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

Last Friday a Bill was passed through the House of Commons which would have the effect of overturning the 2007 Law Lords decision to deny compensation for pleural plaques sufferers. To become law, the Bill must now pass through the House of Lords before the middle of November. This is by no means the battle won, but last Friday’s vote was a victory and a step forward.

Nick Brown has welcomed the Bill’s progress. Nick said: “I made clear in my submission to the Ministry of Justice consultation last year that this was a regional issue, and a class issue, that overwhelmingly affects manual workers and their families in communities like our own. People with pleural plaques have written to me to tell me about the extra pain that is caused by each month that goes by without this being sorted out. I am aware of the need to get justice for victims and their families as soon as is possible.”

Nick speaks further about the background to the Bill in this article in last Friday’s Chronicle, while the Bill’s sponsor Andrew Dismore MP pays tribute to Nick’s work on the campaign in this article from last Thursday.

Over the past month Nick Brown has been running a series of extra advice surgeries. Nick has held 19 events in all, in every part of the constituency. It’s been a chance to make sure that anyone who can’t make the regular weekend sessions is able to raise issues with Nick face to face.

The particular focus has been on driving up take up of Child Tax Credit, Working Family Tax Credit, and Pension Credit. Tax Credits are an established part of the tax system now, and for that system to work it’s important that people are receiving the money that they’re entitled to.  

Nick has been helped by staff from HMRC and the Pensions Service, who’ve done a great job, offering people practical advice on what extra money they should be getting. They’ve seen more than a hundred people, and a further hundred or so have contacted Nick’s office, asking to be put in touch with HMRC.

But people have raised other issues too. Nick has heard a whole range of views, on subjects from anti-social behaviour to the fight against climate change. The most frequent question, though, has concerned the housing stock in our area. It’s clear there’s an urgent need for more affordable rented accommodation in East Newcastle. Rather than build more homes, however, Newcastle City Council continue to pull them down.  

Housing Minister John Healey visited Newcastle with Nick this summer, so he’s well aware of the challenges we’re facing. Last week Mr Healey announced a £127m project to build thousands of homes across the country. But Newcastle City Council failed to even put in a bid for the money. Another round of funding is due to be announced later in the year. Nick Brown is encouraging the Council to get their act together, start taking up the Government help on offer, and start building the new homes people need.   

Nick said: “The average weekly amount of Pension Credit paid to eligible pensioners in Newcastle is worth £48.25 per week. We know there could be as many as 110,000 North East Pensioners who although entitled to this money are currently not receiving it. We therefore need a good take up campaign to get pensioners the money that is rightfully theirs.

“The Government has taken targeted action to support families, businesses and jobs through the current downturn.  Pension Credit is just one of the ways that is being done. There is entitlement to working tax credit and family tax credit as well.

“Tuesday’s visit to Tyneside by Angela Eagle, the Minister for Pensions highlighted the work that the Government is doing to publicise entitlement and provide checks to ensure that where there is an entitlement, people get the real help, available now. But we need to do more.

“I can announce today that together with professional advisers from the Department for Work and Pensions I will be organising, over the summer recess, mobile advice centres, estate by estate, in my constituency to make sure that I do everything I can to make sure that every constituent gets their full entitlement.

“I am delighted that the Evening Chronicle has agreed to support and join with me in promoting this take up campaign, which complements the good work they have already done on their own Crunchbuster campaign. It is going to be a busy summer.”

Since 1997, Labour has lifted almost a million pensioners out of relative poverty, and almost two million out of absolute poverty. That’s down to increased investment from the Government. Around £12bn more is now spent on pensioners each year than in 1997, meaning that the average pensioner is now about £1500 a year better off. It’s also down to targeted measure like free bus travel, free TV licenses for over-75s, and substantial Winter Fuel Payments.

The single biggest reason pensioners are now in poverty is because they do not claim the income related benefits they are entitled to. It estimated that as many as 110 000 pensioners in the North East alone are not claiming their full level of Pension Credit. Making sure people know about these allowances, and making sure they know where and how to take them up, is now key to tackling pensioner poverty.

The Government will soon be launching a new awareness drive on this issue. As part of the regional effort I’ll be running a take up campaign in my constituency to let people know about the assistance that’s on offer. I’ll be getting round over the summer recess, street by street and ward by ward, to make sure our pensioners are claiming everything they’re entitled to.

During difficult economic times, the right thing to do is to offer assistance to those who need it most. The Government is moving to make sure our older people can enjoy the more comfortable retirement that they deserve. We should never forget the threat that would be posed to the most vulnerable in our communities by cutting services in response to the downturn.

Nick has been campaigning on this ever since the Law Lords decision two years ago, and the Evening Chronicle is also running a campaign which has been backed by all Labour MPs in the North East. Yesterday’s decision shows that this support spreads to the rest of the country as well.

Nick Brown said “I am really pleased at the progress made by the Bill yesterday, and it shows that the House of Commons is taking this seriously. I am a long term supporter of the campaign for justice for people with pleural plaques and, while this is not yet the battle won, it is a solid step in the right direction.”

There are further details in the Chronicle here.

Before my election to Parliament I worked in Newcastle as the GMB’s legal officer. Our Union took forward pioneering legal cases for the victims of asbestos induced diseases. 

I have been fighting hard within Government to have the Law Lords’ latest decision overturned. The consultation is potentially a victory for persistent trade union campaigning and a victory for the people of the North East. 

Pleural plaques result directly from a person’s exposure to asbestos by breathing in asbestos dust. The condition can be a pre-cursor to mesothelioma, a wasting disease that is fatal. I have made my feelings known within Government about this – it is a regional issue, and it is also a class issue.

It is a regional issue because the victims are concentrated largely in the old industrial areas like our own. It is most prevalent amongst communities that were dependent on the ship-building, ship-repair, heavy industry and thermal insulation sectors.

It is also a class issue, in as much as the victims are overwhelmingly manual workers and their immediate families.

The Government’s consultation closes on October 1^st, and I will be working hard throughout the summer to encourage as many of my constituents as possible to take part, and to make known the strength of feeling over this in the North East. If you would like to give the Government your views the consultation can be found on the Ministry of Justice website, or please get in touch with my office for more details.

The Treasury set up a working group to look at this problem. It reported at the end of last year and found a number of communities where residents lacked convenient access to a free cash machine. Discussions are under way with the industry to try to put this right.

Following publication of this report I checked to find out the position in east Newcastle and Wallsend. Some of the constituency is well served by free machines, and bits of it don’t have any access to free machines at all – instead, local people have to pay to get access to their own money. The smaller the amount they withdraw, the higher proportion they pay as a charge. This is particularly hard on people with low incomes.

There is another problem that is particular to riverside communities like ours: the river limits travel to neighbouring communities and thus to nearby free cash machines. People end up paying £1.50 to use a cash machine because the cost of travel to a free one is the same, if not more.

All of this strikes me as being so unfair that together with other local residents I am launching a campaign to get things changed. The idea is to collect signatures showing that there is real support for free cash machines for every community and to open up negotiations with the providers to get everyone free access to their own money.

I hope that you can support my campaign. If you’re willing to add your name to the petition please contact me.