My week in brief

This a summary of my work for Brighton Pavilion locally and in Parliament from November 17 – November 23. As usual, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need my help with anything.

PMQs

Who gets to ask the Prime Minister a question each week during PMQs is decided by a ballot and this week I was lucky (!) enough to be chosen. My instinct was to ask about the NHS or housing and I used twitter to ask constituents for their views, as well as suggestions for other topics. There were lots of great ideas and in the end my question went as follows:

Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion) (Green): Rents are sky-high and house prices in Brighton rose 13% in the last quarter alone. Nurses’ wages were recommended to go up by 1% yet the Prime Minister’s Government are blocking even this tiny rise. How does he expect hospitals like the Royal Sussex to be able to recruit enough nurses if they simply cannot afford to live in the area?

The Prime Minister: First, we are making a huge investment in the Royal Sussex hospital and that will have its effect, but I have to say to the hon. Lady that she says house prices are rising and are unaffordable, but I have never come across a Green party politician who is in favour of building houses anywhere for anyone.

 I am disappointed the PM ignored the important point about NHS pay, especially as health workers are striking today and taking action the rest of the week over their frozen pay. He also clearly hasn't read my housing charter (http://bit.ly/1u71mEn), in which I sent out very clearly the need to build new affordable homes.

 

Local economy

The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill was in Parliament last week and I tabled several amendments, including calling for the introduction of a Living Wage and for export funding to only be made available to companies that upheld high environmental and human rights standards.

I was also a top sponsor of an amendment to secure a fair deal for local pubs. It givens pub tenants who lease from the big pubcos the right to a ‘market rent only’ agreement. It means they’ll be able to buy beer on the open market, at prices up to 70% less, and an end to extortionate, unfair rents. I was delighted that it was backed by the majority of MPs. I’ll be keeping up the pressure on government to implement these reforms as soon as possible, for the benefit of our pubs, our community and our local economy too.

NHS

MPs were voting last week on a Private Members Bill to roll back some of the so called reforms made to the NHS by the Coalition. I was in Parliament to back the Bill and thanks to the several hundred constituents that contacted me to say how much they love the NHS and want to protect it - and the the 231,125 who signed 38 degrees' petition.  The Bill is a welcome step forward but I am arguing for much more courageous and robust approach. I set out my reasons in this blog

 

Higher Education

A report came out this week which reveals that on average three quarter's of Brighton and Hove's students won't be able to pay back their students loans because they will never earn enough to do so. These debts, worth an average of £44,000 per student, will be written off after 30 years, and the report is another nail in the coffin of the Treasury's argument that saddling students with enormous debts makes any kind of economic sense. 

I was proud to join students at a peaceful Free Education march during the week to make the case for a proper funding system to replace the current one, in which students can pay up to £9,000 a year in tuition fees. I used the opportunity to promote a business education tax instead, which if applied to the top 4% of companies ie those already eligible for corporation tax and at a level that would bring them in line with the average corporation tax rate in Europe, would raise enough money to fund tuition fees. Raising more from such a tax could also allow for student grants to be reintroduced.

On the same day I took part in a twitter debate with students from Sussex University and organised by the National Union of Students. I answered questions about housing, jobs for young people, how to build better relationships between students and the local community and about better cycling and more affordable public transport.

This week I also met with students at Sussex University to talk about my PSHE Bill - and my campaign to make Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education statutory. You can read more about the campaign here.

Climate Change and Energy

As the next round of UN climate negotiations approach and the urgency of needing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions becomes ever more pressing, the news of a large investment by INEOS in shale gas exploration highlights the need for major shift in government policy to encourage renewable energy not more fossil fuels. My response is here.

Energy efficiency coupled with investment in renewables could make an enormous difference to our emissions and I backed calls last week in Parliament by the NEA (National Energy Action) to renew efforts to reduce fuel poverty. I know from my mailbag and surgeries that this affects an unacceptable number of local residents and, as the cold weather approaches, I'll be doing all I can to shine a spotlight on the benefits of warm homes - for residents, bill payers, the environment and our economy in terms of job creation

Contacting Me

If you are a local resident and need help with case work or to find out more about my activities locally please do contact me.

I hold regular surgeries across the constituency. If you’d like to book an appointment at a forthcoming surgery please do call my constituency office.

Likewise, if you would like to know about my parliamentary work please get in touch, please do call my Parliamentary office.

 

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