Warning that many families will struggle to meet the new charges he said that it is particularly galling that Southern Water has to spend £500,000 on replacing a sewage pipe in the Sholing Greenway, without recovering the costs from those responsible for the damage.

Mr Denham said: “If the Tory City Council had not ignored warnings about illegal fly tipping in Sholing the damage could have been prevented. And once it had been damaged, neither the Council nor Southern Water have recovered any money from those responsible.

“I told the City Council about the fly-tipping three years ago, before the damage had been done. I know local residents had raised the issue even earlier. Nothing was done to stop the tipping. Nothing was done to collect evidence against those responsible.

“Of course, this isn’t the only reason bills are going up, but people will ask how much other avoidable waste is being stuck on their bills.”

Southern Water have confirmed to Mr Denham that part of the reason for the increases on their prices is because they need to improve the broken sewer system with the installation of a new section of sewer along the route of the footpath in Shoreburs Greenway to replace the two existing pipes. Work is currently taking place, as users of South East Road and local residents in the Botany Bay Road area will know.

The Warm Front scheme – which offers heating and insulation improvements to households living on low incomes – is expected to see up to £30 million worth of funding for this year going unclaimed. This money could help up to 16,000 households struggling to afford their energy bills to cut their costs by a potential £650 per year.

People on certain income-related benefits and living in homes that are poorly insulated, or do not have a working central heating system, are eligible for Warm Front grants.

Applications to the scheme are down by 70%. So Southampton’s Labour MPs together with Consumer Focus urge people to put in a claim now before the funding for this year ends on 31 March.

John Denham MP said: “Insulating your loft and walls is a good way to tackle high energy bills and I urge people to see if they qualify and apply for Warm Front’s free of charge home improvements, before the funding is withdrawn.”

Alan Whitehead MP said: “Warm Front has helped thousands of people in Southampton and the south since it was set up in 2000. The Conservative Government is abolishing the Warm Front programme this year. We want as many people in Southampton to get the help they are entitled to before it’s too late.”

“If you think you are eligible, apply to the scheme by calling 0800 316 6004, or online at direct.gov.uk/warmfront.”

Audrey Gallacher, Director of Energy at Consumer Focus, said: “The poorest pensioners and families will have been hit particularly hard by high energy prices. Many are living in cold homes, which could put their health at risk. It is very disappointing that people who need Warm Front help to make their homes warmer and cheaper to heat are likely to miss out. We’d urge anyone who thinks they may be eligible to put in a claim. This help is free and can make a big difference in affording your energy bills and keeping warm and well.”

Factfile:
* There are now likely to be almost 7 million households living in fuel poverty in the UK (Estimates on behalf of Consumer Focus using Centre for Sustainable Energy research). This is up from 5.5 million in 2009 (the latest official Government figures)

* The average energy bill is now £1,289, which will fall to £1,258 after all the recent price cuts announced come into effect

* Full details of who can claim help under the Warm Front scheme and how to apply are available on Directgov – direct.gov.uk/warmfront People can apply for the scheme online, by post, or by phone on 0800 316 6004 (or textphone 0800 072 0156),Monday to Friday 8.00 am to 6.00 pm and Saturday 9.00 am to 5.00 pm.

The Government’s welfare bill will have the biggest impact in the city’s poorest communities says a new analysis by John Denham MP. Bevois, Bitterne, Redbridge, Woolston and Millbrook will see the largest number of residents have their benefits cut.

Mr Denham highlighted the challenges:

1. 2600 homes will no longer be available to working families on low incomes because of housing benefit changes.

2. 360 single parents will be expected to look for work, adding to the number chasing fewer jobs.

3. 2,250 are likely to lose Disability Living Allowance.

4. Of those claiming Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disability Allowance, 660 are likely to lose all entitlement to benefits, with another 1,100 expected to look for work.

The 5 hardest hit wards
Redbridge: 443 people will be affected by the changes, including 207 people losing DLA, 154 people losing IB /SDA and 83 single parents losing Income Support (IS).

Bitterne: 420 people will be affected: 193 losing DLA, 139 losing IB/SDA and 88 single parents losing IS.

Bevois: 417 people will be affected: 164 losing DLA, 178 losing IB/SDA and 75 single parents losing IS.

Woolston: 381 people will be affected: 173 losing DLA, 136 losing IB/SDA and 73 single parents losing IS.

Millbrook: 356 people will be affected: 167 losing DLA, 124 losing IB/SDA and 65 single parents losing IS.

John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said today: “Everyone in Southampton who can work should be working or looking for work. No one should expect to live their life on benefits if they could be working. But these changes are coming so quickly and with such unpredictable results that the whole city community is going to have to work hard to make sure that families are not left struggling to find work or without the support they need through no fault of their own.

“The Labour Party accepts the need for sensible welfare reform, but we are concerned that these reforms have gone too far. As well as taking Employment Support Allowance away from disabled children who will be unable to build up a national insurance contribution record, we will also see the impact of housing benefit changes that could make 20,000 people homeless across the UK. We also need to ensure that the tests that disabled people face are fairly and properly administered so that they enjoy public confidence.

“Everybody agrees that those that are able to work in Southampton should be doing so. This is a vital component of a properly functioning welfare system. However, we need to make sure that families are not left out of work and struggling to make ends meet through no fault of their own.”

In Southampton, the average house price is now 9 times the average income, and the average rent for a two-bed home now accounts for 46% of the average income – one of the highest rent to income ratios in the country.

Shelter’s Private Rent Watch (p50) ranks Southampton as 37th most unaffordable place to rent in the country when rent prices are compared to average income. It’s harder for a city resident on an average income to rent a property in Southampton than it is in Hastings, Reading, Portsmouth or parts of London.

Shelter also found that found that 38% of families with children who were renting privately had cut down on food to pay their rent.

At the same time, the National Housing Federation’s Home Truths Report highlights how average worker in Southampton would need to have almost double the average local income (£38k vs. an average income of 20k) to afford an average 75% mortgage in our city.

Rents also rose over the course of 2011. According to the Buy-to-Let Index from LSL Property Services, average rents have increased by 3.5 per cent in 2011.

Before the 2010 General Election, the last Labour Government’s National Affordable Housing Programme delivered 256,000 affordable homes to buy and rent. But now while rents and house prices in the south continue to spiral, the Conservative Government plans to dramatically slow the pace of creating affordable homes, with a target of only 170,000 in 5 years – a reduction of 33%.

Dr Whitehead today pressed the Government to recognise the scale of the problem with house prices and rents in Southampton and the south, and to look again at their choice to scale down targets for building new affordable homes.

Alan said: “At a time when housing prices and rents are taking up more and more of the average income, the very worst thing the Government could do is scale back on targets for delivering more affordable homes. And yet this is exactly what the Government is doing.

“Increasing the affordable housing supply will save the government money in the long run, as less will go to private landlords charging exorbitant rents to social tenants. But the chaos caused by new Tory planning rules and the lack of priority housing gets inside Government mean tackling this growing crisis is now harder than ever.”

John Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “In Southampton we have now seen waiting-times increase by 70% since David Cameron came to power. This is bad news, but the Tory-led Government’s plan to encourage local hospitals to treat more private patients will lead to more NHS patients being left to wait even longer.

“No one in Southampton voted for this. A week doesn’t go by without hearing the concerns of our doctors, nurses and patients who are rightly worried about David Cameron’s plans to damage the NHS.

“Despite no one wanting this new Health Bill, still David Cameron is ploughing on, ignoring public and professional opinion.”

The Tory Government is cancelling Labour’s Warm Front and CERT levies on energy companies, which have helped thousands of people at risk of fuel poverty in Southampton and the south to get new boilers, better insulation, as well as access other help to reduce their energy bills.

The Government has always defended its decision to cancel Warm Front and CERT on the basis that new programmes are in the pipeline. But today Dr Whitehead pressed Chris Huhne to admit that the amount energy companies will be required to spend on measures to improve home energy efficiency in the future will be less than 1/3 of what it is at present.

The current levy on energy companies for help with household energy bills is £370 million for the Warm Front Scheme, and £600 million for CERT- a total of £970 million. However the Government’s proposed replacement scheme- the Energy Companies Obligation- will in total only require energy companies to fund £325 million of improvements. This is a cut of 66%.

Dr Whitehead asked Chris Huhne: “Does the Secretary of State accept that the ECO’s affordable warmth element, which comes to £325 million, is substantially less than the Warm Front commitment of £370 million and the CERT commitment of £600 million? Does he accept that that is a substantial reduction in affordable warmth for those on lower incomes? Even now, will he review the split in costs in relation to affordable warmth and those who can pay, or look for other methods of dealing with the issue?”

Speaking after the debate, Dr Whitehead said: “Abolishing these levies may make life easier for big energy companies, but it will make it much harder for families who are already struggling to heat their homes this winter. Just a quarter of the new ECO programme is going to provide affordable warmth for less well off families. We’re now increasingly seeing that the Government’s impressive rhetoric on energy bills and green measures just are not matched by the- in all honesty- pretty feeble policy reality.”

Liverpool has been told by Mike Penning MP, Minister for Transport, that he is “minded that a higher proportion of the UK grants ought to be repaid in order to ensure the preservation of fair competition”.

However, Mr Penning has announced he is seeking independent financial advice to inform his final decision on exactly how much money Liverpool should have to repay. Any repayment would also now require State Aid permission from the European Commission. A final decision will be made in the coming weeks.

Mr Denham, Labour MP for Southampton Itchen, said: “I welcome the Government’s recognition that Southampton could be damaged by unfair competition from Liverpool. I’m also pleased that any decision not to repay public money would need state aid clearance from the EU. However, now we need answers on who is going to provide the independent advice and what their terms of reference will be.”

27th January is Holocaust Memorial Day, which is held to provide everyone with an opportunity to learn from the lessons of the Holocaust, Nazi Persecution and subsequent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Dafur.

The Holocaust Memorial Day Trust is asking MPs to come together and challenge the language of hatred which still exists in society.

The pledge reads:

As part of my commitment to ending the language of hatred, I will:

* challenge the language of hatred when I hear it and never use it myself;

* carefully consider how I use my voice and will tell others how I feel in a way that does not harm or offend whether I am speaking to others, online or in writing;

* give voice to the voiceless and use my words to draw attention to the experiences of others;

* work with my friends, family, colleagues and my community to create a society which is free from the dangers of persecution and hatred.

Mr Denham said: “Last year I visited Auschwitz-Birkenau with local pupils as part of a project led by the Holocaust Educational Trust. It was a chilling and moving experience for all of us and something we will never forget. As we learn from the lessons of the past, it’s important to remember the language we use so often moulds our perceptions of people and society, and that is why today I want to join others in bringing awareness to this pledge.

“We all should hope for and work towards a future without hatred, discrimination and persecution.”

According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK’s economy suffered a 0.2% contraction in the final quarter of 2011.

Mr Denham, in response to growth figures for the final quarter of 2011, said; “George Osborne told us the economy would grow and unemployment would go down. Today it is confirmed the economy is shrinking and unemployment is rising. The deficit is not going to be eliminated by 2015 as promised, but rather the UK is going to borrow £158 billion more than planned.

“We can’t go on like this. The Government’s ‘Plan A’ simply is not working but it is hurting – we’ve seen this in Southampton where we have over 5,000 people unemployed. It’s time the Tory-led Government put its arrogance to one side, and accept they’ve got it wrong, to get our economy moving again.”

Ed Balls MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said: “The British recovery has been stalling since the Government’s spending review in the autumn of 2010, but now the economy has gone into reverse. Since the Chancellor’s spending review the economy has grown by just 0.3% compared to the 3.0% the Government predicted.

“And far from the eurozone crisis being to blame, it is only rising exports that kept us out of recession last year. By clobbering the economy with spending cuts and tax rises that go too far and too fast, the Government has left us badly exposed if the eurozone crisis deepens this year. This was entirely avoidable and the Chancellor cannot say he wasn’t warned.

“These figures are a damning indictment of David Cameron and George Osborne’s failed economic plan. Families, pensioners and businesses know it’s hurting – but the evidence is now overwhelming that on jobs, growth and the deficit it’s just not working.

“The time has now come for David Cameron and George Osborne to listen to advice, including yesterday from the chief economist of the IMF. The cautious thing to do is to act now, but the reckless thing to do is just to plough on regardless with a plan that isn’t working and causing huge damage. Labour’s five point plan for jobs would help get our economy moving, get Britain back to work and so help get the deficit down in a fairer, better way.

“Of course there need to be tough decisions on spending, tax and pay, but trying to go too far and too fast ends up backfiring. Rising unemployment and a lack of growth means the Government won’t now balance the books by 2015 and are set to borrow £158 billion more than planned. And this Government’s failure on the economy means the next Labour government will inherit a substantial deficit. We will have to sort out the deficit, clear up George Osborne’s economic mess and deliver social justice in tougher times.

“As we have consistently argued cutting spending and raising taxes too far and too fast would choke off the recovery. But it’s not too late for this out of touch government to change course and get a plan for jobs and growth.”

In order for the Port of Southampton to remain competitive with European and UK rivals, it requires the redeveloping of two existing berths and dredging to allow access by the latest and largest container ships to the container port.

Work must begin in September in order for Southampton to be sure to remain competitive in the years ahead. Over 800 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs will be safeguarded by the investment and over 200 new full time positions will be created. Unfortunately the entire project has faced a number of delays because of errors made by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) and red tape at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Speaking after the debate, John Denham said: “I think we have made real progress.

“The Shipping Minister Mike Penning admitted mistakes had been made and he promised that the Marine Management Organisation would have the necessary staff and expertise to deal with the planning application now in order to deal with mistakes of the past.

“He also sent a strong message to Hutchison Ports, the rival port operators, to back off from any future judicial challenge.

“There are still plenty of things that can go wrong, but I feel that today’s debate has made a difference and I am grateful to MPs across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight for taking part.”