LOCAL NEWS

LOCAL NEWS

DAY CENTRE SAVED! After pressure from Hilary Benn, Centre users and local activists the Council have now agreed to keep the Centre open. Everyone concerned is highly delighted with this news.... IMPROVED SATS RESULTS Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 results for Leeds’ pupils continue to improve. In 1996 only 56% of Year 6 primary children reached Level 4 or better; in 2008, 81% reached Level 4... WARM FRONT PROGRAMME New figures from Eaga show that between 2000 and 2004, 1,741 Leeds Central households benefited from central heating or other help with heating and insulation under the Warm Front programme. This will save an... HIGH SPEED RAIL LINK The Government is committed to a new high speed rail line being built between London and Birmingham and has given a company called High Speed 2 a £5m budget to draw up options for... LEEDS ARENA There has been quite a lot of coverage on the funding of the Leeds Arena. This project in the heart of the constituency will create many jobs and will give the city a music... LEEDS BIN STRIKE The Leeds bin strike has now entered its seventh week, and although talks have been taking place, there is no sign of an agreement. I have visited the picket line in Cross Green... NEW HOMES FOR THE CITY Public sector housing in the city has got a boost. John Healey has now approved the Homes and Communities Agency’s recommendation that the bid submitted by Leeds City Council for the city’s lifetime neighbourhoods... WOODHOUSE MOOR Leeds City Council will shortly be making a decision on whether to allow barbecues on Woodhouse Moor. I sincerely hope the idea will be stopped in its tracks. The YEP said in April... LLOYDS TSB/HBOS MERGER Rosie Winterton and Yorkshire Forward Chief Executive Tom Riordan have taken the case to keep HBOS jobs in Yorkshire to the Chair of Lloyds as part of the ongoing fight to ensure... CLOSURE OF TETLEY BREWERY IN 2011 The closure of the Tetley Brewery in 2011 is a terrible blow. There has been a long history of beer-making on this site and the loss of skilled jobs will hurt, even though... SPORTS CENTRE UNDER THREAT South Leeds Sports Centre is under threat once again from the Tory/Lib Council. The SPLASH campaign has started up again to try and defeat this for the second time. Let’s give the campaign our... NEW GP-LED HEALTH CENTRE FOR BURMANTOFTS Leeds PCT is currently finalising plans for a new GP-led Health Centre at the existing Burmantofts Health Centre. Burmantofts has been identified as an area that would benefit from better primary medical care services.... FALLING CRIME Council statistics show that crime fell last year in 27 of the city’s 33 wards. The number of recorded offences in the city fell from 96,268 to 87,789 over 12 months.... BETTER OFF IN WORK CREDIT Following a ministerial announcement in May, the new Better Off in Work Credit (BWC) will be piloted throughout Jobcentre Plus in Yorkshire and the Humber from 27 October. BWC aims to ensure that... HOUSING Recent figures also show a fall in the number of city-centre flats being built. 4250 flats have been delayed or shelved, in addition to high-profile schemes which have fallen victim to the credit crunch,... HBOS/LLoyds TSB merger There is a lot of concern locally about the impact of recent global developments in financial services on the region, and particularly on HBOS and Bradford and Bingley. Yorkshire Forward has been asked... ENERGY SAVING Everyone over 70 - or on a range of benefits - is eligible for free loft insulation and cavity wall insultation. For everyone else help is available at a 50% discount. By... JOBS FROM RENEWABLE ENERGY The government's consultation on a new Renewable Energy Strategy set out plans to build up Britain's clean energy supply and maintain our energy security, including proposals to encourage around a third of electricity... BAN ON AGE DISCRIMINATION Discrimination against someone because they are older is to become a thing of the past, thanks to new proposals outlined by Harriet Harman. With the number of people over 85 set to double... EXTRA SUPPORT FOR HIGH SCHOOLS The Government is aiming to ensure that in every secondary school at least 30% of pupils achieve five or more A* to C GCSE grades, including English and maths. Four schools in the...

Hilary Benn MP