| Library | Date | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Frankley Community Library | Wednesday 25 September | 10:30 to 12:00 |
| King’s Norton Library | Friday 20 September | 10:30 to 12:00 |
| Northfield Library | Monday 02 September | 15:00 to 16:30 |
| Weoley Castle Library | Thursday 19 September | 15:00 to 16:30 |
MP Newsletter - council cuts, SEND, and international - 23 July 2024
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MP NEWSLETTER – 23 JULY 2024 – COUNCIL CUTS, SEND, AND INTERNATIONAL
Good evening. Thank you for subscribing to my regular newsletter. This email – which is a little later this week and next – provides an update on local news and national politics. It also allows me to ask your views on important topics.
Birmingham news
Commissioners and Section 114
The documents for Birmingham City Council’s meetings contain a lot of new information – not all of it welcome.
The latest bad news takes the form of a warning from the Commissioners that the council faces a ‘deteriorating’ financial position. According to a report by the Council’s Head of Financial Planning, new costs of more than £50 million have emerged – which mostly relate to complex children’s care, and higher inflation.
This cost is greater than the savings (or, in many cases, cuts) that been identified for next year’s budget. Combined with an existing shortfall, it means that Councillors were told at a meeting today that up to £79 million in additional cuts need to be found from next year’s budget.
The advice can be found in this document (be warned, the wider file runs to nearly 800 pages). I am concerned that the warning is based on some assumptions that look, to say the least, questionable. For example, they assume that central government support for local government will not grow at all during this Parliament. But the latest sobering claims do contrast with more positive reports about recent discussions between the city and the new Government.
There is still a lot that we don’t know, and I have been trying to get some answers in Parliament. Responses from Ministers show that:
The Commissioners handed their ‘formal report’ about Birmingham to Michael Gove on 26 April – it is not clear why the report was then sat on for the month leading up to the election, but it should be published soon.
The Government does not hold an updated estimate of Birmingham’s equal pay costs, despite the fact that those costs are widely reported (including by Max Caller, the Lead Commissioner) to be over-stated.
An equality impact assessment was carried out on the decision to allow Council Tax to rise by more than 10 per cent.
I have followed up with more questions and requests under the Freedom of Information Act. People should have a right to basic information about the process that is having such a negative impact on them, and Birmingham’s public services.
SEND
I spoke to the BBC (Midlands Today) about local SEND provision for a news item, which will hopefully be broadcast on Friday. SEND is an issue that is close to my heart. Too many children and their families find themselves locked in confrontation to get the support they need.
2024 marks the ten-year anniversary of the legislation which created the current system. As the Children’s Commissioner has said, it created ‘a complicated system that is too often adversarial.’ I obtained figures this week which showed that, in Birmingham, 97% of parents’ appeals against a local authority decision that make it to a hearing are successful. Cuts to transport services, particularly for 16-18 year olds, are causing real pain for families and forcing some parents and carers to make impossible choices.
The new Government has made some positive statements. Bridget Phillipson, the Education Secretary, has said that SEND will be a priority, even if the issue received ‘less attention’ during the election. Keir Starmer has stated that:
‘Our councils [were] pushed to the brink by the previous Government and [are] now unable to deliver even basic services to children with special educational needs.’
This is a positive start. A system built over ten years is not going to change overnight. But I have been heartened by the number of new MPs who said that they would make SEND a priority. We need a less confrontational and more compassionate approach to SEND, and there will be much more to say about this issue over the months ahead.
Invictus Games
One item of good news for the city is that it will host the 2027 Invictus Games (at the ICC). Congratulations to those involved. It is important that the event raises the profile of disability sport within Birmingham, including beyond the city centre, and I look forward to working with the event organisers to try to extend some of the benefits of the games to Northfield.
Libraries
I said in the last update that I would share my submission to the consultation on the future of Birmingham’s libraries. The response can be found here. Libraries rightly occupied a lot of space in last week’s newsletter, which I won’t repeat, but it is important to state that the consultation is not over yet.
The next stage will take the form of drop-in sessions at the libraries. There is no need to book an appointment to speak to an official. If you are able to attend your local session (they are during the working week) then I’d encourage you to do so.
Children’s Hospice funding
A number of people have been in touch about the future of funding for children’s hospices. The Acorns Hospice is just over the constituency border, in Selly Oak, but it is used by children from across Birmingham and beyond.
The Children’s Hospice Grant was established in 2008 to provide dedicated funding. The Grant never accounted for the majority of hospices’ funding, but guaranteed income is extremely valuable to organisations that otherwise rely on uncertain donations and bequests.
The Children’s Hospice Grant was scrapped last year. NHS England is providing interim funding, but its future is unclear. I have raised the issue in Parliament and I hope to visit Acorns soon.
In Parliament
The King’s Speech – the new Government’s legislative agenda – was published on Wednesday. After the last wasted months of the previous Government, when Parliament drifted aimlessly with a dwindling majority and few laws to debate, it felt like a sense of purpose had returned to Parliament.
The King’s Speech announced 40 new laws. It would be a mistake to try to do justice to them here (the briefing notes alone run to 104 pages). There is no shortage of issues for us to work on. Some measures which I was particularly pleased to see announced are:
The Employment Rights Bill which will enshrine Labour’s New Deal for Working People in law. For me, the Bill is a charter for dignity and respect at work. It will address the race to the bottom which means that, for most people, their wages don’t go as far as they did 15 years ago.
Average wages in Northfield have fallen by a shocking £300 a month since 2010, after inflation. I was particularly pleased to see two lesser-heralded measures in the Bill: the School Support Staff Negotiating Body, and the Fair Pay Agreement in adult social care, which will establish new minimum rates of pay for around 3,000 low-paid workers in the constituency.
A law to bring passenger rail services into public ownership. I worked on rail policy for four years, and John Mayor’s privatisation was a bungled and ideological disaster that has cost the taxpayer billions. The Bill will be debated for the first time on Monday, and I hope to speak in support.
A Children’s Wellbeing Bill which will establish free breakfast clubs – open to all children – in every primary school, and require all schools to co-operate with councils on SEND inclusion. As always when Parliament is sitting, I am asking questions to establish new information about the state of local services (examples below). I’m glad to have also secured a question on anti-social behaviour on Monday, which was perhaps the single-most raised issue on the doorstep during the election.
In figures
- 3 GP surgeries and 7 Sure Start Children’s Centres closed in Northfield under the 2010-2024 Government.
International
The focus of this newsletter is local and national news – but that doesn’t mean that we can look away from the world outside our borders.
A number of constituents have written to ask about my position on Israel and Palestine. I spoke on this issue in Parliament this week – you can watch the question below.
In my former role, as an official of the GMB trade union, I extended solidarity to trade unionists affected by the conflict, and helped raise thousands of pounds for Medical Aid for Palestinians. One of my first acts as an MP was to ask the new Government if it would resume the UK’s funding of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
The positive decision to resume funding is an important step. UNWRA is the only agency with the ability to deliver aid at scale on the ground. I wanted to raise an important, but perhaps neglected issue: the status of Palestinian workers in Israel, and I was heartened to receive a positive response. It is vital that political pressure is applied internationally for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and for progress towards a lasting peace and a two-state solution.
You can read more here.
Housekeeping
Parliament stops meeting from next Tuesday until September – although, for me and the other new MPs I have spoken to, it will not be a holiday – and the next newsletter will be sent out shortly after to capture all events in the House of Commons before it breaks.
What do you think?
Are you affected by the state of SEND services? The Government’s SEND Commissioner says that things have got better in Birmingham over the last two years – does that reflect your experience? What would your priorities for changing the SEND system be?
I want to keep applying political pressure on this issue – particularly from September, when MPs can apply to secure debates on specific topics in Parliament. Any information that you can provide will be a real help, and it will treated confidentially.
Best wishes
Laurence Turner Labour MP, Birmingham Northfield
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Image credit - Wikimedia Commons.
