July 2011

Media and Phone Hacking

This issue of phone hacking by News of the World journalists has dominated parliamentary business during July. On 20 July Parliament was recalled (it had officially ended for the summer period) for an urgent statement by the Prime Minister.

This followed two intense committee sessions where the police and senior figures in the news group News International were grilled by MPs.

The leader of the opposition Ed Miliband called for a judge-led phone hacking inquiry. The Government has now agreed this and announced that Lord Justice Brian Leveson will lead it.

The inquiry will look into the culture, practices and ethics of the press including contacts between press and politicians, and the relationship between the press and the police. It will also look into the extent of unlawful and improper conduct within News International, and into the conduct of the Metropolitan Police's original investigation of phone hacking allegations.

I look forward to the outcome of the inquiry - although this could be years away. I am not keen to see state regulation of the media. Phone hacking is illegal and there are laws to tackle this already. The scandal is that it happened and continued for so long. Those who broke the law should pay the price.

BSkyB takeover

In Parliament the leader of the opposition Ed Miliband tabled a motion calling for Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation to withdraw their bid for BSkyB.

This would have meant that News International owned 100 per cent of the shares in BSkyB as well as a number of British national newspapers.
In the end all parties supported the call and I am pleased that in response to pressure from the public and Parliament the News Corporation withdrew their bid.

Campaign for green jobs

I recently made a speech about the huge potential for job creation from the new green technologies emerging in the UK.

We have set some of the toughest targets for reducing emissions of harmful CO2 in the world. The UK also has some of the best natural resources for the generation of renewable energy. Couple this with our technical and manufacturing expertise and there is a real opportunity to create long term jobs in the UK.

The challenge for many companies is the difficulty in raising capital. Banks and pension funds are reluctant to lend to untested technologies. The Green Investment Bank will not be able to lend until 2015. It is doubtful under current plans if it will be able to lend to emerging businesses.

With the right support from Government jobs could be created in industry with technologies which could help the UK keep ahead in the development and export of renewable energy.

I am speaking to businesses and trade unions up and down the country to press the Government to create the right framework to foster this win-win situation.

Energy price rises

Over the last few weeks three of the biggest six energy companies have announced large rises in gas and electricity charges.

The big six are the six largest energy companies operating in the UK and between them provide over 99 per cent of energy to domestic customers. The three companies which have announced price rises are Scottish and Southern Energy, British Gas and Scottish Power.

Following these announcements the average fuel bill for customers of these three companies will increase by between £171 and £190 per year.

These announcements are bad news for bill payers across Britain and will add to the financial squeeze on families.

I am concerned at the dominance of these six companies on the energy market and as shadow cabinet member for energy and climate change I have called for the competition commission to launch an investigation.

I am also calling for a new system which would allow smaller companies to buy power generated by these large providers.

Legal loan-sharking

Following a lengthy campaign by my colleague Stella Creasy, MP for Walthamstow, the Government has announced a review into how a cap on the total cost of credit in the high cost credit market could affect consumers.

This relates to short term loans such as payday loans; home loans and consumer credit at very high interest rates.

In Hackney many people use pay day loans to help them get through to the end of the month. Typically they will cash their pay check and receive 90 per cent of it with the rest going to the loan company.
For those who do not pay them off the interest rates are very high.

I voted for the amendment to the Finance Bill which Stella tabled proposing this review at the beginning of July. The amendment was defeated.

The Government has now effectively agreed to do what Parliament voted down even though it voted against at the time.

Public Bodies Bill

The public bodies bill which was first introduced in the House of Lords had its second reading in the House of Commons in July.

The bill will abolish, merge, change the functions or reduce the size of a number of public bodies.

The Bill is what is known as enabling legislation. It means that Ministers are given certain powers to abolish or change public bodies under their department's responsibility without the need to bring individual decisions back to parliament.

As part of their emergency budget last year the Government announced they would save £30 billion by abolishing quangos. The Government has found, however, that axing quangos has a direct impact on the front-line services it had vowed to save. The savings could be as little as 5 per cent of the £30billion target.

I am concerned that this bill has been introduced without a coherent plan or review of public bodies. There has been little consultation. Where there has been consultation the Government has not waited for the results. Throughout the passage of the bill through the Lords and now the commons the list of bodies affected has continuously changed.

Examples of public bodies under threat are the Equality and Human Rights Commission; Consumer Focus; The Charity Commission and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority and the Human Tissue Authority and the Football Licensing Authority (set up after Hillsborough).

Consumer Focus is the consumers' champion. It has been at the forefront of fighting on behalf of gas and electricity customers during the recent round of price rises and profit announcements by energy companies.

H3. London Community Credit Union

Earlier this year London Community Credit Union opened for business in Hackney, when Tower Hamlet's Credit Union was authorised to expand its services to the borough.

Credit unions are a good way to save and also offer affordable small loans. They are a better alternative to the high interest loan companies mentioned above.

Credit Unions can help people who are unable to open accounts with the main high street banks.

They are not just available for people on low incomes or with poor credit histories. Anyone can join and the more members a Credit Union has the better it is able to compete within the small loans market and support those with poor credit histories.

For more information please go to www.thccu.co.uk

Have your say on Policing

The Metropolitan Policy Authority has announced its annual consultation on policing priorities.
There is a short on-line questionnaire which you can complete by going to the MPA website
The MPA is asking for local people to give their top three priorities for policing; why they have chosen these priorities; and what the police should do to deliver these.
I am keen that as many Hackney people take part in this survey as possible. The deadline is 25 November 2011.
There is also a questionnaire for local businesses here

National Transplant week

National Transplant week was in early July The old donor card system has been replaced by the NHS organ donor register.

Since the register was introduced only 29 per cent of people have joined the register, yet 96 per cent of people would take a donated organ if they needed one.

If you would like to join the register then you can do so very quickly by going to www.organdonation.nhs.uk or by calling 0300 123 23 23.

Anthony Nolan stem cells register

I am joining my colleague John Woodcock MP's cross-party campaign to get every MP to recruit ten people to join the Anthony Nolan bone marrow register.

John, who is Member of Parliament for Barrow in Furness, was spurred on to set up this campaign by a young 15 year old constituent with Hodgkin's lymphoma who could not find a matching donor. On top of her list of things to achieve before she dies is to recruit more people to the register. John has challenged all MPs to get 10 constituents to sign up. This is part of the Anthony Nolan campaign to get more healthy young men to sign up as donors.

Every 23 minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer.

To find out more about the campaign go to www.anthonynolan.org/get10

There is a particular shortage of donors from black and minority ethnic backgrounds meaning that the chance of receiving a donor cells is dramatically reduced. So please consider signing up.

Magic Breakfast

I recently attended a reception promoting the Magic breakfast, a social enterprise that provides some of London's poorest children with breakfast when they go to school.

Every day 700,000 children in the UK arrive at school too hungry to learn. Some are given a packet of crisps on the way to school and in other families there is not enough money in the household to pay for breakfast.

Heads at Hackney schools which work with Magic Breakfast tell me the difference that a good breakfast makes to pupil achievement.

Since 2001 the Magic Breakfast has delivered more than 2 million breakfasts. According to the Child Poverty Action Group school is the only source of hot food for one in four British school children.

Free school meals

My colleague Andrew Gwynne MP led a debate in Parliament on school food. He called for free school meals to be extended to all primary school children. He raised in particular the need for the re-instatement of the ring-fenced school lunch grant given direct to schools.

A recent Independent on Sunday investigation found that prices for school lunches have risen by 10 per cent this year.

The School Food Trust reported in 2011 that 1 in 5 primary age children do not take up the free school meals they are entitled to In Hackney the take-up at primary school was 62.7 per cent of those pupils who were eligible in 2010.

Save our High Street Campaign

I reported in May about my support for an amendment to the Localism Bill which would help councils control the number of betting shops in their local high streets.
I support a wider campaign to help councils reinvigorate high-streets in consultation with their community rather than leaving them with empty shops. The campaign would fund a £5 million programme as part of the £200 million allocated to regional growth through a bank bonus tax.
The campaign also asks for a temporary cut in VAT from 20 per cent to 17.5 per cent to give struggling retailers a boost.

It also argues for a competition test to be included in planning law as recommended by the Competition Commission. This would help promote fair competition between small and large retailers.

In the autumn I will be launching a local shop front award scheme to boost the central Hackney shopping area around the narroway.

Shoppers will be asked to nominate the best local shop fronts. I hope this will help to boost local shops at a time when many businesses are struggling.

Energy doorstep mis-selling

The Energy and Climate Change Select Committee has called for energy companies found to have mis-sold energy deals should pay compensation to consumers.
Figures from Ofgem suggest that up to 40 per cent of consumers who switch do not end up with a better deal.
I welcome the move by Scottish and Southern to end doorstep selling of energy packages. This has been a big cause of mis trust and has been a contributing factor to mis-selling.
Around 70 per cent of domestic consumers do not understand their energy bills. With up to 400 energy tariffs to choose from it is not surprising that even when customers switch suppliers they often choose a tariff which does not work for them.
I am calling for greater transparency about where costs fall. It is little surprise that many Hackney residents prefer pre-paid electricity keys. These charge a higher rate but do not lead to unexpected bills.

Olympic Jobs

I recently attended a briefing session on employment and skills opportunities for Hackney people arising from the Olympics

There will be further opportunities to apply for up to 100,000 jobs with Olympics contractors. I will be working with Hackney council and London 2012 to help ensure that more Hackney residents get the chance to secure Olympics jobs.

Olympic tickets

I also raised with London 2012 concerns raised by those who had not been successful in bidding for Olympic tickets.

There was excess demand for tickets but 2012 remain committed to helping people who applied first time for a ticket and will have a mechanism to prioritise those who have not been successful when the final tickets are released in March 2012.

There will be a number of opportunities for Hackney residents to attend demonstration events and see the venues being used. These start in August and there will either be priority booking code for local residents or 2012 will work with the council.

There will be an opportunity to purchase Paralympic tickets from 9 September.

East Wick

Well done to Oliver O'Brien a resident in Hackney who won a competition to name an Olympic Park neighbourhood.

His successful entry was East Wick to name the area East of the Wick.

The Olympic Park legacy company's held a competition "Your Park Your Place" to a name the five neighbourhoods in the new Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The judging panel chose names with historic links. One of the other neighbourhoods will be named Marshgate Wharf; a reference to the Hackney Marshes. The marshes have historically hosted sporting activities including football and cricket.

The Urswick School

When Hackney Free and Parochial school's students return from their summer break in September it will be to brand-new buildings and a brand-new name - the Urswick School. From September the school will also be teaching at A level as part of the South Hackney Sixth Form.

The school is to be named after its founder The Reverend Christopher Urswick who was rector of the Parish of Hackney.

The school's students have played their part too. They have been learning about The Rev'd Christopher Urswick in their history lessons; working with a design company to choose a new school logo; and helping select a catering company for the new dining area.

Community networks

At a recent awards ceremony three of Hackney's community networks won a Reaching Success Award organised by the Community Empowerment Network. The award winners were:

The Black and Ethnic Minority Arts Network which celebrates work being done by Hackney's diverse artists and arts organisations; the African Women's Network which works to address issues affecting African women in Hackney; and Disability Back Up which provides a voice for disabled people in Hackney.

Ramadan

I recently visited Sulemaniye mosque on Kingsland Road and attended Friday prayers just ahead of the start of Ramadan.

This month of fasting for practising Muslims is a time of spiritual reflection and worship.

I wish my Muslim constituents peace and joy at this spiritual time.