Lib Dem Autumn Conference

Guest blog written by Kathryn, Wendy’s Senior Parliamentary Researcher.  

On 20^th September Liberal Democrat MPs, their staff, party members, journalists and various sector representatives descended on Bournemouth for Lib Dem Autumn Conference. I was with them, going with Wendy as I have done for the last couple of years, to help spread the meeting load and make sure we meet as many organisations as possible which are important to North East Fife.

I started on Saturday with a meeting with Battersea Cats and Dogs home, which I discovered works on animal rights policy across the four nations, not just on rehoming animals in London. Amongst other things we discussed the need to consolidate dangerous dogs legislation in Scotland so it is easier to enforce, and the problems with breed specific bans.  

Sunday’s meetings covered a broad range of subjects. Wendy and I both met with the Royal Mail who answered questions about maintaining parcel collection services since Anstruther sorting office closed, and discussed reforms to the Universal Service Obligation. The Centre for Care at Sheffield University told us about the lack of available funding for data publications in Scotland, meaning Health and Social Care boards can’t plan for their local areas. This is something Wendy hopes to raise with the Scottish Government.  

Budget asks were a major focus of my Sunday afternoon. Like so many places, North East Fife doesn’t have enough affordable housing. Fife council simple doesn’t have enough properties available, and neither does Kingdom. Meanwhile Local Housing Allowance – which is supposed to be enough to afford the cheapest properties in an area – is frozen and barely touches the sides. We discussed Wendy’s campaign to get Local Housing Allowance increased with the charity Crisis, who agree this would be a huge step in getting more people into good homes. We also met with Trussell, the charity who run foodbanks including in Cupar and Levenmouth. They also want to see LHA increased, as well as for Universal Credit to cover the basics needed to live, and to lift the two child benefit cap.

These are all Lib Dem policies, and things Wendy will be advocating for in November.  

A further meeting with the MS Society touched on reforms needed at Social Security Scotland and the Adult Disability Payment. There was a recent review of ADP, which recommended reforms like scrapping the 20 meter mobility rule, which doesn’t work for people with relapsing remitting conditions like MS. Wendy will be taking this on, and working with Willie Rennie on how they can push for the recommendations to be implemented.  

Meetings with LINK and Age UK were important moments to discuss bank closures and issues with a digital only approach. Age UK were clear: digitising services is a good thing especially where it makes things more efficient. If digital systems make it easier to book a GP appointment, for example, that is something we want. But they were equally clear that no one should be required to have access to the internet or a smart phone to access public services. To do so is deeply discriminatory, and causes the sorts of difficulties that Wendy hears from constituents all the time. Wendy will be joining their campaign for guaranteed offline access to public services, something we will be working on over the coming months.

Monday’s final set of meetings covered research, treatment and support for people with neurological conditions like MS, MND, and Alzheimer’s. It was incredible to learn about research going on all over Great Britain including in Edinburgh which has the potential to revolutionise the way neurological conditions are diagnosed and treated. Alzheimer’s Research UK are running a trial aimed at finding a biomarker for the disease – making it easier, faster and cheaper to get an accurate diagnosis. The Dementia Research Institute, on the other hand, have found methods to test MND drugs at the same time, quartering the length of time it takes for a drug to go through clinical trials. These tests, happening just in Edinburgh, could bring about ground breaking changes for MND patients and their families. Information on taking part in these trials are available online.  

Without me, Wendy spoke at events with Carers UK on supporting unpaid carers in work, the Centre for European Reforms on creating resilient and tolerant democracies, the Countryside Alliance about engaging farmers and rural interests in politics, and with young people doing the Duke of Edinburgh Award about the importance of enrichment opportunities. Overall it was a busy weekend, and having had lots of interesting meetings we have returned with added zeal on what Wendy and her team can be doing to work on the causes that matter to the people of  North East Fife.