Toby Perkins MP

Toby Perkins MP visited Codfellas Fish & Chip Shop in Chesterfield on Friday to mark National Chip Week. The Chesterfield MP received a warm welcome from Town fryers Giannis and Maria Florentzidis before discussing the challenges small business and the catering industry are facing. Due to reduced disposable incomes, fewer people are eating out and purveyors of the nation’s favourite dish are being hit particularly hard.

Toby Perkins said:” Fish and Chip Shops are a well loved feature of communities and local economies across Britain, so I am delighted to celebrate National Chip Week with Giannis and Maria”.

Mr Perkins, who is also the Shadow Minister for Small Business, added: “Businesses like Codfellas are so important to get the jobs and growth we need in our economy. With growth flat lining, I am calling on the Government to do more to support small businesses through measures like a temporary VAT cut, a NI holiday for small firms and assistance for more SMEs to get access to finance.”

Delighted officials, members and community leaders gathered last Friday to celebrate the news that Sport England had awarded Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club a substantial £35,000 to help develop the reception and social rooms. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, presented the cheque which will help the Club develop young local talent for years to come, and improve the hospitality for all involved in the Hawksley Avenue facility.

The investment is part of Sport England’s Places People Play legacy programme that is bringing the magic of a home Olympic and Paralympic Games into communities across the country. Every sports facility that receives funding will carry the London 2012 Inspire mark – celebrating the link to the Games.

Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club will receive £35,000 to open up the lounge and bar, reconfigure the office / reception areas and improve the changing facilities with a new central heating system.

John Field of Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club said:

“Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club greatly appreciates the £35,000 award granted from Sport England’s Inspired Facilities Fund. The award will give the club a great boost in its efforts to provide a dynamic and modern place to play tennis, both for members and the local community”

Toby Perkins MP for Chesterfield said:

“2012 is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Sport all across the UK, and Sport England’s Inspired Facilities is part of providing a long term legacy for all areas of the country. I am delighted for the Chesterfield Lawn Tennis Club which is a popular, good quality sports facility in the centre of Chesterfield. The refurbishment, including a new reception area and catering facilities, will ensure that the tennis club can continue to grow and develop in the future, and will hopefully go on to produce top class local tennis players for generations to come”

Around 50 Year 8 Students at Parkside Community School attended a ‘Question Time’ style debate today with local MP Toby Perkins. Mr. Perkins, a former Councillor for Rother Ward, from which many students who attend Parkside reside, hailed the students as ‘very impressive’ as they quizzed the Shadow Minister on subjects from his job as an MP to his talent for X Box computer games.

Chaired by a representative of the Parkside School Council, almost all those present had the opportunity to ask a question to the Shadow Minister for Small Business. When asked about his priorities as an MP, Mr. Perkins described his work alongside businesses in Chesterfield, both big and small, to do everything possible to protect jobs in the Borough.

The students also asked Mr. Perkins where he thought future jobs in Chesterfield would come from, the most enjoyable parts of being an MP, as well as outlining a typical week working in the House of Commons.

Following the event, Mr. Perkins said:-

“I was delighted to be invited to answer questions from Parkside students today, and it was very clear that a lot of thought had gone in to the questions which were asked. It is great to see government and politics being taught in schools, as young people learn about the world in which they live. Politics is all about helping others and improving communities, and it was so encouraging to meet students who are involved in the School Council at such a young age”.

With pay day loans companies exacerbating the financial problems of hundreds of people across the region, local politicians have come out in support of the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Credit Union in an attempt to promote responsible lending. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, joined the leaders of both Chesterfield Borough and North East Derbyshire District Council and Manager Karen Peck at the Town Hall on Rose Hill where the Credit Union had temporarily set up stall in the foyer.

Financial exclusion is on the up, as people who for one reason or the other cannot access reasonable credit facilities from high street banks. Quite often they have no bank accounts at all and either no or poor credit history. People who cannot access reasonable credit are prey to loan sharks who charge exorbitant interest rates. Small emergencies in people’s lives, such as a broken washing machine, can result in people becoming trapped in a cycle of debt as the interest charged on even small loans can prove to be unaffordable. The rates of interest charged by companies willing to lend to these people vary from 85% to over 2,000% for pay day loans.

The credit union is one of the only affordable resources for people who are categorized as financially excluded. The credit union charges 28% apr and offers advice on managing money as well as sign posting people to other agencies for advice on benefits. The Credit Union offers savings accounts to those people not wishing to borrow, from which capital is made available for short and medium term loans. Money put into the Credit Union is, like any other reputable financial institution, is safe and insured.

After speaking to the Manager of the Chesterfield and North Derbyshire Credit Union, Karen Peck, about the vital work done by the organization in the town, Toby Perkins said:-

“With unemployment at record levels, it is a shocking reality that many people become stuck in a debt trap with no real means to escape. The Credit Union is an excellent organization, based in Theatre Yard, which provides a good service at more reasonable levels of interest. But of course, the Credit Union relies on savers as well as lenders to provide this service so I would urge people to visit the CU to see for themselves the ways in which they can help support a fairer, more equitable method of lending for those people who would otherwise have no option but to take on astronomical rates of interest from loan sharks”.

He added:-

“I am working hard in Parliament to limit the most pernicious loan sharks across the UK, and supporting Credit Unions is one action which almost anyone can do to join that campaign”.

Dozens of staff at under-threat Timberline celebrated with the news that a Barnsley firm had been successful in a take-over bid – saving 45 jobs. Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, hailed the news as “a fantastic result” for all those people who have worked around the clock to ensure the Sheepbridge based firm has a long term future.

Timberline, based on the Sheepbridge Industrial Park, which produces bespoke outdoor equipment to schools and other organizations across the UK went into administration on November 2^nd. However, following Mr. Perkins’ meetings with joint administrators from Hart Shaw LLP, Metalliform, a South Yorkshire firm has been announced as the new owners to the relief of dozens of staff who have feared the worst since the administrators were called in last year.

The new owner, Metalliform, has manufactured furniture for schools, colleges and universities for more than 60-years. The company employs 90 staff at its Barnsley production site and has a turnover of £8m. The take-over will allow Timberline to continue to produce the high quality products, with the hope of taking on new products to help compete within an increasingly fierce market.

Mr. Perkins said:-

“This is a fantastic result for so many members of staff who have remained loyal, driven and upbeat despite the very serious doubts about their futures. This buy-out should give Timberline the opportunity to become a successful business once again, producing quality products to organizations across the country. This news is the reward for so much hard work from all those involved in saving Timberline from closure and gives hope to so many other businesses struggling to cope in the current economic situation”.

Despite massive economic pressures in the UK and across Europe, local manufacturers continue to do business and employ thousands of people. Today Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Small Business, nominated ‘Chesterfelt, a Sheepbridge firm specializing in the production of roofing membranes, for the ‘Made by Britain’ award which celebrates top quality British manufacturing and innovation in increasingly competitive worldwide markets.

 Mr. Perkins met with Managing Director, Peter Holland, and senior members of staff to formally nominate the firm. The Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, having kick-started the initiative, has challenged all 650 MPs across the country to highlight the work of businesses so fundamental to local communities and employment.

The Shadow Minister for Small Business also offered his continued support to firms such as Chesterfelt which compete against low cost European firms. He also praised the management following Chesterfelt’s best ever year during 2010 in which the firm turned over around £10 million.

Following the visit Mr. Perkins said:-

“I was delighted to visit this impressive business and to formally nominate Chesterfelt for the ‘Made in Britain’ initiative. Chesterfelt and other firms in this area are so important to driving forward the local economy, and projects such as this one help highlight what Britain does best. We have a history of making things in the UK, often better than anywhere else in the world. We should now be aiming to support new and existing businesses such as this through tough times as well as good, to attract jobs and investment to the town and ensure they can compete not just nationally but across the globe”.

Following a presentation from The Big Lottery at the Houses of Parliament, Toby Perkins, Labour Member of Parliament for Chesterfield, joined servicemen from WW2, along with representatives of veterans associations and the Royal Legion at the regional launch of the ‘Heroes Return Project. After attending the meeting in Westminster, Mr. Perkins arranged the event to raise awareness of the funding opportunities for former servicemen over 65 years on.

The initiative has played a leading role in funding visits for veterans of the Second World War to the country in which they were stationed in an attempt to reconcile the past of all those who were called upon to serve their country overseas between 1939 and 1945.

The Project has ensured that Second World War veterans from the UK, Channel Islands and Republic of Ireland, along with a spouse or carer, can make a trip of a lifetime. Sadly few veterans are fit enough to take advantage of the scheme which has funded around 50,000 trips to countries from Germany to India. However, many heroes remain unaware of the Big Lottery’s Project despite the growing awareness of the great debt the country owes to those who served overseas in the most widespread conflict of the 20^th Century.

Mr. George McCracken of Gloucester Avenue who served throughout North Asia in WW2 was present at the launch.

At the event Mr. Perkins said:-

“The ‘Heroes Return’ Project has given thousands of war heroes across the UK the opportunity to re-visit the country in which they were stationed during one of the most brutal and widespread conflicts in human history. Recent events in Chesterfield show huge support for our veterans and armed services, but there remains significant numbers of former service men and women who are yet to take advantage of this fantastic initiative.

He added:-

“The British Legion has in the past had to bear the financial cost of visits of this kind. The Big Lottery’s Project now frees up much needed capital at the Royal Legion which can now be re-directed onto other projects to benefit those who served our country and our region with such professionalism, pride and bravery”.

Proud Not Sorry.

Amid Tory claims that Labour should apologise for the massive investment in our schools Chesterfield’s young people have spoken out against the slurs.

Students from local schools, members of Young Labour made a film called “Sorry?” in response to Tory claims that Labour should apologise for the investment in new school buildings, low class sizes and record investment in teaching.

Holly Redford-Jones said; “We are proud of the education that we have had, and of Labour’s decision to invest in it. That why we wanted to make a film to speak up for the importance of good local state schools not apologise for it.”