Cowley commemorates those killed in the first world war
The event, organised by Rita Allcock, was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress Cllr Joe and Sylvia Pearson, alongside the principal Cameron Sheeran.
After a welcome from the principal and Rita, the names of those pupils from Cowley whodied were read aloud by current pupils before those in attendance joined in a rendition of Jerusalem and a selection of musical pieces from the past pupils’ band and current pupil Lee Downing.
As well as the commemoration, those attending were presented with a copy of the Cowley School Roll of Honour, ‘Pro Patria 1914 – 1919’ a compilation put together by James Smethurst, a teacher at the school at the time. The compilation lists all the pupils from the school and the service they gave in the war.
The event was a poignant reminder of the sacrifice made by so many pupils at Cowley, and indeed by so many families across St Helens, during the Great War.
local school supports UNICEF send my friend to school campaign
I visited Lyme Community Primary School in Earlestown to see the important work they are doing as part of the UNICEF Send My Friend To School campaign.
Pupils at Lyme School act as ambassadors for children’s rights and are part of the Global Campaign for Education which works to ensure education for all children.
The campaign has brought together over twenty charities in the UK alone, and the children at Lyme School are playing their part by raising awareness locally, visiting other schools and distributing the posters they have produced within the community.
It was great to attend the pupils’ special assembly, led by the schools Rights-Respecting steering group and Deputy Head Teacher Mrs Roberts.
The pupils at Lyme School have done brilliant work raising awareness of the importance of education in the world’s poorest countries and it is a testament to their achievements that the school has been awarded silver accreditation for the UNICEF Rights-Respecting Schools Award – and work is underway for the gold standard.
It was a pleasure to meet the pupils and receive the work they have produced and as requested I will be passing it on to the Prime Minister to underline the importance of supporting their work.
commuter chaos
Commuters returning to work this morning were faced with more intolerable delays and cancellations. It is not good enough. I’m supporting calls by Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram for:
1) An agreed action plan with Northern, the Department for Transport and Transport for the North to be published which outlines clearly what the problems are and when passengers can expect to see improvements.
2) A deadline for the payment of outstanding Delay Repay claims and compensation for season ticket holders.
3) A commitment that if Northern does not adhere to the action plan that it will be stripped of the franchise.
Barclays Bank Earlestown
I was deeply concerned to hear that Barclays Bank is planning to close its Earlestown Branch at the end of August.
This is bad news for my constituents in Newton-le-Willows, whose nearest branch will now be in St Helens.
Following the closure announcement, I met with senior management at Barclays to seek assurances about the impact of the changes and they have assured me that customers wanting to carry out every day, over the counter, transactions will be able to use the Post Office on Haydock Street, Earlestown.
While the way that many people choose to bank is changing, it is vital those who rely on a more traditional way of banking and might not have online accounts, still have access to banking services.
European Economic Area (EEA)
I have consistently said that our future relationship with the EU must put jobs and the economy first and must therefore maintain the benefits of the Single Market and the customs union, which may require staying in both.
This is a firm test that I am committed to holding the Government’s Brexit deal against when it comes before Parliament for approval. If the Government’s Brexit deal does not meet this test, I will vote against it. Securing a new and strong relationship with and perhaps within the Single Market is not only vital for jobs and the economy in St Helens and the UK, but also for ensuring a continued close partnership with the EU. In my view it is the only feasible way to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland
I share the understandable and growing concern that the Government’s internal conflicts could lead it to an unacceptable countenance of new trade barriers between the UK and the EU. Not only would that be bad for jobs and the economy, it would also be bad for people’s rights. There should be no lowering of common standards, deregulation or divergence from the rights and protections that the UK helped to shape as a member of the EU. However, I fear that this is the likely path ahead under the Government’s plans.
It is also vital that strong transitional arrangements are secured on the same basic terms as now, including within the Single Market, to avoid a cliff edge for our economy between Brexit day and the implementation of our future relationship with EU. Unfortunately, key aspects of the transitional arrangements negotiated between the Government and the EU remain ambiguous and unresolved.
The amendment to which you refer was one of several to be made to the EU Withdrawal Bill in the House of Lords, in a series of defeats for the Government. It is unclear when the Government will bring the EU Withdrawal Bill back to the House of Commons for consideration of those amendments. This is a vital piece of legislation and I can assure you that I will be looking at each amendment carefully. In the meantime, I will continue to keep pressure on the Government to secure a Brexit deal that works for jobs, the economy and rights.
Use of agency staff doubling in the NHS
Conor McGinn, MP for St Helens North, has slammed the Government’s continued neglect of the NHS after new figures show spending on agency staff since 2010 has more than doubled at St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust.
The figures, obtained by Mr McGinn in a Freedom of Information request, show that the total amount spent on agency staff has soared from £4.8 million in 2010/11 to £10.7 million in 2016/17 – more than doubling the cost of temporary staff to the Trust.
An increase in spending on agency nurses has driven up the figures, with just £0.5m spent in 2010/11 but over £2m paid out in 2016/17 – and the figure is set to increase for the last financial year too.
Instead of taking action to help hospitals reduce bills and hire more nurses, the Government has scrapped student nurse bursaries – meaning nursing applications dropped by a quarter in 2017.
The drop in nursing applications and the increase in spending on agency staff shows that our local Trust is being forced to spend more to plug staffing gaps.
Commenting, Mr McGinn said:
“Spending on temporary and agency NHS staff has soared on this Government’s watch and it just goes to show that you can’t trust the Tories with the NHS.
“Despite the best efforts of our local Health Trust, hardworking and dedicated NHS staff in St Helens have endured years of real terms pay cuts as prices have risen, while the amount spent on agency staff has more than doubled to meet the increasing demand.
“This is a direct result of this Government’s failure to properly run our NHS, and the decision to scrap student nurse bursaries will make matters worse, with a quarter fewer nursing course applications last year alone.
“A dependence on agency workers to plug staffing gaps is bad for the long term future of our NHS and the Government should commit to turning these numbers around and recruiting more permanent staff as a matter of urgency.
“Local Trusts like St Helens should not have to fork out to fix a problem created by the Tory Government in London.”
Beating the Bounds
The 42.5 mile, one-day trek around the boundaries of St Helens reflects an old tradition of teaching young people about the borders of their parishes while bringing the local community together.
Ste has revived the tradition as a charity event in support of St Helens Mind, with the inaugural Beating the Bounds last year raising almost £2,000 for the local mental health charity.
This year’s event, taking place in the 150th anniversary year of St Helens, went from strength to strength and it was great to see so many from the local community out to support Ste and other walkers.
It is also a timely reminder of the excellent work done by St Helens Mind during Mental Health Awareness Week 2018 – you can still support Ste’s fantastic efforts on his fundraising page here: https://
My Equal Marriage Bill
Hundreds of thousands of people in Northern Ireland and across Britain and Ireland who support the right of same-sex couples to marry will be outraged that one Tory MP was able to prevent the progress of my Equal Marriage Bill in the House of Commons last Friday.
Ministers now need to clarify how they intend to ensure that the right to equal marriage in Northern Ireland – which has the support of the Assembly, Parliament and the public – becomes law. The Government can’t continue to talk out of both sides of its mouth on this issue. It can and should legislate to extend equal marriage to Northern Ireland – because if it’s good enough for my constituents in St Helens and for people in London, Dublin, Cardiff and Edinburgh then it’s good enough for people in Belfast too.
I will keep fighting alongside and working with the Love Equality NI campaign to get this done. A rally is planned in Belfast on Saturday 2nd June in support of Equal Marriage. My Bill is due to return to Parliament in late October.
You can watch me being interviewed on The Victoria Derbyshire Show on BBC alongside two fabulous women Cara McCann and Amanda McGurk. This is not going away, and we are not giving up.
Bringing Channel 4 to the Liverpool City Region
I’m joining the bid by Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram to bring Channel 4 to the Liverpool City Region.
With the public service broadcaster looking for a new headquarters, Channel 4 would find a soulmate in our region – and I think St Helens has so much to offer this partnership.
Channel 4 is also set to increase its spending on shows made by TV production companies based outside London from £169m annually to about £350m a year by 2023.
This represents a golden opportunity for our borough’s creative sector and is an important chance to show our creative potential in our 150th anniversary year.
I hope that the bid is successful and I’ll be supporting it any way I can to help the business case for Channel 4 to come to the Liverpool City Region.
New train service for Newton Le Willows
It is welcome news that TransPennine Express services will now call at Newton-le-Willows, creating a direct link to cities in Yorkshire for the first time, including Huddersfield, Leeds, York, Scarborough and even as far as Durham and Newcastle.
The amended train routes will also mean faster journeys from St Helens and Newton-le-Willows to Liverpool and Manchester, with the inter-city journey time being reduced to 35 minutes down from 52.
I have campaigned for better services for rail passengers across our borough and worked with the TPE and the Liverpool City Region to ensure these new and faster routes which will help boost jobs and growth in St Helens, with faster journeys creating more economic opportunities.
In this important 150th anniversary year, it is also a welcome boost for the local economy by opening up our borough to more visitors from other parts of the country.
St Helens has a proud industrial heritage, particularly in the history of the railways, but too often our region has been left behind, with just £682 per person allocated for transport spending across the North West – less than half the £1,943 per person spending in London.
These new rail links and improved journey times are a step in the right direction and it is important that passengers continue to benefit from increased connectivity across the North West and beyond.