HE’S ON HIS WAY
SOUTHPORT & FORMBY
16 December 2020
Trust to receive £458k to carry out improvements at hospital sites THE Health Secretary has announced hospital staff, patients and visitors in hospitals which are part of the Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospital Trust will benefit from refurbished wards, new electrics and upgraded ventilation systems. The government has announced allocations of £600 million to tackle critical maintenance work in hospitals across England, including nine projects in Southport & Ormskirk NHS Hospital Trust. The Trust will receive £458,000 to carry out the work, which could include building new or refurbishing buildings to deliver key services, upgrades to electrical infrastructure, improvements to ventilation systems, works to improve fire safety and the replacement of hospital lifts. The work will be completed by March 2021. Trusts were provided an initial allocation based on need and were asked to put forward suitable projects that would deliver maximum impact and the best value for money and could be completed by March 2021. The money is part of a £1.5 billion announced by the Prime Minister in the summer to level up hospital infrastructure across the NHS. While £600 million will be spent on these critical maintenance upgrades, the remainder will be spent on modernising mental health facilities, expanding A&E capacity and improving infection control ahead of winter. Cont. p3
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HO HO HO
BRITANNIA HOTELS SLAMMED FOR ‘DOING UNTOLD DAMAGE TO RESORT REPUT REPUTAATION ATION’ Report by Danielle Thompson THE company which owns two of Southport’s biggest hotels as well as Pontins in Ainsdale, has been voted the worst hotel chain in Britain for the eighth year running. The ‘accolade’ prompted Southport MP Damien Moore to tell Parliament that Britannia Hotels must improve its ‘truly appalling record’ as it is ‘doing untold damage to the resort’s reputation’. Britannia was named Britain’s worst hotel chain for the eighth year running by Which? Magazine earlier this month. The company owns Pontins holiday park in Ainsdale in addition to The Scarisbrick Hotel and The Prince Of Wales Hotel on Lord Street in Southport town centre. The MP asked for ‘urgent action to be taken’ when he raised the issue in Parliament with Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden MP. Mr Moore aid: “Britannia Hotels has been voted, for the eighth year in a row, the UK’s worst hotel chain. This is doing untold damage to resort constituencies like mine in Southport. What does my Right Honourable Friend have to say about this truly appalling record?” Oliver Dowden MP said the issue is something he
Company voted the worst hotel chain in Britain for eighth year running - now town’s ’’s MP calls for urgent action to be taken on its ‘‘truly appalling record’
is taking “a close interest in”. He said: “Well my Right Honourable Friend is absolutely right to raise concerns about the management and cleanliness practises of sites owned by Britannia Hotels and he has also raised it with me in private. “I know that in November my Right Honourable Friend the Minister for Sport, Heritage and Tourism met with them, he has again been in contact with them yesterday to raise these concerns. Of course local authorities have the appropriate
powers to deal with this but this is something I am taking a very close interest in.” Mr Moore is among six MPs representing areas where Pontins are located who are pressing for change. The MPs have held a meeting with the Minister for Sport, Tourism and Heritage, Nigel Huddleston to discuss a range of issues at the sites and possible solutions. Continued on page 3
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