I am in the middle of an incredibly busy month, trying to visit and talk to as many stakeholders as I possibly can. I’m travelling the length and breadth of the constituency and using the likes of Facebook to keep people updated on what I am doing and where I am going. It is not unreasonable to say that demands for my time considerably outstrip hours in a working day, so late nights and early mornings on the laptop answering emails and calls have become the norm.
There seems to be a huge pent-up demand for support and I’m getting people contacted as quickly as I can. Add to this mix the fact that I’m desperately trying to recruit a local team to support me with this work, it’s not surprising that I have to adopt a triage system on the casework that is coming in. I am pleased to confirm that by the middle of September I will have at least three fulltime staff in place to help me. But the triage system is indicative of the state of things that we have inherited from the Conservatives. So much is broken. We are working on fixing as much as we can.
But it will take time and for some people they cannot wait. So, we employ ‘Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs’ when triaging casework – that means that cases where people are currently starving or in imminent danger of losing their homes will get the highest priority. People with health or security issues come next and then onwards and upwards up the needs pyramid to those people at the top who want to make a perfectly valid comment about the state of society or their support for or dislike of a particular policy. We will get round to answering those queries but I’m hopeful that those people will understand that our immediate focus has to be on those at the bottom of the pyramid.
I promise you that we are working as quickly as we can to get to you and to support you. I am meeting police chiefs, housing services, food banks, support services and mental health teams. I’m meeting housing developers, business people, community project organisers, children’s services providers. I’m meeting politicians, campaigners, voluntary sector staff and regulators. I am meeting health workers, nurses, GPs and care workers. I am also running Friday evening doorstep surgeries and Saturday sit down face to face surgeries across Camborne, Redruth and Hayle.
I made a commitment and repeated it many times on the doorstep before the election that, if elected, I would not hide away behind a computer or spend all my time in London. Inevitably during the normal working week most of my time has to be in London. But I am rapidly building a local team and will not stop getting out into the community to meet, talk and most importantly listen to constituents, face to face. The work has only just begun.
Perran Moon
Labour MP for Camborne & Redruth