MP newsletter - day care centres, renters’ rights, and West Midlands Fire Service - 14 October 2024

Do you want to receive this newsletter first? Click here to subscribe

Good morning. I’m afraid that this week’s newsletter is much shorter than usual due to illness. Normal service will hopefully be resumed next week.

Birmingham news

• I am very concerned about the proposed closure of the Fairway Day Centre in Kings Norton, which is due to be discussed at Birmingham City Council’s Cabinet on Tuesday.
  
  The Council’s own equality impact assessment acknowledges the ‘potential adverse impact’ on disabled users of the service. Combined with the proposed closure of Harborne Day Centre, the closest council-run service will be in Moseley – more than four miles away.

  Further consultation will follow if the decision is approved on Tuesday, and I am working with Carmel Corrigan, Councillor for Kings Norton North, to make representations to the Council.

• I’m glad to report that my debate on ‘planning permission and telegraph poles’ – which was delayed last week to commemorate the first anniversary of the October 07 attacks – has been rescheduled for this Thursday.
  
  The debate will likely be held at about 16:00, depending on other Parliamentary business. It will be streamed on this link.
  
  My team met BRSK during the week and we are working to raise individual cases, although the root problem is a lack of national requirements on broadband companies.

• It was really good to welcome students from the James Brindley schools (including Northfield) to Parliament this week. James Brindley is a specialist group of academy schools, which offers placements to pupils outside of mainstream settings. The pupils asked some engaged questions – on everything from Parliamentary procedure to votes at 16 – and I look forward to visiting the school.

• In a recent newsletter, I praised recent improvements that had been made at West Midlands Police under the leadership of the Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable.
  
  This can only stand in contrast to the West Midlands Fire Service. Over the course of the last few days, the Interim Chief Executive was suspended, and he has now resigned, following a ‘Section 5’ report which alleges that a senior finance officer was unlawfully removed. The Authority’s Chair has also resigned. The story is developing and it is essential that services are not affected.

In Parliament

• MPs debated a really important piece of legislation last week – the Renters’ Rights Bill. The legislation will outlaw Section 21, ‘no fault’ evictions in the private renting sector, which has left some tenants afraid to raise insanitary housing problems like damp and mould, while others have been left homeless with no explanation at all. Such evictions are also a major draw on local government finances, as councils are obliged to provide emergency accommodation.
  
  The Bill also seeks to end bidding wars, and sets new minimum standards for the quality of rented accommodation – a Decent Homes Standard. The Bill faced some opposition but I was glad to vote for it.

• The Government has also just published the Employment Rights Bill. This bill is a landmark in the history of employment law – it represents possibly the biggest single step forward ever for rights at work. I worked on this agenda over several years as a trade unionist, and I want to do it justice in the next year. For now, it is enough to say that the changes will make a real, and positive difference to thousands of people in the constituency, and I can’t wait to argue for it.

• I spoke on private school fees and VAT – and made the point that per pupil funding in Birmingham state schools fell by £179 over the last five years. Locally, this is leading to staff being let go, and plans to buy new equipment or invest in buildings are being put on hold.
  
  Raising between £1.3 billion and £1.5 billion from private school fees is, I think, the right policy. We already tax private healthcare insurance, which helps to fund the NHS. More information will be published at the Budget on 30 October. You can read the contribution here.

• I also spoke on the supply of aid to Gaza. Earlier in the week, MPs marked the one year anniversary of the October 07 atrocities, which I was glad to make that possible by moving my own debate.
  
  Now, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the UN has just reported that no food has entered Gaza in October. The number of aid trucks had fallen to just a tenth of their pre-October 2023 rates, imposing the spectre of famine across the territory. The horrifying situation demands both a political and a humanitarian response. You can read the contribution here.

Best wishes

Laurence Turner
MP for Birmingham Northfield

P.s. If you don’t want to receive these messages then please reply to this email with the word ‘unsubscribe.’

This newsletter was mostly written at the weekend alongside domestic duties so please excuse any typos.

Image credit - Wikimedia Commons.