As an MP, I get many requests for help from Wyre Forest residents.

When I was first elected, I chose to spend the greater part of my staff allowance in Kidderminster, reasoning that the money given to MPs is an asset to the Wyre Forest community and that it should be spent on helping the community.

So for the last six years, my office has handled over 5,000 individual pieces of casework, helping individual constituents with a range of problems from those that are simple to resolve, to very complex issues ranging from international law to complex medical issues. In addition, we have put on job fairs, business fairs and we are looking at further ideas for events that can help the communities of Wyre Forest. And finally we look at bigger issues such as the effects of Severn Trent laying a new pipeline from Stourport to Birmingham and how this will affect communities such as Wilden when the pipe is being laid. All of these are important to those affected and in the case of a pipeline being laid, the uncertainty for the village is immense, with a range of technical legal compensation claims that need to be managed.

The latest problem affecting a community also concerns Severn Trent and affects Button Oak and Pound Green. For a number of technical reasons, these villages suffer from poor water pressure and this means that the residents have been struggling with water supply problems for a number of years. In an extreme case, a small brush fire turned into a big problem because the farmer, who was perfectly capable of keeping it under control, had no water and the fire brigade found that after they had used their pump water, there was no pressure in the water mains to give them extra water to extinguish the fire. All was resolved safely, but this shows just how significant poor water supply can be, over and above the basics of living.

I spent some time with both the residents and Severn Trent recently and the process of sorting out the problem is under way. For me, as an MP, it is easy to get things done – certainly easier than for most members of the public. So my appeal to everyone is please don’t suffer in silence or struggle fighting an impenetrable bureaucracy. If you have a problem, please get in touch and we will do our best to resolve it fast.

CONTACT YOUR MP

Email: mark.garnier.mp@parliament.uk

Telephone: 020 7219 7198 or 01562 746771

Write: 9a Lower Mill Street, Kidderminster, DY11 6UU, or House of Commons, Westminster, London