Frank’s Blog

A NEW national inquiry into the underlying causes of rising demand for food banks will begin its evidence gathering in Birkenhead. The inquiry has been set up by the Bishop of Truro, Tim Thornton, and myself. Our aim is to dig below the food bank statistics to see whether longer term and more sinister trends are at work disadvantaging the poor, both here and across other Western countries. We seek to produce a wide-ranging, thorough and balanced report with the help of a core team of MPs…

HERE is another success story. Not so long ago the Cheshire Regiment’s Hall in Grange Road West looked done for. Cuts in local authority funding had already put a question mark against this building. Yet the building was used for sporting activities, particularly trampolining. The users didn’t simply wait for the axe to come down. They acted and set up the trust, which they run. I visited the sports centre on Saturday. Well over 500 young people use the centre each week and that…

JOBCENTRE Plus is putting fraud at the heart of the Government’s welfare reform programme. It’s happening in Birkenhead. Local residents inform me that they have been victims of a company that was able to advertise a number of “fake” jobs on the Government’s Universal Jobmatch service. The individual alleged to be running this racket staged what turned out to be sham job interviews – believe it or not – at Birkenhead Jobcentre Plus office….

Last Thursday, I chaired the second meeting of the Birkenhead Constituency Committee. We are laying the foundations for what could turn out to be a major overhaul of public spending here in Birkenhead. We now know that 15 public bodies – including the council, Jobcentre Plus, the NHS and the police – spend between them maybe up to £3bn in Wirral each year. It might even be more. And what do they expect from this money? The committee is seeking assistance to understand