PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
ECONOMIC DIFFICULTIES IN WEST CUMBRIA (18 November 1994)

That this House notes that many families in West Cumbria are concerned that market testing, the privatisation of Civil Service functions, compulsory competitive tendering and regional pay are all part of a concerted attempt by the Government to cut wages; notes that West Cumbrians, despite these adverse changes which the Government argues have been introduced to create work, still find great difficulty in securing full time employment; notes that where employment is available it is invariably part time or on rates of pay below benefit levels; believes that the consequences of denying benefits and reducing pay are devastating at a time of renewed increases in interest rates, burgeoning rents and price increases in food shops; notes that VAT on heating will only further depress living standards in a sub region where weather conditions can be extreme; expresses the deepest possible concern over the prospects of vulnerable groups fearful of escalating bills, turning down home heating and questions the sanity of those responsible in government for this appalling, reckless and irresponsible decision; charges the Government with gross neglect in denying Cumbria County Council adequate monies for revenue support on rural bus services, thereby starving poorer families of precious resources needed for food and clothing and marooning the elderly and vulnerable on remote estates and in isolated communities; acknowledges the concern expressed by West Cumbrians over the failure of contractors at British Nuclear Fuels to employ a larger proportion of local people; and knowns that this is an endless source of resentment amongst the unemployed in West Cumbria.

Sponsored by:
Lord Campbell-Savours (Labour)