I’m back to London on Monday after spending this New Year week in Truro and Falmouth. I’ve spent the time getting out and about and meeting many of the people I have wanted to but haven’t been able to, due to spending my Mondays to Thursdays in London.

At the weekend I went to Bissoe and met a large number of the residents who are concerned about the safety of the road that goes through their village. The road currently has a 30mph limit. They would like it to go down to 20mph, but there is a Highways proposal to actually raise the limit for part of the road to 40mph. I walked the road with them. It’s right on the national cycle route and is used by children walking to the school bus as well as horses, so I couldn’t see the sense in the proposals. Decisions on roads are made by Highways and are not something MPs have any hand in, but there is always a statutory consultation before traffic regulations are changed so that local people can feed in and be considered.

I also went out in Falmouth, way past my bedtime, with ‘Feet on the Streets’ who are a group of volunteers from Churches Together who give up their time to go out at night in town and basically take care of people who need it. We have a thriving nighttime economy in Falmouth and there are often people who need help getting home, some water, a chat or even sweets. There are also people who are homeless on our streets. As the cold weather arrives, it’s even more important that we get support to them. If you see someone sleeping rough use thestreetlink.org.uk to get help directed to them. The government has recently earmarked £1-billion to help break the cycle of spiralling homelessness and Cornwall’s homelessness grant will rise to £10.75-million. More resources will be available for workers on the frontline who get rough sleepers off the street and into secure housing as well as seeing more homeless families out of temporary accommodation.

So, if you need a hand or someone safe to help you next time you’re in town, then look for the volunteers in purple high viz.

I’ve also been to look at the work going on to improve the Royal Cornwall Museum, I’ve been over to the Roseland, I’ve been to see our new MP constituency office which is (hopefully) finally to be opening in Truro shortly and I even got to see the fantastic Jack and the Beanstalk pantomime at Hall for Cornwall.

Of the six milestones Keir Starmer announced before Christmas, one was cutting hospital backlogs. There is now some progress on getting back to this with waiting lists coming down slightly and cancer treatment waits in Cornwall improving. However ambulance and handover delays are still high and this is something I want to draw attention to so that Cornwall’s NHS gets the support that it needs.

Jayne Kirkham

Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth