news bulletin from greg hands m.p. #301
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8/6/2019 News Bulletin from Greg Hands M.P. #301
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Subject: NewsBulletinfromGregHandsM.P.#301
Date: Sunday,19June201111:53:56UnitedKingdomTime
From: GregHandsM.P.
In this edition:
Greg Hands M.P.’s Diary Website of the Week:RATS - ResidentsAgainst Thames Sewer H&F Action on Disabilitygets new Big Societyfunding
Record drop inunemployment Groundbreaking planto secure future of capital’s libraries Super sewer threat tohomes Applications invitedfor small grants fundsin K&C Hands in Parliament:
Hands raises irresponsiblePCSstrike threat Hands in Parliament:Hands raises Labour’sdiscourtesy Hands in Parliament:Positive message for London’s Serbiancommunity Hands in the papers:Greg Hands M.P.praises London OratorySchool, as Nick Cleggconsiders it for his sons Hands in the media:Greg Hands M.P.:Why we should rejectany suggestion that weshould either leave or not fund the IMF The Bible in Voiceand Verse – A specialconcert of words andmusic to celebrate the
400th Anniversary of
the Kings James Bible How to contactGreg Hands M.P.
Issue 301 – Sunday 19th June 2011
Since the last edition, Greg:
· Was guest speaker at a meeting of RATS, the Fulham
residents’ group campaigning against the Super Sewer atthe Carnwath Road site, SW6. For more, see website of theweek.
· Was guest speaker at a meeting in the Assemblée
Nationale (the French Parliament) in Paris, hosted byFrench MP Hervé Mariton, with a mixed UK – Frenchaudience. Greg spoke about the UK’s challengingprogramme of deficit reduction and praised the work of Christine Lagarde as French Finance Minister.
· Met in Parliament senior representatives of the Al Muntada
Al Islami Trust, based in Parsons Green, Fulham. Gregwelcomed their charitable work in Africa and communitywork in Fulham, but also had some frank exchanges abouttheir previous sponsorship of extremist speakers and their support for political candidates, despite being a charity.
· Questioned Ministers in the Commons about the impending
public sector strikes, including by the PCS civil servantsunion. For more, see below.
· Met representatives of Balfour Beatty to discuss the
government’s programme of infrastructure funding. Thecompany is a UK leader in building infrastructure.
· Was guest speaker at the Hammersmith Conservatives
summer party.
· Attended the summer drinks reception at 10, Downing
Street, hosted by the Prime Minister.
· Questioned Foreign Office ministers in the Commons about
when Serbia might join the EU and have visa restrictionseased. Fulham is a centre of the Serbian community in
London.· Appeared on LBC Radio to argue for the Government’s
proposed cap on benefits at £26,000, which is the averageUK salary.
· Met representatives of British Airways, to discuss issues of
aviation taxation, air passenger experience, as well asGreg’s campaign to end night flights over London.
· Welcomed the new Slovak Ambassador to London to
Parliament for talks about UK – Slovak relations, and Slovakviews on the Eurozone crisis.
· Ran a surgery for residents of Chelsea and Fulham at
Fulham Town Hall. Greg’s surgeries are generally every
Monday, at either Fulham Town Hall or Peter Jones, SloaneSquare. To make an appointment, call 020 7219 5448 or reply to this bulletin.
Website of the Week:
www.fulhamrats.moonfruit.com
The website of RATS, Residents Against Thames Sewer,the campaign group trying to stop the Super Sewer comingto Fulham, supported by Greg Hands M.P. and H&F Council.
Join their campaign today!
H&F Action on Disability gets newBig Society funding Greg Hands M.P. has welcomed the news that money from theGovernment’s Big Society Transition Fund will support the localvoluntary sector. The funding, part of the third wave of payouts fromthe £107 million Transition Fund, is being paid out to Hammersmith
and Fulham Action for Disability (HAFAD). Although three quarters of charities receive no public funding, theGovernment is determined to protect those charities, such asHAFAD, which are most vulnerable to public spending cuts. The Transition Fund provides grants to these organisations to allowthem to pr epare for the future opportunities opened up by the BigSociety. The money will fund the crucial changes that charities needto make to take advantage of the new opportunities available to themfrom opening up public sector contracts. So far more than 900charities nationally have received support from the Transition Fund. Commenting, Greg said: “The Government is committed tosupporting charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises acrossLondon, despite the necessity of dealing with Labour’s disastrouseconomic legacy. “It’s great to hear that HAFAD – which does such valuable work withdisabled people – will receive £151,376 of funding.”
Record drop in unemployment
New figures show that unemployment has fallen by 88,000, while thenumber of people in work increased by a similar number. More thanhalf a million new jobs have now been created in the private sector over the last year. The quarterly fall in unemployment was the biggest in more than adecade, taking the jobless total to 2.43 million. The reduction was mainly among 16 to 24-year-olds, withunemployment in this age group being cut by 79,000 to 895,000, thelowest figure for two years. Full-time employment increased by49,000 in the latest quarter and by 31,000 for part-time jobs.
The fall in the number of unemployed young people means that thetotal is now lower than the level inherited from Labour. Employment Minister Chris Grayling said: "This is another encouraging set of figures and a very welcome drop inunemployment. It's also good news that employment is going in theright direction with half a million more people in private sector jobscompared to this time last year." He continued: "However, we still face a challenge to help more of thelong- term unemployed into work. Last week I announced that thenew Work Programme is now up and running and will provide
tailored support for more people on benefits." The Government said private and voluntary sector organisationswere investing £581 million up front in the biggest welfare-to-workprogramme this country has ever seen.
Groundbreaking plan to secure futureof capital’s libraries Three flagship London boroughs are set to combine their libraryservices as part of a groundbreaking move to secure the future of public libraries in the capital. Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea councils have drawn up proposals tocombine library services, saving taxpayers more than £1million ayear and ensuring all of their 21 public libraries remain safe fromclosure. Council leaders are next week (w/c: June 20) set to go ahead withthe plans which will mean, once fully implemented, residents willgain access to around 1 million books, hundreds of entertainment
and cultural events and scores of weekly skills and educationclasses. The move means that a one year old, living to the average lifeexpectancy of 81, would need to read at least 26 books every dayfor the rest of their lives if they wanted to get through the whole Tri-Borough collection. The new arrangements will boost the drive toimprove literacy in the capital through increased access to children’slibraries and specialised services such as regular homework clubs. It comes as councils across the country are axing vital libraryservices, with as many as 25 libraries expected to be closed in thecapital alone over the next 12 months.
Cllr Greg Smith, H&F Council Cabinet Member for Residents’Services, said: "When money is tight some organisation’s first reaction is to slash services and try to shift the blame. Others think innovatively and develop solutions that save money, increase choiceand improve services so they are more accessible and convenient for residents. “Literacy is a fundamental cornerstone of a modern society and weneed to get youngsters off their sofas and into our libraries. This iswhy we are finding original ways to strengthen and protect as many of our libraries as we can. Residents across the three boroughs will
soon have access to more books than anyone could realistically expect to read in a lifetime.” Councillors at three separate Cabinet meetings are set to debatethe proposals which also include:
· Combining fostering and adoption services and youth
offending services, with the creation of a single LocalSafeguarding Children Board. In total this would save nearly£199,000 a year by 2014/15.
· Combining environment management teams in H&F and
RBKC, saving £1.5 million with a 48 per cent reduction in
senior management (14 posts).
· The library proposals are part of wider plans to combine
some council services across the three boroughs in a bid tosave £35 million a year by 2014/15. Adult, children’s,environmental and corporate services are also expected tobe combined with around 500 jobs going in management,back office and support roles.
Westminster Council leader Cllr Colin Barrow said: "In these toughtimes, sharing back office functions and management with our neighbouring councils to drive out needless cost is the sensible and
practical course of action to deliver savings to local taxpayers and
protect frontline services such as our libraries. “Throughout this process, we will ensure that each council continuesto commission its own services and local priorities will still be drivenby local people." Collectively the three authorities must save £100 million by 2014/15.They have each signed a ‘Sovereignty Guarantee’ to safeguard localautonomy, responsiveness and identity. Each of the councils willretain their own councillors and decision making processes. Serviceskey to local areas, such as housing management, licensing andplanning will be not be combined.
H&F and RBKC have agreed to share a chief executive fromOctober 2011. The two councils already share senior managementposts in legal services, highways and finance. RBKC Council leader Cllr Sir Merrick Cockell said: “We want Tri-borough working to be about much more than just making reductionsand this is a very encouraging example of how, by combining our management, we have been able to protect a frontline service and offer more choice as well. We hope to can repeat this pattern whenwe share services in other areas." The majority of residents support the principle of combining services,
according to a poll earlier this year. 43 per cent, of 1,500 residentswho took part in a telephone survey in February, said the threeauthorities should share as much as possible. 34 per cent said thereshould be some sharing of services. Only 13% of people wereopposed to sharing services. H&F Council’s Cabinet meets on June 20, RBKC’s on 22 June andWestminster’s on June 27.
Super sewer threat to homes
Fears that homes could be bulldozed to make way for ThamesWater’s controversial super sewer emerged this week after the water company approached dozens of property owners with a ‘land interestquestionnaire’. Concerns that the intrusive eight page form could be the prelude toa series of compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) have been voicedand the council is advising residents to refuse to fill out the form. Thames Water’s questionnaire asks a series of detailed questionsranging from who has an interest in the land or property, whether theland is subject to any mortgage and questions about who may
‘acquire an interest’ in the property. Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council warned last month that theCarnwath Road site, in the heart of residential south Fulham, is40,000 sq ft too small for a sewer construction compound, accordingto Thames Water’s own published criteria. Fulham resident Nicky Pateman, from Residents Against ThamesSewer (RATS), says: “People are undoubtedly suspicious about thisquestionnaire and cannot understand the need for such intrusion.Possible property loss is just one of the serious issues at stake for the community in south Fulham. There are noise disturbances, traffic congestion, poor air quality and the irreversible loss of our waterfront for even more residential and commercial development.” Thames Water claim that they are required to ‘identify those whomay be affected by the project’ by the Planning Act 2008. However,it has been suggested that all the questions relating to land interestscould be part of a ‘referencing exercise’ that could be helpful to thewater company if they are considering future CPOs. Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh says: “Some residents are fearful about what this questionnaire is really about and there is a definite lack of trust between Thames Water and local people. The council’s adviceis not to cooperate with Thames Water as there is no benefit to
property owners and there may be risks.” Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been fighting against the wholeidea of the ‘gold-plated’ £3.6billion super-sewer and against locatingthe main entry site works in South Fulham - within a 400 metreradius of nearly 1,000 family homes around Carnwath Road. Expertsin urban waste water have also argued that there are sensible andmore cost effective alternatives that can make the Thames evencleaner with less disruption to Londoners and without the hugeenvironmental, social and economic costs. “The whole super sewer scheme stinks and Fulham is saying no,” continues Cllr Greenhalgh. “We are saying no to the devastation of
our vibrant, mixed community of 17,000 residents. We are saying noto a foul construction site near local homes and schools and, if Thames Water is thinking of seizing local homes, we will say no tothat too. “It remains the council’s view that, if this costly white elephant goesahead, the main construction site for the super sewer needs to be ina large area of open land well away from densely packed residential areas like south Fulham.” There are now two petitions opposing the super sewer inHammersmith & Fulham that are available to sign at
www.lbhf.gov.uk/sewerpetition or www.fulhamrats.org. To findout more details about Thames Water’s super sewer project visitwww.lbhf.gov.uk/supersewer .
Applications invited for small grantsfunds in K&C Kensington & Chelsea Council invited applications for its SmallGrants Fund from local voluntary and community organisations. It
was launched at the Funding Fair on Friday 17 th July, an eventwhere local charities could find out more about applying for grants. The grants will fund events or equipment that provide residents withadvice and information, develop community engagement or supportthe borough's voluntary sector. Any charitable organisation or groupcan apply for funding. Previous recipients of the grant include: the Children and ParentsCarnival Association, which ran a free event during Notting HillCarnival for under fives, their parents and pensioners; and NewCitizens Voice, which ran workshops in Spanish for domesticworkers to learn about the employment system in the UK.
This year the fund will be managed in two stages with £7,000 beingmade available on 17 June and £7,000 on 17 October. Themaximum amount for each grant is £1,500. Grants will be awardedto applications that meet the criteria on a first-come, first-servedbasis. Download an application form fromwww.rbkc.gov.uk/communityfunding or find out more from theCommunity Engagement Team on 020 7598 4633 or [email protected] .
Hands in Parliament:Hands raises irresponsiblePCS strike threat
Wednesday 15th June 2011
Mr Speaker: I am extremely obliged to the Minister, but the Housemust now hear Mr Greg Hands. Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con): To what extent doesthe Minister expect any PCS strike action to have an impact on our vital public services? The Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General (Mr Francis Maude): We are waiting to see the result of the ballot thisafternoon, but I hope that civil servants, who are imbued with astrong public service ethos, will recognise that we are seeking toachieve public sector pensions that continue to be among the verybest available. However, because people are living longer, they willbe asked to work for longer. Furthermore, because there is not a fair balance between what they pay and what other taxpayers—whohave seen their own pensions take a hit—pay, we are expectingthem to pay a bit more towards them.
Hands in Parliament:Hands raises Labour’s discourtesy
Thursday 16th June 2011
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con): What recentrepresentations he has received on the procedure governingOpposition day debates. The Parliamentary Secretary, Office of the Leader of the Houseof Commons (Mr David Heath): My right hon. Friend the Leader of the House and I have received no recent representations on thematter.
Greg Hands: I thank the Deputy Leader of the House for hisanswer. One of the problems we have at the moment withOpposition day debates is the late notification of the topic and themotion, which deprives Members on both sides of the House of theopportunity to prepare speeches and points. Will he have a wordwith his opposite number to see how we might be able to improvethe procedure to help to improve debate on both sides of theHouse? Mr Heath: I have to say that the hon. Gentleman is absolutely right.It is open to the Opposition to table the subject for debateimmediately after the date is announced, and it would be a courtesyto the House if it were given an appropriate length of time to know
what the debate will be and to allow Members to table amendments,if they wish.
Hands in Parliament:Positive message for London’sSerbian community
Tuesday 14th June 2011
Greg Hands (Chelsea and Fulham) (Con): Returning to thewestern Balkans, the Foreign Secretary will be aware of the largeand growing Serbian expatriate community in London. What positivemessage can we send to them about the prospect of visarequirements being eased in future and about how and when Serbiacould eventually join the European Union? The Minister for Europe (Mr David Lidington): As my hon. Friendknows, British visa requirements are a matter for the Home Office,and Serbia’s wish for visa liberalisation will be considered by HomeOffice Ministers when they next review the visa waiver scheme. Ithink that the message to Serbia is that this country strongly
supports its ambitions to join the European Union and wishesPresident Tadic every success in taking through the very demandingprogramme of reforms that will be needed for it to meet theconditions for entry.
Hands in the papers:Greg Hands M.P. praises LondonOratory School, as Nick Clegg
considers it for his sons Andrew Porter and Graeme Paton, The Daily Telegraph
Friday 17th June 2011
Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, indicated last night that hemay send his children to a leading Roman Catholic secondaryschool, despite having declared himself an atheist. Mr Clegg, who has spoken of his opposition to faith schools, isunderstood to have toured the London Oratory, the state school towhich Tony Blair sent his sons.
The Oratory is one of the most sought–after schools in the countryand Mr Clegg is considering sending his three sons there eventhough there are several secondaries, including a Catholic one,closer to his home in Putney, south west London. He dismissed claims that his atheism was an issue, pointing out thathis wife, Miriam, and her family are Catholic. "I've never made my kids an issue in politics," he said. "My kids aremore precious to me than anything else in the world and the fact [is]that my wife is Catholic, I married in the Catholic church and mychildren have been brought up by Catholics and go to a Catholic
state primary school. "It therefore shouldn't be entirely surprising that maybe, maybe justmaybe, my wife might consider, we might consider as parentssending our children on to a state–funded Catholic secondaryschool." It is believed that the Cleggs are overlooking John Paul II Schoolwhich is closer to their home while the Oratory is three miles away.John Paul II is ranked as "satisfactory" by Ofsted, but the Oratory islabelled "outstanding" and sends more pupils to Oxford andCambridge than almost any other state school. The Liberal Democrats have voiced strong opposition to schools thatselect by faith. In 2009, they approved a policy of "stopping the establishment of new schools which select by ability, aptitude or faith". They followedthis in last year's election manifesto by saying it would require faithschools to develop an "inclusive admissions policy". Greg Hands, the Tory MP for Hammersmith and Fulham, backed Mr Clegg. He wrote on Twitter: "The London Oratory in my constituencyis a brilliant place, academic and cultural."
At a lunch event Mr Clegg also came close to admitting that theCoalition's handling of tuition fee rises risked discouraging childrenfrom going to university because of debt concerns. He said it wouldbe "a great tragedy" if those who "might benefit" from universitydecided not to go. He added that the "anger and fury" about the £9,000 maximum feeshad badly affected "our ability to explain to people that this is anengine for social mobility".
Hands in the media:Greg Hands M.P.: Why we should rejectany suggestion that we should eitherleave or not fund the IMF Greg Hands M.P., Centre Right –www.conservativehome.blogs.com
Some commentators appear to be suggesting that the UK shouldnot play a full role in the International Monetary Fund, or inincreasing its capital base, or that somehow the IMF is part of a
larger plot to drive forward European federalism. I used to work from time to time with the IMF in the 1990s, when Iworked in debt finance markets in London and particularly in NewYork City. At the time, the IMF was heavily involved with sovereignborrowers like Argentina and Bulgaria which were experiencingfinancial difficulties of one sort or another. And this makes the point:the IMF is there as an important resource to help countries acrossthe world which may be in short term or longer term financialdifficulties - not just those in the Eurozone. Indeed, the UK itself, aswe know, with Labour’s previous disastrous record running our publicfinances, had to have recourse to the IMF in the 1970s.
It would be strongly against our national interests to not participate inthe IMF. Britain would lose a considerable amount of influence, andwe would lose a significant part of our recently hard-won reputationas a beacon for financial good management since the CoalitionGovernment took over in May 2010. The Chancellor strongly rejectsany suggestion that we should not be part of the IMF. Recent movesto increase the IMF’s resources were first agreed by the G20 in April2009. This was crucially well before any Eurozone support packages. At the G20 in November 2010, the doubling of quotas was agreed.Because it was accompanied by a reform to the quotas moving agreater share to emerging economies, for the UK and other
advanced economies this worked out at less than doubling thequota. Assertions that the UK taxpayer is on the line for IMFfinancings completely fail to understand how funding for the IMFworks. We lend money to the IMF from our foreign currencyreserves. The IMF pays interest. Because this is a loan, it has noimpact on our borrowing - it is a financial asset that will be repaid.
I mentioned the work I did in the 1990s with the IMF’s borrowingprogramme. It is worth noting that the IMF has never failed to repayloans it has received from its members. As far as I can recall, it hasnever been rated at anything else than AAA/Aaa. Meanwhile, backhome, the Budget announced an increase in the foreign exchangereserves (again a financial transaction, so made without impactingon borrowing) to reflect these increased commitments to the IMF(paragraph 1.50 of the Budget). In the Debt and ReservesManagement Report, published alongside the Budget, the Treasuryconfirmed that quotas would double.
So the question is this: do some want to see the UK pulling out of important international institutions which are important to UK nationalinterests, and have served troubled borrowers across the world -including the UK - or do we want to support the Government’ssensible strategy of minimising our financial role in any Eurozonebailouts, whilst recognising that it is also in our national interest for the public finances of our key trading partners to be restored to an
orderly state as soon as practically possible?
The Bible in Voice and Verse –A special concert of words and music
to celebrate the 400th Anniversaryof the Kings James Bible7.30 pm. Monday, June 27 th at the Great Hall, Fulham Palace,Bishops Avenue, SW6
Concert trio “In Voice and Verse…#157; tell the story of Genesis toRevelation using the words of the King James Bible interspersedwith the famous pieces of music, which those words inspired. Themusic will include excerpts from Haydn's ‘Creation’, Handel's‘Messiah’, Mendelssohn’s ‘Oh for the Wings of a Dove’ and severalmodern compositions.Actor Lance Pierson is an experienced Bible performer, singer Belinda Yates is a member of the Monteverdi Choir and Heather Chamberlain is an accomplished pianist and teacher.Tickets £10.00 available from the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, 087122 11728,or http://www.lyric.co.uk/whats-on/ and view EventsElsewhere or type Fulham Palace into the search box.
Tickets also available at door on day.
5 ways to contact Greg Hands M.P.:
By Phone: 020 7219 5448
By email: [email protected]
By post: Greg Hands M.P.House of CommonsLondon SW1A 0AA
In person: Click here for details of howto book an appointment atGreg Hands M.P.’s weeklysurgery
www.greghands.com
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