Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 14:50, Fri 16 November 2007:
Dear Friend,
Calling all grandparent carers! I want to hear your experiences and would like to offer any help I can. When I was in the constituency last Friday I attended a meeting of the Burnley Grandparent Carers Network, which exists to provide a support network for people who, for whatever reason, are the main day-to-day carers for their grandchildren. It was clear from listening to their concerns that life is often difficult for this group of people, whether its simply working out what their benefit entitlement is or the difficult emotional decisions involved in deciding what the best long-term legal options are. I will be raising the matter with social services, but as a first step I would advise anyone, grandparents or others, who are unsure about their benefit entitlements to contact Lancashire Welfare Rights on 01282 470570. It’s a free service provided by Lancashire County Council.
Last Friday I also visited two of our excellent primary schools. The first was the main primary school for special needs children, Holly Grove up at Lanehead, which I had wanted to see ever since I saw the corresponding secondary school, Ridgewood, a few months back. It felt like a happy place, with a great atmosphere, and I met with some of the school council who were making all the important decisions like what type of biscuits they wanted to bake as a special treat for their charity day.
Holly Grove will over the course of the next year move onto the new education site that is currently being built at Barden, which will give staff and pupils alike a great opportunity to get all the top-of-the-range equipment and a purpose built design. It will also be located in the same building as the mainstream primary, making it easier for children to get the level of support that is most appropriate for their needs. I wish them, and all the schools affected, well in managing the exciting but complex changes that are currently taking place across the town.
The other primary school I visited was Lowerhouse Junior School where I was put through my paces at breakneck speed by the children at a special assembly. I don’t think I have ever been asked as many questions in such quick succession, so it was very good practice for being in parliament! They clearly had an excellent understanding of the way that democracy in our country works. From then it was off to do my monthly surgery in Padiham and then home for the weekend. On Saturday we held a surgery in Burnley town centre and the main event on Sunday was of course the remembrance day open-air service in the town centre. This was the first year the service took place without being overshadowed by the Thompson Centre, and I have to say it felt much better without it and it felt like we had more people there as well, which was good to see. My only regret was that I couldn’t simultaneously also be at the event at Padiham. (One day I will work out how to clone myself….)
Since then it’s been a busy week in Westminster, where parliament has spent most of this week debating the detail of the Queen’s Speech. The main day for me was on Wednesday when the session was on the economy and so the Treasury ministers were in attendance listening and responding to the views of back-bench MPs from all parties. I’ve also chaired a number of meetings this week on the overall economic situation – the general view I’m getting back is that although things in America are looking gloomy the UK is very well placed to whether the international storm and indeed our economy is projected to keep growing in future years, as indeed it has in the last ten years.
Back in Burnley this weekend I am holding surgeries in Kibble Bank and Colne Road so hope to see you there.
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 By email: ussherk@parliament.uk Web: www.kittyussher.com In person: Come to office, or next surgeries are Friday 17th November - 3.30pm - 5.00pm Kibble Bank Community Centre, Underley Street, Burnley; Saturday 18th November - 10am - 12am Open Hands Centre, 24 Colne Road, (corner of Hebrew Road)
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