Helen’s Big Issues
As a Government Minister and an MP, Helen deals with a vast range of issues but the following are particularly close to her heart:
i) Children
As the former Head of Strategy at the Children’s Society and Chief Executive of the National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries, Helen has campaigned for many years to improve children’s rights, increase children’s opportunities for play, improve nursery care and early years learning, and to eradicate child poverty.
Helen has recently worked with the NUT and Compass to campaign against advertising to children, and she has won praise from the road safety charity Brake! for her campaign to improve road safety in Bishop Auckland.
ii) Global Poverty
The fight against famine, poverty, disease and illiteracy in the developing world has shot up the political agenda in recent years, but much still needs to be done to help people in the poorest countries in the world.
Helen has welcomed increased Government funding for oversees aid, and has worked with Make Poverty History North East and a number of local charities to help provide the aid and assistance that people in the developing world so deparately need.
Helen was a member of the Pre-Legislative Scrutiny Committee for the Climate Change Bill, and was thus intimately involved in producing vital legislation that will put in place a strong legal framework to combat climate change, and establish a clear pathway to achieve a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
Helen has also worked with local authorities and environmental groups (see left) to promote energy efficiency and the development of sustainable local communities.
iv) Economy
Having spent 17 years as a civil servant (and latterly Head of Strategy) at the Treasury, Helen retains a keen interest in the economy.
Helen has highlighted the growing economic potential in the North East by campaigning for ambitious housing and employment proposals in the North East Regional Spatial Strategy.
Helen has also welcomed the recent proposals for the £100 million ‘Durham Gateway’ regeneration, which offer the promise of continued inward investment to a local economy that has already seen unemployment fall by 53% in the last decade.
v) Public Services
Helen is currently conducting a consultation to discover constituent’s views about local healthcare. You can find out more about this consultation here, and you can read more about Helen’s views on public service reform by clicking here.
