Eric Pickles must clarify his intentions on Voluntary Sector funding

Clive Betts MP and Chair, Select Committee on Communities and Local Government has written to Secretary of State Eric Pickles today saying that if the Government is to introduce legislation to proscribe council funding of the voluntary sector, he must announce the detail of his intentions immediately.

Clive Betts said:

“The government’s stated Localism agenda doesn’t seem to have lasted very long. But, if it is to go into reverse on that policy in relation to councils and the voluntary sector, it must do it immediately.

It is totally unreasonable and unfair – both on local councils and to local voluntary organisations – for the Secretary of State to suggest that he is minded to legislate to determine a new financial regime for the relationship between councils and voluntary organisations to have effect in 2011/12, but for him not to announce any details.

Councils are agreeing their budgets now in accordance with a statutory timetable. Voluntary organisations are setting their budgets recognising the grant-aid they have been told they are likely to receive. Both are now in the process of issuing redundancy notices to staff, in accordance with statutory requirements.”

He’s lost. I’m confused.

When he was asked his first question in the House of Commons this week, Eric Pickles, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, responded “I beg your pardon, Mr Speaker, but I have not the remotest idea where I am.” Most of us were not surprised, as his populist announcements having increasingly departed from reality.

The debate was about the impact of the government’s policies on voluntary organisations. David Cameron’s stated policy objective of a Big Society seems at increasing variance with the big cuts in funding for the voluntary sector throughout the country. To many national and local voluntary organisations, it looks far more like a Smaller Society.

Eric Pickles’ Local Government Minister then told MPs “Spending decisions are a matter for local councils, but no council will see its spending power fall by more than 8.8% next year.” He continued “The worst-run councils are targeting the sector for disproportionate cuts.”

So, what are we to make of the decision of the Liberal Democrat controlled Sheffield City Council to cut the total grant to Sheffield voluntary organisations by 15% in cash terms (close to 19% in real terms) next year? This is twice as much as the Minister says the City Council’s spending power is being cut. I think most people will think that ‘twice as much’ is ‘disproportionate’.

Further, although the total cut is 15% cash, many local organisations in our area – from the Citizens Advice Bureau to pensioners’ groups to those working to improve the local environment – will not actually know how big a cut they face until July.

Thus, we’re left with Local Government Minister describing the council as ‘worst-run’ whilst the Deputy Prime Minister says he is supporting his Liberal Democrat council colleagues’ budget decisions.

I’m confused. I leave you to make up your own minds.

Safe in their hands?

I’ve lost count of the number of pre-election promises that the Conservative-led government has already broken.

The justification for breaking promises – that the state of the public finances is worse than they expected – simply doesn’t wash. The budget deficit for 2009/2010 was several billion less than forecast and the same is true for 2010/2011.

One important issue that has been given little media attention is David Cameron’s pre-election promise to “protect NHS funding”. We now know that this is another promise that he is going to break.

The first indication was when the government double-counted £1billion for caring for elderly people. First it was announced as ‘extra money for councils to spend on elderly care’ and then it was announced as part of the NHS budget, as part of Cameron’s desperate attempt to make his figures add up.

Now, the government’s own Office of Budget Responsibility has revealed with the latest inflation forecast, there will be an even bigger real terms cut in NHS funds next year. As the NHS struggles with making £20 billion efficiency savings, it is also being forced to spend £3bn on a new top-down re-organisation …. another broken promise.

As local health authorities and hospitals start to struggle with this, we are already beginning to see the real outcomes. It was little surprise that the new government was determined to do away with NHS targets as waiting times for both in-patient and out-patient treatment start to rise for the first time in a decade.

Now we learn that more than 50,000 NHS jobs will be cut over the next 5 years and that the majority of these will be doctors, nurses and other clinical staff. It appears that in the early stages, mental health services are going to be particularly badly hit. In Sheffield, -parents of children with mental health problems have already been told that waiting-times for appointments are rising rapidly.

It was little surprise that people’s confidence in the NHS has risen dramatically over the last 10 years to the highest level ever, given the massive investment in extra clinical staff, new buildings and equipment, with huge drops in waiting times for initial appointment and treatment.

We should all expect those services now to deteriorate and confidence levels start to fall towards those inherited in 1997. Are you confident that the NHS is safe in this government’s hands? I’m not.

The criminals must be laughing

Between 1997 and 2010, crime fell by more than 40%. It doesn’t matter whether you look at reported crime statistics – the numbers of crimes reported to the police by the public – or the British Crime Survey, where more than 40,000 people are interviewed in detail each year about their personal experience of crime during the last year. This survey picks up crimes which people don’t report to the police.

I have little doubt that this massive reduction resulted from a combination of a significant increase in police numbers (after cuts in numbers during the last Conservative government), the introduction of Police Community Support Officers, increased public confidence in the police to tackle crime, new laws to tackle anti-social behaviour, and the development of Community Safety Partnerships – where all the agencies and local people get together with a determination to both prevent crime and catch perpetrators.

Bizarrely, the Policing Minister in the Conservative-led government, Nick Herbert, doesn’t believe in any of this. When he recently announced that the budget for policing was going to be cut by 20% over the next 4 years, he made the astonishing claim that “there is no such link” between police officer numbers and the amount of crime.

We are now beginning to see the impact of those cuts. In our region alone, police authorities have already announced a cut of 775 police officers and 1570 support staff next year, with more to come. The same Minister has just announced a cut of 50% in the budget to support Community Safety Partnerships next year, with a further 30% cut to come in 2012.

We should always be looking for services to become more efficient, effective and responsive, but it is simply ludicrous to suggest that any efficiency improvement can make up for the scale of these cuts. Similarly, it is nonsense to suggest that ‘cutting the back-office’ won’t have any effect on the front-line. The back-office includes scenes of crime staff, intelligence co-ordinators and analysts, people who support the victims of crime. And, now we discover that the recently promoted local crime maps will actually take police off the streets, because local police officers will now have to do the data-inputting that was previously undertaken by the back-office staff.

Two weeks ago, the Liberal Democrat Leader of Sheffield City Council proudly announced that the LibDem Conference to be held in Sheffield in March would bring £2.5 million to the local economy. He did this at the same time as he smuggled out his decision to make big cuts the number of PCSOs in the city. But now we learn that the cost of policing that Conference will be more than £2m, which means making an additional £2m in cuts in frontline policing in our area.

Local villains must be laughing all the way to the bank. I don’t think that local families and communities will find this is any laughing matter.

Mislead and kept in the dark

UK unemployment has risen to 7.9%, with youth unemployment now at a record high since 1992 - more than one in five 16 to 24-year-olds are out of work. In our area of south-east Sheffield, the number of people getting Job Seekers Allowance has leapt by a massive 43% in the last year.

The economy has stalled, the government doesn’t have a growth strategy and the big cuts in public expenditure, which will result in further job cuts in the public and private sectors, are yet to kick in. Nearly every family in our area is affected some way. And it’s going to get worse.

Every job loss brings with it the risk of getting into debt or loss of home. There hasn’t been another time in the last 20 years when ordinary families will need access to good debt advice – independent, high quality, free and not from the sharks who want to make money out of misery.

Last week, the government did a sudden u-turn on the massive cuts in support for debt advice work it had announced just a month ago, but only agreed support for another year. You might have thought that local councils would also see good debt advice as a high priority at the moment. Despite the massive challenges they are facing, most councils have done. But, not in Sheffield.

Last week, I visited Mosborough Citizens’ Advice Bureau. As well as other advice, a large number of local trained volunteers supported by a small number of paid staff provide debt advice to individuals and families in our area. Yet, in the face of increasing demand, Sheffield City Council is proposing to cut the CAB’s grant, guarantee funding only for 1 month, and require cuts to home visiting services to people with disabilities and sessions at a local health centre and with tenants’ associations.

This will inevitably result in big cuts in advice, and specifically, debt advice services at the very time when they are needed most. Far from a Big Society, it will also result in a Smaller Society, as there would also be big cuts in the number of volunteers who can be trained and supported.

It is now also clear that the council’s support for a whole range of services is only being guaranteed for 1, 3 or 6 months into the next financial year. Whilst other councils are being clear about the scale of the cuts – services and jobs - for next year, Sheffield City Council is keeping us all in the dark.

It is planning a budget with big cuts in expenditure, but will only take the big decisions about what they will actually be after May. The leader of the council’s recent statements about the number of job losses that will result from the council’s budget are simply disingenuous. Either, he doesn’t actually know – because he’s ensuring that the big decisions on actual cuts won’t be taken until after the local elections – or he does know, and he’s keeping the rest of us in the dark.

Whichever, it isn’t transparent and we’re all being mislead.

Not a Price Worth Paying

This weekend, I spent a long time on the doorstep just talking to people about what was happening in the lives of their family.

The biggest single issue was employment. Nearly every household had someone who was worried about their job security, or had someone who was out of work already, or had a young person about to leave education – at 16, 18 or 21 after higher education – who was really worried that they wouldn’t be able to get a job.

Quite often, older family members took me back to the early 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher, faced with unemployment rocketing up beyond 3 million people, ended the obligation to work if you could. That government said ‘unemployment was a price worth paying’. The result was high unemployment that lingered for years.

Last month, the Office of National Statistics reported that the number of 16-24 year olds out of work is now at its highest point since April 1992.  Youth unemployment has increased by 70,000 in the last 6 months.  

At the moment, the dramatic rise in unemployment is overwhelmingly affecting the poorest areas – in Sheffield, the increase in unemployment in David Blunkett’s constituency was twenty times the increase in Nick Clegg’s constituency and there are more than ten unemployed people looking for work for every vacancy. So much for sharing the pain fairly. 

Yet, whilst unemployment soars and growth is sluggish the government is hitting young people with a triple whammy: jobs cuts, the removal of education maintenance allowances and a tripling of tuition fees. Without work and study, what are they supposed to do?

A report, written by Barnsley Council Leader Steve Houghton, led to the establishment of the Future Jobs Fund which would have created up to 200,000 full time paid jobs for young people up and down the country.  But, the government has now scrapped this programme.

All this will have a significant impact on the life chances of our young people and store up considerable problems for the future. The Government’s ‘Big Society’ programme offers no hope either, as 75% of youth charities are cutting projects.

These policies need to change quickly if we are to stop this becoming first a youth unemployment crisis and then, inevitably, a longer-term crisis for many communities.

Scriven is not standing up for Sheffield

Clive Betts MP accused Sheffield Council Leader Paul Scriven of failing to stand up for Sheffield in the national debate about the extent of the cuts being imposed on local councils.

He said: “I cannot remember any previous leader of Sheffield City Council – Labour, Liberal Democrat or Conservative – being afraid of speaking up for Sheffield, even when this might be an embarrassment for their own political party nationally.

It is now clear that Councillor Scriven has just become an apologist for the Conservative-led coalition.

Further evidence came today when Councillor Scriven’s name was notably absent from the signatories of a letter in The Times by Liberal Democrat council leaders. I know he was approached to sign, but refused.

Whilst the Liberal Democrat council leaders of Newcastle, Hull, Warrington and many others had the guts to tell it like it is and stand up for their communities, Councillor Scriven simply demonstrates his lack of commitment to our city.. I know that a number of Liberal Democrat councillors in Sheffield will be dismayed by his failure to stand up for Sheffield people.”

In the House of Commons debate on the Local Government Finance settlement yesterday (9 February 2010), Clive Betts also accused Councillor Scriven and Nick Clegg MP of simply misleading people about the extent of the impact on jobs and services of the cuts to Sheffield City Council and getting Tory Ministers to support them.

Clive Betts said: “The figures (on job and service losses) on Sheffield are misleading. The figures that have been quoted are for those redundancies that have been announced so far.

Many vacancies in Sheffield are being held unfilled, and they are going to affect services. We know of several hundred posts that will not be filled by one means or other, and we also suspect that the Lib-Dem administration there is trying to delay and avoid decisions, waiting to pass them on to the new Labour administration that will take office in May.

The budget has not yet been finalised, however, so no one can quote a figure of 250. Several hundred jobs are likely to be lost as a result of the budget-many times the figure given today.”

Clive Betts added today: “We are now watching the outcome of an unholy deal where Councillor Scriven doesn’t criticise the Secretary of State for his unfair treatment of the city and the Secretary of State praises a Liberal Democrat Council on the basis of a false analysis.”

Can’t see the wood for the trees

The single biggest recreation activity in the UK is walking. It’s something we enjoy with family and friends. We like being in the countryside. As well as exercise, we can see and smell the changing seasons.

The mass trespasses of Kinder Scout, seventy-five years ago, by walkers from Sheffield, Manchester and other northern towns and cities, highlighted how access to our countryside was being denied. They had a far-reaching impact, some of which is still playing out today. This culminated in the Labour Government’s Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, which provided rights to walk on mapped access land – the so-called right to roam.

In addition, huge steps were made in opening up access to our trees and forests. For many communities, it is the woods - publicly-owned by the Forestry Commission – that provide the local opportunities for excellent walks. The Forestry Commission doesn’t just own big forests, like those in Northumberland; it also owns and provides access to woods in just about every part of our local area.

And, of course, it isn’t just walkers who enjoy the woods. So do mountain-bikers and runners, bird-spotters and

But now, the Government has announced plans to sell off the Public Forestry Estate in England threatening the future of over 1,400 woods in the country. Their supposed consultation was only published after they announced the sell-off: it does not contain an option to keep land in public hands or provide details on how environmental stewardship or public access will be funded in future.

Our forests and woodlands are an important part of England’s national heritage. Already, some woods that have been sold have had all public access denied. Gates have been locked shut and paths closed. It’s often only after we lose something that we realise how much we valued it.

The sale of our woods has nothing to do reducing the deficit. After all, they only cost each of us 30p a year to maintain. It’s actually just a total of £15 million a year now and, as the value of timber continues to rise, the cost is likely to reduce to nothing in the near future. It’s all to do with ideology.

If the government can’t see the wood for the trees, let’s hope the people cam open their eyes.

Animal Defenders International steps up UK campaign to ban wild animals in circuses with support of Clive Betts MP for Sheffield South East

Animal Defenders International (ADI), the leading animal protection organisation that works globally for the protection of animals has stepped up its campaign to ban the use of wild animals in circuses – and Clive Betts MP for Sheffield South East, has pledged his support.

In a show of unity, Mr Betts, ADI representatives and over 20 MP’s from all political persuasions gathered on Wednesday 2nd February at Parliament, to pledge their commitment to securing a ban on the use of wild animals in UK circuses, and calling on the Minister responsible Lord Henley to finally action what the UK is calling out for.
Mr Betts is one of 162 politicians who have now signed a parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM) 403 calling for the wild animal ban to be implemented. He said,

“I feel very strongly in support of a total ban on the use of wild animals in circuses. Circuses are not a place to see animals in their natural environment.”

Jan Creamer, Chief Executive of Animal Defenders International said: “We applaud Clive Betts MP for helping strike a blow for wild animals currently languishing in UK circuses.

“We have been encouraged by the results of our recent political opinion poll and by the results of government’s own public consultation last year that found nearly 100 per cent of the public were behind a total ban.

“It is now abundantly clear to us that public and political support for a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses has never been stronger. This process has been trundling along for over five years, and it is now time that government listened to the will of the UK people and enacted a ban.”

A recent parliamentary poll conducted by ADI found that 63% of MPs would like to see a ban on the use of wild animals in circuses and only 14% disagreed. Government’s own public consultation in March 2010 also found that 94.5% of respondents backed a ban on wild animal acts.

162 politicians have now signed Early Day Motion (EDM) 403 ‘Wild Animals In Circuses’, tabled by former Defra Minister Jim Fitzpatrick MP, which states there is no obstacle to a ban on wild animals in circuses and a ban should be implemented. This shows strong cross-party support for a ban on animals in circuses in the UK Parliament, and demonstrates the depth of feeling as this is one of the top number of signatories to an animal welfare EDM.

All present on Wednesday agreed that the draconian use and abuse of animals in circuses is no longer acceptable, and that self regulation of the industry, which is being considered as a viable route by the Minister, is totally flawed, as effectively the abusers themselves are being asked to self regulate.
ADI has already provided government with a wealth of overwhelming evidence from undercover investigations that graphically shows that random violence and abuse is an unfortunate part of everyday life for animals currently languishing in circuses. Both evidence and opinion is now overwhelming, and government needs to act decisively and enact a total ban.

ADI’s investigation into the Great British Circus (GBC) in 2009 showed that violence against animals in circuses is far from an exceptional occurrence and at the very least circuses cannot provide an environment in which the welfare needs of wild animals can effectively be met.
Their exposé of the horrific abuse of elephants put wild animals in circuses back on the political agenda and the damning evidence from this investigation was presented to Government, which helped prompt a three month public consultation of animal circuses, the results of which were condemning for UK circuses.

And the GBC was not an isolated case. Previously ADI exposed systematic and random cruelty of animals at the Chipperfields circus a decade before as part of an undercover investigation. When this material was released as the ‘Ugliest Show on Earth’, it was credited with bringing the UK’s animal circus industry to its knees.
The spread of years shows that these abusive practices have been common for a long time and are considered as acceptable within the industry. Video collected by ADI from other overseas countries also confirms these practices are endemic – and no other animal industry has been so repeatedly caught on film abusing animals.
ADI has put together a video which depicts the random abuse of wild animals in several UK circuses over the last fifteen years which can be viewed at: www.ad-international.org/adi_uk, under the heading ‘Self Regulation, Are They Serious?’ and are urging the Minister to watch the video as part of his deliberations.

Clive Betts MP helps HEART UK to tackle the next challenge for heart disease services

Clive Betts MP, for Sheffield South East is calling for coordinated action to improve post-event care for people who have heart attacks.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the UK’s biggest killer - around one in five men and one in seven women die from the disease. CHD causes around 94,000 deaths in the UK each yeari – this is around 140 deaths in every parliamentary constituencyii.

Encouragingly, in the last 10 years there has been a 50% reduction in mortality from CHDiii. This is largely due to prompt care for patients when they’ve had a heart attack, with many more specialist centres and wider use of clot busting drugsiv. Secondary prevention has also improved with a greater emphasis on prescribing drugs which lower cholesterol among those at riskv.

However, fewer than 50% of patients receive cardiac rehabilitationvi despite the fact that NICE guidelines recommend this is offered to all patientsvii. Clive Betts MP met representatives from HEART UK to find out more about heart disease services in Sheffield South East and the importance of improving post-event care for patients.

By getting the treatment and support given to patients after an event right, the NHS will not only improve the experience and outcomes for patients but also save money which could contribute to the £20 billion efficiency savings that the NHS must deliver between 2011 and 2014.

Clive Betts MP said “I want to thank HEART UK for raising these important issues with me and showing me a picture of heart disease services in Sheffield South East. I am committed to working with the local NHS and in parliament to ensure that heart disease services are coordinated and delivering for the local population”.

Jules Payne, Chief Executive of HEART UK said, “I would like to thank Clive Betts for supporting the work of HEART UK in improving outcomes for people with heart disease. Coordination across the NHS, Public Health England and social care services is vital at both a national and local level to continue to deliver improved outcomes for heart disease and tackle the post-event care challenge.”