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Some of Stevenage’s 7,000 carers gave MP for Stevenage, Stephen McPartland, an insight into the reality of caring for someone close, when he made a fact finding visit to local charity Carers in Hertfordshire’s Carers Count Meeting at the Oval Community Centre.

Stephen said: “I was very pleased to listen to the experiences facing carers in Stevenage and was keen to hear exactly how they felt. My priority is to stand up for local people and get them the best deal possible and I found the meeting very useful. There are a number of points that I am going to look into in more detail and I will continue to stand up for carers in Parliament”.

Stephen McPartland MP recently visited the Stevenage Day Centre, run by Crossroads Care North Herts, the leading charity offering respite care to carers.

In addition to the Day Centre, Crossroads provides support and respite to carers by providing experienced carers who spend time with the "cared for", normally in their own homes, thus allowing the carers to have time off to spend as they wish.

Crossroads can be contacted on 01462 455578.

Stephen McPartland MP and Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Asthma joined young people aged 11-16 from schools across England to Listen Up! about asthma, at Asthma UK’s annual youth conference held at the Houses of Parliament in April 2011.

One in ten young people in England is currently receiving treatment for asthma and a fifth of children will miss around six or more days of school or college a year as a result of their condition. Ill health and misconceptions about the condition can mean that around a third of children with asthma are being left out of activities such as sport at school.

Stephen McPartland MP, said: ‘Asthma is serious, but training for teachers and clear guidelines in schools will stop children with asthma missing out on sports and school trips. I am very pleased to support Asthma UK with this exciting project to empower young people to get the most out of their school years.’

Stephen McPartland MP is delighted that disadvantaged children in the Stevenage area are set to receive £815,000 this year under the new government's Pupil Premium which is available for the first time.

Stephen said:"This is fantastic news for local children. The gap between the academic performance of children from deprived backgrounds and their peers is far too big and has been ignored for too long. The Pupil Premium will tackle this head on, providing targeted funding for those who need it most. The new government is delivering a massive boost to the education of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children in our area."

The Pupil Premium is an extra lump sum of cash which follows every disadvantaged child and is received by schools, allowing them to provide additional support such as one-to-one tuition and extra pastoral care.

In the year from April 2011, the pupil premium will be worth £430 for every pupil on Free School Meals and £430 for every looked-after child. This means that in Stevenage this year 1,900 children overall will benefit from an additional £815,000.

Research conducted by a mobile and broadband comparison website shows that 3G mobile broadband speeds in Stevenage are amongst the worst for towns and cities in the UK.

Stephen said, “We are all using technology more and more in our jobs and personal lives, so it is absolutely vital that we have the best speeds available. I will certainly be taking this issue up, to identify how the new government’s plans to develop faster broadband services will help here in Stevenage. Stevenage is a great town, with world class companies of all sizes and we need the best downloads speeds available.”

MP for Stevenage, Stephen McPartland MP is supporting the British Lung Foundation’s Children’s Charter campaign. He recently attended the BLF’s parliamentary launch and met the British Lung Foundation’s young campaign champions who explained the charity’s action plan to improve children’s lung health in the UK.

Stephen said, “I am delighted to support the British Lung Foundation’s Children’s Charter and believe it is important that adults are encouraged to protect children from the dangers of passive smoke.”

Dame Helena Shovelton, Chief Executive for the BLF said: “The number of children whose lungs are being damaged by adults lighting up when children are in the car is alarming. We are calling on all children who want to put an end to passive smoking to add their voice to the BLF’s campaign by going to www.lunguk.org/childrenscharter.

This is great news for local people, they will have more money, more jobs, more training and more educational opportunities.

I am delighted we have frozen council tax, scrapped Labour's fuel duty escalator, reduced fuel duty by a penny, introduced the fair fuel stabiliser and increased personal tax allowances. So in just 9 months the Government has taken 1.1 million people out of tax altogether.

With the pupil premium, funding for apprenticeships and slashing of bureaucracy for small businesses. We are reducing the gap between education and employment at the same time as giving local businesses the confidence to employ local people.

Stephen McPartland
Member of Parliament for Stevenage
23rd March 2011

Last week Stevenage MP Stephen McPartland dropped in to see leading advocacy charity, POhWER and update them on the progress of their feedback to a governmental white paper.

POhWER sent a survey to members, held workshops and drew up a response called ‘We will if you will’ - which they handed to their MP last October. The charity’s response provided a unique perspective on the Government’s proposals and Stephen personally handed it to the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley. POhWER was particularly concerned that the independent complaints advocacy service (ICAS), which POhWER delivers in many parts of the country, including Hertfordshire, may be replaced by a more limited and less independent service.

Stephen said “I am delighted that we have managed to secure the ICAS contract for another two years and safeguard local jobs. I know Andrew was pleased to receive such a positive contribution to the consultation from many of the most vulnerable people in our community. This was the perfect example of the wonderful work POhWER does in speaking up for those who often find it difficult to communicate their views. ”