October 2010

Parliamentary Business

Parliamentary Voting System and Constituencies Bill

This bill deals with two issues, a referendum on changing the electoral system to the Alternative Vote (AV) and reducing the number of parliamentary seats.

The alternative vote system enables voters to express both a first-choice of candidate and second/third preferences. After the candidates with the least number of votes are eliminated, secondary preferences are distributed to the other candidates. Winning candidates must get more than 50 per cent of the votes under the AV system. A referendum on the alternative vote will be held on 5 May 2011 after which the legislation would come into force. The Mayors of Hackney and London are elected under this system.

The bill also seeks to redraw constituency boundaries both reducing the number of MPs and introducing uniform quotas of the number of electors per seat. These quotas will not take account of the number of voters missing from the register (currently estimated at around 3.5 million in England and Wales).

I agree with the principle of creating equal sized seats but not in this rigid way which will create anomalies breaching local authority boundaries and local ties and geography. It will also mean millions of unregistered but eligible voters will not be included creating distortions in the results.

The last General Election saw Dalston move to Hackney North constituency and Hackney Central move to Hackney South and Shoreditch. It reflected a change in ward boundaries (the smaller areas covered by councillors) and made sense. If this bill is agreed, Hackney residents will be in a constant flux between Hackney North and South and probably neighbouring constituencies too. As this redrawing will take place every five years constituents will not know until a late stage which constituency they are in.

The bill ties the two policies together preventing the introduction of AV until the boundary changes take effect.

The bill had its second reading (debate in principle) on 6 September.

Fixed-Term Parliaments Bill

The Fixed Term Parliaments bill fixes the date of future general elections with the next general election to take place on 7 May 2015. Elections would occur every five years after this date on the first Thursday of May.

It would be possible to trigger an early general election if a motion of no confidence is agree by the House of Commons and no alternative government is confirmed within 14 days or if a motion for an early general election is agreed. The bill ends the Monarch's prerogative power to dissolve Parliament on the advice of the Prime Minister but does not remove the Queens' power to prorogue Parliament.
The bill has been criticised by the Political and Constitutional Reform Committee as lacking the necessary pre-legislative scrutiny and many are concerned that four, not five, years is the appropriate length for fixed term parliaments. Whilst the maximum duration of a parliament is set at five years, since 1918 no Prime Minister has let the full five years elapse.

The bill had its second reading on 13 September.

Superannuation Bill

The Superannuation Bill had its second reading on 7 September.

The bill makes changes to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme (CSCS) a statutory scheme which provides compensation for loss of office either through compulsory or voluntary redundancy.

The bill seeks to cap payments at 12 months pay for compulsory redundancy and 15 months pay for voluntary redundancy. These caps would expire after 12 months but could be extended by secondary legislation.

In February this year the previous Government reached an agreement with 5
of the 6 unions to reform the CSCS. The reforms set the maximum redundancy at two years' pay for those earning £30,000 or more and three years for those earning less. Added protection was introduced for the lowest paid.

I believe that the principles of this previous reform should be the basis of any reforms to the CSCS and I voted against the new changes which provide no protection for the lowest paid. The bill does not provide a long term solution and has been made without consultation with employees or their unions. I will be opposing these punitive and unfair measures and will encourage my colleagues to do so as well.

Identity Documents Bill

The identity documents bill which sets out the scrap the identity card scheme had its third reading in the House on 15 September.

As I reported before the summer, I have been leading the opposition on this bill and have been in the bill committee.

One of the issues I pressed on in committee was reimbursement for those who have already paid for and received their cards. I tabled an amendment to allow those cards already in circulation to continue to be used until their expiry date and to grant a £30 reduction to the cost of a passport to those who are current holders of ID cards.

I am also pressing the Government on the affect of scrapping the cards on the transgender community. I tabled an amendment to press the Home Secretary to make arrangements for people of transgender status (who has not been issued with a gender recognition certificate and who is living in both birth-gender and acquired-gender) to be issued with identity documents in both genders. This was possible with the ID card.

Equitable Life (Payments) Bill

Equitable Life policy holders have long sought compensation for the reduction of their pension plans, originally sold with a guaranteed annuity rate.

There have been a number of investigations into the issue and following the Parliamentary Ombudsman's second report published in 2008, it was concluded that there had been maladministration, injustice had been suffered and that compensation should be paid.

The previous Government proposed ex-gratia payments to those who had suffered disproportionately from the maladministration and commissioned Sir John Chadwick to devise the scheme for doing so. He reported back this year just after the election.

This bill is a technical measure which does not set out the criteria under which payments will be made but rather provides the authority for money to be paid once it has been decided. It had its second reading on 14 September. The Government has set up a separate independent commission to follow on from the Chadwick report.

Other matters

Tackling rogue landlords

I am supporting Shelter's campaign to tackle rogue landlords.

Shelter has launched an investigation into rogue landlords in the private rented sector. Nearly one million people across the UK have fallen victim to a scam involving a landlord or a rented property in the last three years.

A new survey carried out by Shelter with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health reveals that 9 out of 10 environmental health officers working with tenants have encountered landlords engaging in harassment or illegal eviction; 78% had dealt with landlords who persistently refuse to maintain their property in a safe condition and more than 90% had encountered cases of severe damp, mould, electrical or fire safety hazard in properties they investigated in the last year.

I want to hear from you if you have had issues with rogue landlords. Please get in touch with me at the usual address and let me know your story. You can find out more at www.shelter.org.uk

East London line - zoning

I am campaigning to have the pricing rules changed for customers travelling on the newly opening East London line.

It's great to have the line opened at last but for some there is an issue to be resolved.

Hop on the train at Dalston Junction and get off at Canada Water and you start and end your journey in zone 2. But on the way you pass through Shoreditch High Street - in zone 1.

Regular commuters with travelcards are not affected but any occasional travel pays an extra 50p to travel on a pay as you go oyster simply by passing through.

Transport for London argue that they cannot rezone Shoreditch but with Oyster technology it is possible to differentiate the journey.

I am joining local London Assembly member Jennette Arnold to urge Transport for London to look at this issue. It's a small change but one that will make all the difference.

Bicycling postmen

I joined fellow members of the All Party Cycling Group and CTC the cycling campaign group in September to deliver some special letters to the Chief Executive of Royal Mail.

Royal Mail announced that they will phase out their 14,500 bikes in favour of vans.

Royal Mail argues that postbags have got considerably heavier in recent years. CTC are encouraging the use of freight bicycles which can be part electric. The All Party Group is meeting with union reps to discuss the best way forward.

Top up safe

Energy customers with pre-payment meters are finding themselves at risk of a scam which seems to offer cheaper electricity.

The door-step scam involves using cloned keys to offer electricity for half the price. Cloned keys can be detected by the electricity company and customers end up paying twice for their electricity. London is a particular hotspot for these scams which are targeted at customers of all the major electricity companies.

Companies never sell door to door so customers should always top up at an official outlet. Visit www.top-upsafe.com for more information.