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 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.”

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.

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 

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

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.