Archive for August, 2010

MP Lobbies Minister Against Court Closures

Monday, August 9th, 2010

Christopher Pincher, Tamworth’s Member of Parliament, met with Justice Minister Jonathan Djanogly on Monday to lobby him personally to veto the closure of Tamworth’s Magistrates’ and County courts. Both courts are set to close under recommendations from Her Majesty’s Court Service to save money which will see magistrates’ duties split between Burton and Cannock and county court services diverted to Stafford. Both changes, Mr. Pincher believes, will have a deleterious impact on Tamworth, which has the busiest magistrates’ court in the county.

Mr. Pincher met privately with the minister for half an hour outlining the reasons why Tamworth’s courts should stay open focussing on their high utilisation rate as well as their facilities and location. Tamworth’s court system benefits from its own suit of cells, video conferencing so that prisoners and others can be interviewed remotely, a 400 space car park across the road and a police station next door. Tamworth’s facilities are also far more accessible to the disabled than other local courts.

Following the meeting Mr. Pincher said:

“I am pleased Jonathan Djanogly agreed to see me which I think shows how seriously he is taking the issue of court closures. I do not doubt that we currently have too many courts in the county but closing one of the busiest, best equipped and most accessible of all of them just does not make sense to me. So I will campaign for a rethink. The Minister has specifically asked me to ensure I contribute to the consultation so the issues I raised can be looked at formally by him and his team.”

“I pointed out that if our court services move to Burton court which has no cells of its own and relies on those in the local police station, we run the risk of overcrowding in Burton police station. When that happened in Stafford the local police withdrew their cells from court use. If the same thing happens in Burton the court there could be thrown into chaos. Mr. Djanogly recognised this as a real concern.”

All input to the consultation on the closure of Tamworth’s magistrates’ and county courts will be considered by HMCS which is considering closing 103 courts in England and Wales. The deadline for submission is 15th September. Respondents can write to the following address with their views.

Mrs Tessa Ellis
Head of Operations
Her Majesty’s Court Service

PO Box 2676 Comberton Place

Kidderminster

DY10 1WE

Blog 6th August 2010

Friday, August 6th, 2010

This morning I went over to our historic town hall to sign the Mayor’s book as Tamworth’s new Member of Parliament. A real honour. Thanks especially to our Mayor Cllr. Lee Bates and Derek from Democratic Services – and Warren and Rob for taking the pictures.

Later as I was leaving I ran into Ian Gibbons who, along with Lee, is a stalwart of Tamworth’s arts scene. We had a joke about how he’s redder than Lenin but there’s no doubt Ian does a lot for our town. He has asked me to help him with a couple of projects which will be interesting so I will be in touch with him again soon.

Now I’m back in the office dealing with constituency correspondence. The team are on dress down Friday – which in Warren’s case means no tie! Very jolly atmosphere in the office despite another grey August day.

Mayor & MP Open Baptist Church Fun Day

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Christopher Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, together with the town’s mayor and mayoress, Councillor Lee Bates and Mrs Deborah Bates, jointly opened the Tamworth Baptist Church fete last Saturday. The event, held at the Baptist church in Cadogan Road, Dosthill, was attended by over 60 congregation members and local residents who braved the constant threat of rain to buy books, bric- a-brac and some very well baked cakes. For the children there was face painting, “splat the rat” and “Grandpa Magic’s” conjuring. A very expert balloon bender was also on hand making hats for the children. He insisted on making hats for the mayor and MP – the results of which can be seen in the attached photo!

Councillor Bates said:

“I am very pleased to be able to open this fete and support the local church and community. Tamworth is a big family of people and events like this are really very important. I am also very proud of my new hat!”

Christopher Pincher said:

“Friends and neighbours coming together to support help each other is a great example of community spirit. I also took the opportunity to pick up some books from the book stall for my summer reading. I am not sure the balloon hat really suits me – and I wonder if the blue and yellow balloons were chosen because they are coalition colours? But congratulations to the organisers.”

The Baptist church is running events all this week. For more information call 01827 283747.

MP’s Concern About “Fuel Poverty”

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

Christopher Pincher, the MP for Tamworth, has quizzed the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change about the state of fuel poverty in the town. Fuel poverty is defined as having to spend more than 10% of income to adequately heat a house.

In answer to Mr. Pincher’s parliamentary question, Chris Huhne responded by informing Mr. Pincher that in 2006 a staggering 4,000 households in Tamworth were classed as being in fuel poverty.

Christopher Pincher said, “This is a huge amount of people in fuel poverty, nearly one in ten households have to spend far too much of their income to heat their home, and these people are usually the most vulnerable. I have spoken to EAGA, which helps people to insulate their homes, to learn more about fuel poverty and what EAGA are doing to help to resolve the problems. We clearly need to focus on eliminating fuel poverty in our country although it is not as simple as just home insulation.”

“If any one feels that they have difficulty paying their fuel bills or even if they think they are paying too much for heating, I advise them to callHome Heat Helpline before the winter returns. They offer free and practical advice which often helps people save money on their bills. They also provide information on schemes that provide grants on insulation. Do not leave it until the snow comes – get in touch whilst the sun is shining.”

Home Heat Helpline can be reached on 0800 33 66 99.

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Archive for August, 2010

MP Lobbies Minister Against Court Closures

Blog 6th August 2010

Mayor & MP Open Baptist Church Fun Day

MP’s Concern About “Fuel Poverty”

MP Questions Police Authority Appointment

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