January 2011

Parliamentary Business

Shadow Department of Energy and Climate Change

I have been busy since being elected to the shadow cabinet meeting a range of experts in the energy and climate change arena. There are two major measures in Parliament this year - the Energy Bill which will (if passed) usher in the Green Deal (see below) and Electricity Market Reform in the autumn. I am concerned that the Government is not living up to its promise on investing in a green economy. Dither and delay has a cost to the environment and to British green jobs, in this role I am pressing for action.

Health and Social Care Bill

The bill increases GPs' powers, giving them control of a national health budget of £80bn a year, along with responsibility for planning, negotiating, monitoring and managing treatment locally.

This bill reorganises the NHS by abolishing primary care trusts and strategic health authorities. It establishes an independent NHS Board nationally to allocate resources and provide commissioning guidance to GPs. It also strengthens the role of the Care Quality Commission.

Monitor – the body that currently regulates NHS foundation trusts - will become an economic regulator with a principle purpose of opening up the NHS completely to the private sector and introducing competition on price.

I am concerned about the requirement placed on GPs to commission services from 'any willing provider' - NHS or independent.

This will allow new providers to enter markets and cherry pick activities that are profitable, while the NHS will have to provide the remaining unprofitable services. This could undermine the financial viability of NHS local hospitals and their ability to provide complex procedures.

NHS hospitals will also be allowed to treat private patients without limit, so those who can afford to will be able to jump the queue while NHS patients wait longer for treatment. There are no provisions for monitoring the potential impact on NHS services or for NHS providers to show that increasing private income will not harm the NHS care they deliver.

The bill had its 2nd reading (debate on the general principles) on 31 January and is now being examined in detail in committee.

Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill

The bill covers police accountability and governance; alcohol licensing; protests around Parliament Square; misuse of drugs; and arrest warrants for private prosecutions for universal jurisdiction offences.

The bill proposes replacing police authorities with directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners.

This single elected politician, remote from the frontline, will have strong powers potentially undermining collaboration between police forces.

These expensive and disruptive reforms take place when the Government is cutting police funding by a fifth over the next four years. Police numbers will also be cut, as these cuts go way beyond what experts believe can be achieved through efficiency savings and better procurement.

Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary has said that a "re-design" of the police system could "at best… save 12 percent of central government funding, while maintaining police availability".

The bill had its 2nd reading on 13 December.

Localism Bill

The intention of this bill is to devolve greater powers to councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities more control over housing and planning decisions.

I believe in devolving power to local communities where appropriate and with the right safeguards. However these proposals give 126 new powers to the Secretary of State, undermining local democracy.

Housing proposals to end secure tenancies, a move to link rents to market prices and the abolition of the statutory right of those other than spouses or partners to inherit secure tenancies, will undermine housing security. Abolishing secure tenancies and kicking new tenants out of their homes when they get a pay rise will create uncertainty and could provide a disincentive to work.

The proposed reforms to the planning regime – including the scrapping of regional housing targets – will have implications for the number of new homes built.

The community empowerment and neighbourhood planning sections of the bill have been put together hastily and without adequate consultation. As they stand the proposals will create new costly and complex systems of service procurement, reducing the effectiveness of local authorities. And the safeguards are limited.

The bill had its 2nd reading on 17 January.

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

This bill, which includes provision for a referendum on changing the electoral system to the alternative vote and reducing the number of parliamentary seats (see October report) is currently being debated at length in the Lords, with a number of all-night sittings

For a referendum to be held on 5 May 2011 the bill has to pass through all its Parliamentary stages by 16 February.

Armed Forces Bill

An Armed Forces Bill is required every five years. It provides the legal basis for military law in the UK and including measures relating to the welfare, wellbeing and management of service personnel.

Key provisions include additional powers being given to service police to conduct investigations and measures to strengthen their independence; ensuring disciplinary systems are consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights; the introduction of Service Sexual Offences Prevention Orders to protect members of the service community outside the UK; and the strengthening of the independence and impartiality of service complaints.

The bill proposes moving responsibility for monitoring progress on strengthening the military covenant away from independent experts and into the hands of ministers.

There are also proposals to link widow's and disability pensions to the lower consumer price index rather than the retail price index. This will reduce pensions over a lifetime by many £1000s.

The bill had its 2nd reading (debate in principle) on 10 January.

European Union Bill

The bill aims to strengthen procedures for agreeing to or ratifying certain EU decisions and Treaty changes. It provides for a UK-wide referendum on any proposed EU treaty or Treaty change which would transfer powers from the UK to the EU.

The bill had its 2nd reading on 17 January.

Postal Services Bill

The bill will lift all restrictions on the ownership of the Royal Mail and allow the Government to sell shares in the company, with a maximum of 10 per cent reserved for an employee share ownership scheme.

Legislation will protect the universal postal service from a provider entering insolvency proceedings. The regulatory regime will be reformed before any decisions are taken about securing private sector investment.

The bill does not guarantee that a privatised Royal Mail would continue to use the Post Office. This could have a devastating impact on the post office network, and customers would potentially need to go much further to post a parcel or register a letter.

There is also a requirement to review the universal service within 18 months, despite one being completed last November. Such a review before a newly privately-owned Royal Mail has had a chance to bed-down would cause unnecessary disruption. Customers would be better served by an assessment of the universal service and its long-term viability after Royal Mail is modernised and financially secure.

The bill had its 3rd reading (last opportunity for MPs to vote on the whole bill) on 12 January and is now in the House of Lords.

Energy Bill

This bill - which I will be leading on for Labour when it comes to the Commons – had its second reading in the Lords on 22 December. It is currently being examined in detail in the Lords.

The bulk of the Energy Bill is the introduction of the 'Green Deal'. Customers will be able to get money for energy efficiency measures upfront in the form of a loan. The loan is attached to the property not the individual.

The bill proposes to review take up of the Green Deal in the private rented sector in 2015. It gives the Secretary of State powers to require local authorities to take action on landlords who don't make improvements and give tenants the right to ask for reasonable energy efficiency measures.

Labour shadow ministers have tabled amendments in committee to strengthen the private-rented housing section of the bill, putting restrictions on renting out properties which are not up to energy efficiency standards and giving local authorities greater powers to ensure improvement work is carried out.

We are also seeking stronger consumer protection - currently very weak in the bill. It will come to the Commons in April.

Hackney Issues

Olympics Update

In January I met with the Olympic Park Legacy Company about what will happen to the Park after 2012. I am delighted that there are clear plans to develop a series of new London neighbourhoods across the site in Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Newham.

New homes

There will be around 11,000 new homes on the site, the first of which will be in the former athletes' village and will be available for sale or rent from 2014. All homes will be within walking distance of Hackney Wick or Stratford International stations (although Eurostar is still refusing to stop international services at Stratford).

I have discovered that despite a number of safeguards across the site on future use there is nothing to stop the private developer (yet to be chosen) which will develop the village from selling en masse to overseas investors. This is common practice by developers who use the upfront cash to fund the development. After all the promise of the Olympic legacy it would be completely wrong if a chunk of housing was sold to landlords with little stake in the new local communities.

An estimated 35 percent of new homes will be affordable - but this will depend on the Mayor of London's plan at the time. This makes the outcome of the Mayoral elections in 2012 particularly important. Click here for more information.

Broadcast centre

This is the main Hackney legacy and will provide 8,872m2 of office space and over 50,000m2 of commercial space. I have long argued that this needs to provide for local small creative businesses and create local jobs. I'm heartened that this is part of the plans and the company is already working this. When Baroness Ford was appointed chair of the company I stressed to her the real need for looking at how to reach local unemployed people to make sure they havethe right skills to take up these new jobs.

An anchor tenant has yet to emerge to occupy the bulk of the building.

Field Studies Centre

The Field Studies Council will be opening a centre on the Olympic Park where schoolchildren from across the UK will be able to learn about urban geography. I recently met them and was impressed by the breadth of the courses it will provide. Click here for more information.

The stadium

The future of the stadium has now been decided by the legacy company board, with West Ham's bid being chosen. I strongly favoured their approach because it allows for continued use of the stadium for athletics as well as football. A football stadium is used for football about 3 percent of the time so it is important the potential for wider use is recognised.

Other sport

Sporting venues will reopen from 2013 (the velo park external cycle circuits) is the first to reopen. The stadium, hockey and tennis centres are set to reopen by 2014/15.

The future

There are many exciting plans for the site which will be run by the new development corporation which will be formed out of the Legacy Company when the Localism Bill becomes law. The development corporation will be directly responsible to the Mayor of London. See the plans for yourself by visiting the Legacy Company website

Young volunteers

Don't forget that if you will be under 18 at the time of the Olympics there is still time to volunteer. The Young Games Maker programme will be unveiled in July this year