Dorset County Hospital Emergency Department (ED) currently treats twice as many patients as it was designed for. Richard and fellow West Dorset MP Chris Loder are backing a new, £60 million plus proposal for a new ED, Critical Care Unit (CCU) and helipad, which the Government will decide on in July 2024. WIth a green light, the new ED and CCU should open in 2027. DCH Maternity and paediatric services are also still running at Dorset County Hospital with every intention to retain them and no plans for change. This follows a passionate campaign to save Dorset County Hospital's Kingfisher Ward and SCBU.
As a member of the f40 group, which represents the lowest funded local authorities in England, Richard has backed the fairer schools funding campaign since he was elected in 2010. This is aimed at ending the historic inequity whereby inner city schoolchildren were allotted almost twice the amount per capita as rural children, with Dorset particularly hard hit. With the new, National Funding Formula, the process of levelling up began but the campaign continues. Richard believes more fairness is still needed and has helped to secure an additional £42 million for special educational needs and disability (SEND) provision in Dorset.
A new, much-needed special school on Portland is planned and he looks forward to that being finally confirmed.
Richard has consistently championed Weymouth in its bid for flood protection. Most recently, he was instrumental in winning £19.5 million in levelling up funding towards long term regeneration and redevelopment of the town. Along with his fellow Dorset MPs, he also pressed for additional funding in the most recent budget settlement, leading to a further £4m grant.
After a September 2017 meeting where Richard brought together the DEFRA minister and senior council members, there was a series of awards to Weymouth included £1.2m for harbour wall improvements and £2.8 million in Flood Defence Grant.
In March 2019, the DCLG announced £3.79 million from the Coastal Communities Fund for the Weymouth Quay Regeneration Project, while the Coastal Revival Fund also announced £40,000 for the Friends of Swanage Bandstand restoration and £46,150 for the Portland Museum.
As the sole provider of further education in the constituency, Weymouth College is vital to the future hopes of many of South Dorset's young people. Richard has backed and encouraged the College's thriving apprenticeship programme since he was first elected. He teamed up with the College to create the first Apprenticeship Fair in 2014 and continues to speak at the annual Apprenticeship Week event. Currently, Richard is supporting Weymouth College's bid to merge with Kingston Maurward College in Dorchester. Following a public consultation, final submissions will be made mid-May. If the proposal gets the green light to go ahead, the decision will be made by August 1, 2024
Since he was first elected, Richard has consistently spoken up for the police, supporting increased funding and more 'bobbies on the beat'.
Dorset has been traditionally underfunded and the large, rural county is notoriously hard to police, with most of the population centred in towns to the east.
Richard pressed for and supports the part-time reopening of the police help desk in Swanage. Another for Portland is in the works, with more planned. However, Richard will continue to push for fully manned, full-time police desks across the constituency.
Richard continues to campaign for a new, improved service from Weymouth to London via Yeovil Junction and Salisbury, which should shave at least 30 minutes off the total journey time from Waterloo to Weymouth.
However, for now, the British government has suspended the rail franchise system as the disruption from the coronavirus pandemic has hit passenger numbers hard. The Department for Transport announced in March 2020 that it was temporarily ending normal franchise agreements and transferring all revenue and cost risk to the government. Operators continue to run services day to day for a small management fee under an “emergency measures agreement”.
