OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND: DERBY LIB DEMS' HALF-BAKED SOLUTION TO STUDENT PARKING PROBLEM

STUDENTS in Derby fear they are being put at risk after being allocated parking in an unlit, unsupervised city car park.

Derby City Council and the University of Derby have moved the students to Markeaton Park car park following complaints about on-street parking.

But the winter nights and lack of lighting at the site mean the students are expected to traipse through the pitch black to find their vehicles, often after finishing lectures and seminars late into the evening.

I have written to the Council and the University to demand that temporary lighting is installed and, if the parking arrangements become permanent, a longer term fix is found. He also wants a shelter erecting so that when students are waiting for the shuttle bus to arrive they are not exposed to the elements.

There was a problem with on-street parking that demanded a proper solution, but this half-baked effort has been thrown together and has put the students in a vulnerable position.

What was needed was a well-thought out answer to the problems, not a botch job like this. It's a case of out-of-sight, out-of-mind - and the students are certainly out of sight here.

I've been up there with NUS Student Rights Officer, Josh Eades, to have a look and it's absolutely ridiculous. I wouldn't want to find my car in those conditions, and nor would the Liberal Democrats who've made this decision - so why should the students?

DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST OR KEEP HOPE ALIVE - THE CHOICE IS YOURS

In December 1993 a local magazine, Derbyshire Now, published a piece I had written about the aftermath of the late 1980s and early 1990s property boom that saw record numbers of repossessions. When I wrote that article 16 per cent of mortgage holders were in negative equity.

Now, 16 years later, the situation is very different. The worst worldwide economic downturn since the 1930s, fuelled by the collapse of the so-called US subprime property market, could have had disastrous consequences for the UK. Had the policies pursued by John Major’s Conservative government prevailed today the situation would indeed have been considerably worse. If repossessions, arrears and negative equity were running at the same rate this year as in the early 1990s, 91,000 households would have been repossessed, 396,000 would be in arrears and 2.2m would be in negative equity.

I’m not seeking to minimise the difficulties some homeowners have encountered in recent times. I understand the anxiety that is suffered when householders fall into arrears. I’ve seen the heartbreak people feel when their home is repossessed. And I’ve personally experienced the distress caused by negative equity. I watched the value of the house I bought in 1988, at the height of the property boom, plummet in value to well below what I paid for it.

The measures introduced by this Labour government have saved thousands of families from the same housing traumas that people went through 20 years ago. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said it is going to revise its forecast on the numbers of repossessions this year from 65,000 to 48,000. The CML has also said it expects the numbers of homeowners in arrears by more than 2.5 per cent of their mortgage balance to be considerably lower than it originally anticipated. Its latest forecast puts the figure at 195,000 rather than 360,000. And up to a million more households were in negative equity in the early 90s compared to today.

In 1991 alone, 75,500 households lost their homes but Labour has tightened the rules to ensure that repossession is now always the last resort. Lenders have been forced to consider all other options to keep people in their homes, including the government’s Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme and the Mortgage Rescue Scheme. This includes having to satisfy tougher tests in courts, with a new checklist for them to prove they have exhausted every possible option before taking action against borrowers. They have also been forced to inform local authorities when repossession action is started against residents, allowing councils to step in to offer advice and help. But Derby’s Liberal Democrats, who currently run the city council, have resisted the government’s schemes to help borrowers.

Not content with flouting government measures to assist hard pressed home owners, the Lib Dems joined with the Tories and so-called independent councillors to vote down the Labour Group’s proposals to assist Derby’s struggling home owners. It was actually pretty nauseating to witness their indifference towards thousands of their constituents fearful about keeping a roof over their heads.

That one incident in Derby’s council chamber in March this year gave a clear insight into the mindset of other political parties. It gives a pointer to how a future Tory government would leave people to fend for themselves resulting in more people being at risk of losing their homes. The choice couldn’t be clearer. People can vote go back to the devil take the hindmost approach to the economic downturn, exemplified by Margaret Thatcher and John Major, or vote to keep hope alive with Labour.

LABOUR ACTION TO HELP PENSIONERS WITH COUNCIL TAX BILLS

Labour has done a lot to address pensioner poverty with initiatives like the winter fuel payments, concessionary fares, free TV licenses and pension credit. But the take-up of some social security benefits among older people could still be improved.

I know from my casework as a councillor, and previously as a welfare rights officer, that some elderly people feel there is a stigma in claiming their full entitlements. The British Legion agrees and is one of a number of organisations who have voiced concerns about this phenomenon.

It’s a sad irony that the very people who built the welfare state are among the most reluctant to enjoy the fruits of the welfare state that they secured. It was this generation who voted in their millions for the first post-war Labour government to make sure we didn’t go back to the grinding poverty of 1930s Britain under the Conservatives.

It’s therefore good news that the Labour government has decided to rename Council Tax Benefit, which was originally introduced in the aftermath of the disastrous poll tax. In future it will be known as Council Tax Rebate. This might seem like a relatively insignificant step, but I’m sure it will encourage more pensioners to claim the help to which they’re entitled. At the moment the take-up of this benefit is between 62 – 68 per cent and the average award is just under £16 per week. Anything that helps to increase take-up should be welcomed.

But simply renaming Council Tax Benefit is not enough. It needs to be part of a wider programme to raise awareness about social security benefits. Labour has recognised that further steps need to be taken to make claiming simpler and the government is taking action. Since November last year, pensioners have been able to apply for support with their Council Tax and Housing costs through an initiative that allows people to avoid pages of paper work. Pension Credit now only requires just one free phone call.

Poverty remains a stain on our society. Under Labour it’s been reducing, but a change of government would see that decline reversed. It was Harold Wilson who said the Labour Party is a moral crusade or it is nothing. The elimination of poverty is certainly a moral crusade that’s well worth fighting for.

TECHNICAL QUALIFICATIONS KEY TO ECONOMY

Derby is renowned as the region’s economic powerhouse generating more exports per capita than anywhere else in the UK. The average earnings of people who work here are the highest in the East Midlands.

But in an increasingly globalised economy, the big question is how can we sustain Derby’s position in the world and more importantly, how can we make sure local people benefit from the economic wealth that Derby generates.

Unlike the Laissez-faire approach favoured by the Conservatives, I believe it’s essential that national and local government intervenes in the economy to maximise our competitive edge. That means investing in research and development and helping people to obtain the necessary skill set to correspond with the growth in hi-tech industries. That will help us to ensure that companies like Rolls Royce and Bombardier remain in Derby.

The Business secretary, Peter Mandelson, acknowledges that higher level skills have never been more important to the UK’s growth. He wants to make sure we’ve got the skills to power the new industries and jobs of the future.

It’s therefore great news that the Labour government has just announced an ambitious vision to enable three quarters of the population to go to university or get an advanced technical qualification by the age of 30. The plans include proposals to create a modern class of technicians, through a significant expansion of advanced apprenticeships.

The aim is to create 35,000 new apprenticeship places over the next two years. The policy programme laid out in the government’s document Skills for Growth – The National Skills Strategy, will give people and businesses the skills they need to drive economic growth in Derby and across the UK.

Derby is well placed to benefit from this strategy because it will focus funding on the areas of the economy that can do most to drive growth and jobs. Around 160,000 training places will be created in areas such as digital media and technology, advanced manufacturing, engineering, construction and low carbon energy.

This is yet another reason why Labour must win the next general election. It’s clear that Labour has the ideas and the will to secure the future prosperity of our country. Unlike the Tories, Labour is willing to invest in ensuring that Britain gets through the recession by equiping people with the skills the country needs to succeed in the years ahead.

Lib Dem Lucy (Doesn't) Care

Lucy Care, the Liberal Democrat cabinet member with responsibility for planning, and parliamentary candidate for Derby North, has failed the victims of a cowboy clamping company operating in Derby’s Crompton Street car park.

The company’s dubious tactics have been the subject of extensive media coverage so she is well aware of the unacceptable way in which local people are being treated. Even after I revealed the company didn’t have planning permission for the car park, she has failed to instruct council officers to take enforcement action.

The Derby Labour Group has been running a campaign to alert unsuspecting motorists of the sharp practices at this car park. My fellow councillor, Ranjit Banwait, has even organised a number of protests at the car park to draw attention to what has been happening there.

I’ve now arranged a public meeting at the Council House at 7.30 pm on Thursday evening to discuss possible legal action against the company. The meeting will be addressed by Selman Ansari, a London based barrister who lives in Derby. If you have been affected by this company’s activities, or if you know of anyone else who has, please attend this meeting.

Lucy Care’s inertia on this issue is quite shocking. She has stood by wringing her hands like a latter day Uriah Heep implying it had nothing to do with her. What is the point of her occupying a senior council cabinet position that has oversight of these matters when she fails to use the powers at her disposal to protect the public?

Her record as cabinet member for planning and transport is shambolic. She’s tried to axe school buses, delayed works to Alvaston District Centre, allowed parking chaos to ensue in Littleover and is failing hard pressed motorists who have fallen victim to these ruthless clampers. Many of the people who have been subject to punitive penalty charges have been unemployed because the Crompton Street car park is just around the corner from the jobcentre.

Lucy really does deserve her sobriquet – Lucy (DOESN’T) Care.

DON'T TRUST THE TORIES WITH THE NHS

Labour has just launched a consultation on new patient rights to be contained within the NHS Constitution. The various proposals include a new right to be treated within 18 weeks, or seen by a cancer specialist within a week and an interim milestone of two weeks. It also proposes a new right to be offered a NHS Health Check every five years for everyone aged 40-74

When Labour came to power in 1997 the NHS had been brought to its knees by 18 years of chronic under-funding by the Tories. Massive waiting lists for operations were commonplace, even for cancer patients.

Labour's consultation process outlines the next steps along the road to making further and significant improvements in the NHS with new patient rights including more convenient access to GP services.

Labour has fought hard to make things better for patients. We mustn’t allow the Conservatives to take us backwards, which is precisely what would happen if they win the next general election. That is another reason why we must fight for every vote between now and the election whenever it comes.

David Cameron’s warm words about his love for the NHS are meaningless. He’s on record last year saying he thinks Labour’s NHS targets to cut waiting times are wrong. Lets’ just look at what the Tories actually did when they were last in power compared with Labour’s record since 1997.

Between 1979 and 1997 the number of people on NHS waiting lists went up by more than 400,000, but since Labour’s been in power the number has fallen by almost 600,000.

In 1997, 284,000 patients were waiting for over six month for treatment. Today, the NHS is delivering the shortest waits on record with the average wait for inpatient treatment running at 4.5 weeks. Waiting times in Derby are among the lowest in the country.

Two million more operations are carried out each year than in 1997 – including more than double the number of heart operations

More than 89,000 extra nurses and over 44,000 doctors have been recruited since 1997.

There weren’t any NHS walk-in centres in 1997 – today there are 90 around the country including one in Derby.

Like motherhood and apple pie, the Tories say they would like to see waiting times go down, but in the next breath say governments shouldn’t set mandates or tie the hands of the medical profession with top-down targets. This link takes you to an article that appeared last month in the medical journal Pulse, which is where I read their statement about targets http://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=23&storycode=4123862

This is further evidence that the Tories haven’t changed and the truth is they cannot be trusted with the NHS.

WORKING CLASS COMMUNITIES WOULD BEAR THE BRUNT OF A TORY GOVERNMENT

As the jobless total has increased, the Labour government has invested £5bn to support people losing their jobs. By contrast the Conservative Party wants to cut spending on this issue even though we’re in the middle of a recession. The Labour government is actually saving jobs, which in turn cuts the costs of unemployment.

The former member of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England, Professor David Blanchflower, poured scorn on the Conservatives’ stance. He says their plans would lead to unemployment reaching 5 million. That would mean much higher costs in unemployment benefit, not to mention the social consequences of mass unemployment.

The Director-General of the CBI, Richard Lambert, agrees. He says…”the economy is too fragile right now for massive cuts in public spending”.

But the Tories aren’t listening. Their plans would see the ‘Future Jobs Fund’ being scrapped, even though it’s created 150,000 jobs across the country, including Derby.

The ‘Young Person’s Guarantee’ of work or training would also be jettisoned.

The ‘New Deal for Lone Parents’ that helps lone parents move into work would be abandoned as would the ‘Access to Work’ scheme that assists disabled workers obtain or remain in employment.

I ask people to compare Labour’s response to this recession to that of the Conservative government in the 1980s where whole swathes of the country were laid waste.

It’s no coincidence that despite the recession and the big increase in student numbers, the proportion of workless households is still lower today than in 1997. It’s as a direct consequence of the policy decisions of this Labour government that’s minimised the impact of the recession on ordinary people.

History tells us that if the Conservatives win the next general election, it will be ordinary working class people who will bear the brunt of their cuts. The choice couldn’t be starker.

NEW MEASURES TO TACKLE CHILD POVERTY IN DERBY

FROM today, low income families in Derby will be eligible for additional financial assistance. This measure was announced in last year’s budget.

New rules around Housing and Council Tax Benefits will mean that families earning a low wage will be better off by, on average, £20 a week.

New Government policy means that income from Child Benefit will no longer be taken into account when calculating entitlement to Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit. This will mean more money for families already getting these benefits and other low income families becoming eligible for the first time.

Both Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit can be claimed by people who are working and this change will be an extra incentive to getting back to work.

The Child Benefit disregard for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit is one of a series of measures taken since the 2007 Budget to lift more children out of poverty.

I am calling on Derby City Council to launch a publicity campaign to make sure local people know about this rule change. I want the council to make sure that families are made aware of this extra help

Labour is committed to eradicating child poverty by 2020 and this extra cash is a practical way to reduce child poverty and ensure the benefits from working are even stronger.