With regret, we’ve made the difficult decision to close this site down when Parliament is dissolved. Find out more…

HearFromYourMP

Sign up to hear from your MP about local issues, and to discuss them with other constituents

Update from James Morris MP

Posted by James Morris, MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis, at 09:30, Wed 8 August 2012:

Halesowen & Rowley Regis Jobs Fair

At the end of last month, I organised the first Halesowen & Rowley Regis Jobs Fair, which was held at St Michael’s CE High School in Rowley.

The event was jointly organised with Jobcentre Plus, with the support of sponsors Hadley Industries, Central Campus (Sandwell College) and Halesowen College.

Nearly 800 local jobseekers came to the Jobs Fair to see the jobs and apprenticeship vacancies on offer from a wide range of companies and organisations, including Jaguar Land Rover, National Express, the Army and the Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust.

Jaguar Land Rover attended on the day that the company announced that it is creating 1,000 jobs at its Castle Bromwich plant.

There were a total of 29 employers and training providers with opportunities available for local people and the feedback forms that we have already received indicate that hundreds of people applied for jobs and apprenticeships at the Jobs Fair.

Unemployment in Halesowen & Rowley Regis was down for a fourth consecutive month in June and is lower than it was at the time of the General Election. However, I am determined to do everything that I can to help those local people who are struggling to find work, to secure new jobs or the training they need to get employment.

http://www.jamesmorrismp.com/news/hundreds-turn-out-halesowen-and-rowley-regis-jobs-fair

-

Why I “rebelled” over House of Lords

As you may know, I voted against the Government’s proposals for an elected second parliamentary chamber to replace the House of Lords.

Voting against your Party is never an easy thing to do. People think that the pressure comes from threats from the Government Whips, but really the largest pressure is the psychological impact of going through a different voting lobby to your colleagues and voting against the rest of your “team” who you spend so much time working alongside.

However, I believe that voters in Halesowen and Rowley Regis elected me to Parliament to do what I believe to be the right thing. Particularly when we are talking about significant changes to the constitution, we should only act if we are sure that the system that is being proposed is clearly better than the one that is being replaced.

I do not think that the changes being proposed to the House of Lords would improve the way Parliament works or make it more democratic.

It would have meant a new set of elected politicians with their own mandates, elected at the same time as people vote to choose a government at a General Election. This will inevitably lead to conflict with the House of Commons and deadlock in Parliament.

You can read more on my website at http://www.jamesmorrismp.com/news/why-i-rebelled-over-house-lords

-

National Citizens Service

I welcomed a group from the National Citizen Service to my office to discuss their plans for a community project.

National Citizen Service brings together 16-year-olds from different backgrounds for a programme of skills-building exercises and outdoors activities, followed by a project to help improve their local communities.

The group, made up of young people from across the West Midlands, came to discuss their plan for a campaign to support the Halesowen-based Black Country Food Bank. As well as talking to them about my work, I was able to offer them some advice for their project and answer their questions.

The following day, I joined the panel for a Dragon’s Den-style event where the different groups pitched their community projects in an attempt to secure investment to take them forward.

National Citizen Service is a hugely valuable programme and I hope local schools will encourage even more of their students to take advantage of the scheme next summer.

-

In other news

I chaired a seminar on mental health care. This followed on from the debate that I helped to secure in Parliament on mental health care provision. You can read my speech in that debate here.

After a planned litter pick had to be cancelled at short notice because of the terrible weather, I took part in a Question & Answer session with Year 3 pupils at Huntingtree Primary School. After this, I was able to meet with the Head to discuss the impact of the Government’s Pupil Premium.

I have been lobbying Sandwell Council to try to persuade them to consider releasing some land in Rowley for the use of a local Scout Group.

Amongst the many meetings I had last month:

  • Meeting with the Leader, Chief Executive and Cabinet of Sandwell Council

  • Visit to Warley Magistrates Court to discuss the work being done by the Witness Service and Victim Support to help the victims of crime in Sandwell

  • Visit to Cradley Heath Fire Station to discuss how the merged fire station is working, and plans for a brand new fire station on the site of the old Municipal Buildings next to Haden Hill leisure centre

  • Meeting with Insp Dez Lambert, the new Police Inspector for Halesowen

  • Meeting with residents of Honeybourne Road in Halesowen to discuss the problems they have in obtaining flood insurance

I have also held open surgeries in Cradley Heath and Halesowen

Last month, I spoke in Parliament on:

-

Comments

If you are subscribed to HearFromYourMP in this constituency, log in to post a reply.
Otherwise, if you live in the UK, sign up in order to HearFromYourMP.