Fiona Mactaggart - Labour MP for Slough Slough

Slough

Slough is a busy town, the population is approximately 119,000 and around 30,000 people travel into Slough to work. The Slough Trading Estate, the largest Trading Estate in single ownership in Europe, provides 20,000 jobs in 400 businesses.

Slough is in the top 20 most competitive areas in the UK, with well-known employers such as Mars Confectionery, GlaxoSmithKline, Amazon.com and many other smaller businesses. Slough is served by Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals Trust, Thames Valley University and East Berkshire College Langley Campus, as well as 11 secondary and 27 primary schools.

There is a busy shopping centre, used by people from surrounding areas, and the town is becoming more prosperous although pockets of poverty remain. Black Park, Langley Park and Burnham Beeches are nearby, although Slough is very urban, including some attractive modern buildings such as the Richard Rogers-designed Learning Resource Centre and occasional older ones including the Kedermister Library in St Mary's Church.

About a third of Slough's people are of ethnic minority origin, with the largest groups hailing from Kashmir and Punjab, but also from many other countries in every continent.

Report from Fiona Mactaggart MP

The Labour government has made a real difference in Slough. In 1997, Labour promised to build a modern, fairer Britain. In the years since that general election, this new Labour government has stuck to that promise. Slough has benefited from many Labour policies, below is a report prepared to mark the point in 2003 of the longest-serving Labour government ever to show some of the ways that the Labour government has helped improve life for the people of Slough.

Education

No Slough children aged 4-6 are in classes of more than 30 – there were 878 in 1999. Labour has invested in education, starting with the youngest. The number of nursery places available in Slough has increased steadily since 1998 when there were only 1,790 to 2,958 in 2001.
More children leave primary schools able to read and write well and to succeed in the basics: in English the proportion who reach level 4 rose from around half before the 1997 election to 74% in 2001. 53% in 1998 reached this level in maths, by 2001 it was 72%. In 2002 Slough is still doing well, with best results in science, 86.4% of pupils reaching the target, the national average is 86%.
In Slough there are 250 more teachers than in 1998. Education in Slough is improving - for the first time we have above-average results and 678 pupils (52.4%) obtained 5 or more A* - C at GCSE in 2001 compared to 446 (42.9%) in 1998, that’s 232 more pupils getting good GCSEs. Over 500 extra young people have got 5 good GCSEs than would have done if we had carried on as we had when the Tories were in government

Health

Since 1997 there are 1,359 more nurses caring for patients in Thames Valley and our local hospitals have become cleaner and more efficient.
At Wexham Park Hospital a brand new A&E and Intensive Therapy Unit as well as new operating theatres, a specialist cardiac care ward and cancer scanning equipment have all contributed to modernising the hospital. There are plans for an additional 16 medical assessment beds, 16 surgical beds and 28 general medical beds.
Patients are not having to wait for treatment as they used to. Every single waiting time is better than in 1997 and the average waiting time for an operation has now fallen to just 2.9 months. Under the Tories, waiting lists increased by 400,000 between 1979 and 1997.
At Heatherwood and Wexham Park Hospitals in March 1997 186 patients were waiting more than 7 months for surgery after their appointment with a consultant, in April 2003 at these hospitals no one patient waited more than 6 months for in patient surgery. By April 2003 three quarters of all patients, 3504 out of 4363, had surgery within 3 months. All patients are being seen by a consultant within 13 weeks of being referred by their GP, most, 6858 out of 7502, are seen within 10 weeks.
The Slough NHS walk-in centre that was opened in September 2000 has been a huge success. Over 110,000 people have made use of it, on average 4,500 a month, 150 a day.

Crime

While crime doubled under the Tory government it has fallen 25% with Labour.
In Slough theft from motor vehicles in the last year is down from 4647 to 2979, a fall of 36%.
An individual’s chance of being a victim of crime is one third lower than in 1995. This is at its lowest level for more than 20 years.
Police numbers are at record levels. Thames Valley police area has 127 more police officers in the last two years. For the first time police officers in Slough receive a £2000 pay supplement to help keep them in the town following a campaign by local MP Fiona Mactaggart.

The Economy and Jobs

We have economic stability, the lowest inflation in Europe, long-term interest rates and mortgage rates for homeowners lower than for nearly 40 years. That means jobs and prosperity for local people and big companies locating in our town.
In Slough 494 people have come off benefit and into work.
In April 1997 there were 219 young people without a job for more than six months in Slough, at the start of 2003 there were half that number, just 109.

Housing

475 new affordable homes have been created in Slough since 1999 and 62 low-cost homes for key workers became available this year, there will be another 115 next year.
The number of rough sleepers has been reduced by two-thirds since 1998. In Slough a rough sleeper hostel has been opened and the Foyer provides accommodation and training to homeless young people.

Transport

Bus priority facilities at traffic signals, bus lanes along London Road and M4 bus lane have helped to improve local public transport. New bus shelters are being introduced all over Slough.
The threat of a three lane M4 made under the last government has been overcome and motorway improvements around Slough have included noise reduction features, such as barriers and low-noise surfacing.
There has been a 19 per cent rise in rail passenger journeys since 1996/97. We are now seeing the biggest rail investment for at least a century.

Family

When Labour came into power one child in every three was born in poverty. There are now a million fewer children in poverty and Labour is committed to halving child poverty in ten years, abolishing child poverty in a generation.
The Working Families Tax Credit is helping nearly 1.3 million families worth on average £40 a week more than the old Family Credit. Child Benefit increased – up from £11.05 to £15.75 for the first child. Children’s Tax Credit – up to £10 a week for around 5 million families and now doubled in the year of a child’s birth.
As a result of personal tax and benefit changes, by April 2003 and compared to 1997, on average: Families with children will be £1,200 a year better off in real terms; and households with children in the poorest fifth of the population will be £2,400 better off a year in real terms.
The Labour government has launched the New Sure Start programme with a budget of £500 million covering around a third of poor children by 2004; there will also be a new £450 million Children’s Fund to improve services.

There has been a 9% reduction in the teenage pregnancy rate since 1998. This meant 8,000 conceptions in girls under 18 have been avoided. Last year’s figures fell for the third year running. This indicates that the government is on course to meet its target to cut teenage pregnancies by 15% by 2004 and by 50% by 2010.

Pensioners

Thanks to the Labour government pensioners benefit from a £200 Winter Fuel Allowance for everyone over 60, free TV licence (benefiting nearly four million pensioner households), a rise in the basic pension, free eye tests, free NHS prescriptions and new concessionary travel schemes.
Basic state pension increases to £77.45 this year and to £79.40 next year, one of the biggest rise in money for millions of pensioners since the old age pension was introduced.
The Minimum Income Guarantee rises to £102.10 this year for single pensioners and £155.80 for couples, it ensures that over two million pensioners will have at least £102.10 a week.