I was delighted to open the 2006 Access in Safety conference at the Park Hotel in Diss recently.

The conference, organised by local campaigner Michael Flounders, aimed to raise awareness by businesses and public bodies about their responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Mr Flounders encourages disability groups to work alongside businesses to find common ground, rather than lecture them on what they need to do.

An impressive number of community organisations and businesses came along including major high-street names.

The vast majority of businesses, whether local shops or retail giants, want to do the best they can to help disabled people use their services.

Congratulations to Mr Flounders on his refreshing approach. I wish him every success with his campaign.

Save our community hospitals

All Hallows Hospital in Ditchingham hosted an open evening earlier this month and I was delighted to attend.
All Hallows is a highly respected and well-equipped cottage hospital, financed largely by the generosity of local people. I never cease to be impressed by its unique atmosphere of healing and peace.

However, the county's health funding crisis has hit All Hallows, with the local NHS looking to make savings of £174,000 by cutting the number of beds bought from the hospital. This is clearly at odds with the Government's promised investment of £750 million into community hospitals.

In my opinion it's a ridiculous state of affairs.
Local health bosses are saying they cannot afford community hospitals, just as the Department of Health is saying it wants more of them.

I have asked Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to sort this situation out as soon as possible.

Flood defences

There can be little doubt the River Waveney is one of the most picturesque stretches of water in the county.
However, should the Waveney flood, parts of Diss, Harleston and villages along the banks of the river could be placed at risk.

Flooding can wreck homes and businesses with frightening speed. It is the job of the Environment Agency to protect homes in the Waveney Valley from flooding.

However, because of mismanagement elsewhere in Government, cuts are being made in the agency's maintenance budget for flood defences.

Flood defences that are not properly maintained will fail. The National Audit Office will soon be looking at the Environment Agency's efforts to tackle flood risks and, in the meantime, I have tabled questions in the House of Commons to find out how deep these cuts will bite.