Letter from Parliament

Pat and I had a most enjoyable Christmas with our two sons, two daughters, their wives and husbands and our five grandsons aged from 15 years to 15 months.  It was chaos for a week but it was worth every minute. We attended Christmas Mass at St John’s on Christmas Eve and we brought in the New Year at Bamford Bowling Club with our neighbours and friends and then had a break for a few days.

On the 3 January, David Chaytor MP, myself, Councillor Colin Lambert and Councillor Wayne Campbell, leader of Bury Council and his Conservative and Liberal Democrat colleagues met the Chief Executive of the new Regional Health authority to put the case for maternity and children’s services to be placed either in Bury or Rochdale but somewhere north of the M62.  There was a positive feeling to the meeting.  The pressure has to be continued.  As I have said previously this needs to be a joint effort by all interested parties.

On Thursday 4 January I had a good hour with Derek O’Toole, Principal of Hopwood Hall College who briefed me about the future plans for the college.  2007 is obviously going to be an important year for the college development.  The Middleton campus is a magnificent facility.  I was part of the Labour council that took the decision to purchase the premises and land including the old Hopwood Hall from the De La Salle brothers after Keith Joseph, Education Secretary in the Thatcher Government, closed it as a teacher training college.  The same government shortly afterwards removed Sixth form colleges from Local Government control. 

The proposed creation of a sixth form centre on St Mary’s Gate site will get my support.  Middleton will have sixth form provision.  I discussed the need for improved transport links from Heywood  to the college plus a 14 – 19 education facility in Heywood.  This would then provide equal opportunities for young people across the borough.  It’s ironic that the local Lib Dem party oppose any change on health provision but support change including school closures in education. But that shouldn’t really surprise me as I note that in Rochdale the Lib Dems support maternity and children’s services but in Heywood, part of Rochdale, their representative supports the Fairfield option.  It is indeed a funny old world.

I attended the decision making meeting on the Health reconfiguration in the Town Hall on Friday evening.  My view is that there is an opportunity now to concentrate on the future and the creation of quality services for the people of north East Manchester.  I hope this opportunity is taken. 

As I finish this short article I am off to Cardiff to spend two days with my daughter and her family and then it is back to Westminster for the start of what should be a very interesting political year.