I TOOK part in a debate on flood prevention on the River Severn last week and it gave me an opportunity to thank the Government for what has been done to protect parts of Bewdley and Kidderminster from flooding.

It made a change after my criticisms of matters related to national and local health services. I believe that the bund across Puxton Marsh has made it virtually impossible for the centre of Kidderminster to be flooded and we have seen how effective the demountable defences are in Bewdley.

The temporary pallet defences for part of the Wribbenhall side of the river at Bewdley have been shown to be effective elsewhere and so now that the work on sewers and drains has been completed, the pallet defences will be deployed at the first threat of flooding.

I am aware that there are still many properties at risk of flooding including vital parts of Stourport. I made a plea that householders who had made the effort to make their properties as resistant as possible to damage from floods should get some benefit in return from their insurance companies.

Hopefully the detailed flood maps now available will make it easier for people selling houses to show that even if they are in a flood risk postcode, their property is not at risk.

A constituent has been very disappointed that an application to become a magistrate has been turned down because of age. It is worth noting that magistrates can only be appointed before the age of 65 even though they can work until they are 70.

The appointment process may take as long as 12 months and so anyone hoping to become a magistrate after retirement, should apply at least two years before they actually retire.

I attended a meeting on the new regional Fire Control Centres. The worries expressed to me have been about redundancies and about the risks of relying entirely on extensive new computer technology.

I was reassured that compulsory redundancies are going to be small in numbers and that the computer technology is already in use successfully in some parts of the country.

I do understand the benefits of regional Fire Control Centres but the same would not work for ambulance services and although I am not opposing the merger of Ambulance Trusts throughout the Midlands, I have made it quite clear that local state-of-the-art ambulance controls like ours at Bransford must be retained.

At a meeting to discuss promotion of our many tourist attractions I heard that restoration of the Lichfield basin of the Stourport docks is on track to be re-flooded in about 12 months. This will be a very exciting development and prove that the promotion of Stourport is a reality that is actually happening.

I do hope everyone has a peaceful and happy Christmas.