Monthly Report for March 2008

Below is a summary of my work in Parliament and in Southampton for the month of ???. Click here to read previous reports.

If you'd like to know more about any of the work I've been doing, or if you think there is another issue you think I should be acting on, you can always contact my office.

• Work in Parliament
• Work in Southmapton

In Parliament

Budget- pre-pay meter campaign

Alistair Darling’s first budget as Chancellor contained two very important policy announcements relating to fuel poverty.  First was the announcement of increased Winter Fuel Allowance payments- an increase from £200 to £250 for over 60s and from £300 to £400 for over 80s.  However possibly of greater long term significance is the government’s recognition of the campaign by a number of Labour MPs regarding energy companies charging pre-pay meter customers more for using the same amount of energy. As pre-pay meter customers tend to be on fixed or lower incomes, this practice amounts to an extremely regressive charging structure by many energy companies. The government announced it would work with the energy companies to put in place a more equitable pricing structure, and would legislate if an agreement could not be reached.

More information about the pre-pay meter campaign

You may also be interested in other statistics for Southampton Test relating to government policy measures made available alongside the budget statement:

HMOs / additional licensing

Answers from the Department of Communities and Local Government have confirmed that no local authority has as yet applied to the Secretary of State to institute an additional licensing scheme for Houses of Multiple Occupancy.  Southampton City Council’s explanation for not yet applying was that their data on numbers and conditions of HMOs in Southampton is out of date (the last comprehensive survey having been done in 2002).  A new survey is now scheduled for Autumn 2008.  Whilst the Council obviously cannot proceed without reliable information, I believe this does raises questions as to whether the previous administration really viewed regulating HMOs as the priority it claimed to.

Questions in the House

In the House this month I spoke on the provisions relating to combating climate change in the Lisbon Treaty, and asked questions relating to the economic impact of climate change and relating to a landfill tax.

Energy Bill

I have spent most of my parliamentary time in the last month on the Committee Stage of the Energy Bill. In addition to making new provisions on licensing for energy installations, and for the decommissioning of plants, the bill makes substantial provision on the reform of the Renewables Obligation which provides support for the development of renewable energy. The bill also provides an entire regulation and licensing regime for Carbon Capture and storage.

I sponsored and introduced several amendments during the committee stage, including proposals on grid connection for renewables, reporting on social tariff and pre-pay meter arrangements, a renewable gas obligation, and a feed-in tariff for microgeneration.

Indications have been given that a feed-in tariff for microgeneration may well be introduced in the near future, along with a regulatory regime for the roll-out of ‘smart meters’.

In Southampton

10th Annual report published

My 10th Annual Report has now been published and is currently being distributed across Southampton Test.  If you cannot wait to get a copy, you can download the entire report from my website.

Red Rose surgery in Coxford

I ran a Red Rose surgery in Coxford.  The flier advertising the surgery also included a survey regarding residents’ opinions on the effectiveness of the dispersal zone currently operating in Lordshill.

Articles

Two new articles are now available on my website- one entitled ‘ASBOs- do they work?’ and one relating to Labour’s electoral prospects in the south of England (including Southampton!)

Constituency visits

This month in addition to my regular meetings and surgeries I met students competing in Rock Challenge 2008 in the Guildhall, presented ‘Bright Spark’ awards for young people for completing IT-related challenges, and spoke at the Business Southampton Annual Conference.

Alan Whitehead March 2008