This was the second main part of Gordon's conference speech, emphaising the imprtance of putting values into the market.

Gordon made a storming opening to his conference speech, listing achievements at rapid pace to applause from the delegates. 

The first main section was to highlight the damage avoided by not standing aside, as the Tories in government would have done. 

Car Scrappage scheme extended. 

Peter Mandelson's announcement today that the car scrappage scheme will be extended by 100,000 vehicles is very welcome and really emphasises the difference between a Labour Government who are seeking to help business during the recession, and the Tories who would let the recession takes its course.

It's good news for South Derbyshire, in which Toyota have a car factory (at Burnaston).  Toyota are already on record as welcoming the scheme and were seeking its extension. 

The Tories meanwhile have said they would let the recession take its course.  Their ideology stopped them from even considering such an idea. 

I was pleased to witness the announcement from the conference floor in Brighton today.  This is great news for South Derbyshire families and businesses. 

Extracts from Peter Mandelson's speech include -

As we get closer to the election, I want to see ... Tory candidates across the country explaining why they wouldn’t provide the money to help small businesses and families in this recession when they needed it most.
 
No extra money to boost family incomes.

No money for the tax deferment for business and no VAT cut.

No additional money to help those who have tragically lost their jobs.

No funding for the car scrappage scheme.

...

There are encouraging signs that the economy is picking up.  But recovery remains fragile and uncertain, especially in manufacturing and one of its cornerstones, the car industry.

Our car scrappage scheme has been so successful the money is running out.  The industry has asked that the scheme be topped up.  Conference, we cannot do everything but that does not mean doing nothing.  So today I am extending our popular car scrappage scheme with extra money for an additional 100,000 cars and vans.

Previous coverage -

from the Derby Telegraph  

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/Scrappage-boosts-Burnaston-time-working/article-1259657-detail/article.html 

Scrappage boosts Burnaston back to full-time working

STAFF at Toyota's Burnaston car factory have returned to full-time working – but the company has re-emphasised that it will be for only a temporary period.

Since April, the 3,500 workers at the factory had been working a four-and-a-half day week – the equivalent of a 10% pay cut – due to a global drop in demand for new cars.

But in June, the company announced that Burnaston, which makes the Auris and Avensis models, would return to full working hours thanks to a surge in demand created by car scrappage schemes in the UK and mainland Europe.

Yesterday , staff embarked on a six-week period which will see them working a five-day week.  

from the Burton Mail -

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/burtonmail-news/displayarticle.asp?id=427109 

Car sales booster for Toyota

TOYOTA is to suspend its ‘work share’ arrangements for two months at its Burnaston plant to cater for a temporary sales boost aided by UK and European car scrappage schemes.

The car giant introduced a 12-month 10 per cent cut in hours and basic pay on April 1 in a bid to cut labour costs and maximise efforts to save jobs over the long term.

However, the firm is to lift the arrangements in August and September to meet a need for increased volumes, especially for the Auris, one of two models manufactured at Burnaston.

The sales boost has been brought about partly because of UK and European car scrappage schemes, in which motorists get thousands of pounds off new vehicles in exchange for old models.

Andrew Adonis made a powerful speech to rail unions on Sunday.  MORE LATER. 

... kinda 

It was actually the East Midlands Regional Grand Committee of the House of Commons. 

Grand being a technical term, although it was fine. 

Parliament, it transpires, had last met in Nottingham in 1357. 

17 of the MPs from the East Midlands met to ask 3 questions of Phil Hope, the East Midlands Minister and then debate the economic situation. 

And the news is  ....   the Liberal Democrat from Chesterfield is so boring.  

I mean, oh dear.   25 minutes on banks and council housing, with perhaps just a hint of East Midlands in there.  But you had to work to follow it.   It's as if he's used to talking to himself in front of people who weren't listening and couldn't let it go. 

And it just took time away from Labour MPs who had something to say. 

But first, Alan Duncan, the newly-demoted Tory front-bench spokesperson.  His pronouncement was that he didn't see the value of a minister for the East Midlands (overlooking I think that John Major had a Minister for Nottingham - the name escapes me).  His announcement was how the Tories preferred EMDA as it was under the Tories - interesting cos it's firmly believed that his leader wants to scrap regional development agencies rather than reform them. 

So to the Labour MPs' contributions - and beyond Paddy Tipping's quick guide to the radical history of Nottingham - it hooked into the importance of green issues for the future. 

Alan Simpson took the concept of peak oil a step further, in fact 3 steps further - peak phosphate, peak soil and peak water.   (Outside, he told me he hadn't had time to introduce a fifth peak - the concept of peak oxygen). 

On a more practical vein, Judy Mallaber explained how B.P.I., manufacturers of plastic sheeting such as that used to wrap bales on farms, had converted to using recycled / returned plastic sheets, only to find that only 20% of such sheeting is returned, 40% exported and the remaining 40% tipped or buried. 

Mark Todd, MP for South Derbyshire, covered a range of points concerning support for businesses, including the development of green technologies at Toyota in Burnaston. 

All in all, fairly enjoyable to listen to, with the exception of the 25 minute black hole in the middle.  If the committee is to come to Nottingham again, they need to do a bit more to advertise its coming. 

... kinda. 

It was actually the East Midlands Regional Grand Committee of the House of Commons. 

Grand being a technical term, although it was fine. 

Parliament it transpire had last met in Nottingham in 1357. 

17 of the MPs from the East Midlands met to ask 3 questions of Phil Hope, the East Midlands Minister and then debate the economic situation. 

And the news is  ....   the Liberal Democrat from Chesterfield is so boring.  

I mean, oh dear.   25 minutes on banks and council housing, with perhaps just a hint of East Midlands in there.  But you had to work to follow it.   It's as if he's used to talking to himself in front of people who weren't listening and couldn't let it go. 

And it just took time away from Labour MPs who had something to say. 

But first, Alan Duncan, the newly-demoted Tory front-bench spokesperson.  His pronouncement was that he didn't see the value of a minister for the East Midlands (overlooking I think that John Major had a Minister for Nottingham - the name escapes me).  His announcement was how the Tories preferred EMDA as it was under the Tories - interesting cos it's firmly believed that his leader wants to scrap regional development agencies rather than reform them. 

So to the Labour MPs' contributions - and beyond Paddy Tipping's quick guide to the radical history of Nottingham - it hooked into the importance of green issues for the future. 

Alan Simpson took the the concept of peak oil a step further, in fact 3 steps further - peak phosphate, peak soil and peak water.   (Outside, he told me he hadn't had time to introduce a fifth peak - the concept of peak oxygen). 

On a more practical vein, Judy Mallaber explained how B.P.I., manufacturers of plastic sheeting such as that used to wrap bales on farms, had converted to using recycled / returned plastic sheets, only to find that only 20% of such sheeting is returned, 40% exported and the remaining 40% tipped or buried. 

Mark Todd, MP for South Derbyshire, covered a range of points concerning support for businesses, including the development of green technologies at Toyota in Burnaston. 

All in all, fairly enjoyable to listen to, with the exception of the 25 minute black hole in the middle.  If the committee is tpo come to Nottingham again, they need to do a bit more to advertise its coming. 

Good news to see 29 local authorities getting Government support to build council houses today.  Disappointing to find that South Derbyshire was not among them.

There are around 2,000 people on South Derbyshire's waiting list.  There is a real need.  But the Tory leadership on South Derbyshire District Council did not see fit to explore the potential of this new opportunity.  Councils elsewhere, including administrations of all political colours, have.  And nearly all who applied won a scheme.  

There's a particular need for council housing to support local people in rural villages.  Councils like North Kestevan have responded to this need and won support for 17 houses in 5 different villages.  No such hope for families in South Derbyshire villages. 

Because in South Derbyshire, the ideologues have taken over.  

Instead of exploring building houses at a good time to borrow, South Derbyshire Tories want to get rid of council houses at a bad time to sell (although they did not mention their plans in their election manifesto upon which they were elected).  

£50,000 has been spent on a consultation to sell off council housing when the tenants are overwhelmingly against the proposal,  Tenants we've talked with on the doorstep and on the phone have overwhelmingly said they want to stay with the council.   

But outdated ideology has taken over.  The kind of ideology that the Mirror exposed on Monday, when senior HQ Tories are minuted as planning to scrap all long-term rental tenancies.  

South Derbyshire Tories should now -

- explore the potential for council housing in the next wave of the Government scheme;

- say that they will never try to sell off council housing against the wishes of tenants;

- affirm support for long-term rental tenancies. 

Background Notes

The Government announcement.

As part of Budget 2009, the Government announced £100 million would be available to local authorities to support them deliver new affordable housing; a figure increased almost four fold as part the Government’s £1.5 billion Housing Pledge in June.

Local authorities were invited to consider this chance to build council homes again and 51 local authorities in England submitted bids for financial support.  Today, the go ahead was announced for 47 councils with 205 schemes to build over 2,000 new council homes for nearly 10,000 people.  

The Government are, in this first round, supporting 29 schemes in the East Midlands.  

South Derbyshire tenants want to stay with the council.

Tenants of South Derbyshire District Council are overwhelmingly against their homes being sold to a housing association.  

The Labour Party has spoken to many tenants this year.  The responses showed that over 8 out of 10 want to stay with the council.

The Conservative Party have wrongly said that the council tenants had to be asked now if they want their homes to be transferred from the council – there is no statutory requirement on local authorities to review the housing stock for transfer on a regular basis.  

The Conservative Party have wrongly said that the contribution to national government for the original construction of the properties was a Labour scheme – the Conservatives started the scheme twenty years ago.  And Labour has now announced plans to change it. 

Now that the Conservative Party have said they may not go ahead with a sale if the current review changes existing arrangements, tenants and the public generally will wonder why £50,000 has been spent on such an exercise now, rather than wait for the outcome of the current review.  That £50,000 has been wasted.  

The housing currently cannot be sold with the support of tenants.   Might South Derbyshire Tories be planning on the basis that national Tories will remove such a protection?

South Derbyshire Tories are ignoring tenants’ opinions, wasting money and lacking ambition for people in need.    

Mirror article, published 7th September, 2009 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2009/09/07/tories-plotting-huge-rent-rises-115875-21653786/

"Housing benefit facing axe as Tories plot Comments: