At 3.32pm this afternoon, Michael Fabricant formally raised with The
Speaker of the House of Commons the "shambles" surrounding the future of
the Staffordshire Ambulance and the lack of clarity from the Department
of Health. He asked for a written ministerial statement before Thursday
clarifying whether or not a time deadline exists for the merger of the
Staffordshire Ambulance Service in with that of the West Midlands. He
added that over this matter "the Department of Health is more of a
shambles than the Home Office!"

Michael Fabricant says: "I explained to Mr Speaker that all 12 MPs in
Staffordshire, both Labour and Conservative, do not wish to see the
Staffordshire Ambulance Service swallowed up by the West Midlands. I
told him that a written note from the Minister of Health, Lord Warner,
made it clear last week that the merger would take place ‘within 24
months’ and subsequent questioning of the minister in the Chamber shed
no light on the matter. Now, an MP is claiming that the Ambulance
Service will not be merged and that it was all ‘a drafting error’.
Those working for the Ambulance service are confused and morale is low
as a consequence. I asked for a written ministerial statement by the
end of the week – when Parliament goes into recess until June 5th –
to make the Government’s intentions clear once and for all."