NHS Reforms: Are They Within The Law? letter printed in the Journal 23rd aug.

With regard to the article in the Newcastle Journal, Tuesday August 16th entitled:
‘Government Under Fire Over Care Plans’.
In that article attention was drawn to concerns about the establishment of private bodies calling themselves ‘Clinical Commissioning Groups’. A few months ago, before the bill stalled in Parliament, these were calling themselves: GP Consortia.

The Government claims that these private bodies or companies will take over the management of health services once their NHS bill has been passed by Parliament.

The point with regard to the Law is, it hasn’t. The Health and Social Care bill has stalled due to lack of political support and therefore, it is not Law.
So who is commissioning these privateers? There are 14 such across our region.

On what basis is money being spent? How much has been spent so far? And, are these actions lawful?

These questions were asked at the last meeting of the North of Tyne Primary Care Trust that was held on: Tuesday 26th July at the NHS Trust’s HQ on the Great Park, North Gosforth. The Chair at that meeting advised that: “they had to put these bodies in place in order to prepare for the changes in the bill once it becomes law”.

But that did not answer the point about the unlawfulness and whether funding and establishing such groups before the bill has been passed by Parliament, is acting within the Law?

Next Meeting: Thursday 1st September at
St John’s Church Hall, Grainger St, Newcastle. 7.pm.
Secretary Martin Manasse.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Footage of our Pirates of the Tax Havens fun - 18 August - Northumberland Street, Newcastle

Thanks to Ewan for this great video clip, and to all the pirates of Tyneside for setting sail down Northumberland Street

Response to recent riots: Anti Cuts Network statement

Statement on the recent riots agreed at last ACN meeting:

Whatever we think of either the actions or causes of the recent riots
across the country, we do know they happened in areas of massive youth
unemployment and to communities facing cuts to youth services and
reduced accessed to education, as well as rising police repression.

We demand:

1. And end to police repression:
End "Stop and Search", disarm the police, and oppose increases to
police powers, including curfews, rubber bullets and water cannon.
As well as cuts in legal aid

2. Fight poverty and inequality:
oppose cuts to public services, decent funding for youth provision and
facilities
Restore grants and maintenance allowance for students
Decent homes for all, create more council housing
Trade Unions should organise the unemployed
trade Unions should fight job losses and not allow cuts by agreeing to
voluntary redundancies - every lost job is a lost service

3. For a labour movement inquiry into the causes of the riots

Agreed by ACN meeting 10 August 2011

Other local and national groups and trade unions have agreed similar statements like sunderlandagainstthecuts and lewisham anti cuts alliance and Stratford RMT branch

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Weekly ACN mailout, incl. Wed meeting and more..

Hi all

1. Next ACN meeting - 5.30pm, Wed 24 August, Tyneside Irish Centre
(meeting room 1, second floor - use lift opposite the bar)
Don't forget to get lift up to second floor, meeting room one
see you all there
----

2. Protest against cuts to Youth Services
Some of us went to support Lizi and others youth service users angered
at the cancelling of My Place youth centre planned for city centre.
They met with Labour and Council Leader Nick Forbes, and next week
Lizi will share with the meeting how he responded to the meeting and
our solidarity protest outside the civic.
See photo on the blog, Lizi Amd others will give feedback on what
council leaders said last week

----
3. Protest against Tax Havens to follow on from the meeting in the
City Library (see details below). So the plan is for a big roaming
protest targeting stores who use tax havens, DRESSED UP AS PIRATES!
protest last Thursday was huge success. More on blog tonight and you tube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBM6dUGWsFE
Thanks to Ewan for this!
More protests planned

----
4. Statement on the recent riots agreed at last ACN meeting:
Whatever we think of either the actions or causes of the recent riots
across the country, we do know they happened in areas of massive youth
unemployment and to communities facing cuts to youth services and
reduced accessed to education, as well as rising police repression.
We demand:
A. And end to police repression:
End "Stop and Search", disarm the police, and oppose increases to
police powers, including curfews, rubber bullets and water cannon.
As well as cuts in legal aid
B. Fight poverty and inequality:
oppose cuts to public services, decent funding for youth provision and
facilities
Restore grants and maintenance allowance for students
Decent homes for all, create more council housing
Trade Unions should organise the unemployed
trade Unions should fight job losses and not allow cuts by agreeing to
voluntary redundancies - every lost job is a lost service
C. For a labour movement inquiry into the causes of the riots

Agreed by ACN meeting 10 August 2011

----
5. http://anticutsnetwork.blogspot.com/
This is our blog. Don't forget to visit it, post comments on articles,
share articles on facebook.
If you want to post stuff to the blog, email this list and we will put
it up there.
If you want to help with artilces for the blog, and updating it, come
to Wednesdays meeting and volunteer or email us.

----
6. Facebook group
Join our fb group: http://www.facebook.com/groups/anticutsnetwork or search anti cuts network

----
7. FInally ACN needs YOU!
We know that we can't all make meetings in Newcastle on a Wednesday
night, which is fine. But perhaps you can do other stuff:
a. Help with blog and fb group
b. Do some research on cuts
c. Share our events with friends on facebook and help us build bigger campaigns
d. Do press releases
e. Design leaflets, posters, tshirts etc
f. Help with fundraising (benefit gigs, socials, etc.)
g. Make links with Trade Union branches, community groups
EMAIL back to us at this email address with any information on your skills?


PS DONT FORGET TO EMAIL US WITH INFO ON OTHER MEETINGS OR EVENTS GOING ON.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pirates of the Tax Havens 18 August, Northumberland St, Newcastle

Twenty activists from Anti Cuts Network took part in a Pirate themed protest against the use of Tax Havens on Northumberland Street, Newcastle.

Pirates set sail past Boots (who moved head office to Switzerland to avoid paying tax on it's annual £475,000,000 profit, only paying 3% of it's profit in tax). Next Vodaphone ( 20 subsidiaries in Mauritius to avoid capital gains tax In UK, and recently struck a deal to reduce £6 million in uk tax to just £1 million)

The afternoon protest also took in Philip Greens store Evans (green who paid himself £1.2 billion wage and avoided £300,000,000 in UK taxes which could have paid for 15,000 more nurses or 40,000 univeristy student places alone)

The protest also focused on HSBC, NatWest and Barclays. (Natwest and RBS chief earned £2.4 million while sacking 9000 workers, these banks are reported to have 550 subsidiary companies in tax havens to avoid paying uk tax, HSBC recently reduced it's tax to just .25% from profits of the recent PFI projects to build hospitals.)





- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Newcastle Upon Tyne,United Kingdom

Defend Youth Services on Tyneside

The proposal to build a new youth facility in the centre of Newcastle with £5 million Myplace funding from central government was scrapped by the incoming Labour administration.


Poor quality of previous bid, lack of business planning, and opposition from local pool users (closure of part of city baths was part of initial proposal) are the reasons given by council leaders. But young people who had spent months putting together proposals with youth workers and the previous administration are angry that they have not been involved in discussions to turn down the £5 million of national funding.

Lizi, Kiah and others met with Council Leader Nick Forbes and supporters of Anti Cuts Network turned up to a small Solidarity protest and hand out PSA leaflets against cuts to Connexions and Youth services which have also seen massive cuts in Newcastle and across the region and country

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Newcastle Upon Tyne,United Kingdom