It was straight to business on arriving on Monday with a host of meetings from stakeholders, commissioners and councils on a wide range of issues from devolution, reorganisation and interventions. Monday was topped with “Adjournment Debate” after evening votes on behalf of the government regarding Closure of Owens in Hastings and Town Deal funding. The specific debate secured reflected just one example of where the previous government failed to invest properly and support small businesses, leaving with boarded-up shopfronts becoming all too common on high streets.
This government is acting decisively to reverse the decline through town deals, based on local partnerships and local decision making, by putting in £20 million of funding and support for Hastings through our new Plan for Neighbourhoods – action which is being replicated in communities across the country.
Then it was onto Tuesdays Westminster Hall Debate on the effectiveness of the “Nolan Principles” in Local Government. These principles – selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership – are the least local people deserve from their representatives.
We need to make sure these values aren’t just words on paper. The public must feel that they can have confidence in their local leaders to abide by them, and we need to strengthen accountability to make sure the highest standards are upheld for councillors of every stripe. It’s also important that all councillors and officers can act without fear of bullying and harassment, which I’m afraid has been too common in some chambers.
As we move on with the devolution agenda it was to talk at the Institute for Government on support for Mayoral Combined Authorities to deliver local growth. We are determined to drive up living standards far & wide and our English Devolution White Paper sets out ambitious plans to make that happen.
With the week also taken up with many meetings and discussions on the upcoming English Devolution Bill legalisation it’s very timely!
We then had one of our regular Co-op Parliamentary Group meetings which included discussions with customer owned mutual Nationwide Building Society, who this week have announced £50 cash reward for customers, including 10,012 members in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton who we will be paying a total of £500,600.
I also took the opportunity to raise ahead the need to ensure that in the recent take over of Virgin Money we aren’t faced with branch closures without fully consulting local people, as has been too often the case with banks. As there is both a Nationwide and Virgin branch in Oldham now owned by the same building society it is very important. I was assured that there are no immediate plans for either to be affected, and they maintain their commitment to branches, and if that changes local people won’t be an afterthought.
One of the other highlights of the week was an ‘inter-ministerial group meeting’, which was a fancy way of saying we worked across government on important issues. This one was with South Yorkshire Mayor and Sheffield Council with frontline workers on our push to reform local public services so that we redirect far more investment to early intervention and prevention, rather than more expensive firefighting of issues.
We are also now working through the spending review preparations, and significant changes to how councils are funded to focus better on funding following need.
Managed to get out of Westminster to speak at the District Councils Network Annual Conference in Old Windsor where much of the focus was on plans to end the two tier system of local government (county and district councils) and redirect resources to frontline services, with fewer but more empowered and better resourced councils and councillors.
And before heading to Oldham constituency meetings it was a pleasure to meet with my Irish counterpart, Minister O’Donnell in at the consulate in Manchester – not bad timing for a visit with the St Patrick’s Day celebrations which will follow in the city over the weekend. 
Jim McMahon OBE MP 