If you wish to receive Michael's monthly e-report simply send an email with 'Report Back' in the subject line to
mp@1066.net.
Hello and welcome to Septembers ‘report back’ on my goings on. The solstice has passed, the kids are back at school and the weather has turned so
it seems Autumn has well and truly arrived. This has been a busy month in the run up to the re-start of Parliament after the summer recess and I hope you find it of
interest. The Labour
Party Conference has just closed and it has been a fantastic week which has shown our party to be more confident, more determined and more united than ever before.
Amongst other highlights Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, set out his strategy for a 21st Century Health Service focussing on making healthcare "clinically led and locally driven". Ed
Balls, the Education Secretary, unveiled plans to boost numeracy and literacy, repeated the Government’s pledge to provide full time education until the age of 18 and announced that the exam system
would be put in the hands of an independent watch dog so as to end the annual ‘exams are getting easier’ debate.
And of course Gordon Brown set out his commitments to Britain. He said education, the
NHS, the economy, housing, law and order and security would all be priorities and that he would “extend and defend” British values. All in all a very positive week. You can find more in depth
coverage at http://www.labour.org.uk/conference/home.
And right here and now new employment rights. From the 1st of October the minimum statutory holiday for someone working a 5
day week will rise from 20 to 24 days a year. This will benefit around 6million workers, 900,000 of whom are in the South East. The extra holiday will make it easier for hard working families to
balance their home and work lives as well as ensuring that our most vulnerable workers have core employment rights to protect them from abuses. Businesses will benefit too –
from reduced absenteeism and a workforce who are more motivated and productive. You can check you own holiday entitlement at http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1079427399.
This increase in holiday comes alongside a rise in the minimum wage. From October 1st there will be an increase from £5.35 to £5.52 an hour for workers aged
22 and over. There will also be increases from £4.45 to £4.60 for 18-21 year olds, and from £3.30 to £3.40 for 16-17 year olds. These may sound like small increases but the new pay and leave conditions will benefit the most vulnerable members of the workforce, improve working conditions and help boost productivity. It is estimated that around 1 million people in
the UK will benefit as a result of the increase in the minimum wage, 100,000 of whom are in the South East and many in Hastings and Rye.
Ara Darzi, the newly appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health, this month paid a visit to the constituency to see our local
health services. The NHS is one of our most important institutions and we are determined to make it as efficient and well run as possible. The last 10 years has
seen massive improvements: spending up from £30 billion to over £100 billion. 32,000 more doctors and 85,000 more nurses. Government investment has worked with waiting times now shorter than
ever and more lives being saved with reductions in deaths from cancer, circulatory disease and coronary heart disease.
However, there is always more to be done. Gordon Brown has therefore appointed Ara Darzi, himself an NHS consultant, and
commissioned him to carry out a review NHS care pathways.
The review is designed to identify the way forward for a 21st Century NHS which is clinically-driven,
patient-centered and responsive to local communities. As pre-cursor to this review Ara Darzi, NHS Chief Executive David Nicholson and I visited
the Conquest Hospital and held a meeting with
a wide range of health professionals. A variety of issues were raised and I felt the Minister really listened.
I for one am pleased to see the Government looking to the
grassroots of our health service to plot its future direction.
On the 15th of September I, along with the local Labour Group, held a highly successful Green Meeting in Concordia Hall. There was a
showing of the hard hitting Al Gore film ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ followed by a lively discussion. A broad range of issues were discussed as to how the local community could become a more active
force for tackling climate change. The Government is in the process of passing the Climate Change Bill which will set overall national goals but we must play our part locally to ensure the long
term success of CO2 reduction targets. I am currently looking into the various ways I can make my own lifestyle more environmentally friendly, often just small things like changing the bulbs in
your home to low energy equivalents can make a difference. I would urge everyone to do the same. You can calculate your own CO2 output at http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/index.html - knowing how you generate CO2 is the first
step to remedying the problem!
Well that just about finishes the round up for this month. I hope you found it of interest and if there are any
stories which are of particular interest please do not hesitate to get in contact with me. I can be contacted at mp@1066.net. If you know of anyone who would like to receive my news round up just ask
them to email me with “report back” in the subject line.
With very best wishes
Yours sincerely
Michael Foster DL MP
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