2025: Week 6 - Constituency Matters

This week Parliament has been in recess so I’ve been able to spend all week in the constituency.   I had a full diary and it was very productive meeting with both companies and constituents across the week.

I spent a very enjoyable morning at Orchard Manor School in Dawlish, a wonderful school with a residential provision that caters for over 200 students aged 4-19. They provide education and care for pupils with communication and interaction difficulties, Autistic spectrum conditions and learning needs. 

We spent time discussing how the school supports pre-verbal children within the current key stage 1 and 2 curriculum, and also the campaign that the school are currently running which is hoping to adapt the curriculum and phonics screening requirements so that they meet the needs of non-verbal pupils. 

I was impressed with their enthusiasm and dedication in how they support all the children in their care, despite the challenges faced by everyone working in the sector.  The children of Dawlish and surrounding areas who attend this school are fortunate to have such a passionate team supporting and advocating for them.

I have continued to meet with social care providers across the constituency, Jamie Theobold from Step One Services in Newton Abbot told me that they have been underfunded for years, and with the forthcoming increases in employer National Insurance contributions and National Minimum Wage they are really going to struggle to find the funds to continue their vital enabling and personal care work. 

They run a popular day centre in the town which is well attended and valued by the service users, some of whom have been attending for 20 years!  It is only down to the dedication and passion of the staff that they are able to stay open, but that is under threat with the new measures announced by the Government in their Spring Budget. 

The week ended with an informative and very enjoyable visit to Shaldon Wildlife Trust. Despite only being an acre in size, there is a huge array of animals to see, and species that you wouldn’t normally find in larger zoos.  Examples are the beautiful Margay, a small wildcat native to the Americas, the Owsten’s Civets, an endangered species native to Vietnam, and the Pygmy Slow Loris, an animal listed as vulnerable in part due to the illegal pet trade.

The zoo also wanted to discuss with me the difficulties they are facing transporting animals between the UK and the EU, due to the effects of Brexit.  A lot of the species at the zoo have a conservation status of vulnerable or worse, and therefore are valuable to breeding programmes across Europe. However since Brexit they have faced increasing difficulties in moving animals between collections as there is currently no alignment of the health requirements between the UK and the EU. There is also only one border control post for zoo animals.  This red tape is holding up breeding programmes and also causing unnecessary stress to animals who may need to be moved to another collection due to losing their mate or companion.