Newsletter
Posted by John Robertson, MP for Glasgow North West, at 13:59, Thu 15 May 2008:
Thank you for signing up to this service. I shall try to post here on regular occasions as I do on my website, www.johnrobertsonmp.co.uk, which you can also access.
This is my most recent newsletter, reproduced with pictures on my website:
April 2008
Employment Retention Bill
In the last newsletter I mentioned that I would be bringing a Bill of my own before Parliament in an attempt to change the law for disabled people in work. The Bill I have put together would introduce a right for someone who becomes disabled whilst in employment to have an assessment by a healthcare professional to establish their condition and the support that would enable them to remain in work. It would also provide a right to a period of leave for rehabilitation or retraining for a disabled person where this is appropriate.
Through working on this I have met many people who have experienced difficulties here. Roger Lewis, for instance, worked for a council when his sight deteriorated and their idea of helping him through this was merely to provide him with a magnifying glass and to set him to work at trying to find himself a new job. Having to cope with such life changing developments to his eyesight whilst facing the prospect of being fired was clearly a harrowing process for him which was dragged out for four years and it is this sort of experience I am determined to prevent in the future.
The Bill has support from a number of major charities (such as RNIB, Disability Alliance and RNID) and unions (including the TUC and Unite), has received positive feedback from employers groups and 183 MPs have signed a motion backing it. I presented the Bill to Parliament in January, and once again in March, but because of the way business in Parliament is ordered MPs have not been able to vote on or debate its provisions.
I have, however, had several meetings with Ministers in the Department of Work and Pensions and have managed to secure a number of concessions from them to look at the proposals and to involve me in the strategies being put together to help disabled people in work. Over the forthcoming months I will be working on this front, and with the Bill itself, to try to secure some concrete improvements here.
Winter Fuel Allowance
The major event of the past few months in Parliament was the Budget on 12th March. Over the course of the winter five of the six major energy providers in the UK increased their prices by an average of 15% and I know that with rising food prices many people will be struggling and making big sacrifices to meet these costs. Around 15,000 people receive the Winter Fuel Allowance in this constituency and I know many pensioners in the area have been worried by the price rises.
I therefore felt it was important for the Government to take action on this front and in February I wrote to the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, calling for a £100 increase in the basic rate of the payment for 60 – 79 year olds to keep pace with energy price rises. I also raised this point in Treasury questions in Parliament a week before the Budget and I was pleased to see the Chancellor moving in the right direction with a £50 increase in the basic rate and £100 for over 80s. I am concerned however that these increases are currently one-off rises which have not been consolidated and that they are far less than the energy price rises we have seen over the past five years. I raised these points in a debate I was granted on the allowance in the week following the Budget and I will be making these points in meetings with Ministers over the course of the year.
Questions, Groups and Bills in Parliament
In the past month I have asked questions of ministers on a wide range of subjects and a complete list of these can be seen on my website (www.johnrobertsonmp.co.uk). I know that crime and anti-social behaviour concern many of us and I have asked Home Office and Justice ministers about cannabis use, community sentences and anti-social behaviour orders.
I have also raised the Warm Deal scheme which provides financial help for home insulation and when the Energy Bill was going through the Commons I asked about smart meters and social tariffs to help reduce energy consumption and assist those who struggle to meet energy costs. The Energy Bill was introduced in January and throughout March I sat on the Committee which examined it clause by clause. Although this is very time consuming and can be quite tough, scrutinising legislation in this way is an important part of the parliamentary system.
With the music group I chair in Parliament I am working to raise awareness of the Tobin Music System which is a fantastic way of teaching children the basics of music and has been adopted by a number of schools and through the Communications group I have been looking at regulating the Internet to prevent the crimes and abuses of it we currently see. It seems a lot of bodies, whether they are internet companies or the regulator, are seeking to avoid responsibility for any content at all and I think that it can only be a matter of time before this changes. I am also working on television Audio-Description services for visually impaired people with RNIB and the group has also been pushing for improvements in broadband speed for consumers. The Government has recently announced a review into the future of broadband so this is something I’ll be monitoring in the months ahead.
In February I met with Douglas Alexander, the Secretary of State for International Development, to discuss and promote Fair Trade fortnight. Fair Trade helps support around 7 million people in the developing world and I think it’s important that, where we can afford to do so, we consider those less fortunate than ourselves when making our shopping choices, and vote with our feet for fairer trade. Many Fair Trade products come from Africa and I have continued my work on Nigeria, publishing a report of the Parliamentary Group’s visit to the country last year, and asking questions about the UK police tackling corruption.
Happy 21st Birthday for Somerfield in Drumchapel
I was honoured to be invited along to Somerfield supermarket in Drumchapel to cut a cake on the occasion of the 21st anniversary of their store providing a service to the people of Drumchapel.
I would like to thank all the staff, in particular the manager John McIntosh, Cathy who organised the day and Maureen and Margaret, who have been with the store since it opened, and Liz who helped to cut the cake.
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