Very pleased to be selected as the East Suffolk Council representative to the Suffolk Coastal Disability Forum, and I attended my first meeting in that capacity on the 9th July at Woodbridge Leisure Centre.

Topics discussed were wide ranging, from online fraud & cyber crime, assistance for less able voters at Polling Stations, through to discussing various transport options within our region. I didn’t know that only one of the platforms at Needham Market station is wheelchair accessible, so if you want to travel in the alternative direction, Network Rail and the train operators insist you must travel one stop in the ‘wrong’ direction, then get off the train, swap platforms at Stowmarket, then get the train back through Needham Market, adding up to an additional 30 minutes to journey times. We are lobbying to get this farcial situation changed as swiftly as possible.

Assistance at Polling Stations – I have taken ownership of this, and have scheduled meetings with the elections team at East Suffolk Council, and will report back at the next Disability Forum with confirmations of the guidelines set out by the Council, and their processes to ensure these are cascaded to all Polling Stations across our district to ensure that there is a consistent level of service that complies with UK electoral law in time for the next round of voting.