Westminster Week
Posted by Kitty Ussher, MP for Burnley, at 11:05, Fri 30 November 2007:
Dear Friend,
Greetings from Westminster where we at the Treasury have been having a busy time ensuring that the risks to the public are minimised from the breach of security that took place when officials at the government’s revenue and customs department lost a disk containing millions of child benefit records. It is important to emphasise in all of this that there is no evidence that the data has fallen into the wrong hands, and the best thing that people can do is to monitor their bank accounts to satisfy themselves that nothing unusual is happening. Indeed the banking industry has also told customers that the data contained on the lost discs is not enough for an ID fraudster to access their bank account – as additional security information and passwords are always required.
But, as I have written previously in this column, we should always be vigilant to ensure that we do not make it easy for criminals to use aspects of our identity for their own purposes – don’t throw back account statements away without destroying them first, for example, and close any accounts or credit arrangements you have that you don’t actually need. For further general information on how to avoid identity theft, have a look at www.identitytheft.org.uk or contact my office.
I had a great opportunity last weekend to negotiate for our country on the European stage. I was the British minister leading our delegation to a meeting of the European Finance Committee, “Ecofin”, that was discussing the EU budget for next year. With 27 different EU countries I went there thinking the chances of us being at the heart of the action was limited but in the end it became quite exciting because we saw an opportunity to build a coalition with some other smaller countries in order to get a better deal for British taxpayers. So I ended up leading some negotiations in Brussels late on Friday evening that resulted in savings for Britain of around £30 million as well as greater opportunities for our manufacturing companies to get more contracts from a new EU-wide satellite space programme, leading ultimately to more jobs back in Britain. Not bad for a day’s work!
On Tuesday this week the government published plans to support people with mental health problems to find and keep work. Although the number of people across the country as a whole who are in work is at record levels – over 29 million people – it is also the case that mental health conditions are the largest cause of absence from work and 40 per cent of people currently receiving incapacity benefits are doing so because of mental ill health. This can vary from common problems such as stress, anxiety or depression through to more serious conditions. Of these, the more common conditions can be relatively easily treated with the right support and need not significantly affect people’s lives. So this week we’ve announced a new strategy to put in place a co-ordinated response working through the NHS and the benefits agencies to give people the support they need. Get in touch with my office if you want to know more, or if you have any views on these issues.
Meanwhile closer to home, we’ve had a great response to our Christmas card competition this year from the children of the borough – with over 500 entries. The winning design has not yet been revealed but I can exclusively reveal today that it our panel of VIP judges have made their decision and as we speak the cards are being printed at a secret location within the constituency. The winner will be announced at the special prizegiving ceremony next Friday, 7th December, after which time we’ll send all the cards out across the town and the indeed the country! Thanks again to our sponsors, Aircelle and Unite the union and to our partners in organising this year’s competition, Creative Partnerships, as well as of course to the Burnley Express for helping with the publicity.
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 the office, or next surgeries are Friday 7th December - 3.30pm - 5.00pm in Padiham Town Hall and Saturday 8th December - 10.00am - 12.00am Byerden House Social Club, 191 Colne Road, Burnley
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