Government invests in Marine Renewable Energy for Cornwall

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Government-invest-wave-hubs/story-12844744-detail/story.html

Further to the Government’s announcement of major investment in marine energy in the South West, I am meeting with Energy Minister Greg Barker later this week to make the case for Falmouth.

Welcoming the Government’s commitment to male victims of domestic violence

In Parliament this week I was pleased to be able to secure a meeting with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Office for Truro based charity Esteem.

Esteem runs the only service in England that supports men who are abused by their partners.  I visited the charity in Truro last month. 

Responding to my request for a meeting between the Home Office and Esteem, Lynne Featherstone MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office, confirmed that Government’s commitment to tackling domestic and sexual violence directed against men, and expressed her intention to meet with the charity.

I am pleased that the Government recognises the need not only to protect women and children from the dreadful and often hidden crime of domestic and sexual violence, but also to support men who are victims of abuse.

I am delighted that Mrs Featherstone has agreed to visit Esteem, and look forward to welcoming her to Truro in due course.  I will continue to campaign for every victim of domestic and sexual violence to have access to the appropriate support.

Working to tackle child sex abuse

Last week I spent a great deal of my time focussed on what more needs to be done to raise awareness of child sexual exploitation as well as domestic and sexual abuse of women and men.  I also spent time on the issues of how to detect and prosecute these crimes and support victims to live with their ordeals.  I have been working with Devon and Cornwall Constabulary for some time on issues around these crimes and am pleased to see that the voices of those on the front line are informing Government policy and action.

I was pleased to join the launch of a new service in Cornwall for the victims of domestic and sexual violence. It is a partnership between the police, NHS and Cornwall Council and is based in Truro.

I appreciated the opportunity to listen to more professionals, volunteers as well as young people at a meeting in Torbay on Monday.  Organised by the Torbay Independent Safeguarding Board this meeting highlighted excellent work in Devon that brings together professionals from across the public sector and charities such as the NSPCC and the Children’s Society to tackle the sexual exploitation of children. We also learned about work around the UK that has really got to grips with protecting young people who are groomed by sex offenders and subsequently raped.  I have been shocked by the numbers of children affected in every community across the country.  While sexual abuse of children seems like a crime for a different country or in a bygone age, it is something we all need to face up to and tackle in our communities now.

While these are not new crimes, the internet is a new and highly effective tool for the perpetrators of this horrendous crime.  The Government has launched a new website that brings together a great deal of information about what all those adults working with or caring for children can do to inform themselves of the risks.  This is called the Click Clever, Click Safe campaign and can be found through the UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCCIS) website or by following this link: http://clickcleverclicksafe.direct.gov.uk/index.html. 

As a mum of three children, my simple advice to any parent or carer of a child, is get informed and do not let your children use the internet on a mobile phone or laptop, alone in their bedroom.  The bitter irony is that while most parents are concerned about the risks of strangers coming into contact with their children and hurting them in a park or while they are out playing, they are more at risk on Facebook, Bebo or using other social media.

I have also been alarmed by the experiences of young victims in the criminal justice system, especially about failings in the court system.  I have written to Ken Clarke, the Secretary of State responsible, asking him to ensure that urgent improvements are made.  This week we will be debating the vitally important issues of sentencing offenders as well as looking at bail conditions and release on licence or otherwise.  I will highlight the issue and press for changes.

Education Secretary pledges to tackle funding inequality on visit to Cornwall

http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Gove-West-pupils-don-t-fair-share/story-12807001-detail/story.html

Welcoming the Apprentice Card

I was delighted to join the launch of the Apprentice Card in Westminster on Wednesday.

Research by Robert Halfon MP has demonstrated that one of the worst legacies of the last Government was a generation of young people lost to benefits, or trudging endlessly round a hamster’s wheel of six-month temporary courses.

Despite the billions spent on the New Deal, for example, around 100,000 of those who left school in Tony Blair’s first term never held down a job, and are now in their thirties, having never worked in their lives.

Just one in three British workers now qualify as apprentices, or with technical skills.  Whereas in France, it is one in two.  And Germany is even better, with two out of three workers qualified with proper technical skills.

France and Germany are miles ahead of us, and as a result our workforce is reckoned to be 15 percent less productive.

As part of efforts to change this, the Government has this week launched the Apprentice Card.  The Card will finally put apprentices on a level-playing field with academic students and other professions, giving apprentices discounts at high street stores, as well as free support services and legal advice - estimated at a value of £500. Other benefits are planned for the future, such as social events, mentoring, and careers guidance.

 

The NUS are supplying the card infrastructure, for a pilot scheme with the training organisations PERA, GTA England, Kaplan, the Association of Accounting Technicians, and Harlow College.

Together they represent tens of thousands of apprentices across the UK, working in companies like JCB, Jaguar Land Rover, Next clothing, Morrisons and other top British brands.

I am delighted that this card has been introduced. For apprenticeships to work, we need to change the whole culture, by giving apprentices pride and prestige.  And ultimately this means giving them similar rights and benefits to academic students.  The Apprentice Card is a small by significant step in the right direction.”

Commons Transport Committee report on Coastguard plans published

I welcome this hard-hitting report.  It is what I have been saying to Ministers all year.  The MCA’s current proposals are not right.  Different proposals must be brought forward and must be consulted upon.  New proposals must take account of what frontline coastguards have to say.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-13875822

Beach Live launched

I am delighted that Beach Live is now up and running,  providing live information on risks to bathing water quality caused by overflows in the public sewage network.

http://www.beachlive.co.uk/