Monthly Report for July 2010

Below is a summary of my work in Parliament and in Southampton for the month of July 2010 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.

Petition for Building Schools for the Future

As readers may know, the Coalition Government has cancelled Southampton’s Building Schools for the Future programme.  The programme- worth £200 million for the city- was to have rebuilt five schools- Chamberlayne College, St George’s, Sholing Technology College, and Upper Shirley High.  Three more schools- Cantell, Redbridge and Woodlands- were due to have completely new IT facilities installed.

Southampton has been guaranteed this funding since 2008, when myself, John Denham and the Labour Council at the time successfully got Southampton fast-tracked onto the Building Schools for the Future programme.  Michael Gove’s argument that BSF was somehow last minute pre-election spending simply does not stack up in this context.  This was essential long-term funding that much of the future education in Southampton has been organised around. 

Substantial, long term changes to these schools- such as Upper Shirley and Sholing Technology going to mixed sex status and taking on hundreds more pupils- were all implemented on the basis of the schools getting the necessary financial support from the government.  With this financial support now withdrawn, the majority of our secondary schools are left with huge new organisational commitments but without the resources to meet them.

Funding for the rebuilding of Southampton schools was a key issue at the General Election.  When challenged, David Cameron told the Daily Echo that there was ‘no doubt’ this BSF funding would go ahead.  Although he has already broken his promise, I will be doing all I can to press the case with the government for Southampton schools to get the funding they need.  Funding to end the two-site split for the city’s two academies is probably what the government is most likely to still deliver.  However I believe the City Council must be clear that is fighting for the necessary funding for all city schools affected- not just the ones it believes it is most likely to get a positive response from the government about.

Both I and John Denham are running a petition calling on the government to keep its promise and restore Southampton’s BSF funding.  You can sign up to the campaign on my website here.

Millbrook Library

A new petition run by myself and Millbrook Councillor Dave Furnell was launched last week to save Millbrook Library.  The area around Cumbrian Way shops in Millbrook is set to be demolished and rebuilt over the next year. That means Millbrook library will be demolished too.  We support the regeneration of Cumbrian Way- but we believe a new library must be built to replace the current one as part of the redevelopment.

The Conservative-run Council has refused to commit to providing a replacement library. The Conservatives are already cutting the quality of library services in Southampton, and there is a real danger that they will use the redevelopment of the Cumbrian Way as an excuse to close the library there all together.

The more people we can get to sign the petition to keep Millbrook library open, the more we can put pressure on the Conservative Council by showing there is a real demand from local people for a library in the area. You can sign the petition here.

Houses in Multiple Occupation

Last month I reported on how the Coalition had scrapped a number of protections related to private rented housing.  I regret to report they have now gone even further by scrapping entirely the power of local residents to have a say if a landlord buys up a family home and wants to convert it into a House in Multiple Occupation.

As readers may know, this has been a power residents in Southampton have been campaigning in support of for years.  It was finally brought in just earlier this year was beginning to make a difference.  During the General Election campaign, the Conservatives repeatedly promised that they would not scrap this new power.  That they have done so now is a very real betrayal, and I will continue to push them to reconsider.  This month I met with Housing Minister Grant Shapps on this issue and to emphasise the need in cities like Southampton for tougher landlord regulations, protections for family homes, and protections for tenants.

Responding to the Coalition Budget

The Coalition has published its first budget.  My own view is that Southampton’s response to the budget should be based on three clear arguments:

1.    Even if you accept the need reduce the budget deficit generated by the banking crisis, the Coalition budget cuts £40 billion more than economists say is necessary to achieve this goal.  There is no consensus among economists that this extra £40 billion of cuts is needed- these are cuts motivated by ideology, not economic necessity.

2.    Even if you accept the need to reduce the budget deficit generated by the banking crisis, we should make sure the burdens of this are shared fairly, and this budget doesn’t do that. The Coalition claimed that the richest paid the most as a result of this budget, a claim that was rebutted comprehensively days later by the Institute of Fiscal Studies.  If you look only at the new measures introduced in this budget (and leave out the measures introduced by Labour in previous budgets) the biggest loss if income will be borne by the poorest 10%; and the lowest loss of income will be felt by the richest 10%.  This trend is even more pronounced when we look at 2014, where the poorest 10% see their income cut by almost 3%, while the richest see their income reduced by less than 1%.

3.    Finally, even if you accept the need to reduce the budget deficit generated by the banking crisis, the most effective and most sustainable way to do this is by supporting economic growth.  But the Office of Budget Responsibility predicts growth will slow as a result of the Coalition budget, as shown here:

Slower economic growth will result in lower levels of tax receipts and potentially higher spending on unemployment costs, which could in turn could mean it takes longer to cut the deficit and further cuts in other areas.

Labour’s response to the tackling the deficit was to make real efficiencies (for example by eliminating duplication of service through Total Place pilots) whilst still supporting economic growth, through investment in infrastructure, training, and green jobs for the future.  This is, I believe, a sound alternative to the Coalition’s current approach to cutting the deficit, and I will be doing all I can- with particular regards to schools funding and green jobs- to push this alternative forwards.

Future Energy Policy

I spoke in the Parliamentary debate on the budget’s implications for energy & environment policy.  I did my best to highlight what I believed to be the missing pieces of the government’s current energy policy and how it could best deal with these issues.  In particular I focused on why the government has to signal its commitment to long term investment in green industry- and therefore why the idea of a Green Investment Bank cannot just be money recycled from other areas.  I also highlighted the central government role in making sure there is a minimum floor price for carbon in the future; that the finance for insulating social housing must be protected; and why the government’s policies are likely to increase energy prices and push more people into fuel poverty.   

I also gave speeches in the debates on energy security (which, despite calling, only 2 Conservative MPs turned up to); on energy efficiency policy; and on why the Coalition’s plans for nuclear power could potentially lead to either a total failure for Britain to meet our legally binding carbon emissions targets, a very serious energy gap, or both.

I have also tabled a further question about the future of energy performance certificates for homes.

Other Community Meetings

This month I also

• Supported the work of Hampshire Asbestos Support & Awareness Group
• Met library users & staff as part of the rally against the Tory Council’s plans to cut services at local libraries;
• Met Southampton Citizens Advicen Bureau staff
• Met with Southern Water regarding water metering in Hampshire
• Met with staff at Hampshire Community Health Care

Alan Whitehead MP July 2010