ROGER GODSIFF DEMANDS URGENT INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS OF HEALTH TOURISM AT LOCAL HEALTH CENTRE FOLLOWING PANORAMA PROGRAMME.

“I want an urgent investigation to remove the ‘cloud’ which has been placed over the health centre.” says Roger Godsiff.

Birmingham Hall Green MP, Roger Godsiff,  has confessed himself to be ‘shocked’ at the alleged behaviour of a local practice manager at a Health Centre in his constituency filmed taking large sums of money for putting so called ‘health tourists’ – people not entitled to receive free health treatment – on the books of GP’s operating in the practice.

The alleged behaviour of practice manager Mr Butt at the Farm Road Health Centre was filmed by Panorama and broadcast on the evening of 3^rd October and has led to Mr Godsiff writing an immediate letter to Wendy Saviour, Chief Executive of the Heart of Birmingham NHS Teaching PCT demanding an urgent enquiry.

Roger Godsiff said: “I would like to know exactly what steps you have taken in the light of the highly damaging revelations in the programme.  Has Mr. Butt been suspended and have the PCT sent in their own investigators to carry out an investigation?  He went on to say: “It would, in my opinion, be very inappropriate if such damaging evidence was being investigated by staff at the centre.” 

Mr Godsiff has also sort assurances that: “Nobody else, including the doctors at the centre, have received any payments for putting ‘overseas health visitors’ on the list of patients for GPs.” Panorama did not make allegations that any of the money received by the Practice Manager, Mr. Butt, was passed onto anybody else in the centre.

He has also asked Wendy Saviour about the steps that are being taken to have the dozen or so names of the ‘overseas health visitors’ for whom money was paid, removed from the list of patients at the practice and what further steps were going to be taken to ensure that all people using the centre were people legally resident in this country and had a legal entitlement to usage of the facilities.

Roger was very much involved in pushing for the brand new health centre at Farm Rd to be built and it was the very last project to be build under the LIFT programme prior to the incoming Government scrapping the programme. 

He concluded: “Local Councillors and the whole community were very proud of the new building and thankful that it had been built before the LIFT programme was abolished.”

ITS OFFICIAL:  IF YOU HAVE AN ETHNIC SOUNDING NAME YOU ARE LESS LIKELY TO GET CALLED FOR A JOB INTERVIEW.

Roger Godsiff MP calls for blind sifting for all job interviews, racist bias cannot be ignored

Mr Godsiff said: "This damning evidence comes from a recent report by the Department for Work and Pensions itself which shows that white names are 74% more likely to get called for an interview following the job application than candidates with an ethnic minority name, despite the two candidates having exactly the same qualifications”.

This report, “A test for racial discrimination in recruitment practice in British cities", involved submitting job applications for fictional white and ethnic minority applicants with equivalent qualifications for advertised vacancies across Britain in order to determine the extent of racial discrimination in the labour market.

Mr Godsiff went on to say: "This report revealed that a high level of racial discrimination existed across the board, with ethnic minority candidates having to submit nearly twice as many job applications as white candidates to achieve the same level of success, discrimination is noticeably higher for males.

The talents and abilities of young people from the ethnic minority communities are being wasted and ultimately this will have a hugely negative impact on social cohesion”.

Mr Godsiff has joined many other MP’s in calling for a level playing field in the recruitment market and that the government should take the lead on this by imposing blind sifting for job applications in all Civil Service, governmental departments and public sector organisations.

Mr Godsiff went further than this when he said that: "I would introduce legislation in the next Queens Speech which would make it legally binding even in the private sector for blind sifting for the job applications to take place, with severe financial penalties for those companies who fail to meet these standards.”

Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that unemployment rates among black and Pakistani Londoners aged 16 – 24 reached levels of 44%, more than double the 19% jobless rate of young whites. For black men the unemployment rate rises even higher, to 55.5%, according to the Runnymede Trust, which reports this figure has almost doubled since 2008. This figures are by and large replicated around the country.

A report this week by MPs on the Work and Pensions Committee concluded that "action is required to address disproportionately high youth unemployment rates among some minority ethnic groups, in particular young black men" and that the government Youth Contract is "Inadequate and insufficient" to address this.


DWP Report

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_9TwqUlwHK6bmlrRG0xOUxYaUk

ROGER IS BACKING ‘ACTION FOR RAIL’.

Roger Godsiff says: “The railways are a shambles” and  backs ‘Action for Rail’ in bringing railways back into community ownership.

He went on to say: “The railways ought to be taken back into community ownership not least because the rail operating companies and the company running the rail infra-structure have received massive grants since privatisation – far in excess of the subsidy which was paid to British Rail. The operators then make their profits and are happy to leave the public, as always, to pick up the bill”.

Karl Watkins’ Prosecution of Babar Ahmad & Talha Ahsan

Following various media reports that a private prosecution of Mr Ahmad and another British citizen, Syed Talha Ahsan, has been initiated by a businessman, Karl Watkins, Roger has written to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, asking her when these two British citizens who have been languishing in prison for a number of years will be brought to trial.

The BBC reported that Mr Watkins’ has secured admissions from Mr Ahmad and Mr Ahsan of their involvement with the websites that form the basis of the allegations against them and sent it to the DPP in addition to other evidence against them.

Mr Watkins has said that he is bringing these proceedings because of the failure of the CPS to take appropriate action.

Roger Godsiff wrote to the Home Secretary saying: " I have corresponded with you before on the matter of Babar Ahmad who has yet to be brought to trial but I have read various reports that a private prosecution of Mr Ahmad and another British citizen, Syed Talha Ahsan, has been initiated by a businessman, Karl Watkins. Mr Watkins has said that he is bringing these proceedings because of the failure of the CPS to take appropriate action".

Mr Godsiff has asked the Home Secretary to update him on the current progress of this case, particularly in light of the judgement of the European Court as to whether or not these two British citizens will receive domestic prosecutions relating to conduct that took place in the UK.

Roger Godsiff's Postcard from Westminster Sept 2012

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_9TwqUlwHK6am5LQzhqQk9KMVU

Roger Godsiff on Immigration

House of Commons Debate, Thurs, 6^th September 2012. See Col 427 for Roger’s Speech.

……the multicultural make-up of my constituency has added hugely to the vitality of the great city of Birmingham. Immigration into the United Kingdom since the first immigrants came in after the Second World War has added enormously to the life of the United Kingdom. I welcome that, but we have to address the issue of how many people we need in the United Kingdom to sustain our standard of living. If we do not, I fear that the good community relationships that have been built up in my city and many others will be threatened. I do not want to see that happen”.

For full text of the debate go to:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmhansrd/cm120906/debtext/120906-0002.htm#12090626000001

Mercy for Balwant Singh Rajoana

Roger has signed EDM 391 and is supporting the campaign for mercy to be granted.

Early day motion 391

BALWANT SINGH RAJOANA 

That this House welcomes the decision of Her Excellency President Patil of India to postpone the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana, and very much hopes that the process to execute him will not be re-started; considers the use of the death penalty to be a cruel and inhumane punishment; is encouraged to see both that there hasbeen a moratorium on theuse of the death penalty in India since 2004, and also that more countries are moving towards its abolition; believes that because of the strong ties between Britain and India it is suitable to express this request to the Indian Parliament; and hopes that the Indian Parliament will see fit to ask Her Excellency President Patil to exercise her prerogative of mercy on Balwant Singh Rajoana and all others on death row who face such an uncertain fate.

ENDS