Thursday 19 December 2013

Roger condemns need for food banks in House of Commons debate




 Speaking in a debate on the rise of food banks in in the House of Commons, Roger  Godsiff MP condemned the economic inequality and Government indifference which have forced people to turn to “modern-day soup kitchens”.

In his speech, Roger talked about the experience of one his constituents who had to use a food bank in Sparkhill. She had a well-paid job, but after losing her job and suffering bereavements, she was forced to rely on benefits. She got into debt with her utility bills, and had to spend most of her JSA on paying the ever-rapacious energy and water companies, leaving her with just £5 per fortnight to live on.

Happily, this constituent has now found a job and is feeling hopeful about the future, but Roger emphasised that no-one in the world’s seventh largest economy should be forced to rely on food banks to survive. The state has a duty to provide a safety net for its citizens, and should not abandon them to the instabilities of unregulated markets.

Roger concluded his speech: “The Government ought to be ashamed of presiding over a situation in which people must go through what that young lady, who is not feckless or a shirker, has had to experience. At the end of the day, lives will be scarred by the humiliation of forcing people into food banks—not just the lives of those individuals, but the lives of their children, too. Whatever the Government say, their MPs should be ashamed of that.”

You can read Roger’s full speech here
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131218/debtext/131218-0004.htm

Roger Godsiff MP calls for renewed efforts to fight TB after new figures reveal Birmingham Hall Green as an “at risk” area




New figures showing that the rate of tuberculosis (TB) in Birmingham Hall Green is five the national average have been described as “deeply concerning” by local MP Roger Godsiff.

Although often considered to have been eliminated, TB remains the world’s second deadliest infectious disease, killing 1.3 million people in 2012. The disease doesn’t only affect the developing world: the UK has the highest rates of TB in Western Europe.

The national average for the UK is 13.9 cases per 100,000 of the population. The rate in Birmingham Hall Green is 72.4 per 100,000.

Roger stated that the figures are of particular concern given that a small, but growing, proportion of cases are drug-resistant. Cases of drug-resistant TB can take two years to treat, requiring patients to take an average of 14,000 pills and costing local health services tens of thousands of pounds.

Roger wants to ensure that people are aware of the risk of TB and of some of the symptoms, which can include: a persistent cough, night sweats, a high temperature and a lack of appetite or weight loss.

“Most people in the UK think that TB is a disease of the past, but the number of cases of the disease in the UK has doubled in the last decade”, Roger said. “It’s important that people are aware of the threat posed by the disease, and that they make sure they go to a doctor if they experience symptoms.”

Public Health England is currently developing a national strategy to fight TB, but it is also important to reach out to the most vulnerable parts of the community and make sure that everyone understands the importance of diagnosing and treating the disease as early as possible.

The Birmingham health authority has a rate of 37.6 TB cases per 100,000. In comparison London’s average is 42, Public Health England’s definition of a high risk area stands at 40, and the UK average is 13.9 cases per 100,000.

Monday 16 December 2013

Roger calls for Government action on shell companies

Roger calls for Government action on shell companies

Twenty parliamentarians including Roger wrote to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills about the newly announced register of who really owns and controls anonymous shell companies.
Members of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption co-signed a letter calling on Minister Vince Cable to ensure his Department implements the register effectively. The Group is campaigning to end the use of anonymous shell companies which help corrupt foreign officials steal cash from developing countries, as well as helping individuals and organisations evade tax in the UK, funnel money to terrorists, break international sanctions and aid drugs smuggling. According to research by Kofi Annan’s Africa Progress Panel, the amount sub-Saharan Africa loses in illicit financial flows is more than the total it receives in aid and direct foreign investment.
Roger has previously campaigned for the Government to take action on the one in five tax havens around the world which are under UK jurisdiction. He tabled an Early Day Motion calling on the Government to implement a publicly-accessible register on beneficial ownership to tackle the use of UK territories as tax havens. He commented: “Announcing the register is a good first step, but in order for it to be effective and help developing countries it needs to be rigorously enforced and fully transparent, not just a token gesture.”
The letter calls on Vince Cable to ensure that the registry, to be held at Companies House, requires individuals to submit sufficient information to create a unique identifier for every person listed, not just a name. The parliamentarians request that information be published as open data, that it should undergo verification through cross-checks with other UK registries, and that severe penalties should be levied against any company failing to comply.
Signed by parliamentarians from both the Commons and Lords, the letter is supported by members of all the major political parties. It is part of a broader package of work by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Anti-Corruption highlighting the role of UK policy in facilitating major financial outflows from developing countries.

Thursday 12 December 2013

Roger calls on Government to act to protect the rights of women in Afghanistan


Roger has written to the Secretary of State for International Development, Justine Greening MP, to urge her to take all possible steps to protect the safety of women and girls in Afghanistan, and to prioritise supporting Afghanistani women who are working to improve human rights.

Roger also tabled a Parliamentary Question to urge the Department for International Development to increase funding to help provide more shelters for female victims of violence in Afghanistan, where there are currently just fourteen shelters. He tabled another question asking DFID for more information about how it is working with the Government of Afghanistan to bring to justice perpetrators of violent crimes against women and girls, and how it will safeguard women’s rights following the withdrawal of Coalition forces.

Roger said: “My constituents have written to me to tell me that they share my concern about the current situation of women in Afghanistan. Of particular concern is the extremely high level of violence against women and girls, and the number of these attacks that remain unreported and unpunished. I am urging the Government to take these factors into account when planning the withdrawal of troops.”

High-profile women who stand up for human rights in Afghanistan are particularly likely to be targeted for attacks. Recently two parliamentarians, Fariba Kakar and Rooh Gul, were attacked, and the two most senior police women in Helmand were both murdered. The perpetrators of violent attacks such as these are frequently not brought to justice even when the victim was a high profile woman, and the killers who target women with lower profiles are even less likely to be held to account for their crime. Female teachers and doctors, who provide other women and girls with the healthcare and education they need to improve their lives, are frequently targeted.

Roger concluded: “I believe that it is vital for the UK to champion women’s rights in Afghanistan, and to apply all possible diplomatic pressure to the Government of Afghanistan to take effective action in this area.”

Thursday 5 December 2013

Roger condemns Coalition incompetence and cruelty on benefits


Roger has tabled an Early Day Motion which severely criticises plans by the Department of Work and Pensions to introduce a period of ‘mandatory reconsideration’ as an intermediate stage for claimants who wish to appeal the decision not to award Employment and Support Allowance, during which time ill and disabled people would receive no money to live on.
 He also tabled a number of questions for written answer from the DWP, asking how long the mandatory reconsideration of ESA decisions would take and if a maximum time limit for the process would be introduced. In response, Minister of State for Employment Esther McVey said: "There are no plans to introduce a timescale for the completion of the mandatory reconsideration process, however, the process will be monitored to avoid any unnecessary delays". The DWP expects the process to take around 14 days for straightforward cases but “the time it takes to complete will vary depending on the circumstances of the case”.
 For people who are already living on the breadline, even two weeks without any income at all is far too long. The only good news was that claimants who successfully appealed would be entitled to have their award backdated, but this is yet another hurdle that the most vulnerable have to face simply to survive.
 Commenting on the Government’s response, Roger said: “The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith, is constantly on the lookout for ways to pare back the benefits bill and shoehorn claimants into non-existent jobs regardless of their circumstances. The introduction of a punitive sanctions regime was never going to satisfy him in his undeclared aim to punish the ‘undeserving poor’ and pick off the easy targets. This is a clear and unequivocal attack on the most vulnerable, such as disabled people, who have a right to state support.”
 However, Roger believes that Iain Duncan Smith has bigger headaches on the horizon than pinching pennies from the pockets of those unable to work. On the day of the Autumn Statement, DWP tried to sneak under the radar news that it will miss the deadline of getting all benefit claimants on to Universal Credit by the end of 2017. It also announce that it will have to start the IT system again from scratch, at a cost estimated to be at least £140m of taxpayers’ hard-earned money. Roger said: “I am happy for my taxes to support ill and disabled people who cannot work, but I do not see why I or my constituents should pay for yet another Government IT mess-up.”
 
You can read the EDM here: www.parliament.uk/edm/2013-14/815
 

Roger welcomes Appeal Court decision that Work Capability Assessments disadvantage mentally ill


Roger has welcomed a decision by the Court of Appeal upholding a previous ruling that work capability assessments disadvantage people who are mentally ill or have learning difficulties. He has been concerned for some time that these assessments are not designed with the best interests of these vulnerable individuals in mind, leading to unwell people being deprived of support to which they are entitled.

 
Roger said: “I am really pleased that the Court of Appeal has upheld the ruling that Work Capability Assessments do not work fairly for people with mental health problems, learning difficulties or autism. The current system expects the claimants themselves to obtain all the necessary documents from their GP or social worker, even if they lack the capacity to understand what can be a complex process. This results in assessments taking place without the necessary evidence, leading to mistaken outcomes. The DWP must start taking on the responsibility to help collect evidence if the claimant is unable to do so.”

 Mental health charities including Rethink Mental Illness, Mind and the National Autistic Society have welcomed the ruling, and are calling on the Government to immediately stop using this dysfunctional assessment process. However, the Government refuse to recognise the truth of this finding and are refusing to pause reassessments in response to the court’s decision. A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said that there will be no effect on the day-to-day business of assessments, which would continue as usual.

 
In response, Roger commented: “Nothing better illustrates the nastiness of the Coalition’s policies than the treatment of those with mental illness. It is shameful that DWP refuse to take action in response to the court ruling. It is bad enough that for so long the Government have ignored the voices of ill and disabled people, their carers and the charities which represent them, but it is now also ignoring the findings of the UK’s legal system. The Coalition needs to start putting the wellbeing of its own citizens—not to mention respect for the legal process—above its blind ideological commitment to cutting the state.”

 The ruling took place in response to a judicial review initiated by two claimants, where the original judgment was that the assessments are unfair to those with mental health problems. Rather than accepting this ruling and changing the assessments to avoid disadvantaging people who are already vulnerable, the Department for Work and Pensions appealed against the judgment, causing the judicial review to be put on hold. This legal process can now resume, with a final ruling expected to be given in 2014 unless the DWP brings further legal action to delay the process.

Roger has tabled a written Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions, asking the Secretary of State, Iain Duncan Smith, how he will change the way ESA assessments are carried out in light of the ruling and asking him to make a statement.

You can read Mind’s response to the ruling here: www.mind.org.uk/wcajr 

Wednesday 4 December 2013

Roger supports proposals to introduce a 20mph speed limit on Birmingham’s residential roads

Roger has written to Birmingham City Council to express his support for the Council’s introduction of 20mph speed limits on the city’s roads in order to improve safety and reduce accidents.

Roger said: “I am really pleased that the Council is considering lowering the speed limit for residential streets in Birmingham. There have already been too many road deaths in the city, and each one is totally unnecessary and a tragedy for the family involved. I hope that the Council does decide to implement the 20mph limit and make Birmingham’s streets safer.”

The Government have recommended that local authorities lower the speed limit in city areas where people live and children play. This has been shown to lead to fewer accidents and fewer fatalities. Pedestrians are much less likely to be seriously hurt in car accidents when the vehicle is travelling at a lower speed. A person hit by a car travelling at 30mph has a 50% chance of being killed, but at 20mph this is reduced to 10%.

Roger first campaigned to reduce Birmingham’s speed limit some years ago. He pushed for the introduction of a 20mph limit on the streets around schools but was told that individual schools needed to make a case for the introduction of limits in their areas. He commented: “It is good news that the Council is now considering applying lower speed limits to the streets around all Birmingham’s schools. I urge councillors to introduce the limits as soon as possible to help keep children safe.”

Under the Council’s proposals, the 20mph speed limit would be introduced mainly on residential roads, which account for about nine out of ten of Birmingham’s roads. Some A and B roads would keep speed limits of 30mph or 40mph, but special consideration would be given to accident hotspots such as busy shopping streets, and to the roads around schools and hospitals.

Sunday 1 December 2013

Roger calls for support for people living with HIV or AIDS to mark World AIDS Day


Roger is supporting World AIDS day and calling for increased global access to antiretroviral drugs to help eliminate preventable deaths. The report released by the UN to mark last year’s World Aids Day found that of the 14.8 million people around the world who are eligible for HIV treatment, only 8 million are receiving it. There were also 2.5 million new HIV infections.

Roger says: “With advances in antiretroviral drugs, HIV is no longer a death sentence—at least for people living in rich countries. However, around the world people continue to become infected and to die needlessly due to a lack of access to medication and healthcare. I am supporting Word AIDS Day and calling on the Government to do everything possible to increase access to antiretroviral drugs in the developing world.”

In the UK, the last year saw the Government announce that the ban on people with HIV practising as dentists, midwives or surgeons is to be lifted from early next year. In addition, studies were released showing that people living with HIV can now have a normal lifespan.

Treatment can mean that people living with HIV are no longer infectious, and couples with HIV can become parents without passing the virus on to their children. However, people with HIV still sometimes face stigma and discrimination.