My Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 11:44, Mon 18 June 2007:
Dear Friend,
First of all can I start this week by saying a big thank you to everyone who replied to the feedback survey we sent out earlier this year. We wrote to everyone we had done casework for in 2006 - over 1,500 people in total – to ask them what they thought of the service they had received.
We had a great response and I’m really pleased to say that 85 per cent of people were pleased with the way that our office handled their enquiry. In terms of the actual outcome of their case, 70 per cent felt that they had got the result they were after. I’m very pleased with this result and will make sure that we repeat the survey in future years to make sure we are maintaining these high standards.
One interesting other result to come out of the survey is how important this column is in communicating how it is that people get in touch with their MP. A huge 65 per cent of people who contact me use my Burnley Express column to obtain contact details for the office and for my surgeries (see below). So my second thank you is to the Burnley Express itself for helping to smooth the democratic process by helping people get in touch with their MP.
It is also the case that a small but significant number are using the new technologies, such as e-mail and the on-line surgery we have on my website, to get in touch and I’ll make sure we keep developing these options as time goes on. I am therefore pleased to be able to use the HearFromYourMP website to contact my constituents in a new and different way.
In the constituency last week I started the day by holding a meeting with Burnley boy and Commonwealth Games gold medal winner, gymnast Craig Heap about his plans to build a fantastic gymnastics facility in the Burnley and Pendle area. From there I held my weekly team meeting back in the office, followed by an update with some of my political colleagues on Lancashire County Council.
Then it was off to Turf Moor for an update with Dave Edmundson, Barry Kilby, Brendan Flood and others before my monthly meeting with the Chief Executive of the council, Steve Rumbelow. One of the things we discussed was the work we are doing to try and improve the train links between Burnley and Manchester. There’s still a long way to go but the good news is that Network Rail will be formally considering what they should do about the East Lancashire to Manchester lines later this year.
I then held a surgery in Padiham before taking my team out for a meal to say a formal farewell to my wonderful caseworker Joanne before she emigrates to Australia.
On Saturday I held another surgery in the town centre, followed by a political meeting in the party office and then it was off to join my family for a busy weekend that included celebrating my daughter’s second birthday.
Down in parliament we’ve held debates this week on Iraq, the serious crime bill and a special piece of legislation to allow the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, to be imprisioned in England or Wales if he is found guilty of war crimes in Sierra Leone by the international court in The Hague. Kofi Annan asked Britain to help in this regard and we are happy to do so.
Today I am launching a campaign against the plans by the housing agency Elevate and the council to scrap the £30,000 compensation grant paid to people who are forced to move from their homes in the Elevate areas and replace it with a loan. I have had confirmation from the government that this decision lies with Elevate and is administered through the council. I was the person who successfully campaigned to raise the grant from £25,000 to £30,000 two years ago and I cannot now support its abolition. Scrapping the grant is totally unfair on local Burnley people who have had their homes devalued and are facing compulsory purchase through no fault of their own. If you want to sign up to the petition please click on the following link and send me your deatils and I'll add your name to the list! http://www.kittyussher.com/surgery.html
Of course if you have any issues or matters you would like me to raise please don't hesitate to contact me.
6 ways to contact me are:
Write to: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or 2 Victoria Street, Burnley BB11 1DD
Phone: 01282 450840
Fax: 01282 839623
By e-mail: ussherk@parliament.uk
On the web: www.kittyussher.com
In person: Office is open from 10am to 5pm. My next surgeries are Friday 22nd June – 4.30pm – 6.30pm Tesco, Centenary Way; Saturday 23rd June – 10am – 12noon - Open Hands Centre, Colne Road. No appointment needed.
With all good wishes,
Kitty Ussher MP
Commenting on this message is now disabled.