This will be my last column before Christmas, I shall be spending most of it at home in Walsall. I am certain my telephone will ring with people requesting information or assistance and I shall be making visits throughout the constituency. I always pay tribute to those many Walsall people who will be spending much of the Christmas and New Year period at work. I’m thinking in particular of the Police, Fire and Ambulance Services, those working in the Health Service, the Entertainment and Sporting Industry, transport and many others. To them I want to say thank you very much for what you are about to do.

The government published last week a very important report on Cancer Services. Despite considerable improvement in prevention and treatment, which is reflected in much better statistics in terms of those surviving, the situation is simply not good enough. The new strategy will place greater emphasis on prevention and as such the Government will look at how to make progress in helping people to quit smoking.

I have a particular interest in Skin complaints. I chair the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin. It used to be thought that Skin cancer was mainly a problem of Australians enjoying the plentiful sun, but the number of cases in the UK is worryingly high. Particularly concerning are the high incidences of malignant melanoma, the number of cases continues to rise so much so that it is now one of the UK’s fastest growing types of cancer. The government and the group I chair are particularly worried about the existence of unlicensed and in some cases lethal tanning salons. While I believe in everything in moderation, there are many cases where people are using these facilities too often. There are too many cases of people roasting themselves under the sun either on the beach or by working outside without shirts. All of this increases your risk of getting cancer.

The Big Lottery Fund has been running a competition to give away £50 Million of lottery money to one of four projects around the country. One of these projects is in our region – the ‘Black Country as an Urban Park’ project. The Urban Park project seeks to integrate natural and urban environments and will utilise the potential of the area’s natural, built and historic assets. The voting lasted for a week; I voted for the fund and I hope many of you voted as well. We will now have to wait to see whether the region has won this massive investment.