Paul Blomfield MP said: “In my debate in Parliament on the station bridge the Rail Minister agreed to my demand for a meeting. I’m pleased we’ve now secured a date for a roundtable meeting and that both the Transport Secretary and Rail Minister will be attending.

“Before Christmas the Rail Minister accepted the key point that there must be pedestrian access through the station. This was a significant step forward and I want Ministers to work with me, Residents Against Station Closure and the City Council to find a solution to this long-running issue that maintains open access through our station.”

Keith Hayman and Geraldine Roberts from Residents Against Station Closure said: “Over 4 years, RASC has received, widespread support from individuals, organisations, the media and all local political parties, in its campaign to keep our station bridge fully open to the public.

“We remain determined to ensure that open access is maintained, through Sheffield Station. We are pleased to have an opportunity for a face to face discussion with Ministers to resolve this long running dispute.”

Professor Ebdon was selected for the job of Director of OFFA by Business Secretary Vince Cable and Universities Minister David Willetts, from a shortlist prepared by a high-powered independent panel. But Conservative members of the Business Select Committee voted to reject his nomination at a meeting held on Monday 6 February.

Paul Blomfield MP, who is also Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary University Group said: “Professor Ebdon was the victim of a political ambush which had more to do with coalition politics than concern with access to our universities. It is students from poorer backgrounds who will suffer from this appalling game-playing.

“Professor Ebdon has a strong leadership experience at the highest level in higher education and a great track record on improving access to university. He would be an effective champion for improving participation from under-represented groups. I hope the Business Secretary will ignore this game-playing, and confirm the appointment.”

For generations the town had depended on the coal industry to provide large scale manual labour employment and a social infrastructure. This was abruptly withdrawn leaving a vacuum that is yet to be filled.

In her speech she will highlight the fact that there are just not enough jobs in the borough. To reach the regional average, itself a low figure, would require an extra 24,000 jobs to be created.

The borough has the third lowest employment rate in Yorkshire and Humber at 67%, and requires 6,100 residents finding employment.

There are currently 6,962 which is significantly higher than the national average but more worrying is that youth unemployment is almost double the national average. These figures mean a high level of welfare dependency, with around a fifth of the working population claiming some form of out of work benefit.

In her speech she will call on the government to do more to help Barnsley and other similar towns. Specifically she will call on the government to:

1. Address the void left by the demise of Business Link arguing that a national ‘one size fits all’ does not help places like Barnsley.

2. Target UKTI inward investment to areas with less economic activity first, instead of prioritising investment in the South East.

3. Consideration should be give the reinstatement of the Grants for Business Investment scheme that allowed SMEs to make capital investments in plant and machinery, as the regional growth fund is a poor substitute and tied up in red tape.

Further, she will argue that the town needs a return of the Future Jobs Fund which was for Barnsley highly successful in getting people back into work who had not worked for some time.

Commenting Angela said; “Barnsley is a proud town. For generations it depended on coal to provide thousands of well paid manual jobs. Like many towns who depended on one industry to provide economic prosperity it was hit hard when that industry disappeared almost overnight.

“After taking many years to slowly get over the worst The recent downturn has hit the borough very hard. The town needs so much more help to recover from its industrial past.

“However, what’s on offer from this government is at best patchy and at worst destructive. I call on the government to recognise that and do much more to help towns such as Barnsley.”

As part of the Council’s Housing Revenue Account Business Plan, Labour have outlined plans to prioritise investment in heating systems, which are important in tackling fuel poverty a problem faced by many tenants in the current climate of high energy prices and fuel bills. As a result heating and boiler renewals have been identified as the number one priority in addressing the maintenance backlog.

However, when the scheme was due to be passed through Full Council today, the Lib Dems proposed an amendment which sought to cut £400,000 from the investment programme to replace energy inefficient boilers and heating systems.

Experts have said that people in fuel poverty or who live in poor accommodation, the elderly and people with health conditions are the most likely to suffer in cold weather conditions.

Labour Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, Councillor Harry Harpham, said: “Many people in Sheffield and throughout the country are struggling with the cost of heating their homes, which is why we have taken action to prioritise installing more efficient heating and boiler systems in our council properties. This will help to address fuel poverty and I can’t understand why the Lib Dems have proposed to cut a scheme which will help bring down fuel bills for many tenants in this city.

“When I’ve spoken to tenants about these plans I’ve received a lot of support as people want to see action taken to help them with their fuel bills. By proposing to make heavy cuts to the programme the Lib Dems are completely out of touch with Sheffield tenants.

“Thankfully we have voted down the Lib Dems’ proposals so we can reassure tenants that there will not be cuts to the fuel poverty programme, but this just goes to show that the Lib Dems have not changed and they still can’t be trusted to support Sheffield’s tenants.”

Following the recent announcement that the Council is minded to move to alternate week collections to help to meet the £170m budget gap between now and 2015/16, local Liberal Democrat Councillors have attacked the move left, right and centre, making numerous false claims about the proposals and misleading Sheffield people.

However Labour have now revealed a comment made by Lib Dem Councillor for Nether Edge, Anders Hanson, exposing the Sheffield Liberal Democrats’ cynical political opportunism over fortnightly bin collections. Writing on the blog ‘Lib Dem Voice’, Councillor Hanson stated that:

‘I think it has now become almost impossible politically to introduce new fortnightly bin collections as both the opposition and the press will mercilessly attack anyone who does it. … However most people are happy with fortnightly collections when they get used to it.’

Labour claim that this comment shows that although the Sheffield Lib Dems believe that most people would be happy with fortnightly black bin collections, they have been cultivating a premeditated plan to ‘mercilessly attack’ the Council, should it move towards introducing fortnightly collections, purely for political gain.

Council Leader Julie Dore said: “This is the lowest form of politics and the Lib Dems should be ashamed of themselves. Despite their crocodile tears, it seems that Lib Dem councillors do not have a problem with alternate week collections after all.

“Cllr Hanson’s comments reveal that Sheffield Lib Dems have been cultivating a premeditated plan to ‘mercilessly attack’ the Council for moving towards introducing fortnightly collections, purely for their own political gain.

“The Lib Dems are desperately trying to say anything they think will be popular but you just can’t believe anything they say any more. The Lib Dem scaremongering that we have seen in recent weeks is not at all in the best interests of the Sheffield public, it’s all about making this issue a political football. I hope that now they’ve been caught in the act the Lib Dems will apologise for their cynical behaviour and for exploiting local people’s fears for their own political gain.”

Paul Blomfield MP said: “Today’s announcement that UCAS applications have declined by nearly 9% could be the start of a very worrying trend. I’m not simply concerned with the overall drop, but by the varying rates of decline hidden within the main figure. I’m concerned that when more detailed figures are released they will show a big drop-off in the number of applicants from low-income families where there isn’t a tradition of anyone studying at university. The Government’s decision to treble fees to £9000 and increase the burden of debt that students now have to take on is a major disadvantage for people from low-income backgrounds.

“We are seeing the biggest fall in university applications for 30 years, reversing the growth in applications under the Labour government. This will not only reduce the life chances of those who now cannot afford university, but undermine the development of the skills our economy needs. Britain cannot afford to have fewer graduates each year than our global competitors.”

Paul Blomfield MP, who has campaigned against the cuts to BBC local radio, said:

“Today’s announcement is good news for BBC local radio. I’m pleased that Lord Patten has listened to the public consultation and to those of us who have argued in parliament against the cuts. He is right to have recognised that BBC local radio is so highly regarded because listeners value the localness of the content. People in Sheffield, including myself, enjoy listening to radio content about Sheffield, made and delivered with local accents, knowledge and experience.

“Sheffield has a strong city identity, and whilst we’re also proud of being part of Yorkshire there is a big difference between our city identity and a regional Yorkshire identity. The original proposals for shared regional content with BBC Leeds and York would have provided less local news and views. This would have lowered audiences and created a spiral of decline for local radio. So the Trust is right to scale back the increase in shared regional programming, the job cuts in local newsrooms, and to give local radio stations the freedom to continue to provide specialist local services.

“Of course cuts are still going to have to be made, but in particular I hope that this will mean BBC Radio Sheffield can continue to provide away football match commentary for our teams, and ensure that language programmes for ethnic minority communities can continue to be broadcast.”

The Sheffield Central Labour MP has warned against privatisation by stealth and will still be pushing for a debate in Parliament to clarify the Government’s position.

Mr Blomfield, who is Secretary of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Universities and a member of the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, has led opposition to the plans in Parliament and tabled an Early Day Motion on this issue last year which warned against the expansion of for-profit providers in the higher education sector. The EDM attracted support from 134 MPs from all political parties, including former Higher Education Minister David Lammy, as well as ex-Lib Dem leaders Charles Kennedy, Sir Menzies Campbell and current Lib Dem President Tim Farron.

Paul Blomfield said: “I welcome today’s reports that the Government have shelved their plans for higher education privatisation. This decision reflects the widespread and growing concern across the education sector about the Government’s plans, and from MPs from all political parties.

“If the Higher Education Bill is going to be scrapped then we need to remain vigilant to any move to introduce privatisation by stealth, without any legislation. I’ll still be pushing for a full debate to be held in parliament on the role of the for-profit sector in higher education because the Government needs to clarify its position on higher education reform and its plans to attract US companies to run UK universities.”

In a debate today in parliament Angela Smith, Member of Parliament for Penistone & Stocksbridge, called on the government to bring forward planned improvements to the north’s rail network.

While the government has brought forward some aspects of the scheme to improve the north’s rail network many others aspects of the improvements are not planned to be completed for another 6 or 7 years.

Already it is estimated congestion around Manchester is costing business money. The £500m improvements called for is estimated to create around 30,000 jobs and have direct economic benefit of £4bn to the North’s economy.

Also for Sheffield it would allow for 2 extra trains to run between Sheffield and Manchester and for faster trains more generally.

Commenting Angela said; “The northern hub project is the North’s equivalent to London’s Crossrail. A completed northern hub project will ease congestion around Manchester helping improve rail traffic throughout the North.

“Already the congestion around Manchester is curtailing economic activity and costing business money. For the £500m cost of the improvements the returns are great.

“However, the government needs to listen and bring forward these works. They are desperately needed now, If they don’t it will cost the North dear as it tries to compete with the south east of the country.”

The Daylight Saving Bill will receive its Third Reading in the House of Commons this Friday. The bill calls on the Government to conduct a comprehensive review of the costs and benefits of putting clocks forward an hour throughout the UK, resulting in lighter evenings every day of the year.

Clive Betts said: “The arguments in favour of clock change are very strong. This one simple low-cost policy could bring wide ranging benefits to the whole of the UK including saving lives on our roads, cutting the fear of crime on dark evenings, and create jobs in the leisure and tourism industries.”

Supporters argue that lighter evenings would save lives on our roads by making more of our busiest evening rush hours occur in daylight, create jobs by boosting the tourism sector, and make many people especially older people feel safer going out in the evenings for longer.

Lighter Later, the group coordinating the campaign for change, says support for the cause has never been stronger.

Daniel Vockins, campaign manager, said: “The Daylight Saving Bill is supported by over 90 national organisations from the AA to SAGA to the FA. On the year the Olympics come to Britain, this would be a brilliant legacy for our young athletes.”