Rt Hon David Blunkett MP

Blunkett welcomes policing White Paper

Former Home Secretary David Blunkett has welcomed the publication by the Government of its policing White Paper, Protecting the Public: Supporting the Police to Succeed.

Mr Blunkett's work on the accountability of the police — which was published in July of this year in his review A People's Police Force — has heavily informed the White Paper and was acknowledged by Home Secretary Alan Johnson today.

Mr Johnson said: "I am very grateful for David's report on how police authorities could increase their public impact and strengthen their links with local councils ... The White Paper's proposals have benefited greatly from his contribution."

David said: "I am pleased that the Home Secretary has built upon my report. I am particularly pleased that he has accepted proposals for improved accountability and has rejected the universally disparaged Conservative policy of elected police commissioners."

You can download A People's Police Force here and read David's full press release here.

Blunkett welcomes government action to tackle housing fraud

David Blunkett has welcomed new Government money given to Sheffield City Council to tackle social housing fraud.

The local authority is one of 145 participating in a new scheme to recover homes which are being illegally sublet. The homes can then be issued to those who are in real need — and who have often had to wait for an unacceptable amount of time on housing waiting lists.

Mr Blunkett said: "I hope that the City Council will make full use of the available funds so that we can ensure homes are not tied up in the hands of fraudsters, but are available for those who need them."

More here.

Empowering the Third Sector

The University of New South Wales has uploaded video of David's recent speech and Q&A session on the Third Sector in Australia.

The event, hosted by the Centre for Social Impact and Vision Australia, featured David's views on the voluntary and charitable sector's role in society. He talked widely around the subject, focusing particularly on his Fabian pamphlet, Mutual Action, Common Purpose: Empowering the Third Sector.

You can get more information on David's visit to Australia and the various subjects he's discussed here at the Vision Australia website.

In Australia

David Blunkett is currently in Australia on a tour jointly organised by the charity Vision Australia - the Australian equivalent of the RNIB - and the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG).

The visit takes in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Brisbane and David is giving speeches on subjects varying from the legacy of Tony Blair's government to public service reform; from globalisation to the internet.

It includes a televised address to the National Press Club and a keynote speech at the annual conference of the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA), a conference also being addressed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. David will meet the Prime Minister as well as his deputy (and education minister), Julia Gillard.

You can listen to an interview which David had with ABC radio here - and also see the latest coverage in the Australian press by clicking the links under the 'National Press' heading to the right.

David's advice surgery at Firth Park Advice Centre is proceeding as normal this Saturday and will be run by David's casework staff.

Does Kelly 'get it'?

David Blunkett has reacted to the publication of Sir Christopher Kelly's review of MPs' allowances with an article in today's Guardian.

Mr Blunkett wonders if Sir Christopher has fully appreciated the dual role of an MP as legislator and constituency advocate — and calls attention to some of the unintended consequences which will arise from Kelly's recommendations.

Read the full article here at the Guardian website.

Target those most in need to end poverty, says Blunkett

David Blunkett has written an article for today's Guardian following the launch of the Sheffield Project report, A Tale of Two Cities, on how government grants to cities must target deprived areas if we are to best fight poverty.

Writing in the Society section, Mr Blunkett argues that areas such as the north and east of Sheffield would be entitled to a range of government support on employment and regeneration if wealthier areas not in need of such money, such as the Sheffield Hallam constituency, were discounted from government calculations.

"On measure after measure, Hallam could almost be an entirely different city, such are the differences in wealth, health and aspiration", Mr Blunkett writes.

"With an equalities Bill before Parliament, the Government should demand fairness in the allocation of public resources — most of which are delivered from the centre — with those areas in the most need receiving the most support."

Read the full article here at the Guardian website.

Blunkett condemns Lib Dems in Sheffield as "in denial"

David Blunkett has hit out at the Lib Dem leadership of Sheffield City Council after they attempted to smear the independent report into inequalities in the city.

In comments to the Sheffield Star, Lib Dem council leader Paul Scriven said that the report, which was undertaken by the internationally renowned team at the University of Sheffield's Department of Human Geography, contained "factual inaccuracies". He failed to say what these inaccuracies were.

Mr Blunkett responded to Cllr Scriven's comments, saying: "The greatest irony of all is that the university have used data provided by Sheffield City Council - so in a single breath, Councillor Scriven is condemning both the expertise of the university and his own officers".

He added: "Cllr Scriven should demonstrate unequivocally where he believes the report is inaccurate, or he should apologise to the University of Sheffield, which itself ranks in the top 25 internationally."

Read Mr Blunkett's full release here.

Sheffield: A tale of two cities

David Blunkett has welcomed the launch of an independent report into inequalities and poverty in Sheffield by a team of internationally-renowned researchers.

A Tale of Two Cities: The Sheffield Project is the result of a year-long study commissioned by Mr Blunkett and carried out by Professor Danny Dorling and his colleagues at the University of Sheffield's Department of Human Geography.

You can download the full report here from the university's website.

The report notes the widening gaps within Sheffield, with residents in the Hallam constituency enjoying a better education, higher health outcomes, lower risk of being a victim of crime and even longer lives than those in the poorer areas, such as David's constituency of Sheffield Brightside.

The report expresses particular concern that the City Council's strategy of cutting money to the less well-off areas and instead distributing money to all areas of the city regardless of need, threatens to entrench inequality rather than narrow the gap.

Mr Blunkett said: "We have made the most enormous progress in the last decade, with huge investment in our schools, better health outcomes and social regeneration. The challenge now is to maintain that investment in people and communities and the raising of aspiration which has just started to gather pace ... not indulge in cutbacks which would undermine the motivation, morale and civic renewal which has been fundamental to our progress so far."

The Sheffield Star have covered the report, as have the Yorkshire Post; David has also written an opinion piece for the Post which you can find here.

David also appeared on BBC Radio Sheffield this morning alongside one of the report's co-authors, Dr Bethan Thomas. You can listen again here until 9 November (skip forward to 1hr 40 mins in).

What goes on inside a politician's brain?

David has explained his decision to donate his brain tissue to science in a piece in the Mail on Sunday.

"I can't put my finger on why the issue of dementia struck a chord with me," he says in the article. "It is one of those things that just caught my emotion and my determination to stay involved and I have done for the past 30 years."

David, who is the patron of the Sheffield branch of the Alzheimer's Society and the Society's national vice-present, said: "Now I've signed up [to donating brain tissue], I'll be having regular interventions to see just how my brain and my memory are functioning. It's actually quite a comfort to me that they'll be keeping an eye on me."

Talking about the squeamishness or reluctance which people may understandably show about donating brain tissue, David said: "People do worry about it, especially as many equate the brain with the soul."

Read the full article here at the Mail's website.

"I should make it clear that Sadie cannot read departure screens"

You may have seen an article in Saturday's Times in which David highlighted some of the difficulties that blind and disabled people can face when travelling at home and abroad.

In the full article, reproduced here, David relates how he has "lost count of the number of times I've been asked whether my dog could identify the right platform or read the number of the bus that was coming".

David also tells of how he ended up locked in a "new-fangled" train toilet and ended up on a train going in the wrong direction—with Jim Davidson.

David also answers questions from readers of the Saturday Times Magazine in the Problem Panel section. See all of David's advice to correspondents here.