Rutland and Stamford MP Alicia Kearns on devolution, Anglian Water’s pipeline work, flood prevention and independent shops

Thank you everyone who came to my public meetings to discuss the future of Rutland, writes Stamford and Rutland MP Alicia Kearns.

The government’s proposals to abolish district councils and small unitaries, like Rutland County Council, is the most significant change to how we receive our local services in 50 years.

Rutlanders have been unanimous, we cannot lose our identity: our ceremonial status must be protected at all costs. It was fantastic to hear from so many of you so passionate about our future. From the straw polls it is evident residents want a say, support an alternative proposal being submitted, and absolutely do not wish to join one all-of-Leicestershire and Rutland unitary authority.

Ultimately decisions on the future of our wonderful county sit with your local councillors and the secretary of state – I urge all of you to please write to your councillor and the leader of Rutland County Council with your views and priorities before their meeting on February 11. This decision should be one for our entire county, not just the leader of the council. Just as other councils have given every councillor a vote, I hope Rutland’s leader will think again and make sure all Rutlanders, or at the minimum, all councillors, get a say.

For residents across our Lincolnshire villages, we have some good news – Anglian Water will restart pipeline works between Grantham and Peterborough early than planned. By bringing together local farmers and landowners we were able to convince Anglian Water that our communities could not put up with landscapes and food-growing land being left in the state they were.

After a productive meeting with the CEO of Anglian Water, we can breathe a sigh of relief that the wait won’t be as long as previously expected – although I await the exact dates.

In Tallington we also have good news - Network Rail has begun the much-needed work to prevent the village from future flooding which is a great relief, thank you Philip Sagar and the parish council for all your work.

I have been out and about across our communities as much as my health challenges will allow me. I’ve held surgeries with residents from Irnham, Bulby, Kirkby Underwood, Burton Le Coggles, across Rutland and Swayfield – where I also attended a lovely coffee morning. It was great to listen to residents on the issues that matter to them, such as the A1 and flooding.

I also had a lovely meeting with the wonderful team at Browne’s Hospital in Stamford hearing the work they do to support those living in the Almshouse and to preserve this beautiful site at the heart of Stamford.

Thank you to everyone who voted for Rutland and Stamford’s Favourite Independent Shop – over 4,000 of you voted! The awards are my small way of celebrating our fantastic independent, local shops and everything that you do for our communities. Votes are currently being counted and the winners will be announced this month – keep an eye out to see if any of your favourite shops will win and please shop locally!

Nationally, many of us will remember the heartbreaking murder of Isabella Wheildon, a lovely two-year-old killed by her mum’s boyfriend following 36 days of abuse. After her murder they visited the pub and pushed her lifeless body around the shops in a pram for days.

I believe the sentences of his mum (10 years) and her boyfriend (26 years) were insufficient so I referred them to the Solicitor General to be reviewed as unduly lenient. I’m grateful to the Solicitor General for part-accepting my request, and now the Court of Appeal will review Isabella’s mum’s sentence for whether it was unduly lenient. I hope better justice will be served, that’s the least we can do for Isabella.