NORTHAMPTON NORTH MP STATEMENT ON TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE EASTER FLOODS

Sally Keeble said the development of Northampton had to learn the lessons from the floods ten years ago. She said:

“Ten years ago Northampton suffered the devastating floods – the worst disaster to hit the town for centuries.

I would like to pay tribute to the people who made such a massive contribution to their community during the disaster – people who came to the rescue of friends and neighbours, took in family members, and ran the emergency services and centres. Their contribution made it possible for the town to recover quickly, although for many victims the scars will never heal.

There was justifiable anger that the worst of the damage and hardship could have been avoided. In particular there was a catastrophic lack of public warning systems. I will never forget the Environment Agency confessing that most of the flood warnings sent out – by fax – went into empty offices over the bank holiday. The priority for flood defences had been agricultural land – not people.

Since then much has been done to ensure that the people of Northampton are better protected. Because of climate change the country is also much more alert to flood risk.  Flood defences have been given more priority, focussing on protecting people.

But we can’t be complacent, especially with the development of Northampton. We owe it to the people who lost so much during the floods to make sure that the regeneration of Northampton is flood proof. That we respect the flood plains. That new housing in high risk areas has flood protection measures built in. That new shopping centres, car parks and other hard surfaced areas have high quality drainage systems. And also that we carefully manage our river, canal and streams that look so peaceful but which are capable of wreaking such havoc on the lives on people in our town.“

Sally Keeble MP has been promoting the new national bus pass for pensioners after government figures showed that take up is presently running at only about 55 per cent.  

The new bus passes will allow pensioners to travel free on buses anywhere in the country off peak during weekdays or all weekends. In comparison the existing bus passes can only be used by pensioners in their own local authority areas, or in neighbouring authorities if there are agreements in place.

Figures provided by the Government show that with 51,777 pensioners and disabled people in Northampton entitled to have bus passes, only 27,689 presently have bus passes.

Sally Keeble said: “The new scheme starts in April, and people will need new bus passes to be able to get the benefits. It means that if they go to visit family or friends in other parts of the country, they will not have to pay pass fares if you are aged over 60 or disabled.

“I have posted out application forms to pensioners I know in my constituency – if anyone hasn’t got one, they’re welcome to phone me and I will post one out. There are also forms on the Council’s website that people can download.

“People may not realise that their bus passes are worth a lot more now that they can be used on buses anywhere in the country.”

Sally Keeble has asked the Government to toughen up the Climate Change Bill to protect wildlife and has got a meeting with the secretary of State for the Environment about the matter.

The move follows the consultation on the bill held at Northampton University in January by the Northampton Climate Change Forum. The meeting highlighted the lack of protection for wildlife in the legislation, which is the first in the world to tackle the problem of climate change.

As a result of the meeting Sally Keeble has written to the Environment Secretary Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP asking for the bill to be amended. She has asked for the Climate Change Committee, which has to oversee the implementation of the bill, to include someone who knows about the impact that climate change has on wildlife. At present the bill sets out eight different areas of expertise for committee members – but does not mention wildlife at all.

In her letter she said: “Whilst I understand that the responsibility for adaptation, which deals very substantially with wildlife issues, will be dealt with by other legislation, it seems an omission to fail to mention wildlife in this section of  this bill.  Wildlife is really important for us in Northampton – both in the surrounding countryside, and also our urban wildlife. If the Climate Change  Committee is to look at the impact of climate change on society, it should also look at its impact on our wildlife.”

She has also asked if the Secretary of State will be meeting a deputation from the Climate Change Forum to discuss the proposal.

Sally Keeble said: “This local consultation produced an important proposal for improving the bill. I hope that the Government will listen and make this amendment to the bill.”

Sally Keeble MP for Northampton North highlighted the importance of making homes in Northampton more energy efficient by handing out energy efficient light bulbs to pensioners across her Constituency last weekend. She also drew attention to Government grants available to insulate pensionners homes.

Sally said “At a recent event I ran with the Warm Front Scheme we drew attention to the grants the government has made available to help people make their homes warmer and more energy efficient. To increase take up of these grants I have been handing out energy efficient light bulbs along with leaflets promoting the support there is out there. These bulbs also highlight how people can make small changes to their homes which will in the end save them money”.

Sally also said ”With increasing prices for gas and electricity it is important that the Government takes seriously the impact this will have on the most vulnerable in society. I will be working hard to ensure that pensioners across Northampton North gain access to all the benefits and grants that they are entitled to.”

If anyone would like a leaflet on how to apply for warm front grants please get in touch with Sally’s office on 01604 716275 and they will be able to forward one onto you.

Sally Keeble MP has sent a report to Royal Mail slating the proposals to close four post offices in her constituency.

The report, sent in to the Royal Mail’s consultation on the post office closures, said that the closures would especially hit the elderly, disabled and most vulnerable.

Among the people who responded to her consultation were many frail pensioners, including an 89 year old pensioner who is registered blind, and could only manage to get to her local post office for her pension. Many people said they used the post office to get out money and pay their bills.

The MP said that Royal Mail had failed to use accurate information when drawing up its plans for the post offices.  It did not use accurate population figures, as it did not take account of new residential developments planned around some of the post offices. It did not take account the number of elderly and disadvantaged people living close to some of the post offices,

“The post offices are used for much more than just buying stamps and sending letters and parcels. For many elderly and disabled people the post office is their lifeline – it is where they get their pension and pay their bills. Royal Mail has not taken all the accurate and relevant information into account. I hope that they will look at the information in this report, see the heartfelt response of the public, and think again about their proposals.”

The report was based on a two-stage consultation with residents living in the area of Broadmead Avenue, Boothville, Brookside and Kingsley Road.  You can download a copy of the report below.

Click on the paper clip below to fill in the survey. When you open the file you may need to resize it from 100% to 75% to see the whole page. You may find it easiest to print out and fill in by hand.

Sarah Brown was the star guest at a special reception at the House of Commons for Schools for Africa on October 8^th. Mrs Brown, who helped launch the project four years ago in Northampton, came to speak at the parliamentary reception attended by 120 children from across the UK today.

Four Northamptonshire Schools attended: Parklands Primary, Stimpson Avenue Primary, Thorplands Primary and St Loys Primary in Towcester. They had a tour of Parliament, followed by speeches from Sarah Brown and also from International Development Minister Shahid Malik MP.

Schools for Africa, which recently achieved charity registration, sends 1,300 boxes of toys, educational materials and clothes to organisations supporting children orphaned by HIV and Aids in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. It was launched four years ago by Sally Keeble MP, starting with only Northampton Schools. In the three years since then it has grown to include about 60 schools in Birmingham, West Bromwich, Derbyshire, Erewash, Luton, Buckingham, Wellingborough, Towcester and London.

Sarah Brown congratulated the children on taking part in the project, and said that their gifts would make a real difference to the children in Africa. As well as providing practical help, they also demonstrated that children here care.

Sally Keeble said: “Sarah has been a great friend of Schools for Africa, and made the day for the children. She has a great commitment to fighting poverty in Africa, as well as to the welfare of children around the world.”

Sally Keeble Northampton North MP, has called on the Government to set up an enquiry into the use of restraint in secure training centres following the death of Gareth Myatt at a centre in Northamptonshire.

She said that the jury’s findings at the inquest into Gareth’s death were a wholesale condemnation of the failures of the Youth Justice Board.  She said the Government must take urgent steps to review the workings of the YJB to deal with the shortcomings which the jury said had contributed to Gareth’s death.

She said, ‘Ill be seeking an urgent meeting with the new justice minister to deal with this matter which has been left unresolved since Gareth’s death three years ago.  The jury has found a lack of training, monitoring and accountability which should never have happened.  In addition the Government must withdraw its proposal to relax the rules on the use of restraint, set out in statutory instrument 1709.’

‘This has been an horrendous ordeal for Gareth’s mother, Pam, and she deserves every sympathy.  The priority must be to ensure that things are put right so that nothing like this can happen again.’

Tony Blair gave his support to Northampton Climate Change Forum – an organisation set up by Sally Keeble and the Northampton Wildlife Trust – during his weekly question time this week. The commendation came the day before Climate Change Minister, Ian Pearson, came to formally launch the Forum at an event held at Northampton University.

Tony Blair said: “I congratulate the Northampton Climate Change Forum on the work they do, which shows the interest that has been taken in this issue in constituencies and communities up and down the country” He added that he would be working at the G8 to get a global target for a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

The launch event in Northampton was also a chance for our town to hear about the forthcoming Climate Change Bill from the Climate Change Minister himself. Attendees had the chance to ask the Minister questions and then watched the film ‘An Inconvenient Truth.’ There was also an opportunity to give comments on the Bill which is currently open to public consultation.

‘It was a very inspiring evening.’ said Sally Keeble ‘There is so much to do and its good to see the people of Northampton getting involved and to see the UK Government taking action with the world’s first Climate Change Bill’ she added.

You can find a briefing on the draft Bill on this website’s briefings and surveys page. You can also find the Northampton Climate Change Forum’s shortened consultation document on the same page, or the full consultation document on http://www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/climatechange-bill/consultation.pdf. The deadline for submissions to the consultation is June 12th 2007.

Improvements to streets and pavements and more youth facilities came top in a survey by Sally Keeble of residents about how they think money from the sale of local school sites should be spent.

The survey  of residents views in Blackthorn, Eastfield, Raeburn and St Davids found:

• Improvements to existing roads and pavements got top priority from local residents overall.
• Better youth facilities came top in Eastfield and a close second in Raeburn and St Davids.
• Just over 70 per cent of people in Blackthorn wanted to see planning gain used to provide better parking for residents.
• Developers should contribute towards better bus services, and CCTV according to many of the residents.

Sally said: “People were provided with a list of options that had been drawn up by the authorities. Their views were very clear – they wanted improvements to the existing infrastructure of roads and pavements, and better services for young people.  This reflects some very deep-seated views in the communities about the deterioration of the local environment and the lack of facilities for young people – leading to some real problems of anti-social  behaviour on some of the estates.

 “I trust that the local authorities will listen very carefully to what the local residents have to say, consult them closely, and make sure that any benefits that accrue from the development of these former school sites is used to meet the priorities of the local communities.”

Dame Kelly Holmes, the gold-medallist Olympic athlete, will be coming to Northampton Academy to launch a new Northamptonshire Championship Fund that will help talented children to develop their sports skills. The new fund, which will be raised mostly from private sector funding, comes as part of a wider strategy being promoted by Sally Keeble MP to ensure that Northamptonshire benefits fully from the Olympics in 2012.

Kelly Homes will also be using her visit to the specialist sports school to encourage more girls to participate in sport.

Sally Keeble said “We are delighted that a national hero is coming to Northampton and that she has decided to help raise the profile of the Northamptonshire Championship Fund. It is an exciting project and I do hope that the private sector in Northampton will want to get involved and support the fund too.”

Sally Keeble w`elcomed the Chancellor’s tax cutting budget. She said the budget would be good for the hard working families and pensioners in Northampton.

In particular she welcomed:

• the 2p cut in tax that would cut the tax burden on many families
• the increased tax free allowances for pensioners
• the extra money for the NHS
• the cut in corporation tax to boost the enterprise culture
• the cut in inheritance tax that means only six percent of people will pay the tax
• the 80 million fund for voluntary groups - she will argue that  it should go to sports clubs.

Sally said: ‘This is good for families and enterprise and will be good news for many people in Northampton. It puts money into our frontline service and invests in the future.'

Sally Keeble worked together with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to put together a conference attended by women parliamentarians from all over the world and by senior UK Ministers. The conference, which was opened by Cherie Blair on the first day and by Sarah Brown on the second, aimed to tackle the number of women and children internationally who die during pregnancy or childbirth.

MPs gathered from countries as diverse as Sweden, Bolivia, Tajikistan and Malawi to share ideas about infant and maternal health and press governament on a six point plan to improve progress on the issue. Delegates heard from, amongst others:

·        Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP, Secretary of State for International Development

·        Supermodel and WHO goodwill ambassador  Liya Kebede: Liya will also be available for photographs.

·        Andrew Lansley MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Health

·        Rt Hon Hilary Armstrong, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster

·        Rt Hon Don McKinnon, Commonwealth Secretary-General

·        Dr Monir Islam, Director, WHO.

Sally, Sarah Brown and the Swedish delegate

Sarah Brown and the Bolivian delegate 

Sally Keeble MP has written to the Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt to ask her to continue to make Aricept available on the NHS for Alzheimer patients.Her appeal to the Secretary of State was based on:

• Prolonging quality of life at the early stages of the illness.

• Cost-effectiveness as the drug is relatively cheap.

• Support for patients and carers.
  

Sally will continue to campaign for a solution on this issue. 

In a speech to Parliament, Sally Keeble challenged the Government to go further to reduce homelessness in Northampton and the UK.

Annie Lennox encouraged over one hundred children, including many from Northampton, to take an interest in Africa and participate in this year's Schools for Africa project. The project, set up by Sally Keeble MP, enables British school teachers to follow a programme of lessons on Africa with their pupils and then contribute in a practical way by sending gifts for orpahns and vulnerable children out to Africa.

Annie Lennox showed the school children how to pack boxes of gifts to be sent out to Kenya, Tanzania or Zimbabwe. They then had a chance to eat some lunch and have their photos taken with the star. Other people at the event included the High Commisioner from the Kenyan Embassy and representatives from the Tanzania Embassy. The International Development Minister also took part and spoke to the children about the kind of challenges that orphans in Africa commonly face.

The event was thoroughly enjoyed by pupils and teachers alike. To find out more about Schools for Africa click on this link.

Annie Lennox with pupils from Eastfield Primary School in Northampton

Sally Keeble is pressing the Government for tougher sentences for criminals and more police on the beat.

This comes after a consultation with local residents about their priorities for policing in Northampton. Residents wanted to see more prompt action from police, and tougher action from the courts to protect victims of crime.

And while people were generally supportive of the police, some were critical of the Police response to some specific crimes – in particular crimes of violence.

Sally said: "Law and order has always been a top priority for people in Northampton North. People want to see a stronger uniformed presence on the street – not necessarily more police officers, but more visible policing. I am pressing these priorities with the Government."

Sally Keeble has been working with health service trade unions to stop the cuts that are affecting services in Northampton.

Whilst the NHS has had record growth in spending over the last two years, short term budgetary pressures have resulted in cutbacks this year. Health service waiting lists are at their lowest, but beds have been closed at Northampton General Hospital.

Sally Keeble has met with Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Health, and Barbara Hakin, chief executive of the new Strategic Heath Authority to ask for the local health services to be given more time to balance their books.

Sally Keeble is meeting local residents groups to discuss their campaigns over the sell-off of school sites in Northampton.

Over six sites in Northampton North are up for sale following the schools reorganisation which resulted in a number of school buildings being made redundant.

These sites are mostly in residential areas, and some of them are in areas where there is an urgent need for more community facilities. Eastfield residents want development of the park and a community centre, and Blackthorn and Goldings want youth and community facilities. Parklands residents association has already launched an effective campaign to oppose development of the playing fields of the former middle school.

Sally Keeble has been lobbying the Government and local authorities to ensure that there is proper consultation with local residents over the development of the sites, and that local people also get some community benefits.

Government Minister Harriet Harman visited Northampton on Friday 15^th September to talk about the problem of children being trafficked from African countries into the UK and used as virtual slaves. The meeting, which included the charity Afruca (Africans Unite against Child Abuse) representatives from community groups in Northampton and members of the Women’s Institute, covered how trafficking works and how to spot trafficked children locally. Social Services also attended to explain how they can help children in this situation.

A recent survey of people in Northampton showed that residents were impressively active on and aware of green issues. 98% of respondents recycled their paper and glass and 86% used low energy light bulbs. The survey also asked which types of power generation people were interested in seeing locally - solar power came out on top. Views on nuclear were surprisingly divided with only just over 50% totally against and the remainder prepared to see nuclear power as part of the UK energy mix if it meant lower bills or a reduction in CO₂ emissions, or less dependence on unstable Arab states for oil. Sally Keeble will be holding a second energy meeting for constituents to decide on how Northampton can take these views forward.

Sally Keeble spent the final days before Parliament’s recess lobbying for clear Government support for a ceasefire in Lebanon -and for better access for aid agencies working in the region. Since then she has continued to press for progress in the Middle East.

Sally worked with Milton Keynes based aid agency, World Vision, to table an Early Day Motion (EDM) which was signed by over 30 MPs from all parties. The EDM made her one of the first MPs to take action on this issue, which she thinks is one of the most serious facing the world today.

Since then, the UK has been instrumental in achieving the currentceasefire, but Sally believes the situation needs careful monitoring. She is especially concerned about the upholding of the ceasefire and the continuing problem of delivering aid.

Northampton’s voice was heard in drawing up the UK’s policies for ending the scandal of international poverty. Following a local meeting earlier this year, Sally submitted our views to the Minister for International Development so that they could be included in the White Paper, a document setting out the Government’s plans for the future. Since then the paper ‘making Governance Work for the Poor’ has taken up some of Northampton’s points. As suggested by you there has been:

• A focus on fighting corruption
  
• A better balance between supporting developing country government and supporting charities.
  
• A planned increase in government aid from the current 0.47% to 0.7% of national income by 2013.

This money will target developing countries’ essential services such as education and water and sanitation systems.

Work to make international trade fairer, by for example cutting charges on goods brought into Europe from Africa.

These commitments are underpinned by a programme to tackle corruption in developing countries. Aid will be tracked to ensure it is used for the intended purpose and a new Transparency Fund will be used to try and drive out a culture of corruption where it exists.

Sally has written to Hilary Benn MP, Minister for Development, congratulating him on the Paper but asking for further information on his plans to support AIDS orphans and disabled children. To find out more about the white paper go to the Department for International Development.

Having made great steps in tackling homelessness the Labour government has now set itself a new goal – to end overcrowding in social housing. Current regulations define over-crowding in such a way that a couple with a four year-old child in a one bedroomed property would not be considered to be overcrowded. The same regulations take kitchens and bathrooms into account when considering whether a property has enough sleeping space. Sally Keeble has been campaigning for this to end for years. ‘It is simply not acceptable in this day and age that a child should have to sleep in a kitchen.’ she said. She has also been working with the charity Shelter on this issue. The government intends to create a new definition for over-crowding and as a first step is taking evidence from MPs about the problem in their constituencies.