Closer to home I was pleased to see that unemployment in the constituency has also gone down, with a decrease of JSA claimants by 41 to 1,458 for March 2013 in comparison to 1,499 for February 2013. This is extremely encouraging and I hope that both of these announcements are indicative of the positive results of the austerity measures which the Government has been pursuing in order to address the outstanding deficit.

So far, the deficit is down by a third, businesses have created over a million and a quarter new jobs, and interest rates are at record lows. Long may this good news continue…

Each of the morning’s speakers touched upon a different angle of water and the importance it holds for the county of Hertfordshire. Councillor Richard Thake Executive Member for Environment & Community Safety at HCC opened the conference and stressed the need for water management planning to become a priority in Hertfordshire. Chris Preston from DEFRA proceeded to outline the Government’s position on water and referred to the White Paper “Water for Life” and the Draft Water Bill. John Wood, Chief Executive and Director of Environment at HCC touched on his department’s perspective and emphasised the importance of collaboration by the various stakeholders involved. He highlighted that this issue can only be tackled by parties working together towards the common goal of better water management. Neil Hayes Executive Director of the Hertfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership spoke not only about Hertfordshire’s economy and the significance which water plays in supplying businesses, but also its role in influencing where businesses decide to base themselves geographically. Charles Walker Member of Parliament for Broxbourne shared his concerns about chalk streams and the need to ensure their preservation. Charles pointed out that the UK is home to 85% of the world’s chalk streams but in his words currently “we are squandering our inheritance” and stressed that urgent action is needed. He argued in favour of greater use of reservoirs where possible. The morning finished with a talk from Andrew Wescott Policy Manager at the Institution of Civil Engineers. Like John Wood earlier on in the morning, Andrew Wescott promoted the idea of collaboration amongst stakeholders to manage water resource planning. He also called for a permanent Water Security Task Force for Hertfordshire too.

The afternoon’s workshops were hosted by specific stakeholders Affinity Water and Local Nature Partnership and they looked at water resource planning, water demand management and the development of knowledge on the environmental value of water. The day finished with closing remarks from Ian Reay also from HCC. The day was extremely well organised and Herts County Council should be congratulated for its efforts. Water is critically important and Hertfordshire needs to concentrate on water provision, in order to avoid a serious drought in the future. We have already seen the effects of the drought last year and Hertfordshire suffered greatly during this period. I look forward to seeing what further developments there are in light of last week’s summit.

On Saturday I was able to catch up with Ian Knight of the River Beane Restoration Association and we agreed that the Water Summit was a step forward.

Following the launch of Strategic Vision for Girls and Women back in 2011, DFID has just announced further funding for the provision and distribution of 20 million contraceptive devices internationally, partnership with Sonke Gender Justice in South Africa, the launch of a £25 million Research and Innovation Fund to look into and support the needs of women particularly in the DRC and Syria, an emphasis on increased efforts to end female genital mutilation within a generation, the commitment of up to £11.5 million to a new partnership with the World Bank for a “Gender Innovation Bank” on girls and women’s economic empowerment, UK funding for the Leadership for Change Programme and also the establishment of an Expert Advisory Group on Girls and Women which will conduct research and inform DFID’s work.

The announcement of these measures is to be celebrated. Women’s rights have been neglected in some areas internationally for far too long and its time proper attention was paid to make sure they are properly upheld so that the abuse of women in some areas of the world is no longer as seen as an acceptable. I am glad that DFID is spearheading the campaign to ensure these issues are addressed.

With the rise of online commentary over the last ten years, the phenomenon of “internet trolling” has become an increasing problem. Steve Rotheram touched on the tragic case of Georgia Varley and her Facebook memorial page which became littered with offensive material posted by “internet trolls” who inflicted psychological abuse on readers of the page.

Steve Rotheram was concerned with how the Crown Prosecution Service will adequately prosecute those abusing social media and he touched upon certain points which he felt the DPP guidelines did not adequately cover, significantly what can be deemed as in the “public interest” and what can be deemed as acceptable speech, when considering a possible prosecution against a particular party. He referred to the timescales and investigative methods currently employed in the investigation of social media abuse claims and suggested they were not adequate whilst highlighting the need to take the European Court of Human Right’s decisions into account too.

In cases where credible threats of violence are made or harassment is occurring or court orders being broken, there must be prosecutions, but there also needs to be space for vigorous open debate, gossip and banter. So in cases of offensive remarks there needs to be a high threshold before prosecution, but clearly some offensive remarks are so gross that firm action must be taken. The new guidelines try to explain these matters and put them in legal context.

There is also some overlap with the Government’s work on the Defamation Bill which seeks to ensure a fair balance is struck between freedom of speech and the protection of people’s reputations and I look forward to seeing how this piece of legislation finally passes through Parliament. When I spoke in the debate, I was able to explain how internet trolling is addressed within the DPP guidelines. I commented on the rise of prosecutions brought against abusers of social media since December 2012 and explained that the DPP Guidelines are not intended to restrict free speech but people must take responsibility when expressing an opinion online.

Prosecutors can bring cases for serious Crown Court offences such as Threats to Kill and Harassment or choose Magistrates Court offences under section 1 of the Malicious Communications Act and section 127 of the Communications Act. The posting of grossly offensive messages online about certain parties cannot be condoned and under the new DPP guidelines, in conjunction with the Defamation Bill, steps are being taken to tackle this issue, whilst respecting the need for a margin to allow for freedom of expression.

The plans focus on improving four main aspects of the Beane and Mimram. These include enhancing water flow and quality, enriching people’s appreciation of the two rivers and recording the rivers’ status and ecological health. I have long championed the preservation of our local chalk streams and take a keen interest in initiatives which might help to ensure their continued existence. I will be keenly following the progress of these catchment plans and I wish those involved much success following all their hard work.

Many key stakeholders were represented at the event and the morning’s programme which was chaired by Howard Davidson, Regional Director of the Environment Agency included a detailed overview of the Regional Optimisation Modelling Process which the University College of London and Halcrow created in conjunction with WRSE to provide for contingencies in the event of the changing climate, water shortages and possible drought situations, in coordination with the Water Resource Management Plans which water companies in the UK are obliged to produce every five years and the Strategic Plans required to be produced every 25 years.

In the discussion which looked at the modelling process, a number of scenarios were factored into the process and a range of regional and strategic options arose which satisfy in part, these scenarios. Chiefly these factors included reducing demand, increasing supply of water by new transfers (between water companies) and increasing supply with the use of groundwater. It was emphasised that that this work not only meets the Government’s key policy priorities found in the Water Resources Planning Guidelines but it will also inform respective water company Water Resource Management Plans.

The morning also involved the Environment Agency and Affinity Water (as an individual water company) giving their perspectives on the modelling work carried out and there were opportunities for questions and answers to be put to respective members of the WRSE group so that stakeholders could gain answers to some of their more direct concerns. As many will know, I have long campaigned for the plight of our over abstracted rivers and streams in the constituency and I think that the work which WRSE carries out is invaluable in seeking to address this. The morning’s briefing was very informative and the Group’s full report on the Regional Optimisation Model has been published today on the WRSE website: http://wrse.org.uk/.

The report which was published yesterday made 35 pages of recommendations and these show repeated and crippling shortcomings in the care provided by the Mid Staffs NHS Trust during 2005-2009. To say that there are some lessons to be learnt is an understatement; there are many many lessons to be learnt and it is deeply regrettable that these lessons should be learnt because of another’s patient’s dreadful experience. I can only hope that with the help of the report and the start of the new initiatives mentioned by David Cameron in his speech, radical change will be brought to bear not only in the Mid Staffs NHS Trust but also across the board in other NHS Trusts as well, so that people receive the best hospital experience they can. David Cameron referred to a facility going forward where patients will be able to provide feedback about the hospitals they have been treated at, he also referred to greater transparency and accountability for those providing care and I was pleased to see that he has asked the Care Quality Commission to appoint a Chief Inspector of Hospitals.

We should certainly be mindful that it would not have been possible to gather so much useful evidence for the report were it not for the contributions to the Inquiry of those families whose relations had suffered as a consequence of their NHS treatment in Staffordshire. These bereaved relatives have played a fundamental role in unearthing the truth and we can but hope that as a result of their determined assistance in the Inquiry, such tragedies at the hands of the NHS, are not allowed to be repeated in the future.

To see Sir Francis Robert QC’s report visit: http://www.midstaffspublicinquiry.com/report

There is much local support for the event and I think it provides an excellent forum for musicians to perform in relaxed and friendly surroundings, visitors to enjoy themselves and for the local economy to thrive as well. I hope this year’s event is very successful.

More about the Festival can be found here: http://www.standon-calling.com/