Tuesday 29 May 2012

Manufacturing and engineering - still strong in Yorkshire

The Yorkshire and Humber region has a long history in manufacturing and engineering and (despite the impression sometimes given these days), the region still has many successful businesses in these sectors. It's important to remember that although there is a lot of media attention on financial services, manufacturing still contributes more to the country´s GDP (12% versus 9%).

Last Friday, I attended the Dods "Yorkshire 2012 and beyond" conference, at the Leeds Metropolitan University. The conference looked at what can be done to generate economic growth in the region. I participated in a panel on international transport links (rather appropriate for someone who travels from Leeds to Brussels by train most weeks...).

During this event, I spoke to a representative of the glass industry, who informed me that his sector had some problems recruiting, particularly getting young people to enter the industry. The age structure of some companies (too many workers retiring in the near future) means that bringing in new young recruits is very important for long term workforce planning. The representative reminded me that careers in manufacturing are not just on the production front, manufacturers also need people to do marketing, finance, human resources etc.

The previous weekend, I had the had the pleasure of attending the 60th anniversary celebrations of Cummins Turbo Technologies, a world leading manufacturer of turbochargers whose UK operations are primarily based in Huddersfield. The company began life as Holset Engineering in 1952 set up by a Mr Holmes and a Mr Croset and was bought by Cummins in 1973.

On offer to visitors were tours of the research and development facilities and the production line, engineering themed games and puzzles for children, a film of the history of the company, a brass band, a rock band, a bouncy castle, and pie and peas for lunch (good Yorkshire food!).

I was taken on a tour by Dr Dave Green, Director of Engineering who was an excellent tour guide. Thanks to Dave I can quite honestly say I have a far greater appreciation of the world of turbo chargers than I did before. For the uninitiated, turbo chargers are an integral part of diesel engines and in the case of Cummins' products, go in cars, vans, trucks, tractors and power generators all over the world.

Cummins is a global company with 1,100 of its staff based in Huddersfield, where the company's global research and development and European manufacturing takes place. The company naturally recruits many engineers to work at its Huddersfield site, although Dr Green informed me there are not always enough UK candidates, so the company has to go further afield to other European countries and even India and China to recruit sufficient engineers. With future recruitment in mind, the company goes into local schools to encourage children to think of a career in engineering and works closely with nearby universities with engineeing faculties including Huddersfield and Bradford.

My conversations in recent weeks seem to indicate that not enough young people in the region are considering careers in manufacturing and engineering, despite highly successful companies that are able to offer good career prospects. It seems amazing that this is happening at time of very high youth unemployment. The government´s recently launched apprenticeship scheme is one way that this trend can be reversed, but it is too soon to evaluate its success right now.

I  would be curious to hear the views of others on how we can encourage young people in our region to go into manufacturing and engineering.

Monday 28 May 2012

Pakistan Travel Problems

Pakistan International Airlines has been hit by a number of problems in recent years. The EU has had worries regarding the airline's safety record, such as in 2007 when the majority of it's fleet was banned from landing at EU airports following a number of crashes and failed safety checks.

This March the European Aviation Safety Agency suspended the airline's air security certificate following concerns with the state of safety checks at it's Pakistan base. At the moment this means that flights bound for the US must receive seperate safety checks at Manchester Airport, though flights to the EU have not yet been banned.

In Yorkshire, many passengers fly with PIA using Leeds Bradford Airport. The first priority of any airline should be the safety of its passengers. It would be a huge shame if passengers who use LBA lost the ability to travel to see friends and family in Pakistan.

PIA have undergone an overhaul of their procedures, as the Commission noted on April 4th. The Commission have stressed that they are willing to offer support to Pakistan, though there is uncertainty over whether the certifate will be granted, or whether we will see a repeat of the 2007 situation.

Last week along with several Liberal colleagues in the Parliament, I wrote to the European Transport Commissioner Siim Kallas, to ask what support is being offered for Pakistan to meet these safety requirements, and for some clarification of the future for PIA flights in the EU.

Tuesday 15 May 2012

Job Adverts: Office Manager/Caseworker and Communications Officer/Constituency Liaison


I am currently looking to hire staff in my constituency office in Kingston-Upon-Hull. Please see the two job ads below.


Title: Office Manager/Caseworker

Location: Kingston-Upon-Hull

Details: Liberal Democrat MEP Rebecca Taylor is seeking an experienced Office Manager for her Yorkshire and Humber constituency office in Kingston-Upon-Hull. The role will involve organising the administration of the constituency office, including managing budgets, managing and researching constituency casework and representing Rebecca when constituents contact the office for assistance. Tasks will also include organising Rebecca's visits in Yorkshire and the Humber Region, meeting local stakeholders and maintaining a link between Rebecca's work in Brussels and the Liberal Democrat Party in the region.

Ensuring that the Brussels office and the Regional office communicate and coordinate their work effectively will be essential. Assisting constituents with EU related casework will be helped by working with the Brussels office and overseeing any future casework staff and/or interns.

Applicants must have:

· at least 3 years office management experience, preferably in a similar role, assisting the public with casework or working in government/politics

· a very good knowledge of Yorkshire and the Humber Region.

Preferably, a candidate would have:

· knowledge of the European Union and the European political process

The ideal candidate would be a self-starter, able to work independently and as part of a team. They would take a pro-active approach towards assisting constituents, understanding how the EU affects them and how to help them with their inquiries. The successful candidate must be sympathetic to the aims and values of the Liberal Democrats. Knowledge of Data Protection, Health and Safety law and experience of project management will be useful.

Salary: In the region of £20-25,000 p/a depending on experience

Contact: Please send a CV and application letter to Rebecca Taylor at rtaylorapps@gmail.com

In your application letter please explain how you meet the two essential criteria, and where relevant, the preferable criteria. Applicants not meeting the two essential criteria will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Closing date/Start date: The deadline for applications is Friday 25th May, with interviews planned for Friday 1st June




Title: Communications Officer/Constituency Liaison

Location: Kingston-Upon-Hull

Details: Liberal Democrat MEP Rebecca Taylor is seeking a Media Officer for her Yorkshire and Humber constituency office in Kingston-Upon-Hull. The role will involve managing Rebecca's Press and Communications output, following European Union political developments, as well as the situation locally and nationally. Tasks will include, drafting press releases, identifying key issues in Rebecca's Parliamentary work and relevant stories in the UK press, establishing contact with journalists and organising Rebecca's web profile. They could also include representing Rebecca, accompanying her on visits and meeting local stakeholders on her behalf.

Key to the role will be the ability to work well with the Liberal Democrat Press Team in the European Parliament and the constituency offices of other MEPs and MPs, where relevant. The ability to communicate Rebecca's work to constituents, to liaise with the Brussels office and to identify the issues key to the Liberal Democrats in Europe will be essential. 

Applicants must have:

· experience of press/communications work, preferably in a similar role.

· a very good knowledge of Yorkshire and the Humber Region.

Preferably, a candidate would have:

· knowledge of the European Union and the European political process

The ideal candidate would be a self-starter, able to work independently and as part of a team. They would have the ability to understand and interpret developments and communicate them to Rebecca's constituents. They would have a good grasp of how the EU affects citizens and how citizens perceive the EU. They would also be able to demonstrate where they have performed a communications role successfully in the past.  The successful candidate must be sympathetic to the aims and values of the Liberal Democrats 

Salary: In the region of £20-25,000 p/a depending on experience. The role will involve working 4 days a week for Rebecca and 1 for the regional party, with salary divided accordingly

Contact: Please send a CV and application letter to Rebecca Taylor at rtaylorapps@gmail.com

In your application letter please explain how you meet the two essential criteria, and where relevant, the preferable criteria. Applicants not meeting the two essential criteria will not be considered and only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Closing date/Start date: The deadline for applications is Friday 25th May, with interviews planned for Friday 1st June

Monday 14 May 2012

The European Parliament has good news for your summer holidays

Thanks to an agreement reached by the European Parliament last week (I voted in favour of course), the cost of using your mobile phone while on holiday in another EU country will be further reduced from July 2012.

The European Parliament already reduced the cost of making and receiving calls while "roaming" (using your phone abroad) several years ago, but the original agreements did not focus on data roaming (when you use your mobile phone to surf the internet or access your e-mails).

Very high charges for data roaming had resulted in holidaymakers receiving shockingly high phone bills (hundreds of pounds) when all they had done was use their smartphone to check a few e-mails and post some status updates on Facebook.

The agreement introduces a new price limit for data roaming and requires networks to inform customers when they are reaching €50 (about £40) of data use. As of July 2012, the maximum charges within the EU (different charges will apply to using your phone outside the EU) will be as follows:

Data (internet) use - 71p per megabyte
Making calls abroad - 30p per minute
Receiving calls abroad - 6p per minute
Sending text messages abroad - 7p per SMS

NB: costs based on current exchange rate.

Costs will be reduced further in 2013 and 2014.

This is a great example of EU action; no single country alone could have taken on big multinational mobile phone companies, but 27 countries acting together were able to force companies to give consumers a better deal.

Interesting links:

European Commission press release
Guardian newspaper article
ALDE (European Parliament Liberal Group) press release

Saturday 5 May 2012

Well done Calderdale LibDems!

As those who follow my tweets (I'm @RTaylor_MEP on Twitter) already know, I've been busy the last few weeks with the local elections in Calderdale, the part of Yorkshire in which I was born and grew up.

The LibDems in Calderdale went into the local elections with 13 seats running the council in partnership with Labour (Calderdale has been a NOC - no overall control - council for some years).

It was a tough election campaign for Calderdale LibDems; we knew we could take no vote for granted. I leafleted, telephone canvassed, canvassed on the doorstep and did even more leafleting (sometimes in torrential rain - yuck!) and then phoned voters all day on polling day. Many colleagues of mine did much much more.

In the end, Calderdale LibDems had election results to be proud of. We were defending four held seats and we retained two of them (congratulations to Janet Battye and Pat Allen) and lost two (commiserations to Christine Bampton-Smith and Mohamed Ilyas). In particular, LibDem council leader Janet Battye fought off a strong Labour challenge to retain her seat with an increased majority of 145 (up from 53).

We also gained Greetland and Stainland back from the Tories (more accurately from a councillor who had defected to the Tories after being elected as a LibDem). Having said that, Greetland and Stainland is probably the closest thing the LibDems have to a safe council seat in Calderdale.

We also came close to gaining another seat as James Baker battled valliently to try and gain Warley from the Tories, but was beaten into 2nd place by 113 votes by the Labour party

So the overall picture was a loss of one seat (down to 12 from 13), which was thanks to the amazing hard work put in by candidates and activists. The phrase "where we work, we win" seems to be appropriate. Well done to all!

Links:

Calderdale election results

Calderdale Liberal Democrats