Christine Russell MP says welcome to Chester Labour - the Labour Party's website in Chester.

Chester Labour is Chester's voice - the voice all Cestrians have been looking for, whether rich or poor, young or old. An honest voice, a true voice.

Chester is one of the best and most forward-looking cities in the whole of Europe, with an unparalleled culture, heritage, people - and reputation for openness, generosity and solidarity. Let's keep it that way with Labour - a new Labour for Britain.

Following the Executive meeting of Chester West and Chester Council on 24th June the Council have agreed to refer the plans to spend nearly £20m of public money on new headquarters to the Council’s Corporate Scrutiny Panel.

The move came after Labour Group Leader Derek Bateman and Opposition Finance Spokesperson Justin Madders attended the Executive to raise their concerns.

Councillor Bateman said:

"The news about this was like a bolt out of the blue, although there had been rumours for months they were thinking of selling County Hall. This is probably the single biggest piece of expenditure the new Council is likely to incur and we need to be satisfied that it is a good use of public money and the purchaser of County Hall has good intentions for the future. That is why we have called for greater transparency and discussion on the proposals. Labour’s view is neither in support nor against, we just want to exercise ‘Due Diligence’ to the proposals." 

Councillor Madders said:

"When the Council is talking about making cuts throughout all its services there needs to be a very good case made that spending such a large amount of public money on new offices is the best use of scarce resources. There appears to have been no real strategy forthcoming from the Tories on this. For example, where is the Council going to be meet in future? What is going to happen to all the other council buildings, many of which will have to be sold to pay for this? Which other large projects are going to be put on ice to pay for this?

"We welcome the fact that this decision is going to be the subject of greater scrutiny as we will need to be convinced that new offices for senior staff and councillors is the best use of public money. We also think the Council should give the public the opportunity to have a say on this."

The Corporate Scrutiny meeting is due to take place on the 13th July at 6.30pm.

Need help with your energy bills?  Are you aware that you may be missing out on grants and subsidies which could help you save money?  Phone 0800 33 66 99 and find out more.

As you may know, the winter campaign to raise awareness of the Home Heat Helpline, the only free-phone energy helpline, was launched on Tuesday 9th December. The Helpline is entirely funded by energy suppliers to enable fuel poor and vulnerable customers to access the information and services they need to reduce their energy consumption, and therefore manage their fuel bills.

Research conducted for the Energy Retail Association (ERA) showed that, although 75% of respondents say the credit crunch has made them more concerned about saving energy, more than half admit that they are not as energy efficient as they could be. The research also shows that one third of those surveyed across the UK are unaware that there are grants available to fit free or discounted home insulation. Furthermore, two thirds of people do not know they might qualify for grants and other assistance from their energy supplier.The Home Heat Helpline (0800 33 66 99), set up in 2005, provides vulnerable customers, including older people, families with young children, and people with disabilities or long term health conditions, with a direct link to a specialist team within their energy supplier. As well as providing direct help through access to grants and support for those most in need, the Helpline also acts as a one stop shop for access to the full range of support services from a wide range of organisations.

The Helpline has recently been upgraded in order to make it even more accessible to consumers. This year, for the first time, the Home Heat Helpline website (www.homeheathelpline.org) has been upgraded to ensure that customers or their relatives and friends will also be able to make enquiries and access support online. In parallel, the Home Heat Helpline will be able to direct calls - at no cost to the caller - to a number of specialised services including, Warm Front, Consumer Focus, Energy Efficiency Advice Centres (EST), benefits teams at DWP and Home Improvement Agencies (including Care & Repair).

JOIN CHRISTINE RUSSELL'S "ODEON ACTION GROUP"

The last city centre cinema in Chester, the Odeon, closed in June 2007. Christine formed the Odeon Action Group to campaign to get a cinema back into the Odeon. Chester Labour firmly believe that Chester deserves and needs a local cinema.

Chester lost its last remaining city centre cinema in June 2007 when the Odeon closed. The cinema is a Grade II listed art-deco building specifically set aside for community use in Chester's Local Plan.

In July 2007 Christine Russell MP formed the Odeon Action Group, comprising members of Chester Civic Trust, Chester Film Society, local arts enthusiasts and student representatives, to begin campaigning to reintroduce cinema into the Odeon building.

The Odeon Action Group is firmly of the opinion that Chester already has an abundance of bars and restaurants. The city has lost its theatre, a concert hall remains a pipedream and, if the rumours are true, the proposed Performing Arts Centre may be dropped from the Northgate Development. It is therefore absolutely paramount that Chester City Council throws its weight behind the campaign to re-open the Odeon as a multi-purpose arts venue, including a minimum of two cinema screens.

Register your support for the campaign. Send us an email to admin@chesterlabour.org.

The Labour Party may contact you using the details you provide.

Shop regularly at Tesco, Asda or Amazon? Looking for that ideal gift for a birthday or anniversary? Why not help raise funds for the Labour Party at the same time? It won't cost you a penny more and your purchase will help to spread the progressive word here in Chester. Buy from a wide range of online stores (Tesco, Asda, Mothercare, Game, Amazon.co.uk, John Lewis etc.) and in complete confidence. Go to www.buy.at/chesterlabour.

See what Arlene McCarthy MEP is doing for the North West - click here to go to her website.

Want to know more about the latest achievements of the National Minimum Wage? Go to www.direct.gov.uk/nmw to find out more.

Any comments about this website? Email us at admin@chesterlabour.org.

LABOUR'S MANIFESTO FOR CHESHIRE WEST & CHESTER - 2008-2011

Labour has recently published its manifesto for Cheshire West & Chester. These are our ten pledges to all of the new authority's citizens:

1. Establish a modern creative and dynamic Council, fit for the 21st Century and designed to deliver high quality services, which involve users and respond to their needs
2. Produce a budget that meets needs, that is value for money, and at a council tax that people can afford
3. Help children and young people to achieve their full potential
4. Deliver a better deal for pensioners – at home and in the community - by reducing the home care charges by 50%
5. Work to ensure that all residents have access to our services, giving special attention to those with special needs and those in our rural communities
6. Introduce 20mph limits outside all schools and other areas where there is public support
7. Work in partnership to combat anti social behaviour, pollution and to create a cleaner environment
8. Tackle low incomes and unemployment of the Cheshire West population
9. Work with other authorities to provide joined up services and value for money, where possible by combining with other public agencies.
10. To work with local MPs and MEPs for the betterment of the area

Breast cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK and Christine Russell MP and Chester Labour want to encourage everyone to take part in this event to help raise money and awareness of this dreadful disease.

Thousands of families are affected by this illness each year but survival rates are improving. The Wear It Pink campaign and Breast Cancer Awareness Month are really important ways of promoting breast awareness and ending the suffering faced by thousands of women each year.

To find out more about Christine Russell's initiative, read a background article in the Chester and District Standard.

To find out more about the astonishing programmes of renewal that successive Labour governments have carried out in the NHS, please see the video below.

60 years ago, Labour created the NHS. It was born in a society where healthcare was exclusive, expensive and unavailable for many ordinary people. To most citizens, illness meant desperation, suffering and even destitution. Thousands died from diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, diphtheria and polio because they could not afford treatment. Britain needed a system that provided healthcare to everyone, free at the point of delivery, based on need and not the ability to pay.

It was the Beveridge Report that demonstrated the need for universal healthcare and it was the Labour Government that made it a reality. Despite opposition from the Tories, who voted against its creation, the NHS was launched in 1948. Through its early years, times were tough but the NHS helped the British people cope with post-war society. For the first time ever hospital services, family practitioner services (doctors, pharmacists, opticians and dentists) and community-based services were available to the public for free under one organisation.

Since then, the NHS has proved itself vital to the British people. It has been a source of confidence as families know that they will receive the best possible treatment, whatever their financial circumstances. The NHS became a symbol of freedom from fear and of a government on your side.

Find out more about Labour and the NHS here.

And see Alan Johnson, Health Secretary, in our YouTube video below, tell us more about the future of the NHS, on what it's like to have the "best job in the world" and on the real importance of "changing things for the better".

The National Health Service was 60 years old on the 5th July 2008. A Thanksgiving Service to celebrate one of our country’s greatest achievements was held in Chester Cathedral on Sunday 6th July at 6.30pm.

The post-war Labour Government created the NHS in 1948 and, for the first time, healthcare was available to the public for free. Older readers may remember how poorer families struggled to pay for medical treatment or life saving surgery before the advent of the NHS.

When the NHS was established there were five local hospitals; the Royal Infirmary in the city centre, Chester City Hospital in Hoole, Deva Hospital in Liverpool Road, Barrowmore Hospital in Barrow and Ellesmere Port Cottage Hospital.

The Royal Infirmary was founded as a charitable institution in 1755. It was housed in the upper part of the Bluecoat School in Northgate Street until a purpose-built hospital was opened in St Martin in the Field. Extensions were added over the next 200 years. The fine original 1761 building overlooking the City Walls was converted into apartments after the Infirmary closed in the 1990s.

The Cheshire County Lunatic Asylum was opened in 1829. When the NHS took over the running of the hospital from the County Council it was re-named the Deva Hospital. The improvements in the care of people with learning disabilities and mental health problems resulted in a drastic reduction in the number of in-patients. The 1829 building is now the headquarters of the Western Cheshire Primary Care Trust and the state-of-the-art Bowmere Hospital has replaced the gloomy Victorian wards.

The City Hospital in Hoole Lane began life as the Chester Poor Law Union Workhouse in 1873. It amalgamated with the Royal Infirmary in 1963. Barrowmore Hospital was opened in 1920 as a sanatorium and a "colony for ex-servicemen". When it became part of the NHS it was transformed into a regional centre for major surgery, treating patients from across Cheshire and Merseyside. It too closed following the opening of the Countess.

Dedicated and skilled NHS staff have provided generations of care for all of us. People are now living, on average, 10 years longer than they did before 1948. The NHS remains Britain’s most cherished public service and the fairest system of healthcare in the world. Today the NHS is focused on preventing ill-health as well as curing it.