Dear Constituent,

Hello and welcome to this week's edition of the Denton and Reddish weekly news! 

I hope you enjoyed the long weekend! I've been spending the last few days in Caernarfon on a short break while Parliament is in recess. Back home today, and back in Westminster on Monday, for what I'm sure will be an eventful week!

There's still lots to update you on, not least a reminder that the Whit Friday Brass Band Contest is taking place today at Denton Cricket Club. Entry is free, and the event runs from 4pm right through til 11:15pm. Scroll down to the community board for more info!

Have a lovely weekend!

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has urged the Government to release key data showing the location and severity of classrooms in disrepair.

Gwynne, who has campaigned heavily on behalf of Russell Scott Primary School in Denton, accused the Government of “keeping parents in the dark” after Labour’s attempt to force the publication of information about the true state of England’s 24,000 school buildings was blocked in Parliament last week.

The news comes as official data from the Department of Education showed that there were 239 schools across Tameside and Stockport with buildings in “poor” or “bad” condition, meaning that they require urgent repair. Labour has said that local families have not been told the scale of disrepair or when the buildings would be fixed. This additional data exists, but has yet to be published by the Government despite the original survey being completed four years ago.

An internal government report leaked to the Observer newspaper in May 2022 revealed that school buildings in England are now in such disrepair they posed a “risk to life”.

Last December, Russell Scott Primary School was finally included in the Government’s school rebuilding programme after years of campaigning from Gwynne and the staff at the school. However, the building work has yet to begin. Last week, Gwynne urged the Government to set a start date, saying that whilst he was pleased the school was included in the rebuilding programme he “wanted an actual school, not a piece of paper”.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“For two years Conservative Ministers have pulled the wool over parents’ eyes instead of telling them the truth about the real state of their children’s school buildings.

“I know from campaigning alongside the team at Russell Scott Primary School in Denton just how hard it is to get Government action on crumbling school buildings.

“I’ll continue to fight for improved school conditions and better data transparency. Our children deserve so much better from this Government.

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has urged the Government to crack down on puppy smuggling after the Conservatives ditched their manifesto pledge to tackle the issue.

The Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill was first introduced in June 2021, and was announced again in the Queen’s Speech last year. It would have ended the export of live animals for fattening and slaughter, strengthened laws on poppy smuggling and banned the keeping of primates as pets.

However, despite the Bill making its way through several Parliamentary stages,  last week Environment Minister Mark Spencer announced that the bill was being scrapped.

Claire Bass, a senior director at the Human Society International/UK, claimed that “the real reason […] that the Bill has been dropped is because of concerns that it could act as a vehicle for uncomfortable debates that the government does not want held on polarising issues such as hunting with dogs”.

Gwynne has long campaigned on issues related to animal rights and has worked with Dogs Trust in the past to put pressure on the Government to take stronger action on puppy smuggling. He is now urging local constituents to sign a petition to put pressure on the Government to act.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“This is an utterly shameful decision. By chickening out of implementing their own legislation, the Tories have essentially given the green light to the appallingly cruel practise of puppy smuggling.

The Government must urgently set out how it plans on clamping down on illegal puppy farms and animal smuggling. The UK should be leading the way on animal welfare, but instead we’ve got another broken promise and animals paying the price.”

WATCH: Haughton Dale is a very special place.

Because of that, I worked with the Councillors and residents a decade ago to get a Supplementary Planning Document adopted for the area to sit as an extra protection alongside the Tameside Unitary Development Plan.

I’m very concerned that Irwell Valley’s proposal for the Old Rectory falls way short of the SPD planning requirements for the site and have been talking to residents in Ivy Cottages with Cllr Claire Reid about our concerns. Denton South Councillors will be knocking on more doors in the coming days. 

🗓️ Parliament is currently in recess but will return on Monday 🗓️

 READ: In the latest edition of the Tameside Reporter, I've written about the upcoming boundary changes at the next General Election.

I'm really pleased that I'll be standing as the Labour candidate for the new Gorton and Denton seat, but sad to be saying goodbye to Audenshaw, Dukinfield and Reddish.

Until then, however, I'm still working around the clock as the MP for Denton and Reddish, and fully committed to the job I was elected to do!

Read the full article here.