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 speaking at today’s Regional Cabinet in Durham

The Cabinet met today in the North East for the first time ever. Newcastle East MP Nick Brown took the chance to show his Government colleagues the very best that the region has to offer.

Nick Brown said: “This is a tremendous chance to show our region at its best. As the Minister for the North East I will be hosting the meeting, the very first time that the Cabinet has met in a school. The previous Regional Cabinets have been a terrific success, and I am delighted to add the North East to the list of places that have been visited.”

In 2008 the Prime Minister announced that he planned to take the Cabinet to hear people’s views around the country. So far, there have been meetings and public engagement sessions in Birmingham, Leeds, Southampton, Glasgow, Cardiff, Nottingham, Liverpool and, today, in Durham.

The session was held at Durham Johnston Comprehensive, one of the 4000 schools to be built or refurbished since 1997. In Durham as in Newcastle, students are benefiting from the largest sustained school building programme in British history. ]]> http://www.nickbrownmp.com/2010/02/regional-cabinet-in-the-north-east/feed/ 0 http://www.nickbrownmp.com/2010/02/north-east-older-persons-conference/ http://www.nickbrownmp.com/2010/02/north-east-older-persons-conference/#comments Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:01:36 +0000 ER http://www.nickbrownmp.com/?p=638

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.

Up to £350m will be spent on modernising stations, installing new escalators, renewing track and refurbishing rolling stock. The remainder will pay for maintenance and running costs until 2019.

Nick said: “Today’s announcement safeguards the future of the Tyne and Wear Metro for a generation. The Metro is the envy of other cities and the Government’s commitment reflects the importance of the Metro to our region.

“The Government’s package of over £300m of capital investment will be focussed on what passengers want, transforming the Metro and renewing its world class status resulting in a better service, securing hundreds of jobs and delivering value for money to the tax payer.”

Nick at Seven Stories with some of those honoured for their work and dedication to the arts

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 success of the arts and the cultural sector across the UK is underpinned by a combination of private and public sector support.  Last year that private sector support totalled some £650m. The North East has a rich history of talented and enterprising individuals enhancing the region, but the arts cannot survive without the support of thousands of people who are generously giving their time and support.

Nick said: “Today’s event recognises everything that is good about the arts in the North East. The work that Arts & Business do to support local artists is to be applauded.  I’m really pleased to be at Seven Stories today to see the real diversity of our region’s cultural talent. Thank you to everyone for their enthusiasm and encouragement.”

Nick with members of Newcastle's emergency services

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 from unnecessary noise, intimidation and harassment.

It is for this reason that Labour introduced Anti Social Behaviour Orders in 1998. The latest statistics bear out the effects this policy can have. 65% of people issued with an ASBO desisted from further anti-social behaviour after the first intervention, 86% after the second and 93% after the third. It’s clear that ASBOs can make a difference.

The Government has worked hard to tackle wider criminal activity. Since 1997 overall crime has fallen 36%, and domestic burglary is down 54%. Car theft has fallen by over 50%, and household crime is down 36%. Despite the “Broken Britain” rhetoric of some, you are now less likely to be a victim of crime than at any time in the past 25 years.

This is thanks to a police force that is respected and well resourced. Labour has invested more than £3.7bn in policing, putting an extra 16,000 police officers on our streets, alongside 16 000 further Community Support Officers. This is the first Government since the 1940s to see an overall fall in crime. All these measures will contribute to people feeling safer going about their day to day lives in our city.

Nick with the Prime Minister at the Nissan plant last year

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 scrappage scheme has been used up by individuals and families, boosting UK car sales and helping the car industry through the downturn. Funding for less than 82,000 new vehicles orders is left for consumers to take advantage of under the scheme, as it nears its end.

Nick said: “Labour’s car scrappage scheme has kept our car industry going during these tough times. These figures show that time is running out for people in the North East to get a great deal on a new car by trading in their old one. If people have been thinking about taking advantage of the scrappage scheme then now is the time. 

“Unlike the Tories who left the motor industry to sink or swim during the 1990’s, the Labour Government is investing through difficult times to give real help to people and protect jobs and businesses. Nowhere is this clearer than in the North East, where Labour Government investment in Nissan will see the birth of the electric car and the underpinning of a new industry for decades to come.”

Nick with Stockton MP Dari Taylor

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 carried out at Sunderland and explains why there is a large demand to study at the university from students across the globe.

Among the artists whose work will be on show are: Cate Watkinson, whose work includes the iconic glass sculpture on roof of the Red Mall of the MetroCentre and the popular Grainger Town public seating artworks; and Byker-based glass jewellery artist Kathryn Wightman, who has been called “the Stella McCartney of glass”.