Letter from Parliament – Tony Lloyd MP

Date published: 19 February 2019

Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership

In Parliament I attended a meeting between local MPs and the Chair of Greater Manchester Health & Social Care Partnership for an update on the work and progress under the devolved health settlement. With devolved powers, it is vital to keep the Rochdale case in front of key decision makers.

Among other issues, I raised my ongoing concerns about our ambulance service. People in urgent need of hospital care are waiting longer and longer to be seen. This isn’t due to the work of the paramedics, they are being stretched to the limit, like all our emergency services. It is due to the wrong contracts being devised and continued government underfunding which needs to be addressed urgently.

The use of biometric data in the UK

The terms ‘Biometrics’ may sound like something which doesn’t concern everyday people, however I attended a meeting in parliament which highlighted just how regularly we use this technology in our day to day lives: from fingerprint and facial recognition to access our mobile phones, laptops and places of work along with iris recognition at airport border controls.

This raises ethical and privacy issues around the use of biometric data in the UK and we therefore discussed future opportunities in this sector but also how we can protect people from any of this data being shared without their knowledge or consent.

Beer taxation and pubs

There was a debate in Parliament on beer taxation and pubs. People from across Rochdale have contacted me recently, worried about the future of our local pubs and I agree that they are at the heart of our communities and we must do whatever we can to support them. The pub sector supports 900,000 jobs, generates £23 billion in economic value and provides £13 billion in tax revenues.

At the recent Budget the Government announced a one-third off business rates for pubs. However I am concerned that this represents only a temporary relief, rather than long-term support. We need a full review of the business rates system to ensure that we support local pubs and businesses.

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty

We saw a major statement on Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces) Treaty. This Treaty saw the controversial Cruise Missile withdrawn from the UK in the 1980s and limited the use of short-range missiles, making getting rid of these “battlefield” nuclear weapons much easier and nuclear war less likely. Trump’s decision, along with recent Russian developments in these technologies, deserve condemnation.

Limit hours worked by bus drivers

I am supporting my colleague Matt Western’s Bill that seeks to limit the hours worked by bus drivers on local routes. This is in response to the tragic deaths of 7-year-old Rowan Fitzgerald and 76-year-old Dora Hancox, in the Coventry bus crash in 2015 where the bus driver had been working 70+ hour weeks in the lead up to the crash. Bus companies must take responsibility for the condition of not only their buses, but also their employees and must ensure they are fit to drive safely.

 

 

Greater Manchester is still over 1,500 officers short

The Government forced through its Police Grant Settlement and once again failed to put back the money they’ve taken from policing over the past 9 years at a time of increasing crime. It is incredible that Greater Manchester is still over 1,500 officers short of where we once were. A Labour Government would make our streets safe again by employing more officers and investing in our local services.

In the same vein, funding for our local councils was also once again cut

The Local Government Association believe that councils are £3.2 billion short, which means departments such as children’s services and adult social care, along with bread and butter issues – e.g. fixing pot holes in our roads, are not receiving the time and attention they deserve. Towns like Rochdale continue to be underfunded whilst privileged Conservative towns receive a bigger piece of the pie.

Withdrawal of ferry contract costs taxpayers 

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was once again in the news, and once again not for good reasons. He’s now had to withdraw the ferry contract to Seaborne Freight ferries. This is a company with no ferries, operating out of a port which couldn’t take ferries! This would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious and hadn’t cost the tax payer the best part of a million pounds.

Female genital mutilation must be stopped

There was also an important statement on FGM (Female genital mutilation), following the first successful prosecution in Great Britain. I hope to see many more prosecutions across the UK to send out a signal that this country does not accept the mutilation of young girls and women. Fortunately, MPs across parties agree that this practice must be stopped. One Conservative MP, Christopher Chope, blocked legislation which would have increased powers to protect women and girls further - his actions are simply despicable.

Discussing homelessness at Kingsway Park High School

In Rochdale, I visited Kingsway Park High School following an invite from students to discuss homelessness. Whilst the discussion hammered home the tragic increase in homelessness across the country, it was heartening to hear the passion and ideas that the next generation has to offer. We also discussed tackling the drugs trade across Greater Manchester and various concerns surrounding Brexit.

At the school, I also met with Anita Okunde who was campaigning to become Rochdale's Member of the Youth Parliament. She had a very impressive manifesto based on tackling knife crime, youth mental health services and giving pupils work experience opportunities.

She has since won the election last Wednesday – congratulations to Anita.

Rosso relaunches Lake bus service

I also attended Rosso’s ‘Lakeline’ launch. Rosso are relaunching the 456/457/458 services to Littleborough. Investing in new bus services is great news for Rochdale, not only will it provide extra transport links, something which has been lacking, but also these new buses offer free wi-fi, contactless payment as standard and they are much more environmentally friendly.

 

 

Shocking figures show that in 2018, over the previous four years Greater Manchester lost a staggering 8 million miles of bus routes - a reduction of a tenth. Buses are by far the most used form of public transport in our region so it’s important that we continue to invest in them.

Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation

I also visited the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Foundation. This charity was formed after the Warrington IRA bombing in 1993 and it has grown to be one of the leading organisations in preventing and resolving violent extremism across the North of England. They support people who have been affected by terrorist incidents at home and abroad and they received over 800 referrals from people impacted by the Manchester Arena bombing.

Up until recently they have been funded by a direct grant from the Home Office, but the funding has now been withdrawn and Local Authorities have been asked to plug the gap. This is practically impossible considering the huge cuts to local government already.

 

 

The child trafficking service do great work across Rochdale

Child trafficking is unfortunately a huge issue across the country, including Greater Manchester. I met with the child trafficking service who undertake some great work across Rochdale and Manchester to combat these awful crimes. Whilst a lot of children are trafficked into the UK, many people are shocked to hear statistics showing that 41% of referrals are children from the UK. Challenging traffickers and safeguarding children must be a priority for our public services.

Janet Pitman welcomed as new vicar

I attended the first service of Janet Pitman at St James the Apostle, following her licensing service at the beginning of the month. This was a wonderful service to welcome Janet as the new vicar of both St James’ and St Thomas churches. I would like to wish Janet and her congregation all the very best. It was also lovely to visit Littleborough United Reformed Church to commemorate its 150th Anniversary on 3rd February. The Church has welcomed people from Littleborough and beyond for many years and it was great to celebrate with them.

 

 

Hornets

I also watched the Rochdale Hornets play Toronto Wolfpack on 10th February, it was probably the toughest fixture they could have had for the first game of the season, but they didn’t stop playing until the very end!

Rochdale residents visit Parliament

I welcomed a group of visitors from Rochdale to Parliament. Even if the parliamentary scene depresses most people at the moment, it certainly brightens up my day to see local people in Westminster!