Thursday 25 October 2012

Birmingham MP calls for Director of Housing to resign over alleged cover-up

Birmingham Hall Green MP, Roger Godsiff, will today raise in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons, the issue of the treatment of this constituent, Nicola Shipley, and the way individuals in the Housing Department in Birmingham ‘conspired’ to deliberately  withhold information about the anti-social behaviour of one of their tenants who subsequently became a ‘neighbour from hell’ and made Ms Shipley’s life a misery. 

Mr Godsiff said: “In essence, certain officers in the Housing Department dumped this problem on the Housing Association by omitting to tell them the true facts –while wrecking the life of this young lady and causing misery to her and her neighbours. I am calling on the Director of Housing to resign over this alleged cover-up.”

He went on to say: “The officers who approved the transfer deliberately and wilfully conspired to ignore the Council’s own ‘mutual transfer procedures’ and did not tell Moseley & District Housing Association about previous appalling record of this particular tenant despite the fact that this information was in the public domain.  These officers knew that Moseley & District Housing Association would not have allowed the transfer to proceed had they known – and the Housing Association have made this abundantly clear to me.”

Nicola Shipley said:  “I am a homeowner and had previously lived peacefully and quietly in this respectful family community and neighbourhood for five years.  Since October 2010 I have felt unsafe, vulnerable, harassed, intimidated and threatened in my own home.  The constant extreme noise from the playing of loud dance band music, the intimidation and anti-social behaviour has severely affected my quality of life and those of my neighbours.”

Ms Shipley has lived at her current address for the last five years and her problem neighbour moved in under ‘mutual exchange’ arrangements where tenants exchange properties. Housing officers are however required to check out the housing file of prospective tenants to ensure that there is not a history of rent arrears or any breach of tenancy conditions – such as anti-social behaviour.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Obama or Romney – or does it matter?

When asked recently if the US Presidential Election really matters Roger said:  “There was huge optimism when Barack Obama was elected that there would be a change in direction of America policy both domestically and internationally.  Sadly this has not happened and many of his strongest supporters now feel disappointed and disillusioned. 

This is understandable not least because many of his problems have been caused because he has tried to reach consensus with an ever more right wing Republican Party. 

Nevertheless if anybody thinks it doesn’t matter who is elected President they might like to tune into Fox News – which I have done recently – and see their take on the American Election.  Fox News is the Murdoch owned mouthpiece of the religious, fundamentalist and Tea Party factions in America who are beating the drum for Romney and launching daily broadsides against Obama and the Democrat Party while masquerading as a ‘news channel’.  These people really are scary!”

Friday 12 October 2012

Roger Godsiff slams British Gas for raising gas and electricity prices – yet again.


Commenting on the news that British Gas intended to increase both its gas and electricity prices by about 6% from the 16th November – adding about £80 a year to the average fuel bill – Roger Godsiff said: “Typical!!  The power supply companies have been ripping off their customers ever since privatisation of gas and electricity and here they go again.  British Gas last raised its tariffs in August 2011 when gas prices went up by 18% and electricity prices by 16% and then, surprise surprise, in January 2012 it cut its electricity prices by 5%.  Big deal!

All of the power supply companies will be increasing their tariffs this winter and the average duel fuel bill now comes to more than £1,300 a year.  More and more people are under huge economic pressure either by having no job; working part-time; or are in fear of losing their jobs while many retired people are feeling, according to Age UK, ‘extremely anxious’ about their heating bills.  These facts are of no consequence to the ‘fat cats’ in the power supply companies whose profits are huge and whose executives have no worry themselves about paying for their gas and electricity because their salaries and bonuses are so generous.  So called competition amongst energy supply companies is a ‘joke’ with tariffs so confusing that you would need a degree in mathematics to work your way around them.”

Squabble over Lloyds profits of £800million

Following media reports that seem to indicate that there is a dispute between the senior management at Lloyds Bank and its regulators at the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority over what to do with Lloyds profits, Roger Godsiff has written to Greg Clark MP, Financial Secretary, to the Treasury to seek clarification.

He has sort assurances that the Government will not tolerate Lloyds Bank paying out dividends to its shareholders while the tax payer owns 43% of the shares and is sitting on considerable losses on the original price paid for the shares.

Mr Godsiff said: “The report suggests that the management of Lloyds want to use the profits – estimated at £800million- to pay dividends to shareholders whereas the regulators, quite rightly in my opinion, are arguing that because the tax payer had to bail out the bank in 2009 the profits should be retained within the bank and used to bolster the bank’s capital. 

He commented further: “I am of course aware that Lloyds has also benefited from the Government’s provision of additional liquidity and the Quantitative Easing programme initiated by the Monetary Policy Committee. 

“Bearing in mind that Lloyds Bank is 43% owned by the state who had to bail it out to prevent it collapsing it would, in my opinion, be totally improper for any temporary profits to be distributed to shareholders which will, of course, benefit senior management who have share options and get bonuses based upon enhanced share value.”

Mr Godsiff concluded: “I am also mindful of the fact that already, in the three years from 2008 to 2011 Lloyds paid out massive amounts in bonuses which vastly exceeded the £2 million that it clawed back from former executives who presided over the failure of the bank.”

Wednesday 10 October 2012


Birmingham City Council will utilise the full £6.1m Discretionary Social Fund grant from the Government to support vulnerable people in crisis.

Roger Godsiff has welcomed the news today that Birmingham City Council will utilise the full £6.1m grant from the Government to support vulnerable people in crisis even though this money will not be ring fenced when local councils take over its administration from 1st April 2013 under the new welfare reforms.
Speaking from Westminster Mr Godsiff said: “With the Conservatives promising even more raids on the wallets of the poor and vulnerable at their party conference and a further £10billion in welfare cuts, it is good news indeed that Birmingham City Council will use all of this money for the purposes that it was originally intended when it’s administration falls under their control.”
“This money is not ‘ring-fenced’ so in theory local councils can spend in anything to plug a hole in any budget that is under pressure politically or otherwise” continued Mr Godsiff.
The provisions of the Welfare Reform Act will mean that from April 2013 that Community Care Grants and Crisis Loans will be replaced by locally based provision delivered by Councils through local schemes.
The news came in a response to a letter that Mr Godsiff had sent to Stephen Hughes, Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council, on this matter which also asked about the impact on council employment levels of the introduction of the Universal Credit.
The administration of a number of benefits including housing benefit would cease to be administered by the council when Universal Credit is introduced but Mr Hughes was not able to offer any clarification on this particular issue.

Monday 8 October 2012

New Code of Practice for Parking on Private Land

Sent on behalf of Patrick Troy, Chief Executive, British Parking Association

The New Code of Practice for Parking on Private Land

 

Dear colleague,

PARKING ON PRIVATE LAND

You may have heard that, as of the 1st October 2012, under provisions contained in the Protection of Freedoms Act, clamping and towing away on private land is now unlawful (unless a landowner or their agent can demonstrate lawful authority). This means that many operators who manage parking on private land will rely on the issue of parking tickets to deter motorists from breaching terms and conditions that may apply on their land.

At the government's request the British Parking Association has established for England and Wales an independent appeals service for motorists who receive such tickets and may feel the ticket is unfair. This service was also introduced on the 1st October and will apply to parking incidents occurring from that date (though not before).

If one of your constituents receives a ticket issued after this date and they feel it was given unfairly they should first write to the company who issued it. If the company rejects the motorist's case they must provide details of the independent appeals service. This process is similar to that which applies in car parks run by local authorities.

The service is provided by the same organisation that runs the Parking and Traffic Appeals Service (PATAS) for motorists who receive parking tickets from the London Boroughs. It is free to the motorist and decisions are binding on the operator. The service applies to all operators who are members of the BPA.

While the new service - known as POPLA (Parking on Private Land Appeals) - provides additional redress for motorists, BPA members must also comply with our Code of Practice for parking on private land and we have and will apply sanctions – which can lead to expulsion - where a contravention of the Code is proven. It should be noted, however, that POPLA will only apply to tickets issued by BPA members. Motorists who receive tickets from companies that do not belong to an Accredited Trade Association will not have the right to appeal through independent adjudication.

We have produced a new guide for consumers to help them understand both the change in the law and what they can expect when they park on private land. I attach a copy of the guide which also sets out how motorists can help themselves in avoiding receiving parking tickets.

Please accept my apologies for the round robin nature of this letter but I am very happy to both provide you with additional information and meet you to help clarify any of the information regarding the development of the private parking sector. If you would like to meet please contact my PA Vicky Harris on 01444 447304 or reply to this email.

Yours sincerely,

Patrick Troy


Patrick Troy
Chief Executive
British Parking Association
Tel:      01444 447 306
Web:   www.britishparking.co.uk

Roger condemns YouTube video 'Innocence of Muslims' as gratuitous.


Roger said: “This film has already been condemned, in the strongly possible terms, by the American President and Hillary Clinton, his Secretary of State, and I share their condemnation.”

He went on to say: “I deplore gratuitous attacks on anybody’s religious beliefs but it is quite obvious that the makers of film wanted to be as controversial as possible in order to maximise their financial gain from the resulting publicity - which their nasty little film was guaranteed to evoke.  It would have been much better if the video had been totally ignored by everybody because the makers would have failed in their objectives of getting publicity and financial gain from it.

Mr Godsiff concluded: “Because the video was produced in America the British Government has no powers to take action against the makers of the video but if a similar one was made in this country then there might well be powers under the laws against ‘inciting racial hatred’ for the authorities to initiate proceedings.”
Roger Godsiff  talks about his support for speech and language therapy.

Friday 5 October 2012

Roger and local Councillor visit Sparkhill Foodbank

Roger and local Councillor for Springfield ward, Habib Rehman, together with Gulbahar Khan, a member of Roger’s staff, paid a visit to the Sparkhill Foodbank recently.  The foodbank was set up in February and is staffed by volunteers.  Over 40 referral agencies including Job Centres, the Red Cross, Children’s centres, the Refugee Council and schools refer clients to the centre which has been open since February 2012.  Since that time they have issued over 400 food parcels which have supported over 1,000 people who are supplied with three days worth of nutritionally balanced food.

The main reasons why people are referred to the foodbank is because of the changes or delays in payment of benefits; being homeless or having a low income; or losing their jobs and over half the referrals are people living alone with over a quarter being lone parent households. 

Said Roger “The Foodbank, which is based in Bard Street Sparkhill, is playing an increasing daily role in sustaining some of the most vulnerable groups in our society and I have nothing but the greatest admiration for the dedication and commitment of the volunteers and staff who are working at the centre”. 

He went on to say: “What makes me angry, however, is that in a country like Britain, which has the 7th largest economy in the world, we have to resort to foodbanks in order to sustain people and families who do not have enough income to feed themselves and their families." 

He continued: "I have seen images of the soup kitchens which were set up in America and Britain during the last great depression in the 1930s but I never thought that 80 years further on we would need to have foodbanks in order to feed people who, along with many other sections of society, have been the innocent victims.”

He concluded: “Yet again, of the rampant greed and irresponsibility of sections of the financial and banking sector who brought about the current financial crisis just like they did in the late 1920s.”

Thursday 4 October 2012

ROGER GODSIFF DEMANDS URGENT INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGATIONS OF HEALTH TOURISM AT LOCAL HEALTH CENTRE FOLLOWING PANORAMA PROGRAMME.


“I want an urgent investigation to remove the ‘cloud’ which has been placed over the health centre.” says Roger Godsiff.

Birmingham Hall Green MP, Roger Godsiff,  has confessed himself to be ‘shocked’ at the alleged behaviour of a local practice manager at a Health Centre in his constituency filmed taking large sums of money for putting so called ‘health tourists’ – people not entitled to receive free health treatment – on the books of GP’s operating in the practice.

The alleged behaviour of practice manager Mr Butt at the Farm Road Health Centre was filmed by Panorama and broadcast on the evening of 3rd October and has led to Mr Godsiff writing an immediate letter to Wendy Saviour, Chief Executive of the Heart of Birmingham NHS Teaching PCT demanding an urgent enquiry.

Roger Godsiff said: “I would like to know exactly what steps you have taken in the light of the highly damaging revelations in the programme.  Has Mr. Butt been suspended and have the PCT sent in their own investigators to carry out an investigation?  He went on to say: “It would, in my opinion, be very inappropriate if such damaging evidence was being investigated by staff at the centre.” 

Mr Godsiff has also sort assurances that: “Nobody else, including the doctors at the centre, have received any payments for putting ‘overseas health visitors’ on the list of patients for GPs.” Panorama did not make allegations that any of the money received by the Practice Manager, Mr. Butt, was passed onto anybody else in the centre.

He has also asked Wendy Saviour about the steps that are being taken to have the dozen or so names of the ‘overseas health visitors’ for whom money was paid, removed from the list of patients at the practice and what further steps were going to be taken to ensure that all people using the centre were people legally resident in this country and had a legal entitlement to usage of the facilities.

Roger was very much involved in pushing for the brand new health centre at Farm Rd to be built and it was the very last project to be build under the LIFT programme prior to the incoming Government scrapping the programme. 


He concluded: “Local Councillors and the whole community were very proud of the new building and thankful that it had been built before the LIFT programme was abolished.”