Whitehead challenges Southampton City Council at Prime Minister's Questions
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Labour MP for Southampton Test, Alan Whitehead, today asked Gordon Brown to encourage local authorities to take up new powers to regulate Houses in Multiple Occupation during Prime Minister’s Questions. The new powers announced last week come at the end of a five year campaign Dr Whitehead conducted to address the impact and condition of rented housing in Southampton.
In his question Dr Whitehead said:
Does my Rt Hon Friend welcome new proposals for planning and licensing in respect of HMOs announced last week? Will he urge Local Authorities such as Southampton where there is a substantial HMO sector to...
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Whitehead's Housing Campaign Pays Off
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Alan Whitehead MP has succeeded in a long campaign with Portswood residents to secure a change in the law to protect family housing in Southampton.
Dr Whitehead today welcomed the government's announcement that it is to change the Use Classes Order to regulate the conversion of family homes into rented housing occupied by multiple households. In the future, the change will require landlords to apply for permission from the Council if they want to change the use of one of their properties from a family home to a House in Multiple Occupancy (HMO)- just as if they were looking to...
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Hands Off Our Leisure Centres
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Wednesday’s (Nov 18) Council meeting will see the presentation of a petition opposing the Tory administration’s policy of privatisation of leisure centres. The petition has gathered more than 2,000 signatures, with support coming from all quarters including local swimming clubs and users of the facilities who come from the city and outside. Joan Callaway, a regular user of Bitterne Leisure Centre was so incensed by the proposals, she joined Labour’s city wide campaign and personally collected around 600 signatures in her area. Cllr Derek Burke says “Why privatise a popular and successful service? The Quays, Chamberlayne and Bitterne leisure...
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Whitehead calls for Solent Conservation Zones
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Dr Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, has welcomed the passing into law of the Marine Act 2009, and has called for new powers in the Act to be used to create Marine Conservation Zones for the Solent area.
Dr Whitehead was one of the guests at a special event when BBC TV Countryfile presenter and marine biologist Miranda Krestovnikoff revealed the more than 70 proposed Marine Conservation Zone sites proposed by the Marine Conservation Society and the Co-operative Group.
The Needles, Studland Bay and Lyme Bay have all been highlighted by the Marine Conservation Society as excellent candidates for...
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MPs welcome Windfall for Anti-Knife Crime Project
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Southampton’s Labour MPs John Denham and Alan Whitehead has welcomed a £13,400 windfall for a local anti-knife crime project funded by cash and assets seized from wealthy criminals.
The Be Safe - Weapons Awareness Project has received national recommendation for its work on educating young people and adults on the consequences of knife crime. Today’s windfall will enable the project to visit and work with young people at secondary school, youth clubs, secure care homes and other venues across the city.
Labour’s Home Secretary Alan Johnson announced the £4 million Community Cashback fund, which gives local people a direct say on...
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Whitehead backs Bill to cut Energy Costs for the Poorest
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Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, this week joined a cross-party group of MPs in support of the Equalisation of Tariffs for Gas and Electricity Bill, designed to prevent energy companies from charging their poorest customers more for their energy.
Many of the UK’s poorest households pay for their gas and electricity by prepayment meter because the uncertainty of their income means they are unable to afford quarterly bills. However, many energy companies, such as British Gas and Scottish and Southern Energy levy an extra charge on customers who choose to pay this way. The National Housing Federation estimates...
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There are other ways than selling off art to fund the Heritage Centre
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The Labour Group on Southampton City Council together with local Labour MPs continue to oppose the sale of art from the City Art Gallery to help fund the proposed Heritage Centre.
Labour Cllr Sarah Bogle said: “Councillors are custodians of this nationally important collection, and do not have the right to use it for short term funding gaps.
“We are also concerned that the Tate Gallery is unlikely to support the art sale and we need to find an alternative way forward.”
Cllr Derek Burke, the party’s leisure and culture spokesperson, said: “We strongly support the arts quarter in Northern...
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MPs back National Sure Start Week
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Southampton’s Labour MPs Alan Whitehead and John Denham have congratulated Sure Start staff in Southampton and are encouraging everyone to celebrate their local children’s centres during Sure Start Children’s Centres Week. The week of activities across the country is designed to promote the universal services on offer for families with children under 5.
As part of the week’s celebrations, Alan Whitehead MP yesterday attended a carnival workshop organised by Surestart MRM (Millbrook, Redbridge and Maybush), at the Pickles Coppice Children’s Centre in Southampton Test.
Dr Whitehead said:
“Parents in Southampton regularly tell me how much they value their local...
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Whitehead Out to Save the Quays
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Alan Whitehead, MP for Southampton Test, will be out with volunteers on Wednesday morning campaigning to save the Quays Swimming and Diving Complex from Tory privatisation plans.
Dr Whitehead will be asking residents to sign a petition calling on the Conservatives to scrap their plans to privatise the award-winning and profit-making leisure centre.
The Conservative-run City Council has already spent £250,000 to encourage private firms to take on the running of the Quays, despite the fact it makes a profit for the city and was ranked the 2nd best leisure venue in all of the UK and Ireland in...
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LABOUR FEARS CLOSURE OF FAMILY CENTRES WILL ENDANGER VULNERABLE CHILDREN
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Family Centres are due to be cut. Labour believes that is the wrong decision, and could potentially endanger vulnerable children in the city. One of the lines in the Tory Budget earlier this year was to restructure a service that supports very vulnerable children and their families: – 3 Family Centres run by the Council.
Family Centres offer a unique service to children and families who are often in crisis. Families may be helped to stay together and children returned to live with their parents because of the specialised service offered by skilled and dedicated staff.
The service can...
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JOHN DENHAM CHALLENGES TORIES ON COUNCIL TAX PLANS
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John Denham Southampton Itchen MP and Labour's Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, has today issued a challenge to the Conservatives over their council tax plans. Speaking at the Local Government Association Annual Conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, John Denham said: "The Conservative council tax freeze pledge is a con – a freeze for the few but a rise for the many. "George Osborne claims that “your council tax” would be frozen for two years under the Conservatives. But relatively few councils would qualify for the freeze and in many cases only if they agree to set their...
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WHITEHEAD WELCOMES STRONG SCHOOLS PLAN FOR SOUTHAMPTON
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Alan Whitehead MP has today welcomed plans to give parents and pupils new guarantees of what they will get from local schools and to strengthen school discipline.
The Schools White Paper, published by Labour’s Schools Secretary Ed Balls today, sets out:
· a Pupil Guarantee including an entitlement to one-to-one tuition for children at risk of falling behind in English and maths at primary school and the early years of secondary school, and a guaranteed place in school, college, training or an apprenticeship for school leavers.
· a Parent Guarantee, including the right to regular information...
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WHITEHEAD SECURES COMMITMENT FROM PM FOR GREEN INVESTMENT
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Dr Alan Whitehead, Labour MP for Southampton Test, secured the first question at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday in the House of Commons. Dr Whitehead used his opportunity to question the Prime Minister about whether funding for investment in low carbon technology which is essential to the UK meeting its carbon reduction targets will be cut over the next three years. He also asked Gordon Brown to “reflect on what the United Kingdom’s ability to meet its carbon budget commitments would be if such funding were cut by, say, 10 per cent” as Conservative Leader David Cameron has...
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MP Joins Fiona Phillips To Welcome Free Carer Health Checks
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Local carers urged to claim free health checks at Lloydspharmacies during Carers Week Labour MP John Denham has welcomed an offer of free health checks for local people who care unpaid for ill, frail or disabled friends or family members during this year’s Carers Week. Lloydspharmacy has teamed up with charity Carers UK to offer free heart health checks (normally worth £15) to carers from 8th-14th June. The checks include cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes checks and are available from 650 Lloydspharmacies across the UK including those in St Mary’s, Woolston and Bitterne....
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South East Minister & MEP welcome help for 2,520 Hampshire businesses
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Labour South East Minister Jonathan Shaw and South East Labour MEP Peter Skinner welcomed the news today that 2,520 businesses across Hampshire have used Labour's Time to Pay scheme - ensuring that extra money has remained in Hampshire's cash flow, boosting the economy and protecting local jobs. Time to Pay allows small businesses to defer their tax payments to HM Revenue and Customs. This keeps cash in the economy - with the aim of helping keep businesses growing through the credit crunch. South East Minister, Jonathan Shaw, said: "Labour is committed to providing real help during this economic downturn and...
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New National Park is “A Huge Boost For Southampton”
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Southampton Itchen Labour MP John Denham has welcomed last month’s Government announcement of a new South Downs National Park. Speaking to a meeting of Labour Party members, John Denham said “Southampton is already close to the existing New Forest National Park and the new South Downs National Park will come as close as Colden Common , Twyford and Bishops Waltham. Few cities in Britain are as close to two national parks as Southampton will be. This is more evidence of Labour’s commitment to the South and has been achieved despite Conservative opposition. “Sixty years ago...
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MP Takes Up Old Soldiers’ Case
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Southampton Itchen Labour MP John Denham has taken up the case of former members of the Royal Hampshire Regiment who are seeking recognition of their service in the Malayan Emergency of 1948-1957. Mr Denham was contacted by veteran Tony Hamilton from Sholing who served in the conflict. Mr Denham said “Mr Hamilton and his former colleagues are seeking a rosette to add to their General Service Medals to mark their role in the Malayan conflict. I have written to Veterans Minister Kevan Jones to ask if this can happen.”...
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Labour South East European and Council Elections: Winning the fight for Britain's Future
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 Douglas Alexander, Labour's International Development Secretary, along with Labour South East MEP, Peter Skinner, Labour Crawley MP and Assistant South East Minister, Laura Moffatt launched Labour's South East campaign for the European and county council elections today. Douglas met local young apprentices at Central Sussex College, Crawley to highlight that Labour is the only party standing resolutely for the hard working majority of the British people by putting in place the building blocks for future recovery - Investing in families, training, jobs and key sectors. The number of people completing apprenticeships in Crawley has risen from 80 in 2004 to...
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Children Say What They Want In Riverside Park
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Children would like a spider’s web and robot climbing frame, swings, a roundabout, a slide, a springy duck, a see-saw, a wooden train and a zip wire at the Cobden Meadows playground in Riverside Park (Bitterne Park). The children set out their ideas in a consultation carried out by Groundwork Solent as part of the Department of Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) Playbuilder programme. The Playbuilder programme has given £1 million to Southampton City Council to build or improve play areas. John Denham, the Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said “The children came up...
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Itchen MP Welcomes Primary Schools Investment
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Southampton Itchen Labour MP John Denham has welcomed the Government’s confirmation that Southampton’s primary schools are to take part in the Primary Capital Programme beyond this year. Schools Minister Jim Knight has written to John Denham to tell him that his Department has now fully approved revised plans submitted by Southampton LA for local delivery of the Primary Capital Programme. John Denham said “This is excellent news. The Primary Capital Programme commits to renewing at least half of all primary school buildings by 2022-23; creating primary schools that are equipped for 21st century learning,...
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