Tag: Stephen Barclay MP

Alan Melton on Wisbech Magistrates Court

08:19 Wednesday 19th March 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: The sale of Wisbech Magistrates Court to a private developer has been severely criticised by the town’s MP. It’s been sold for just £150,000, less than you’d pay for an average house. Earlier this year Fenland District Council decided not to buy the site, which is on the Nene waterfront, and could be part of the town’s regeneration. Now Steve Barclay the MP has written a lengthy statement on his website calling for the Council to explain to the town’s residents why they decided not to proceed . Well the Leader of the Council, Alan Melton, joins me now. Morning Alan.
ALAN MELTON: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Go on then. Explain.
Continue reading “Alan Melton on Wisbech Magistrates Court”

Martin Curtis Wisbech Rail Summit Progress Update

17:38 Tuesday 11th March 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Parliament has been hosting a summit today about the future of the Wisbech rail line. The MP for North East Cambridgeshire Steve Barclay organised the summit. It involved transport bigwigs, council leaders, train operators and most importantly of all perhaps, the Transport Minister Steven Hammond. Let’s find out what’s happened. The County Council Leader Martin Curtis was there, and he joins me on the line now. Hello Martin.
MARTIN CURTIS: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: Still down at Westminster. How did it go? What’s the news?
Continue reading “Martin Curtis Wisbech Rail Summit Progress Update”

Martin Curtis on Flooding in Whittlesey

17:17 Wednesday 5th February 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[C]HRIS MANN: Turn on the TV or listen to the radio, you can’t avoid the bad weather. If it’s not affecting you right now, it will do soon. .. Let’s look at the situation in Cambridgeshire now, and bring in Martin Curtis, councillor Martin Curtis, who’s the Leader of the County Council. Hello Martin.
MARTIN CURTIS: Good evening.
CHRIS MANN: And also of course councillor for Whittlesey North, appropriately enough, because that’s an area or THE area probably, worst affected by flooding. Just how bad is it there?
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Cambridge Population Estimates – A Difference Of Opinion

08:18 Tuesday 15th October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: Is Cambridgeshire being short changed by the Government, because the official figures suggest our population is lower than it actually is? That’s the question we’ve been asking all morning on the Bigger Breakfast, and trying to come up with ways of counting people proper – better – whatever. But Cambridge MP Julian Huppert and Peterborough’s Stewart Jackson are concerned that the Office for National Statistics are not giving accurate figures for the number of people who actually live in the county. Johnnie D. can explain what that means, and what effect it might have. First of all Johnnie, who are these people at the ONS, and how do they compile these statistics?
JOHN DEVINE: Good morning Paul. Yes, it’s their job to collect all sorts of information about the population and present that to the public. And they use things like official registrations of births and deaths, as well as information about migration, to try and predict which areas will grow in the coming years, and which areas will see a decrease in the population.
PAUL STAINTON: So are they accurate? That’s the big question, isn’t it?
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Stephen Barclay On The Exploitation Of Agricultural Migrant Labour

08:07 Tuesday 1st October 2013
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

[P]AUL STAINTON: As you’ve been hearing this morning, as a result of a BBC Radio Cambridgeshire investigation, four British supermarkets are investigating claims that migrant workers who pick their vegetables in the Fens are being exploited by unlicensed gangmasters. The investigation found that leeks on sale in Waitrose, Marks and Spencer, ASDA and the Co-op had been picked by Eastern Europeans, some of whom claimed to have been threatened and underpaid. Well our very own Jo Taylor has spent the last five months working on this investigation, and I’m pleased to say she joins me now. Morning Jo.
JO TAYLOR: Morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Just remind us what sparked this investigation.
JO TAYLOR: Well we’ve been hearing about this problem for a while. You had Anita on earlier from the Rosmini Centre, but we hardly ever hear from the migrants themselves, the community that’s very hard to get into. So eventually that’s what I went to do, to go and talk to them and find out what was really going on.
PAUL STAINTON: I saw your report on the six o’clock news last night, and it was shocking, some of the things you uncovered.
JO TAYLOR: Yes. It was shocking. What was shocking as well was how widespread some of the things were that I was hearing about. The conditions people, live in, ceilings falling in, mould everywhere. And they’re charged a fair whack for that, fifty pounds a week for the privilege of living in those conditions. Then there was the money people were being left with in their pay packets. Imagine you’re working really hard in the fields all week, twelve hour days. And after the illegal gangmaster’s taken his rent and travel, you’re ending up with twenty pounds. It’s not very much. One of the worst examples, one migrant told me that one week he was left with just forty three pence, which is ridiculous. The other thing that was really shocking to me was the violence I heard about, the having to pay bribes to get that regular work. And if you refused you were threatened with having your personal safety or your life in danger. And these are young people I was speaking to, nineteen years old, twenty years old. They’re far away from home. I just can’t imagine my younger brother for example being in that situation. I would be devastated.
PAUL STAINTON: What have the big supermarkets had to say about what you’ve uncovered?
JO TAYLOR: Well the supermarkets have said that they knew nothing about it. ASDA, Marks and Spencer, the Co-op and Waitrose say they take the allegations very seriously, and they are investigating. They also .. they’re saying this about auditing systems that they have in place, their code of conduct, and the fact that they only use licensed gangmasters.
PAUL STAINTON: Alright. This investigation of course has been making waves. Will it lead to changes for these workers and changes in the way they’re forced to live their lives?
JO TAYLOR: Well I hope so, because the authorities are trying to do something about it. You’ve got the police with Operation Pheasant , where they go into houses of multiple occupancy in the area to check the living conditions, and try and crack down on it in that way. That’s a multi-agency thing. Lots of agencies are involved in that. And you’ve got the Gangmasters Licensing Authority. This is a vast industry. It’s really hard for them to control things. And essentially you need to throw some funding at it.
PAUL STAINTON: Thank you for that Jo. Much appreciated. .. Let’s speak to Stephen Barclay, the MP for North East Cambridgeshire who joins me now. Morning Stephen.
STEPHEN BARCLAY: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: What’s your reaction to what Jo’s uncovered? Continue reading “Stephen Barclay On The Exploitation Of Agricultural Migrant Labour”

NHS Staff Confidential Payments Inquiry

07:38 Wednesday 12th June 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: An MP for North East Cambridgeshire says the head of the NHS in England has questions to answer over more than 50 confidential payments totalling £2 million to hospital staff over the last five years. Today, the Public Accounts Committee will ask Sir David Nicholson what he knew about the so-called Judicial Mediation Payments made by Hospital Trusts, and whether they were used to gag NHS whistleblowers. A Member of the Committee, Conservative Stephen Barclay is demanding an inquiry into the payments, which evaded Whitehall scrutiny. In a moment we’ll speak to Stephen. First, here’s our reporter Henrietta McMicking with the details of what’s gone on. So what are these Judicial Mediation Payments all about then? Continue reading “NHS Staff Confidential Payments Inquiry”

Peter Reading On The Financial Crisis At The Peterborough City Hospital

08:08 Tuesday 11th December 2012
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: A local MP and member of the Public Accounts Committee has revealed that theatres at Peterborough City Hospital could close,  as the Trust running the hospital continues to struggle with debt. The Hospital, which has been open for two years of course, was funded by that expensive PFI agreement, and has seen the Trust rack up over £50 million of debt, £1 million a month. Now, speaking to us earlier, MP for North East Cambridgeshire Stephen Barclay described the way the new hospital was funded and then managed as “disgraceful and shocking”. (TAPE)
STEPHEN BARCLAY: Well it was quite disgraceful, and it raises serious questions over the performance of senior managers in the NHS, many of whom are paid significant salaries, and their performance has been quite shocking. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well the Trust has had to receive bailout money from the Government in order to stay open, and as Mr Barclay revealed earlier, the Hospital may have to close theatres just to stay afloat. Continue reading “Peter Reading On The Financial Crisis At The Peterborough City Hospital”

Whittlesea Fen Town Lobby

17:51 Tuesday 13th September 2011
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

ANDY BURROWS: As we were hearing earlier on, the seat of North East Cambridgeshire will go altogether, and it will be divided up into four different constituencies, including the new seat of Wisbech and Downham Market. But people in Whittlesea, they will be moved to the seat of the new constituency of South Peterborough. Johnnie Dee went out into Whittlesea today and spoke to a number of people, including Kay Mayor, who is the appropriately named Mayor of Whittlesea. Continue reading “Whittlesea Fen Town Lobby”