The report by the New Economics Foundation and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has highlighted real and necessary concerns about funding for local services in the coming years, with a no deal Brexit and reforms meaning that funding for Local Government will reach a critical point, even surpassing the cuts from Austerity we have faced in recent years.

The report by the NEF highlights that around half of local-government funding came from central government in 2010, but by 2024-25 this will have been cut to zero, apart from a small amount of ring-fenced funding.

Continue reading “£25 Billion Shortfall in Local Government Funding”

Tory cuts to school funding have hit Oldham West and Royton pupils hard, and much greater than the regional or national average.

Information gathered by the House of Commons Library shows that per pupil funding has been cut by 8.1% in just five years, compared to 4.7% for the North West and 4.9% for England.

The real impact of that means a reduction from £5,156 to £4,736 per pupil, and although the ‘block grant’ in the constituency has remained broadly the same, standing at £93m, it took little account of increasing pupil numbers requiring more school places, and in some cases expanded and new schools. It is also the case that while Oldham West and Royton received a real terms 1.3% increase in funding it was far below the England average of 4.8%.

One of the biggest per pupil cuts are in Oasis Academy Limeside which has seen a staggering £817 reduction for each child.

Though we have been campaigning for fair funding for many years I have again wrote to the Secretary of State for Education for this to be reviewed.

I have joined with 92 MPs in backing our Sixth Form Colleges. We all know the value of a good quality education and there has been lots of activity on School Funding, but often further education doesn’t get the attention it deserves. 

The Institute for Fiscal Studies reports that education funding for 16 to 18 year olds “has seen the biggest squeeze of all stages of education for young people in recent years”. This is having a serious impact on students. 

The underinvestment in sixth form education is bad for students, bad for social mobility and bad for the economy. A central aim of the Industrial Strategy is to help young people to develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future. 

The decision by Boris Johnson to suspend parliament has rightly been met with wide ranging criticism. 
As the clock ticks to the 31st October deadline to leave the EU, and no alternative withdrawal agreement in place it is clear we are being driven to a No Deal Brexit.

It is not usual, despite claims by Johnson and his spokespeople to prorogue parliament. Though the Tories have selected a new leader there is not a new government, there has not been an election, there has not been a successful vote of no confidence.

The effect of the move isn’t just that MP’s are sent out of Parliament, but critically that *any* legislation and parliamentary business automatically falls. That means any domestic laws making its way through parliament will be dropped, and there are hundreds of important Bills https://services.parliament.uk/bills/

It is also not acceptable that the Queen is dragged into a political constitutional crisis. As monarch the Queen has always stayed above party politics, which has been a great strength and stability (especially when so much seems in chaos!).

I will never support leaving the EU without a deal and I fail to see how anyone who has read the economic impact assessments prepared by the government itself can. 
Whatever your view on Brexit do not underestimate the chaos very likely to follow.

It is the chamber of the commons; I’m sent by constituents in Oldham West and Royton and not the government. I will support any move to establish a sitting parliament, wherever and however it meets, regardless of the move to suspend our sovereign parliament.

I have written to the Foreign Secretary regarding the revocation of Article 370 by the Indian Government and the rising tensions between Pakistan and India over the Kashmir region.

In addition to my correspondence with the Foreign Secretary, I have tabled an Oral Question to be asked at the first Foreign Office Questions after Recess.

Tensions are rising and we need to make representations to the Indian Government to deescalate the current situation over Kashmir.

I am increasingly concerned about the increased tensions in the area and the movement of thousands of additional paramilitary troops into Indian-controlled Kashmir as well as reports of the use of cluster munitions on unarmed civilians.

The escalation between India and Pakistan is growing by the day, and I am concerned that this dispute could have far reaching consequences.

As a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group in Kashmir I and other members have consistently pressed for the British Government to show leadership on this issue. Even before this escalation there were clear warnings signs of oppression, marginalisation and clear human rights abuses taking place. This was highlighted in the June 2019 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report.

All 27 Greater Manchester MPs have written to both Andy Burnham in his capacity as Mayor and additionally to the newly appointed Minister for Policing and the Fire Service regarding the cuts we have seen to the Fire Service as a result of austerity.

We have asked the Minister to halt the agenda of austerity imposed upon our services which has seen the Fire Service severely crippled whilst facing an ever growing demand for their help.

In Oldham we have seen an increase in fires across the borough demanding a fully fit and responsive Fire Service. The Government must act now before even more lasting damage is caused.

A large group of MPs, Peers and I have signed a cross party letter to the Prime Minister regarding the treatment and release of British citizen, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from the Iranian prison and psychiatric ward she has been kept in following her arrest in 2016.

We recognise the Prime Ministers ‘to-do’ list is monumental, however we believe it should be one of the Prime Ministers top priorities, especially Mr Johnsons, to petition for the immediate release and safe return of Nazanin.

An opportunity has opened up for Oldhamers who are interested in travelling and problem solving in the modern world.

The Churchill Fellowship is looking for 150 people to join their programme this year.

The Fellowship was founded in 1965 by Winston Churchill’s grandson as a tribute to the former Prime Minister and aims to invite around 150 people above the age of 18, regardless of qualifications and experience to travel the world in search of innovative and imaginative solutions to the problems we are facing in the world today, and then applying those solutions and the knowledge gained back home in the UK.