Two stories have especially caught my eye in this newspaper in recent weeks. Unemployment here is half the national average - and the number of claimants aged 18-24 has dropped by almost a half; while recent research has indicated Winchester has the highest proportion of self-employed people in the country.
While no-one, especially me, is complacent about such figures they should be celebrated because on almost every indicator being in-work drives quality of life. One man who knows more about that than most is Iain Duncan-Smith. Last Friday the Work & Pensions Secretary came to Winchester to meet local business leaders, to discuss the positive jobs outlook we have here and to discuss various things both Government and local authority can do to further help the long-term jobless.
One thing we both know is that we cannot create sustainable jobs for anyone by Whitehall writing cheques which is why the innovation here of our many thousands of small businesses is so vital to our success. I waste no opportunity in Government to talk up my constituency but it was good to bring Government here for once to hear it from the horses’ mouth.
October is a lovely month (Autumn is my favourite season) but it’s also a sombre reminder for me – and those I work alongside in my role as Chair of the All-Party Breast Cancer Group – that we still lose 12,000 women a year to the disease. I am not a great lover of ‘awareness’ months because they tend to feed the media’s appetite to go big and move on but BCAM (Breast Cancer Awareness Month) each October is a chance to remind Government the fight is far from won.
This year I hosted a big event in the House of Commons for Breast Cancer Care which brought secondary breast cancer survivors to Westminster to meet MPs and tell them where the NHS can do better in supporting them and treating them. It is one event of thousands but it’s all part of a fight we must keep up. My extensive pages on the subject are at www.stevebrine.com/breastcancer
Finally for this time, authorised absence from school. It is no secret that I disagreed with the Government when a strict ban was imposed on parents taking their children out of school during term time. I understand the damage caused to a child’s education by repeated absence, and no-one is advocating that be encouraged, but to stand in the way of parents taking children out for important events such as family weddings, funerals or visiting a seriously ill relative was a sledgehammer to crack a nut in my opinion.
Now, after much pressure in Parliament and a sensible negotiation between Head Teachers and the new Education Secretary, new guidelines for head teachers will be published. It stops short of allowing term-time holidays, something I still think should be possible in exceptional circumstances at primary age only, but it’s a welcome move for which Ministers deserve credit.
You can find out more about my work and get in touch via 01962 791110 or www.stevebrine.com
Steve Brine
MP for Winchester & Chandler’s Ford
