Therese Presses Flagship Bosses over Empty Homes

Therese recently met with bosses of Flagship Housing to discuss the amount of empty homes in Suffolk Coastal as well astheir response to the recent poor weather conditions.

Therese said "It was a useful meeting and we had a frank discussion about the amount of properties that flagship has empty, of course they need to be careful with their financing but also we need to be ensuring that if properties are available they come back into use."

"Flagship has committed to come back to me within two weeks to let me know what they are doing with the properties, particularly in Felixstowe. I am pressing for an action plan and if not we will have to see if there is another association who could take over the assets."

In the recent bad weather the paths and access to homes in sheltered and very sheltered accommodation hadn't been cleared of ice. Flagships initial response was that they hadn't done this because of concerns over health and safety and potential impact on their insurance premium.

The Suffolk Coastal MP said "as soon as I met with them the Chief Executive said very quickly that they had got the balance wrong and that in the future they will get their community rangers to clear the paths especially outside sheltered housing".

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OFT Should Look into Rural Bank Closures

Therese suggested that bank closures in rural areas should be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) as she spoke in a Parliamentary debate today.

Dr Coffey referred to the closure of HSBC in Aldeburgh in late 2010, when the only communication with the wider community was a poster in the window.

She said "keeping rural branches open is key for all sectors of the community, especially for elderly residents and local businesses"

"After its study of oil supplies the OFT is now looking to examine other issues affecting rural communities; access to financial services could be its next topic."

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Therese Gives Cautious Welcome to Drought Summit

Therese has today given a cautious welcome to the outcome of the drought summit that took place yesterday.

The summit which brought together key players in the water industry focused on the future likelihood of drought, measures that are already being implemented to tackle drought and to decide on the actions that may need to be taken to mitigate against its impact in the future.

Therese said "I welcome the summit it is good we are ahead of the game. There are however, obvious concerns from consumers and especially farmers about any future plans to tackle drought."

She added "It is key that farmers plan for their irrigation needs, including options for scheduling their irrigation, filling their winter storage reservoirs and working with others through local water abstractor groups to share water resources"

"I will be keeping a close eye on things and do my best to make sure Government agencies remain felixible. If Yields fall then food prices increase, so it is in all our interest to help our farmers".

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