Bruce George MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Skin yesterday announced his support for Julie Morgan MP’s Private Members Bill on Sunbed use. The bill aims to prevent under-18s from using sunbeds and is sponsored by a cross party group of MPs.

Bruce, as chairman of the APPG on Skin, has for a number of years been campaigning for mandatory regulation of the sunbed industry and in 2008 a major report of the APPG Skin called for the government to ban under-18s using sunbeds. Bruce is therefore very happy to see a Private Members Bill introduced aiming to achieve this goal.

Speaking today Bruce said:

“I am pleased to announce my support for Julie Morgan’s bill. As Chairman of the All Party Group on Skin I have been campaigning on issues surrounding skin for quite a few years and in the last few years I have become quite concerned about the unregulated nature of sunbeds. In 2008 a report of our All Party Group called for government regulation of the industry to include a legally binding minimum age for sunbeds and I am pleased that Julie Morgan’s bill will seek to make this change.

Sunbeds can be extremely dangerous to children’s health and yet many under 18s seem to be using them on a regular basis. We must act to prevent young people having access to sunbeds. And I will be giving my full support to this Bill.”

Research commissioned by Cancer Research UK in 2008/09 found that more than a quarter of a million children have used sunbeds in the UK. Indeed the research found that in some areas (including Liverpool and Sunderland) sunbed usage was as high as 50 per cent among 15-17 year old girls. We have clear evidence that sunbed use increases the risk of developing skin cancer. In addition, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has re-classified sunbeds into its highest cancer risk category, putting it alongside tobacco.

First of all let me offer my best wishes to you all for the New Year, I hope 2010 is a prosperous year for Walsall and its people. Despite many people being away over the Christmas break I continued to work during the recess and had quite a busy time. Over the break I paid visits to the different emergency services to thank the men and women for their service over the last year and their continuing commitment to the people of Walsall. On Christmas Eve I visited Walsall Police station and on Christmas Day I visited Walsall Hospital and the local Fire station. At all three I was immensely impressed by the hardworking staff who continued to work while we all enjoyed the break.

I was particularly pleased to visit the police as it gave me the opportunity to talk with them about the new policing structures recently put in place in Walsall. I have long believed that the two police operating units in the town should be merged as it would be more effective and beneficial for the people of Walsall. So I was delighted to hear that the new Chief Constable of West Midlands Police was planning to realign local policing to reflect council areas. In effect this means that instead of the two Operational Command Units that used to cover Walsall we now have one combined Local Policing Unit. The aim of this move is to improve local policing and the service that the West Midlands Police provides to our communities. I’m very pleased to hear that there will be a renewed focus in the region on neighbourhood policing.

This week in Parliament perhaps the most important bill that we are considering is the Children, Schools and Families Bill which had its second reading in Parliament on Monday. The bill includes plans for guaranteed catch-up support and one-to-one tuition for children falling behind in the 3Rs and stronger discipline through tough home-school agreements.

These new guarantees which are aimed at both parents and pupils include catch-up support in the 3Rs for pupils falling behind in English and maths, including one-to-one tuition; online information for parents on their child’s behaviour, progress and attainment; the right to learn triple sciences at GCSE; and the opportunity for every primary pupil to learn a musical instrument.

In Walsall we have already seen the impact of the guarantee regarding one-to-one tuition for those falling behind in literacy and numeracy with the government providing an extra £1,506,070 of funding this year for schools across the Borough. Education has improved significantly in Walsall over recent years, especially since education provision was taken away from the Council and placed with the company Serco. But we cannot be complacent, we need to continue our efforts to ensure our children and future generations receive a world-class education and that is why I was pleased to support and vote for the current bill making its way through Parliament.

Bruce George, MP for Walsall, has hailed a further rise in GCSE results for local schools in Walsall following the publication of secondary school results today.

However, schools across Walsall have seen big improvements in results, according to today’s figures. Over the last year (2009 compared to 2008) there has been:

A 5.6% percentage points rise (from 59.4% to 65%) in the number of pupils getting five or more GCSEs at A*-C grade. This is a big increase of 30.4 percentage points from just 34.6 % in 1998.

A 3.4% percentage points rise (from 40.6% to 44%) in the number of pupils getting five or more GCSEs at A*-C grade, including in the vital subjects of English and maths. This is a big increase of 18.2 percentage points from just 25.8% in 1998.

Bruce George MP said:

“This year’s GCSE results show a great increase over the last year and a real transformation in school standards across Walsall since 1997. Improvements to the local system in Walsall have been particularly noteworthy since education was taken out of the Council’s hands and given to Serco. I have been visiting the local schools in Walsall for over 30 years and I can see the positive changes that are taking place. I would like to congratulate the local teachers and pupils on the success they’ve had this year.

Thanks to extra investment and the hard work of teachers and pupils, there has been a revolution in our local schools. There are 230 more teachers and 670 more teaching assistants across Walsall. Exam results are up, school buildings and facilities are being transformed, and more young people are staying on in education or doing an apprenticeship at 16.”