Weekly Bulletin  11-17 November 2013

This is a summary of my work for Brighton Pavilion locally and in Parliament last week.  For more information, go to www.carolinelucas.com

I am committed to doing all I can to support local independent businesses in the city, and I’ve called for a range of measures to help our local economy, such as tax relief for small companies.   Last week I was pleased to visit the wonderful North Laines toyshop, Whirligig to congratulate its owners on winning an award from Let Toys Be Toys a hugely successful initiative which is asking retailers to stop limiting children’s interests by promoting some toys as only suitable for girls, and others only for boys.  Whirligig is a great example of a retailer showinghow it’s done.

Impact of the Bedroom Tax in Brighton and Hove

One of the most important issues in parliament last week was the bedroom tax, which was the subject of an Opposition Day Debate.   I’ve long opposed the tax as a brutal and unnecessary measure which targets the vulnerable, and ahead of the debate, the Council provided information 200 disabled people in Brighton and Hove have been pushed into rental arrears for the first time by the policy.

The figures from BHCC, which has passed a no-eviction policy to try to protect people, show that:

• 1,270 people in Brighton and Hove are affected by the Bedroom Tax
• Of these 1,270  800 are in council accommodation
• Of these 800, 300 are newly in rental arrears (i.e. they were up to date with their rental payments before the Bedroom Tax was imposed)
• Of these 300, 205 are disabled

Sadly, the Government seems completely indifferent to the impact of its policy on disabled people, or on the many other vulnerable people who are affected.

Earlier in the year, Plaid Cymru also sponsored a debate on the bedroom tax – you can read my contribution to it here.

Offender Rehabilitation Bill

Parliament also debated the Offender Rehabilitation Bill, which would pave the way for privatisation and fragmentation of the probation service.  The probation service should be run in the interests of public safety, not private profit, and a range of experts have come out against the Government’s reckless plans. I was one of the signatories to a reasoned amendment to try to stop the bill getting a second reading.

What can we do about rising house prices?

Recent figures showed that the cost of buying a home in Brighton and Hove is rising more quickly than in London.  On my blog  I argued that the underlying problem is a chronic lack of supply and underinvestment by successive governments, exacerbated by the privatisation of council housing stock.

ONCA

I was pleased to meet up with Laura Coleman, director of  the ONCA (One Network for Conservation and the Arts) Gallery on St George’s Place.   It’s the only gallery in the UK specifically dedicated to ecology and the environment, and they’ve just launched a new installation that highlights the amount of waste plastic washed up on our beaches.  Titled ‘TruCost Super-M-Art’, it recreates a supermarket environment (complete with special offer displays) to highlight one of the consequences of our disposable culture.

Fracking debates

I took part in two events on fracking.  The first, organised by the Green Alliance, was titled ‘Can fracking be sustainable?’ and I was on a panel along with David Kennedy of the Committee on Climate Change, Michael Liebreich of Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Lord Chris Smith of the Environment Agency.   Putting aside the rather obvious argument that the exploitation of finite resources is by definition unsustainable, I focused on risks to the local environment, such as water and air pollution, and on the broader question of whether shale gas development is compatible with efforts to secure a safe and habitable climate for future generations.  And I argued that the answer to that is a definite ‘No'.  Straight after that, I was interviewed for Channel 4 News, on another controversial, potentially dangerous, and certainly expensive source of energy.   This time the subject was nuclear, and I was up against the director of a new film which argues that nuclear is the only solution to climate change.

Later in the week I attended another event on fracking at Brighton University, organised by Young Greens.  It included the screening of a short film by Frack Off, and an excellent presentation exploring why unconventional sources of fossil fuel such as shale gas and underground coal gasification are suddenly being seriously proposed, and asking how we should respond.

St Luke’s Church Fashion Show

St Luke’s Advice Service does wonderful work in the city. A free advice service for people in Brighton & Hove, which aims to provide practical help, advice and guidance to anyone who needs it, it’s a hugely important service, and of course they need funding to be able to continue to help people.  As part of their fundraising efforts they held a fashion show, to which they were kind enough to invite me.  The event went very well and it was good to see so many people showing their support.

Big Sunday

Yesterday I was delighted to attend a ‘Big Sunday’ event.  Big Sunday is a fantastic initiative run by women which gives mums the opportunity to recharge their batteries with good food, inspiring workshops, and pampering treatments while the kids are entertained in a free on-site crèche.

This week

As part of Parliament Week, I’m visiting students at Dorothy Stringer School.  Although I can’t be there, I’ve also offered a statement of support for students at Brighton University, who are protesting against the student loan book-sell off.  And I’m attending the Brighton Women’s Centre AGM, taking part in a debate on page 3 at the University of Sussex, and visiting Coldean Primary School.