December 2009 report

Parliamentary Business

Queen's speech

On Wednesday 18 November the Queen read her annual speech which gives details of the bills the Government will be putting before Parliament in the coming year.

A summary of the bills announced:

Child Poverty Bill
The bill will enshrine in law the Government's pledge to eradicate child poverty by 2020.

The bill will require the Government, in partnership with local government and devolved administrations, to meet four targets on relative poverty, combined low income, material deprivation and absolute poverty. It will require the Government to report to Parliament annually on progress towards these targets. A new Child Poverty Commission will publish advice on achieving these goals.

The Child Poverty Bill had its third reading in the House on 9 December.

Children, Schools and Families Bill
The bill provides guarantees for what parents and children can expect from the schools system.

The bill will introduce school report cards to let parents know how their school is performing. Where standards are unacceptably low, ministers will be able to direct local authorities to issue a warning notice; any school that fails to comply with a warning notice will be closed down. It will also require local authorities to conduct annual surveys of parents about the school provision in their area and act upon the results.

The bill will also reform the primary curriculum to provide greater flexibility for schools to tailor teaching to the needs and interests of their children while also focusing on the basics of literacy, numeracy and ICT. This follows from a Government commissioned independent review into primary curriculum by Sir Jim Rose published in April this year.

Crime and Security Bill
The Crime and Security Bill will give the police and council new powers to break up youth gangs. Gang injunctions are already in place for over 18s but will be extended to 14-17 year olds.

The bill will make families take responsibility for their children's anti-social behaviour by introducing compulsory parenting orders for young people who breach their ASBO.

The bill also contains measures to protect victims of domestic violence. It will introduce a civil order that will require the perpetrator of domestic violence to leave the address of the victim and prevent contact with them. The order, issued by the police, will enable immediate protection whilst longer term protection is sought, allowing the victim to stay at home rather than be forced to seek refuge elsewhere.

The bill also takes action on air weapons and introduces compulsory licensing for wheel clampers.

Digital Economy Bill
This bill will build on Britain's leading position in the digital sector.

The bill aims to support creative industries with measures to address illegal file sharing; to protect authors by extending public lending rights to audio and e-books, and updating the UK's 300 year old copyright framework through the regulation of collection societies (who collect revenue on behalf of authors). It will also make provision for the granting of licenses for "orphan works" - creative works where the copyright holder is untraceable.

The bill also takes action to ensure a plurality of news broadcasters, maintaining regional broadcasting and ensure there is a competitive digital communications infrastructure, updating Ofcom's duties on technical issues such as mobile network and spectrum.

Outside the scope of the bill the Government will also be introducing a universal broadband service, delivering at least 2 mega bits per second to every household by 2012.

Energy Bill
The energy bill will provide support for energy consumers, giving a greater amount of help to the poorest and most vulnerable customers, as well as introducing a new financial incentive for carbon capture and storage.

The bill will introduce mandatory social price support and give Ofgem more powers to protect consumers.

Financial Services Bill
The bill proposes further reform of the banking system enabling the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and Government to introduce tougher regulation of banks and banking practices giving consumers more protection.

The bill will create a new statutory Council for Financial Stability and will enhance the FSA's regulatory powers. It will give the FSA new powers over bankers pay and will ensure that remuneration policies are consistent with the effective management of risk as agreed by the G20 Leaders.

To protect consumers the bill will introduce a number of measures to enable consumers to obtain redress and compensation more easily and will expand the remit of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

Fiscal Responsibility Bill
This bill will put the Government's deficit reduction plan into law to ensure public finances are kept on a sustainable footing. The bill sets out plans to halve the deficit in four years.

Personal Care at Home Bill
The bill make it possible for those with the highest care needs to receive free personal care in their own homes.

The bill will enable more than 275,000 people with the greatest needs, including those with dementia or Parkinson's disease, to be financially protected from charges and top-up fees for care in their own homes. This will enable more people to remain independent. Changes will come in from October next year if legislation goes ahead.

The bill is the first step towards setting up a new National Care Service which is simple, fair and affordable for everyone.

Pre-budget report

The Chancellor presented his pre-budget report on 9 December. The report sets out plans to secure the recovery and growth of the economy, halve the government deficit over the next four years and protect vital public services.

The report sets out measures to continue support to businesses, pressing the banks to start lending more to business and helping businesses to defer their tax payments until they can better afford to pay. It also introduces a 'green growth' package of measures to develop green industries and create jobs in these fields.

Plans to halve the deficit include a one off payroll tax on bank bonuses to deter bumper bonuses, a freeze on the Inheritance Tax threshold at £325,000 and a half pence rise in employer and employee national insurance contributions with higher earners paying more too.

The report includes safeguards to protect vital public services, ensuring that in 2011-12 and 2012-13, NHS front-line spending rises in line with inflation and spending on schools rises by 0.7 per cent a year in real terms.

Spending on Sure Start children's centres will be maintained in line with inflation. Sufficient funding will be provided to police authorities to enable them to maintain the number of police officers and community support officers, and spending on overseas aid will remain on track to reach 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income by 2013.

Bingo update
Following the removal of VAT from bingo players' fees in the 2009 budget, the Chancellor announced in the pre-budget report that the Government will reduce the rate of bingo duty to 20 per cent at the budget 2010.

Other matters

World AIDS Day

December 1st marks World AIDS Day. More than 33 million people around the world are living with HIV and most prevention strategies are available to fewer than 1 in 5 people who need them.

The UK has become the second largest funder tackling HIV/AIDS. Last year the Government contributed over $900m and is committed to investing £6 billion up to 2015 to improve health outcomes.

There is progress, now more than 4 million people can access anti-retrovirals compared to just 100,000 people back in 2001 and since 2003 the price of AIDS drugs has halved.

World AIDS day is an important opportunity for reflection and time to recommit to the goal of universal access to prevention, treatment and care.

Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region most affected but AIDS remains a challenge in our local communities too. One third of people living with HIV do not know they are and only get a test when they become unwell. Knowing your HIV status early and accessing treatment can prolong life for many years. For more information visit www.itsbettertoknow.org.uk

Global Poverty Promise

I joined International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander in December to back a new campaign to turn the promise to tackle global poverty into a law.

The www.globalpovertypromise.com website is part of a campaign to put the Government's promise to raise international development aid to 0.7% of national income by 2013 into legislation.

Last year the Department for International Development helped train over 100,000 teachers, vaccinate more than three million children against measles, provide a million people with clean water, protect seven million people with anti-malaria bednets and give more than 12 million people access to better sanitation.

To join me in backing the campaign go to www.globalpovertypromise.com
For more information on the Government's international development policy visit www.dfid.gov.uk .

Working Neighbourhood Fund

In November, Communities Secretary John Denham announced that Hackney would receive over £1 million to tackle worklessness and low skills helping people back to work.

The fund will be used to reach out to people who find themselves out of work for long periods and will enable councils and social landlords to help people discover what options are available to them.

NHS 2010-2015

Health Secretary Andy Burnham has published a strategy for the next 5 years of health care.

The strategy sets out how NHS reform will continue in a new financial era, accelerating progress and protecting patients, support staff and frontline services whilst reducing waste and bureaucracy.

The strategy includes a new payment system where hospital income will be increasing linked to patient satisfaction; improving access to GPs at weekends and evenings and more services at home; dedicated carers for patients with cancer or serious long-term conditions and from April 2012 a legal right to a free NHS health check for everyone between 40 and 74.

To download the strategy visit www.dh.gov.uk

Hackney issues

Freedom pass renewal

All freedom pass holders will need to renew their passes in 2010.

All current passes will expire on 31 March and current holders of the pass will need to renew their pass between January and February 2010. The older person pass application form will be available at Post Offices and at www.freedompass.org from 4 January. There will also be a stand in Kingsland Shopping Centre in the new year where you will be able to pick up an application form.

People eligible for the disabled person's pass will be contacted by their local council.

The new pass will be valid for five years instead of two and will incorporate a photograph of the card holder.

Rail services over Christmas

Network rail will be carrying out a number of improvement works over the festive period that may affect your travel plans.

Between 11pm on Christmas Eve and 3am on 4 January 2010 work will take place on overhead lines between Liverpool Street and Chelmsford/Southend Victoria as well as work to increase capacity at Stratford in advance of the Olympics. This will mean buses will replace part or all of the train services that would normally terminate at Liverpool Street.

Between Sunday 27 December and Monday 28 December trains from Cambridge and Stansted Airport will terminate at Tottenham Hale. Trains from Hertford East and Enfield Town will terminate at Hackney Downs. Trains from Stansted Airport to Stratford will also terminate at Tottenham Hale on Saturday 2 January. On Sunday 3 January services from Cambridge to Stratford will be diverted to Liverpool Street via Hackney Downs and will not call at Stratford.