David Tredinnick congratulated the Home Secretary in the House of Commons on the introduction of elected police commissioners but raised the question of a possible conflict of interest:

 26 July 2010:

Policing in the 21st Century

David Tredinnick MP: I congratulate my right hon. Friend on going for it and introducing directly elected commissioners. They have been very successful in other parts of the world, particularly the United States. However, has she thought about the situation that might arise if a directly elected commissioner had one policy and she had another, based on the national interest? How would that situation be resolved?

The Home Secretary, Mrs May: I thank my hon. Friend for raising that prospect. One of the purposes of directly elected commissioners is to be responsive to local needs. Of course it will be necessary to ensure that the collaboration between police forces that I referred to earlier can be undertaken when necessary, and that will also involve ensuring that national policing issues are addressed properly. However, it is not the Home Secretary who should determine what happens in regard to local policing – which is what happened under the Labour Government – but the directly elected commissioners.

David Tredinnick has welcomed the action of the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles MP, in today abolishing the bureaucracy of regional planning and revoking the red tape of Regional Strategies that envelop councils across England.

In a letter to the Bosworth MP, Eric Pickles wrote, “John Prescott’s legacy of Regional Strategies added unnecessary bureaucracy to the planning system. They were a failure. They were expensive and time-consuming. They alienated people, pitting them against development instead of encouraging people to build in their local area. It is no surprise that house building is now at its lowest peacetime rate since 1924.

“Our new planning system will be clear, efficient and will put greater power in the hands of local people, rather than unelected regional bodies. Labour’s central and regional targets will be replaced with powerful incentives so that people see the benefits of building. This will ensure that those councils which take action now to back and support the construction of new homes will receive direct and substantial benefit from their actions.

“Because we are committed to building more homes, introducing these incentives will be a priority and we aim to do so early in the Spending Review period. We will consult on the detail later this year. These incentives will encourage councils and communities to increase their aspirations for housing and economic growth, and to deliver sustainable development in keeping with the wishes of local villages, towns and cities.

“Moving forward, we will make it easier for local councils, working with their communities, to agree and amend local plans in a way that maximises the involvement of neighbourhoods.

“The final nail in the coffin of Regional Strategies will require legislation in the Localism Bill which we are introducing later this year. However, given the clear Coalition commitment to abolish Regional Strategies, it is important to avoid a period of uncertainty over planning policy, until the final legislation is enacted. So I am revoking Regional Strategies today in order to give clarity to local residents, developers and planners.”

David Tredinnick said, “I welcome the Secretary of State’s move to abolish Regional Strategies and allow more long-term planning decisions to be made at a local level as this was an important Conservative Party manifesto commitment at the General Election and very much a key issue in my constituency. 

“Here in Hinckley and Bosworth many residents are unhappy at the Borough Council’s indecent haste to identify housing and travellers’ sites as part of Labour’s flawed planning process and the new Government has now given the Council an opportunity to draw back from their unacceptable proposals to develop Greenfield land in many areas of the Borough.”

David Tredinnick MP has signed an early day motion asking the Government to implement a package of policies aimed at helping to secure the future of viable and well-run community pubs. 

The motion, which is inspired by the Campaign for Real Ale’s Beer Drinkers and Pub Goers Charter, has the support of MPs from all sides of the House of Commons.  

David Tredinnick said, “I’m a long time supporter of CAMRA’s campaign to promote and protect public houses and it really is a crying shame that so many communities have lost their local pubs in recent years.

“In many areas well-run pubs are truly at the heart of the community and that is particularly so in many of the rural villages in my constituency.  It is important that we keep these pubs thriving for the benefit of the local community.”

David Tredinnick, MP for Bosworth, has been elected by other Conservative MPs to serve on the influential Commons Health Select Committee.

David Tredinnick said: “The Health Select Committee will be one of the most important in this Parliament because of the changes proposed by the Coalition and the fact that the Health budget is ring-fenced”.

He continued: “I hope the committee will look at commissioning of health services, costs and choice for patients.   That I was elected, as a well known campaigner for integrated healthcare including herbal medicine, acupuncture and homeopathy, shows that new Members in Parliament support this approach”.

“I also welcome the Rt. Hon. Stephen Dorrell MP’s election as Chairman.  Leicestershire will have a very strong voice on this committee”.

For the first time, MPs are voting to elect MPs on Select Committees.  

Each political party votes for candidates for the number of spaces allocated to that party with the exception of the Chairman who is elected in a ballot of all MPs.   In the past, Members were appointed by Party Whips.