Adrian Sanders has co-sponsored Lib Dem colleague Jo Swinson MP’s campaign urging Parliament to submit fully to the Freedom of Information Act, as with all other public bodies.
The Early Day Motion, tabled today, calls for transparency over MPs’ and Peers’ expenses, equal to that of the rest of the public sector.
Adrian commented: “As a believer in complete transparency I am very disappointed at the Government's decision. MPs should be treated exactly the same as others who are paid out of public funds.
According to the Guardian newspaper, 16/01/09 - "Harriet Harman, leader of the house, is understood to have pressed for the change after being lobbied by the Conservative 1922 backbench committee and the parliamentary Labour party committee, which both wanted to stop the release of the information."
What really annoys me is that if this goes through all MPs, regardless of their individual views and actions, will be tarred with the same brush.”
Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has been raising with Ministers continuing concerns over the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA). The benefit was designed to encourage 16 to 18 year olds to stay on in further education, taking A-levels or partaking in vocational training.
The scheme responded to years of failure by successive governments to encourage greater education participation without resorting to financial inducement. While evidence suggests 18,000 more students are taking part in education, EMA is paid to over half a million young people, who can receive up to £30 per week.
The scheme is likely to cost the taxpayer £438million in 2008/09.
The system is highly bureaucratic, with well over 10% of the budget spent on administration. The Government outsources this administration to private firms, with the Liberata firm holding the contract until recently, holding sway over a system with excessive backlogs, unanswered phonecalls from applicants and non-payment of benefits.
Young people in Torbay have also contacted Mr Sanders to highlight the injustice of the system. The benefit is not linked to attainment at school or college and the exclusion of children from wealthier backgrounds is highly divisive, particularly as the Government assesses according to gross rather than net income.
Adrian commented: “For years the Government has failed to encourage hard to reach youngsters about the overwhelming benefits of education, whatever form it takes. EMA is a last and costly resort but it gets results. The Government needs to iron out the system though. Too many young people have had delays in getting payments through.”
“Once again the reliance on outside contractors has created a bureaucratic nightmare and it seems Labour will never learn this lesson. The allowance also needs to be reoriented to encourage students to reach their potential, rather than simply attending registration.”
“One of the biggest problems highlighted by youngsters in Torbay was the divisiveness caused by the eligibility criteria. The means test is very rough and ready, based on the previous year’s income for any family. The system also assumes that those from lower income families lack the inclination to study whereas those from higher income families will automatically want to. Most importantly it does not take account of the actual circumstances of any given family.”
Torbay MP Adrian Sanders is supporting the Time to Change campaign launch at Parliament on Wednesday 21st January.
The campaign highlights the staggering level of discrimination against those with mental health problems. 1 in 4 people experience problems at some point in their lives and 90% of these will suffer some form of discrimination, either at home, at work or in the wider community.
The campaign, organised by the Institute of Psychiatry, ReThink and other mental health charities aims to promote a better understanding of those with mental health conditions, enabling them to contribute more to society without facing discrimination.
Adrian said: “Recent studies by Rethink show the staggering level of unwarranted discrimination against those with mental health conditions. With appropriate support everyone can make a positive contribution to society and I fully support the aims of the Tim to Change campaign.”
Following the announcement by Transport Minister Geoff Hoon MP of a planned north-south high speed rail link and news that rail engineering works will disrupt journeys in Devon over the coming weeks, the role of rail engineering has become more prominent.
Torbay MP Adrian Sanders has been raising the matter with Skills Minister Sion Simon, highlighting the shortage of rail engineers that threatens to worsen in the near future.
While travel on trains continues to grow, with an accompanying heavy load of engineering works, there has been a drop of 30% over the last 10 years of the numbers of those taking up engineering, with rail engineering featuring highly in the Home Office’s list of shortage occupations for immigrant workers. In 2004 Network Rail had to fly in engineers from India to carry out signalling works.
The shortage in the UK is mirrored across the world, being most acute in Australia, which will reduce the ability of Network Rail to make up any shortfall through immigration.
Adrian commented: “The railways have the potential to offer a sustainable and good quality transport solution for the UK, as they have already done in many other countries. With Crossrail, High Speed Rail 2, more carriages and a host of other improvements, passengers may soon be able to see a return for the heavy investment they have been contributing to.”
“There is still some way to go though and an important part of having a world class rail system is to have the right people with the right skills. The Government must do more to encourage the uptake of engineering courses to prevent any serious shortfall in numbers.”
Adrian Sanders MP has launched a campaign in Parliament to raise awareness about the difficulties posed by the child benefit system to effective and fair shared parenting.
Under the present arrangements, child benefit and child tax credits can only be paid to one parent and this discriminates financially against the other parent. This makes it more difficult for the non-benefit receiving parent to share custody of their child, as they may not have access suitable housing or may not have the additional income required to provide for their child.
The Government do not hold statistics concerning the number of shared residence orders, but it is estimated that there are several thousands. Shared custody results from divorce and separation where an agreement on access and residence is not immediately found.
Early Day Motion 306, which Adrian has tabled, calls for the Government to recognise this problem and take action to address the problems caused by the child benefit system to shared parenting.
Adrian commented: “The Government policy concerning child benefits and tax credits clearly does not do enough to support family arrangements of shared parenting and this inadequacy damages the quality of life of parents and children.
This is clearly a very sensitive issue for the families involved and the Government must do more to recognise the difficulties the system can create. I am keen to hear from anyone affected by this inequality to enable me to better tackle this issue in Parliament.”
Recent Comments