The difference in pay between men and women has fallen to a record low amount, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced according to their latest figures.

The gender pay gap in April stood at 9.4% which was down from 10% the previous year. This figure was at 17.4% in 1997 when ONS began it’s records.

When commenting on the figures, the Liberal Democrat minister for equalities Jo Swinson said, “It’s good news to see a significant reduction in the pay gap over the last year. We should value the contribution of women and men in the workplace equally, so our vision has to be eliminating the pay gap completely.

“The Government will continue to tackle the causes of gender pay inequality. Shared Parental Leave will help to tackle the unequal split of caring responsibilities, and we are promoting pay transparency by making free analysis software available to employers.”

The Liberal Democrats have been leading the campaign on the issue of the gender pay gap. The party’s manifesto states a commitment to introduce a legal requirement which would see companies which employ more than 250 people having to publish the average pay of their male and female workers.

At the last full meeting of Bury Council I asked a question of Bury’s representatives to Transport for Greater Manchester about their plans for ‘Real-Time’ bus information at bus stops.

People might be familiar with the signs that we now have on Metrolink Platorms which show (after many years of them being unused) show what time the next trams are coming. People might also have seen the same thing at bus stops in other towns in this country, and also abroad.

The answer seems to be that Greater Manchester has NO plans for real-time bus information displays at bus stops. It does have plans for a ‘smart phone’ app which would enable people to look on their phone when the next buses were coming to their stop. This is great, but obviously no use at all for people who do not have smart phones, which is probably includes quite a few people who use buses.

What people have found in other places is that bus stop information increases people’s confidence in the bus system, and is one of the ways that people can be encouraged to use public transport more.

So why not Greater Manchester? We invested the computer here, surely we can manage some automated signs on key bus stops (I don’t think anyone is suggesting every single bus stop, but at important/busy stops this could be very useful.)

The answer we were given is: “I take your point but we’ve got many thousands of bus stops in Greater Manchester so for example we might be able to have them in somewhere like Bournemouth but Greater Manchester is just too big.”

We asked friends from around the country and here are just some of the places – big and small – that already have real-time bus information at their bus stops.

Birmingham
Sheffield
Leeds
Edinburgh
Norwich
Southampton
Maidenhead
London (all over, not just central London)
Milton Keynes
Reading
Guildford
Reigate
Redhill
Woking
Nottingham
Bedford
Bristol
Oxford
Brighton
Halifax
Huddersfield
Cambridge
Huntingdon
Maidstone
Cardiff
Gwynnedd
York
Abbots Langley
Aberdeen
Horsham
Crawley
Worthing
Chelmsford
Guildford
Poole
Hull
Newhaven
Aylesbury
Peterborough
Eastleigh
Sandwell
Colchester
Harrogate

Greater Manchester needs to do better!

Tim Pickstone- Holyrood Councillor

There will be a by-election in Bramhall South ward in Stockport tomorrow.

The election is seen as being very important not only in terms of Stockport council but also regarding Liberal Democrat MP Mark Hunter’s chances in Cheadle Hulme next May.

General door knocking will take place all day and any help would be much appreciated.

Anyone who’s interested in helping out should contact Claire Halliwell on 0161 486 1045 for further details.

The inflation figures released yesterday by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) further indicate the economy is continuing to recover. UK inflation rose last month to 1.3% which was an increase from 1.2% from September.

ONS have stated that the rise was because transport costs fell by less than they did a year ago.

When commenting on the figures, Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said, “Consistently low inflation helps give businesses the confidence to invest as well as helping with family budgets. The Liberal Democrats formed the coalition with the central purpose of rescuing, re-wiring and rebalancing the UK economy.

“There are clearly risks ahead arising from uncertainties in the Eurozone and global economy. But combined with record job creation and strong growth, today’s figures show that our recovery plan is working and that we are continuing to make progress.”

Liberal Democrat health minister Norman Lamb has called for an increase in NHS funding of as much as £1.5 billion to be included in December’s Autumn statement.

Norman has also called for the extra investment to be focused on improving mental health care standards, particularly for young people and children, which remains an important priority for the Liberal Democrats.

He also cited growing concerns that delaying the spending decision would run the risk of betraying patients and instead politicians should ensure that the money needed is secured now.

Norman said, “Liberal Democrats want to create opportunity for everyone by building a stronger economy and a fairer society. That means properly funding our NHS for the future, and providing better care, both for physical and mental health. But this needs to start straight away. Too often politicians take the easy way out and delay big spending decisions in the hope they become someone else’s problem. Doing that would betray patients, so the NHS needs significantly more money to help trusts adapt to the changing needs of our population and it can’t afford to wait.

“That’s why securing extra money for the NHS must be a high priority for the whole Government in next month’s Autumn Statement. And we want at least an extra billion pounds put in every year in the next Parliament too. A significant amount of that needs to go on improving mental health services, especially for children and young people. For too long mental health has been seen as a second class issue in the NHS and the Liberal Democrats are determined that changes.”

The funding would be put in place from April 2015 onward and the Liberal Democrats are pushing for at least an extra £1 billion investment into the NHS for every year of the next Parliament.

The extra funding would also meet the objectives of the Better Care Fund of helping to bring together health and social care and recognising that there should be more of a focus on preventing ill health.

All Bury Lib Dem members are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting on Monday 17th November at Bury Town Hall.

The meeting will begin at 7pm at the Lancaster Room in the Elizabethan suite and you can find the Town Hall on Knowsley Street, BL9 0SW.

The AGM will represent an important opportunity for all members to catch up with each other and discuss future plans for the local party, particularly regarding the important elections coming up next May.

There will also be an opportunity to choose the 2015 Executive committee, with elections being held for the following positions:

— President
— Chair
— Secretary
— Treasurer
— Membership Development Officer
— Data Officer
— Vice Chair
— Ordinary Members (4)

If you are interested in taking up a position, please email Tim Pickstone at tim@burylibdems.net before the start of the meeting.

The meeting is a members meeting, so only members of the Liberal Democrats in Bury can attend. If you would like to join up and attend please get in touch in advance (organiser@burylibdems.net).

It has been announced by Liberal Democrat care and support minster Norman Lamb that Autism Projects across the country will receive a £1.2 million boost to help support adults with autism.

As part of the government’s initiative to make improvements to care standards for people with autism, 42 pioneering projects will be the benefactor of the funding. The schemes will use the funds to test new ways of supporting adults with autism, including in areas such as crisis prevention work and help with securing employment. The plan is for the projects to then be evaluated next summer.

When commenting on the funding boosts for the projects, Norman Lamb said:

“I am delighted that we have been able to contribute funding for the excellent work that these projects carry out.

“We want to ensure that young people and adults with autism have the right support and opportunities to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives.”

Following the investment boost, all local authorities will now be able to apply for funding to help make their community areas more autism-friendly. It is thought that this £18,500 could be used to improve or refurbish areas such as quiet rooms or buy electronic equipment which could benefit people with autism.

Update from Lib Dem Councillor Tim Pickstone:

Last month was one of the regular ‘Full’ meetings of Bury Council – the once chance where all 51 councillors meet together.

Here’s a quick summary of what happened:

Questions
The rules have now been changed, which means that councillors who are not Labour or Conservative now have a (small) chance of getting a question answered at the meeting!

I asked questions on:
– the cost of implmenting the new three weekly bin collections – more information on Tim’s website here.
– access in Bury to publicly available emergency defibrillators (more information on this to follow)

We also get the opportunity to ask questions on ‘Joint Authorities’. I asked:
– on Transport, whether Greater Manchester was getting ‘real time bus information’ at bus stops any time soon (the answer was no, and again more information to follow on this)
– on Pensions Fund, on whether Greater Manchester Pensions Fund invests any money in ‘Payday Loan’ companies or companies which run ‘Fixed Odd Betting Machines’ (The answer was no, not directly, but there may be a small amount through funds which are invested in).

Motions and Debates
There were two debates:
– a Conservative Group motion on the changes to the bin collection, which asked for the issue to be referred back to the Cabinet Member for further consideration. This was actually the first time the ordinary councillors have had the opportunity to vote on this issue (the decision had been made by the Council’s ‘Cabinet’) and I voted to refer the issue for further consideration. This was defeated by Labour councillors who all voted to keep the three weekly system as it is.
– a Labour Group motion on Foster Carers. A number of councillors (including me) have been involved recently in an ‘Ask me about fostering’ campaign to highlight the need for additional foster carers in Bury. This motion supported the campaign and was supported by all parties.

Any questions please get in touch with Tim. tim@burylibdems.net

There will be an increase in Cold Weather Payments from £8 to £25 to help vulnerable people over the winter months.

The Liberal Democrats in Government have ensured that an estimated 4 million people will now be in line to receive extra Government support in order to help low-income households and less affluent pensioners during the colder periods.

This will mean that people under these categories, including children under the age of five and disabled people, could be due a £25 Cold Weather Payment for whenever a forecast indicates that temperatures are about drop below an average of zero degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days.

On the benefits that the payment increase will achieve, Liberal Democrats Minister for Pensions Steve Webb stated, “It is vital that pensioners and vulnerable people are given extra help to turn up the thermostat and keep warm when temperatures plunge.

“This help, combined with the Winter Fuel allowance and Warm Home Discount Scheme, is making a real difference to help the most vulnerable people in society.

“In most cases, Cold Weather Payments are paid automatically to those eligible. But I urge anyone, especially older people who might be missing out on Pension Credit, to call us.”

Last week our Councillor Tim Pickstone attended a special meeting on transport issues for Bury around the proposed changes to hospital services in Greater Manchester.

Tim reports:
You may be aware from the media or from emails earlier in the year about the proposed changes to emergency services which are currently being consulted on by the NHS.

The proposals would be that for the most ‘severe’ emergencies, there would only be 3, 4 or 5 hospitals that would be ‘specialist hospitals’ that would be able to deal with the most severe of emergencies (broadly emergencies that might require emergency surgery).

None of the options being consulted on have either Fairfield or North Manchester as ‘specialist hospitals’ – so our nearest ones would be MRI, Hope or Oldham Royal.

For 95% of A&E attendances we would continue to use our nearest hospital (i.e. North Manchester or Fairfield), but for 5% of A&E attendances (broadly the ones you need an ambulance for) we would need to go to a specialist hospital.

Many people have been concerned about the impact on people in Bury of these changes around travel to the hospitals. I attended a special meeting with the NHS on Monday about this and wanted to report back.

Ambulances
Obviously if we are being taken to Hope, MRI or Oldham in an ambulance, this is a longer journey than a journey to North Manchester. I asked about whether this would mean that ambulance times met minimum standards, and also whether we would need MORE ambulances.

At the moment the ambulance service is not monitored on its performance in an individual borough (e.g. the % of journeys for Bury people that get to hospital in x minutes) – only for the Greater Manchester average. A good idea was that they should have to deliver on Bury targets too which would ensure that we continued to get the service we needed.

Travel to Hospital
Other issues around around getting to the specialist hospitals – e.g. if you need to visit a relative or close friend in hospital.

One very big issue that I raised is that public transport from almost anywhere in Bury to either Hope Hospital or the Oldham Royal is dreadful. We do have an occasional bus from Prestwich to Hope, but this isn’t a frequent service. Tram travel to Hope and Oldham both take a long time because of the need to go via the city centre and change.

There is also the issue of parking at hospitals. I know hope have just built more parking, but certainly Oldham has some significant parking problems.

Please get in touch if you require any further information. tim@burylibdems.net