The icy weather has meant that all eligible households will receive the £25 for last week. This includes older people in receipt of Pension Credits, families with a child under five and people with certain disabilities.

The Government has permanently increased the level of the Cold Weather Payment from £8.50 to £25 per week.  read more »…

Speaking at the start of National Apprenticeship Week, James laid down the challenge to encourage local companies to find out more about how training an apprentice could help their business.

Well-known firms like Barrett Homes and Sandvik already have established apprenticeship schemes, but the MP is also calling on smaller businesses to look at taking on their first apprentice and take advantage of the incentives on offer.  read more »…

Local MP, Andrew Percy has written to the Highways Agency demanding action to deal with the appalling amount of litter along the side of the M62/A63.

Andrew explains, "I regulalry drive this route back and forth to meetings and was shocked at the large amount of litter there is along the route at the moment. There seems to be a particular problem with plastic carrier bags at the moment, many of which are snagged in trees or bushes.

Given that this is the main route between Goole and Hull, it doesnt really give a good impression of our area. It is also not good for the environment having so many bits of plastic and rubbish floating about. I've contacted the Highways Agency to ask what their schedule is for clearing rubbish along the route and I have also asked them to deal with the current levels of rubbish."

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“I was very pleased to be able to welcome the Bishop of Rhode Island and the Bishop of Nova Scotia to spend time with me at the House of Commons. They were visiting London for the General Synod at which there was further forward movement towards women becoming bishops in the Church of England and Bishops Geralyn Wolf and Susan Moxley are testament to the fact that it is possible for women to lead effectively in dioceses. I look forward to being able to take, later this year, through the House of Commons legislation that will enable women to be bishops in the Church of England.”…

On behalf of the Church of England, I thank the Home Secretary and Ministers in the Home Office for what they are doing. For some time, tragically, lead has been stolen from the roofs of an average of some 10 churches a day. We have heard of many instances from Members this evening.

Whether such a theft is from a church in an inner-city parish or from a rural church, the devastation caused to the local community is enormous. For that reason, the churches and cathedrals division of the Church of England set up a working party which, over a period, took evidence and consulted a number of organisations including English Heritage, insurers, police forces throughout the country, and scrap metal merchants themselves. The working party concluded that the one measure that was needed above all was to take cash out of metal transactions.

Anne Sloman, who chairs the group, the Bishop of London and I …

For more information about the Diamond Jubilee click here…

Dickens was born on this day in 1812 and the anniversary has been marked with a series of events across the country, including a memorial service in Westminster Abbey.

Commenting, Theresa said: “I was very grateful to receiving a copy of Little Dorrit and I will look forward to reading it shortly. As we mark the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth, it is right to remember his cultural contribution to the country and to remind ourselves of Britain’s considerable literary heritage. I hope that this anniversary will particularly encourage younger people to pick up a classic novel as it is vital that these great …

The aim was to raise awareness amongst politicians of the significant number of preventable CO poisoning incidents that occur in the UK every year.

For more information, please visit www.gas-safety-trust.org.uk.

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Andrew Percy, MP for Brigg and Goole, visited the Goole Branch of Hull & East Yorkshire Credit Union (HEYCU) in Pasture Road recently to meet with the staff and learn more about the work of this expanding social enterprise.

HEYCU was founded in 1999 as a "not for profit" co-operative enterprise to help the people of Hull and East Yorkshire to manage their money wisely by providing a safe haven for their savings, a source of affordable credit and user-friendly bank accounts.

Opening in Goole in 2009, it now serves over 200 local families, with more members joining every week.   Across East Yorkshire it has around 9,000 adult members and 750 junior savers and looks after more than £5 million in members' savings.  Its low-cost loans provide a more affordable alternative to those of doorstep lenders and High Street credit shops, as credit unions are the only lenders with a legal interest rate cap – of 2% per month on the reducing balance of the loan.

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The Government has given Great Yarmouth Borough Council a welcome £1/2 million boost, as part of the New Homes Bonus.

The New Homes Bonus is a multi-billion pound programme that rewards communities when they accept more housebuilding in their area, with extra reward for building new affordable homes, and for getting long-term empty homes back into use.

This is just one of the policies the Government has introduced to help resolve the current housing crisis. These changes include:

Labour led Britain into a housing crisis – the number of affordable homes fell, waiting lists almost doubled and first-time buyer numbers collapsed to their lowest level for a generation. Housebuilding is already up a quarter under the Coalition Government, but there is more to do. This …

Local MPs, Andrew Percy, David Davis, Alan Johnson and Diana Johnson visited BAe Systems at Brough last week to meet with management and unions for a further update on proposals to end manufacturing at the site. The visit came just days after it was announced that India looked set to purchase French built aircraft rather than the BAE built Typhoon aircraft as part of a major contract.

Andrew Percy says, "The news on the Typhoon aircraft is a further blow to BAe and we were keen to hear what impact it would have on the company. We also wanted to discuss what was happening on a number of specific fronts at Brough. In particular, we continue to have concerns about the business case put forward by BAe to justify the loss of manufacturing at Brough. We are supporting Union demands for an independent review of the business case which BAe are refusing to allow. My view is that if BAe are so confident in their case then they …