MP Dan: ‘Disaster movie on our doorstep’

PICTURES and footage from the recent heatwave more closely resemble a disaster movie than a typical British summer’s day.

For the first time on record temperatures exceeded 40C in the UK and ignited lethal wildfires causing a major incident to be declared in South Yorkshire.

Our heroic emergency services worked under immense pressure in extreme conditions to put out fires across our region, including here in Barnsley.

My heartfelt thanks go to every frontline worker and the control staff who worked flat out to ensure every incident was responded to.

In one day alone, South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue received 2,100 calls and attended 228 separate incidents.

Everyone in Barnsley could see the scale of the challenge. The intensity of the work hospitalised some firefighters with heat exhaustion. I know residents across the borough share my immense gratitude for their selfless service.

Pressures aren’t only being felt by our fire service, but right across our public services.

Worryingly, A and E attendance at Barnsley Hospital is currently above the national average, meaning staff are working around the clock to deliver the care patients need. Our frontline workers are firing on all cylinders, but after the huge pressures of the public health crisis, many of them are close to burnout.

Barnsley was hit hard by the pandemic. Together we faced lockdowns and many of us lost loved ones. The sacrifice and the pain residents have endured will always be remembered, but so too should the resolve of those who pulled us through – not least our NHS workers, carers and school staff. Too often taken for granted but whose true value was there for all to see during our darkest hour.

No one would disagree that they should be paid a decent wage, not least with the spiralling cost-of-living crisis. Instead of a pay rise, last week the government offered a real terms pay cut. I know the impact this is having on healthcare staff.

One NHS worker in Barnsley with over two decades’ service contacted me to say 63 per cent of the meagre pay rise she received went back into the Treasury’s coffers because she was on Universal Credit.

Not only is it a kick in the teeth, it is a decision that will only worsen the current staffing crisis and the longterm effect could be severely detrimental to our local services.

Public sector pay is lagging behind the private sector, and our frontline workers have already battled more than a decade of pay restraint. It cannot continue. It’s why I led a debate in Parliament to call for a pay rise for our frontline workers, and for the mileage rates for NHS staff to be reviewed and car parking fees scrapped.

These are the men and women that ran into burning buildings without hesitation, who kept the school doors open for the most vulnerable students in the pandemic and who held the hands of our loved ones in their final moments when we couldn’t. The harder it got, the harder they tried.

Our public sector workers deserve a pay rise that reflects not only the costof-living crisis, but their true value to wider society. I’ll keep pushing for this in Parliament until they get what they deserve.