Category: Wokingham and West Berkshire Issues

This new support fund, at least half of which will help families with children, will bolster
existing measures we have introduced for low-income households, such as increasing
the national living wage, the rise in the Local Housing Allowance, expanding the £221
million Holiday Activities and Food which will be offering nutritious meals and enriching
activities to disadvantaged children this Christmas, doubling free childcare for eligible
working parents and increasing the value of Healthy Start vouchers by over a third.
The Fund also sits alongside the Warm Home Discount which provides a £140 rebate
on energy bills each winter to over 2.2 million low-income households and the Cold
Weather Payment which provides £25 extra a week for poorer households when the
temperature is consistently below zero.
Please direct constituents in need of support to their local council who will be able to
help them access the Fund. The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way, with the
devolved administrations receiving £79 million on top of the £421 million for England.

I have received a letter, reproduced below, from the Minister at the Department of Work & Pensions.

Dear Colleague,

COVID-19 SUPPORT: FOCUSING ON AND INVESTING IN OUR JOBS RECOVERY

Over the past year, the UK Government has helped millions of people as part of its Plan for Jobs to
protect, support and create employment. As we emerge from the pandemic and learn to live with
COVID-19, we remain focused on creating new, better jobs, and helping people gain the skills they
need to succeed. More people are getting back into work, the number of payrolled employees has
returned to pre-pandemic levels and there are record levels of vacancies. This is a tribute to the
British people and businesses and a testament to our comprehensive and unprecedented £400
billion package to support people and businesses through the economic shock from COVID-19.
Despite the biggest recession in 300 years, our support package has helped to safeguard jobs,
businesses and public services in every region and nation of the UK, demonstrating it was right to
provide exceptional support while widespread COVID-19 restrictions were in place.

The temporary £20 uplift was an important part of the measures we took, helping people facing the
greatest financial disruption, specifically those who came onto Universal Credit because they saw
their hours reduced and incomes fall suddenly as a result of pandemic restrictions. We have always
been clear that this was a temporary measure, responding to extraordinary circumstances. In line
with other emergency support it helped to protect livelihoods through the worst of the pandemic.
With most restrictions lifted and with record numbers of vacancies, it is right that we now focus on,
and invest in, jobs and improving the prospects for those already in employment as we bring these
measures to an end.

The Government recognises the importance of giving people time to prepare for a change in their
income. Which is why DWP has been proactively communicating this change with claimants. In July,
we updated the UC statement to show claimants they have been receiving an additional £86.67 a
month in response to the pandemic. In August and September, we notified all claimants via two
separate UC journal messages that this temporary measure would be coming to an end. These
messages outline the date of their last payment which includes the uplift and signposts claimant’s
to organisations who can help with budgeting, and additionally to the “Universal Credit: help with
managing your money” guidance on GOV.UK. Our Work Coaches have been supporting claimants
on changes to the uplift during appointments, as well as signposting claimants to additional support
if it is required. We have also increased the number of people on the telephone helpline and are
monitoring phone lines and UC journal entries to identify vulnerable claimants who may need further
support.

We will issue a final statement change to inform claimants that Assessment Periods ending on, or
after, 6 October 2021 will not include the £20 per week uplift.

We recognise that some people are worried about the cost of living, which is why as well as helping
people move into better-paid work and to progress in work, we are also continuing to support people
with the cost of living and put more pounds into the pockets of low-income families. This includes
raising the National Living Wage, doubling free childcare, supporting households at risk of fuel
poverty through the Warm Home Discount, increasing the value of Healthy Start Vouchers and
through the Holiday Activities and Food Programme. In addition, our new Household Support Fund
will make £500 million available to local authorities during October to help the most vulnerable
households with the extra costs of this winter. The Barnett formula will apply in the usual way, with
the devolved administrations receiving up to £79 million of the £500 million.

For those who require further assistance managing their money, the Money and Pensions Service
(MaPS) provides free and impartial debt advice, money guidance and pension guidance through
their MoneyHelper service which can be accessed at www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en. Individuals who
require help managing payments, credit or loans could also access breathing space through debt
advisors if they are eligible.

As our recovery gathers pace, the Government is continuing to help people into work and increase
their earning potential – the most sustainable route to financial security and the best route out of
poverty. We’re investing billions through our Plan for Jobs and the Lifetime Skills Guarantee. With
over a million vacancies in our labour market and more than 27,000 Work Coaches are helping
people get into work and improve their prospects. We’ve got dedicated programmes helping those
of all ages; Kickstart for young people; JETS for those directly impacted by the pandemic; SWAPs
helping match talent to opportunity by switching sectors; and Restart for the longer term
unemployed. But, our support isn’t limited to those seeking work – Work Coaches are able to help
those already in jobs with extensive training opportunities and other support to boost their hours and
further their employment prospects.

With the economy rebounding, and backed by our Plan for Jobs, we have a unique opportunity, to
help people move into new and better paid jobs, progress in their existing job, raising their earnings
and building their financial resilience. We are dedicated to these tasks as we build back better and
fairer.

DAVID RUTLEY MP
MINISTER FOR WELFARE DELIVERY

I enjoyed the Wokingham Arts trail around the town on Sunday 19 September.

There was an impressive array of paintings, needlework, glass work and jewellery displayed by local artists and available for purchase on the various stalls.

My visit included seeing the new history mural at Montague Park School where I talked to Julia Petrova about some of the great scenes and characters from British history featured in the mural. She has so far painted the story up to the death of Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1603, with the later centuries still to come.

The photos show me with Julia Petrova, and also with Jill Chadwick, a talented local glass maker, in the Methodist building on Rose Street.

I was delighted to see so much local artistic talent on Sunday. I thanked the organisers of the successful Arts trail and wished the artists well with their work and sales.

I was pleased to pick up a couple of early Christmas present purchases of things that are a bit special because they are individually crafted items.

It was great to see the Montague Park school mural and I hope it will be well studied by the children to help them with images of the past. Seeing history on the ground in the buildings that survive and the portraits that are passed down can help bring it to life.

I set out below the latest WBC release on improved traffic management:

 

£250,000 funding win for smart traffic lights and crossing sensors

Wokingham Borough Council has been awarded £250,000 for smart traffic lights and crossings across the area. The Department for Transport gave the grant to support the use of new technology to cut congestion across the area, as well as reducing journey times and emissions.

 

Smart traffic light schemes are earmarked for ten locations across the borough. These will be more responsive than the current systems and will change as the traffic demands depending on the time of day. Another 39 locations will also see upgrades, covered through the council’s congestion management budget.

 

Forty locations will see smart crossing technologies installed. Push button traffic light crossings will be replaced with ones triggered by sensors, which will help with Covid-safe use of these going forward. These also have audio speakers, to support visually impaired residents.

 

This is part of the council’s wider plans to keep to the borough moving smoothly and cut congestion across the area. The funding will support schemes to cut congestion and build intelligent traffic schemes using technology.

 

The electronic systems will take data from sensors, lampposts and signs to identify in real time where problems are and solve them before they build up. These new signals, including those funded by the Department for Transport grant, will react to traffic in real time to help manage capacity on the borough’s roads.

 

Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, said: “We continue to work hard towards our priority of cutting congestion across our borough by making the most of smart technology. This funding award recognises the Department for Transport supporting us towards our goals and acknowledging our plans to do this as innovative and forward thinking.”

 

At 18 locations the council will take the opportunity to switch the traffic signals to be more energy efficient, with different types of low-voltage bulbs installed. LED bulbs will be used instead of halogen, which helps the council towards its goal of net zero carbon by 2030. These require less maintenance, are more reliable and cost less, as well as reducing energy consumption by about 78 per cent.

 

To support its air quality targets, the council will use almost a third of the Government funding to install air quality sensors at eight traffic light locations.  These will be used to improve evaluation of traffic management across the area, with air quality data being factored into future decisions.

 

The funding was announced earlier this month by Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps. The package will see councils across England receive a share of £15 million in government funding to improve their traffic light systems to cut congestion, boost safety and reduce journey times and emissions – a commitment set out in the recently announced Transport decarbonisation plan.

 

– ENDS –

 

Further information:

1. More from Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, executive member for highways and transport, on jorgensen@wokingham.gov.uk
2. Alternatively contact the communications, engagement and marketing team via CEM@wokingham.gov.uk

Read the full Department for Transport announcement via https://www.gov.uk/government/news/multimillion-pound-initiative-to-improve-local-roads-across-england

On Thursday I spoke to the Wokingham Conservatives  Lunch Club event. It was great to be able to meet again for a lunch together instead of the Zoom calls we had been using.  When I went around the tables there was a good range of questions on President Biden’s Afghan errors, on the response to covid, on access to the NHS post pandemic, on migration, on economic recovery and on pensions. My answers were similar to those you can read on the website.

 

As usual I am working over the week-end for urgent matters. If any of my constituents has  close contacts with another constituent who is also  a UK passport holder or former employee of the UK government in Afghanistan and they are having trouble getting on to one of the rescue flights, please let me know as there is an MP hotline I can try to see if more assistance can be given.

On Saturday evening it was good to join local members of the Conservative party for a BBQ in Earley.  There was a good range of questions about the pandemic, vaccinations, economic recovery, housing and planning. I also talked a bit about levelling up and ways of getting the NHS back to full running for non covid treatments.

I met with local residents, the main authorised user of the crossing and Network Rail today. Local residents find the warning noise made for each of the 123 trains a day using this piece of track very disruptive, along with bright traffic style lights on the crossing and spoken warnings when more than one train is involved.

Safety is rightly the priority. I queried again the high speed limit of 70 mph given that  this is a bend in the track close to the merger of the Waterloo and North Downs lines and close to Wokingham station to the west. Network Rail confirmed that in practice a train is likely to be travelling at half the speed limit on the bend to be safe, especially in wet and slippery conditions. The speed rating of the track affects the style of warnings needed.

Two of the local residents put their case well to Network Rail, who have promised to go away and see if they can work up proposals to keep the 4 authorised users safe but tackle the intrusive noise. The lights also need adjusting to reduce glare into homes whilst still being clearly visible to users on the ground near the crossing. I will follow up to see what solution is proposed.