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   Tory MP 'cashing in' on NHS break-up with second job at health firm   

by James Lyons, Daily Mirror    

A FORMER Tory health spokesman is earning more than £400 an hour advising a company set to cash in on the Coalition's NHS reforms.

Mark Simmonds, who was a minister when the controversial reforms were drawn up, is paid £50,000 a year to work just 10 hours a month as 'strategic adviser' to Circle Health, the first firm to win control of an NHS hospital.

The cash comes on top of the £65,000 salary and generous pension that he receives as a backbench MP.

Grahame Morris, a member of the Commons Health Select Committee, accused him of cashing in on the break-up of the NHS.

Britain's Lost Talent

We believe that the Conservatives are cutting too far and too fast – hitting families and costing jobs and making it harder to get the deficit down. I have always said that there is another way.

Labour’s balanced deficit plan would put jobs first – of course we need tough decisions on tax and spending cuts, but getting people off the dole and back into work I believe is the best way to get the deficit down. For that we need more jobs – not less.

Labour has tabled an amendment to the Finance Bill, which would repeat the bankers’ bonus tax to fund a youth jobs programme.

The government said they would cut the deficit by cutting waste but they are cutting the police and jobs instead – putting young people on the dole is a waste of money and a waste of talent.

Of course Labour did not spend every pound wisely – and every government has to tackle waste and inefficiency – but this government’s front-loaded cuts are not cutting waste, they are cutting youth jobs and hitting vital frontline services like the police where more than 12,000 police office posts are set to go.

Ed Balls and Liam Byrne have launched a new campaign for a £2 billion tax on bankers’ bonuses, which should be used to help create up to 100,000 more jobs for young people, build more affordable homes and support small businesses. And they are putting this plan to a vote in Parliament, through an amendment to the Finance Bill.

In the 1980s youth unemployment continued to rise four years after the recession was over. That’s why we need to act now to stop another lost generation of young people. A fair tax on bank bonuses will help get people off the dole and into work. It’s the best way to get the deficit down – and stop Britain’s talent going to waste.

You can sign up to the campaign by going to www.britainslosttalent.co.uk

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A cautious estimate could give us an extra £2 billion could be raised this year from repeating the bank bonus tax, Labour says the government could create over 110,000 jobs, build thousands of much needed homes and support investment in the regions. The funds raised from the bank bonus tax could be used to:

Ø     Establish a £600m fund for youth jobs. This would help more than 90,000 young people into work at a time when youth unemployment has reached almost one million.

Ø      Provide £1.2bn to fund the construction of more than 25,000 homes across the country. This would generate more than 20,000 jobs and several times more in the supply chain, and as many as 1,500 construction apprenticeships at a time when demand for construction apprentices has fallen by 31%.

Ø      Boost the Regional Growth Fund by £200m. With the first wave of the fund over-subscribed several times over, this would be a quick way to drive new investment. The Regional Growth Fund represents a two-thirds cut from the funding for Regional Development Agencies, which were abolished last year.

Background, including regional breakdown

Ø      The latest Labour Market Statistics show that there were 895,000 unemployed 16 to 24 year olds in the three months to April 2011. (Office for National Statistics, Labour Market

Statistics, 15 June 2011,http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsuk0611.pdf)

Ø      Last year’s bankers’ bonus tax levied by the Labour Government brought in £3.5 billion. By comparison, the bank levy will yield only £1.9 billion in 2011/12. Labour estimates that a repeat of the bonus tax could bring in £2 billion this year.

£billion

2010/11 2011/12 2012/13 2013/14 2014/15 2015/16

Bank payroll tax 3.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Bank levy 0.0 1.9 2.6 2.7 2.7 2.7

Source: Office for Budget Responsibility, Economic and Fiscal Forecast, March 2010, Table 4.7, p. 103

Ø      Labour’s Youth Jobs Fund would invite organisations to bid for funding for jobs for the young unemployed. A bid would have to demonstrate it would create additional jobs, lasting at least 6 months for long term unemployed young people. Where possible these schemes would partner with apprenticeship programmes in order to provide additional work placements for apprentices.

Ø      The work done would benefit local communities and there would be support for employees to move into long-term, sustained employment including apprenticeships. Based on the model of the Future Jobs Fund – which was abolished by the Conservative-led government – 90,000 jobs could be created. Young people would also benefit from the creation of 20,000 jobs in the construction industry through the provision of £1.2bn to fund the construction of more than 25,000 homes across the country.

Ø      Official figures show that between October 2009 and January 2010 there were 91,890 starts to Future Jobs Fund vacancies. A regional breakdown of the starts is provided below. While Labour’s youth jobs fund would be different scheme to the Future Jobs Fund the regional breakdown below provides an indication of how the additional 90,000 jobs would benefit regions across the country.

Source: Young Person’s Guarantee Official Statistics, 13 April 2011,

Table 2 – http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/jsa/ypg/ypg_apr2011.pdf

FJF regional starts – October 2009-January 2011

Region Number of starts

East Midlands 5,460

East of England 3,790

London 11,540

North East 5,330

North West 17,780

Scotland 8,920

South East 5,000

South West 4,450

Wales 7,960

West Midlands 10,470

Yorkshire and Humberside 8,600

Unknown 2,600

Total 91,890

There is a reason for hope - There is another way.

Sign up to the campaign at: www.britainslosttalent.co.uk

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