Christmas Adjournment

Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for giving me the chance to speak in this year's Christmas Adjournment debate. I will touch on several issues affecting my constituents, the first of which is the recent announcement on the future of post offices. The Post Office put forward for closure three post offices in my Cleethorpes constituency, which were located in Barton-upon-Humber, Ashby cum Fenby and Habrough. Following the consultation exercise, it has said that all three branches will close. The response that was sent to Members of Parliament following the consultation was incredibly poor. Despite the objections, the reasons given for proceeding with each of the three closures were very scant. The proposed closure of Habrough post office generated the greatest opposition, yet the response was simply along the lines of, ““We have received objections and considered the issues regarding travel, and we don't see any particular problem.”” There is a problem, however, and the Habrough decision was based on wrong information, because people simply cannot get a return bus journey to the nearest post office, which is in the town of Immingham. The objectors had pointed that out—I even phoned this week to point it out. What really worried me was being told that even if the Post Office had based its decision on wrong information, that would not prevent the closure. There was meant to be a consultation. If it is a proper consultation, there should be mechanisms for raising such points. When the closures in north Lincolnshire were announced, one post office in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Brigg and Goole (Mr. Cawsey)—a neighbouring MP—which was not even included in the original proposals was suddenly put forward for closure. On investigation, we were informed that because certain other post offices had been saved, it was decided that a few more post offices would be lobbed into the mix to be considered for closure, to make up the numbers. If there is to be consultation, it has to be proper consultation. When I heard that explanation of what is happening in a neighbouring constituency, it made me doubt whether objections were considered carefully and properly across the board. I shall now move on to the subject of fire stations. To add insult to injury, at the end of last week Humberside fire authority announced various changes to the service that it provides. Two of the proposals affect Cleethorpes constituency. The first proposal is that the retained fire station at Waltham be closed and taken out of service in 2008-09, and the second is that services at the Immingham West fire station be reduced by one engine in 2009-10. Obviously I am sad about the announcement, and not just because I recall opening that fire station not that many years ago. Cleethorpes is lovely; it is a wonderful east coast resort, but the constituency is far more than the coastal town. The Humber bank is one of the biggest industrial areas in the country. Residents of Immingham have around them two oil refineries, power stations and docks, not to mention the numerous factories on the banks of the river. All those are dangerous high-risk sites. That is why Immingham has specialised fire stations at either end of the town. Accidents happen. There was an explosion at one of the refineries a few years ago. Anybody who can think back further will remember, in the same area, the Flixborough disaster. People are very conscious of such things. They remember those events. The fire station's engine was called out only four times in a year, but that is not the point. The point is that one of those occasions could be a major incident. People will remember what happened at Buncefield; around Immingham there are similar oil storage facilities. It would be wrong to reduce the number of engines at the Immingham West station. I have a proposal to put to the fire authority in the consultation. It is not ideal, but I am throwing it into the mix. If the authority insists on going ahead with the removal of an engine, thus causing a loss of jobs at the Immingham West station, rather than having a specialised unit, could we possibly have a retained crew at that fire station? That would at least give the town some cover, and it would offer some peace of mind to residents of the area. The fire and rescue service in my constituency has done a marvellous job in recent months. Like many others in that part of the country, it was affected by the flooding in the summer. Everybody saw the pictures of Hull, across the river. There was severe flooding in my constituency, too, but it did not appear much on the national news. However, even now residents are living in caravans. They face Christmas in a caravan because repairs and refurbishments are still under way. One of the towns affected was Immingham. The fire and rescue service did a marvellous job, not only with Immingham residents but with Goxhill, Barrow upon Humber and around the area. People are sensitive. When they suffered from the floods, the fire service helped out. They are surrounded by industry—including high-risk industry—yet they are going to lose a fire engine. Waltham fire station is being suggested for total closure, too. It is a retained station that serves a population of some 20,000—the whole southern part of my constituency, which is very rural. It had 200 calls in the past year, and costs about £60,000 to run. I would say that it is a cost-effective station. I would like the fire authority to reconsider. Another subject that I shall touch on briefly is police pay. Like all other Members of Parliament, I have received a great many e-mails from serving officers in my constituency. I understand why the Government have decided to stage the increase: we do not want inflationary pay rises. That is the reason being given. We can look back to the boom and bust economies of the past to see the impact that that can have, and how pay rises can be wiped out. I understand where the Government are coming from. However, in my heart, part of me says that if a deal has been struck through arbitration we should do our best to meet that deal. The Government have said that they will stage the increase, and I do not think there will be much movement on that. However, in order to restore the faith of serving police officers I want my hon. Friend the Deputy Leader of the House to take back the message that even if we are not going to do something about the pay as it is, can we not do anything else? What other good-will gesture can we make to say thank you for the marvellous job that police officers do? Like other Members, Mr. Deputy Speaker, I would like to wish you and everybody else a most wonderful Christmas and a very peaceful new year—and I hope that everybody will have a couple of days off from relentless casework.