Letter from Parliament

Date published: 21 November 2007

Westminster has this week been dominated by statements from the Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling MP on Northern Rock and the loss of personal data on over half the population by Revenue and Customs.

Both are deeply disturbing. The fact that the government has lent Northern Rock over £24 billion - equivalent to £900 for every taxpayer in the country with only half the money guaranteed beggars belief. I just wonder what would have happened had a General Election not been in the offing.

Contrast this to the blight of 125,000 pensioners including several in Rochdale who lost their occupational pensions when their company went out of business. So far less than 2,000 have received any support through the Financial Assistance Scheme.

On Tuesday they were doing a vigil outside 10 Downing Street to protest against their treatment. In contrast to Northern Rock they need £20m a year to fully fund their pensions. I met them on Tuesday night and many had heart rendering stories.

The loss of data from Inland Revenue potentially affects everyone who has children and/or has been receiving Child Benefit. It is mind boggling that sensitive data of this nature is sent through the post without any encryption or security. It is the third loss of data by the Revenue in as many months and illustrates why the Liberal Democrats have been right to oppose Identity Cards. Once introduced all data held by government on individuals will be accessible via the ID card records. I shudder to think what would happen if these records went missing.

Anyone with any concerns about their child benefit payments can contact my office for assistance. I have placed a letter I have received from Jane Kennedy MP, on my website which gives details of what the government is doing. 

The address is:

• www.paulrowen.co.uk

Increasingly I feel this government is beginning to resemble the last days of the Major government – out of touch and out of control!

On Wednesday this week I returned early to attend the Annual Awards Evening at Falinge Park High School. Under Robin Lonsdale as Headteacher; and prior to that Linda Wooley; the school has made excellent progress. A new building is being planned, which I welcome though I understand the concerns about Lenny Barn. I hope that through discussion these difficulties can be sorted.

Last Friday I visited Age Concern, very ably led by its Chief Executive Paul Gala to support their campaign for better podiatry services to be available through the NHS. I am due to discuss this together with the future of Ophthalmology services at Birch Hill in a couple of weeks time.

I followed this with a visit to the Gateway Centre and Deeplish Community Centre with Helen Bullough, the Regional Director of the Big Lottery fund to look at two projects which the Lottery have funded. The first was an excellent scheme providing sports activities for disabled people and the second was the establishment of Rochdale Community Transport. This had been set up by Sohail Ahmed, the administrator at Deeplish and in less than twelve months has 55 user groups. They have a fleet of minibuses available for community hire. Anyone interested in hiring a bus for a community event should ring Deeplish on Rochdale 860151.

Last night I was due to attend an Oldham Tinkers Concert at Sacred Heart Parish Centre. I’ve been a great fan of the Tinkers for a number of years and have a collection of their records.

Today I’m due to attend a service at Salford Cathedral to remember Holodomor – the genocide in Ukraine in the 1930’s when Stalin starved to death thousands of Ukrainians. I know several families in Rochdale who lost relatives during this period.

The next few weeks are getting very busy with a number of Carol Concerts, Christmas Fairs and the like. However I’m unlikely to be attending as many as the Mayor Councillor Peter Evans and his wife Helen who in my view are doing an excellent job.