Column: Gideon Amos MP on affordable housing in Taunton

As Lib Dem spokesperson for housing, I’m proud of our ambition for new council and social housing – 150,000 per year goes way beyond the government’s aim to create only 20,000 social homes per year.

Fine houses in Addison Grove in Taunton show what Liberals in government like William Addison and Lloyd George achieved when they invented the first national programme of council housing after the First World War.

Where the government are going wrong today is imposing planning permissions for private houses (that most can’t afford) on local people and councillors who often cannot refuse them, as doing so could land the council with a reversed decision and costs awarded against it by a government inspector.

Gareth Williams’ petition in Wellington is exactly the right approach – no new housing without the GPs, school places and other infrastructure which needs to go with it.

The closure of Luson Surgery in the town prompted me to immediately press Somerset NHS and practice managers to ensure more GPs were recruited, and it was really good to hear that Wellington Medical Centre is taking on five more GPs.

This should mean Wellington gets a net increase in the number of doctors, which will be fantastic for the town, but many more GPs – and more pharmacies – are needed elsewhere.

Similarly, following the 2,000 people who took part in my dental survey, it’s great that Wellington is now getting a new NHS dental surgery.

But the fact that it is already fully booked emphasises how much more is needed.

Magicians could be part of the answer – bear with me.

I’ve teamed up with the Magic Dentist charity, which uses conjurers in schools to teach about dental hygiene and prevention through magic, tricks that the children learn and perform at home for their families.

As well as pushing for a new NHS dental contract so we get many more dentists, I’m delighted to report that we have persuaded local dental practices to fund this project in two local primary schools, with hopefully many more to come.

In an era where dental decay is the biggest cause of hospital admissions for children under nine, prevention has never been more vital.

Another big issue for children locally, and across the country, is education provision, especially for those with special educational needs and disabilities, whose numbers have increased since the pandemic.

I will be standing side by side with parents on Monday as they protest for a better system of support.

At present, Somerset Council spends £2 out of every £3 of its income on care for children and adults and, with capped income, it quite simply cannot fund the necessary provision.

We need a national government approach to care and to special needs education so councils can get back to what they do best, working for local people.

The Labour government seem about to announce changes but that in itself is cause for massive concern.

As Lib Dems, we have written to the Education Secretary demanding children’s rights to SEND assessment and support must be maintained; that capacity in state special provision must be increased, alongside improvements to inclusive mainstream provision; that local authorities must be supported better to fund SEND services; that early identification must be improved, and that schools must be incentivised to accept SEND pupils.

Privatisation under the Conservatives has meant a broken council system while, often, overseas shareholders profit in millions of pounds from disabled children – that cannot be right.

On the positive side, one innovative approach I am supporting is Taunton’s new SEND café, which opens this Saturday, a place run by and for parents and children to come and get advice, support and sometimes just to chat.

Enormous congratulations to Taunton’s Claire Naylor, who works tirelessly to support SEND families.

Let’s hope the government listens to parents like Claire and does the right thing by our children.