MP Newsletter - violent disorder, crime and anti-social behaviour, and Enviornment Agency Plans - 04 August 2024
Since this newsletter was sent out there have been isolated, but utterly unacceptable, scenes of intimidation, vandalism, and violence elsewhere in Birmingham.
No-one is above the law. Public order offences are extremely testing for the police, who must be allowed to do their job. Justice must also be done, and be seen to be done. The police have just issued a statement, including confirmation that an arrest was made for possession of a weapon, which can be read here.
Calm heads must prevail over the coming days. There are always forces that try to divide communities but the small number who resort to violence do not represent Birmingham. I will report back on community work over the next week.
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MP NEWSLETTER – 04 AUGUST 2024 – VIOLENT DISORDER, CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR, AND ENVIRONMENT AGENCY PLANS
Good evening. Thank you for subscribing to my regular newsletter. This email– provides an update on local news and national politics. It also allows me to ask your views on important topics.
Southport – and violent disorder
For a brief moment earlier this week, it felt like the whole country was united in horror and sorrow at the senseless killing of three children in Southport, and the injuring of many more.
Liverpool Crown Court had made the unusual decision to identify the teenage suspect, but there is much that we still don’t know about the attack. It is important that perpetrators are not better remembered than the victims: Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar. We remember them.
Shamefully, misinformation was spread – apparently deliberately by a few individuals – almost immediately, and then echoed by national political figures who should know better. Across the country, the far right is attempting to exploit the horrendous murders and divide our communities.
We have all seen the clips of people being attacked in the street for the colour of their skin. Multiple police officers have been injured. In Liverpool, a library was burned down. These scenes shame our nation.
It is important that the families of the victims, who have called for calm, are respected. Neither rioting nor racism must not come to the streets of Birmingham. There may be a protest in central Birmingham on Saturday 17 August. I am in contact with Hope Not Hate, and I have been in touch with community groups over the weekend. The new Government’s statement can be read here.
Birmingham news
Environment Agency – flood alleviation proposals
Residents in the north of the constituency will be familiar with the ongoing question of the Environment Agency’s proposals to undertake new flood alleviation works in Manor Farm Park and Weoley Hill Park.
There is some strong local opposition to the plans, and the Environment Agency has acknowledged that consultation could have been carried out better. Initial plans for ground investigation works were scrapped in May after Bournville Village Trust launched a legal challenge.
I spent some time this week with the Friends of Manor Farm Park Group to hear their concerns. The risk of flooding is rising, partly as a result of climate change, but it is important that any works are sympathetic, built to the best design possible, and consulted on properly.
I am due to meet the Environment Agency later this month, and I will provide a report.
SEND
I won’t repeat it all here, but I have pulled together a longer report on SEND work, covering:
An update on the new Frankley Hill autism-specialism school
A new upcoming report from the Birmingham SEND Commissioner
Local SEND appeals and Speech and Language Therapist recruitment
Local press coverage
The update can be read here.
Children’s Hospice funding
There is some good news. In the last newsletter, I spoke about children’s hospice funding. Ringfenced government funding had been withdrawn last year, although NHS England is continuing to provide funding for this year. Reliable income is particularly important for charitable organisations, including the Acorns hospice in Selly Oak, which is used by families across Birmingham.
After I raised the issue in Parliament, Ministers have said that they are now looking again at the future of this funding. A serious conversation is taking place in the Department for Health and Social Care, and it is encouraging that the new Government is looking again at the issue. I will report back on any further progress.
Birmingham City Council
On Friday I met John Cotton, the leader of Birmingham City Council, along with Esther Rai – the new councillor for Northfield ward. We talked about a number of important issues, including Birmingham’s budget and issues with the central government intervention, continued problems with bin collections, and SEND.
MPs and the council have different roles – and I have always said that, in order to perform the job properly, MPs must stand apart from the council and be willing to criticise. But we must also be ready to work together in the interests of the constituency and the city, rather than getting drawn into artificial confrontations – as happened at times over the last five years.
Constituency office set up
Work continues apace to get the constituency office up and running. Staff are being hired – I was determined to run a proper recruitment process for all roles, which is slower than just hiring people you know, but it is important for delivering value for taxpayers’ money. A temporary office space has been identified and I hope to be able to share the address in the next update.
During this time, I am replying to as many emails as I can – and taking up casework – but delays should be expected. I sometimes receive more than 200 emails a day, not including round robins, and like most new MPs I am currently working without administrative support. The constraint is temporary, but I must ask for patience during this period.
In Parliament
Fuel payments and the state of public finances
Since the last newsletter, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a statement on public finances. A large number of people have been in touch about the plan to limit the Winter Fuel Payment to those in receipt of Pension Credit.
This is a very difficult issue. The universal principle is important and it should not be pulled away from unless there are exceptional and compelling circumstances. The Winter Fuel Payment was introduced by Gordon Brown in 1997 – without Labour, it would not exist at all. This is one reason why the announcement is so difficult for those of us who represent Labour. This is not a change that anyone wanted to make.
Let’s be clear about what happened. The outgoing Conservative government:
Stored up public sector pay problems for years – leaving the NHS without the staff it needs, all of which lengthened the waiting list – and deliberately delayed the pay process until after the election by leaving it late to submit evidence to the Pay Review Bodies.
Promised transport and hospital projects that never had a proper budget behind them. These phantom rail lines and hospitals were cynical election gimmicks. They were never real. But the pledges have added to the already serious pressure on the public finances.
Failed to come clean about the ballooning costs of the Rwanda deportation scheme, which ran to hundreds of millions of pounds more than were ever admitted.
The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that it only discovered these spending pressures a week before Rachel Reeves’s announcement. These spending pressures, it said, were ‘one of the largest year-ahead overspends … outside of the pandemic years.’
After the Liz Truss ‘mini-budget,’ there can be no going back to the days when the Government rolled the dice on mortgages and rent payments. The state of the public finances means that more difficult decisions are to come.
It is important to say as well that Pensions Credit is under-claimed. By one estimate, 2,600 households in the Northfield constituency may be eligible for the credit – and by extension, the Winter Fuel Payment. The Government has promised to work with local authorities to increase the number of people who claim their entitlement, and I will work to make sure that as many people in the constituency are signed up as possible.
First speech
An MP’s first speech – or, in the old-fashioned language of procedure, which I don’t personally like, their ‘maiden speech’ – is an opportunity to talk about their constituency, its history, and the challenges that it faces.
I made mine this week during a debate about the future of the railways. I spoke about the communities in Northfield, public services, and a bit about my own background. If you are interested, you can read the text here. I hope that I did Northfield justice in the time available.
In figures
- -35% - the fall in the number of new apprenticeships in Northfield between 2019 and 2024.
Housekeeping
As Parliament is not sitting now until September, this newsletter will be less frequent. If the House of Commons is recalled at any point then a special newsletter will be sent out.
What do you think?
Do you agree that crime and anti-social behaviour has become more frequent? If so, what do you think are the reasons for the increase? Is the response as simple as providing more resources to the police (and to be clear, I do think that the police need more investment)? Do you think that Birmingham’s new road safety action plan will make a difference in respect of dangerous driving?
As always, your views are much appreciated.
Best wishes
Laurence Turner
Labour MP, Birmingham Northfield
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