Dear Constituent,

Welcome to a slightly earlier edition of Denton and Reddish Weekly News. I hope that you've had a lovely week.

I'd like to take the opportunity in advance to wish you all a Happy Easter, and a relaxing long weekend!🐣

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has welcomed a Premier League pledge to increase financial support for clubs to make stadium improvements.

The Premier League Stadium Fund, which is open to applicants until the 29th of April, will award capital grants to clubs to support improvements of their stadium facilities for players, supporters and officials.

Funding is available to clubs who play in Steps 1 to 6 of the National League System, Tiers 1 to 4 of the Women’s Football Pyramid and clubs promoted into the English Football League.

The fund represents a doubling of the existing annual investment provided by the Premier League to support ground improvements. The announcement comes alongside Football Foundation Funding for non-league clubs and schools, as well as the Premiere League Defibrillator Fund.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said: 

“Local football is so important to people up and down the country, but particularly across Denton and Reddish. It’s really important that we continue to support clubs that are often the beating hearts of communities.

I’m so pleased, then, that the Premier League has increased funding access for stadium improvements. Alongside pre-existing funding for non-league clubs, this will improve support for clubs across all levels.

I would encourage eligible clubs to apply for this funding, and also to have a look at the other grants that are currently being offered through the Premier League and FA.”

To find out more about the funds currently available for league and non-league clubs, click here.

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, has backed Labour’s new pledge to create Community and Victim Payback Boards (CVPBs) to strengthen community and victim involvement in community sentences, get tough on antisocial behaviour and stop more serious reoffending at source.

Labour’s plan to get tough on low-level offending through unpaid work will begin to rebuild communities’ trust in the criminal justice system, after a decade of court closures – including 21 in the Denton and Reddish catchment area – criminal case delays and the decline in community payback under the Conservatives. The new orders and CVPBs will help to reassure communities that crimes are being punished, offenders are being rehabilitated and communities are being paid back.

Community and Victim Payback Boards will be operated by Community Safety Partnerships (or other existing similar local infrastructure), with guidance from the Criminal Justice System, the Local Authority or other key agencies.

CVPBs will operate through existing local infrastructure at no additional cost and create a new level of involvement for community leaders and victims of crime in deciding what unpaid work offenders must undertake, such as removing graffiti, clearing wasteland or re-decorating community centres.

Local data will be published on the nature of unpaid work offenders and showing whether community payback has been completed so that communities and victims can be sure that justice is being served and offenders are paying areas back for their crimes.

Labour’s announcement comes as the party released new research which showed that:

• The number of community sentences handed down in the North West fell by 24% between 2016/17 and 2020/21.
• The number of hours of community payback hours being completed by offenders as part of community sentences in the North West fell by 73% in the last five years
• The number of hours of existing community payback being completed by offenders has been falling in every region in nearly every year since 2016

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“After 12 years of Conservative government, which has seen record criminal case delays, police officers disappearing from our streets, police station closures and court sell-offs, communities have lost faith in the criminal justice system.

With a law-breaking Tory Chancellor and Prime Minister, it's no wonder that the Government is soft-on-crime.

We need to put communities and victims at the heart of how offenders repay society, and make sure that local people see justice being delivered within their communities. Labour will put security at the heart of its contract with the British people.”

Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish, is backing Labour’s call for action to tackle anti-social behaviour, as new analysis from the party has shown that a staggering 1.2 million incidents of nuisance are recorded in England and Wales every year – equating to over 20,000 incidents every single week.

Internal polling conducted by the Home Office shows that only 35% of people say they have confidence in the current Government’s handling of crime and justice. Under the Tories, overall crime has gone up by 14%, while prosecutions have fallen. In England and Wales the percentage of people who say they never see a police officer has almost doubled since the Conservatives came to power from 25% in April 2010 to March 2011 to 48% in April 2019 to March 2020. Meanwhile, the proportion of people agreeing that the local crime and ASB issues that matter are being dealt with has fallen from 61% in 2012 to just 52% in 2020.

Labour is calling on the Government to halt plans for a Royal Yacht, which is being funded by taxpayers’ money, that the Royal Family do not want and would bring no advantage to the Navy, and to use the money saved to guarantee local Police Hubs in towns and communities across the country instead. That investment could start funding a new police hub in hundreds of local neighbourhoods next year.

Some 1.2 million nuisance incidents were recorded in the year ending September 2021, equating to 23,759 incidents every week, and over 3,300 every single day. When expanded to cover personal and environmental ASB such as drug paraphernalia, over 1.6 million incidents of antisocial behaviour were recorded over the last year – over 200,000 higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Labour’s plan to tackle anti-social behaviour includes:

• New Police Hubs in crime and antisocial behaviour hotspots across the country to get the police back out into the community
• Neighbourhood Prevention Teams bringing together police and local councils and youth services to tackle antisocial behaviour that is blighting communities
• Stronger powers for police and local councils to shut down drug dens, and to keep them closed for longer
• A major recruitment drive to increase the number of special constables
• Giving victims of persistent antisocial behaviour the same entitlements including access to support services as other victims of crime

Labour’s police hubs will bring together a Neighbourhood Prevention Team made up of police, community support officers, local authority staff and youth workers to tackle anti-social behaviour at source. These teams would prioritise being visible on patrols, being easily accessible for local residents and would pursue serial perpetrators of ASB or low-level crime, as well as dealing with visible signs of disorder such as broken windows, graffiti, fly-tipping, or drug dealing. These teams will also support victims of anti-social behaviour. Labour councils such as Redbridge are already working in partnership with local police to introduce local hubs.

Commenting, Andrew Gwynne said:

“The Tories have totally dropped the ball, and communities right across the country are being blighted by crime and antisocial behaviour as a result.

This government has systematically underfunded police services in England and Wales, as well as cutting support for local clubs which do a great job of keeping young people engaged and part of a community.

Labour has developed a plan that would tackle antisocial behaviour at its root cause, and through new policing hubs get police back into our communities.

The people that I represent, right across Denton and Reddish, deserve to feel safe where they live.”

Yvette Cooper MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, added:

“Communities are being badly let down by the Tories.

“Total crime is going up, prosecutions are going down, criminals are being let off and victims are being let down. People aren’t seeing the police on the streets any more, and there is far too little proper action to tackle local neighbourhood crime and antisocial behaviour despite the increase during the pandemic.

“The Tories don’t seem to get how much of a nightmare persistent anti-social behaviour is for residents as there has been no coordinated national plan on antisocial behaviour for a decade.

“That has to change. That’s why we are starting with new Police Hubs to bring neighbourhood prevention teams back out into our communities. We need to see police back on our streets working in communities to keep people safe.”

It was great to pop into Victoria Park Community Centre in Denton on Saturday for their Easter fair.

There was lots of crafts for sale and refreshments… Tyler from 4th Denton Scouts was fundraising for his participation in the World Scout Jamboree in South Korea, too.

A huge well done to everyone involved! 👏

                           Parliament is currently in recess, but will return on the 19th of April 📅

 

📰READ: Thanks to The National Wales for covering my comments on the Immensa Health Clinic scandal. Over 43,000 false negative Covid-19 results were sent out to people across right across the South West and Wales.

As Labour's Shadow Public Health Minister, I'm calling on the Government to publish the report explaining what went so wrong. 

You can read the full story here.

 

📰READ: A huge thanks to the Manchester Evening News for covering the incredible journey of Maria Romanenko, and giving her a platform to tell her story. 

Maria is a journalist who was on Putin’s hit list. She fled Ukraine, and joined her partner - Jez Myers - in Reddish. My office helped and supported her to come to Greater Manchester.

To read the full piece, click here.  

On Tuesday, I was so very saddened to hear of the passing of Alderman Jim Middleton, Councillor for Droylsden East for 27 years, and former Mayor of Tameside.

Jim was the epitome of decent and honourable. I’m proud to have known him and served alongside him.

Rest in peace my friend.

Denton and Reddish continues to stand with the people of Ukraine.

 I’m supporting the British Red Cross's humanitarian effort in Ukraine along with Team Denton South (who set up the gofundme page) and Cllr Allison Gwynne. Please donate if you can to the fundraising page.

We hope that every donation will in some way help the people of Ukraine at this extremely traumatic time.👇
https://www.gofundme.com/.../help-ukraine-wear-yellow-or...

☝️
To access the full survey click here.