Nick Brown MP

Nick Brown with Housing Minister John Healey in Byker

The Minister for Housing, John Healey MP today joined Newcastle East MP Nick Brown and Byker Councillors Nick Kemp, Geordie Allison and Veronica Dunn along with local residents to announce a proposal for a community housing trust. This will offer local people a leading and decision making role in the regeneration of the famous estate whilst securing millions of pounds of much needed investment in the regeneration of the iconic Byker Wall.

Today’s unprecedented announcement shows the commitment of the Labour Government to securing the future of this unique, iconic and internationally renowned estate. The Government is proposing to wipe off the debt of the Byker Estate Housing Stock to free up funds for renovations.

Nick Brown said: “I welcome today’s announcement by John Healey. It would not have been possible without a Labour Housing Minister directly intervening to set up the Byker taskgroup and recognising the unique features of the Byker Estate.

“This offer recognises the very special circumstances of the Byker development. We can make this a really exciting, fresh start for the Byker estate. The debt write-off is fantastic news underpinning the proposed community housing trust and a multi-million pound budget for investment in the estate.”

“This is a way forward for the community to secure millions of pound of investment to regenerate the estate. It is now crucial that the proposals are explained to the community who must have the final say.”

Housing Minister John Healey MP said: “Nick Brown is a great champion of Byker, but his passion to do something radical for the estate was brought home to me when I became Housing Minister. He has constantly pressed the residents’ case with government, and today’s announcement is the basis for helping them build a new future.”

Nick speaking at last year's GMB-run Parliamentary lobby

Following Nick’s campaign to get justice for the victims of pleural plaques, the Government is today announcing a package of help for the people diagnosed with mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases.

The vast majority of victims of asbestos-related diseases are concentrated in old industrial areas like the North East. Nick has been campaigning to get justice for sufferers for a long time, going right back to his days as the legal officer at the GMB in the early 1980s. There is still more to be done to help those who develop pleural plaques in the future, but today’s announcement is a good result for working people in communities such as our own.

The package announced today includes measures that will speed up the way mesothelioma claims are dealt with, so that sufferers and their families receive what they are entitled to more quickly. Sufferers of mesothelioma will see welfare payments increase above inflation and payments to bereaved families will be raised by up to £5,000.

Today’s announcement also introduces a £5000 payment to those individuals who had made claims for compensation for pleural plaques prior to the Law Lords ruling in October 2007. This will benefit over 6,000 people. Details of how the scheme will work are being published on the Ministry of Justice website at www.justice.gov.uk/about/pleural-plaques.htm.

Nick with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the site of the new Clipper factory

Nick joined the Prime Minister in Walker yesterday as global energy giants Clipper Windpower confirmed their plans to bring a windfarm factory to the banks of the Tyne. As Minister for the North East Nick has worked hard to promote the Region as a centre for green industries. That work is now getting results, with this announcement expected to provide more than 500 local jobs on the site of the old Neptune Yard.

Nick said: “This is the start of a whole new industry for east Newcastle. It will provide secure employment for generations to come and put our community at the forefront of new green technologies. This is a great example of the public and private sector working together.”

Aided by the Labour Government’s recent announcements of increased wind energy grants and further off-shore sites for windfarms, these developments are not just good news for employment in our area, they are good news for the planet as a whole.

Nick with Pensions Minister Angela Eagle and NEOPAG Chair Elsie Richardson

Nick Brown today spoke at a conference at the Assembly Rooms organised by the North East Older People’s Advisory Group. More than a hundred elder citizens gathered to tell Nick and Pensions Minister Angela Eagle what more the Government can do to make their lives easier and better.

In 2007, for the first time ever, there were more people in Britain over the age of 65 than under the age of 16. By 2020, over half the adult population will be over 50. Making plans now to take care of our older citizens will be to the benefit of us all.

This Government has a decent record on protecting our pensioners. The Government recently set aside a new £33m fund for making sure that council houses are properly equipped for older residents. Labour’s ambitious plans for a National Care Service, to work alongside the NHS, will mean more older people will receive free personal care in their own home.

Targeted measures such as the Winter Fuel Payments, free bus passes and Pensions Credit have made a real difference to people’s weekly budgets. Over 100,000 pensioners in our region have been lifted out of relative poverty in the past ten years, and pensioners in the North East are now less likely to live in relative poverty than the national population as a whole. In total the UK now spends £13bn more per year on pensioners than if the policies of the last Conservative Government had carried on after 1997.

Nick Brown has welcomed today’s announcement of a £580m government grant to modernise the Tyne and Wear Metro network. Transport Minister Sadiq Khan visited Tyneside to confirm the plans, saying the Metro was “an iconic transport system and the lifeblood of the local community”.
Up to £350m will be spent on modernising stations, installing new escalators, [...]

Nick today spoke at an event at Seven Stories in celebration of the Region’s Cultural Champions.
In a scheme run by national body Arts & Business, 20 Cultural Champions were nominated by 15 arts and heritage organisations across the region. They ranged from business figures who sponsored various cultural initiatives to dedicated individuals who volunteered their time.
The [...]

At Nick’s constituency surgeries at the weekends, one issue that is raised over and over again is Anti Social Behaviour. When people are causing trouble in their area it has the potential to make the lives of the majority of law-abiding citizens a misery. People in East Newcastle rightly want to live in neighbourhoods free [...]

With the scheme closing soon, Minister for the North East and Newcastle East MP Nick Brown encourages the North East’s motorists to take advantage of the car scrappage scheme if they wish to do so, or risk missing out.
Figures released show that more than three quarters of the budget for the Labour Government’s hugely successful [...]

Nick today spoke at an event to celebrate the North East’s heritage in glass making.
The Glass North East exhibition features the work of lecturers, professors and graduates of the University of Sunderland, whose glass work rates among the best in the world. The collection of works highlights the range and quality of glass research being [...]