Constituency Labour Party
(22 July 2008)
Crime is down 39% since 1997, according to the British Crime Survey. "This reverses the upward trend under the Tories, under whom crime doubled, but convictions fell by a third," said Richard Henry, Labour's Parliamentary Spokesperson for North East Hertfordshire. "The increased number of police officers and the introduction of police community support officers is really having an effect. In Hertfordshire, recorded crime fell by 12% in the last year."
The British Crime Survey (BCS) began in 1981 and surveys the population to record the number of victims of crimes, whether they have been reported or not. It is not affected by changes in the way police forces record crime. The information for Hertfordshire, however, is based on crime as recorded by the police. Both sets of statistics record an overall fall in crime in the last year in Britain: the BCS records a 10% drop and recorded crime was down 9%.
(21 July 2008)
The Labour Government's Primary Capital Programme will invest £8 million per year for the next 14 years in Hertfordshire's primary schools. This investment was welcomed last month by Cllr. Nigel Bell, who is the Labour spokesperson for education on the County Council.
(12 July 2008)
Richard Henry, Labour's Parliamentary spokesperson for this constituency, has written to the planning authority (East Hertfordshire District Council) in support of the proposal for Benington windfarm.
The Comet newspaper also published a letter from him responding to an article by the Tory MP for the constituency who is opposing this move to generate green electricity:
The East Hertfordshire Rural Branch Labour Party, in whose area Benington falls, has also written to the planning authority in support of the proposal. Click here for the text of the branch's letter.
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(2 May 2008)
This was a very disappointing result for Labour. Arthur Jarman and Ian Mantle both lost their seats on the North Hertfordshire District Council, having won them back only one year ago. However, in Arthur's case he lost by only 11 votes.
The Labour candidates in all the other wards which had an election also lost. Labour did not field a candidate in Baldock East.
Elsewhere in the North Hertfordshire District, the news was rather better. Labour retained seats in Hitchin Bearton and Hitchin Oughton.
Full details of the result are on the District Council's website.
In East Hertfordshire there are no elections for another three years, so we are stuck with a Tory administration who spent £1.1 million on making the chief executive redundant and re-organizing staff, £620,000 on dealing with the resultant quarrels between staff, and then an unknown amount on recruiting a new chief executive to sort out the mess.
(1 Feb. 2008)
The County Council has deferred any action to improve safety
in Ordelmere. Read the newsletter issued in Grange ward: click here.
(23 Jan. 2008)
At the County Council Cabinet meeting on Monday 21st January, the Tory Administration agreed to close the much praised Westbury Primary and Nursery School in Letchworth, as of 31st August 2009. Despite a petition on 1,095 signatures, 87 objections and the opposition of local head teachers, parents and children, the Cabinet rejected last minute pleas by local campaigners.
Labour Education spokesman, Nigel Bell, commented: "The Tories have dealt a severe cut to educational resources in Letchworth in an area that can least afford it. The much admired special needs, remedial work and pastoral care, taught at Westbury are in danger of being lost due to this short-sighted decision."
Westbury is in the top 5% for value-added assessments countrywide, and questions remain about the future level of special help and resources that will be needed at the neighbouring schools – Wilbury and Icknield respectively – to cater for children who will have to go there.
Nigel added: "Despite guaranteeing that the Children’s Centre will still be on the Westbury Site, we are still to be convinced that Early Years Provision and Best Practice regarding Special Needs will be properly maintained in this area."
Parents and children will now have to negotiate Icknield Way and the railway line to access the nearest schools.
We note that David Lloyd, Deputy Leader of the County Council, said "Westbury is a fine school, no doubt about that" and the Leader of the Council, Robert Gordon, admitted that recent figures had shown pupil numbers had risen at Westbury.
(7 Dec. 2007)
At a meeting with Barbara Follett, the Labour MP for Stevenage, during a discussion on climate change the proposal for a windfarm in Benington was mentioned. (Under the new constituency boundaries, Benington comes into the NE Herts constituency from the Stevenage constituency and Oliver Heald, the Tory MP for NE Herts has been supporting the opposition to the windfarm.) Barbara suggested that the constituency party should examine the issue and form a view. The East Herts Rural branch, into which Benington falls, debated the issue and gave its support to the development of the windfarm. (This paragraph has been expanded because the earlier version had been subject to misinterpretation.)
Following the branch meeting, the following letter was published in the Hertfordshire Mercury:
The editor of the Mercury omitted the final paragraph which asked how many Bangladeshi refugees Benington was willing to accommodate when Bangladesh floods because of the lack of action on climate change.
More information can be found at www.yes2beningtonwindfarm.com
(4 Oct 2007)
Baroness Morris of Yardley (Estelle Morris), the former Secretary of State for Education and Skills,visited the Letchworth Arts Centre on 4 October 2007, to address a packed meeting of Labour Party members. The meeting was organised by North East Hertfordshire Constituency Labour Party, but the audience included members from neighbouring constituencies as well.
Estelle Morris initiated a discussion around the direction of policy in the Labour Party at this time of change of leadership, what that means for areas such as education and what Labour should be thinking about for a possible fourth term in office. Stimulating questions from members led to a lively debate, particularly around education, which both speaker and members felt would make a useful contribution to the future development of policies.
In appreciation Estelle Morris was presented with a book covering the history of Letchworth Garden City and the egalitarian principles on which the First Garden City was founded.
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