Food banks in North Northumberland are at an all- time high with families struggling to feed families

Welcomed news but don’t let it hide the issues

Labours Parliamentary Candidate Scott Dickinson today welcomed the news about the 11miles of the A1 that is set to be duelled, Northumberland County Council officers and politicians playing a vital part of that writing economic plans and meeting with the DFT to present them. However the devil of course will be in the detail, securing the remaining 22miles and ensuring that these current plans are actually delivered. We MUST however not let this cloud our view of the issues faced in this Constituency. While the Libdems and Tories fight out who should take credit for the duelling of the A1 important issues are not being focused on.

Food banks in North Northumberland are at an all- time high with families struggling to feed families. The NHS is under threat from the Coalition Government with the Labour Politicians at County Hall stepping in to finance a new Hospital for Berwick to ensure new modern day facilities are available. Local Government Cuts of £130million impacting on jobs and services while Council bosses minimise the impact and think of innovative ways to work differently and support communities.  Housing issues rarely talked about by the other parties with houses now being built across North Northumberland supporting those left on the Housing lists by Libdems for years. We must also remember despite these financial restraints Labour bosses at County Hall have allocated without any support from Government £33million towards the Ashington, Blyth and Tyne Line which will open the Rural Coalfield area and wider communities to new jobs and experiences to benefit Northumberland creating a gateway network  to Northumberland.

So this is a gentle reminder that I know many people don’t need but for others let’s remember that the A1 is an announcement welcomed its timing is electioneering and its creating a smoke and mirrors approach to cover or shift the discussion from some incredibly important issues in North Northumberland that are being totally ignored or brushed away for the election.

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COUNCIL ANGER AT PRIVATE PRISON BOSS SNUB

COUNCIL ANGER AT PRIVATE PRISON BOSS SNUB

Privatisation giants Sodexo snub ‘fact finding mission’ in community claiming contract is with ConDems raising fears of ‘accountability deficit’. 

A Overview and Scrutiny committee meeting set up to probe a series of incidents at HMP Acklington has been told by French privatisation giants Sodexo Head of Operations in the UK that he won’t give evidence to the committee because ‘Sodexo’s contract is with the Ministry of Justice’ not the local community.

The response has provoked anger as a new ‘scandal’ has hit the prison with a seizure of class a drugs and local Councillor and parliamentary hopeful Scott Dickinson has vowed to seek answers from the company and the Ministry of Justice Secretary of State Chris Grayling about the failure of the company to provide reassurance for local communities.

Since the prison was privatised, staff numbers have been reduced by 39% from over 440 to 270. The prison has also seen a riot where prisoners took over a wing and the latest seizure has sparked fears that the prison may be ‘powder keg waiting to explode’. The fears have been raised by NAPO who are now faced with the same company running probation services who have branded the prison as ‘chaotic’. 

Northumberland County Council launched a scrutiny investigation to explore the impact of the privatisation of Acklington on the local community and had invited Sodexo along to explain how they saw their role in the wider community. The snub by Sodexo Head of Operations in the UK Mike Conway has angered council leaders who say the decision ‘does not bode well for accountability for the controversial decision by the coalition government to allow Sodexo to run the North East Probation Service.

Councillor Dickinson who represents Druridge Bay ward said

‘This is a shocking snub for the local community which needs to be reassured about the changes at HMP Acklington and for Sodexo to say their only answerable to Chris Grayling in Whitehall shows how little this ConDem government and its rush to privatise really value local communities. I can promise Mr Conway that this council will get to the bottom of the reasons why he won’t come clean about the company plans for HMP Acklington and I will be taking this up with the Ministry of Justice. This is totally unacceptable and the silence coming from local Conservative and Lib Dem politicians on the privatisation of North Northumberland really is deafening. We’ve seen the prison shipped out to the private sector with the loss of hundreds of local jobs, we’ve seen the privatisation of search and rescue at RAF Boulmer, the rushed sale of the East Coast mainline franchise and we’re now told that Sodexo has been handed the keys to Northumberland and Tyne and Wear probation services. We’re now left to pick up the pieces with hundreds of jobs lost and a real lack of accountability”.  

 

 

BEITH VOTES TO BACK PRIVATISATION OF EAST COAST MAINLINE

BEITH VOTES TO BACK PRIVATISATION OF EAST COAST MAINLINE

Labour bill would have allowed public and mutual operators to run railways

Outgoing Berwick Lib Dem Alan Beith has voted (28 Oct 2014) to block a Labour bill which would have allowed the public sector and mutual operators a ‘level playing field’ on bids to run the country’s ever fragmenting rail service.

His decision has been branded as a ‘sell out of East Coast’ as the government is currently rushing through a re-reprivatisation of the service which has been bailed out twice by the public sector after private companies ran into trouble.

In 2009 Labour took East Coast into public ownership when the private operator walked away from the franchise, unable to deliver on its promises. Since then it has proved to be one of the best train operators in the industry – achieving record passenger satisfaction and punctuality; investing all its profits in better services and stations; and returning more than £800 million to public coffers. In 2014 it even managed to cut fares in real terms – something that hasn’t been matched by any private franchise.

East Coast has proven that a public operator can work in the best interests of passengers but the Tories’ ideological 1993 Railways Act prevents a public sector operator in all but the most restricted circumstances. The Labour Bill blocked by Beith and North Northumberland Lib Dems seeks to put that right – by allowing a public sector operator to be able to take on lines and challenge the train operators on a level playing field.

Labour’s Berwick PPC Scott Dickinson said

‘It’s now obvious that North Northumberland ConDems are waging an ideological war on the public sector. They’ve allowed the privatisation of search and rescue at RAF Boulmer, the privatisation of HMP Acklington and are actively voting to support the reduction of services under the re-reprivatisation of the East Coast mainline. Sir Alan’s hypocrisy over this botched privatisation in the making is astounding but comes as no surprise after the ConDems attacks on public services in Northumberland. Hundreds of jobs don’t seem to matter to the ConDems as they sell off the family silver’. 

John Haswell said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Councillor Scott Dickinson and the Labour authority for enabling this to happen but also to everyone that took part

Berwick Chamber of Trade chairman John Haswell has welcomed the reintroduction of short-stay parking on Marygate.

He has hailed the move as ‘a small victory’ in the effort to breathe new life into the struggling town centre.
He said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank Councillor Scott Dickinson and the Labour authority for enabling this to happen but also to everyone that took part (in the survey) and did their bit in getting free high street parking back to Berwick, a small victory perhaps, but a one for the town.”
He was part of a working group which has pushed for the reintroduction of parking on the high street over the last 18 months. They believe it could increase the amount of footfall in the town centre and give retailers a boost.
The new bays have been introduced on a trial basis to allow 30-minute, no return within one hour parking.

'COALITION PENSION TIMEBOMB'

LABOUR REVEAL ‘COALITION PENSION CON’

‘Beith needs to explain why he didn’t come clean when 80% of the people he claims would benefit from his unfair changes to the state pension may lose out’ – Scott Dickinson, Labour

 

Labour PPC for Berwick Scott Dickinson has revealed his fears that the ‘coalition’ policy announcement that state pensions would rise under coalition plans highlighted by Lib Dem MP Alan Beith last week was a ‘ticking time bomb for pensioners’

Beith claimed that 63,000 pensioners would benefit from coalition plans to make the state pension more complicated yet a respected ‘independent’ website THIS IS MONEY has raised fears that as many as 4 out of 5 pensioners won’t see the ‘Beith Boost’ when it is due to be introduced in 2016. It says highly complicated and technical changes may see public sector workers hit hardest.

Public sector retirees will be hardest hit and Labour are highlighting the huge impact that would have on North Northumberland where over 30% of those in employment rely on public sector wages.

Beith claimed the rise in the state pension to £155 in 2016 would benefit 63,000 people in North Northumberland yet it has emerged that more than 50,000 may miss out of the pension boost.

Scott Dickinson said

‘It’s a typical, back of the envelope, piece of shoddy spin to claim that thousands of people in North Northumberland will benefit from a pension rise that the government hasn’t even worked out the impact of. The reality is that because of technical and highly complicated tinkering with the state pension rules, this government has created a situation where over 50,000 people in North Northumberland may not get a full state pension. It seems that Alan Beith doesn’t even know the potentially devastating impact of his own policy’.

 

NOTES FOR EDITORS

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-2634215/Why-millions-WONT-155-new-state-pension-theyre-expecting.html

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-2629474/Why-vital-check-state-pension-youre-going-get.html