Gordon Birtwistle & Burnley Liberal Democrats

Posts Tagged ‘lib dems’

In Burnley and Padiham, 870 learners took on an apprenticeship in 2010/11, an increase of 73%.

Apprenticeships give people the skills and experience needed to succeed on the job market and create the skills necessary in the workforce for sustainable growth.

Liberal Democrats have long called for a significant increase in apprenticeships and Lib Dem Business Secretary, Vince Cable, has made this a priority.

To support more employers, especially small businesses, to take on apprentices, the Coalition Government this week announced a number of measures, including:

1. Offering employers with up to 50 employees an incentive payment of £1,500 to take on apprentices aged 16-24. This will encourage small employers to take on up to 20,000 apprentices.
2. Streamlining processes so that it takes just a month for an employer to advertise for an apprentice.
3. Ensuring that the National Apprenticeship Service better supports the needs of small employers – through more effectively targeted advice and guidance and helping training providers work more effectively with local SMEs.

Commenting, Burnley and Padiham MP Gordon Birtwistle said:

“Apprenticeships make companies more productive and give young people the experience and skills they need.

“Liberal Democrats are determined to tackle youth unemployment and get our economy back on track. Apprenticeships are a huge part of that.

“Apprenticeships are beneficial to all involved and the record rise in learners taking them up is great news for Burnley and the economy as a whole.

“Small businesses form the backbone of our economy and the announcements by Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, are very welcome. They show the Coalition Government is determined to do the right thing and create sustainable growth, driven by our local employers.”

Commenting further, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable said:

“The apprenticeships programme is a success story, with record numbers of learners starting an apprenticeship this year. But I have listened to employers, and will go further to ensure that investment is targeted where impact is greatest, delivering the specific skills businesses need to drive growth.

“Apprenticeships are proven to boost the life chances of young people, and are a sound investment in our future competitiveness. So when times are tough, it’s right that we provide additional support to help the smallest firms meet training costs.

“We’ll cut no corners on quality. Apprenticeships will remain the gold standard for excellence in vocational training – but where red tape serves no purpose, we’ll strip it away.”

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.”

Lancashire County Council have announced plans to make all residential roads in the County into 20mph areas by 2013. The changes are estimated to cost £9million, and will roll out around schools initially.
Burnley Liberal Democrats have welcomed the announcement, and have a proven record of campaigning for 20mph limits across the whole of Burnley and Pendle.

‘Sound investment’ – Coun Martin Smith

Coun Martin Smith said, “I’m delighted with this. This is exactly what the Lib Dems called for first in 2007, then again in February last year. All the residential areas in Burnley need these speed limits applied. The County Council is right to start with schools.

“Even where the new limit applies there will still be accidents. Not everyone will comply with the limit. There will still be accidents on our rural roads, too.

“But this is a sound investment.

“The Department for Transport has estimated that an accident causing serious injury costs around £178,000. That covers investigations, ambulances, hospital treatment and so on. They estimated that cost of someone being killed was over £1.5 million.

“With the estimated £9m cost of the new limits being spread across the whole of Lancashire, you can easily see how the investment in signage will be repaid. That’s without even trying to place a value on the lives lost, which is incalculable anyway and comes over and above the savings.”

The area’s roads are the responsibility of Lancashire County Council, but since 2007 Burnley Council has been requesting improvements to road safety in residential areas, particularly around the town’s schools.

The move comes after a Lib Dem motion to Burnley Council in 2007 calling for the limits to be introduced. At the time, the call for blanket limits was blocked by Labour who instead wanted to see traffic calming, road-narrowing bollards and parking restrictions.

The new limits are to be introduced gradually over the next few years, starting with roads through residential areas near schools.

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.”

“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.”

Well, the County Council elections are over, and for the Burnley Lib Dems it was a very successful day!

We took five out of a possible six seats in Burnley, which we had secretly wished for, but never truly expected (well done Margaret for sneaking Rural under the radar), and I almost won the Burnley West and Padiham seat, which I never thought I would come close to winning. I came 3rd, but it was a very respectible 3rd place, only 228 votes off the BNP who unfortunately took the seat, for their first County seat in Lancashire.

I think we proved that Labour are dead in Burnley, and the fight now turns to getting rid of “Makeover Kitty”, and 2010′s Local Elections, where, I am sure, we will make even more gains.