receive the support they need during this process.

Finally, I was pleased to meet with DEFRA Minister Baroness Hayman recently, alongside fellow Cornish MPs, to discuss the proposed Camel Trail extension to Camelford. The project has great potential to really boost tourism. I’ll be keeping up the momentum on these plans in the coming months!