Analysis of figures published by the Government of its ‘infrastructure pipeline’ shows:

* Only seven of the 576 projects (1.2 per cent) are ‘completed’ or ‘operational’. Most of these are road schemes which began under the Labour government, including one which started construction in 2007.

* Just 18.2 per cent of the projects listed are said to have ’started’ or to be ‘in construction’ or ‘under construction’.

In addition, Labour will highlight figures showing that in the first three years of this Government capital investment is £12.8 billion lower than the plans George Osborne inherited from Labour. This follows Nick Clegg’s admission that the Government had cut capital investment too far.

Rachel Reeves MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“The Government’s record on infrastructure is one of failure of ambition and failure of delivery.

“They slashed infrastructure investment by £12.8 billion compared to the plans they inherited, which even Nick Clegg has admitted was a mistake. And even of those projects which have not been cancelled, government figures show just one in 100 have been completed and fewer than one in five have started construction.

“The Chancellor must put this right and genuinely bring forward long-term infrastructure investment, including building thousands more affordable homes. Now is exactly the right time to be making these investments. Not only would it help to kick-start our flatlining economy and get construction workers back to work, it will also make our economy stronger and more productive for the future.

“We also need to radically improve the decision-making, planning, delivery and finance of long-term infrastructure projects, which is why we have asked Sir John Armitt to conduct an independent review.”

Westminster City Council is advertising for a new £125,000 a year Director of Communications at the same time as it is making £12 million of cuts to services to children and the elderly and axing its entire £350,000 a year Arts and Culture programme.

Labour Councillors have called on Local Government Minister Eric Pickles to intervene to stop the appointment. Labour say that, at a time of economic austerity, there is no justification for spending £125,000 of Council Tax payers’ money on another expensive bureaucrat, especially when the Council’s £3 million a year Communications Department already employs;

* Deputy Head of Communications – £90,000
* Head of Media Relations – £82,000
* Head of Strategy – £78,000
* Head of Policy and Partnerships – £72,000
* Senior Communications Manager – £61,000

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“The Council says that it has axed its entire £350,000 Arts and Culture programme because the money was needed to pay for meals on wheels for the elderly. But now we find out that this is completely untrue and that there is £125,000 to pay for another expensive bureaucrat to supplement the already massive array of well-paid spin doctors working for the Council.

“Westminster Conservatives must think the people of Westminster are all fools if they think they can get away with this outrageous and arrogant behaviour. I urge Eric Pickles to step in and tell the Council to stop wasting Council Tax payers’ money on this unnecessary job.”

Labour Councillors have called on Housing Minister Mark Prisk MP to ‘get tough’ with Westminster Council after Housing officers predicted that the number of Westminster families with children currently in Bed & Breakfast accommodation for more than 6 weeks will increase from the current number of 120 to over 150 over the coming weeks and months.

In November 2012, Mr Prisk told Westminster North MP Karen Buck that placing families with children in B&B accommodation was “unacceptable and unlawful”. Overall, there are currently over 2,300 Westminster families in Temporary Accommodation.

Westminster Council Housing Officers have told Councillors in a recent ‘Homelessness Update’;

“Whilst there will be fluctuations in the numbers of households with children in non self-contained bed and breakfast accommodation the trend will be for this to increase until additional supply of self-contained accommodation is available. Obtaining this figure is complex as it has to be calculated manually on a case by case basis due to different household and property circumstances. Thus numbers were close to 150 in November reduced to 120 before Christmas following largely the result of new TA stock being procured coming on stream and increasing use of ‘annexes’ (essentially using self-contained accommodation as an alternative to bed and breakfast.) However the numbers of acceptances each month means that there are families in bed and breakfast for less than 6 weeks who are crossing that threshold and this will drive further increases above 150.”

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“It is time for Mr Prisk to get tough with Westminster Council. The situation is about to get worse and the Council continues to break the law, despite warnings from successive Housing Minister that the Council’s actions are “unacceptable and unlawful”. Keeping so many families with children in B&B for so long is an appalling state of affairs and is a measure of the severity of London’s housing crisis. The Government needs to get a grip of the situation and ensure that Westminster Council builds more homes for families in need, at a price they can afford.”

In a Commons debate, Mr Denham said the bombing on 10th January, which killed over 100 people, followed the deaths of over 1,000 people since 1999.

The killings have been carried out by the Al Qaeda linked terrorist group Lashkar-e-Janghvi (LEJ). Despite the group being banned, not a single terrorist has been brought to justice and the few arrested have been released. The most recent attacks came after threats from LEJ that the 600,000 Hazaras in Quetta would not be allowed to leave Pakistan alive.

Mr Denham recalled stories from the local Hazara community in Southampton, saying that although the Hazara community in Quetta had originally been forced to flee oppression in Afghanistan, until 1999 they had lived peacefully and successfully in Pakistan and were Pakistan citizens entitled to the full protection of the Pakistan state.

Mr Denham said it was essential to understand the history and particular problems faced by the Hazaras, and not to see it as just one more example of conflict between Sunni and Shia Muslims. He said that Hazaras were 33 times more likely to suffer death through political violence than Pakistan’s Shia population as a whole and their distinctive appearances made them the subject to both religious and ethnic discrimination.

Addressing the Government Minister Alastair Burt, Mr Denham said:

“The plight of the Hazaras – those in Quetta and those who remain in Afghanistan – must not be overlooked in the sweeping regional discussions currently taking place and which will take place over the coming year.”

“At UN level, the Government [should] ask the Conflict Prevention Union with the Bureau of Crisis Prevention of UNDP to assess whether the situation in Quetta, is, or is tending towards, genocide, and in general push for the engagement of the Conflict Prevention Unit in the situation.”

Mr Denham later intervened on the Minister to argue that this should be an explicit issue when the conditions of aid to Pakistan are discussed:

“As a way of illustrating what needs to change, is the position of the Hazaras, for example, specifically raised as the sort of test of, and the sort of thing that we would have in mind in deciding, whether human rights were being properly protected? Part of the challenge is simply to make sure that in wanting to include all the issues in a general way we do not lose the ability to say, ‘This is one of the ways in which we measure progress.’”

“This is a proud day and an important step forward in the fight for equality in Britain.

“The overwhelming majority of Labour MPs supported this change to make sure marriage reflects the value we place on long-term, loving relationships whoever you love.

“Equal marriage builds on Labour’s successes in Government which include the repeal of Section 28, equalising the age of consent, the introduction of civil partnerships and changes to the rules governing adoption.”

In the first version of the 2013/14 budget, announced in November, a proposal was made to remove the whole of the youth and play service, and what is now being proposed is a partial reduction, which can allow time for transition to alternatives where possible and a review of service options going forward.

There has been a high level of feedback on this particular proposal during the consultation period.

Cllr Sarah Bogle said:

“I attended a packed meeting at Woolston Youth Club in early January. The young people showed a video about why they wanted to see the service saved, and young people who use the centre together with parents, staff and other interested parties were there to ask questions and explain why it was so important to them. They made a strong case and I have taken those concerns into account.

“We are engaging people in our communities and other interested groups across the city to see how many of these services can be delivered differently in the longer term. What this proposal does is create some breathing space to work through alternative options. We do recognise these are hard times, and we are trying to mitigate as much as we can.

Cllr Carol Cunio said:

“This facility is much valued by people in Woolston; it is important that youngsters have somewhere to go where they feel safe. I’m pleased that the St Mark’s Institute Trust, who own the building, are working with the Council to look at alternative ways of keeping services to young people going in the area.”

The final decision will be made on 13th February. We have listened, and we hope that all the Councillors in the city will support the revised proposals. We will continue to lobby the Government to give a fairer deal to this city.

Other well known figures in the arts who have signed the petition are actors Peter Polycarpou, Saskia Reeves, Paula Wilcox, Ian McShane and Ralf Little, together with former ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ judge Arlene Philips, theatre director Philip Hedley and author and actress Barbara Ewing.

The petition calls on Westminster City Council to reject proposals to cut the entire £350,000 a year budget for Arts and Culture over the next two years: http://petitions.westminster.gov.uk/artsandculture/

The current programme is designed to give the most vulnerable residents of Westminster – the young, those with disabilities and the elderly – an opportunity to improve their lives through the arts and through culture. The cut of £350,000 represents 0.04% of the Council’s spending.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“The campaign to save Westminster’s arts and culture programme is growing. The whole city will be poorer through the loss of these innovative projects. It is madness for the Council to reduce community access to Westminster’s wonderful array of world-class arts and culture. If anything, we should be making more of these magnificent cultural facilities and arts organisations on our doorstep, rather than reducing access to them for children, young people and the elderly.”

Examples of the programme that are currently funded by the Council and which will be affected by the axing of financial support are;

* Soho Theatre – Creative writing and literacy skills programme with the Soho Young Company with the offer of Work Experience for Westminster school students from aged 15, Front of House shadowing scheme with a chance of permanent employment at Soho Theatre.

* Paddington Arts and DreamArts – A city-wide performing arts programme delivered by two established youth arts services offering termly workshops in drama, dance, singing and media for 6-26 year olds. The programme offers volunteering opportunities and help with pathways to further education and leadership training for children and young people from the most deprived wards.

* Serpentine Gallery – Film project, workshops, family days, Serpentine late events and screenings that takes place in South Westminster, inspired by the theme of transition which will address disadvantaged students’ fears and concerns about the period of transition between primary and secondary school.

* Dream Arts in a consortium with Paddington Development Trust, Paddington Arts and Vital Regeneration – A New consortium formed to offer tailored creative services for children and young people at risk that will support the Council’s Your Choice framework to tackle youth violence.

* Streetwise Opera – Streetwise Opera aims to empower people who have experienced homelessness, through collaboration in staging professional opera productions and workshops, giving a platform for ideas and helping people to re-build feelings of self-worth and confidence.

* Union Dance – Union Dance provides education in choreography, dance styles, health and fitness for young people aged 16-25 live, work or study in Westminster of mixed dance ability. Union Too, the youth arm of the professional company Union Dance, will provide regular dance training sessions for Westminster young people at Pimlico Academy.

* Westminster Mind – A 12 week recovery programme of creative workshops and tasters tailored to the needs of vulnerable adults not currently in care, supporting them to regain independence and access volunteering opportunities and work placements in professional arts organizations.

* English National Ballet – Two strands of dance activities for older people that cater for the diverse range of needs in Westminster day care centres and Older People’s Hubs. Tailored workshops and Parkinson’s awareness tasters led by Parkinson’s UK.

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, commenting on tomorrow’s equal marriage vote, said:

“I’ll be voting for equal marriage in the House of Commons and I’ll be doing so proudly.

“I will be doing so in a proud Labour tradition which saw us repeal Section 28, equalise the age of consent, introduce new rules on adoption and introduce civil partnerships.

“I’ll be voting for equal marriage for a very simple reason: I don’t think that the person you love should determine the rights you have. That’s why I’ll be voting for equal marriage, along with the rest of the shadow cabinet.

“I’ll be urging other Labour MPs to maximise our vote so that we can get a decisive majority in the House of Commons, it can then pass through the House of Lords and we can get it into legislation.

“When we do, it will be another important step forward in the fight for equality in Britain.”

The Armed Forces (Prevention of Discrimination) Bill makes an amendment to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to make it that certain offences committed towards members of the armed forces shall be treated as ‘aggravated’. This will apply to members of the Regular and Reserve Forces, veterans and their family members.

Labour has campaigned for greater protections for the Armed Forces after research revealed they still experience discrimination and abuse. It was revealed that more than one in five members of the Forces said they had experienced strangers shouting abuse at them while wearing their uniform in public in the UK in the last five years. Nearly one in twenty said they had experienced violence or attempted violence.

This Bill will apply only to criminal offences, but this is a starting point for Labour, who will examine whether it is possible to legislate for greater legal protections the areas of employment (which is particularly important for Reservists) and in the provision of goods and services.

Jim Murphy MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, said:

“We must protect those who protect our nation.

“It is unacceptable some service people face abuse.

“This is an important part of a wider campaign to prevent discrimination against our heroes.

“They serve us, we should protect them.”

In summary, the Council should join the AGMA scheme for the following reasons;

* Impressive early results: Oldham’s residents who chose to switch following the auction saved between £156 and £182 depending on fuel types and billing methods.

* An early start: Because an auction has already been run and materials are in place meaning that the processes and structures are already established. The next auction is expected to take place in March or April meaning that residents will realise savings sooner. This is important given the recent fuel price rises.

* Free to join: The scheme does not require a joining fee payable by the Council. Instead, Oldham Council encourage participating authorities make a voluntary contribution to its Co-operative fund.

* Higher switching payments: Under most schemes, local authorities receive a payment for every successful switch. The AGMA scheme would see the Council being paid £10 for each resident who switches.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Leader of the Labour Group, said;

“The Council should join the AGMA energy switching scheme as soon as possible so that residents can get the benefit of these energy savings soon. Saving up to £182 a year will benefit many Westminster families and help them to balance their regular outgoings.”