Issued
by: Keith Reed "Sex Offenders Act still doesn’t go far enough" – Edward Davey Local MP backs charities’ ‘Register Your Concern – Register Sex Offenders’ campaign. Edward Davey MP has backed a coalition of charities campaigning for loopholes in the Sex Offenders Act to be removed. Anti-Slavery International, Christian Aid, NCH and the NSPCC, have shown that local children may be put in danger by flaws in the Sex Offenders Act 1997. Responding to their briefings Edward has written to the Minister of State, Paul Boateng, calling for convicted offenders who have sexually abused children to be forced to register their addresses even if they move abroad. Currently there is no obligation for an offender to register their addresses if they leave the country. Furthermore, offenders convicted overseas for the sexual abuse of children are not required to register and cannot be monitored once released from prison. Edward said, "I have met with Kingston police to understand how they deal with this issue locally and I am convinced that they are now doing a very good job of monitoring registered offenders in the Borough. However, these loopholes exposed by the charities could potentially undermine police efforts. "There has been a dangerous oversight during the formulation of the current regulations and this deficiency needs to be addressed as soon as possible. There are real concerns from many quarters that the current regulations encourage persistent offenders to move abroad, where they can escape registration, returning to the UK when their period of registration is over. "This concerns me greatly and I have stressed to the Minister that the Government must move quickly on this problem, to ensure that children both locally, nationally and internationally are not put at risk from sexual offenders. "I would urge everyone living in the Borough to do the same and write to the Minster showing their concern with this situation." ENDS.
Issued
by: Keith Reed "GM Food products set to be wiped off menu in Borough’s Schools" – Davey Edward Davey MP presses Local Education Authority to ensure local schools do not use Genetically Modified food products. Edward Davey MP has won assurances from the Kingston Council’s Director of Education that the contractors used to provide schools meals will not use GM food products during the preparation of their meals. In the original specification drawn up for the contractors Castle View, the issue of the use of GM Food products was not mentioned. However ,after receiving Edward’s concerns on the issue, the exclusion of these products from school meals has now formally become part of the Council’s policy. Upon hearing the news that local pupils would not now be exposed to GM products during meal times, Edward Davey said, "Judging by the hundreds of letters I have had from local residents voicing their opposition to the Government’s lenient stance on the use and growing of GM products, it was obvious that many people were rightly concerned about this issue. "After one particularly forward thinking resident raised the issue that the school catering contract might not specifically exclude these products from school meals, I realised there was a need to make sure that this potential loophole was removed. "I am pleased that the Director of Education has reacted in such a comprehensive and positive manner and I am sure that local parents will be relieved that the food their children receive whilst at school is free of these untried and untested products." Edward’s concerns have also prompted the Education Department to send out guidelines to schools in the Borough that provide their own school meals pressing them to ensure that they conform with the Council’s newly devised policy on this issue. ENDS.
Issued
by: Keith Reed Water Meter Campaign, "A major success" - Edward Davey Chief Executive of Thames Water implements all of the local MP’s suggestions. In response to the concerns raised by the local MP for Kingston & Surbiton regarding the aggressive tactics and flawed water metering policy of Thames Water, the company’s Chief Executive has just announced that he will be radically altering his company’s policy in line with Edward Davey’s suggestions. In a letter received at the end of last week, the Managing Director of Thames Water Utilities announced that they would, "No longer require owners of such properties (structurally altered since April 1990) to have a meter. Instead, we will offer owners the choice of continuing to have an unmetered bill or taking advantage of Thames Water’s existing ‘no quibble’ meter guarantee." Commenting on this major campaign success Edward said, "I am pleased that Thames Water has adopted my suggestions and now backed off from forcing meters on reluctant residents. A large number of constituents had telephoned and written to me about their anger at the new metering policy so I am delighted that Thames Water have reacted so positively to my campaign." "It was vital that I made this company see sense because as the sole providers of this vital resource in this area, unrestricted by legislation, they could do effectively what they wanted." "In this instance, it was a cynical attempt at trying to squeeze every last penny out of local residents for using exactly the same services they have been receiving, often for many years." I am pleased to say that my efforts and the supporting evidence I received from constituents will make a real difference to thousands of households in this Borough." Herman Scopes, the Chairman of the water regulator Ofwat, who received over nine hundred complaints on this issue in the past two months said that he, "Regarded it as a triumphant for equity and common-sense," and only wished that Thames Water had responded to their reservations from the very outset. Ends. Home | How to contact me | Advice sessions | Parliament | Constituency | Liberal Democrats |
