I was appalled by the decision made by train operators to limit the train ticket office consultation to 21 days. After being heavily challenged the operators have now extended the deadline until Friday 1 September. Please read my objection letter to West Midlands Trains below. I have visited all three stations in my constituency, IContinue reading Stop the closure of our train ticket offices
Last week, I attended the Department for Work and Pensions Committee Evidence Session regarding the Plan for Jobs and Employment Support. I used this opportunity to raise the suggestion of continuing support beyond the point of obtaining employment. I am keen for the government to learn from initiatives such as ‘Thrive into Work’, a schemeContinue reading Employment Support Needs Improving
This week I asked the Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills about the £600 million levy returned to the Treasury due to the drop of apprenticeship starts this year. Given the skills shortages affecting our economy, it would make sense to let businesses in my constituency and elsewhere utilise at least some of that returned moneyContinue reading What is the Government doing with the apprenticeship levy?
As a Labour MP, I believe those who can work should work. In his budget, the Chancellor announced “universal support”, which he described as a new approach to helping more people with disabilities into work. He has yet to tell us how he plans to fund “universal support”, an issue I raised in the budgetContinue reading Compassion and Fairness
The Works and Pensions Select Committee is currently conducting an inquiry into jobs. There are three main issues.: shortages in key areas affecting growth and outcomes, too few people with the right skills, and deprivation which limits opportunity. Our inquiry is considering how other countries are dealing with these problems. One of our biggest concernsContinue reading Introducing Mentors
In his first public address of the New Year, the Prime Minister made five pledges which he says are the foundations for a better future. After thirteen years, aren’t we entitled to more than laying the foundations? He says he’ll half inflation before the end of the year which, as Chancellor, he let rip. OfContinue reading We Deserve a Lot Better
After the period of mourning, attention turns once again to the hardships facing many people in Britain today. The Prime Minister and her new Chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, say tax cuts are the answer but I have my doubts. His decision to reverse National Insurance increases without any additional plans to support the NHS can onlyContinue reading Chancellor’s ‘fiscal event’ is a non-event for the struggling
News last week that Labour had taken a 15-point poll lead, biggest since 2013, may have surprised some but there’s a simple explanation. People have spent the hot summer relieved at not having to think how they’ll cope when winter comes. Later this week Ofgem, the regulator supposed to help consumers, will announce a secondContinue reading Government feeling heat
WHAT’S the fascination with outsourcing that makes so many managers and consultants offer it as the solution when they’re asked to make improvements or find savings? Public is not always best but there’s no guarantee private is either. There have been some spectacular government failures with prisons, probation, and tagging of offenders. In Birmingham weContinue reading Peril of failed outsourcing
Steve McCabe MP has recently visited Speciality Minerals in Lifford Lane. It follows some local complaints about noise from the site. The actual site has been there since 1898 and Steve first visited back in the early 1990s when he was a councillor for the Brandwood Ward. There have been some lurid stories on social media aboutContinue reading Steve McCabe MP visits Speciality Minerals
