Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 11:40, Mon 25 June 2007:
Dear Friend,
It’s been a bit of a limbo week down in Westminster, like the lull before the storm, with everyone waiting for the big event that is looming on the horizon, namely the resignation of Tony Blair and his replacement by Gordon Brown next week. Mr Blair is expected to perform at his final prime ministers questions this Wednesday and then make the short journey to Buckingham Palace to step down as prime minister, at which point the Queen will (one presumes) formally ask Gordon Brown to form a government. There is expected to be so much change after that point - a ministerial reshuffle, new policy announcements - that the events of this week seem almost insignificant by comparison.
But there’s still important business to be done. This week we have continued debating the long-awaited Mental Health Bill which has proved both controversial and technical at times. It gives greater powers to individual patients to decide which of their relatives can act for them. It introduces faster rights of appeal through the legal system to query compulsory treatment. It brings in a new system of supervised treatment in the community for those patients who can be safely discharged from hospital on that basis. And it corrects a loophole that had been denying some patients access to services that could help them manage their condition even if a full cure was not available. However the House of Lords has been quite strongly opposed to aspects of it so this is one of those Bills that is destined to bounce between the two Houses of Parliament late at night sometime soon until a satisfactory conclusion is reached.
Meanwhile, outside parliament, I have this week launched a campaign against the decision of the local Elevate housing renewal agency, supported by the council, to scrap the grants that have been given in compensation to people who are forced to move from their homes in Burnley’s worst housing areas and to replace them with loans. I’ve launched a petition against this outrageous move; you can find out more details and sign the petion by clicking this link. http://www.kittyussher.com/news150607.html
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. I was the person who successfully campaigned to raise the value of the grant from £25,000 to £30,000 two years ago; I cannot now support its abolition.
I have had it confirmed in person and in writing by government ministers that this decision lies with the Elevate agency, and is administered through a decision of the council. It is not a decision of national government - instead they devolve these things to be decided locally.
I think that the council should be standing up to the Elevate agency and saying Burnley people will not put up with this kind of backwards step. If they had wanted to do so we could have worked together to keep things how they were. But when I raised it the council seemed to have no desire to do anything of the sort.
Instead they just rolled over backwards and when challenged they say that they need to switch to loans to be able to recycle the money. We’re all in favour of investment, but this doesn’t make sense for two reasons. First, by their own admission, the loans wouldn’t necessarily be paid back for decades, and we need to sort out our housing issues much sooner than that. And second, the government agrees that it needs to keep funding investment into East Lancashire housing, and Burnley in particular, regardless of whether individual householders are compensated through grants or loans, which they admit is something that is best decided locally. So why take this money away from hard working Burnley people who haven‘t done anything wrong? Let me know what you think - when I get a decent number of people signing the petition, I’ll take the campaign down to parliament.
Kind Regards,
Kitty Ussher MP
6 ways to contact Kitty Ussher MP
Write to: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA or 2 Victoria Street, Burnley BB11 1DD
Phone: 01282 450840
Fax: 01282 839623
On the web: www.kittyussher.com
By email: ussherk@parliament.uk
In person: Next surgeries are Friday 6th July 4.30pm – 6.30pm Padiham Town Hall; Saturday 7th July 10am – 12noon Central Methodist Church, Hargreaves Street. No appointment needed.
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