Retired social worker, Shirley Smith, who doubled the Labour vote when she contested the Plymstock Radford ward in the local elections this year was elected unanimously by local party members.

Shirley said: “Labour is making a come back in Plymstock. We know from our doorstep canvassing that people are struggling to find work locally, that our roads are getting worse and the Council is supporting a lot of inappropriate development in Plymstock.

“Restarting the Plymstock Labour Party is just the start of a new effort by Labour to win in the local elections in May. Over the next few months we will be launching a big membership drive and will be campaigning against local police cuts.”

After many years of decline of local parties the national Labour Party has been encouraging branches to be set up again. Plymstock is the only part of Plymouth not to have a fully functioning Labour party until now.

Luke Pollard, Labour’s last Parliamentary Candidate for the South West Devon constituency that includes Plymstock welcomed Shirley Smith’s election as Chair of Plymstock Labour Party saying: “Labour is making a come back in Plymstock. People angry at the way the Lib Dems have sold out the Tories are joining Labour at the fastest rate since 1997. Shirley doubled the Labour vote in the recent local elections and we have firmly set our sights on winning more support in the crucial 2012 elections where the Tories could be kicked out of the Civic Centre.”

The petition, Keeping Our Young People Safe – Oppose the Repeal of the Adventure Activities Licensing Act, reads:

On 22 March 1993 Claire Langley, Simon Dunne, Rachel Walker and Dean Sayer, pupils from Southway Comprehensive, Plymouth, tragically lost their lives whilst kayaking on a school trip organised by the St Alban’s Activity Centre. In response to that, and other tragedies, in 1995 ‘The Activity Centres (Young Person’s safety) Act’ gained Royal Assent. The Government are proposing to abolish this act and instead introduce a voluntary code of practice for adventure activities. We believe that learning outside the classroom should be supported, unhelpful processes removed but that sustained increased participation is only possible when underpinned with an effective quality safety framework. Parents and schools will not be assured by measures they believe incapable of deterring those who would cut corners and therefore call on the Government to retain some form of compulsory licensing of these activities.

Southway Councillor John Smith said: “The tragic events at Lyme Bay where four young people from Southway lost their lives illustrates just how important it is to have formal regulation of this industry. We all want young people to go out and enjoy the great outdoors, but Parents and Teachers need confidence that measures are in place to deter people who would cut corners and could potentially put lives at risk. Yes the current licensing regime needs to be reviewed but the suggested voluntary code of practice will be insufficient.”

Alison Seabeck MP added: “We have a duty of care to our Children. In 1993 four teenagers from Southway were killed. We must ensure that this never happens again. In the period following this tragedy and the introduction of the Act in 1995 the Conservative Government and the HSE had argued that further regulation or statutory accreditation was unnecessary. This was despite the Activity Centres Advisory Committee, Association of County Councils, Education Select Committee, Unions and others organisations demands for statutory regulation.

“I am thankful that due to David Jamieson MP’s persistence legislation was passed to protect young people who are undertaking these adventure activities. I am deeply concerned that his hard work is about to be undermined by the repeal of the Act and that young people’s safety will once more be put at risk. In 1994 the HSE published a report stating that 24% of centres did not have a written safety policy, 13% had not undertaken any risk assessment and 16% did not provide training for their instructors. Licensing is necessary to protect lives.”

To support the campaign please sign Keeping Our Young People Safe – Oppose the Repeal of the Adventure Activities Licensing Act.

A campaign to oppose plans by the Boundary Commission to chop the Moor View ward out of Plymouth and give it to the MP for Okehampton has been launched in Plymouth.

As part of measures by the Government to reduce the number of MPs the Boundary Commission has recently redrawn the boundaries for Plymouth’s three MPs. Under the proposals that are currently being consulted on, the city’s Moor View ward of Plymouth is being chopped out of Plymouth and given to the new Dartmoor seat that includes Okehampton.

Alison Seabeck, the Member of Parliament for Plymouth Moorview said: “It is crazy to suggest that the residents of Estover, Mainstone, Thornbury, Leigham and Glenholt have more in common with Okehampton than the rest of Plymouth.”

“It surely cannot be right that Plymouth’s iconic buildings and essential services: Derriford Hospital, the Plymouth Herald and Plymouth Airport are to be represented by the MP for Dartmoor. These are as important to Plymouth as Smeaton’s Tower and Devonport Dockyard. They should be represented by a Plymouth MP not someone whose focus will be on rural areas.”

Cllr Mike Wright, one of the two Labour councillors for Moor View ward on Plymouth City Council said: “This ward not only has Plymouth’s airport, Plymouth’s hospital, the offices of Plymouth’s local paper and Marjons, University College Plymouth, but 10,000 people who regard themselves as living in Plymouth. Attempts by the Boundary Commission to chop us out of Plymouth will be strongly opposed by the people I represent.”

Cllr Alison Casey, who also represents Moor View ward added: “Residents in Estover, Leigham, Mainstone and Glenholt are being treated as numbers to be reallocated without a single thought of identity or community. We’re part of Plymouth, proud to be part of Plymouth and want to remain part of Plymouth.”

With under 30 days to go until the Boundary Commission closes its consultation residents and businesses across Plymouth are being asked to defend Plymouth’s integrity by telling the Boundary Commission that Moor View should be kept as part of Plymouth.

In a further snub to Plymouth, the Boundary Commission is holding public meetings in Exeter, a city largely unaffected by any boundary changes, and Truro. They are not coming to Plymouth.

At the weekend volunteers delivered over 1,000 leaflets to homes in Moor View warning about the Boundary Commission’s plans to include them in a 600 square mile Dartmoor constituency. In addition to making direct representations to the Boundary Commission, a Facbeook group has been launched this weekend to encourage residents in Plymouth to oppose the Boundary Commission’s attempts to chop Moor View out of Plymouth.

The Boundary Commission’s public consultation on the boundary changes in England closes on 5 December.

Cllr Tudor Evans, Leader of the Labour Group said: “People in Plymouth are rightly proud of their NHS and so it will come as a shock for many to learn that not only is there a company delivering NHS services in Plymouth but that this the word NHS has been stripped from its name. It smacks of privatisation by the back door.”

Plymouth Community Healthcare came into existence as part of fundamental and wide scale changes introduced as of 1 October.

Alison Seabeck MP, Labour MP for Plymouth Moor View said: “Despite assurances that the NHS would be safe with David Cameron and the Conservatives we can see right here in Plymouth that the company running our hospital has dropped the word ‘NHS’ from its title. People know and love the NHS. They know what it stands for and scrapping the NHS brand is the first step towards the Tories privatising our health service. It simply has got to stop now.”

Cllr Sue McDonald, Labour’s Health spokesperson in Plymouth said: “As a party we have written to Plymouth Community Healthcare to demand they reinstate the NHS brand. The people I represent do not want their NHS rebranded, privatised or sold off. We want those running our health service to focus relentlessly on to patient care not rebranding our local services. How much has the rebranding cost and how much will it cost all together? This is money that should be spent on doctors and nurses not new logos and letterheads.”

The text of the letter from Cllr Tudor Evans to Steve Waite, Chief Executive Designate of Plymouth Community Healthcare reads:

Dear Mr Waite,

I read with alarm that you have rebranded NHS Plymouth as ‘Plymouth Community Healthcare’. The people I and my fellow Labour Councillors represent neither want their NHS services rebranded or moved to a company. When coupled with efforts by the Tory-led Government to privatise NHS services and rip apart the health service with their Health and Social Care Bill your rebranding exercise is especially concerning.

Please can you immediately reinstate the word ‘NHS’ in your organisation’s title? Furthermore please can you provide the precise amount of money the rebranding exercise has cost?

I am sure most voters would agree with me that any money spent on rebranding would be better spend on doctors, nurses, auxiliary staff and drugs for the sick and unwell.

I look forward to hearing that you recognise the importance of the NHS and are willing to reinstate the name in the name of your organization.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Tudor Evans
Leader of the Labour Group, Plymouth City Council

The site at West Hoe has been subject to months of protracted discussions as developers have published, amended and corrected their plans for a new block.

Labour claims that this latest delay is unacceptable masking a deeper malaise. The deferment was due to some committee members not being afforded access to the same information and advice that was available to others.

Labour Councillor Sue McDonald was not surprised and said: “From inception to planning hearing this application has been dogged by mistakes and errors, this is just the latest. Local Councillors have been working hard to support local people throughout this saga. The planning process has, at times, been bewildering. The developer has issued corrections and amendments to their original plan, some at the last minute. Dates have changed and the information issued by the Council has been, at times, incorrect. It is simply not good enough!

Councillor Ian Tuffin, who also represents the St Peter and the Waterfront ward where the development is planned, told the Planning Committee: “Just to be clear, the community are not against all development. They do not seek to block progress it is just that they feel strongly that this development is unsuitable for the neighbourhood, the waterfront and negates against a sense of place. The developer could have chosen to work with the stakeholders and the community with a building that does justice to the site.

“As they left the meeting local residents expressed their frustration talking of the poor way in which they felt the meeting had been advised and chaired and the undemocratic way in which information was withheld. The delay will further frustrate local residents who have already been let down time and time again by this Council. A common theme of comments heard was that the ‘best achieving council of the year’ moniker that appears on all Plymouth City Council letterheads does not appear to be accurate.”

Councillor Tudor Evans, Leader of the Labour Group on Plymouth City Council said: “Let every voter in Plymouth know that our two Tory MPs voted to break up the NHS. They didn’t vote for better healthcare at Derriford, for more doctors or more nurses. They voted to inject more private healthcare companies into the health service and begin the break up of the NHS.”

Councillor Sue MacDonald, Labour’s health spokesperson on the Council, said: “I wonder how many people know what is already happening at our local hospital. I am concerned that from October staff start transferring from being employed by the NHS to being employed by a company limited by guarantee. The break up of the NHS has already begun thanks to this Government’s health reforms and we have to stop it before it is too late.”

Labour’s Alison Seabeck, MP for Plymouth Moorview, who spoke in the Commons debate raising concerns voiced by constituents and who voted against the Health and Social Care Bill said: “Plymouth does not need private companies taking profit out of the NHS. We need further investment in facilities, drugs and the superb doctors and nurses who do so much for everyone in Plymouth. These reforms will mean less money for patients and more for shareholders of private healthcare companies.”

Plymouth Labour is joining the TUC’s Adopt a Peer scheme and is encouraging its members to adopt a peer and lobby Members of Parliament’s Upper House directly.

Tudor Evans added: “Members of the Lords do not represent geographical constituencies like MPs do so we are allocating Lords and Ladies for people to lobby directly. It has never been done before like this but with the NHS’ future at stake, we will do everything we can do stop the break up of our health service.”

Luke Pollard, who organizes the Save Cann Woods campaign says: “The forest sell off might not be in the headlines anymore but the plans were not scrapped completely. This march will show the Government and Plymouth’s two Tory MPs that local people want to keep Cann Woods in public hands and not sold to the highest bidder.

“On Sunday 18 September we invite people to join us from 2pm as we walk through the woods. Bring your family, bring your placards, bring your walking boots and let’s show the Coalition that Plymouth will not support any attempt to put forest sales back on the political agenda.

40,000 submissions from across the UK including many from Devon have been made to the Government’s Independent Panel on Forestry chaired by the Right Reverend James Jones, Bishop of Liverpool. The Panel is due to issue its progress report to Defra shortly on the future of the public forest estate.

Cllr Tudor Evans, Leader of the Labour Group on Plymouth City Council said: “Safeguarding Cann Woods and all other forests owned by the Forestry Commission isn’t just about protecting woods for today’s walkers. It is about protecting these natural habitats for the future. Selling them to the highest bidder is the worse type of Government privatisation and we will be walking through the woods to stop the Tory-led Coalition doing this.”

Luke Pollard added: “Every day hundreds of people walk, cycle or run through Cann Woods. We are asking the whole community, regardless of which political party they may support, to join us to show the Government that Cann Woods should remain owned by the people for everyone to use.”

From 2pm in the city centre volunteers and the city’s Labour councillors will be highlighting plans by the Conservative and Liberal Democrats to privatize the NHS putting patient care at risk.

Cllr Tudor Evans, Leader of Plymouth’s Labour Group said: “With all that’s been happening lately the dismantling of the NHS has dropped off the media radar. This is our chance to move the Tories broken promises on Health to the top of the agenda”.

“If MPs vote to allow these reforms to go ahead, privatisation and poor patient care will plague the NHS – and Plymouth families will suffer.”

Tory plans in the Health and Social Care Bill due to receive its next reading in Parliament next week would see a radical overhaul of the National Health Services and an increase in the involvement of the private sector and paid-healthcare services. Plans by the Tory-led Government for NHS reforms were rightly put on hold after the public discovered what they contained but Plymouth Labour is warning the public not to be fooled. The plans by Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley, for a radical, untested and confusing overhaul of the NHS are still pressing ahead.

Plymouth Labour volunteers will be joined by members of the trade union movement representing health care professionals in Plymouth.

Barnardo’s spokesperson said: “We are delighted that Councillor Williams has come on board to support this incredibly important campaign.”

“We know child protection services vary significantly across the country. This means that young people in some areas may not have adequate protection from this horrific form of abuse and may not receive the support they require to exit and recover from exploitative situations.

“To help local authorities, we have produced a checklist so they can assess their own progress in protecting young people from sexual exploitation.”

The checklist includes:

- Understanding the prevalence of child sexual exploitation in the authority’s area;
- Providing a strategic response to the problem;
- Offering clear leadership on how to tackle the problem and work with partners;
- Raising awareness.

Councillor Williams said: “I am pleased to be working with Barnardo’s to tackle child sexual exploitation, through the Cut Them Free campaign. I’m asking Plymouth City Council to recognise the important role it has to play in ensuring the necessary measures are in place locally to adequately protect our young people from this form of abuse.”

Nicky Williams said: “Nationally, Honicknowle is ranked as one of the most deprived neighbourhoods. I was shocked to learn that the Council has decided to cut funding to the area, without consultation with residents or Councillors. Ironically the Council has stated that one of the reasons for cutting the funding is so they can concentrate on their corporate priorities of ‘reducing inequalities, raising aspiration and value for communities’. I fail to see how cutting funding to this Honicknowle will help achieve these aims.

“Over the past few months I have been fighting cuts to services in Honicknowle. We have lost bus services, child care provision has been cut and voluntary groups have had funding withdrawn. Resources are being targeted at high profile regeneration projects in other parts of the City at the expense of places like Honicknowle. Is it right that we continue to spend millions on projects like the Life Centre, when people in our City are being deprived of a basic quality of life?”