July Monthly Report 2013

Parliamentary Business

EU Referendum

A private members bill to force an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union by 2017 was given a second reading (an agreement in principle) on 5 July.

MPs voted 305-30 for the bill. I am nevertheless working with front bench colleagues to press the positive case for EU membership.

Unfortunately I was unable to speak in the debate which was heavily oversubscribed. Thank you to all constituents who wrote to me with their thoughts on the issue, which were very helpful.

The Bill has now passed to committee for detailed discussion and will return to the floor of the House in November.

Withdrawal from the EU would leave the UK at a big disadvantage in trade, collaboration on tackling crime as well as on social measures.

The UK already has a different relationship with Europe from most of the other 27 member states (Croatia recently joined). We have opt outs which allow us to decide whether or not to participate in new measures. For example we do not comply with the Schengen agreement which allows free movement across EU borders and require all visitors to the UK (except from the Irish republic) to pass through our border controls.

The Prime Minister is making decisions in the interests of his party, its internal conflict and its fear of the UK Independence Party. He should be acting in the interests of the country.

The politics over withdrawal from all justice and home affairs agreements with a possible opt back in has shown the Government to be acting in a small minded party political way.

There is no guarantee of opting back in to measures such as the European arrest warrant.

The Government often talks about wanting to remain part of Europe but only if it is reformed. As a Government minister I regularly worked with Governments of other EU member states to discuss and press for reform of certain measures. We achieved more by being part of the EU than I believe we will by threatening to withdraw. The EU has enough strength without the UK and the Government should not overestimate the importance other members attach to UK membership.

The threat of an in/out referendum in 2017 threatens business investment as well as UK companies that trade with Europe. We currently have more trade with Ireland than with any other country.

I am planning a public meeting in the autumn. Please let me know if you are interested in attending so I can contact you nearer the time.

U-turns on alcohol and tobacco

Despite earlier Government pledges to introduce measures to reduce binge drinking and prevent young people smoking, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has abandoned plans for plain packaging for cigarettes and minimum unit pricing for alcohol.

And this comes on the back of the news that David Cameron's election strategist Lynton Crosby has close links to both tobacco and drinks companies.

The Government has pledged transparency of lobbyists but has not been forthcoming about links to someone who has regular access to the Prime Minister

Same sex marriage

Amendments to the Bill granting marriage rights to homosexual couples were debated late into the evening on 16 July in the House of Lords. On return to the Commons the bill was passed without a vote and granted Royal Assent and passed into law on 17 July.

This grants same sex couples the right to civil marriage.

High Speed Rail (Preparation) Bill 2013

As a member of the House of Commons public spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee I have been following the value for money of high speed rail.

I am an enthusiast for the scheme which will increase capacity for rail travel but believe it has been missold to the public. It will promote London as a destination rather than regional growth (partly because it will be serving only major towns and cities and missing out intermediate stations). The value for money arguments are weak. The Department for Transport's modelling values time spent travelling as non working time and therefore places a premium on speed. With modern technology this is just out of date.

I am also concerned that when I pressed the Permanant Secretary (the civil servant who heads up the Department for Transport) about why costs for the Euston interchange have escalated he could not provide a clear answer. My concern was that the new Euston scheme is simpler than the first proposal but the cost has increased by £400m. He has promised to write to me.

If the scheme is to provide real benefits and be cost effective it needs to be part of a longer term plan to improve more local rail routes in order to revitalise parts of the UK that need investment.

We also need to see a better connection between Euston and Stratford International. Under current proposals the connections between the two are poor.

NHS redundancy payments

I recently pressed Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt about how much has been spent on redundancy payments for NHS staff who are then reemployed.

Thousands of staff have left the NHS with big redundancy cheques, only to go through the revolving door and get new jobs in the NHS, often only months later. The Health Secretary chose not to give me a figure. A written question revealed that the NHS spent nearly £267 million on redundancy payments between May 2010 and March 2012.

There are many problems with the Government's reorganisation of the NHS but to conduct a wholesale restructuring without a proper redeployment plan is a scandalous waste of public money.

Other matters

All party visit to Nigeria

As chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nigeria I led a delegation to look at a range of human rights issues.

I was able to visit Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta as well as return to Lagos and Abuja for the third time.

The highlight of my visit was meeting a Hackney South and Shoreditch constituent in a waterfront settlement in Port Harcourt where he is working through Amnesty International with the community to support capacity building and develop a community radio.

Another waterside community was demolished by state forces and this community is working to challenge that. I met with the State Governor a day later and was able to put residents' concerns directly to him. We agreed to host a meeting in Hackney later this year.

I also met a range of stakeholders to discuss environmental rights, democratic rights, justice rights, the same sex marriage bill and women's rights.

Our report will be published in the autumn.

The visit was fully funded by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association with support from the Royal Institute of International Affairs (also known as Chatham House).

999 SOS update

New figures reveal that 78,998 Hackney and Islington residents will now fall outside the target response time of six minutes for the first fire engine to arrive at an incident if the cuts to fire stations go ahead as planned.

The Mayor of London is still pushing ahead to close 10 fire stations, cut 14 fire engines and 552 fire-fighters to pay for his penny a day council tax cut.

94 per cent of people who responded to the public consultation said they did not want these cuts, and over 22,000 people have signed petitions against them.

Hackney's London Assembly member Jennette Arnold is leading the charge on this issue. MPs also met the Fire Commissioner and put our concerns to him. Average response times have been used to model the time taken to get to incidents after the cuts. Homerton would be covering a wider area if Kingsland station closes but anyone who knows Homerton High Street will be concerned about response times when traffic is gridlocked.

Kingsland station also sits on valuable land and once closed would be impossible to replace. Years ago London Transport (the predecessor body to Transport for London) sold off bus garages as part of the privatisation of bus services. This has caused many problems since as city centre bus garages which were sold off cannot be replaced.

Saving Londoners' Lives

Learning basic emergency medical training, such as how to spot the warning signs of an imminent heart attack or stroke, and what to do if you see them, is vital to act in time to save a life.

Saving Londoners' Lives is a scheme run by a partnership between emergency medical services across London. It aims to provide life saving skills to schoolchildren across the capital, provided at no cost to either the schools or pupils involved.

For more information about the scheme, contact 020 7258 7075 or email mary.smith@london.sja.org.uk.

London Rail Devolution

I was pleased that the Transport Secretary has agreed to devolve West Anglia inner suburban rail services (operated by Greater Anglia) to Transport for London.

I wrote to the Transport Secretary in June along with other MPs who have constituencies along this route in support of the devolution of this service to TfL.

TfL plans to make much needed improvements to stations, ensuring they are staffed during operating hours, and to run extra trains to meet growing passenger demand at what were traditionally considered to be less busy times outside the morning and evening peaks and at weekends.

The service is due to transfer to TfL in 2015.

Pro bono public relations advice

Westminster-based political communications, public affairs and media relations agency the Whitehouse Consultancy has launched its 2013/14 pro bono (free) political consultancy scheme.

The agency is offering its services free of charge to one charity or community based association which will make a real difference to society, but does not have the resources to take on the services of a political consultancy. The services on offer include identifying key decision makers who might affect your organisation and help with campaigns.

Applications need to be in by 5pm on Friday 23rd August 2013. If you are interested in applying for the scheme please contact the Whitehouse Consultancy at frances.powrie@whitehouseconsulting.co.uk.

Hackney Issues

Sport England funding available

Since 2010, Sport England has provided £93,808 funding for sport in Hackney South and Shoreditch.

Funding bids are now invited for grants of up to £50,000 for Inspired Facilities bids (maintenance repairs, boilers, roofs, etc) and for the Protecting Playing Fields programme.

Grants are also available from £50,000 to £250,000 for up to three years of grassroots activity projects from the Community Sport Activation Fund and for grants of £150,000 – £500,000 for medium-sized projects under the Improvement Fund.

Organisations can also apply for coaching and equipment grants of £300 – £10,000 under the small grants scheme.

For more information about the different funding programmes available visit here or call 08458 508508.

Hackney's local food heroes

A residents' group in Hackney has won an award for its outstanding contribution to a food-growing community initiative called The Growing Kitchen.

The Growing Kitchen resident group was named London Local Food Heroes 2013, as part of an initiative run by Local Food, a £59.8m scheme that distributes grants from the Big Lottery Fund to projects helping to make locally grown food accessible and affordable to communities.

The Growing Kitchen, now run by residents, was initiated by Fourthland (a not for profit company) in 2008. Fourthland received a grant of £85,500 in 2011 for the Food to Share, on Wenlock Barn Estate, to train and empower local residents to lead and promote urban food, by growing, harvesting, promotion and cooking of fresh, seasonal local produce.

There are now many local food groups including St Mary's secret garden and Clapton Park estate which bring residents together and provide fresh produce to local residents.

Unemployment figures released

The number of unemployed claimants in Hackney South and Shoreditch constituency in June 2013 was 4,952. This represents a rate of 7.7% of the economically active population aged 16 to 64, the 83rd highest of the 650 UK constituencies.

The number of claimants is 536 lower than in June 2012 and 203 lower than in May 2013. Under 25s and men over 50 are still disproportionately unemployed.

Pop-up surplus shop

R-Urban Wick set up a pop up surplus shop as part of Open East – the opening festival for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park which took place on the 27th and 28th of July 2013.

It aimed to collect everything from materials and boxes full of things to time, advice, and even performances.

The project is part of a longer term plan by R-Urban Wick to set up a local re-use centre. R-Urban Wick is also planning to bring the surplus shop to Hackney Wick for the Hackney Wick Festival in September. For information visit here.