1. Why are fuel prices so high in Britain? 2. What is happening to NHS waiting lists? 3. What about NHS funding? 4. What about staff numbers? 5. What is happening in schools? 6. Why did the Government abolish the Married Couples Allowance? 7. Do you think MPs are paid too much? 1. Why are fuel prices so high in Britain? I understand the concern about the price of fuel, however the recent increase in prices has been due almost entirely to the limited supply of oil and not to fuel duty. The decision by OPEC nations to restrict the supply of oil has resulted in a huge increase in the price of a barrel of crude oil - rising from $10 a barrel to nearly $30. As a consequence there has been a steep increase in the price of petrol at the pumps. Less than two pence of the last year's 18 pence price rise was duty, the remaining 16 pence was because of the world price of oil. Britain is working very hard with other European and American countries to try to persuade the oil producing countries to boost their oil production to reduce prices. The increase in fuel duty in this year's budget of 2 pence was the smallest increase for 11 years. The previous Conservative Government introduced the "fuel duty escalator" which ensured that petrol tax rose by five percent above inflation every year. This Government abolished it in this year's budget and this year's increase in fuel duty was only in line with inflation. Petrol prices in Britain are higher than they are in many other EU countries, but motor insurance in those countries is higher, as is in many cases car tax. Most of them also levy motorway tolls. Other taxes like income tax in those countries is also higher. So, simple comparisons between the price of petrol in different countries do not always give the whole picture. The total tax burden in the UK is around 37% of GDP, this compares to an EU average of 41%. A number of measures this Government has already taken have been specifically aimed at helping motorists. The trunk and local road maintenance budget has been increased by over �400 million - reversing Tory cuts. We've provided a �55 discount in road tax for drivers of smaller, less polluting cars. Forty-one trunk road improvements have been completed (including the A30 between Honiton and Exeter) and 19 communities have new by passes. I welcome the debate on fuel tax, but those who say it should be cut need to spell out which taxes should go up to compensate or which public services should be cut to meet the tax revenue shortfall. 2. What is happening to NHS waiting lists? After 18 years of neglect under a Conservative Government it will take many years to turn around the NHS - but this Labour Government has already started making a change. Reducing waiting times will be achieved partly through recruiting more staff and partly though modernisation. This Government has allocated �115 million pounds to modernising A & E departments. This money has been spent on new special areas for children; better links between A & E and primary care; improved safety and security for staff and patients - something I consider particularly important especially for people waiting late at night at A & E departments - faster access to diagnostic facilities; and more assessment and observation wards. However, modernisation is not just about improving A & E infrastructure it is about improving the way services are delivered. The A & E Modernisation Team set up by the Department of Health will report later this year. It has been considering best practice. For example making more use of emergency nurse practitioners in the minor treatment areas. Having someone to oversee the way beds are allocated and managed so that patients get into the right bed more quickly. Giving appropriately trained nurses greater powers to order x-rays, blood tests and other diagnostic procedures, to interpret results, give medication and discharge patients. And of course Labour has established NHS Direct. At the end of last year NHS Direct was accessible for 65% of the population - including the people of Exeter. By the end of this year it will have received over 1 million calls. This, along with NHS Direct on line and Walk in Centres - such as the two new ones in Exeter - will help make A & E more efficient separating the treatment of minor injuries and illnesses from major injuries and conditions. This has resulted in waiting lists falling by over 100,000 since Labour came to power. 3. What about NHS funding? Extra investment in the A & E is part of a huge increase in funding for the NHS announced by this Government. NHS funding will increase by an average of 6.3% a year over the next 4 years. That means an extra �16 billion of spending on the NHS - an unprecedented increase. 4. What about staff numbers? I recognise that many junior doctors work long hours but to significantly reduce this we have to recruit more doctors. And that is what we are doing. Two new medical schools will be established - the first in the country for more than 30 years and one of them will be based at Exeter. The two new schools will produce 237 new doctors a year. In addition to this the Government has announced funding for an expansion of medical places at existing schools. This will mean an additional 1000 doctors being trained a year. It means that by 2005 there will be a 20% increase in medical student intake. There are now 10,000 more nurses than there were two years ago. Another ten thousand will be recruited in the next two years. There has been a 24% increase in the numbers taking up nurse degree courses this year. Applications for midwifery training have risen by 50%. Part of the problem is that nurses are leaving the profession. By offering flexible, family-friendly employment packages, extending and improving investment in lifeline learning and professional development and reducing assaults on staff. These changes have resulted in 5000 former nurses returning to the profession. Doctors and Nurses pay has actually increased. When Labour came to power we honoured the recommendations of the independent pay review body on nurses and doctors pay in full and without staging for the first time for five years. On the specific matter of junior doctors pay the Government has announced a 3.3% increase in the basic pay. The agreement with the Junior Doctors Committee about the framework of a new pay structure will, in the first year from October 2000, add about 6% to junior doctors' pay. This could mean that the pay of a first year Senior House Officer working a maximum 56 hours in a busy post could rise from �29,180 today to �34,450 in October 2000. 5. What is happening in schools? Education spending will have increased by almost �10 billion a year by 2001-02. I recognise that teachers suffer a heavy burden that is why the Government plans to increase the number of teaching assistants by 20,000 posts by the year 2002. Teachers have received an above inflation pay increase every year since the election of the Labour Government. The pay structure has also been changed to reward some teachers and head teachers even more. Teachers who are successful at the performance threshold will receive individual salary increases of between 10% and 12% 6. Why did the Government abolish the Married Couples Allowance? The Married Couple's Allowance supported neither children nor marriage. It was not in fact restricted to marriage, nor restricted to couples, nor was it strictly an allowance. It was a tax credit paid at the same flat rate to married couples - with or without children - single parents and unmarried parents living together. The system was so confused that, perversely, it could be paid at twice the rate in the year of separation or divorce. So it hardly encouraged marriage! The previous Conservative Government had already begun to phase out the married couple's allowance. Michael Portillo, when he was a Treasury minister, described it an "anomaly". This Government has shifted support for families away from the MCA to extra help for families with children. So, we've introduced a record increase in child benefit, the Working Families Tax Credit, the Child Care Tax Credit and from next April the Children's Tax Credit. We've also cut the basic rate of tax and introduced the 10p-starting rate. These measures recognise the extra expense involved in bringing up children and mean those families with children should be significantly better off despite the abolition of the MCA. 7. Do you think MPs are paid too much? I do not believe that MPs should be paid more. MPs receive a salary of roughly �48,000 a year. Although less than in most developed countries, that is perfectly adequate. In addition to this they can apply for an Office Costs Allowance of up to �51,000 a year. This is not paid to the MP, but is held by the Parliamentary Fees Office to be claimed against office expenses. Out of the Office Costs Allowance MPs have to pay the cost of running their offices: their staff salaries, the rent and all the bills on their constituency offices, their office equipment - from computers to filing cabinets, stationery etc. The work of an MP has changed dramatically since the days when they would hand write a few letters a week and make the odd speech. I receive over 300 letters and hundreds of phone calls and e-mails every week. My constituents expect and deserve a swift and efficient service. MPs, in general, pay their staff poorly. Few receive a salary that reflects their qualifications, experience or the hours they put in. My view is that Parliament should decide on the appropriate level of staff support for MPs - say two, which is the general minimum at the moment. But then MPs' staff should be put on proper parliamentary civil service rates and paid directly by the Fees Office rather than by MPs. The Office Costs Allowance should then be cut accordingly.