Susan Elan Jones MP visited St John’s Church in Rhosymedre to meet volunteers and to lend a helping hand making sandwiches for a play scheme based in Plas Madoc.

The Reverend Kate Tiltman and local volunteers meet every day at 11:00 am at the Church to provide rolls, fruit and chocolate bars for the children who attend the play scheme. Much of the food is provided by the Cefn Mawr Tesco store through their FairShare project.

The food is collected and taken to an open access playground in Plas Madoc known as The Land, which is run by the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham. The ground-breaking ‘junk’ play area was the subject of a 2014 fly on the wall documentary by American film maker Erin Davies.

Susan Elan Jones MP said: “I am delighted to have had the opportunity to meet the fantastic volunteers at St. John’s and to see such a great project in action. I have been very interested in projects like this and last year in Parliament, I co-sponsored a bill that was concerned with tackling ‘Holiday Hunger’. In our home area, I’ve supported Welsh Government and charitable programmes that help local families.”

The post Brexit talks between Scottish and UK government must be transparent: Laird appeared first on Lesley Laird.

Stephen Morgan goes on a walkabout at St Mary’s as £10 million redevelopment approaches

MP for Portsmouth South, Stephen Morgan, this week paid a visit to Solent NHS Trust before work starts on a £10.3 million re-development of clinical services at St Mary’s Community Health Campus.

The work is expected to transform the site into a key health hub for the city of Portsmouth, catering for a wide range of community care and mental health services. Ground will be broken next month and it is hoped the work will be completed by October 2019.

The older persons mental health community team, physiotherapy department, and out-patient therapies will be moved from from the Turner Centre at St James’ Hospital to St Mary’s Hospital’s newly refurbished Block B, which will also become the base for a new state-of-the-art automated pharmacy service.

Stephen met with Mark Young, Solent NHS Trust’s Head of Estates, and toured the site whilst being briefed on the latest developments.

Stephen Morgan MP, said:

“This is a truly exciting time for St Mary’s, the Trust, and our city.

The redevelopment will see the site transformed into an invaluable community health hub and prove a crucial resource for our local NHS and the people it so ably serves.

It was great to see it for myself on the ground today and get a real idea of the plans.

Healthcare in Portsmouth needs this sort of investment to support our community and I’ll continue to be there each step of the way as the project progresses”.

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling has delivered yet another slap in the face for local commuters who have been facing weeks of #RailFail.

He is now demanding that hard-pressed commuters pay again for falling standards with even higher prices.

Regulated rail fares will rise by 3.2 per cent in January 2019, based on this month’s inflation figures. That will mean that fares have risen by 36 per cent under the Tories – three times the rate of average wage growth.

The government is increasing fares by the Retail Price Index rather than the lower, more accurate measure of inflation, the Consumer Price Index.

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram has called for fares to be frozen on services failing to deliver acceptable services to passengers, including Northern and TransPennine. I agree.

However, Chris Grayling has demanded that staff pay for the chaos by agreeing new contracts that would limit their future pay increases to the CPI measure of inflation. That is a disingenuous distraction designed to shift the focus away from the desperate state of rail services here in the North West.

On Sunday August 12 rail operator Northern cancelled 80 services, including trains on the Liverpool to Manchester Airport line used by families and others travelling to and from summer holidays. It was the third successive week of similar Sunday cancellations.

Passengers into Liverpool will be expected to pay on average £110 more per year for an annual season ticket, £91 for those travelling from Southport and across key routes into Manchester city centre stations passengers can expect a £45 increase.

Liverpool commuters can’t afford the cost of higher fares and falling standards.

A 2019 fares freeze would at least recognise the level of disruption over the past few months and compensate passengers for the delays in planned service upgrades. A fares freeze could also help attract back passengers to the railways who have been put off by recent disruption. I will be pushing the government in this proposal when Parliament resumes in two weeks’ time.

Denton and Reddish MP, Andrew Gwynne, has reacted with shock to news confirmed by the government that average rail fares will increase by up to 3.2% in January, with the cost of some season tickets set to rise by hundreds of pounds.

Confirmation of the maximum average rise in 2019’s regulated fares came with the publication of July’s inflation figures by the Office of National Statistics. Regulated fares, which include season tickets and off-peak returns, are capped at the level of RPI inflation – a measure that is not habitually used and is higher than CPI.

To coincide with confirmation of the 3.2% train fares hike, Labour has compared the costs on over 180 train routes between when the Conservatives came to power in 2010, and the projected new prices that will be implemented this January 2019. The average commuter will now be paying £2,980 for their season ticket, £786 more than in 2010.

New figures released today by Labour show:

• That some commuters will be paying over £2,850 more to travel to work than in 2010.
• The highest increase was on a Virgin Trains season ticket between Birmingham and London Euston which will have risen by £2,874 since 2010 and now costs £10,902.
• The biggest percentage increase identified was between Thame Bridge Parkway near Walsall and Nuneaton, where the cost of an annual season ticket will have risen by 54 per cent since 2010.
• In Theresa May’s own constituency the cost of an annual season ticket from Maidenhead to London Paddington has risen by £831 since 2010.
• Average fares have risen more than three times faster than wages.

The amount by which train companies can raise regulated fares is the responsibility of the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling. He has the power to enforce this but he’s choosing not to, instead only writing a “pathetic” letter to the trade unions unfairly asking rail staff to accept a pay cap.

Labour has committed to keeping fares down and pegged to no more than a rise of CPI. Labour has also called on the Government to freeze rail fares on the routes most severely affected by the timetable changes – Govia Thameslink, Arriva Rail North and First Transpennine Express.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“Our railways need serious reform, and a government committed to sustainable investment, not a plea to train companies.

 

“Sadly Ministers are persisting with a failed model that is punishing passengers and taxpayers. Instead, Labour would use money saved from bringing passenger services into public ownership to cap regulated fare rises at the Consumer Price Index.”

Emma Reynolds, MP for Wolverhampton North East and Pat McFadden MP, have recently written to the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to urge the government to ban the sale of so-called “zombie knifes” that people can still purchase legally and that are helping to fuel violent crime in our communities.Emma said, “These knifes have one purpose that is to maim, injure and even kill and they have no place on our streets. The Express and Star have conducted an investigation which showed that a loophole in the law means that people can buy these deadly knifes with only cursory identification checks in place. We are campaigning for these loopholes to be closed.

“The letter we received from the government in response from the Crime and Safeguarding Minister was disappointing and doesn’t go far enough.”

You can read the Express and Star story here: https://tinyurl.com/ybx7uz72

You can see the full text of our letter to the Home Secretary and the Home Office response below.

The post Emma calls on government to ban the sale of zombie knives appeared first on Emma Reynolds MP.

In Nottingham Labour’s 2015 manifesto we promised to work with Intu to refurbish the Broadmarsh Centre and create an attractive and inviting entrance into the city from Nottingham Station and the South of the City.

This summer the final phase of delivering this ambition has begun:

• In May work started on the new Nottingham College City Campus Hub, a £58 million building scheme on a derelict site in Canal Street with the aim of providing high-quality college and community facilities.
• Broadmarsh Carpark was successfully demolished paving the way for a £50 million development to build the new car park and bus station, with around £20m coming from external funding.
• June saw the approval of a £30 million plan in partnership with a number of organisations including Heritage Lottery Fund, D2N2 and the NottinghamCastle Trust to transform Nottingham Castle into a world-class heritage destination that will attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Nottingham ever year.
• Intu have also now committed to £81 million of investment in the Broadmarsh shopping centre which will move Nottingham up from its current position of 12th in the UK retail rankings to 6^th with major work set to start later this year

The Southern Gateway project represents a total of £250 million of investment in the area with funding from Nottingham City Council’s capital programme, Nottingham College, Intu and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership. This level of investment will transform the southern part of Nottingham, providing a boost to the local economy, bringing thousands of new jobs for local people and millions of extra visitors to the city.

Our 2015 manifesto also had a commitment to Start the development of a new Central Library for the city and this week we were proud to announce a consultation on an exciting proposal to develop a new central library as part of a revamped Broadmarsh area. A new Central Library at Broadmarsh would be an attractive and inspiring space. Facing onto a pedestrianised Colin Street and Carrington Street, the new library would be at the heart of the revitalised Broadmarsh – flanked to the east by the new City College and to the West by the world heritage destination of Nottingham Castle.

No decision has yet to be taken about whether or not to go ahead and create a new Central Library, but we have started a public consultation to explore the possibility. We are very keen to hear what parents and children would want, as well as current library users. This is your chance to have your say and tell us if you think we should grasp this opportunity to create a new Central Library for Nottingham.

To get involved in the consultation, you can contact us online here: https://www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk/transport-parking-and-streets/broadmarsh/

The post Building a Better Nottingham by Transforming the South Side of the City appeared first on Nottingham Labour.

This week’s report from the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD) and the High Pay Centre revealed that executive pay for 2017 is not only growing at 11%, well above average worker pay increases of 2%, but that the ratio of mean CEO pay to all employees’ pay has increased from 128:1 in 2016 to more than 145:1 last year. Although this isn’t the only measure of socioeconomic inequalities in the UK, it’s a significant one.

In May, the Equality Trust published analysis of the wealth of the richest 1,000 people in the UK (£724bn), which is greater than the poorest 40% at £567bn. This privileged 1,000 saw their income increase by £66bn in one year alone, and £255bn over the last 5 years. At the same time, we’re seeing unprecedented levels of poverty, with projections that poverty levels for children and disabled people in particular will continue to rise.

The recent Equalities and Human Rights Commission report has revealed that the poorest tenth of households will on average lose about 10% of their income by 2022 – equivalent to £1 in every £8 of net income. This reflects other distributional analyses, for example from the Institute of Fiscal Studies.

All of this needs to be seen in the context of last week’s announcement that after decades of rising life expectancy, how long we can expect to live is now stalling. For women, the gap is the largest since the 1920s. For older women, life expectancy is actually reversing. The data also indicates that deprived areas, where people on low incomes are most likely to live, also have lower life expectancy rates. While the USA and some European countries are seeing this life expectancy slow down, it is worst in the UK. Interestingly, this doesn’t appear to be a developed country phenomena as Japan, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark have all seen continuing increases in life expectancy.

This stalling in life expectancy hasn’t escaped the notice of actuaries. PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimates that a “sharp slowdown in the improvement to life expectancy could wipe £310bn from the pension deficits of thousands of UK companies with final salary schemes”, equivalent to a 15% reduction. The government’s response has been to increase the state pension age for everyone – but it has particularly and punitively pushed back state retirement age for women born in the 1950s.

There is overwhelming evidence of the impact of inequalities in income and wealth on life expectancy. Our health and longevity depend on how and where we are able to live, which in turn depends on our financial means, but on top of this, there is an independent and universal effect that reflects our positions in a hierarchy: our ‘class’, status and relative power. Seminal work such as the Spirit Level shows that in societies where the gaps between rich and poor are narrow, life expectancy, educational attainment, social mobility and trust are higher. Wilkinson’s and Pickett’s most recent work, The Inner Level, shows how more equal societies also reduce stress and improve everyone’s wellbeing. Fairer, more equal societies benefit everyone.

More equal societies see economic benefits as described by the International Monetary Fund. The impact of inequalities on a society’s attitudes and beliefs, including the rise of right-wing as well as fundamentalist ideologies, cannot be underestimated. For example, how inequalities have affected “left behind” communities and attitudes to the EU needs consideration. As does the relationship of widening inequalities in income, wealth and power with global 24/7 broadcast and social media.

Inequalities are not inevitable: they are socially reproduced, and they can be changed. As well as fiscal and social policy underpinned by a drive for greater equity, we need to empower people, enabling them to have more influence and control over their lives. This calls for political will and leadership, not soundbites.

The Royal Mail has made the following announcement about Wicklow Drive Post Office:  “We sincerely apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of Wicklow Drive Post Office. We understand and appreciate how much communities rely on … Continue reading →

The post Wicklow Drive Post Office Temporary Closed appeared first on Keith Vaz.

This week, schools across Barnsley will close for the summer. And what a summer we’ve had so far!

Whether it is the glorious sunshine we have been enjoying, or the fact that England had their best performance at a World Cup in 28 years by reaching the semi-finals, there’s been lots to celebrate.

Although England were unable to bring ‘football home’, the team’s excellent performances were due in no small part to the talent, resilience and true Yorkshire grit of the likes of our own John Stones, Harry Maguire, Kyle Walker and others. In fact you could say it was Yorkshire who almost brought football home!

Great to be out campaigning in Milton Keynes on Friday with two fantastic female Labour candidates for the two Parliamentary seats, Charlynne Pullen and Hannah O’Neill. Both showed their resilience in the pouring rain… I know they’ll work hard for a Labour victory here and stand up for people in Milton Keynes.

Chair: Neville Clarke, Whaley Bridge Station Friends Group

Ruth George MP

Northern Rail: Vicky Cropper, Community & Sustainability Manager; Raj Chandarana, Stakeholder Manager.

Representatives from rail users or friends’ groups of Chinley, Furness Vale and Whaley Bridge stations.

Apologies: Friends of Station Groups from Buxton, Chapel and Glossop; Andrew Walker, High Peak and Hope Valley Rail Partnership

These are the action points from the meeting that I have sent to Northern to pursue:

1. Northern to provide list of stations which have not been adopted by ‘Friends Of’ or ‘Rail Users’ Groups, so that Ruth can encourage people to set up a group.
2. Ruth will take up the issue of Stockport and Piccadilly train pathways with Andy Burnham.  Northern to provide further information on the problems and what’s needed.
3. Northern to do all in their power to fix the timetable hole in the December timetable for the Buxton line between the 8am and 8.58 services, which feeds all the way along the line and means no services arrive into Piccadilly from the line between 8.55am to 9.56am.
4. Request for Northern to support the disability Access bid for Chinley station in the next round of Access for All funding.  Chinley has a large number of disabled people among its residents, and the local Special School and centre for adults with disabilities.  A group of local disabled people and Chinley Transport Group met with Nusrat Ghani MP Minister for Rail Access who was extremely supportive but emphasised that support from Northern was necessary.
5. Northern to consider how they can to assist St Thomas More School in Buxton with enabling pupils from New Mills onwards to get to school on time by 8.50am due to the timetable change in May making the morning trains too late or too early.  Ruth would be willing to speak to local bus companies if Northern request.
6. Northern and local groups to consider Bike racks: New Mills Newtown needs a bike rack with CCTV, while the one at Furness Vale bike is never used.  Could the Furness bike rack be moved to Newtown?  CCTV at Newtown has previously been promised.
7. Northern and local groups to consider, if the bike rack at Furness Vale is removed, whether it would be possible for the shelter at Furness Vale, which is prone to flooding, be moved on the dry area of the platform where the bike rack is currently.
8. Request that, where possible, guards check and sell tickets on the train as there are so few ticket offices, long queues to purchase tickets at Piccadilly platforms, and those staff are often unwilling to give discounted fares as they say the tickets should have been bought earlier.
9. There will be a meeting between station Friends Groups and Northern about the Santa Special in September to ensure it works well, with activities at stations.

The post Action Points from Rail Meeting with Northern and Station Friends Groups appeared first on Ruth George MP for High Peak.

On 26th and 27th July, the co-chair of the APPGs on the Rights of the Rohingya and Burma Rushanara Ali MP visited refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh, where almost one million people are now living in an area less than 5 square miles.

Stockton North MP, Alex Cunningham, is calling on small shopkeepers in Stockton North to enter the Best Small Shops Competition – a competition celebrating the creativity of small shops and the central role they play in their local community.

The Best Small Shops Competition is open to any small shop* operating in the UK. The competition is free to enter and all shops who enter will also be promoted to consumers through an online Indie Retail Directory.

The judges will be looking for evidence of a small shops’ entrepreneurial spirit, ways that they have been innovative in their business and what they have done to have a lasting positive impact on their community.  The shortlisted small shops will be invited to a Parliamentary Reception on the 13th November 2018 to meet their Member of Parliament and find out who will be crowned the Best Small Shop for 2018.

Alex said:

While some larger, national chains are turning their back on Stockton North, our independent shops continue to play a huge role in the success of Stockton High Street, and other shopping areas across Stockton North such as Norton High Street and Billingham Town Centre.

We have some fantastic small local shops in our area, and I’d encourage them to put their names forward to this competition. This competition not only celebrates the work put in by small shopkeepers, but also the role small, independent shops have in enhancing the vitality of our local shopping areas

Shopkeepers can nominate their businesses until Sunday 9^th September via www.bestsmallshops.co.uk. A shortlist of 25 of the most impressive applications will be shortlisted by a panel made up of established representatives from the independent retail industry.

Submit your entry

The entries for 2018’s Best Small Shop competition are now open. Submit your entry at www.bestsmallshops.co.uk.

Entries close on Sunday 9th September 2018.

*For the purposes of the competition, a small shop is defined as a non-corporate business selling goods or services to the public for use or consumption rather than for resale, from a business rated premises in the UK.

Dear Friend,

Some of you may have seen a lot of social media traffic around a Daily Express article which claims that a group of Labour MPs have apparently been meeting in a B & B in Sussex to ‘plot against the leadership’.

Unfortunately, my name features in the list of MPs who have allegedly been engaged in this activity.

I have no idea whether or not any such meetings have been taking place, but I can categorically assure you that I have never and would never take part.

Below is a letter I have sent to Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns to challenge his claim at the last session of Welsh Questions that the UK Government’s Brexit White Paper had been shared with the Welsh Government prior to its publication. He was wrong, and I demand to know why such a claim was made. I am still awaiting a reply.

Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin has hailed Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust’s decision to review the “unacceptable” use of costly 0844 numbers on its website as “welcome but long overdue”.

The move comes after pressure from Ms Brabin and a constituent, Ray Crorken, who has been campaigning to have the revenue generating numbers dropped since a costly phone call he made to a hospital service.

Mid Yorks, which runs Dewsbury and District, Pinderfields and Pontefract hospitals, is one of the few remaining NHS trusts in the country to list the numbers, which can cost up to 62p per minute from a mobile phone.

Tracy Brabin MP wrote to the then Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt requesting that the practise be stopped after the issue was brought to her attention by Mr Crorken earlier this year.

But the Government refused to intervene saying it’s a matter for the trust, and Ms Brabin has since raised the issue with MYHT hospital bosses.

Ms Brabin said: “This is a very welcome but long overdue decision on behalf on the Trust.

“The prominent listing of revenue generating 0844 numbers on the Trust’s website could very easily lead to a nasty surprise in a monthly phone bill, as Mr Crorken discovered to his cost.

“The practise led to a situation where poorly and vulnerable people were often charged over the odds for a service they had no choice but to use, and it’s simply unacceptable.

“I would now like to see MYHT follow in the footsteps of many other NHS Trusts throughout the country and cease the use of 0844 numbers altogether.”

Up until last week on the Trust’s contact page online, the 0844 number was listed before the significantly cheaper 01924 alternative – a number which is often free on most mobile phone packages.

The trust has now updated their website, listing the 01924 numbers first followed by the more expensive 0844 option.

Ray Crorken, from Batley, said: “There is a greater proportion of vulnerable people amongst those who are ill and who must use the services of Mid Yorkshire Hospital Trust.

“The use of an 0844 number as a point of contact by MYHT imposes an unnecessary and unwarranted financial burden on the most vulnerable.

“I welcome the news that MYHT has finally decided to remove the 0844 number from its website. I hope that MYHT will now take the necessary steps to remove its use of the 0844 number from all points of contact be that on stationary or websites.”

I was honoured to have been invited to chair the Feeding Leicester Steering Group. Feeding Leicester is a really important project that will raise awareness of food poverty throughout the city and find ways to make sure everyone can access healthy and affordable food.

Lots of local organisations are involved in the project including De Montfort University, the City Council, Feeding Britain, Action Homeless, B-Inspired and many more.

Over the coming months we’ll be working together to find new ways to support local people who are struggling to make ends meet.

As part of the Feeding Leicester project we have also been awarded additional funding to expand the holiday hunger programme. This means that this year over 22,000 meals will be given out to children from right across the city over the summer holidays.

I am proud to be part of this project and I look forward to updating you on our work over the months ahead.  

The post Liz takes on role to tackle food poverty in Leicester appeared first on Liz Kendall.

The post Fixing Buffering Britain: Labour’s Infrastructure Promise appeared first on Liam Byrne MP.

CORRECTION: The mobility pass scheme refereed to in the Nottingham News section is a Nottingham City Council scheme and they have made the decision to cut it back not Nottingham City Transport as initially stated 

NEWS AND COMMENT FROM CHRIS LESLIE – Friday 27^th July 2018
(for more news also see my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/chrislesliemp)

Parliament has now adjourned for the summer recess – and as usual my ‘MP Update’ emails will resume when the Commons returns in September. Frankly there is a case for Parliament to stay in session, because I cannot recall a more turbulent and crucial few months in British politics, where the path the country will take on Brexit is still so unclear.

With knife-edge numbers between a ‘safety net’ Brexit and a hard ‘crashing out’ Brexit in the Commons, I’ve been working as hard as I can to broker a majority cross-party coalition for a sensible way forward. The Prime Minister is deluded if she thinks her ‘Chequers Plan’ will produce consensus with the EU, when she couldn’t even get consensus in her Cabinet never mind the UK Parliament. It falls far short of the protections we need to avoid a hard border in Ireland and the access to markets especially for 80% of our trade which is in the services sector.

Yesterday the EU’s negotiator Michel Barnier made it quite plain that the notion of 27 other countries collecting Britain’s tariffs would not work and nor could it be viable for the EU countries to outsource tax and tariff collection to the UK. In quietly killing off the Chequers Facilitated Customs Arrangement he said: “The EU cannot and the EU will not delegate the application of its customs policy and rules and VAT and excise duty collection to a non-member.” So the Chequers proposals are going nowhere.

This leaves the ball firmly back in Britain’s court. It’s plain to me this means that Parliament will have to take charge and vote to mandate the Prime Minister to stay in a Customs Union. We only lost that vote by six last week and by September / October I think the mood will have shifted sufficiently for the Commons and Lords to have a majority in favour, possibly also for an EFTA/EEA Single Market option too. All this is, of course, predicated on persuading Labour’s leadership to back what is quite evidently in Britain’s best economic interests. With Ministers openly planning for the stockpiling of food and medicines in the event of a ‘hard Brexit’ – but the supermarkets saying they’ve had no contact from government yet! – surely common sense will kick in? I won’t stop making this case.

I hope you have a pleasant August and as always if you have issues you’d like my help or assistance with do email me, write to my office at 12 Regent Street Nottingham NG1 5BQ or telephone 0115 956 9429.

NOTTINGHAM

• Police officers were called to a report of a man suffering a gunshot injury to his leg in Lotus Close St Ann’s just after 5pm yesterday. The man was taken to hospital by ambulance but his injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. Police are urging anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information to call them on 101, quoting incident number 735 of 26 July 2018, or to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
• Last week Nottingham College released a statement seeking to explain the reasoning behind their closure of their Basford Campus nursery. In it they claim that the nursery was running at a loss, a claim which is disputed by those involved with the campaign to save the nursery. I hope to meet with the Nottingham College leadership team, alongside parliamentary colleagues, councillors and campaigners to directly voice my concerns about the closure of this important service – but also the wider strategy that they are pursuing on skills and further education which is of such critical importance especially to young people in Nottingham.
• The company which owns the Broadmarsh and Victoria shopping centres has seen a significant fall in its share prices. Intu’s share price fell by 7.7% earlier this week as there was news that a proposed merger with rival shopping centre owner Hammerson had fallen through. Intu also recorded a £503m loss in the first six months of 2018 as opposed to a £122m profit in the same timeframe last year. The company’s chief executive David Fischel, who will shortly be standing down, pointed to ‘weakening sentiment in the retail market’ but claimed Intu had delivered a ‘resilient operational performance’. It is not clear whether any of these developments will impact on the regeneration plans in the city centre.
• Due to pressures on its budget Nottingham City Council is cutting back its Mobility pass concessionary travel scheme. The changes mean that from Monday 3rd September 2018 travel before 09:30 on weekdays and after 23:00 on weekdays will no longer be free for cardholders. While this means that the Nottingham City Council scheme would be in line with the national statutory requirements, I have to say this is a sad change which is a step away from the greater mobility we ought to be encouraging in the 21^st

• An annual audit from KPMG has found that Nottinghamshire Police provides value for money, except for the forces involvement in the Multi Force Shared Service (MFSS) Fusion project. This project aimed create a new software system, to be shared amongst several police forces, which they could all use for payroll, HR and for planning rotas. The hope is that this shared service will help create efficiency savings in the future as the police force anticipates further restrictions to its budget. However the KPMG reports states the project is ‘late, over budget, not to specification, and would not deliver the expected savings’.

• Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service has issued advice after this month has seen over a 600 per cent increase in grass and rubbish fires from the same time last year. NFRS’s crews have had to attend over 349 grass fires since the start of the month with many believed to have been set on purpose. Nottingham Fire and Rescue Service advises not drop cigarettes but to dispose of them properly, taking rubbish home or putting it in a nearby bin and not leaving glass bottles lying on the ground as sunlight shining on these can lead to a fire.

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• On Tuesday I took part in a Commons debate called by my Nottingham North colleague Alex Norris on the topic of rail investment in the East Midlands. I’m afraid to say that our region does exceptionally badly when compared with the rest of the country in terms of public money for rail – with transport spending per person at a tiny £70 for the East Midlands compared to £773 per head in London! While the capital city is obviously going to need good rail connections, this disparity is in my view completely disproportionate. It’s about time we had a fairer share, but the Department for Transport Ministers have let us down time and again. For example, we were promised electrification (even in the 2015 Conservative manifesto!) but after the 2017 election this was put in the bin. Instead we have been offered ‘bi-mode’ trains for part-electric, part-diesel service, a technology that this time last year didn’t even exist. With the new trains out for franchise tender currently, we now have to fight to ensure the Midland Mainline arrangements are compatible with HS2 integration and can be connected to full electrical mode in the future.

• During this prolonged spell of warm weather the level of rough sleeping in the city is more obvious for all to see – and it’s the case too in most other cities. On Monday I asked the Secretary of State for Communities, Housing & Local Government what action he was taking to address rough sleeping and homelessness. Specifically I pressed him to speak to the Health Secretary about the chronic reduction in mental health overnight beds available, given there are 6000 fewer than in 2010. I believe part of the solution to rough sleeping must be the provision of proper and consistent care tailored especially at those with mental illness, drug dependency and other vulnerabilities. Sadly I did not receive a reassuring answer from the Minister.

• The Pakistan general election looks to have resulted in former cricketer Imran Khan taking over as Prime Minister, although there is still disputes and counter-claims about the fairness of the election process. Khan’s PTI Party will face immense challenges including tackling corruption, improving governance and an economy failing to generate sustainable revenues. His manifesto is a combination of a ‘war on patronage’ but also the creation of an Islamic welfare state with higher spending yet socially conservative policies including support of strict blasphemy laws. He will need to form a coalition with others to be able to govern and the support of the powerful army in the background will also play its part. My hope is that a new administration in Pakistan can find ways to reach a peaceful accommodation with India especially after the Indian general elections next Spring. The chances of this are always more likely after elections are out of the way – and the crucial issue of disputes around Kashmir depend largely on insightful leadership being settled in both Pakistan and India. As the chair of the UK all-party parliamentary group on Kashmir I will be doing what I can to encourage the demilitarisation of the region and a long term process for stability and democracy.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  

I’d like to get your views this summer about the local priorities you would like to see developed in Nottingham. While many of these are decisions in the hands of locally elected councillors or other local public bodies rather than me as an MP, I’m eager to do what I can to press for improvements in our city that make the most difference to you. In the past year I’ve spent time supporting new housing provision especially for those with vulnerabilities, I’ve urged fairer funding for local schools and argued for environmental improvements including recreation facilities and better road, rail and public transport schemes. I have real worries about the pressures on our local GPs and the fact that Nottingham’s NHS has faced pressures throughout the year and not just in the colder winter months. The number of knife and gun incidents has also been concerning in the past year – and it is difficult to know whether this is related to the changing pattern of drug crime (also sadly evident in Nottingham Prison) or in part reflecting a thinly-stretched police force.

On the positive side, we do have a great deal to be proud of in Nottingham and a fantastic cultural calendar including Pride tomorrow, the Riverside Festival next week, outdoor theatre at Wollaton Hall, heritage open days in September and so much more. However, you’re spending this summer I hope that you get a welcome break and it’s always nice to get your views and hear your thoughts!

Regards

Chris Leslie

Labour & Co-operative Party MP for Nottingham East

I am extremely disappointed that they have decided to push ahead with the creation of a wholly owned subsidiary despite the protestations of thousands of local people including hundreds of staff at Chesterfield Royal. Moving over 800 staff who have dedicated their careers to the National Health Service, with great pride and dedication, will create a divisive two-tier workforce. The suggestion that non-medical staff are somehow less a part of our NHS than those who deliver medical services should have been rejected. The process of seeking a tax advantage is an unnecessary distraction at a time when there is such pressure on finances anyway. I have previously met with staff, unions and directors at the hospital and I will continue in that dialogue with them and the Government, to ensure that any changes don’t lead to a poorer service or a two tier workforce.

Below is Toby’s statement from the demonstration today;

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Today (25 July 2018) marks Louise Brown’s 40^th Birthday. Why is this special? Louise was the first baby to be born via IVF treatment, a moment which started a revolution in infertility treatment and has given so many parents hope of conceiving a child.

Fast forward 40 years and this pioneering treatment is being rationed by many NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups, entrenching a postcode lottery system that is leaving countless couples heartbroken and facing huge bills to pursue treatment privately. 

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