Kerry Slams Government for Shutting Bristol’s Remploy Factory

Posted on Mar 9, 2012

The MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, has sharply criticised the Government’s decision to close Bristol’s Remploy Factory in St Philips, making around 29 disabled people redundant. The news came after the Government decided to close 36 of its 54 factories which will result in the redundancy of 1,752 employees, directly or indirectly involved with these businesses nationally. 

Kerry McCarthy MP has described the Government’s decision as ‘cold, calculating and cowardly’ and has slammed the Government for its seemingly continuous attack on disabled people. Speaking after the Government announced its decision to shut the factories, Kerry said:

“The Government’s decision to quietly announce the closure of Remploy Factories on the same day that Parliament and the media are focused on the Queen’s jubilee is a cold, calculating and cowardly attempt by the Government to conceal such bad news.  While Remploy does not employ many people in Bristol, it does give disabled people the opportunity to join the workforce and a better chance of eventually finding work in mainstream employment.

“For many disabled people the Government’s decision to close these factories will rightly  be seen as yet another attack by a Government that consistently undermined the support disabled people receive. As we all know, it is much easier to find a job if you’re already employed. By shutting these factories the Government is forcing a productive workforce into unemployment without any credible plan to help disabled people into work.”

Responding to the Government’s Written Statement in the future of Remploy, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Liam Byrne said;

“The Welfare Reform Bill has been law for just a week, and the government’s first callous act is to throw hundreds of disabled people straight on the dole. Two-thirds of Remploy factories will now be shut and their workers, thrown into the market-place with just £2,500 to help them get another job, with no guarantees about the factories that are briefly spared.

It is frankly outrageous that the government tried to smuggle out the news on the day of the Parliament’s celebration of Her Majesty’s Diamond Jubilee, and that the Disabilities Minister had to be dragged to the House of Commons to explain herself. Quite simply this is the wrong plan at the wrong time. Unemployment is going through the roof. Back to work schemes are sinking under the weight of spiralling unemployment. And the government thinks this is a good time to sack disabled workers.”

City MP Targets Wasteful Supermarkets

Posted on Feb 24, 2012

Supermarkets and food manufacturers who throw away huge amounts of good quality edible food every day should donate it to charities for the hungry and homeless instead. That was the message from the MP for Bristol East, Kerry McCarthy, who recently visited the South West branch of Fareshare. Kerry is planning to bring forward a Bill in Parliament on 14th March to tackle the problem of food waste. She met with Project Director for FareShare South West, Jacqui Reeves, to hear about its work and what can be done to get supermarkets and manufacturers to donate more of their surplus food.

FareShare South West delivers food to a network of 67 projects in Bristol and the South West such as: Fairbridge West; Redwood House; Club AM – breakfast clubs run by Feed the Children; Bristol Foyer; and The Wild Goose Coffee Shop. Kerry was shown some of the quality food which had been donated by wholesalers, retailers, caterers and manufacturers, which would otherwise have been thrown away because of mistakes to printing, end of promotions or end of lines, damaged packaging or short life. Large refrigerators included items such as soups and mislabeled ready meals, pallets included packets of rice and jars of mincemeat which couldn’t be sold after Christmas. Some supermarkets won’t even sell breakfast cereals that have less than 6 months shelf life, so perfectly good food is simply chucked away.

Speaking to Kerry about food waste, Jacqui said: “The food industry is responsible for 3 million tonnes of food waste per annum. There are about 4.2 million people live in poverty and we know that these figures are only going to rise over the next years. It’s hard to find how much of this 3 million tonnes is still in-life. For argument sake if only 1% of the 3 million tonnes of food is edible and given to FareShare it would be equivalent to 70 million meals. Last year we distributed only 8.6 million meals.”

The aim of Kerry’s proposed bill is to ensure that a greater proportion of the obscene amounts of food needlessly wasted by supermarkets across the food chain is donated to charities which redistribute it to the increasing number of people living in food poverty in the UK.

Visiting the Southwest branch of Fairshare in Bristol, Kerry said: “Each year supermarkets are throwing away tonnes of edible food. This is massively wasteful, bad for the environment, and is happening at a time when an estimated 26,500 people in Bristol are having to go hungry because of financial hardship. Organisations such as FareShare are trying to put food that would otherwise be wasted to better use, to help the most vulnerable people in our communities. They do great job and I want to encourage more supermarkets and manufacturers to support their work, which would help them to minimise their food waste and disposal costs (and to avoid landfill tax) and to become more closely involved in their local community”.

“Tax credits bombshell” as families in Bristol could lose £4,000 a year

Posted on Feb 16, 2012

Hundreds of parents in part-time work in Bristol could lose around £4,000 a year from this April, following a change to tax credit rules being introduced by the government.

Kerry McCarthy Labour MP, for Bristol East, is urging the Government to reconsider a little-noticed change to tax credit rules which means thousands of families will lose all of their working tax credits unless they can significantly increase their working hours.

The change means that couples with children earning less than around £17,700 will need to increase the number of hours they work from a minimum of 16 to 24 hours per week or they will lose all their working tax credit of £3,870 per year. This could affect 750 children living in Bristol East.

Government figures revealed in parliamentary answers to Labour’s shadow Treasury minister Cathy Jamieson MP show 355 households in Bristol East and 212,000 households across the country households could lose out.

A recent survey by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development found that one in five organisations have cut back on the number of hours that people work as a result of the economic downturn, with just 6 per cent increasing them.

Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East said:

“This is a deeply unfair change from a government that is increasingly out of touch with parents feeling the squeeze and struggling to juggle work and family life.

“As it stands, the economy is stagnant, people are struggling to make ends meet, and many employers are cutting people’s hours. Very few people in part-time work will find be able to increase their hours by up to 50 per cent at the moment. And for a couple with children losing around £4,000 a year, or £75 a week, from this change could mean going out to work makes no sense what so ever.

“This tax credits bombshell is now just a few weeks away. For many families here in Bristol it means going out to work won’t pay and they’ll be better off on benefits. That makes no economic sense at all. The government urgently needs to think again.”

Carers Rights Day: Kerry Urges Carers to Seek Support

Posted on Dec 6, 2011

The MP for Bristol, Kerry McCarthy MP, has lent their support to Carers UK’s national carers’ rights campaign, urging people caring for ill or disabled loved ones to access all the support they are entitled to.

The focus of Carers Rights Day 2011 is making sure that carers have clear information and advice about the support which is available to them. There are around 6.4 million unpaid carers in the UK who provide care support to family, friends and neighbours, saving the country an estimated £119 billion each year. Carers Rights Day, run each year by Carers UK, seeks to increase the take-up of carer’s benefits and raise awareness of carers’ rights and the support which is available.

On average just under 10,000 carers in each parliamentary constituency. Carers UK’s research has found that nearly three quarters are financially worse-off as a result of caring, with many living in financial hardship. Many carers simply do not realise that they are entitled to financial help, or struggle to understand the information they are given. They may also be missing out on key financial support, including Carer’s Allowance or help with Council Tax.

While visiting the Vassall Centre in her constituency, Kerry McCarthy said: "Carers are fulfilling a vital role in our society, but too often they go without the support they need. We all need to play a role in helping to identify people who are looking after ill, frail or disabled loved ones and make sure they are accessing all the financial and practical support they can.”

Carers UK has urged carers to get in touch with its helpline CarersLine (0808 808 7777 or www.carersuk.org).

Emily Holzhausen, Director of Policy at Carers UK said: “Nearly three quarters of carers are financially worse-off as a result of caring, with many falling into financial hardship and debt. Yet around £840 million per year in carers benefits go unclaimed. In this tough economic climate, it is crucial that carers receive clear information on what they are entitled to, and how to claim it.”

Carers can order a free booklet called Looking after someone: a guide to carers’ rights and benefits  from Carers UK by visiting www.carersuk.org or calling the freephone hotline on 0808 808 7777.

Kerry McCarthy MP: Creating Primary School Places in Bristol Must Be Our Top Priority

Posted on Oct 18, 2011

City MP, Kerry McCarthy, has been granted a special debate in Parliament this Tuesday to discuss the drastic shortage of Primary School places in Bristol. Kerry is holding the debate to highlight the looming crisis in Bristol’s primary schools and will call upon the Department for Education to step in and provide emergency funding.

Over the past four years, there has been a 20% increase in the pupil population, with a thousand more children starting school this September. This year, Bristol City Council has spent £5.3 million on temporary solutions such as Portakabins to guarantee enough places this September. But this is can’t continue. The Council has used all the quick fixes it can and our schools have run out of space for yet more Portakabins next year.

With the infant population set to rise steeply over the next couple of years, there is projected to be a minimum shortfall of 3000 places by 2015. By next September, Bristol will need at least 14 extra reception classes. This means the City Council needs to urgently find permanent solutions and build more classrooms for our schools. However, the Council does not have the necessary funding.

Last July, Michael Gove announced an additional £500 million to help Local Councils build new school places. But this money has not been allocated. When it finally is apportioned, it is very unlikely that Bristol will receive the share it needs, because the Department of Education is calculating need using this summer’s total surplus places return. Bristol currently has a surplus in Years 5 and 6, but these are of no use whatsoever to four year olds excited about starting school next September. The Government is failing to adopt a common sense approach that considers what our City actually needs. The purpose of Kerry’s special debate is to press Education Ministers into working with the Bristol City Council to provide an immediate and lasting solution to Bristol’s primary school crisis.

Kerry said: “The unprecedented population growth in our city means Bristol must be a special case. Last July, Michael Gove proudly announced an additional £500 million to help Local Councils, like Bristol, to build new school places. But this money has not been spent and nothing has been done. This money is desperately needed in Bristol, where re-builds must start in the next few months if our schools are to be ready by next September.

The purpose of my debate is to urge Education Ministers to work with the Bristol City Council to provide a solution that will end Bristol’s primary school crisis. We can no longer afford to ignore this problem. Creating more primary school places in Bristol is unavoidable and it must be our top priority.

Today, all over Bristol, children are unable to attend a school in their community and have to travel considerable distances to get an education. In my constituency, parents have been forced to leave their jobs because there is no place for their child at their local school. This is not acceptable and it cannot continue. Parents and children in Bristol deserve better. The City Council and the Government must now work together to resolve this crisis before it is too late.”

Small businesses need more support says MP

Posted on Sep 27, 2011

Yesterday Shadow Business Secretary, John Denham, joined local MP Kerry McCarthy to meet with small business owners and trader’s to discuss how the Government and Local Council’s can help support small businesses. John Denham’s visit to Bristol comes after it was revealed last week that Bristol has the most number of vacant business premises in the South West, with more than one in five shops unoccupied.

Kerry and John Denham met with independent business owners who expressed their concern that small businesses were not receiving enough from the local council and that large chains and supermarkets were squeezing them out of the market. Moreover, local business owners have stated that the banks aren’t lending, which is affecting their ability to grow their businesses and employ more people.

Following the meeting, Kerry said: “The stark message coming from local traders is that the banks aren’t lending, independent firms are struggling to compete against larger chains and supermarkets, and that the Local Council isn’t doing enough to help smaller businesses grow. All of this has to change. As ordinary people struggle to make ends meet, small businesses are finding it particularly tough to survive on many of our high streets. A reduction in rate of VAT could help ease the pressure people are feeling, and would benefit many small businesses as we approach the commercially important Christmas period.”

Recently, Labour has unveiled a four point plan to regenerate Britain’s high streets:

1. Temporary cut VAT from 20% to 17.5, giving struggling retailers a boost and putting £450 back into each family’s pocket.

2. Introduce a retail diversity planning clause in planning law, putting communities in charge of the future of their local high streets. Local people and local retailers would have a say on any retail plans for their area.

3. Create a ‘competition test’ in the planning system, leading to greater choice and lower prices for shoppers. The test would ensure a level playing field between small and large shops.

4. Reintroduce Labour’s empty shops initiative, enabling councils to pursue innovative uses for empty shops and reinvigorate high-streets, such as using vacant units for cultural, community or learning services, rather than leaving tem empty.

Kerry is backing a local campaign to support and promote Bristol’s independent traders, and will continue to urge the Government to more to protect the diversity of Britain’s high streets.