Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

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Gordon Birtwistle, MP for Burnley and Padiham visited Burnley Manufacturer Futaba-Tenneco UK Ltd on Friday 25th March for an extremely positive announcement about a major deal which Futaba has just landed.

Futaba-Tenneco UK Ltd has secured a major order from a major Japanese company to manufacture pressed and welded components. The order will effectively give the plant an almost full order book for the next few years, but importantly still leaves capacity for any other work that the Company secures.

Gordon Birtwistle at Futaba Tenneco

The winning of this order shows that the Company’s drive, vision and long term strategy, coupled with the exceptional commitment of the entire workforce has successfully guided it through the recession and the re-structure that was necessary to ensure that the plant remained competitive. The re-structure persuaded Futaba and Tenneco (the Mother companies) to continue to invest in the plant, and also kept its major customers onboard.
The Company has an excellent safety and quality record as shown by recent awards received from Toyota for both quality and delivery, and has recently invested heavily in the training and development of its employees, one of the issues heavily discussed during the meeting.
Mr Birtwistle offered his full support and will be working closely to help the company access some of the government’s £1.4 billion apprenticeship schemes (which saw an additional £180 million in funding announced in the recent budget) to aid the company in securing not only its own future but that of its workforce, as well as providing a boost to local employment.

Assistant Managing Director Kevin Schofield says, “This is not only fantastic news for the Company and all its employees, but also for the Burnley area and our supply chain. There are not many other companies in this area that can boast of the prospect of several years work and is testament to the hard work put in by every single employee. In fact, production levels are higher than expected at the moment which has led to 23 temporary workers being employed through a ground breaking scheme developed between FTUK and Neville Gee Employment Agency.

About the visit Gordon said “Futaba Tenneco are a fantastic local company, and this is very positive news for Burnley’s economy. The hard work and exceptional commitment of Futaba’s entire workforce are an example to us all, and Futaba are a company which Burnley should be extremely proud of.”

MP for Burnley and Padiham, Gordon Birtwistle, is reminding people to check if they are eligible for Cold Weather payments following the recent cold snap.

Cold weather payments are made to people in receipt of Pension Credit and certain other benefits when the temperature drops below 0c for more than 7 days.

Pension Credit provides a top-up to pensioners on low incomes to ensure they have a minimum income.

A recent report by Age Concern suggested that between 27 and 38% of older people eligible for pension credit were not claiming it, either because they don’t know about it or don’t think they are eligible.
“Pension Credit is a ‘passport’ benefit which can provide access to a number of other payments such as this,” said Gordon. “It is important that people who might be eligible don’t miss out.
Age Concern run a helpline 0800 169 6565 which can provide people with advice. Alternatively people can contact the Pension Service direct on 0800 99 1234.

Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle has again been in contact with British Waterways regarding the damaged and dangerous Hapton Road Bridge over the Leeds and Liverpool canal. They have informed Gordon that repairs will start on the bridge on 8th November.

Gordon has been pressing British Waterways for action to repair this vital route into Hapton since August and is delighted that work is finally due to begin. The bridge will be repaired using the correct stone quarried for purpose to maintain the heritage of Hapton village.

Commenting, Gordon said:

“I am delighted that, after over 12 months of delays, stalling tactics and buck-passing by various public bodies, work is finally due to begin to repair this bridge. This is a vital connection for Hapton, and for far too long it has been a danger to all residents and motorists using the bridge.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley & Padiham, Gordon Birtwistle has welcomed the announcement in yesterdays Spending Review that the national Apprenticeship scheme is to be expanded.

Spending on adult apprenticeships will be boosted by £250 million by 2014-15 providing an extra 75,000 apprenticeship places. The move has been welcomed by groups like the Federation for Small Businesses.

Commenting on the announcement, Gordon said
“I am delighted by this expanded commitment by the coalition government to the apprenticeship program. This will reverse the slide we have seen in apprenticeships over the last 20 years. We need skilled workers to help boost the economy and apprenticeships will help train people for these vital jobs”

Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle has been working with Lancashire County Council and Transdev to provide a better bus service to the people of Rosegrove and Gannow who live near the 4 and 5 bus routes. At the moment buses don’t run the full route on evenings or Sundays, unfairly disadvantaging those people who rely on the buses for their transport.
 
Gordon has asked that Lancashire County Council and Transdev look into the feasibility of providing a more accessible bus service to Rosegrove and Gannow, which they will be doing over the coming weeks.
 
Commenting, Gordon said:
 
“It is ridiculous that in the twenty first century, residents of a town such as Burnley should be restrained by a bus timetable that does not extend into the evening or Sundays. Over a Bank Holiday the people of Rosegrove and Gannow can be left from Friday evening until Tuesday morning without any means of getting into the town centre, which is unacceptable.”
 
“It is the most vulnerable of society who rely on the buses, and it is neither fair nor right that these people should be constrained by lack of a service which many people in towns and cities across the country take for granted. I hope to see an improved bus service for the people of Rosegrove and Gannow as soon as possible.”

Victims of the Equitable Life collapse can finally expect compensation as Liberal Democrat MPs push forward new legislation.

Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley, Gordon Birtwistle described the announcement as a “massive relief” for the millions of people who lost up to half their pensions in the collapse.

The Equitable Life Bill, which was outlined to the House of Commons yesterday [Wednesday], will give the Treasury the authority to make payments to policyholders or dependents who have been fighting the Labour Government for compensation since 2000.

A previous Liberal Democrat motion to get compensation for the millions of people involved was defeated in October 2009.

Gordon Birtwistle, Liberal Democrat MP for Burnley said:

“The previous Government continually ignored the millions of people who lost their savings.

“People in Burnley lost up to half their pensions in the fiasco yet Labour failed to act, ignoring Liberal Democrat advice, ignoring the High Court and ignoring an Ombudsman report.

“This Bill is a massive relief to thousands of pensioners and is long overdue.

“I am delighted that something the Liberal Democrats have been calling for can now finally happen. We are using our position in Government to give policyholders the money they deserve.”

The full text of the written statement to the Commons is available here:

“It may prove that only extra money will permit Burnley to have its own facilities. If so, then the government needs to respond. Burnley people and their local representatives will always prioritise public health over illegal foreign wars, useless ID cards and disastrous defence procurement projects. This money must be spent instead on helping people to stay fit and healthy, and that is what we expect our government to do.”

Now is the time for local hospital bosses to hold a truly independent inquiry into the closure of Burnley’s A&E unit.

“We now have a new Chair and Chief Executive of the local hospitals trust”, said local campaigner Gordon Birtwistle.  “Now they can start to undo the mistakes made in recent years.”

The Trust’s new chief executive is also the Chief Exec for two successful A&Es in Halifax and Huddersfield.  These serve two towns closer together and with a smaller population than Burnley and Blackburn and show that it is possible to have an effective solution with two A&E units.
Gordon led the fight against the Labour government’s plans to shut Burnley’s A&E unit and recently presented a petition signed by over 9000 local people calling for it to be re-opened.

Sign the petition today