A small, but important, measure which was championed by the Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government, came into effect last week. When Jo Swinson was Minister for Equalities, she introduced the requirement for companies with more than 250 employees to report on their gender pay gap (the difference between what men get paid and what women get paid).

In this article in on the Huffington Post website, Jo Swinson explains that the gender pay gap is not the same as equal pay:

“The media often mangles the distinction, so it’s not surprising many people confuse the two concepts. Equal Pay is when men and women are paid the same for doing the same work, and this has been a legal requirement for more than four decades. The Gender Pay Gap compares the average hourly pay for men and women. So most companies have a Gender Pay Gap driven by a concentration of men in senior, higher paid roles and women in junior, lower paid roles, but may not have an Equal Pay problem.”

She goes on to say:
“Transparency on the numbers means staff, shareholders and customers can hold companies to account on progress, so communicate with them your analysis of the problem and what you plan to do.

Gender pay gap reporting is not a panacea, but it is an important and helpful tool to bring urgency and accountability to efforts to tackle the entrenched problems of gender inequality in the workplace”.

The Council Leaders who sit on the Greater Manchester Combined Authority have delayed the next phase of the Greater Manchester Spatial Framework.

A revised version of Greater Manchester Spatial Framework, due out in March, has been delayed by six months. The proposals, which at present include plans to decimate Greater Manchester’s greenbelt, will now be out in <strong>September</strong>, with consultation period extended from six to 12 weeks.

There was a massive public response to the first stage of consultation with over 25,000 responses received. Many local people have campaigned against the proposals to destroy so much green belt land. Liberal Democrat councillors across Greater Manchester have used their local Council meetings to propose that the GMSF process be scrapped.

More information on this as soon as we have it.

<a href=”http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/2016/10/21/massive-plans-to-build-on-green-belt/green-belt-mapjpg/” rel=”attachment wp-att-4328″><img class=”alignnone wp-image-4328″ src=”http://timpickstone.mycouncillor.org.uk/files/2016/10/Green-Belt-MapJPG.jpg” alt=”” width=”720″ height=”506″ /></a>

The full report being considered by the GMCA is <a href=”https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/download/meetings/id/1881/joint_gmca_and_agma_executive_-_31_march_2017_merged”>here</a> (it’s not very detailed). (Page 25)

Highlights are here.

Residents will now be receiving polling cards for an extra election this year. Voters across Greater Manchester will be asked to vote for the first elected ‘Mayor of Greater Manchester’.

Voting takes place on Thursday 4 May 2017. If you don’t already have a postal vote but would like one, you can download form here. If you’re not registered to vote then you can find out how here.

People who already have postal votes will be sent postal votes for the Mayoral Election in late April 2017.

The ‘Greater Manchester Elects‘ website has basic information about the election.

The Liberal Democrat candidate in the election is Jane Brophy. Jane is an experienced councillor representing the Timperley area on Trafford Council. She works in the NHS and someone the Lib Dems in Bury have worked with over many years on campaigns together, for example on the GMSF, on Metrolink and on environmental issues.

Find out more about Jane on her website here.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an “NHS Passport” to secure the rights of the 59,000 EU citizens working in the NHS, as figures have revealed a sharp rise in nurses from the EU quitting the health service.

Over 2,700 EU nurses left the NHS in 2016, a 68% increase compared to two years ago. Separate figures from the Royal College of Nursing have shown the number of EU nationals registering as nurses in England has dropped by 92%, while there are 24,000 nurse jobs unfilled in the NHS.

Figures obtained by the Lib Dems show that 1,849 EU national left our local NHS Trust, Pennine Acute, in 2014, 2015, and 2016, including 558 nurses – one of the highest figures in the country.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an immediate guaranteed right to live and work in the UK for all EU citizens working in NHS and care services, in a motion passed by members at the party’s Spring Conference in York today. The motion also called for the urgent reinstatement of the nursing bursary to address the huge shortage of nurses in the NHS.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb commented:

“These shocking figures show you can’t have a hard Brexit and a strong NHS.

“It is vital that we reassure NHS staff and social care workers from the EU that they remain welcome and valued in the UK following Brexit.

“These people save lives, yet this Conservative government is treating them with careless disregard.

“NHS and care services would struggle to cope if significant numbers of doctors, nurses and NHS staff from the EU left.

“Theresa May must do the decent thing and ensure the right to remain for all EU citizens, with an immediate guarantee for those working in health and social care.

The Liberal Democrats have called for an extra £4bn funding in this week’s Budget for the NHS and Social Care services to tackle the crisis emerging across the country.

Cuts to local government have hit social care badly, with more than a million older people having un-met care needs and thousands stuck in hospital for days after their treatment has finished because the care they need once they return home is not available.

Alongside this, the NHS has seen rising demand for treatment and needs more funding to deliver vital improvements such as achieving equality of access to timely treatment for those with mental ill health, and digitising the NHS to improve care and to make the system more efficient.

The Liberal Democrats believe we need a long term solution for funding Health and Social Care which will include raising additional revenue for these vital services from taxation.

The party had established an independent expert panel who will make evidence based recommendations on how this can be delivered in the fairest way.

Liberal Democrat Leader Tim Farron said:
“People across the country know the cost of underfunded health and social care services. It is the longer waiting lists and the trolleys in hospital corridors. It is the shorter care visits and the loved ones stranded in hospital because their local authority hasn’t got the resource to provide the care they need.

“The Government cannot continue to avoid this issue. More money is needed for NHS and care and only the Liberal Democrats are being upfront with people about the tough decisions that need to be taken and that will include fair tax rises.

“This looks like it will only get worse, with Theresa May’s reckless dealings with Europe hitting our economy, meaning even less resources will be available. The Government needs to face facts – you can’t have a strong NHS and care service with a hard Brexit.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary Norman Lamb said:
“It is time for a new deal for our NHS and care services.

“Anyone using the NHS and care services knows they need more money and that is what the Liberal Democrats will deliver. We will set out a long term plan for funding, which will include fair tax rises. However we also know that services are at crisis point. Patients can’t wait any longer. That is why the government must put in this upfront investment without delay.

“Patients and their families are fed up with politicians sidestepping the difficult questions when it comes to improving the NHS and social care services. I am determined to set out a bold, new deal and a vision that will safeguard Britain’s health and social care services for generations to come”.

Liberal Democrats are calling for an injection of £4 billion extra funding for 2017-18 and that it should be delivered as follows, to ensure it has maximum impact and reaches those services where it is needed most:

£2bn additional funding for social care
£1.5bn additional transformation funding, to deliver modernisation and improve efficiency in the NHS
£500m additional dedicated funding for mental health