In this section you can find the most recent issues in Jim's mailbag and on the right hand panel there are copies of various letters Jim has sent out recently.
Jim's latest correspondence
I recieved the following letter from Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board regarding roadshows taking place.
Tel No: 0141 842 5900
Fax No: 0141 842 5929
Our Ref: AMacT/JH
Your Ref:
Date: 25 January 2010
If phoning or calling please ask for Alasdair MacTaggart
Dear MP,
Electoral Registration Road Shows
I am writing to advise you that we are about to embark on a series of road shows to promote electoral registration within the Joint Board area. The road shows are to be held within shopping malls in East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde and Renfrewshire.
A social marketing company, LBTV, has been enlisted to produce an infomercial for these events and will co-ordinate the road shows in Paisley and Greenock. Members of staff from my office will also be in attendance at the road shows where they will assist members of the public who wish to check or update their registration details.
The dates for the road shows are as follows:-
Piazza Centre, Paisley 1st - 7th February 2010
The Oak Mall, Greenock 8th - 14th February 2010
The Avenue Centre, Newton Mearns 18th - 20th February 2010
I will produce and publish a report on the road shows in due course.
Yours sincerely,
Assessor & Electoral Registration Officer
I recieved the below from Scottish Gas recently regarding useful numbers during the cold weather.
Dear Jim,
Important phone numbers to pass onto your constituents who may be struggling to heat their homes in this cold weather:
It has been exceptionally cold weather recently and I am aware that many of your constituents, particularly those from vulnerable groups, will be thinking about how best to stay warm and manage their energy costs. British Gas can help. We advise that customers should contact us direct so that we can ensure that we can offer them every assistance in keeping warm and managing their energy bills during this bitterly cold period.
If they are a British Gas customer, they should call us direct on freephone: 0800 072 7100 or for Prepayment Customers 0800 294 8604
Alternatively they can call the Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99). This is a free-phone number providing vulnerable customers with direct access to free insulation and reduced or ‘social’ tariffs from their energy supplier.
At British Gas we are firmly committed to playing our part in supporting all our customers especially during this cold period. We are urging customers concerned about the cost of energy to refrain from switching off their heating and contact us to see how we can help. Our call centres have received the highest level of contact ever with a nearly 300% rise in calls compared to this time last year. We have been processing these calls as quickly as possible.
We want to ensure that we can help to get out to those who are most vulnerable and will always seek to prioritise those who have no heating or hot water. We are also offering advice on line at www.britishgas.co.uk that may help protect boilers and central heating systems as the freezing temperatures continue across the country.
We may also be able to offer extended payment terms or in the case of vulnerable customers on specific benefits, transfer them onto our low cost social tariff. For customers whose bills arrive late as a result of the bad weather delaying postal services, they will still receive their prompt pay discounts as normal.
In addition we have a number of programmes specifically designed to help our most vulnerable customers which we are promoting through our charity partners and Citizen Advice Bureaux. These include:
Essentials Programme
British Gas has introduced a special tariff aimed at cutting gas and electricity bills for our most vulnerable low income customers. We currently have over 300,000 customers on the Essentials tariff saving up to £264 on average per annum, compared to a standard tariff. The tariff represents a £77.4million spend by the company and is open to existing British Gas customers in receipt of at least one of a number of specific Government benefits.
For further information on eligibility for the Essentials tariff tel: 0800 072 7100 or for Prepayment Customers 0800 294 8604
British Gas Energy Trust
British Gas has established the British Gas Energy Trust for customers to apply for grants and sustainable advice to manage their energy payments. The Trust also funds third party debt advice and in cases of extreme need, awards customers for other non-energy related debts and essential household costs.
British Gas has committed to the Trust for a further four years, taking the total committed by British Gas to the Trust to £21.3million since 2005.
The Trust is run independently of British Gas and is a registered charity.
For further information tel: 01733 421 021 (information) 01733 421 060 (applications)
‘here to HELP’
The largest social initiative of its kind in the UK, ‘here to HELP’ is a unique coalition between the public, private and charity sectors, delivering real benefits to vulnerable and fuel poor households. The scheme aims to tackle the root causes of household poverty by improving the living conditions and quality of life in some of Britain's most deprived communities. The programme offers energy efficiency products, benefits assessments, essential appliances and adaptors, home security measures, and advice from our charity partners who include Help the Aged, Scope & the RNIB.
To date, the scheme has covered nearly 600,000 homes and has found unclaimed benefits totalling nearly £12.9 million. On average, qualifying applicants are over £1,500 a year better off as a result of the benefit health check alone.
For further information on ‘here to HELP’ tel: 0800 072 8339
Free Insulation to those Aged over 70
Insulating the home is one of the most effective ways to keep warm and cut energy bills.
British Gas customers over 70 years old or on income related benefits may be able to get their home insulated for free.
British Gas ExtraCare
British Gas has given a voluntary public commitment not to disconnect anyone we know to be vulnerable. “ExtraCare” is the process we have adopted to help us proactively identify signs of vulnerability amongst our customers; how we keep this information on our systems and what we need to do once we have identified someone as being potentially vulnerable. As part of our day to day contact with our customers, we listen out for any signs the customer may give us that might indicate that they are vulnerable.
British Gas Home Energy Care Register
Our Home Energy Care Register provides essential services for some of our most vulnerable customers and around 560,000 customers now benefit from the service. The Home Energy Care Register is a priority service register for all our gas and/or electricity customers who are elderly, disabled or chronically sick. It enables us to record any specific requirements these customers may have and helps us to provide them with services appropriate to their needs
For further information tel: 0800 072 8625
Home Heat Helpline
The national Home Heat Helpline was launched in 2005, offering help to customers struggling to pay their energy bills. The service is run by the Energy Retail Association and is funded by British Gas and other major energy suppliers. It gives one point of contact, connecting customers to advice and help from their energy supplier. A specialist British Gas team takes the calls from British Gas customers and connects them to the most appropriate support.
For further information tel: 0800 33 66 99 (Mon-Fri 9am-6pm Sat 10am-3pm)
We hope that these programmes in addition to the Government funded Winter Fuel Allowance and Cold Weather Payments will provide people with the financial assistance and other support to keep warm in their homes this winter. If you have any question or would like further information, please do not hesitate to contact me or one of my public affairs team on 01753 494073.
Kind regards
Phil
Phil Bentley, Managing Director of British Gas
I recently recieved the letter below from John Wilson, Director of Education at East Renfrewshire Council in response to a lettter my colleague Ken Macintosh MSP and I sent regarding St Ninian's Primary School.
For the attention of Jim Murphy MP and Ken Macintosh MSP
Dear Jim and Ken
Thank you for your recent inquiry about the ongoing consultation regarding the proposed change of delineated area for St Ninian’s High School.
I can confirm that East Renfrewshire Council is consulting on one proposal and one proposal only. The proposal is effectively that only those children living in the delineated catchment areas for Our Lady of the Missions, St Cadoc’s and St Joseph’s primary schools and attending those schools be considered as priority for admission into St Ninian’s High School in future.
During the consultation period, which ends on 27 November 2009, a number of proposals have been made by individuals who oppose East Renfrewshire’s proposal. These proposals have been made at public meetings and in writing and include, for example, that St Cadoc’s or St Joseph’s should be re-associated with St Luke’s High School for secondary education and so leave space in St Ninian’s for young people from St Angela’s and the former St Louise’s. These counter proposals then spread as if they are official proposals. They can only be regarded as responses to the consultation.
I stress, East Renfrewshire Council is consulting on one proposal and one proposal only and that proposal does not involve an East Renfrewshire primary school. The Council will have to reconsider its position should this one proposal be rejected by the response to the public consultation.
I hope this clarifies the Council’s position for you.
John
John Wilson
Director of Education
I receieved the email below recently regarding the Draft East Renfrewshire Strategic Housing Investment Plan 2009. Comments on the draft East Renfrewshire Strategic Housing Investment Plan should be submitted by no later than Friday this week (13th November).
Email on SHIPThe draft SHIP is currently being consulted upon. The outcomes of the consultation will be used to inform the final document, which must be submitted to Scottish Government in late November 2009.
This is the third SHIP for the area, which set out East Renfrewshire’s broad plans and priorities for housing investment across the five year period. The SHIP 2009 reflects the priorities of the East Renfrewshire Local Housing Strategy (2004-2009), and has been informed by local housing needs estimates and current knowledge of the local housing market.
The draft SHIP has also taken into account a number of other areas of work which are integral in shaping and ensuring effective delivery of the SHIP; e.g. East Renfrewshire’s Finalised Local Plan; Affordable Housing Policy; Barrhead Regeneration Programme; and Corporate priorities.
Partners and stakeholders are being given the opportunity to contribute to the development of the SHIP. These documents are also available online, along with a stakeholder survey which gives you the opportunity to comment on the draft. Please go to www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/ship;
If you require a hard copy of the SHIP documents and survey, please get in touch to request these.
Responses should be returned by Friday 13th November 2009 via our website; or alternatively directly to Liz Currie (Strategy and Development Manager) at Liz.Currie@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk or Lisa Burrett (Planning and Development Officer) at Lisa.Burrett@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk .
Ref: JM
9 October 2009
Dear
Thank you for your recent email asking for my support with the 10:10 campaign which requires people to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in 2010. Climate change is something we all need to be concerned with therefore I am delighted to be able to support this campaign.
You rightly say that Government has a crucial role to play in helping people achieve this target that is why this British Government has led the world by passing the Climate Change Act which set a rigorous target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, an interim target of 26% emissions reduction on baseline by 2020 and a duty on the Secretary of State to annually report UK emissions, UK removals and net UK emissions to Parliament.
The British Government has achieved a lot in this area I am sure you will be pleased to note that in the last year alone our C02 emissions fell by 10.8 million tonnes and that our greenhouse gas emissions were 66 million tonnes lower than 1997.
The UK Government have led the way internationally on Climate Change by being the first to put climate change at the heart of the G8, the first to call a UN Security Council meeting on climate change, and the first to introduce a Climate Change Bill and in doing so set a long term framework for emissions reduction.
As you know the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in Copenhagen from 7 Dec this year, Ed Miliband the Secretary of State for Climate Change will be "pushing for clear action to get a global climate deal that's ambitious, effective and fair. This means ambitious cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, keeping countries to their word and supporting poorer countries in adapting to climate change. If you would like to sign up to support Ed in getting an ambitious, effective and fair deal on Climate Change in Copenhagen please go to http://www.edspledge.com/
On 26 June this year the UK Government launched ‘The Road to Copenhagen’ document which sets out our ambitions for the Conference. To find out more about this please visit my website www.jimmurphymp.com
Thank you again for taking the time to contact me on this important issue.
Yours sincerely,
Rt.Hon. Jim Murphy MP
Last week Jim, and his colleague Ken Macintosh MSP, wrote to all the local primary schools to encourage them to get involved in this years Kwik Fit Insurance 'Lollipop Person of the Year Awards' and to recognise how important and valued our local lollipop people are.
Below is a copy of the letter sent out.
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