Just an update on the ongoing incinerator issue (the proposed waste treatment plant), the council have four bidders for the plant, three are proposing the use of ‘energy from waste’ whilst the fourth is proposing ‘mechanical biological treatment’. Three of the bidders are intending to use the former wholesale markets site on Pontefract Lane, whilst the fourth is opting for a site in the Aire Valley near the sewerage works.
Incinerator issue burns on
Campaigning, Elmet and Rothwell, Environment, Health
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Jun 132009
lap dancing clubs have the same licence as cafes
Education, Environment, Health, Young People
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Jul 022008
This is a pic from the protest in Parliament Square I mentioned in my last post. Object and Fawcett took part and it was good to see a good few MPs there!
I wrote to my two local Labour MPs about this urging them to support the EDM and I’m pleased to say that both Colin Challen and Colin Burgon signed.
A cafe was created in Parliament Square complete with tables/chairs and a pole to show how ludicrous the loophole is that allows lap dancing clubs to be licensed the same as cafes.
We really need to keep the pressure on now as on 18th June the Government wrote to every local authority in England & Wales asking if they would support the re-classification of lapdance clubs as Sex Encounter Establishments – a hugely significant move. Local authorities have until 15th August to repond.
Lapdancing clubs need law reform
Environment, Health, Young People
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Jun 172008
I’m in London tomorrow looking at venues for a conference I’m organizing so I’ll be able to join the Fawcett Society protest as part of their ‘Sexism in the City’ campaign. Having written to my local Labour MP Colin Challen to ask him to support the EDM 1375 and Roberta Blackman Woods’ 10 Minute Rule Bill calling for licensing reforms, I was pleased to hear from Colin that he has given his support to this and signed the EDM.
I feel very strongly that allowing the proliferation of lap dancing clubs in Leeds has already had a negative effect on our city and people’s experience of the city centre and if changes are not made to the licensing laws then the situation will become even worse. The extent that this has effected Leeds means that the City Square area next to Leeds station is overshadowed by a huge lapdancing club and there are also others in what should be great areas of our city. This is an issue that effects all our towns and cities.
Lapdancing clubs have the same licence as a pub or cafe – with a premises licence. They need to be licensed as sex encounter establishments as sex shops already are. This would put power into the hands of each local authority to apply restrictions to protect those living and working in the area including those working in the clubs.
I’m also attending a Progress speech by James Purnell, ‘The progressive challenge: How can welfare foster independence and responsibility?
Should be an interesting day!
Older people benefit from Labour
Environment, Health, Housing, Transport
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Mar 142008
I was very pleased to see in the budget this week that Alistair Darling gave a substantial increase to the winter fuel allowance, £250 from £200 for the over-60s, and from £300 to £400 for those above the age of 80. This will benefit 9 million pensioners. Older people should be valued and the Labour Party recognises that.
Free bus travel in England is on its way. Pensioners and disabled people in England are to get free off-peak bus travel anywhere in the country which I think is a wonderful thing to get older people out. The government are investing £250m a year for the scheme.
Alan Johnson, the health secretary has said plans would be unveiled to let elderly married couples live together in residential care as when a couple have lived all their lives together they should not be forced apart at the end of their lives.
Labour’s new strategy Lifetime Homes, Lifetime Neighbourhoods
Includes new standards for all new homes from 2013, meaning that developments are age-friendly and incorporate 16 key features such as wider doors, improved bathroom design and staircases big enough to facilitate stair lifts.
From 2011 all new social housing will be built to the ‘lifetime homes’ standard.
Additionally to support older people in their current homes, a national rapid repair and adaptations service will be backed by £33 million in investment to enable an extra 125,000 people every year to get repairs and changes to their home, allowing them to live independently.
It’s great to see so many initiatives coming from the Labour government to help our older folk.
In stark contrast, locally in Leeds where we have a coalition of Tories and Lib dems running the council, they are hitting the most vulnerable in our communities again in their budget by increasing meals on wheels charges, home help charges and cutting vital home help for hundreds of our older people as well as putting council tax up to at least a whopping 4.7%.
Apr 172007
I’m standing as the Labour Party candidate for Rothwell in the forthcoming local elections and there are some really big issues where there is a massive difference between the stand of the Lib Dems, who are the current ward councillors, and myself and the Labour Party. I hope that local people will decide who they want to vote for based on local issues and I can assure you that I am determined, if given the chance, to fight the corner for Rothwell, Woodlesford, Oulton and Carlton.
A very real issue for people in Rothwell and one which many people have contacted me about is the plan by the Lib Dem and Conservative run council in Leeds to privatise social services homecare. I’m supporting Leeds Labour in fighting these plans. Having seen the huge problems created when they privatised grass cutting, the local Labour party is worried that that the same risk will be taken with our elderly people. Leeds City Council has already forced the removal of vital home care services from older people currently being looked after by the Council. The latest proposals would bring the wholesale privatisation of many care services.
A typical example of those who have already been hit hard by cuts in local services is Thomas Place, the 93 year old war veteran who although suffering from arthritis and relying on a walking frame to get around his home, had all of his care taken away. Many older people only need a little help to be able to carry on living with dignity and as independently as possible. The council should be supporting our local people so that they can live as independently as possible. It’s a disgrace that these vital home care services have already been cut and I’m deeply concerned at the further effects that the Lib Dem and Conservative plans for privatising social services homecare will have on our older folk who should be treated with dignity and respect.
The news of further privatisation plans comes in the wake of popular facilities like the Breece and many centres used by the most vulnerable people in our society falling victim to the axe of the controlling Tories and Lib Dems in Leeds.
Disaster struck last summer when one of the private companies brought in by the council failed to deliver the service they had contracted to provide which meant that over 60 older and disabled people were left without their vital homecare services. It was a real tragedy that some people were left in bed all day and others went without a meal. These are the real effects of the Lib Dem and Conservative policies on our most vulnerable local people.
Leeds Labour voted against the privatisation plans but they were forced through by the Conservatives and their Lib Dem colleagues (disappointingly) on Leeds City Council
This is one of the biggest issues for Leeds for a long time and one which many residents have told me they are concerned about . Rothwell Lib Dem councillor Steve Smith is in charge of the City Services Department which is planning to build an incinerator to burn the city’s waste. This is a major commitment over many years and once it’s built you have to keep feeding the beast by maintaining a level of unrecyclable waste over many years.
Both the Lib Dems and the Tories who joined together so they can run the council have voted for the incinerator to go ahead. The Labour group on Leeds City Council is backing Friends of the Earth who are opposed to Leeds building an incinerator. You can have a look at Friends of the Earth’s campaign against the incinerator at www.noleedsincinerator.org.
One likely place the incinerator might be sited is in the nearby Lower Aire Valley, which would have a direct impact on Rothwell, increasing lorry movements by an extra two a minute. All of us that live in the Rothwell ward know that the last thing we need is extra lorry traffic. We’re already plagued with dangerous speeding traffic all across the ward.
An investigation into an incinerator in Newcastle found high levels of toxic ash. Nearby allotment holders were advised to “wash and peel vegetables, not to eat eggs and poultry and not to allow children under two onto the allotments.”
Cllr Smith has refused, when asked at a full council meeting, to say where the proposed incinerator will be sited. Steve Smith should be honest with the people in the Rothwell ward whom he is supposed to represent.
Other major cities are turning their backs on the idea of the large scale burning of waste. So why is Leeds bulldozing ahead with an incinerator? Leeds can do much better than this. And where is the consultation with residents, no-one I have spoken to has had any consultation on this issue?
The council have to meet government targets on waste but the targets can be met without the need for an incinerator. Friends of the Earth arranged for a presentation for the Labour group on the alternatives which are available. Presentations were also available to the Lib Dem/Tory coalition on the other options available. More details of the non-incinerator solutions can be found on the Friends of the Earth campaign website at www.noleedsincinerator.org
Feb 142007
I was interested to read in yesterday’s Guardian about some of Ruth Kelly’s plans for social housing which included helping people onto the housing ladder by giving them the option to buy 10% of their council or housing association home.
More interesting is Luke Akehurst’s blog entry having seen Ruth Kelly speak on housing policy at the Fabians yesterday. Luke reports that Ruth Kelly said that the money raised from this would be re-invested in new stock.
In response to questions, Kelly was reported to have said, “yes we need to build more social homes … more council homes, more housing association homes.” She suggested there was funding to come for building social housing in the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review. I certainly hope that this is the case, this will be very good news indeed.
In the Rothwell ward, where I live, I’m constantly contacted by people who are in desperate need of social housing and can’t get anywhere because of the shocking shortage of council housing in Rothwell and in Leeds as a whole. We’re in a situation where housing rarely comes up, and when it does it’s all too often allocated to people from outside our area, leaving local young people and families having to stay with family or friends in overcrowded conditions, which often means that relationships, health and the education of children suffer.
The local Labour Party is calling for the Lib Dem/Tory coalition who run Leeds City Council, to provide more affordable housing, including to buy, and social housing to rent. The situation in Rothwell, and Leeds has reached crisis point and we are determined that something should be done about it.
I think that this issue has to be a priority and it’s good that Ruth Kelly is looking seriously at this. This is, in my view, precisely what the Labour Party exists for – improving the quality of life for ordinary working people.
You can read all of Ruth Kelly’s speech here.
NHS still provides the best value for money
Health
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Jul 132006
I recently spent some time in hospital and so experienced at first hand the service that the NHS offers (which is why I haven’t posted for a while). My ward was very clean and overall I was impressed by most of the people who worked at St James’s. I think that everyone who works in a hospital does a difficult and demanding job from doctors to porters and from nurses to catering staff. I always feel proud when I think that the NHS was created by the Labour Party and that anyone can receive free healthcare in this country. It is a different story for many who live in other countries, and even in so called civilised countries like America, where if you have not got the cash you don’t get the treatment. It was good to hear that Labour are giving a £750 million cash boost for community hospitals and services. The cash is to help deliver faster, more convenient services in local communities and in people’s homes. I think that bringing services closer to people in the community is a positive step and more treatments in community hospitals, local health centres and where possible home treatment such as chemotherapy or mobile cancer scans seems like a very good idea.
There’s been a lot of media attention recently about NHS deficits, but the trusts covering Leeds are actually all operating in surplus (except the ambulance trust). The headline figure is £512 million NHS deficit. The fact is is that only 6% (of 567) NHS trusts are responsible for running up 50% of the deficit, and only 31% are in any deficit. Most of these are located in London and the South East.
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