Keep up to date with the latest news from around Denton & Reddish

This week in Denton & Reddish
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** Dear Constituent,
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I've had a really busy week, so here's a bit of a bumper edition of Denton and Reddish Weekly News.
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Take care and stay safe.
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Headlines


** Gwynne supports Postmasters trapped in Horizon scandal
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Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has this week signed a parliamentary motion and spoken up in the House of Commons in support of postmasters trapped in the Horizon scandal.

This scandal relates to a faulty computer system called Horizon introduced in the 1990s to process transactions in post offices. The system falsely showed shortfalls and many postmasters were either criminally convicted or forced to pay back thousands of pounds that they did not actually owe.

One of those affected by this scandal was Della Robinson, who was subpostmaster at Dukinfield Post Office. Gwynne raised the case in Parliament yesterday in an urgent question on the scandal.

Gwynne has also signed an Early Day Motion calling for a judge-led inquiry into the scandal.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“Those who were caught up – through absolutely no fault of their own – in the Horizon scandal have been living a nightmare for the last decade or so.


“Progress to address this scandal has been incredibly slow and we are still nowhere near a satisfactory resolution.


“It is impossible to make up for all the misery and suffering that this scandal has caused, but it is high time that there was some sort of justice for those who have been affected.”


** Gwynne presents award to fundraising colourful characters
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Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has presented a Citizen’s Award to the Dane Bank Characters.

The Citizen’s Awards were established by Gwynne to recognise those who have gone above and beyond for others across the Denton and Reddish constituency. The winners are nominated by members of the public.

Denton West Councillors Brenda Warrington and Mike Smith joined Gwynne in presenting the award to the group that have been raising money for the Denton West End Community Library. So far, they have raised more than £1,200.

Andrew Gwynne said:

“I was very pleased to catch up with the brilliant Dane Bank Characters today and present them with a Citizen’s Award for the fantastic work that they have done.


“Not only have they raised money for the Denton West End Community Library, but they spread joy in the local community. As a child of the 1970s, I was particularly delighted to finally meet Hong Kong Phooey!


“Thank you to everyone who has nominated their local heroes for this award and please keep them coming.”


** Making caring visible
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This week is Carers Week and it’s always a fantastic opportunity to thank our wonderful unpaid carers and the amazing contribution that they make to communities across the country, including all of those right here in Tameside.


There are around 9.1 million carers across the country, who look after a relative or a friend who needs extra help, whether due to age, disability or illness. This is an incredibly difficult and important job at the best of times, but arguably never more so than now.


The Coronavirus pandemic has not just increased the pressures on many existing carers, but has also added greatly to their number. During this period, the number of unpaid carers has increased to 13.6 million people. In other words, around 1 in every 4 people in Britain are currently providing unpaid care for their loved ones.


These carers are an incredibly diverse bunch; young and old, male and female, rich and poor. What they have in common is that they selflessly give up their time to help others and we should all be incredibly grateful.


Research shows that unpaid carers face all sorts of challenges; not just the impact on their mental health, dealing with the stress and responsibility of caring and the time commitments that caring can involve, but also the physical demands and the impact that it can have on their paid work.


Too often, the amazing work that unpaid carers do is forgotten or ignored, which is why Carers Week is so very important. It gives us all an opportunity to think about what unpaid carers do and give thanks. This increased awareness is great, but I think we should also think a bit more about how we – as a society – can help our unpaid carers.


We have seen some of this during this crisis, as supermarkets found ways of helping carers where possible, but there is much more that can and should be done. For me, this would include properly funding the social care sector to take some of the pressure off unpaid carers and to provide more financial support to them.


The theme of this week’s Carers Week is ‘Make Caring Visible’ and I couldn’t agree more. Unpaid carers are unsung heroes and it’s about time that they start to get the acknowledgement that they have long deserved.


To any carers reading this, thank you so much for all you do.
Read More of This Week's Stories ([link removed])
Andrew in the constituency

On Wednesday evening, I had a good (socially-distanced) meeting with some of the Heaton Chapel traders at School Lane/Manchester Road in my constituency and Councillors David Sedgwick, Dena Ryness and Janet Mobbs, to consider how small hospitality businesses can re-open safely once restrictions are lifted on food and drink sales.

We discussed some (hopefully) workable ideas so hopefully Feed General Store, Heaton Hops and the other local shops can all open again.

It was great to catch up with Action Together and local volunteers at Christ Church in Denton to see how they’re helping the local community with a number of support services, foodbank collection and distribution and a buddying scheme, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Andrew in Parliament

Speaking in Parliament is often determined by ballots so some weeks you're luckier than others. This week I was very lucky so had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions!

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📺 WATCH: in virtual Commons proceedings on Monday, I raised the issue of local lockdowns and whether there’ll be a ‘local furlough’ scheme for those areas affected.

The Secretary of State refers to furlough being a national scheme - but he knows only too well that financial support ends in October, at just the point where local lockdowns may well be having to be imposed in small geographic areas across England where infections and the R-rate might be spiking again.
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📺 WATCH: In Tuesday’s Urgent Question on trade negotiations I askee the Minister about the protection of workers’ rights in any future trade deal.

She says it’s my job not to trust the Government on this. She’s quite right, because the Tories have form on deregulating existing and opposing new workplace rights. When the transition period ends, we should protect and enhance workers’ rights. I’ll be holding ministers’ feet to the coals on this.

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📺 WATCH: On Wednesday, I spoke up for my constituent, Della Robinson, who as Dukinfield’s subpostmaster was unfairly embroiled in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.

It’s time for justice for those affected.

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📺 WATCH: Following a meeting with businesses including Heaton Hops and Feed General Store in Heaton Chapel on Wednesday, I asked the Leader of the House on Thursday to urge his Government colleagues to make sure that the small independent hospitality sector is supported as and when measures are eased.
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📺 WATCH: I welcome the Government’s announcement ending the privatisation of the probation services, which was a real failure.

I’ve asked the Justice Secretary whether there’s a role for devolved institutions like the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to deliver more justice services. He agrees there is.
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📺 WATCH: in the week that Britain has imposed quarantine measures for people entering the UK, the Home Affairs Select Committee is taking evidence from other countries to see what they’ve done differently.

It’s interesting to hear the experiences - and very different approaches - from Hong Kong, Singapore and New Zealand. More worrying is the apparent lack of strategic thinking behind Britain’s measures.
Andrew in the media

📰 READ: The Guardian was among the papers who picked up on my anger that Manchester City Council was refusing to build any pop-up cycle lanes to help commuters from the other Greater Manchester Boroughs to get into the city. I'm glad that they have now said that they will cooperate.

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Community Board

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