Monday, July 31, 2006
On Tuesday 18th July, I met with 14 students and qualified physiotherapists who lobbied Parliament as part of a mass lobby of the House of Commons to raise awareness of the lack of jobs for well trained physiotherapists. There is a big problem of the availability of jobs for newly trained physiotherapists. There was an increase in the amount of physiotherapist student places at universities around the country, however, the number of jobs has not caught up leaving many students leaving the profession and looking for jobs elsewhere, despite getting into thousands of pounds worth of debt to train in this vocation. I am taking this matter up with the Health Minister, Andy Burnham MP. I had written last year to Lord Warner, but there appears to have been no progress made.
I also attended and addressed a meeting of solicitors and barristers concerned about the recent publication of the Carter Review, which is looking at legal aid. There is a 3 month consultation on the proposals. Practitioners raised concerns about the future viability of smaller firms who often do excellent work for clients and the disproportionate impact this would have on predominantly ethnic minority firms and their clients.I also participated in the debate in the Chamber on the work of the Public Accounts Committee, on which I sit. You can read this online.
On Wednesday I met with a representative of the Royal Society of Arts to discuss various exciting projects they were working on. After PMQs I chaired a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss the lack of regulation of bailiffs and the consequences of this which can be devastating. The CAB website is here.
In the evening I had the pleasure of being the main guest at the Leaver's Mass and prize giving at St Anselm's RC Primary School in Tooting Bec. It is rare for Ofsted reports to be spot on, but I think the recent one into St Anselms may just have been - the inspectors concluded that this was an "outstanding school… with exemplary children, a superb headteacher, committed staff, a focussed governing body, and interested families." Richly deserved praise in my view.
I kicked off Wednesday by having the honour of presenting the Artsmark Award to schoolchildren at Furzedown Primary School. The award is presented to schools that show a commitment to the full range of arts - music, dance, drama and art & design. Furzedown Primary School was one of only 5 schools in the whole Borough of Wandsworth to receive the award. Out of 1226 schools who received the award, 561 schools received the Gold Artsmark, of which Furzedown Primary School was one.
In the afternoon there was an emergency debate on the crisis in the Middle East. Prior to this I attended a briefing with the Ambassador of Lebanon, HE Jehad Mortador, who outlined the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding. Unfortunately, despite my best attempts to ask Margaret Beckett a question and speak in the short debate, I was not able to take part – more than 35 MPs wanted to speak too.
In the evening I chaired a public meeting I had organised to deal with concerns raised by local residents about the double murder in Tooting Bec in April. In addition to more than 50 local residents attending, we had the Borough Commander Joe Royle, Independent Police Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams, Cllr Nick Bowes, the bereaved family as well as the head of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Inspector Kieran Power. As a result of the meeting, the police will be increasing patrols in the area to reassure residents, and the IPCC have taken on board all the concerns that were raised by local residents.
On Friday I attended the Headquarters of Wandsworth Community Transport to get a better idea of the work they did. They have been going now for more than 22 years. They run a fleet of around 25 vehicles, serving 350 local groups and over 1000 individuals who find it difficult to use public transport. They can be contacted on 020 8675 7460 or wct@ukonline.
In the afternoon I attended Tooting Islamic Centre for Friday prayers and then visited the neonatal clinic at St Georges Hospital. I saw the provision of care available for premature and sick babies who are born in the hospital. While doctors and nurses are working very hard to care for these babies there is a strain on the system. More and more "at risk infants" are surviving due to the increasing capability of nursing and medical care, supported by more sophisticated technology, and demand for specialist care has increased also. As a consequence of the concerns raised with me, I have made an application to debate this matter in Parliament. MPs can raise issues in this way through Adjournment Debates. You can find out more about what an Adjournment debate is here.
In the evening I made the welcome speech at the Dancing Tooting event held in the Samaj Hall in Tooting Broadway. This is part of a project backed by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone together with the Arts council of England, which aims to promote all the benefits of dance - physical, social and mental - and also act as a build up to the London's 2012 Olympic Games. The event in Tooting was a huge success with dancers from Furzedown and Franciscan primary schools, Ernest Bevin College, local dance clubs, Natyala, Sharona Stage School, Honeys Academy, Five Star School of Dance and many more. Huge credit for organising this wonderful night need to go to the Town Centre Manager Audrey Helps, Tooting Business Network and the Town centre Partnership.
After the dance, I dashed over to a TV studio to take part in an appeal organised by the charity Interpal for the victims of the attacks on innocent civilians in the Middle East. Other people taking part in the appeal were Lauren Booth, Sir Iqbal Sacranie and many others.
On Saturday I attended the Summer fair at Franciscan Primary School.
On Sunday I attended the Annual Service at the Tooting Methodist Church on Longmead Road.
I also attended and addressed a meeting of solicitors and barristers concerned about the recent publication of the Carter Review, which is looking at legal aid. There is a 3 month consultation on the proposals. Practitioners raised concerns about the future viability of smaller firms who often do excellent work for clients and the disproportionate impact this would have on predominantly ethnic minority firms and their clients.I also participated in the debate in the Chamber on the work of the Public Accounts Committee, on which I sit. You can read this online.
On Wednesday I met with a representative of the Royal Society of Arts to discuss various exciting projects they were working on. After PMQs I chaired a meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Citizens Advice Bureau to discuss the lack of regulation of bailiffs and the consequences of this which can be devastating. The CAB website is here.
In the evening I had the pleasure of being the main guest at the Leaver's Mass and prize giving at St Anselm's RC Primary School in Tooting Bec. It is rare for Ofsted reports to be spot on, but I think the recent one into St Anselms may just have been - the inspectors concluded that this was an "outstanding school… with exemplary children, a superb headteacher, committed staff, a focussed governing body, and interested families." Richly deserved praise in my view.
I kicked off Wednesday by having the honour of presenting the Artsmark Award to schoolchildren at Furzedown Primary School. The award is presented to schools that show a commitment to the full range of arts - music, dance, drama and art & design. Furzedown Primary School was one of only 5 schools in the whole Borough of Wandsworth to receive the award. Out of 1226 schools who received the award, 561 schools received the Gold Artsmark, of which Furzedown Primary School was one.
In the afternoon there was an emergency debate on the crisis in the Middle East. Prior to this I attended a briefing with the Ambassador of Lebanon, HE Jehad Mortador, who outlined the humanitarian disaster that is unfolding. Unfortunately, despite my best attempts to ask Margaret Beckett a question and speak in the short debate, I was not able to take part – more than 35 MPs wanted to speak too.
In the evening I chaired a public meeting I had organised to deal with concerns raised by local residents about the double murder in Tooting Bec in April. In addition to more than 50 local residents attending, we had the Borough Commander Joe Royle, Independent Police Complaints Commissioner Nicola Williams, Cllr Nick Bowes, the bereaved family as well as the head of the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, Inspector Kieran Power. As a result of the meeting, the police will be increasing patrols in the area to reassure residents, and the IPCC have taken on board all the concerns that were raised by local residents.
On Friday I attended the Headquarters of Wandsworth Community Transport to get a better idea of the work they did. They have been going now for more than 22 years. They run a fleet of around 25 vehicles, serving 350 local groups and over 1000 individuals who find it difficult to use public transport. They can be contacted on 020 8675 7460 or wct@ukonline.
In the afternoon I attended Tooting Islamic Centre for Friday prayers and then visited the neonatal clinic at St Georges Hospital. I saw the provision of care available for premature and sick babies who are born in the hospital. While doctors and nurses are working very hard to care for these babies there is a strain on the system. More and more "at risk infants" are surviving due to the increasing capability of nursing and medical care, supported by more sophisticated technology, and demand for specialist care has increased also. As a consequence of the concerns raised with me, I have made an application to debate this matter in Parliament. MPs can raise issues in this way through Adjournment Debates. You can find out more about what an Adjournment debate is here.
In the evening I made the welcome speech at the Dancing Tooting event held in the Samaj Hall in Tooting Broadway. This is part of a project backed by the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone together with the Arts council of England, which aims to promote all the benefits of dance - physical, social and mental - and also act as a build up to the London's 2012 Olympic Games. The event in Tooting was a huge success with dancers from Furzedown and Franciscan primary schools, Ernest Bevin College, local dance clubs, Natyala, Sharona Stage School, Honeys Academy, Five Star School of Dance and many more. Huge credit for organising this wonderful night need to go to the Town Centre Manager Audrey Helps, Tooting Business Network and the Town centre Partnership.
After the dance, I dashed over to a TV studio to take part in an appeal organised by the charity Interpal for the victims of the attacks on innocent civilians in the Middle East. Other people taking part in the appeal were Lauren Booth, Sir Iqbal Sacranie and many others.
On Saturday I attended the Summer fair at Franciscan Primary School.
On Sunday I attended the Annual Service at the Tooting Methodist Church on Longmead Road.
Sadiq
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
On Monday I attended my usual drop in advice session at Earlsfield Library. In the evening I delivered a speech on Britishness, Citizenship and Identity at a meeting organised by the Fabian Society (website here) in partnership with FOSIS, City Circle and Q News. The Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, John Denham MP; Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain; Shahedah Vawda from City Circle; and Humera Khan from Q News responded to my speech with all of us answering questions and contributions form the floor. You can find a copy of my speech by clicking here.
On Tuesday I attended a meeting organised by INQUEST (website here) The meeting highlighted the tragic case of Joseph Scholes who was only 16 years old when he hanged himself in a Young Offenders Institute. Speakers included Lord Ramsbotham, Joseph's mum and Deborah Coles from the organisation Inquest who argued that lessons have not been learnt and that there have been five further child deaths in custody. I have signed EDM 2410 which can be found here.
I also met with representatives of Transport for London (TfL) to discuss their "Rail 2025 plan: Increasing Rail Capacity in London and the South East". The Mayors London Plan expects continued growth over the next 20 years with a projected employment growth of 0.9 million and projected population growth of 1 million. As well as opportunities this also presents challenges in the transport infrastructure which we discussed at the meeting.
I then met with a representative of the Sri Lanka Islamic forum, who discussed some of the problems the Sri Lankan diaspora of Muslim faith are suffering and work that can be done to alleviate the plight of all people of Sri Lanka whether they be Tamil, Singhalese, Muslim or Christian.
In the evening I attended the Fabian Summer reception where Douglas Alexander MP and Harriet Harman MP gave inspiring and good humoured speeches. This provided a good chance to catch up with some of the excellent work the Fabians have been doing in recent months.
On Thursday, I attended the official opening ceremony of IslamExpo with London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Lord Sebastian Coe. IslamExpo is Europe's largest Islamic cultural event which aims to introduce the British public to Islam as a global culture and faith scanning continents, races and languages. It also provided an opportunity for positive interaction between Muslims and the different races and cultures of British society. The event was extremely well attended with lots of interesting stalls, thought provoking speakers and entertainment. Seb Coe reminded the audience during his speech that it was exactly a year ago that London won the 2012 bid for the Olympics.
Friday was the one year anniversary of the terrible criminal acts of July 7th 2005. I can vividly remember that day as I am sure most Londoners do. The dignity with which bereaved families and victims have conducted themselves over the last year has been quite remarkable. For most of us, the one year anniversary provided an opportunity to give thought to those who suffered and reflect on the massive damage those four men caused.
In the late morning I joined the South West Train Operating Company at Earslfield Station to unveil a new disabled help point and new ticket machines that are wheelchair friendly. I have been campaigning for improvements to local trasnsport facilities in Earlsfield Station in particular for a while now and this success was testimony to the continuous support I have had by local residents who have wanted to see disabled passengers treated with the respect and attention that they deserve (click here to see my recent press release on this). Colleen Bowen the Chair of Wandsworth Access Association, Manuel Bolton the Director of Wandsworth Community Transport and Earlsfield resident Barry Fisher joined us for the unveiling. In addition to the help point and ticket machines, Earlsfield station’s stairs have also had a face lift with re-surfaced steps, re-panelled walls and handrails. You can read more about my campaign on the Key Issues page here.
I followed this up with a meeting with a local business Future Events (FENS). Future Events produce news diaries and forthcoming news events for the media, govt offices, the Middle East and Asia and even Wandsworth Council. This Company now employs 15 staff and is going from strength to strength.
I attended Tooting Islamic Centre for Friday prayers followed by a meeting with Threshold Housing on Garratt Lane. Threshold are one of Tooting’s biggest Registered Social Landlords providing around 800+ affordable houses in the Tooting area. In addition to discussing their current projects and routine matters raised in my casework, we discussed how we could better work together to provide better services to local residents.
In the evening I attended the Centenary Day Festival Eucharist at All Saints Church in Tooting. During the sermon the Reverend reminded us that Tooting Bec Lido is also celebrating its 100th year. 1906 must have been an interesting year as it was also the year of the first Labour Party Parliamentarians!
On Saturday I was invited back to the Kumon Centre at St Nicholas Church on Church Lane to give out Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates and medals to children who had achieved well in English and Maths.
Sadiq
On Tuesday I attended a meeting organised by INQUEST (website here) The meeting highlighted the tragic case of Joseph Scholes who was only 16 years old when he hanged himself in a Young Offenders Institute. Speakers included Lord Ramsbotham, Joseph's mum and Deborah Coles from the organisation Inquest who argued that lessons have not been learnt and that there have been five further child deaths in custody. I have signed EDM 2410 which can be found here.
I also met with representatives of Transport for London (TfL) to discuss their "Rail 2025 plan: Increasing Rail Capacity in London and the South East". The Mayors London Plan expects continued growth over the next 20 years with a projected employment growth of 0.9 million and projected population growth of 1 million. As well as opportunities this also presents challenges in the transport infrastructure which we discussed at the meeting.
I then met with a representative of the Sri Lanka Islamic forum, who discussed some of the problems the Sri Lankan diaspora of Muslim faith are suffering and work that can be done to alleviate the plight of all people of Sri Lanka whether they be Tamil, Singhalese, Muslim or Christian.
In the evening I attended the Fabian Summer reception where Douglas Alexander MP and Harriet Harman MP gave inspiring and good humoured speeches. This provided a good chance to catch up with some of the excellent work the Fabians have been doing in recent months.
On Thursday, I attended the official opening ceremony of IslamExpo with London Mayor Ken Livingstone and Lord Sebastian Coe. IslamExpo is Europe's largest Islamic cultural event which aims to introduce the British public to Islam as a global culture and faith scanning continents, races and languages. It also provided an opportunity for positive interaction between Muslims and the different races and cultures of British society. The event was extremely well attended with lots of interesting stalls, thought provoking speakers and entertainment. Seb Coe reminded the audience during his speech that it was exactly a year ago that London won the 2012 bid for the Olympics.
Friday was the one year anniversary of the terrible criminal acts of July 7th 2005. I can vividly remember that day as I am sure most Londoners do. The dignity with which bereaved families and victims have conducted themselves over the last year has been quite remarkable. For most of us, the one year anniversary provided an opportunity to give thought to those who suffered and reflect on the massive damage those four men caused.
In the late morning I joined the South West Train Operating Company at Earslfield Station to unveil a new disabled help point and new ticket machines that are wheelchair friendly. I have been campaigning for improvements to local trasnsport facilities in Earlsfield Station in particular for a while now and this success was testimony to the continuous support I have had by local residents who have wanted to see disabled passengers treated with the respect and attention that they deserve (click here to see my recent press release on this). Colleen Bowen the Chair of Wandsworth Access Association, Manuel Bolton the Director of Wandsworth Community Transport and Earlsfield resident Barry Fisher joined us for the unveiling. In addition to the help point and ticket machines, Earlsfield station’s stairs have also had a face lift with re-surfaced steps, re-panelled walls and handrails. You can read more about my campaign on the Key Issues page here.
I followed this up with a meeting with a local business Future Events (FENS). Future Events produce news diaries and forthcoming news events for the media, govt offices, the Middle East and Asia and even Wandsworth Council. This Company now employs 15 staff and is going from strength to strength.
I attended Tooting Islamic Centre for Friday prayers followed by a meeting with Threshold Housing on Garratt Lane. Threshold are one of Tooting’s biggest Registered Social Landlords providing around 800+ affordable houses in the Tooting area. In addition to discussing their current projects and routine matters raised in my casework, we discussed how we could better work together to provide better services to local residents.
In the evening I attended the Centenary Day Festival Eucharist at All Saints Church in Tooting. During the sermon the Reverend reminded us that Tooting Bec Lido is also celebrating its 100th year. 1906 must have been an interesting year as it was also the year of the first Labour Party Parliamentarians!
On Saturday I was invited back to the Kumon Centre at St Nicholas Church on Church Lane to give out Gold, Silver and Bronze certificates and medals to children who had achieved well in English and Maths.
Sadiq
Monday, July 03, 2006
On Monday, I had a meeting with Health Minister, Rosie Winterton MP, to raise with her concerns those suffering from cancer had. I was joined by the Public Affairs Manager of Macmillan Cancer Support, because I am supporting their campaigns to provide cancer patients with an increase in specialist benefits advice, a review of the special rules process regarding qualifying periods for benefits and support for travel costs. Cancer patients make an average of 53 trips to hospital during the course of their treatment, with an average cost for travel and parking of £325. I will shortly upload a page on my website providing more detail about the work I am doing with Macmillan. I am pleased that Rosie listened to the points we made and engaged with us. I am optimistic of some progress being made.
The Public Accounts Committee examined The National Programme for IT in the NHS. This programme represents the largest single IT investment in the UK to date. It is a ten year programme to use IT to reform the way the NHS in England uses information and to improve services and the quality of patient care.
On Tuesday, I met with a Commissioner from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, Nicola Williams, and one of her investigators to obtain an update in relation to a complaint the IPCC are investigating about the apparent delay in the Police responding to an incident in Fircroft Road in Tooting Bec a few months ago. I am hoping to hold a public meeting soon where members of the public can get an update from the IPCC and the local Police about progress on this and related matters.
In the evening I chaired a Governing body meeting at Gatton Primary School, in Tooting.
On Wednesday morning, I attended Lexis Nexis in Chancery Lane as part of the Industry and Parliament Trust programme. The morning was extremely informative as we spent time with the CEO and managing director and got a feel how an international company operates and meets the emerging needs of customers.
In the evening I attended a General Committee of Tooting Labour Party.
Thursday was one of the highlights of my time as a Member of Parliament. I attended South Thames College for a graduation ceremony for the NVQ2 and NVQ3 in Early Years Care and Education NVQ students. The courses have clearly changed the lives of the students and also made an impact in the wider community. Students from these courses have found employment in local schools and other child care settings. The students, their families and all the staff really enjoyed the event and I left the ceremony feeling high and inspired about the good work that our local college is doing. Click here for a photo from the event.
In the evening I attended the AGM of Age Activity Concern on Garratt Lane. The Centre offers a mass of activities for its users including a luncheon Club, a gospel choir, a domino club, an art class, a health screening clinic, exercise classes, IT classes and an information unit. I really enjoyed the entertaining and witty speeches from the Chair Eric Smellie MBE and the Managing Director, Celeste Nri, OBE. The chief guest speaker was Ms Florene Herbert, who is a Senior Prison Governor at the Home Office who gave a funny, touching and uplifting talk to the 100 plus users who came to the AGM.
On Friday, I spent the day in the constituency office on Trinity Road.
On Saturday I held my usual advice surgery at Tooting Library and on Sunday I did an interview for the Westminster Hour.
Sadiq
The Public Accounts Committee examined The National Programme for IT in the NHS. This programme represents the largest single IT investment in the UK to date. It is a ten year programme to use IT to reform the way the NHS in England uses information and to improve services and the quality of patient care.
On Tuesday, I met with a Commissioner from the Independent Police Complaints Commission, Nicola Williams, and one of her investigators to obtain an update in relation to a complaint the IPCC are investigating about the apparent delay in the Police responding to an incident in Fircroft Road in Tooting Bec a few months ago. I am hoping to hold a public meeting soon where members of the public can get an update from the IPCC and the local Police about progress on this and related matters.
In the evening I chaired a Governing body meeting at Gatton Primary School, in Tooting.
On Wednesday morning, I attended Lexis Nexis in Chancery Lane as part of the Industry and Parliament Trust programme. The morning was extremely informative as we spent time with the CEO and managing director and got a feel how an international company operates and meets the emerging needs of customers.
In the evening I attended a General Committee of Tooting Labour Party.
Thursday was one of the highlights of my time as a Member of Parliament. I attended South Thames College for a graduation ceremony for the NVQ2 and NVQ3 in Early Years Care and Education NVQ students. The courses have clearly changed the lives of the students and also made an impact in the wider community. Students from these courses have found employment in local schools and other child care settings. The students, their families and all the staff really enjoyed the event and I left the ceremony feeling high and inspired about the good work that our local college is doing. Click here for a photo from the event.
In the evening I attended the AGM of Age Activity Concern on Garratt Lane. The Centre offers a mass of activities for its users including a luncheon Club, a gospel choir, a domino club, an art class, a health screening clinic, exercise classes, IT classes and an information unit. I really enjoyed the entertaining and witty speeches from the Chair Eric Smellie MBE and the Managing Director, Celeste Nri, OBE. The chief guest speaker was Ms Florene Herbert, who is a Senior Prison Governor at the Home Office who gave a funny, touching and uplifting talk to the 100 plus users who came to the AGM.
On Friday, I spent the day in the constituency office on Trinity Road.
On Saturday I held my usual advice surgery at Tooting Library and on Sunday I did an interview for the Westminster Hour.
Sadiq
