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News from Your Local MP

Posted by Dawn Primarolo, MP for Bristol South, at 12:37, Tue 1 November 2011:

WELCOME!

Here’s the latest edition of my regular newsletter.

NEW BUILDINGS AT HEADLEY PARK PRIMARY SCHOOL

Headley Park Primary School officially opened its new building last month with a special opening ceremony and celebratory event. I joined pupils, parents, teachers and governors to help declare the new building open. Local resident, Brian Wyatt, who has volunteered at the school for 15 years, cut the ribbon with year six pupil Emma Torrington. The school is very popular in the local community and the extra capacity provided by the new classroom block will help ensure there is enough space for everybody. I am absolutely delighted to have been asked to share in the opening of the new building. I know that the Headteacher, Brian Walton, and the school’s Chair of Governors, Adrian Smith, have worked hard with their colleagues to secure the extra investment needed. I met many pupils at the event and it’s very clear that they love their smart new buildings.

NEW BUS IN ILCHESTER CRESCENT AREA

In September this year the 510 bus service was withdrawn following Bristol City Council’s decision to cut bus subsidies across the city. This service previously enabled people living in the Ilchester Crescent area of Bedminster Down to reach shops and services in the Bedminster. Local residents have been campaigning hard to get a bus service reinstated and I was delighted to hear that the community “CATT” bus now serves the area. I have helped local residents to spread the good news via a flyer which is being distributed in local streets.

HARDEST HIT RALLY

On Saturday 22 October, along with hundreds of other Bristol residents, I attended the “Hardest Hit” march in the city centre. The protest was designed to highlight how the Government’s cuts disproportionately affect disabled people. A number of changes in the Government’s Welfare Reform Bill will see disabled people who cannot work through no fault of their own hit with significant benefit cuts. Disabled people did not cause the financial crisis and they should not be made to pay for the gross excesses of the banking sector.

TEACHERS' PENSIONS

Around 20,000 teachers went to London last Wednesday to lobby MPs in response to proposed changes to their pensions. I met with a number of teachers from Bristol South who will have to pay more, work longer and ultimately receive less if planned Government changes go through. Of course, everyone realises that these are difficult times and the previous Government completed tough negotiations on the teachers’ pension scheme back in 2006. These new changes go far beyond what was previously agreed and I can quite understand why teachers are so angry. I have previously been in touch with Government Ministers about this issue and will continue to support fairness for teachers in retirement.

KNOWLE WEST MEDIA CENTRE PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

Knowle West Media Centre is currently exhibiting photographs and moving images as a culmination of its Shooting ‘Youth’ project which aims to challenge negative perceptions of young people. I popped into the Centre and was given a tour of the artwork by Matt Green, one of the young people involved in the project. The photographs were very varied and thought provoking. It was refreshing to see images of young people that have actually been created by young people themselves and I would encourage everyone to take a look at the exhibition which runs until Christmas.

CHOOSE YOUTH LOBBY

Last week I met with a youth worker and young person from Bristol South who came to London for a lobby in support of Choose Youth. Choose Youth has brought a number of organisations who work with young people together to campaign against cuts to youth services. Here in Bristol, we are facing significant cuts, and the Council is moving away from directly providing services which are already patchy at best. To support Choose Youth’s campaign, you can sign a petition calling for the Government to recognise the value of youth work and protect these services from cuts at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/4671.

TAKING SCHOOL PLACES CONCERNS TO WESTMINSTER

All of Bristol’s MPs met with the Schools Minister last month to press him for additional Government funding to help Bristol solve its school places shortages. This is one of the most significant issues facing Bristol as a city, and people want us to put party politics aside and work together to get this problem resolved, so I was grateful to Council Leader Barbara Janke for personally inviting me to this important meeting. Bristol’s representatives made very clear to the Schools Minister that the shortage of schools places is being felt very intensely in communities across Bristol. Parents rightly expect that they will be able to secure a good, local school place for their children and we must not let them down. The Government has the means to help us solve this problem, now we need to work to make sure that Bristol’s share of Government funding truly reflects our very significant needs.

SOUTHVILLE CENTRE CELEBRATES 20 YEARS

I joined other local residents to celebrate the 20th birthday of the Southville Community Centre last month. Since it opened in 1991, the centre has provided a focal point for community activity and hosts a wide range of activities and projects. The Southville Centre is very popular with local residents who use the nursery, café, meeting rooms or attend the various classes on offer. It was a privilege to be invited to the birthday party where a film charting the Centre’s development was screened. Further information about the Southville Centre is available on the following website: http://www.southvillecentre.org.uk/

EVENTS ROUND UP

It has been a busy few weeks in Westminster. I met Public Health Minister, Anne Milton, recently to discuss infertility treatment in light of the Government’s plans for the health service, and I popped into a “Breakthrough Breast Cancer” reception. I also attended an event promoting Bristol’s bid to host the Green Investment Bank. Back in Bristol, I was pleased to attend the opening of S&B Automotive Academy’s new buildings in Bedminster.

ANY QUESTIONS?

If you have any queries about these issues, or have a question you would like to ask about anything else, please do not hesitate to get in touch. Just email me at dawn.primarolo.mp@parliament.uk, phone 0117 909 0063 or write to me at PO Box 1002, Bristol, BS99 1WH.