Monthly Report for August 2009

Below is a summary of my work in Parliament and in Southampton for the month of August 2009. 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

Energy Strategy

Slightly too late for my last report, but one of the final announcements before Parliament was prorogued was the government’s Low Carbon Transition Plan.  I questioned the Secretary of State in the debate after the Plan was published, in which I said:

“I warmly welcome my right hon. Friend's statement. He is absolutely right to concentrate on the recalibration of the grid and on the makeover of homes in the domestic energy sector, and absolutely right to look fundamentally at the reconstitution of Ofgem's responsibility for renewable energy. In parallel with those moves, will he talk to his colleagues in other Departments to ensure that we have the necessary skills, training and work force equipment so that the new low-carbon economy that his moves presage can be developed effectively, using the skills of UK workers and technicians?”

The ‘new’ parts of the plan include:
 
The Power Sector

• Ed Miliband has taken back powers from Ofgem to speed up connection to the grid because renewable energy projects have been slowed down in the system.
• Renewable Energy Strategy to secure around 30% of electricity from wind, marine and other renewable sources by 2020.

• £11.2m to help regions and local authorities speed up planning decisions on renewable and low carbon energy

• The final shortlist of the schemes for the Severn Tidal Power feasibility study is confirmed as 3 barrages (including the Cardiff-Weston barrage) and two lagoons. Three other innovative schemes have won funding to support their development.
• Approval for the UK’s largest biomass power station on Teesside.

Mandated social discounts

• Mandating energy companies to discount bills for some of those on the lowest incomes.
• At the moment, more than 800,000 households receive discounts and other help with their energy bills, part of a voluntary agreement between Government and the energy companies. This agreement is due to come to an end in March 2011.
• When the voluntary agreement ends discounts for the most vulnerable will continue not from a voluntary arrangement but in law, through compulsory social programmes.
• We will make sure there is an increase in the amount spent, and expect to target new resources at the most vulnerable consumers, particularly older poorer pensioners.

Households and communities

• ‘Pay as you save’ pilots helping people make their whole house greener by using the savings made on energy bills to repay the upfront costs, backed by up to £4m from low carbon investment funding.  An eventual national roll out could create 34,000 jobs.
• Feed in Tariffs, a new ‘clean energy cash-back’ scheme to be in place by April next year.  People and businesses that generate their own electricity from low carbon sources will be paid for doing so.  A similar scheme for renewable heat will follow in April 2011.
• 1.5 million more households will get help saving carbon due to the government extending the duty for energy suppliers to help households save carbon until December 2012.

• Help for 90,000 homes in the poorest areas. Through the Community Energy Saving Programme 90,000 homes in the lowest income areas will be given ‘whole house’ makeovers, piloting our house-by-house, street-by-street approach.
• Smart grid: Kickstarting development of smart grid with funding up to £6m

• A new personal carbon incentive scheme to reward people for cutting emissions
• Green Communities Challenge: Challenging 15 villages, towns or cities to be testbeds for piloting future green initiatives.

Renewable energy

• Up to £120m from low carbon investment funding to significantly advance the offshore wind industry in the UK.
• Up to £60m from low carbon investment funding announced in the Budget to cement the UK’s position as a global leader in marine and tidal energy including:
• Making the South West the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area, a world centre for wave and tidal energy, investing in the Wave Hub sub-sea socket off Cornwall.
• Up to £10m for testing facilities at the National Renewable Energy Centre in Northumberland 
• £8m for the European Marine Energy Centre in the Orkneys.
• A new £22m Marine Renewables Proving Fund for testing and demonstration of wave and tidal technologies.

What about Vestas?

Of course, one might logically expect a national government plan to invest in renewable energy to help keep the Vestas plant on the Isle of Wight open.  After Vestas announced their decision to close, I met with Ed Miliband and his advisors to talk about possible ways to save the plant.  That meeting may have contributed to the current plan for the government to offer Vestas aid to test and develop offshore wind blades.  This could be done in a facility which would employ 150 people on the Isle of Wight initially and potentially more later.

The government did also offer financial aid to Vestas if it would keep the plant open. They were told this would not help, primarily because the Isle of Wight plant currently manufactures onshore blades for the American market, and Vestas want to consolidate manufacturing of those blades in America.  Also, because of the difference in size of offshore and onshore wind turbines, re-tooling the entire plant to manufacture off-shore turbines would effectively require us to knock down the entire plant and start again- either way the plant as it exists at the moment would not be saved.

The biggest long term problem by far for Vestas has not been lack of investment, but rather that the UK Planning system has for many years given too easy a veto against wind turbine applications to predominantly Tory and SNP Councils.  This planning structure has probably resulted in an underdeveloped demand for on-shore wind in the UK (although it is also the case that off-shore wind turbines do overall make a lot more sense in the UK context).  The new Planning Act should help address this problem, as should the increased investment in both on-shore and offshore wind.  But there is also the need for more councils to take the lead in approving wind turbine applications.  Even Southampton, which is by far from the windiest part of the UK, was very close to agreeing the operation of an onshore turbine until the Conservative Council pulled the plug due to the cost.

In Southampton

Future Jobs Fund

In May I lobbied for Southampton to get a share of the government’s Future Jobs Fund- designed specifically to part-fund jobs for young people who have been out of work for more than a year.  It was announced this month that Hampshire and the Isle of Wight will receive £5.8m from the Future Jobs Fund to help young people back to work during the recession. The cash will be used to create 900 posts, 274 of which will be based in Southampton.

Kickstart funding

I have been briefed by Housing Minister John Healey that Southampton is likely to receive approximately £9 million of ‘Kickstart’ funding to fund construction projects that have stalled due to the recession.  As readers will know, a number of major building projects across the city have stalled in recent months.  It is right, I think, that we should invest now to try to get some of these projects going again, not just for the obvious economic benefit but also as a sign of pride in our city.

Two Southampton projects have been short-listed and will receive the funding assuming they can deliver on the specifications they promised.  Nationally, it is estimated this funding will create 45,000 new construction jobs.

Save the Quays

The Conservative-run City Council is looking to sell off the Quays to a private operator.  At present they have spent £90,000 of public money renovating the Quays to make it easier to sell off.  This is despite the fact that the Quays is award-winning, well-run, hugely popular and makes a profit for the city.

I am backing a campaign organised by Labour Bargate Councillor Sarah Bogle, and residents across Southampton who use the Quays, to stop the sell-off from happening.  Activists will be collecting signatures opposing the sell-off outside the Quays over the next few weeks, and I understand an online petition will be launched soon.  When it is, I will link to it from my own website.

Ironically, the Council’s plans to sell-off the Quays comes just as new figures show a very high take up of the government’s Olympic free swimming offer from both under 16s and over 60s.  This free offer only applies to publicly-owned pools, and there is no guarantee a privately run operator would offer the same level of free access.

Between April and June 2009, over 6000 people in Southampton took up the free swimming for over 60s offer, and over 30,000 young people took up the free swimming for under 16s offer.  The full statistics are below:

Free theatre tickets for young people

Readers may remember some months ago I welcomed the Nuffield being awarded £30,000 by the government to allow them to offer free theatre tickets to young people.  The scheme has now been in operation for three months, and 1116 free tickets have so far been given to young people in the city.

Atraks

A number of constituents have contacted me concerned about a flier put out in Upper Shirley by a group of paid vigilantes describing themselves as a ‘private security company’ offering to patrol their street for a fee.

Their leaflet included a number of logos similar in design to those used by government and council bodies, so my office phoned the number and asked them if they were associated with any public body.  They are not.  The organisation in question (Atraks) has no sanction or support from either the Council, the local police or the government. 

My office then contacted the police to ensure they knew about what was being offered.  While the police cannot take action against a private organisation just for offering to walk around a street, they did seek to emphasise that they were in no way associated with Atraks, and that all their data shows that crime has decreased in Shirley over the last 12 months.  The figures they provided me showed from April 1 until today Monday, July 27 show overall crime in Shirley is down 7.8%, with the most serious crimes such as assault down almost 16.5% and burglary down by almost 24% compared with the same period last year.  It is also the case that these patrollers would have no greater powers to arrest or detain than any other ordinary citizen.

I do understand why some might find the idea of a private security force patrolling their street appealing- especially as this service is being advertised while the Council is announcing reductions to City Patrol (which I have lobbied against).  But if you know anyone who is considering signing up for the service, I would encourage you to make sure that person knows that Atraks do not have police powers or police training.

Recycling

As part of my work as the chair of the Parliamentary Sustainable Resources Group, earlier this month I visited a new recycling plant in Dagenham capable of recycling food grade plastic bottles (you can see a photo of the mountain of plastic bottles waiting to be recycled on my website).  I used the visit to the plant to highlight how the food industry- particularly the milk industry- needs to do much more in terms of using recycled materials rather than virgin materials.  This was one of the reasons I proposed putting a Renewable Content Obligation into food packaging into law.

Other engagements

Also this month I spoke at a debate organised by the Socialist and Environment Resources Association; attended the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Channel Islands estate (which included me not falling off their climbing wall, see right); attended a board meeting of the Southampton Environment Centre; met with the Chair of Highfield Residents Association about the current government consultation on HMO legislation; and ran roving surgeries in Coxford and Bevois wards.

Town Depot

Readers may remember two months ago I wrote to the City Council on behalf of Redbridge residents to oppose the Council plans to move the waste management facilities currently at Town Depot to the field just off Test Lane.  I am pleased to report the Council has now agreed to look at another site at the docks instead.  However, I have asked them to clarify that they are not still planning to split the waste services and still put some on the Test Lane site.

Civil Service Sports Ground

For over six years I have been part of a campaign to protect the former Civil Service Sports Ground behind St Mark’s school in Freemantle.  So I am delighted the Council has finally agreed to enter in negotiations with the current owners of the field, Bovis Homes, to purchase it for use by local schools and the local community.  I have been corresponding with the Council for a while on the issue of a compulsory purchase, trying to make sure they have all their ‘ducks in a row’ so any purchase can go through as quickly as possible.  The next issue, assuming the purchase does go through, will be to ensure that any deal does give some level of access to the field for the whole community- perhaps term time access limited to the schools, but access out of term time given to the community as a whole, for example.

But we should not look past the fantastic job done by local residents in keeping a sense of community ownership over the field, particularly in the last year when they have had to make do with support for community work from the Council (Neighbourhood Co-ordinators, which in practice provide a lot of the practical support for the work done by community associations in Freemantle, were abolished last year as part of the Conservative Council budget).  This move towards buying the field is a real victory for those who have organised events on or for the field over the last few years.