The new claims by MPs are out today and we can see the details of all the claims made last year and the start of this financial year. This information can be seen by clicking the name of your MP
Kevin Barron, John Healey and Denis MacShane. It should be pointed out here that John Healey is already publishing this information himself on the website http://www.johnhealeymp.co.uk. Where John has shown the way, Kevin and Denis must follow, Rotherham voters demand nothing less, so please stop mucking about and give us the information, it is our money you have spent!
I thought I would have a look first at MacShane's claims, I was first saddened and then increasingly indignant that amongst the receipts were the following:
20 August 2008 £529:47 On a flat screen TV, HDMI Lead and DAB Radio
24 September 2008 £29:45 Dry cleaning
04 October 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
06 October 2008 £12:00 Dry cleaning
20 October 2008 £16:25 Dry cleaning
11 November 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
22 November 2008 £8:25 Dry cleaning
08 December 2008 £19:90 Dry cleaning
20 December 2008 £10:50 Dry cleaning
04 February 2009 £16:50 Dry cleaning
14 February 2009 £13;25 Dry cleaning
07 March 2009 £46:98 Dunelm Mills Rotherham (Curtain and Kettle)
As well as the above He also claimed the maximum for his food £400 per month no less.
There is also an interesting set of correspondence in this years file relating to his claim for cleaning. Stupid fool didn't know that after the Speakers statement of 20th May he could no longer do so and he was duly told off for it - naughty boy!
We believe that his salary should cover all of these items, What does he think his £64,000 plus salary is for? He should not have claimed them. Therefore we are demanding the repayment of these claims a total of £627:07. Come on Denis pay up!
Thursday 10 December 2009
Wednesday 9 December 2009
Ofsted Slams Rotherham in New Report!
Today, December 9th 2009, it has been revealed that Rotherham's Children's Services are judged to be poor by Ofsted. This has happened now only because of the information on the new site Oneplace which went live at 00:01! It is important to remember that this was not news to RMBC. The Rotherham Area Assessment can be seen as a pdf file HERE.
The Council have issued a statement on this assessment which means that along with Doncaster and Haringey, Rotherham is among a group of only nine Councils in the whole country whose Children's Services are in such a sorry state.
At first glance the RMBC Press release inspired confidence that they are on to it, however after more detailed consideration and dissection of the contents, I am left worrying that this is not an occasion for a 'leave it with me' approach favoured by Roger Stone that seems to be being offered here.
This is one of the most serious of failures that could happen to a local authority, after all, is a failing where lives are lost. Rotherham must do at least a reasonable job of protecting the most vulnerable in society, our children.
These children cannot lobby politicians or write to newspapers to complain, they are largely invisible and voiceless. We have a duty to them to give them a voice and to pressure failing services until they deliver for them.
This an issue that must be addressed by all of us, we cannot allow this situation to continue for any longer. Lobby your elected representatives, write to the newspapers, support related charities and most important of all do not forget our duty to these children.
NSPCC Telephone Helpline 0808 8005000
ChildLine Telephone Helpline 0800 1111
Donate to Child's Voice Campaign
The Council have issued a statement on this assessment which means that along with Doncaster and Haringey, Rotherham is among a group of only nine Councils in the whole country whose Children's Services are in such a sorry state.
At first glance the RMBC Press release inspired confidence that they are on to it, however after more detailed consideration and dissection of the contents, I am left worrying that this is not an occasion for a 'leave it with me' approach favoured by Roger Stone that seems to be being offered here.
This is one of the most serious of failures that could happen to a local authority, after all, is a failing where lives are lost. Rotherham must do at least a reasonable job of protecting the most vulnerable in society, our children.
These children cannot lobby politicians or write to newspapers to complain, they are largely invisible and voiceless. We have a duty to them to give them a voice and to pressure failing services until they deliver for them.
This an issue that must be addressed by all of us, we cannot allow this situation to continue for any longer. Lobby your elected representatives, write to the newspapers, support related charities and most important of all do not forget our duty to these children.
NSPCC Telephone Helpline 0808 8005000
ChildLine Telephone Helpline 0800 1111
Donate to Child's Voice Campaign
New government information site opens
The following press release was issued today and now gives us a powerful new tool to keep local government to account for what they do. Press Release reads;
"Are we being served? For the first time all public services to be held to account in Oneplace
The six independent public service inspectorates¹ today (Wednesday 9 December 2009) launch their first joint judgement, on a new website. It will show how places in England are coping with their local priorities, such as the recession, obesity in schoolchildren, crime and care for the elderly.
The Oneplace website goes live at 00.01 on Wednesday 9 December. It provides assessments of performance on the environment, services provided for children and young people, raising school standards and cutting disparities in health.
In a more streamlined approach auditors and inspectors have come together to publish their findings, making them directly available to the public in everyday language.
Oneplace divides the country into 152 areas, measuring how well local services work together to meet both their own priorities and government indicators on, for example, anti-social behaviour and teenage pregnancy.
The website uses green flags to highlight exceptional performance others can learn from. Red flags signal where problems won't be solved without a fresh approach by the local public services working together.
- Blackpool gets a green flag for the way the Council, landlords, Job Centre Plus and the voluntary sector have cooperated to cut homelessness.
- Doctors, nurses and other health professionals worked with the Council and voluntary bodies in the London Borough of Hackney to significantly increase the number of children who live beyond the age of one, recognised by a green flag.
- In Doncaster, which has a red flag, public services have not been doing enough to keep children safe and healthy or to ensure that they achieve good results in schools.
- Oneplace red flagged stark differences in the quality of life of poorer inhabitants of the English Riviera, compared to the rest of the population. Public services in Torbay have not done enough to combat above average poverty and poor housing and health.
- In Kensington and Chelsea, special efforts by teachers, child and mental health professionals, the Council and voluntary bodies closed the gap in school results for children from black and ethnic minority backgrounds. It gets a green flag.
Below is a joint statement from the Chief Executives of all six inspectorates:
'Oneplace is for those who pay for local services, those who provide them, and those who depend on them. This is 21st century accountability, based on expert assessments of what services do for people, not how they are organised.
'It paints a picture of places, their agreed local priorities, challenges and their public service performance. The website offers a way of checking the effectiveness of public spending and helps people hold those who provide publicly funded services to account for their decisions.'
The website also publishes the ratings for councils and fire and rescue authorities. It links to the ratings from Ofsted on children's services, which are published today (9 December), and the Care Quality Commission's assessments of adult social care, released last week.
Building on local government's recent track record of improvement, the Audit Commission is publishing assessments of councils on a revised basis, stripping out much of the detail and reflecting today's challenges such as carbon reduction. The new assessments look at how well councils and fire and rescue authorities manage their performance, and make use of the resources available to them. For relevant councils, they take into account reports from Ofsted and CQC on services for children and vulnerable adults. Councils are graded on a four point scale. 1 denotes poor, 2 adequate, 3 denotes performing well and 4 excellent. Overall, local government has maintained its recent improvement and faces an uncertain financial outlook with a good grip on its performance.
The six inspectorates behind Oneplace are joining forces with one of the most recognisable brands in public service information - Directgov. Oneplace will be available through the Directgov website as well as via each inspectorate's site. This innovative agreement will give Oneplace impressive visibility, as Directgov has up to 18 million visits each month."
I have given it a go already and it appears to be quite extensive and detailed, should be very useful give it a go. Click Here
Monday 7 December 2009
Has Kevin Barron Lost the Plot?
Kevin Barron, or The Rt Hon Kevin Barron MP if you prefer his full title, seems to have altered the Constitution at a stroke of rhetorical flourish he uttered during a Westminster Hall debate on November 12th this year when he made the speech where he said;
"Members of Parliament are sent to the House because our constituents want a representative of the state. That is the whole point of the exercise and why we are sent to Westminster, whether we are in government or opposition, or whatever. We are the state's representative in our constituencies and we should not be frightened of taking decisions on behalf of our constituents, because that is to the general good". (Hansard HC Deb, 12 November 2009, c164WH)
This is a new development in thinking and may go some way of accounting for his conversion from a firebrand acolyte of Arthur Scargill to establishment lackey abandoning principle without conscience, and selling his constituents short.**
What is the role of an MP anyway? Perhaps we should look at Parliament's own documentation and they define it thus on their website;
The Role of an MP
MPs have responsibilities to three main groups: their constituents, Parliament and their political party. One MP is elected to the House of Commons by each of the UK’s 600+ constituencies. MPs’ duties in Parliament include participating in debates and voting on legislation and other matters. They may also be members of committees examining new laws or the work of government departments. Some have a role as a minister in government or a spokesperson in opposition.
MPs can help their constituents by advising on problems (particularly those that arise from the work of government departments), representing the concerns of their constituents in Parliament and acting as a figurehead for the local area.
MPs usually support their party by voting with its leadership in the House of Commons and acting as a representative for the party in their constituency.
It does not say anywhere that MP's represent the State to their constituents and as far as I can tell this is pretty well a unique view among elected politicians and a surprising one coming from a previous ultra left winger and Peoples Champion.
Why would this previously adept, political greasy pole climber, have developed a mindset where he could indulge in this fit of arrogant stupidity?
Does it throw light on previous experiences which has led this MP to think he is a superior being whose opinions matter more than his constituents, if he means this "that is to the general good" he is taking a view point that 'only Kevin Knows best' he has obviously lost the plot and it will be very difficult for anyone to take him seriously on any issue again!
The make up of Rother Valley Constituency changes significantly at the General Election to include areas formerly in Wentworth Constituency that have developed a distinct pattern of voting most unhelpful to labour in Rother Valley.
I have analysed voting patterns in the Local, General and European elections taking into account these boundary changes. The analysis confirms that, electorally, labour are in a hole in Rother Valley with a notional current share of the vote that would mean a conservative win by a majority of over a thousand.
If voting patterns do not radically change then Kevin will be forced into retirement by his own voters and the inactivity of his agent who is apparently blissfully unaware of their current lamentable electoral position after all how could Barron possibly be vulnerable when he got 21,871 votes last time?****
Perhaps this might explain the purchase of a super fast colour printer from public funds, to communicate with his constituents. Evidence of this actually happening appears to be non existent however.
Rumours persist locally that the intention is to print all of the election leaflets for all three Rotherham constituencies. Hope this rumour is untrue as it could get awfully messy. All should become clear in the fullness of time. The GPM Section of Unite are known to be very interested in the use of this printer and of other publicly funded equipment in Rotherham being diverted illegally and used for electoral purposes, because the Labour Party has a long standing commitment that all election materials should be printed in GPM recognised printshops. Quite right too for the 'party of the people' I say!! Lets hope they make a better job of getting this policy enforced here in Rotherham than they have in recent times.
The Conservatives are cock-a-hoop that, for the first time in living history, they have a realistic chance of unseating a labour MP in Rotherham and getting their excellent local candidate and Councillor, Lynda Donaldson elected to SERVE her Rother Valley constituents and represent THEM in Parliament for a change. Now that's a radical idea!
Kevin should step down now and give the Labour Party at least a chance of turning this situation around with a new candidate, certainly not his daughter, Cllr Amy Rushforth (up for re-election in Maltby Ward next year defending a whopping majority of just 106!
Kevin Barron is said to be very keen that she should follow him into Parliament. What an insult to his constituents, the arrogance and sheer pomposity of this man seems to know no bounds he certainly seems to have lost contact with reality in a way that seems to me to disqualify him from further service as an MP, he should stand down now with as much dignity as he can muster before we will be saying, within 6 months, "we're you up for Barron? Ha Ha!.
Notes
**Students of Kevin Barron should acquaint themselves with the following;
Marching To The Fault Line - The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain by Francis Beckett and David Henke published by Constable.
The Enemy Within - The Secret War Against the Miners by Seaumas Milne published by Verso.
**** Much more on this soonest, if anyone would like further information on this, email us on rpteam@easy.com or leave a comment including an email address ( It will not be published). If you want a new anonymous email address then we recommend easy.com as the easiest and quickest to use to keep your identity private.
STOP PRESS Kevin Barron's Website now live! at http://www.kevinbarronmp.com/ - enjoy? It will not take you long! Where is the missing bits such as what has he done for you and an account of how he has spent the money he has had from the public purse, without it we cannot judge him for the way he has used it.
Time to tell us Kevin and Denis! This form of accounting by John Healey should be regarded as a minimum for any Parliamentarian who wishes to be elected/re-elected next year.
"Members of Parliament are sent to the House because our constituents want a representative of the state. That is the whole point of the exercise and why we are sent to Westminster, whether we are in government or opposition, or whatever. We are the state's representative in our constituencies and we should not be frightened of taking decisions on behalf of our constituents, because that is to the general good". (Hansard HC Deb, 12 November 2009, c164WH)
This is a new development in thinking and may go some way of accounting for his conversion from a firebrand acolyte of Arthur Scargill to establishment lackey abandoning principle without conscience, and selling his constituents short.**
What is the role of an MP anyway? Perhaps we should look at Parliament's own documentation and they define it thus on their website;
The Role of an MP
MPs have responsibilities to three main groups: their constituents, Parliament and their political party. One MP is elected to the House of Commons by each of the UK’s 600+ constituencies. MPs’ duties in Parliament include participating in debates and voting on legislation and other matters. They may also be members of committees examining new laws or the work of government departments. Some have a role as a minister in government or a spokesperson in opposition.
MPs can help their constituents by advising on problems (particularly those that arise from the work of government departments), representing the concerns of their constituents in Parliament and acting as a figurehead for the local area.
MPs usually support their party by voting with its leadership in the House of Commons and acting as a representative for the party in their constituency.
It does not say anywhere that MP's represent the State to their constituents and as far as I can tell this is pretty well a unique view among elected politicians and a surprising one coming from a previous ultra left winger and Peoples Champion.
Why would this previously adept, political greasy pole climber, have developed a mindset where he could indulge in this fit of arrogant stupidity?
Does it throw light on previous experiences which has led this MP to think he is a superior being whose opinions matter more than his constituents, if he means this "that is to the general good" he is taking a view point that 'only Kevin Knows best' he has obviously lost the plot and it will be very difficult for anyone to take him seriously on any issue again!
The make up of Rother Valley Constituency changes significantly at the General Election to include areas formerly in Wentworth Constituency that have developed a distinct pattern of voting most unhelpful to labour in Rother Valley.
I have analysed voting patterns in the Local, General and European elections taking into account these boundary changes. The analysis confirms that, electorally, labour are in a hole in Rother Valley with a notional current share of the vote that would mean a conservative win by a majority of over a thousand.
If voting patterns do not radically change then Kevin will be forced into retirement by his own voters and the inactivity of his agent who is apparently blissfully unaware of their current lamentable electoral position after all how could Barron possibly be vulnerable when he got 21,871 votes last time?****
Perhaps this might explain the purchase of a super fast colour printer from public funds, to communicate with his constituents. Evidence of this actually happening appears to be non existent however.
Rumours persist locally that the intention is to print all of the election leaflets for all three Rotherham constituencies. Hope this rumour is untrue as it could get awfully messy. All should become clear in the fullness of time. The GPM Section of Unite are known to be very interested in the use of this printer and of other publicly funded equipment in Rotherham being diverted illegally and used for electoral purposes, because the Labour Party has a long standing commitment that all election materials should be printed in GPM recognised printshops. Quite right too for the 'party of the people' I say!! Lets hope they make a better job of getting this policy enforced here in Rotherham than they have in recent times.
The Conservatives are cock-a-hoop that, for the first time in living history, they have a realistic chance of unseating a labour MP in Rotherham and getting their excellent local candidate and Councillor, Lynda Donaldson elected to SERVE her Rother Valley constituents and represent THEM in Parliament for a change. Now that's a radical idea!
Kevin should step down now and give the Labour Party at least a chance of turning this situation around with a new candidate, certainly not his daughter, Cllr Amy Rushforth (up for re-election in Maltby Ward next year defending a whopping majority of just 106!
Kevin Barron is said to be very keen that she should follow him into Parliament. What an insult to his constituents, the arrogance and sheer pomposity of this man seems to know no bounds he certainly seems to have lost contact with reality in a way that seems to me to disqualify him from further service as an MP, he should stand down now with as much dignity as he can muster before we will be saying, within 6 months, "we're you up for Barron? Ha Ha!.
Notes
**Students of Kevin Barron should acquaint themselves with the following;
Marching To The Fault Line - The 1984 Miners' Strike and the Death of Industrial Britain by Francis Beckett and David Henke published by Constable.
The Enemy Within - The Secret War Against the Miners by Seaumas Milne published by Verso.
**** Much more on this soonest, if anyone would like further information on this, email us on rpteam@easy.com or leave a comment including an email address ( It will not be published). If you want a new anonymous email address then we recommend easy.com as the easiest and quickest to use to keep your identity private.
STOP PRESS Kevin Barron's Website now live! at http://www.kevinbarronmp.com/ - enjoy? It will not take you long! Where is the missing bits such as what has he done for you and an account of how he has spent the money he has had from the public purse, without it we cannot judge him for the way he has used it.
Time to tell us Kevin and Denis! This form of accounting by John Healey should be regarded as a minimum for any Parliamentarian who wishes to be elected/re-elected next year.
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