• 10th anniversary of National Minimum Wage
  Ten years ago in April 1999, the Labour Government introduced the National Minimum Wage, which is now helping an estimated 80,000 workers in Yorkshire and the Humber. When it was introduced ten years ago it was £3:60 an hour, but has been increased annually and now stands at £5:73. The Labour Government introduced the minimum wage to protect low paid workers from exploitation by unscrupulous employers and to give claimants a better incentive to get off benefits and into work. A survey conducted by the TUC in 1997 highlighted the typical case of a Yorkshire woman, working 48 hours a week in a care home and earning £2 an hour,...
  
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• My proposals to keep post offices open
  Following a consultation I held with York sub postmasters and the City of York Council, I submitted evidence to the House of Commons Business & Enterprise Committee proposing new services the Post Office should offer. Nobody likes it when Post Offices close. I fought a battle last year to keep Micklegate Post Office open, but it was a close thing. The problem is that fewer and fewer people are using Post Offices and Post Offices need to attract more customers. My letter to the Committee included the following nine recommendations to win new customers and keep Post Offices open: • Creating a retail bank offering its own cheques, credit and...
  
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• Tang Hall Squirrels
  On 30 March I visited Tang Hall Squirrels, the nursey at Tang Hall Primary School. It was good to see the children enjoying themselves. They are learning important lessons through play that will stand them in good stead when they start primary school as well as making friends that may last throughout their school lives and beyond. It’s important that young children get early education and it is fantastic that the number of young children receiving a free place at nursery is still rising. I want every child in York to have access to early education and the government is committed to making sure this number continues to rise....
  
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 I have claimed nothing for furniture, fixtures, fittings, redecoration or improvements to my second home. I do claim mortgage interest (but not repayments on the loan), utility bills and council tax.

In January I argued in Parliament for all MPs’ expenses claims for their second homes to be published. This proposal was not agreed but I have now obtained copies of all my claims from the House of Commons finance department. You may read them by clicking the links below.

 The Additional Costs Allowance (ACA) reimburses MPs for the cost of running a second home. The Incidental Expenses Provision (IEP) reimburses the cost of running an office to deal with constituents’ enquiries. The Communications Allowance (CA) was introduced in 2007-2008 to reimburse the costs like producing Parliamentary News reports, conducting surveys of constituents’ opinion and postage for MPs, like me, who have a larger than average volume of correspondence with constituents.

 To see my expenses for 2004-2005 ACA please click here

To see my expenses for 2004-2005 IEP please click here

To see my expenses for 2005-2006 ACA please click here

To see my expenses for 2005-2006 IEP please click here

To see my expenses for 2006-2007 ACA please click here

To see my expenses for 2006-2007 IEP please click here

To see my expenses for 2007-2008 ACA please click here

To see my expenses for 2007-2008 IEP please click here

To see my expenses for 2007-2008 CA please click here

 The House of Commons finance department has blanked out parts of the claims to comply with the Data Protection Act – for example to safeguard bank account details and other personal information about third parties. No claims themselves have been deleted.