Weekly Update – Friday 12th March 2021

This week I had the opportunity to ask the Prime Minster a question at Prime Minister’s Question Time. I used that opportunity to raise the unfair treatment of the Hair & Beauty industry. Unlike the Hospitality, Tourism and Culture sectors, Salons have been excluded from the VAT cut and other forms of support.

In recent weeks I’ve had the opportunity to speak to the owners of Salons in Edmonton, which form a crucial part of the local economy and our high streets. Speaking to those owners it was clear the Government has let them down. A recent survey shows that a staggering 62% of Salon owners believe they may unable to survive past the end of this year.

Unfortunately, the Prime Minister’s reply to my question was very disappointing. He failed to address the main issue, instead making some comments about people cutting hair in their own homes.

A Pay Cut for Edmonton

The budget was last week but we continued to debate it this week in Parliament as the full extent of the Governments spending decisions became clear. On Tuesday I spoke about in the budget debate and highlighted the Chancellors decision to give Nurses and other Public Sector worker a pay cut.

The Government’s insulting announcement that they will increase Nurse pay be 1% will amount to a pay cut for Nurses as inflation increases while other public sectors will not even get that 1%. For the 6,000 public sector workers in Edmonton, including 1,300 teachers, this will make the coming years very difficult. They deserve better.

Since 2010 teachers have faced a pay cut of 10% and nurses have faced a pay cut of at least 7.4% since 2010, in real terms. For years the Government have cut the pay of key workers and that needs to be urgently reversed. In 2019 Labour pledged a 5% pay increase for nurses and I believe that is the minimum they deserve.

The Government must support Leaseholders

On Wednesday I spoke in Parliament on behalf of the residents of buildings like Prowse Court, Golden Lion Court and Brickland Court in Edmonton who are not only living in buildings which require remediation work to be fully safe but also face the prospect of increasing interim safety costs while they wait for that work to be done.

The Government has let down leaseholders who are being made to pay for failed Government deregulation and the greed of property developers. Not only that but the Government is refusing to fund the costs of interim fire safety measures. I used this debate to urge the Government to finally help leaseholders and fully fund the costs of interim measures.

DWP Oral – Legacy Benefits

On Monday I asked the Minister for Work & Pensions if the Chancellor would review his decision to continue discriminating against disabled people. People claiming ESA and other legacy benefits did not receive the £20 Universal Credit uplift and consequently missed out on £1000 this year just as they were facing increased costs.

There is no justification for not applying the £20 increase to those on legacy benefits and this was clear in the Ministers response to my question. In attempting, and failing, to defend the Government decision to create a two-tier system he feebly pointed to the 30p a week increase that those on ESA will be receiving in April.

How I voted this week

This week there were several votes on measures related to last weeks budget. The first vote was on measures which the Conservatives want to put through which would freeze the personal allowance limit on which earnings are not taxed and the basic tax rates. Unless these measures increase with inflation then the effective tax for those on lower incomes increases as inflation increases. That is what the Government wants to do. Labour voted against these measures as we do not think that those who earn the least should have their taxes increased.

The second vote was on an amendment which Labour put forward to increase Parliamentary scrutiny of Government spending. This was an amendment to the Contingencies (No.2) Bill 2021 which will allow the Government to spend £100 Billion without having to come to Parliament. In light of the Government’s record of wasting public money during the pandemic on dodgy contracts with Tory doners the Labour Party believed that more scrutiny was needed. Unfortunately, the Government successfully voted down the amendment.

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Thank you for taking the time to read my latest update, if you have any issues that you would like to raise directly with me then please do email  edmontonconstituency@parliament.uk. I’m always happy to help whenever possible.

Kind regards,

Kate Osamor MP