Nelson Mandela
18.7.1918 - 5.12.2013
The House of Commons paid tribute to former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela who died on 5 December 2013.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Valerie said: “Not many of
us would have his courage not to compromise our principles, and many of us
today are still judged by the colour of our skin, rather than on our talents.
As he said, he was not bitter, because if he had been so, he would still have
been in prison. We can only honour his legacy if we together work for his
values of forgiveness, perseverance, peace and hope. We give thanks for his
life and may he rest in peace.”
VALERIE WELCOMES REV JESSE JACKSON TO WALSALL COLLEGE
Valerie said: “The Rev’d Jesse Jackson is an iconic figure
within the Civil Rights Movement in the USA. When I introduced the Rev’d
Jackson to the audience I highlighted the movement he founded, the Rainbow PUSH
Coalition, which aims to bring people together to serve humanity. The movement
works to expand education, employment and business opportunities for people who
are disadvantaged and for ethnic minorities. The Rev’d Jackson touched on this
theme when he pointed out the dearth of ethnic minority students at Oxford and
Cambridge.”
“Nevertheless he emphasised to the audience that progress
has been made in the pursuit of equality, saying that ethnic minorities no
longer face the same difficulties experienced 50 years ago in accessing public
amenities or taking part in the democratic process.”
Small Business Saturday
“Small Business Saturday took place on 7 December 2013 and
celebrates the contribution of Small Businesses to the local and national
economies. It is a grass-roots campaign that encourages people to shop locally
and support small businesses in the local community. Ahead of Small Business
Saturday, I invited the Shadow Business Secretary, Chuka Umunna MP to Walsall
College on Thursday 5 December 2013. He spoke about the important impact that
Small Businesses make and the importance of giving them more support.”
To Contact Valerie:
Constituency Office: 16A Lichfield Street, Walsall, WS1 1TJ
Telephone: 01922 635835
Westminster Office: House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Telephone: 020 7219 7176
Email: valerie.vaz.mp@parliament.uk
Referrals to
Family Mediation Down
At Justice Questions, Valerie asked the Secretary of State
what recent assessment he has made of family mediation services. The Secretary
of State replied that there had been a drop in referrals to family mediation
services following changes to Legal Aid in April 2013.
Valerie said: “This was a foreseeable consequence of cuts to
legal aid. Referrals to family mediation service have dropped by 47% since
April 2013. It is crucial that the Government takes steps to change its policy
now.”
Office Move
From Monday 6 January 2014, the Walsall Office will be
located at 16A Lichfield Street, Walsall, WS1 1TJ. The telephone number remains
01922 635835.
Health Select
Committee
On Tuesday 17 December 2013, the Health Select Committee, of
which Valerie is a member, heard evidence from the Secretary of State (SoS) for
Health, Jeremy Hunt, and the Chief Executive of NHS England, Sir David
Nicholson.
Valerie said: “I asked the SoS to confirm if there has been
£600 million underspend so far this year. He replied that this is money that
has been committed to budgets in many different parts of the NHS and they did not
know that they were going to underspend until the end of the year. Given there
is a crisis in A&E and more doctors and nurses are needed, it is not clear
why £2.2bn was returned to the Treasury in 2012/13 and £1.4 billion in 2011/12.
In November the SoS announced an extra £150m to go to CCGs, in addition to the
£250m announced in September for hospitals to cope with winter pressures. He
confirmed this is not new money and is being taken out of the underspend.”
“I asked Sir David to confirm if there will be a
new regime in place to make CCGs accountable to NHS England. He said CCGs will
now be subject to quarterly assessments of their effectiveness by NHS England.
Whilst CCGs should be accountable for public money, this new regime shows there
was a
