Earlier this month PCC Tony Lloyd began a consultation asking residents across Greater Manchester. Tony wants to hear your views on his proposed Police and Crime Plan. The draft plan sets out his eight policing objectives for the next four years.

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I don’t know if people have noticed but the number of money lending firms that have popped up around the borough has massively increased since the economic downturn. I don’t need to name any of them, but we all know who they are – offering you cash to keep you going until pay day.

It looks so attractive, borrowing a few hundred pounds to tie you over for a couple of days, but as the saying goes: ‘looks can be deceptive.’ The interest can easily mount up if you don’t pay the money back straight away and let’s be clear about this, it is not in the money lender’s interest for you to pay it back early. The longer you take to pay, the more you end up paying.

That’s why the Council has given its backing to a campaign aimed at clamping down on this practice, something coined as legal loan sharking.

As part of a national campaign to tackle the issue while at the same time highlight the benefits of using a more trusted system such as a credit union.

I think it is important for people to understand that these companies are not the be-all-and-end-all for those who need help with their finances. I believe it is the responsibility of all levels of government to ensure affordable credit for all and to promote financial literacy, affordable lending and local credit unions such as our own Cash Box scheme.

I would urge anyone who’s thinking of taking out a loan to contact a credit union first, such as Cash Box, to take up their offer rather than taking a loan from these legal loan sharking companies.

Follow the link to our website if you want to find out more about credit unions and their benefits: http://www.tameside.gov.uk/creditunion

— Cllr Kieran Quinn

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Today saw Tony Lloyd win the Greater Manchester Police Crime and Commissioners election.

We at Tameside Labour Party were proud to support Tony, who we believe will be a great PCC. We are not alone in that belief as Tony won across every ward in Greater Manchester, with a fantastic total of 51.23% of the vote.

Photo by @NorthWestLabour

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A Message from Tony Lloyd

The safety of our families lies at the top of people’s concerns. Crime and fear of crime affects us individually and our communities. So policing is fundamental to what type of community we want. The Police Commissioner must listen to the public in order to give it the voice it should have over major decisions affecting the police and the community. The whole police and criminal justice system must put cutting crime as the first priority. But we need to change our ways of working so that together the community, the police, the Councils, the Courts challenge those who believe nothing can be done to stop the vandal and the antisocial neighbour.

But this is made more difficult by reckless government cuts in policing. I will fight for proper resources for Greater Manchester where crime is still too high, and challenge the government to explain why we’ve had bigger cuts than low crime areas.

And when crime does take place we really can put the victim at the centre of the justice process and not the criminal, as often seems to be the case. But this is made more difficult by reckless government cuts in policing. I will fight for proper resources for Greater Manchester where crime is still too high, and challenge the government to explain why we’ve had bigger cuts than low crime areas.

Photo by MEN News

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Labour candidate for Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, Tony Lloyd this week visited Tameside as postal votes went out to constituents ahead of the election on 15 November.

If you wish to know more about Tony’s campaign to become Greater Manchester Police and Crime Commissioner, you can visit his website at tony4gtrmcr.co.uk

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An article written by Andrew Gwynne, MP for Denton and Reddish and a Labour Shadow Health Minister.

The Tories have unveiled plans to sell off Manchester’s Patient Transport Service to Arrive, the bus company. The PTS is provided by the North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust and funded by the PCTs throughout the region. They ferry around some of the most unwell patients in our local health services.

UNISON North West held a meeting in Manchester Town Hall to launch the campaign to halt the privatisation. The overwhelming message from our public meeting was clear – the sell-off of our vital ambulance patient transport service to Arriva, when the NHS bid performed better on quality and other measures, is quite clearly the wrong decision for Manchester. Many who contributed to the discussion echoed concerns that Arriva’s operation would entail cuts in the quality of service, when the bid’s net worth was around 75% of that put forward by the Ambulance Service.

The dangers of privatisation in certain areas have been highlighted in recent years. An inquiry revealed that Serco, a private company running out of hours GP services in Cornwall, had given false data to the NHS on 252 occasions. This followed concerns that the service was so understaffed it was simply unsafe. Care home company Southern Cross collapsed in June 2011, leaving 31,000 vulnerable residents in their care facing massive uncertainty.

It is simple mathematics – the privatisation of our non-emergency ambulances will result in a 25% drop in quality. A tendering process that awards medical contracts to civilian private companies on the basis of cost and not quality is a betrayal of those who rely on the NHS to keep them safe and healthy.

Public opinion is overwhelmingly on our side. Only one in five polled by ComRes believe that privatisation has led to better quality services to the public. 81% believe that private companies either frequently or sometimes fail to meet their contractual obligations.

The Tories are letting down our healthcare professionals who work tirelessly to get around in our hours of greatest need. I hope they listen to our call to drop the plans, or we will see a clear drop in quality where it is needed most. They can’t say we didn’t warn them.

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If last week’s borough local elections taught me one thing, it was that the people of Tameside have had enough of this Tory-led government.

The very fact that only one of the standing four Conservative councillors managed to get back in while they conceded the other three to the Labour Party tells its own story.

I am excited by what our newest members can bring to the council’s ruling group (we now have 52 of the council’s 57 councillors) with the youngest of them just 20 years of age.

Their age and ideas, I am sure, will bring a fresh impetus to my Labour team and I look forward to working closely with my 51 Party colleagues as we continue to navigate our way through these difficult times.

The 3 May election saw the residents speak loudly. They gave the Labour Party an unequivocal mandate to roll up our sleeves continue the hard work of carrying Tameside and its public to a brighter, more prosperous future.

- Cllr Kieran Quinn

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Labour’s candidates are committed to doing the best for local people: for the hard-working families feeling the squeeze on their budgets; for the people living in fear of crime and anti-social behaviour; for the patients that owe their lives to the NHS; and for the young unemployed struggling to find their first job.

Labour is with you. We are building a fair future for Tameside: We are investing in infrastructure and our town centres to create jobs for local people. We are supporting Tameside College and local businesses to create new jobs and apprenticeships for the 1 in 3 local young people who are unemployed. We are working with the police to create more Home Watch schemes, and find smarter ways to tackle crime while the Tories cut 1,387 police officers from our streets.

The Tories are out of touch. Their too-far, too-fast cuts have turned Britain’s economic recovery into a double-dip recession made in Downing Street. George Osborne’s Budget last month taxed pensioners, pasties and charities to give tax breaks to millionaires. Hard-working families, pensioners and young people are feeling the squeeze in their pockets, while the Tories are helping the richest 1% to fill their boots. Would you trust them to make the fair decisions here in Tameside?

In these tough times, it is more important than ever that we keep fairness at the centre of everything we do. Labour is committed to building a fair future for Tameside.

Vote Labour on Thursday May 3, and we can build that fair future together.

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