John Hemming's Web Log

Labour myths answered Myth: There is next to nothing of Lib Dem policy in this huge top-down reorganisation: Absolutely not true. The Liberal Democrat manifesto promised that new social enterprises would be created to deliver NHS services, that all types of providers – NHS, voluntary, or independent sector – would be free to deliver, the scrapping central, top-down targets, and cutting back on unnecessary administrative costs . Abolishing SHAs, increased competition, stronger local democratic input in the NHS and greater integration between health and social care are also all Liberal Democrat policies explicitly set out in our manifesto. 1. GP commissioning “[We will ensure] that local GPs are directly involved in providing out-of-hours care.” (page 43, Liberal Democrat manifesto) 2. Provider-side reform “[We will put] front-lime staff in charge of their ward or unit budgets, and [allow] staff to establish employee trusts giving them real involvement and a say over how their service is...

This is an Anglia TV story about the Cootes Family that went to live next door to Sam Hallimond in Los Monterisinos. Sam and Vanessa have now got their son with him in Spain, but his previous daughter is lost to them in the English adoption system.

The link is to videos of Tuesday's TEQs launch event.

I cannot believe the SSRB has said that MPs should have a pay increase. That is clearly nonsense. MPs are public sector workers and have to be covered by the pay freeze.

The issue of EMA has been debated today in the House of Commons. No-one is saying that the system should not change. The difficulty is working out what proportion of EMA is spent on unnecessary things. It is clear that many students rely on it for transport, but not all of them. What I have been doing is working with the 6th form Colleges in Birmingham to try to find out what is essential. Only when we have that information can we judge how much money should be in the replacement scheme.

The link is to a story in today's Sunday Telegraph. In recent months, I have reported on many disturbing examples of how our system of “family protection” has gone horribly off the rails, but none is more bizarre than this week’s. As usual, I am legally barred from identifying the mother at the centre of this case or giving many other details, but she is in her mid-thirties, has various academic qualifications and some time back returned to England after 10 years working in America. There, among other things, she had worked as a counsellor in Guantanamo Bay, but what she saw there led her to start a new career as a financial adviser. In September 2009, after a difficult pregnancy, she gave birth to a daughter, by an old friend with whom marriage was not possible. Two months later, she was sitting on her mother’s windowsill, dressed in a coat and hat ready to go out, when she fell, snatching at a curtain in a vain attempt to save herself. She woke up in hospital, paralysed from the ...

The real problem with Ed Milliband's approach to Lib Dems is that it ignores those aspects of the coalition policy which are simply a rational approach to reality with him trying to pretend they are ideological. There is no uncertainty about the underlying need to reduce the size of the structural deficit. This can easily be quantified and we now also have the Office of Budget Responsibility to look at this. We can monitor the interest rates on sovereign debt and it is very clear that the overall financial envelope of government policy is not something where there are real alternative options. There is, additionally, a more ideological question as to the size of the state. This of often measured in terms of the proportion of the GDP which is spent by the state. After the cuts the state will still be spending over 40% of GDP. Historically this is higher than the first two Blair governments. Hence ideologically from this aspect the proposal about the same (and possibly a bit mo...

Today in parliament has picked up on the issue of Bullying of Constituents. It is about 10 minutes in here .

The link is to the story in the Birmingham Mail today. This is where a Birmingham politician (not me) has said: “It’s what I call the penguin complex among social workers. They live in a different continent to the rest of us, like Antarctica, and at the slightest criticism they all go into a huge huddle, turning their backs and shield each other.” (Len Clark) In part the rest of society is to blame by tending to look for a scapegoat when things go wrong. However, things will not improve if people do not respond to suggestions for change other than by resisting it.

Sadly someone has now died from TB in a Birmingham School. The school was one in Yardley, but the majority of children at that School are not from Yardley. Birmingham as a whole qualifies for having the option of a TB vaccination in school as do the HOB and BEN PCT areas although not the South Birmingham Area. Since 2005 I have been calling for an extension of TB vaccination as an option at school. More recently the Council has come on side on this and I am hoping that this will change in the near future.

There is a lot of confusion about the issues behind the industrial action by Refuse Collectors in Birmingham. What is clear is that there have been problems collecting the rubbish. The background to the issue is Single Status and the Pay and Grading Review. Most of the pain in this process arose from the need to cut some people's pay to fit the overall pay scale. Initially the Refuse Collectors were "assimilated" part way up the grade. However, legal action was taken against the council which declared that this particular proposal was unlawful. Hence the council has been forced to cut the pay of the refuse collectors. The alternative is to increase the pay of everyone working for the City Council by around £4,000. That is because the system of pay grades include the vast majority of council employees and it is not possible to have a separate scheme. The comparison made was between Refuse Operatives (Bin Men) and Canteen Workers (Dinner Ladies). Personally I have w...

It is worth looking back at 2010 before we look forward for 2011 and onward. locally The last case reference of 2009 was 13945 and the last reference of 2010 is 17452. That is over 3,500 cases handled for people in Yardley. These vary as to how many people are affected and how important the cases are to those households. Constituency casework is important so that an MP can see what is actually happening as opposed to what they are being told by Civil Servants and Ministers. It also allows people a last resort which is at times their only way of getting their issues resolved. Thanks are due to my constituency team. This year they have had to cope with some unusual situations including protestors shutting the office down. However, they have all done a good job for Yardley. There have been no personnel changes during the year. The biggest local issue is the redevelopment of The Swan. We agreed to forgo the inflation/interest on the money due for the local park in order to speed up the...

Another interesting question is that of the inter-relationship between democratic accountability and the rule of law. For some time there has been a campaign to refer the matter of BSkyB to the competition authorities. Many politicians have taken a view on this. This means that they have pre-judged the decision. Given the debate about the question as to what extent politicians are bound by their statements before elections it raises a question as to whether they are then legally prevented from taking decisions about issues that they have a stated position on prior to an election. This has happened a lot with the planning committee. Planning decisions are of considerable importance to people. Sometimes people get elected to the planning committee having campaigned on an issue. Then they are prevented from voting the way they have campaigned because they are deemed to have fettered their discretion. The government have recognised that this is wrong and are changing the law so that p...

There has been an interesting debate about the question as to whether or not there are limits to protest. I have always taken the view that there are limits to protest. The limits are determined by the consequences of protest. If someone dies or is seriously hurt as a result of the protest then the protest has gone too far. Similarly if there is serious vandalism then also the protest has gone too far. Protest is always going to be a bit of a nuisance to someone. However, people do have the right to protest. I have been supportive (and remain supportive) of the democracy village outside parliament. The question where there has been more of a debate over is whether the actions of protestors should lead to their actions being counter productive. This goes to the centre of the vote in parliament about tuition fees. In fact there had been an amendment tabled to defer the decision. This amendment was not selected by The Speaker for a vote on it. I would not be surprised if there we...

The link is to a facebook page with 1,813 members of families who are unhappy with the way in which the public family law system works in England. They plan to light chinese lanterns across England on Xmas eve. I spoke about the wider issue yesterday in the House as follows: John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD): May I wish you a merry Christmas, Mr Deputy Speaker? I rise on an issue that continues to concern me greatly. I repeat my declaration of interest that I chair the justice for families campaign. I am sure that Members on both sides of the House wish to see the best possible outcomes for children who enter the care system. In trying to improve this, Tony Blair encouraged adoption, but made a big mistake along the way in miscalculating the percentage of children adopted from care. Before I go any further, I should be precise about what I mean by "care". When I say "in care", I do not include those children voluntarily in care under section 20 of the Childr...

Number of placards - 12 Number of constituents attending advice bureau to raise issues - 10 Number of demonstrators - 7 Number of members of staff present - 2 Number of police officers - 2 Number of drunks turning up late for the demonstration carrying a can of woodpecker - 1 Number of MPs dealing with constituent's problems - 1 Number of councillors attending the first part of the advice bureau - 1 Unsurprisingly relatively few constituents attended the advice bureau given the amount of snow. I had intended talking to the demonstrators about the issue when I had finished signing Christmas cards, but they had no stamina and their demonstration - intended to last til 2pm - finished about 30 minutes after it started. Having looked at this page on the organisers website. a) I note that there were in fact 8 adult demonstrators. b) They thought I was upstairs, when in fact I was downstairs seeing constituents (and then signing Xmas cards). c) The police were present to keep the peace....

Looking in more detail at the NUS website some things are clear. 1. this page confirms: NUS's Aaron Porter saying: "Graduates might have to contribute more overall, but that must not involve higher student debt on graduation or the cap on fees coming off, as we suspect the Browne review will recommend." 2. This page has the following: "With the outcome of Lord Browne’s review of higher education funding in England expected in early October, Cable's announcement sends a clear message to Lord Browne that a crude increase in tuition fees is not an acceptable outcome nor one that the Liberal Democrats would back." NUS Scotland saying: "Although we should look first to the state and businesses to fulfil their responsibilities to higher education, a progressive graduate contribution, which only kicks in when you see a genuine financial benefit, and explicitly increases the amount students have in their pocket while they study, is certainly something we sh...

I am linking to my piece at the back bench business committee about secret prisoners and contempt of parliament. Those interested in these issues will find it interesting.

John Hemming, MP for Birmingham Yardley, can now proudly declare that his constituency office is cruelty-free. John has taken the step to ensure that all his cleaning products are genuinely cruelty-free, only using those approved under the BUAV’s Humane Standard. John Hemming has joined forces with the BUAV to Clean Up Cruelty; supporting the campaign to end animal testing for household products and their ingredients. Michelle Thew, Chief Executive of the BUAV, said: “It’s fantastic that John is supporting our campaign and putting Birmingham on the cruelty-free map. I call on all politicians to follow his lead and sign up to this important campaign.” John Hemming MP said: "There is no need to test household products on animals as is proven by the fact that some manufacturers don't do this. Other manufacturers should follow their lead and sign up for BUAV cruelty-free approval.” The BUAV has spearheaded the campaign to end the use of animals in household product testing since...

Those that have followed the link in the previous post will have also noted the following text on the NUS webpage (previously linked and currently linked). Progressive graduate contribution NUS' Blueprint proposes that students contribute to the costs of their degree once they have graduated. Under this system those who benefit most from university by earning more will contribute more. In other words the system proposed by the goverment is much the same as that proposed by the NUS - and supporting the system cannot be seen to be a contravention of the NUS pledge.