Summer Events Here in Swindon
I have enjoyed attending a great selection of local community events here in Swindon so far this summer. These include Threshold’s Party in the Park at the Town Gardens, The Nepalese Association of Wiltshire’s Football Tournament at Buckhurst Field, Pimms in the Park at Lydiard Park, and the Swindon Goan Summer Festival at the County Ground Athletics field, where I was joined by Central Ward Conservative Cllrs Lourenco Fernandes and Anabelle Pegado and Cllrs Sudha Sri, Suresh Gattapur, and many other friends.
It was a great pleasure to be invited to all of these wonderful events and I would like to thank all of the organisers behind the scenes who have worked tirelessly to bring together so many people here in our local community.
Busy Broadgreen Surgery
It was great to see so many local residents at my busy community advice surgery at Broadgreen Community Centre recently.
I was pleased to be joined by Conservative Central Ward Councillor Anabelle Pegado, and Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson, who was able to give residents updates on the work being carried out by Wiltshire Police locally. Thanks to all of the residents who attended and the team for all of their hard work.
Securing Key Commitments From BSW ICB As Part Of My Ongoing Dementia Campaign
You may have read in my previous newsletters that I have joined forces with Alzheimer's Society to work to increase the dementia diagnosis rate locally. There are estimated to be 2,700 people living with dementia in Swindon, yet too many are facing it alone, so it is important that we help more people access the vital support that they need.
As part of my work, I recently wrote to our local Integrated Care Board (Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire ICB) and I am delighted that following my letter, they have agreed to a series of planned interventions to increase the dementia diagnosis rate locally.
It is great that BSW Integrated Care Board are leading the way and taking a number of necessary steps to increase diagnosis rates within Swindon, and we hope that this will encourage more Integrated Care Systems to follow suit. You can read more about the planned interventions, as well as my work in this area on my website.
Westminster News - All Party Parliamentary Groups
All Party Parliamentary Groups form a large part of my work as a backbencher and I am chair of several groups relating to disability and learning difficulty, as well as the Western Gateway, which is a major economic partnership for Wales in the West of England, covering Swindon. I am also Co-Chair of the All Party Group on Domestic Violence and Abuse, which was set up as a forum to facilitate engagement between organisations including Women’s Aid, academics, commissioners, and leaders in the violence against women (VAWG) space and key decision makers. The APPG on Domestic Violence and Abuse also provides an important platform for survivors of domestic abuse to discuss their experiences with parliamentarians and to inform policy changes to better support survivors of domestic abuse.
Last month, I chaired a meeting of the APPG on Domestic Violence and Abuse at Portcullis House, to discuss the implementation of the landmark Domestic Abuse Act, that I led upon when I was Secretary of State for Justice, which we got into law here in Parliament two years ago. That act was ground-breaking, in that it made it easier in law for victims of domestic abuse to be deemed homeless and to get priority accommodation. But what is happening on the ground is a bit of a mixed bag and we are seeing some areas where this isn’t happening in the way that it should, by law.
Following a discussion with representatives of the Local Government Association, the charity, Shelter, and Women’s Aid, more work will now be done to ensure that victims and survivors of domestic abuse are given that priority when they have to leave the home of an abuser, no matter where they are in the country.
I am glad that by becoming Co-Chair of the APPG on Domestic Abuse and Violence, I can follow up on this important work and ensure that the law changes that I helped to introduce are implemented widely and for all.
If you have a national or local issue you would like to raise with me, please get in touch by emailing me on robert.buckland.mp@parliament,uk or by ringing 01793 533393.
