For a year now, the issues surrounding the A30 at Kitt Hill have been the bane of the lives of motorists and pedestrians in Sherborne. In the vast majority of circumstances, it would have been a quick and easy fix. But as has been clear for some time, the situation has been complicated by a multitude of complex issues and has meant this has had to drag on for far too long.
I have no direct control over our road network, unfortunately, but time and time again I use my role and influence as MP to bring the relevant parties together to expedite a solution. Ever since the start of the issue in February last year, I have been helping the very elderly residents affected to get a solution from what has been a hit and run where the council has refused to do any work other than put scaffold up.
However, finally, the good news is that we now have progress with work under way to sort the wall and re-open the road in a matter, I hope, of weeks rather than months. While I often read the Lib Dem’s column in this paper looking to attack the work I do, I think the Liberal Democrats should ask why their councillor hasn’t been in touch once to help these very elderly residents and why the Sherborne West councillor lives in Exmouth in Devon rather than Sherborne – as he has done for some time.
One of the most rewarding aspects of being elected as your MP is being able to champion and act upon the key issues affecting our communities which, as someone born and brought up in West Dorset, I could see and care about deeply. And through this effort, we are now seeing the pendulum swing back our way in terms of our needs being addressed by the Government of the day. A few examples of this in the last few days alone illustrate this.
I championed and supported the £2 cap on bus fares, originally running until the end of March this year. This week, the Government announced it will extend this scheme to June 30 this year as part of a major bus recovery scheme. It is clear that for our rural bus services to be secure in the longer term, they need to see greater use now. I would urge everyone to make the most out of this initiative.

The Government also announced on Monday that Dorset will be rewarded an extra £4.5 million as part of the Household Support Scheme, which has now been extended to 2024, giving Dorset Council extra resources to support the most vulnerable households in our area. Only a couple of weeks before that, I stood in the House of Commons Chamber to urge the Government to up its support for local authorities such as Dorset where we have a growing number of adults reliant on social care and council support.

This, on top of the recent interventions in support of my campaigns for fuel price fairness in Bridport, for example, action to put the brakes on the short-term holiday let boom, and boost to the numbers of inpatient care beds in our hospitals, demonstrates that while I continue to apply the pressure on the Government, the results are very much showing.