Andy Reed MP today paid tribute to local campaigners who campaigned for the card account. Local Post Offices received a boost today as the Labour Government awarded the contract for the POCA service to the Post Office. The news will be welcomed by local post offices who rely on the business people picking up their pensions or benefits through the Post Office Card Account brings into branches. Around 4,370 people in Loughborough have their accounts.

Welcoming the news Andy thanked local people for campaigning with him on the issue. He said:

“This is great news for the post office. I recently met with James Purnell to discuss this issue and I am delighted that the government has listened to what I have been saying on behalf of local people. I would like to thank everyone who has stood up for local post offices and made their voices known on this.”

“The government have listened and acted on this issue while the Tories would have cut the subsidy and let Post Offices close. This is the right and fair decision for the people of Loughborough.”

The Labour Government has decided to award a new contract for the continuation of POCA directly to the Post Office. This announcement is good news for the Post Office as the card account is an important source of income and brings customers through the doors of post offices across the country. The National Federation of Sub Post Masters had said that, without POCA 3,000 Post Offices would close.

We announced in December 2006 that there would be a successor to POCA and put that product out to tender. However, in order to support a viable Post Office network the Labour Government have decided to cancel the current procurement exercise.

Labour’s Secretary of State for Work and Pensions James Purnell paid tribute to Andy Reed MP for campaigning on this issue saying:

“I applaud Andy for standing up for people in Loughborough and his local post offices. I know how important post offices are to local communities and this provides real help for these local businesses and their customers in tough times.”

Andy Reed MP today met with Housing Minister Iain Wright MP to keep up pressure on dealing with the studentification issue in the town.

Andy said "There have been two major reports in recent weeks which point to further action. The Minister also announced when he visited us earlier this year that the visit helped him move towards looking at legislating over Use Class Orders - a mechanism whereby change of use to a student let would require planning permission.

"I was pleased to say that he appears minded to continue on this path and will consult formally on the UCO issue. He is also keen to look beyond that and see what can be done to re-balance existing communities like Loughborough. I have persuaded him to visit Loughborough again over the Christmas recess to witness the empty streets for himself when the students have left and he has accepted."

New school Buildings will be just one of the cuts we face in Tory Cuts confirmation....

The Labour Government has said that it intends to change the current minimum wage rules on tipping so that in the future, tips will be added to the Minimum Wage.

A consultation starts this week to listen to views on exactly how this will work on the ground.

Andy Reed MP said

"This is a matter of fairness and common sense. When you go to a restaurant or to have a hair cut and leave a tip, you expect it to go to the staff on top of their pay, not to be put through the payroll to make up the Minimum Wage.

“This will benefit workers throughout Loughborough, people we all rely on, but who sometimes don’t have the strongest voice. “

And as part of Labours crackdown on those who try to exploit workers, tough new penalties for employers who underpay their staff have been made law. This will mean that the tough new penalties come into force in April. There could be unlimited fines for the most serious cases rather than the current maximum limit of £5,000. It will also mean a fairer way of dealing with national minimum wage arrears, calculated so workers do not lose out.

Andy said

"When families are struggling with rising fuel, energy and food prices it is more important than ever to have the National Minimum Wage. Every worker should earn a fair wage for a fair day's work - there is no excuse not to pay up. I supported and voted for the Employment Act because I wanted to see tougher action on rogue employers who con their staff.

"Rogue employers need to be exposed. If you think a rogue employer is not paying up then get in touch with me on 01509 261226 or call the national minimum wage helpline on 0845 6000 678. And don't worry, you don’t have to give your name or details to them if you don't want to. “

Andy Reed MP today hosts a Parliamentary reception for the Central Council for Physical Recreation which aims to raise the profile of a new campaign for “gift aid” to be given on junior subscriptions to sports clubs. The campaign recognises the good work local sports clubs do in promoting community cohesion and the health benefits of exercise and calls on the government to provide this tax relief to help these clubs continue to function.
The reception hosted on Terrace of The Houses of Parliament will be attended by special guest Rebecca Romero, Olympic silver and gold medallist as well as MPs and volunteers from local sports clubs. MPs will hear from Andy and other sports people of the importance of local sports clubs.
Andy said:
“With my strong interest in sport and community sport I am happy to be supporting this campaign and to raise awareness of the benefits sports clubs bring to communities and local people. This campaign is offering an easy way for the government to give something back to local sports clubs.”
“In Loughborough we have lots of local sports clubs that work very hard with little money to provide coaching and teams for juniors to play in and they provide a valuable contribution to our community. I fully support this measure to help them and happy to be able to host the campaign here in Parliament.”

Gordon Brown is not ruling out a change in the law on organ donation even though a panel of experts has rejected the idea of "presumed consent".

The UK Organ Donation Taskforce said assuming organs could be used unless people opted out was unlikely to boost donation rates.

A £4.5m public awareness campaign in England will be aimed at boosting voluntary donor numbers.

But the prime minister warned if it did not work a law change may follow.

The UK has one of the lowest organ donation rates in Europe.

There are currently around 8,000 people in the UK who need an organ transplant but only 3,000 operations are carried out each year.

Every year, 1,000 people in the UK die after waiting for a transplant.

Currently, people must sign up to the organ donor register - or their families must agree - before their organs can be used

Andy Reed said "I have long favoured looking at the system of deemed consent. I know it is a tricky question and very emotional. If everybody just got on with getting a Donor Card and discussing the issue with loved ones I would not be so keen on presumed consent. I think we should try all means to encourage greater levels of donation and if that fails we should move to deemed consent."

Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a statement to the House of Commons today after attending the G20 Summit in Washington.

Andy Reed said "This was an important summit for extraordinary times. The global financial crisis is hitting economies all over the world. Gordon Brown continues to show why he is so respected across the globe during these difficult times. I believe the package of measures we are taking are the right course of action. There is risk in whatever we do. There is greater risk in doing nothing. The Tories don't seem to have anything sensible to say on the economy at the moment. They are making up stupid sound bites instead of addressing the serious issues. The schoolboy taunts of Cameron and Osborne look increasingly out of step with the serious nature of the crisis. They are clearly out of their depth."

The official opening of Curve theatre took place on Saturday night with a special performance of Lift Off.

Loughborough MP Andy Reed was there to witness the event.

"Leicester can be rightly proud of what it has achieved at Curve. It is a world class performance centre."

"I am not easily impressed by artistic performance - but tonight I was blown away. Both the performers and the building took away my breath at times. It is an experience too difficult to put into words. If you get he chance visit Curve. You won't be disappointed. It does show what investment and partnership between a council and other funders can achieve when you are bold and ambitious. I fear that locally under the Tory Borough there is no sense of direction or drive. We need an ambitious council to be regenerating Loughborough and it isn't there at the moment.

"Thankfully it does not compete directly with Loughborough Town Hall and perhaps the renewed interest in the arts and theatre in general will rub off on Loughborough."

Andy Reed MP was one of the hundreds who paid their respects at the Loughborough carillion today for Remembrance Day.

Andy was amongst the dignitaries who laid their wreaths at the war memorial.

"This is always a special moment in the year to reflect on the past and to think about those who are currently serving in conflict across the globe today. As well as the unimaginable numbers killed in WW1 & WW2 there have been 16,500 troops killed in the so called peace since. I always use the memories of today when reflecting upon whether as a country we should ever send troops into action on our behalf. When the Poppies fall from the tower I look upon each one as human life and a family destroyed by war. We must avoid war at all costs because of the massive human suffering it causes."

Andy Reed MP joined local Councillors in Shelthorpe today meeting constituents in a regular 'Down your Street'walkabout.

Andy said "As well as the the usual surgeries which I hold around the constituency I also try to get out to people who do not necessarily have casework before chatting to their MP. So obviously I provide my website for instant reaction but each month we go out at least once just simply to listen to what people have to say about their area and national issues. Today we were in Shelthorpe, last month Dishley and previously Shepshed and Sileby for example. This is on top of the coffee morning drop ins I run at various events too."

"The reaction was good. People appreciate us dropping round out of election time. Many people didn't have anything specifically but others had bits of casework which ordinarily they wouldn't have raised with us. So its a bonus for us to pick up minor as well as major issues"

Andy Reed was visiting local engineering company Preci Spark on Friday and was joined by Skills Minister Lord Tony Young.

Preci Spark employ 280 people and produce high quality engineered products mainly for the aircraft industry. They are based in Loughborough with sites in Syston and Cornwall too.

Andy Reed said "This is a thriving company who export much of what they produce here in Loughborough. This is the high quality end of engineering where we can compete. Preci Spark are impressive. We talked about the credit crunch, export licenses, energy costs and training of apprentices. Preci Spark have always maintained an apprenticeship scheme. Lord Young was impressed by what he saw too.

"We were there to find out from small businesses what more we can do to help during this massive global turbulence. Visits like this offer a great insight into what makes a company successful despite all of the global pressures faced by industry"

Andy Reed was full of praise for new social enterprise Vanilla Galleries today on a visit to the former left legged pineapple site.

"This is a great initiative on so many fronts. We desperately needed a gallery to show off the work of the art and design students. And this is a social enterprise - people working together to deliver a bigger dream."

"They have done a remarkable job to get from idea to opening from June to November. The venue is great and their enthusiasm will see them through I am sure. Even in the hour I was there I could see the enormous interest from passers by from all walks of life. Their imagination and some of the interactive ideas they have will bring in the public I am sure. They all deserve to be congratulated.

Vanilla Galleries, alongside Charnwood Arts, is organising an exhibition titled Extract at the venue from November 8, to showcase exciting contemporary art from recent Loughborough University graduates.

Extract will be a diverse exhibition of work by around 30 artists involved in the Vanilla Galleries project, including paintings, textile art, photography and video art will be on display.

Artist Helen Briggs said: "Our main objective is to foster emerging artists from Loughborough University and provide them with a professional gallery environment.

"We strive to enrich the community with creative projects and give residents the chance to experience unique and diverse artwork.

"Currently there is nowhere in Loughborough to foster emerging artists even though the university is consistently producing new talent and artistic publicity.

"Loughborough's need for regeneration and change has been well publicised and we are directly responding to this.

"Our exhibitions and community projects will attract new people to Loughborough and the surrounding areas as well as retaining current residents."

Andy Reed MP was one of the panelists at Shelthorpe Schools Question Time.

Year 6 pupils had prepared and organised a 45 minute Question Time style question & answer session with Andy Reed MP, local Councillors Geoff Gay and Nev Stork as well as the community Police officer, Housing officers from Charnwood BC, school nurse Christine Clark and the Head teacher.

"As always I never fail to be impressed by what they are doing at Shelthopre school. The year 6 group come and meet me in parliament each year thanks to the hard work put in by Deb Lynch one of the teachers.

"As always the questions were balanced and well thought through. They showed a real understanding about local and national issues as well as sharing their thoughts on how their school and local community could be improved. We need to tap this youthful enthusiasm and harness it for improving the area."

Loughborough MP Andy Reed today welcomed confirmation that Loughborough schools could be rebuilt earlier than planned through the governments Building Schools for the Future Programme.

The Labour government is investing in replacing or refurbishing every secondary school in the country at a cost of about £4bn. We were in a timetable in 2012/13 but I have lobbied Ministers to be more flexible. I also met with the Chief Executive of the Building Schools for the Future Programme and he announced to me that they would allow good bids to come forward early. I will now put pressure on the Tory County to make quick progress for Loughborough, Quorn, Barrow and Shepshed.

"However, nationally the Tories are promising to cut 10% of this Budget so the election of a Tory government could put these schemes at risk. This is little known because there has been so little scrutiny over the last year about the Tory plans. As their inability to come up with a coherent strategy on the credit crunch has highlighted - and these cuts demonstrate - they can't be trusted with our economy or our schools"

Loughborough MP Andy Reed said today that he was jubilant about the Democrat Barack Obama victory in the US.

He said "We need to understand how momentous an evening this was. The world is now so interconnected that it does matter who is President of the USA. Our economies are so intertwined as we have seen with the global financial crisis. The American people have rejected conservative/republicanism and a free market approach in favour of a progressive response and hope over fear. Obama will be a great President because he understands that America needs to get involved in the world in a different way to the last 8 years of conservative/republicanism. We will all see the benefit of the end of the Bush era. Good riddance."

Andy has backed Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s announcement that the Government will enshrine targets to end child poverty in legislation. These targets commit the government to halving child poverty by 2010 and eradicating it by 2020.

Andy says, ‘‘the progress we have made in lifting 600,000 children out of poverty since 1999 is a good start, but by putting these targets into legislation we demonstrate our ongoing pledge to ending child poverty and commit ourselves to increased efforts in this fight.’’

“The Conservatives are unwilling to pledge themselves to ending child poverty by 2020 which I find disappointing. I have worked hard locally over the last 10 years to help bring people out of poverty and I will continue to do all I can in Loughborough to achieve that.”

Andy Reed MP has today backed the Loughborough Parish Green Partnership in their bid to create a Garden of Reflection at Loughborough Parish Church. The partnership is applying for a grant to help fund the garden and Andy Reed is backing the application.

The group was set up to help re-develop the green around the Parish church and Andy fully supports the project and offers his backing to the group in their bid to re-develop the area. The group aims to create a green space by the Parish Church and has been applying for grants to help with the project.

Andy said:

“I am backing this grant application. This is a great initiative which I fully support.”

“As a local I want to see Loughborough looking its best and this Garden of Reflection and the re-development of the green will offer the local community a green space that we all can enjoy.”

Andy Reed asked Health Ministers to be smarter in learning form successful pilot health projects across the country in tackling inequalities in health.

I spoke at the Men's Health Forum last week and saw for myself successful projects that proved they could work and were cost effective - but were not sustained because they were only pilot projects. I wanted to urge the Ministers not to invent new solutions before the existing ones were rolled out across the country and into places like Leicestershire."

"I was pleased the Minister accepted that they need to learn to be smarter about sharing best practise on not continually inventing the wheel. That is what health professionals tell me locally"

Andy Reed MP was at Loughborough Technology Centre on Friday to visit local company Cuttlefish.

The company have recently moved into the Technology Centre. Andy wanted to see how the latest web 2.0 technologies are transforming the way people are able to interact with politicians and political campaigns.

Andy said "I am relatively technology mad and yet I find it hard to keep up with all of the latest developments. I am excited that politics and politicians like myself have never been so accessible because of the array of technologies available on the web. I keep my website updated daily as well as keeping in touch with local people through facebook, youtube and Flickr for example. I get thousands of unique local hits a week. So it is working. But I now want to move on and update my website with even more of the technologies on offer. I 'Twitter' and upload pictures of the events I attend. I will increasingly use video. But I would also love to hear from people about the way they use the Internet to connect locally and to see if this too can be interconnected with my work in the constituency and in parliament. I am urging constituents to be in touch via my website about the things they would like to see"

(Photograph by Manta Vision)

Andy Reed MP is again urging Charnwood Councillors to reject plans to build over 600 student flats on the site of the former Loughborough hospital on Baxter Gate.

"I have always said since the late 90s that this site needs a good mixed use to bring a lift to this part of the town. A good development would bring much needed footfall. The current plans do not address the needs of the town - only those of the developer."