Cheshire East Sports Awards - Congleton Success

Team Congleton first across the line at Cheshire East Sports Awards 2012

Both Team Congleton and a local Congleton resident were honoured on Thursday at the Cheshire East Sports Awards 2012 at Cranage Hall.

Fiona Bruce MP presented Team Congleton with an award recognising their successful and committed celebration of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Fiona said “I am very proud to present this award.  Team Congleton have done a tremendous amount during 2012 to arrange Olympic events – including ensuring that Congleton was the first town in the country to hold a 2012 Olympic event - on New Year’s Day! – the Much Wenlock to Congleton run. The excellent work of Team Congleton hasa done much to strengthen community spirit across the town and will I’m sure leave a lasting legacy of increased involvement in sport for years to come.”

Fiona and Mayor of Cheshire East George Walton with Congleton award winners

Noting that Congleton was the only town to receive such an award Fiona added “this award is richly deserved.”

Congleton resident, Myrtle Larman, was also presented with a Special Recognition Award for her 35 year commitment to jujitsu in and around Congleton. This award is to reward an individual, club or project for hard work over a long period to make a difference to sport in Cheshire East.

Fiona Bruce with Myrtle Larman

Myrtle Larman said “This just goes to show that any woman can do sport no matter her age. It is open to everyone. I have been doing jujitsu since I was 15 and I have no intention of stopping. The Olympics have proved how well women can get on in sport. I also give talks on keeping fit and still teach in schools. I have people in my class from all ages for 4 and a half to in their 50s!”

Goostrey Guides

Fiona Bruce MP meets Goostrey Guide fundraising for trip to Germany

Fiona Bruce MP met with Emma Harvey, a Girl Guide from Goostrey, who is fundraising for a Guide trip to Germany with 7 other Guides from the Cheshire area.

Emma Harvey has been involved in Girlguiding in Goostrey for 9 years and now belongs to the 2^nd Jodrell Senior Section for girls aged 14 to 25 in Goostrey and Holmes Chapel. She is also a Young Leader with 2^nd Goostrey Brownies.

In order to take part in this trip of a lifetime the Guides each have to raise £1000 and are doing so through a variety of fundraising activities including selling dates from the calendar and holding a Masquerade Ball at Cranage Hall.

The aim of this trip is to share experiences and strengthen relationships between Guides from Cheshire and from other countries. The girls will stay at the German Guiding Association facility at Castle Rieneck near Frankfurt, and will also attend “Adventures in Berlin”, a large scale international venture undertaken by Girlguiding Northwest England at which the North West Guides are all lending a hand.

Emma said “I am really looking forward to this trip; it will be so interesting to help at the international event in Berlin and to meet Guides from other parts of the world.”

Fiona Bruce said “ I encourage people to generously support Emma and her fellow Guides to enable them to travel on these trips which are life changing experiences both for the Guides who travel and for those they meet and help in other countries.”

Cheshire East Sports Awards Alsager Success

Fiona Bruce MP congratulates Alsager young man honoured at Cheshire East Sports Awards 2012

Fiona Bruce MP met a young man from Alsager as he was named Young Volunteer of the Year at the Cheshire East Sports Awards at Cranage Hall recently for his commitment to community football club, AFC Alsager.

Henry Cross spends 6 hours a week helping with an after school club and the community sessions held by AFC Alsager, coaching young people from the Alsager community developing their football skills.

Mike Cross, Henry’s Father and a coach at AFC Alsager said “The family and club are very proud of Henry. He represents the club and all the young coaches associated with it. It was a tremendous evening and a hugely proud moment.”

Fiona Bruce said “I congratulate Henry on recieveing this prestigious award. Having seen the tremendous coaching at AFC Alsager of the huge number of football teams of young people of all ages, I know that Henry is part of an important community group, playing an increasingly key role in the life of Alsager.”

WaterAid

Local MP supports the 1 in 3 women world-wide with no toilet facilities

Fiona Bruce MP for the Congleton Constituency is adding her voice to a global campaign to support the one in three women around the world that have no access to a safe toilet.

International charity WaterAid is asking governments to keep the promises they have made to get adequate sanitation and safe water to the world’s poorest people.

Living without a toilet is not just an inconvenience; it impacts on all aspects of life, and it is women and girls who suffer the most. Not only does this expose them to illness, it also increases the risk of shame, fear and even violence when they are forced to go outside in search of somewhere private to go to the toilet.

Fiona Bruce said: “It’s easy for us to take for granted having clean toilets at home and safe drinking water at the turn of the tap, but millions of people across the world aren’t so lucky. In fact, 783 million people have no clean water to drink, while 2.5 billion do not have a toilet.

“Water and sanitation transform lives and I believe everyone should have access to these vital services. I am proud that the UK Government recently committed to double the number of people they plan to reach with water, sanitation and hygiene by 2015. I’m adding my voice in support of those without a safe toilet and invite others in our constituency to join me.”

A recent survey commissioned by WaterAid of women living across five slums in Lagos, Nigeria, highlighted this problem. One in five women had first or second hand experience of verbal harassment and intimidation, or had been threatened or physically assaulted in the past year when going to the toilet. These experiences of fear, indignity and violence are commonplace wherever women lack access to safe and adequate sanitation.

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive of WaterAid, said:

“When women don’t have a safe, secure and private place to go to the toilet they are exposed and put in a vulnerable position and when they relieve themselves in the open they risk harassment. Women are reluctant to talk about it or complain, but the world cannot continue to ignore this.

“Adequate sanitation, coupled with access to clean, safe water to drink, transforms lives, improving health, safety and productivity. Governments are urged to take action and invest in access to sanitation and water.”

Other studies from Uganda, Kenya, India and the Solomon Islands show that such experiences of fear, indignity and violence are common place wherever women lack access to safe and adequate sanitation.

Katherine Mulemba, 60, lives in an unplanned settlement in Lusaka, Zambia:

“I don’t have a latrine; I use my neighbours’. Sometimes they refuse so I go to a bar. If they see me, they don’t let me in. I feel embarrassed, but what can I do? At night, I go in a tin. I stay indoors as it’s dangerous to go out alone at night; people can rape you.”

Everyone can help support those women living without safe toilets by signing WaterAid’s pledge calling for global access to water and sanitation at www.wateraid.org/1in3.

Fiona Bruce supports the Presumption of Death Bill

Fiona Bruce MP supports Presumption of Death Bill

Fiona Bruce MP has worked on the Public Bill committee to help bring into law the Presumption of Death Bill.

Fiona said “This bill seeks to address a serious problem for a number of families each year. When a relative goes missing and cannot be found, a death certificate cannot be obtained, and this can cause many problems for years afterwards. For example, standing orders or direct debits cannot be stopped from the missing persons bank account in a timely way so money often flows out and is irrecoverable.”

This Bill would allow courts to issue a “Presumption of Death Certificate” which would act in a similar way to a death certificate, creating a single legal process for dealing with a missing person’s affairs. Relatives of a missing person would be able to apply to the High Court for this ‘Presumption of Death Certificate’ establishing that the person is thought to have died.  At present there is a requirement to wait at least seven years.

Fiona says “The current seven year period is far too long, not only for many practical reasons but also because, for some families, this is an important step towards gaining closure of what is a very distressing time for them.”

If, in a rare case the missing person was subsequently found the certificate could be revoked.

John Glen MP, the sponsor of the Bill, said:

“This legislation has a chance to make a practical difference to the lives of those families with loved ones who have gone missing.”

Fiona added:

“I was very pleased to be able to support the Presumption of Death Bill committee stage and will continue to support this Bill. It will make matters less drawn out for families and loved ones who cannot sort out the affairs of a missing person until after the seven year period and allow them to rebuild their lives.”

Fuel Duty

Fiona Bruce MP: Fuel duty cancelled for Congleton Constituency as new car registrations rise

 

The cancellation of Labour’s fuel duty rise has been put into effect. This follows George Osborne’s announcement last week that the Government would cancel the rise that was planned for January 2013. This keeps fuel over 10p per litre cheaper than it would have been under Labour.

New car registrations released the day after the Autumn Statement showed that there are 11 per cent more motorists who will benefit from this cancellation compared to November last year. 

Fiona Bruce is one of the campaigning group of MPs in Parliament who have energetically fought to keep fuel prices down. She has spoken in Parliament against fuel duty rises and said, this week; “Our last meeting as a group was a few days before the Autumn Statement when we met with the Treasury Minister to urge him not to increase petrol prices and I am very pleased that the Treasury have genuinely listened.”

Fiona Bruce also commented:

“I’m sure people who live and work in my constituency will be pleased that the Chancellor has cancelled Labour’s rise in fuel duty.

“There are 3.6 million motorists in the North West who will benefit – and the cancellation is well timed, with more and more people buying cars in the UK.

“Coupled with the income tax cut, this is a helpful boost for households working hard to make ends meet as well as the many businesses in my constituency for whom fuel is such a major outlay.”

Plain Packaging

Fiona Bruce backs plain cigarette packs to protect health

Fiona Bruce, MP for Congleton, called on the UK Government to follow the lead of their Australian counterparts and introduce plain, standardised cigarette packaging in the UK.

Fiona has been a consistent campaigner for plain packaging since entering Parliament. She says: “I fully support the campaign for the introduction of plain packaging of tobacco products. It is vitally important that this is achieved to help prevent our young people taking up smoking - the key to preventing health damage through smoking is never to start. I am delighted that many people in my constituency have already taken action to support this. Attractive cigarette packs are an important marketing tool used by the tobacco industry and the plain packaging of tobacco products would give children one less reason to find smoking appealing.”

The UK Government has recently conducted a public consultation on the issue and is considering whether to bring forward legislation on standardising the packaging of tobacco products for the whole of the UK.

Over a thousand parents and residents in East Cheshire have supported a campaign to introduce plain, standardised tobacco packs.  In total 1,145 local residents signed up to the Plain Packs Protect campaign to demand the end of glitzy cigarette packaging aimed at young people.

The responses have been sent to Government to inform the consultation on plain, standardised tobacco packaging, which ended in August.  The consultation results are expected early next year (2013).  

From the 1 December cigarettes in Australia must be sold in dark olive brown packets which are mostly covered in health warnings. Health charities in the UK, including the British Heart Foundation, want the UK Government here to introduce similar legislation.

Currently, tobacco companies can use distinctive colours, brand designs and logos on their packaging. Research has shown that plain packaging would reduce tobacco’s attractiveness, increase the effectiveness of health warnings and stop misleading claims about the harms of smoking. (1)

Tracey Paul, Advocacy Manager at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Smoking kills over 100,000 people every year and smokers are twice as likely to have a fatal heart attack as someone who’s never smoked. (2)

“Scientific evidence shows that removing the glitzy designs from cigarettes packs makes them less attractive. We should introduce legislation on plain, standardised packaging and stop this lethal product being marketed to young people.”

Autumn Statement

MP welcomes positive Autum Statement for local businesses and residents

Speaking from Parliament following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Fiona Bruce MP said:

‘This is an excellent Autumn Statement to help support business in the Congleton Constituency – with the huge increase in capital allowances from £25,000 to £250,000 per annum, the extension of the small business rate relief for another year, the proposed reduction in Corporation Tax to 21% from April 2014 (from 28% at the start of this Parliament) and the introduction of a rates holiday for newly completed commercial premises until occupied, guaranteed for 18 months from 1^st October 2013.

Additional important benefits for everyone include the cancellation of the 3p fuel duty increase planned by the previous Government for January 2013. I am particularly pleased at this since I have been a member of a group of backbenchers who have lobbied the Government consistently to keep fuel prices down – our most recent meeting on was with a Treasury Minister last week – knowing the pressure on businesses and families alike, in a constituency like Congleton, of petrol costs. The decision today to cancel this increase means there have been no petrol duty increases under this Government – for 2 ½ years – whereas under a Labour government planned increases for the same period would have seen petrol 13p per litre higher.

I am pleased too that the Government is to continue, for the third year running, its financial support for local authorities in England which freeze Council Tax as I know this is a really substantial part of household expenditure – particularly for families and pensioners.

At the same time, pensioners will see the Basic State Pension rise by 2.5% next year – higher than either earnings or inflation. This will take the level of the full Basic State Pension to £110.15 per week.

I am also pleased that for our young workers, for whom it is so important to secure jobs in the constituency and give them a real stake in its future, the amount they can earn before they pay any income tax at all has been increased to £9,440. When this Government came to power this stood at just £6,475. This announcement today also benefits everyone in work – not just the low paid, as it is a direct ‘in the pocket help’ the income of everyone working hard to provide for themselves and their families. It also underlines the Government’s continuing commitment to make work pay.

For savers, the increase in the annual ISA tax-free investment limit goes up to £11,520 -  a really substantial increase to encourage saving.

A really important factor for our local economy in Cheshire is the boost the Chancellor is going to give to infrastructure projects using money saved by making Whitehall bureaucracy work more efficiently. This means that supporters of road and rail projects – such as the proposed Congleton Link Road and the Middlewich Railway Link Campaign – will have the opportunity to make their case for a share of billions of pounds of extra money which the Government is committing to support infrastructure projects across the country. I shall be doing all I can to make our the case for projects in the Congleton Constituency directly to the Chancellor and the Secretary of State for Transport, following on from the £3.4 million which the constituency is already receiving to improve Junction 17 of the M6 motorway at Sandbach.