Getting life back to normal after the flooding

I am sure we are all grateful to Electricity North West who worked against vast damage to get us back on the grid six days later.

I have been working with Government to ensure the bridge in Gressingham is repaired and any other funding we need for repair is there. Last Monday I brought the rebuilding of Gressingham Bridge up with Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Greg Clark in questions and he said: “I would indeed Mr Speaker, and I acknowledge the leadership that he has given in and with his community in responding to the conditions that have been faced there.

“We are absolutely determined to make sure things are put right with the greatest dispatch.

“We are working very closely with the authorities across the area, and the funds that have been made available so far will allow the assessment of what is required for restoration to be made, but then that will be followed with the repairs themselves.”

As part of my Christmas visit to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, I was able to meet staff who had kept the hospital working during the power outages. The hospital was on generator for the whole period and I was able to speak with the facilities team who had kept the generator up and running.

I heard from teams who had been picked up by the army and taken to work and some who were a little disappointed as they had walked in over the footbridge!

I also met the senior staff who managed the major incident and we talked about lessons learned from the weekend which I will be feeding back to the relevant agencies.

I also met a student nurse James on ward 37 who came in and helped all weekend. Thank you to all staff at the RLI you are brilliant!