Archive for the ‘Local News’ Category

Kate Green MP for Stretford and Urmston has applauded Irwell Valley’s Support Service for vulnerable young people.

The MP visited Irwell Valley for an in depth tour around three services in her constituency provided by Irwell Valley that help young people aged 16 – 25 into education, training, apprenticeships or employment as well as coaching them in valuable life skills, budgeting and tenancy management.

Her tour included Leighton Rd, a scheme that assists young vulnerable women to manage their tenancy and move on successfully, followed by a meeting with residents and the project team at Greenbank in Old Trafford, – a supported accommodation for homeless young people where they can develop the skills they need for independent living and managing their own home.

Kate also met former residents of both schemes and who are currently receiving Floating Support. They told the MP about the vital services provided by Irwell Valley that have made a difference to their lives.

Commenting after her visit, the MP said:

“Irwell Valley is doing a superb job, helping young people with education, training and finding employment and housing.”

She added:

“This makes such a difference to young people starting out in life giving them the best chance of success. It’s got to be a priority to keep services like these going – especially in difficult times.”

Giles Parlett, Supported Services Manager, Irwell Valley endorsed the MP’s comments.

“The successes we have had in our services clearly show how valuable they are to Trafford and the young people who use them. We look forward to continued support for our services from our partners in Trafford.”

Kate Green MP is a supporter of the Every Disabled Child Matters campaign. As part of the campaign she’s recently signed the EDCM Constituency Pledge. Kate will work to support local families with disabled children as part of her efforts to fight for good quality services for every family.

Kate said: “As part of my drive to ensure that all families have top quality services I’ll be campaigning on the Every Disabled Child Matters pledges. I know from the letters and emails I’ve received in my postbag that some families are concerned about the level of support the Council provides to disabled children and young people. It’s really important that all children, including those with disabilities, have the best start in life and I’m keen to work with local families, groups and voluntary organisations to ensure this.”

The EDCM Pledge means Kate will:

1) Meet with disabled children, young people and their families to discuss key issues of concern to them;

2) Raise these issues of concern, and promote rights and resources, for disabled children, young people and families from Stretford and Urmston in Parliament;

3) Visit local services for disabled children and their families on a regular basis;

4) Support measures to transform services for disabled children and their families, such as the Aiming High for Disabled Children programme in England;

5) Find out how funding is being used in Stretford and Urmston to improve services for disabled children, young people and their families.

Local Labour MP, Kate Green has slammed the Liberal Democrats and Tories for voting against a plan to protect local pensioners from the VAT hike. New research showed Britain’s pensioners will be stung by an £8 billion VAT bill over the course of this Parliament. There are over 41,000 in Trafford, all of whom could be affected.

Worse, figures hidden in the Budget show that local pensioners will be hit every year by changes that hit them in the pocket;

* From January, pensioners will face a £400 million VAT tax bill which they will have to start paying months before any increase in the Basic State Pension. Pensioners face paying nearly £8 billion in VAT over the parliament.
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In 2011, weekly pension increases fall behind VAT-fuelled price rises.
*
In 2012, pension rises fall behind price rises again, after the Treasury quietly changed the way the so-called ‘triple lock’ up-rates pensions in practice.
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By 2013, pensioners face cuts to Disability Living Allowance benefits, which may total £350 million a year by the end of the Parliament, alongside cuts to Housing Benefit and the lower uprating of public service pensions and benefits.

Kate Green MP sought to protect local pensioners by supporting an amendment to the Finance Bill which would have delayed the VAT increase until a proper plan for shielding pensioners was in place. But Liberal Democrat and Tory MPs ganged up to block the move during Parliament’s last session.

Trafford’s 41,000 pensioners will now start paying £33 million extra in VAT a month starting in January.

Kate Green MP said:

“This is a betrayal of our local pensioners by the Tory-Liberal government. Our retired community has paid in for a life-time and is now being hit hard in the pocket.

“I wanted a plan in place to protect local pensioners from the £8 billion VAT bill but the Liberal Democrats refused to help.

“I can’t believe the Tories and Liberals are trying to disguise the tax bill with a few promises which on closer inspection just don’t add up. The Budget small print says pensioners keep up on getting hit every year with a host of Treasury tricks”.

During the General Election one of the key concerns raised by local people was jobs and unemployment. Kate Green MP has been working in Parliament to protect local jobs and push for support to get people into work.

Kate met today with the District Manager and staff at Stretford Job Centre Plus to hear about the support they can offer to local people looking for work.

Kate said: “These are worrying times with people concerned about their jobs as cuts start to bite. But we do have new and growing businesses coming into Stretford and Urmston, and local opportunities, and Jobcentre Plus can do a lot to help support local people to find work.”

Stretford and Urmston’s new MP Kate Green might have broken up from Parliament for the Summer Recess but she’s certainly not putting her feet up. After a gruelling election campaign and a busy first session in Parliament Kate will be taking a break but throughout the summer she’ll be out and about meeting organisations and attending events in an area near you.

Kate has a jam packed diary of advice surgeries, meetings with local organisations and agencies. She’s meeting the new Chief Executive of Trafford Council, Sir Bill Moorcroft at Trafford College, and the District Manager of Job Centre Plus in Stretford. She’s also popping in to a Companions, Carers and Older Person’s Lunch Club, an Old Trafford Playday Funday and visiting Unilever in Trafford Park.

Kate said: “I’ve really enjoyed my first Parliamentary session, I’ve been called to tackle both the Prime Minster and Deputy Prime Minister at Prime Ministers Questions as well as speaking up in lots of different debates on issues that people here care about; jobs, education, support for disabled people and campaigning against the unfair increase in VAT brought in by the Tories and their Lib Dem stooges.

I’m looking forward to getting out and about across Stretford and Urmston in the next month or so while Parliament is in recess as well as take a short break and recharge my batteries for the next Parliamentary session. It’s good to be able to spend time here at home catching up with residents and listening to their issues and concerns.”

Just before the end of the summer recess local MP Kate Green had her second opportunity to ask a question at Prime Minister’s questions, the first time the session was answered by Lib Dem Leader and Coalition Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, standing in for David Cameron who was abroad.

Kate, who’d been contacted by local resident Charlie Donegan about his concerns about new medical tests he now faces to get disability benefits, left Nick Clegg stumped for a sensible answer. She was named “Backbencher of the Week” by Progress magazine.

Charlie suffers from long-term mental health problems, septicaemia, pneumonia and MRSA, and is a wheelchair user as a result. He receives the mobility and care components of disability living allowance at the higher rate. Under Coalition plans he will be forced to take a medical test for the benefit but Disability Living Allowance is intended to meet his non-medical needs.

Kate said: “Charlie and thousands of disabled people like him are worried about these changes, which will cause unnecessary hardship and distress. They’re going to be tested medically for a benefit which is not intended to meet any of their medical needs, but is designed to help with day-to-day living with a disability. These proposals don’t make sense, and I wanted to know why the Government is planning this unfair measure, but Nick Clegg didn’t have a clue. The Government seems more interested in cutting the benefits bill even if disabled people lose out. I’ll be campaigning for Charlie and local people like him to protect the benefits they’re entitled to.”

Local MP, Kate Green, has added her support to a parliamentary motion highlighting the extent to which British businesses and the economy rely on rail.

The motion, which has been laid in Parliament as the Government begins to make decisions about spending cuts, calls on the Government to recognise that more people are now travelling by rail than ever before and that major rail improvement projects boost the economy.

Every year 1 billion of the 1.3 billion passenger journeys made by rail are people commuting or travelling for business. Rail freight also transports 100 million tonnes of goods every year worth £30 billion.

In 25 years time there are expected to be 80% more people commuting by rail and freight demand is forecast to go up by 70%.

Commenting, Kate Green said:

“People in Stretford and Urmston rely on rail. It gets them to and from work and allows leisure journeys too. Even those who are not regular passengers reap the benefit of less road congestion and the vital role rail freight plays in transporting everyday goods and fuelling the economy.”

Kate Green MP added:

“We all know there are tough spending decisions to be made in the coming weeks and months but it is vital that the government does not make cuts to rail investment that could damage the local and national economy by not enabling future growth. This is why I am pleased to have been able to add my name to this parliamentary motion.”

Stretford and Urmston’s new MP took part in a debate to mark the end to the first Parliamentary session this week. Kate spoke as Parliament broke for the summer recess and MPs return to their constituencies for the summer.

In Parliament Green challenged the Government to provide more detail on what David Cameron’s Big Society would actually mean for local services, and challenged Trafford Council and other agencies in the Borough to tackle some of the many inequalities that local people in Stretford and Urmston face compared with their neighbours in the South of the Borough.

Challenging Trafford Council to come clean about £70 million cuts they have planned Kate said: “My constituency loses out in many ways. Unemployment is twice the level than in the wealthier next-door constituency of Altrincham and Sale West. Inequalities in health mean a difference in male life expectancy of 11 years between the poorest wards in my constituency and the richest in the south. Investment in our town centres, parks and youth facilities has all too often seen my constituency at the back of the queue.

“Last week Trafford metropolitan borough council announced cuts of £70 million in public spending over the next few years. It made that announcement at a press conference: it took a leaf out of Ministers’ books, because councillors were not the first to hear. We do not have all the details of the cuts, but we already know that 81 more jobs will be lost this year and an elderly people’s home will close, and that social care, libraries, education, play facilities and parks are all likely to be hit.”

Green praised local groups in her constituency who are working in the community to improve their areas and challenged the Tories to come clean on what their “Big Society” really means. Kate added: “I’m no clearer what this Big Society that Cameron wants to create really is. I’m deeply concerned it’s a fig leaf for cuts. I want assurances for my local voluntary sector that it is not expected to become a cheap substitute for proper public provision. And I want to hear from Ministers, from the Prime Minister downwards, that the Big Society will be truly fair to us all.”

Local MP Kate Green has welcomed another important milestone in the redevelopment of Urmston Town Centre. The last remainders of the old Urmston shoppping centre have now been demolished with the Boots building finally being demolished.

Kate said: “I’m pleased we’re finally seeing movement on this site. I’ve been pushing the Council and Ask to pick up the pace of the redevelopment of Urmston. Residents want to be proud of their town again and this work will go some way towards showing them that Ask and the Council are still committed to this. I’ll be meeting Ask and council officers in the next few weeks to press for a firm timetable for action and improvements.”

Local Stretford and Urmston MP Kate Green has congratulated local schools who have received the Arts Council England Artsmark Award.

Moss Park Infant School, St Hilda’s Primary School, St Theresa’s Primary and Delemere School have all scooped the award. Moss Park and Delamere have received Artsmark Silver awards and the other two shcools have received Artsmark Gold Awards.

Artsmark provides a benchmark for arts provision in schools so that children and young people have access to a wide range of experiences in dance, drama, music, art and design. Every school which is awarded an Artsmark has completed a thorough audit of thier arts provision and offers a broan range of arts opportunities for their children.

Kate said: “I want to congratulate local pupils on teachers on this success. It’s great news and a real success to build on. These arts activities are not only fun, they give kids a real sense of acheivement and confidence which is a real benefit. I’ll be writing to congratulate all the schools concerned.”