Voting for Equal Pay
I voted today to introduce pay transparency across large companies. The measure, put forward by my colleague Sarah Champion in a 10 Minute Rule Bill will require companies which employ over 250 staff to publish their own gender pay gap in their annual report. I was delighted to meet with Gwen Davis, Sheila Douglass, Vera […]
Oldham Foodbank honoured by Parliamentary poverty group
Volunteers at Oldham Foodbank are celebrating after being awarded a Paul Goggins Memorial Prize runners-up certificate by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poverty (APPG Poverty) having been nominated for the national award by me. The memorial prize for best civil society organisation to tackle poverty, donated by the Webb Memorial Trust, is in honour […]
Parliamentary Update – Children in Poverty; Air Quality; Arms Exports; Social Security Sanctions; Overseas Aid
This has been another very busy week in Parliament. On Monday in Education Questions I asked the Education Secretary about the Children’s Commissioner for England’s report on income inequality and its effect on children. I said, “Today’s report by the Children’s Commissioner for England has highlighted the increasing gap between rich and poor families and […]
Autumn Statement – A Record of Repeated Broken Promises
This week the Chancellor presented his Autumn Statement (in December!) to Parliament, at which he set out future spending plans. David Cameron and George Osborne have failed every test and broken every promise they’ve made on the economy. During the debate following his statement, I questioned the Chancellor on his economic record, saying: “The OBR’s […]
Supporting Small Business Saturday
Yesterday I popped in to the Swirly Twirly Sweets shop in Oldham town centre to start my Christmas shopping and show my support for this year’s Small Business Saturday, which is taking place on Saturday 6th December. Small Business Saturday is a grass-roots campaign that encourages people to shop locally and support small businesses in the local community. Last year it was […]
Be Fair Pay on Time Update – Premier Foods’ Bullying Tactics
I was shocked to hear the news this week that Premier Foods are demanding payments from their suppliers using a so-called ‘pay and stay’ scheme. In my view, this is just another example of large companies using bullying tactics against small businesses by demanding money to finance their own existence. ‘Pay and stay’ is when a large company […]
Business Development Grants in Shaw and Lees
Oldham Council has recently announced Business Development Grants of up to £3,000 for small businesses in Shaw and Lees. They have allocated £100,000 for each area for local independent businesses, with matched funding, to apply for grants of up to £3,000 to grow their business. For more information on the Shaw scheme see the A5 […]
‘Hated’ cash retentions highlighted in Commons debate
Construction industry organisations have welcomed my efforts by to tackle the issue of ‘hated’ cash retentions* during the third reading of amendments to the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. At any one time over £3 billion is outstanding in the construction industry by way of cash retentions. I have several examples, including that of […]
Government’s Small Business Bill does not address ‘cultural issue’ of late payment
Although I welcome the fact that some of my cross-party inquiry recommendations are being set in law, the government’s Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill does not go far enough on addressing the cultural issue that underpins and drives late payment. The Bill fails to stand up to powerful vested interests on behalf of small […]
Government avoid scrutiny on DWP inquiry
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) this week finally published Matthew Oakley’s report into sanctions. The report highlights systematic problems in the way the government administers and imposes benefit sanctions, including disproportionate burdens on the most vulnerable, something I have raised in Parliament on numerous occasions. I believe that for the DWP to conveniently publish the […]