Angela speaks out on cuts to leisure services

Resize text

Westminster Hall Debate, Olympics Legacy and local sports centres, 12th March 2013

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Leigh. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central ( Paul Blomfield ) on securing the debate and on outlining so clearly some of the issues relating to sports facilities in Sheffield. I also pay tribute to my hon. Friend Mr Betts . Don Valley stadium is in his constituency , as he said, and more than any of us, he understands the issues relating to the role played by the facilities in Sheffield in regenerating the city and in particular, the lower Don valley, as well as what we need to see going forward.

I want to direct most of my contribution to two specific areas of sporting provision in Sheffield: local leisure facilities and sporting provisions in schools, both of which are key elements of sports provision not only in the city but across the country, especially for young people. Unfortunately, both are under attack, because of the self-defeating scale of the austerity being implemented by the coalition Government. However, before I venture into discussing those areas, I would like to briefly reiterate some points made by my Sheffield colleagues.

In my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East, we have, as he said, a former leader of Sheffield city council. Although he would not say so himself, more than anyone else, he and Councillor Peter Price, who was deputy leader of the council at the time, are responsible not only for making Sheffield the country’s first city of sport, but for the construction of the original three facilities— Ponds Forge , Don Valley stadium and Sheffield Arena . As my hon. Friend mentioned, there were also other facilities, such as Hillsborough leisure centre. All were built for the world student games in 1991.

Whatever people’s opinions of the staging of those games—I have always been consistent in supporting them, the investment that they brought with them and what they have achieved—I want to pay tribute to both my hon. Friend and Councillor Peter Price for the foresight and leadership that they showed, not only in taking the city of Sheffield through some very difficult times, but in developing a new future for it as a major sporting city. Anyone who remembers the lower Don valley at it was when the steelworks had gone can only agree that it was a major achievement to put in place Don Valley stadium and all the other infrastructure that has developed on a major scale around it. In later years, and thanks to the investment put in place by the Labour Government , Sheffield added the English Institute of Sport and iceSheffield to its portfolio. Of course, iceSheffield and the EIS are in effect next door to Don Valley. We now have an impressive array of facilities in the city. Because of that, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield South East said, we have managed to stage national and international events, from grand prix athletics— Kelly Holmes made her last ever appearance at the Don Valley stadium; I was there on the day—to world swimming events. The national junior swimming championships were held at Ponds Forge only the weekend before last.

  As a result of these investments, Sheffield became the first city of sport in 1995. It has seen rates of participation in sport rise—by almost 6% just in the past three years, 3.5% above the national average. One in seven of Britain’s Olympic athletes for 2012 trained at some point in Sheffield’s facilities. Of course, the pin-up girl for Team GB , Jess Ennis , comes from the city and developed her talent in Sheffield’s facilities. I pay tribute to her for being announced as world sportswoman of the year only last night, and I place on the record our congratulations to Jess on that achievement. Next week, she will rightly be given the freedom of the city of Sheffield. We are all very proud of her, and I look forward to seeing her receive that award.

  However, all the developments I have mentioned came at a cost—one that the city and its citizens have borne for many years, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central pointed out. We are still bearing the cost, but the cuts being made now to Sheffield’s local government budget makes it all but impossible to keep all the facilities open. In that context, the decision to close Don Valley stadium is inevitable. That is something that Lord Coe sympathised with yesterday. He made it clear that he entirely understood the reasons why the council has taken the decision that it has.

  However, even if the Government’s funding decisions are so careless of the legacy made possible by Sheffield’s investment and by the investment in elite sport put in place by the previous, Labour Government, it is clear that Sheffield is not, hence the alternative proposal now being shaped and taken forward by Richard Caborn , an ex-Sports Minister with a record second to none. I therefore echo the challenges laid down by my hon. Friends; we need to see the Government supporting Sheffield as it attempts to secure its future as a provider of opportunities for elite sport. I look forward to hearing the Minister ’s response on that point.

  The summer of 2012 was probably the greatest summer of sport that this country has ever witnessed, but Team GB’s success in both sets of games—the Paralympic games and the ordinary, if I can call them that, Olympic games—was not built in a day, a week or a year. To develop and nurture the talent that blossomed so beautifully last August and September takes many years. Often—in fact, nearly always—future Olympians start their sport as youngsters, taking up their interest at local facilities and in local schools. It is the cuts in funding for those local opportunities that lead many of us to fear that 2012 might have been a false dawn—a high watermark for British achievement, rather than the first stage in a long-term renaissance of British sport.

We are hearing of local authorities closing leisure facilities throughout the country. For many, the choice is unenviable—close a leisure facility or cut back on adult care or another statutory service. A significant number of local authorities are seeing 30% reductions in budgets. Sheffield has already seen £100 million taken out of its budget. Next year’s budget, as from April of this year, will see another £50 million cut as the council attempts to balance the books and, in common with what is happening in many other local authority areas, it is leisure and sports facilities that are finding themselves in the firing line.

One example is Stocksbridge leisure centre, in my constituency . The centre was paid for by public subscription by local people and opened in 1970. It was a genuine case of local people clubbing together to provide their own facilities—the big society, if you like. However, the local council, because of the financial pressures that it finds itself under, has decided that it will no longer fund the subsidy required to keep the facility open. That is a not inconsiderable sum; it is about £400,000 a year. People will agree that the centre is expensive to run, but most will agree that it still provides a critically important service to the local community. That point was agreed by Sport England itself only yesterday. Sport England has produced a report on sports facilities in the town and has made it clear that there is a need for a facility along the lines of what is already in place in that community. The reasons are clear—they are fairly obvious.

For those who do not know the area, Stocksbridge is a small town some 12 miles from the centre of Sheffield. It is—still—a steel town. It is semi-rural in nature and completely surrounded by fairly intensely rural hamlets and villages. It is isolated in many ways from the urban centre to which it is attached in a local government context.

With good reason, local people have been concerned—indeed, very angry—about the proposal to close the leisure centre. An impressive working group, led by a very capable and dedicated local businesswoman, has opened negotiations with the council on an alternative way forward. I remain hopeful that the council can find a way of keeping the current facility open for a period long enough for the development of a sustainable plan for the future of sports provision in the town. However, that will not be easy, given the scale of the cuts faced by the local authority.

I therefore pay tribute to people such as Emma Gregory and Fay Howard, who have stepped forward—again, it is women who just roll their sleeves up and get on with the job—and shown what they are made of. They are fighting for their community even in the midst of the worst funding settlement for local government in our lifetimes. They are the big society writ large. It is not only the local authority that owes them, but the Government. They are doing that not just because they understand the importance of sport for the health of their children or because they understand that children should be given the opportunity to learn to swim. They are also doing it because they know that youngsters living in their community may well have the potential to compete in future Olympic Games .

Already, the area surrounding Stocksbridge is home to the world downhill biking champion. Already, it has strengths in key areas such as rock climbing, mountain biking and cycling more generally. But, who knows, perhaps the real tragedy will be that if this facility closes, the country loses the next Rebecca Adlington or Sharron Davies . That may happen if the community loses the facility. The council and the community need to find a way forward, and these transitions are never cost-free. Whether or not the way forward is a refurbishment of the current facility or the building of a brand-new facility that is cheaper to run and managed on a community trust basis, which is the most likely way forward, there is a need to invest time and money in establishing a positive resolution to the issue.

I therefore issue a challenge to the Minister . It is entirely in line with Government thinking on finding alternative ways forward in the context of their cuts. We are doing exactly what you are telling us to do—what the Government are telling us to do. I apologise, Mr Leigh.

I am aware that legacy funds have been made available and that NHS moneys are available to invest, but those funds do not address the scale of the threats facing sports facilities created by funding cuts.

There is clearly a problem relating to small, isolated communities such as Stocksbridge. Although the trend towards creating fewer and larger facilities to cover any given area may well be fine for densely populated areas, for rural or semi-rural communities the model falls short of what is needed.

I am therefore adding to the requests that we are making today of the Minister . After all, if we are asking for Government support to find a way forward on Don Valley , clearly it is also imperative that we ask for effective Government support for communities such as Stocksbridge. Will the Minister recognise that point, and will he commit today to looking at the issue and to trying to establish the transitional funds necessary to enable communities and local authorities, working together, to remould their current sports provision in order to develop sustainable solutions to the funding challenges building up in rural and semi-rural areas? It is often forgotten that south Yorkshire is broadly rural. Sheffield is to a large extent rural; one third of the city is in the national park. This is not only an issue for the south of England—Sussex or Kent—it matters as much to south Yorkshire as anywhere else. We may be metropolitan, but we are in some aspects fundamentally rural.

Sport England itself agrees. Its report, issued only yesterday, on the sports facilities in Stocksbridge makes it clear that while it is important to deal with the current situation by developing new district sports centres—there is a clear idea in Sheffield about what those centres might look like—areas such as Stocksbridge need local, albeit small, facilities due to their isolation.

I shall conclude with one more point. The funding problems faced by sports facilities in areas such as Sheffield are being made a whole lot worse because of the coalition Government’s decision to cut funding for school sport partnerships. The £162 million cut to the school sport partnership programme, alongside cuts to specialist sports colleges, was a devastating blow to sport in schools. It means that 60% less time is now being spent on organising school sport than was once the case. Almost half of local authorities have recorded a decrease in the number of school sport partnerships operating, with a staggering one-third of local authorities having no school sport partnerships in operation. Under the previous Government, record investment in school sport saw huge increases in participation, in both competitive and non-competitive sport. The last school sport survey, in 2009-10, found that 78% of pupils took part in intra-school competitive activities, up from 58% in 2006-07. Unfortunately, the current Government do not see sport in the same way, but I would be pleased to hear the Minister prove me wrong on that. They have even axed the two-hour participation target, claiming that it was just a box-ticking exercise.

London 2012 was a glorious achievement. It built on the success we enjoyed in Beijing. It did not, however, happen by accident. It happened first and foremost because of the impressive performances turned in by a talented generation of athletes, but they could not and would not have achieved that success without funding from Government and political will from the Government of the day to achieve great things. However, sport is not solely about winning medals; it is about competing, a healthy lifestyle and having fun. When we, as a nation, should be investing in physical activity to alleviate the obesity crisis, the Government are instead doing the opposite. Cuts to local authorities will inevitably fall disproportionately on our sports facilities—Sheffield is not an isolated case. The Local Government Association has produced a report that says that there is evidence of more participation, but the worst of the funding cuts have yet to come, and if the facilities are not there, participation levels will decrease. Sheffield’s participation rates will almost certainly decrease if both facilities—Don Valley and Stocksbridge—close. Cuts to sporting bodies and Sport England will affect elite and non-elite sport. The cumulative impact of the cuts will, I fear, mean that instead of the London Olympics being the springboard for greater things, they will be seen merely as the high water mark, with a steep decline in performance on the international scene to follow.

 

Your neighbourhood

Penistone & Stocksbridge Wards Dodworth West Ecclesfield East Ecclesfield Penistone East Penistone West Stocksbridge dodworth ward penistone east pen west stocks east eccles west eccles

Latest from Angela

IMAGE MPs stand out in pink for families affected by breast cancer
Tuesday, 11 October 2016
Angela recently showed her support for women affected by... Read More...
Angela asks constituents to consider helping little Harrison in his ho...
Monday, 10 October 2016
Local couple Paul and Hayley Allen from Penistone... Read More...
Angela's speech to the for Women@TUOSnet AGM Lunch
Thursday, 06 October 2016
Introduction I want to start my talk today by paying... Read More...
Angela calls for urgent action on energy bills
Wednesday, 05 October 2016
Hard-working families in Penistone & Stocksbridge could... Read More...
IMAGE Angela’s keynote address to the Raptors and Grouse Moors Conference
Monday, 19 September 2016
Can I first pay tribute to Ian and Christine for their... Read More...
IMAGE Don’t stop at 999: Angela attends British Red Cross event
Friday, 09 September 2016
MPs from across the UK recently attended a British Red... Read More...
IMAGE Sheffield Council Flood Prevention consultation
Tuesday, 30 August 2016
  In 2007 the city and in particular North West... Read More...
Angela speaks out on Barnsley Local Plan
Friday, 29 July 2016
Penistone and Stocksbridge MP Angela Smith has today... Read More...
IMAGE Angela pushes for public transport in Penistone
Friday, 29 July 2016
Local Labour Member of Parliament for Penistone and... Read More...
IMAGE Angela Backs British Farming
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
Angela recently attended a reception in Westminster... Read More...
Plant free trees with help from the Woodland Trust
Tuesday, 05 July 2016
Schools across north Sheffield and west Barnsley are being... Read More...
IMAGE Minister confirms South Yorkshire link to HS3
Friday, 15 April 2016
The Transport Minister, Andrew Jones has confirmed to... Read More...
IMAGE Study into the Pennine Tunnel welcomed
Tuesday, 15 March 2016
Study into the Pennine Tunnel welcomed but warm words are... Read More...
Angela's Speech to the Progress conference 13th March 2016
Monday, 14 March 2016
First of all, thank you to Progress for asking me to make a... Read More...
IMAGE Angela supports Alzheimer’s Society
Tuesday, 23 February 2016
 Earlier this month Angela Smith joined over 160 other... Read More...
IMAGE Angela joins World Animal Protection to save the National Wildlife Cri...
Thursday, 07 January 2016
Angela Smith this week offered her support World Animal... Read More...
IMAGE Angela helps raise the awareness of Puppy smuggling
Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Last week the Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare... Read More...
IMAGE Angela's Christmas card winners 2015
Saturday, 05 December 2015
For a selection of photos of the prize giving... Read More...
IMAGE Angela supports launch of leading hearing loss report
Monday, 30 November 2015
Angela recently attended the Westminster launch of Hearing... Read More...
Angela marks World Toilet Day
Monday, 30 November 2015
Angela Smith, has joined calls on the UK Government to... Read More...
IMAGE Angela backs call for 50 year forward view for NHS
Wednesday, 25 November 2015
Angela has backed a call for the NHS to put in place... Read More...
IMAGE Ofcom launch online Mobile Coverage Checker
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
In August Ofcom launched an online Mobile Coverage Checker... Read More...
IMAGE Action is needed to regulate online sales of exotic pets
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Angela Smith, MP for Penistone & Stocksbridge today... Read More...
IMAGE New Constituency Oiffce
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Angela recently re-located her constituency to new premises... Read More...
IMAGE Angela lends her support to Pancreatic Cancer UK
Tuesday, 24 November 2015
Angela recently attended a cross-party event at the House... Read More...
IMAGE Angela Smith MP Hooks-a-Truck to clean up problem pavement parking
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Angela Smith MP recently took on the challenge of cleaning... Read More...
IMAGE Politics goes pink for breast cancer awareness
Wednesday, 16 September 2015
Angela, has shown her support for women with breast cancer... Read More...
IMAGE Angela gives her support to calls for an end to Japan’s Antarctic wh...
Friday, 19 June 2015
 As Shadow Animal Welfare Minister, Angela has shown... Read More...
IMAGE Xmas Card winners
Tuesday, 09 December 2014
 On Saturday Angela presented awards to the winners of... Read More...
IMAGE Angela adds her support to to protect shopworkers from threats and abu...
Wednesday, 19 November 2014
Angela Smith MP has joined with members of the retail... Read More...
IMAGE Angela shows support for secondary breast cancer
Friday, 17 October 2014
Recently Breast Cancer Care met with Angela at Parliament,... Read More...
IMAGE End to “game of chance”
Thursday, 09 October 2014
Angela calls for an end to “game of chance” bus service... Read More...
Concerns raised over the viability of the site of the proposed Chapelt...
Thursday, 24 July 2014
Serious concerns have been brought to the attention... Read More...
IMAGE Angela highlights link between obesity and arthritis but offers optimi...
Monday, 14 July 2014
Angela has called for a greater focus on the links between... Read More...
IMAGE Angela congratulates local winner at BTEC awards
Monday, 14 July 2014
Penistone & Stocksbridge MP, Angela Smith recently had... Read More...
IMAGE Defra Shadow Minister Visits Dogs Trust Leeds
Monday, 14 July 2014
Angela recently visited the Leeds Dogs Trust rehoming... Read More...
IMAGE Angela visits Fox Valley in Stocksbridge
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Angela visits Fox Valley site in Stocksbridge to see how... Read More...
IMAGE ANGELA OFFERS HER SUPPORT TO THE KENNEL CLUB’S MICROCHIPPING CAMPAIG...
Wednesday, 11 June 2014
With the launch of the Campaign to raise awareness of... Read More...
IMAGE Angela objects to the proposals to build motorway Services at Smithy W...
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Angela has today (14th May 2104) objected to the proposed... Read More...
IMAGE surgery on a bus
Thursday, 01 May 2014
This Friday May 2nd Angela will be hosting her constituency... Read More...
Angela calls for a re-think on Chapeltown Academy
Thursday, 01 May 2014
In an Adjournment debate in the House of Commons (Wednesday... Read More...
New Job for Angela
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
After a mini reshuffle in the Shadow Ministerial teams... Read More...
IMAGE Angela lends her support to the International Diabetes Federation
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Angela recently joined volunteers from the International... Read More...
Angela calls for more help for Energy Intensive Industries
Tuesday, 25 March 2014
Angela Smith MP well known supporter and campaigner for... Read More...
Barnsley MPs urge Government to put fairness at the heart of local gov...
Friday, 14 March 2014
Angela, along with the three other Barnsley MPs, Michael... Read More...
IMAGE Angela raises concerns over the transfer of trains from Trans Pennine ...
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Angela recently held Ministers to account for their... Read More...
IMAGE Celebrating 9 years of the hunt ban Charities and MPs mark success of ...
Thursday, 13 February 2014
It is 20 years since the RSPCA, the League Against Cruel... Read More...
IMAGE Fox Valley gets the go ahead
Friday, 07 February 2014
Angela recently attended the signing of contracts... Read More...
Angela and David Blunket write to Gove over concerns about Chapeltown ...
Friday, 31 January 2014
Local MPs Angela Smith and David Blunkett have written to... Read More...
IMAGE Angela calls for the protection of Ancient Woodland from HS2 planned r...
Friday, 31 January 2014
Local MP, Angela Smith has today responded to the HS2 phase... Read More...
IMAGE MP Gets the chair treatment at new dentist’s surgery
Tuesday, 14 January 2014
Recently HDS Dental Care an NHS Dental Practice in... Read More...
Penistone MP calls for improvements to cross Pennine transport links
Monday, 06 January 2014
Figures show Woodhead Pass frequently closed due to bad... Read More...
IMAGE Angela sees hospital’s work to manage winter pressures
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Angela recently visited Barnsley Hospital’s A&E... Read More...
IMAGE Paws for Thought
Thursday, 12 December 2013
Christmas to mark 35th anniversary of iconic dogs trust... Read More...
Penistone MP speaks out about energy costs for Intensive Energy manufa...
Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Angela Smith worries that high energy manufactures are... Read More...
Barnsley MPs call for reconsideration of new CCG funding formula
Wednesday, 04 December 2013
Three local MPs, Michael Dugher MP, Dan Jarvis MP and... Read More...
IMAGE Ozzie Owl gives a helping wing!
Sunday, 01 December 2013
Saturday 30th November saw Angela Smith MP and Sheffield... Read More...
IMAGE Angela offers her supports campaign to stamp out wildlife crime
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Angela has shown her commitment to protecting animals by... Read More...
Angela backs campaign to get local school children talking and learnin...
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Penistone and Stocksbridge schools urged to take part in... Read More...
Victory for Common Sense!!
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Angela was delighted to hear that an application to build... Read More...
IMAGE Angela joins Paralympians to show support for social care for disabled...
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
Local MP Angela Smith joined double Gold medallist... Read More...
Angela offers support to local residents against inappropriate develop...
Tuesday, 29 October 2013
After carefully considering an application to build more... Read More...
IMAGE Angela pushes giant button for autism
Friday, 18 October 2013
Angela has pushed a giant button as he pledged her support... Read More...
IMAGE Angela objects to the Siting of two wind turbines
Tuesday, 15 October 2013
Click here for full details of the letter After carefully... Read More...
IMAGE No meat for me, says Angela
Thursday, 03 October 2013
Angela is marking Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday by turning... Read More...
Angela welcomes improvements to Penistone Post Office
Friday, 27 September 2013
Angela has today welcomed plans by the Post Office to... Read More...
IMAGE Angela takes part in the big coffee morning
Friday, 27 September 2013
Local MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, Angela Smith... Read More...
IMAGE Hero MP from Penistone joins the fight against breast cancer
Monday, 16 September 2013
Angela Smith MP for Penistone & Stocksbridge has joined... Read More...
Angela defends Charitable sector
Thursday, 12 September 2013
In a speach during the report stage of the lobbying and... Read More...
Angela backs fight on access to rare disease drugs
Friday, 06 September 2013
Angela has this week backed a major inquiry that warns... Read More...
The Government’s Lobbying Bill will hit local charity claims Angela
Tuesday, 03 September 2013
Angela Smith, MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge has... Read More...
Angela congratulates Wentworth Castle’s Victorian Conservatory
Tuesday, 30 July 2013
Angela has congratulated Wentworth Castle’s Victorian... Read More...
IMAGE Angela is named Parliamentarian of the Year 2013
Friday, 19 July 2013
Honorary Vice President of the League Against Cruel Sports,... Read More...
Angela Calls for better Broadband in Dodworth
Friday, 12 July 2013
Angela has today called for improvements to broadband... Read More...
Changes to the Probation Service
Monday, 01 July 2013
Government’s proposals will see up to 70% of probation... Read More...
No School Left Behind - speech by Stephen Twigg
Monday, 01 July 2013
Thank you to Matthew and the team at the RSA for hosting us... Read More...
MPs condemn scaremongering by UKIP representatives
Wednesday, 26 June 2013
Local MPs Angela Smith and David Blunkett, a former Home... Read More...
Angela re-acts to Oughtibridge factory closure
Friday, 24 May 2013
‘I am saddened by the news that the manufacturing... Read More...
Angela asks for Sheffield’s name to be protected
Friday, 24 May 2013
Government Red Tape Challenge to un-protect the... Read More...
IMAGE Stop Puppy farming
Thursday, 16 May 2013
Stop the Badger Cull sign the petition NOW!!... Read More...
IMAGE Analysis on the recent local elections
Thursday, 16 May 2013
It’s the economy, stupid ..... What Labour needs to learn... Read More...
IMAGE Bus services for young people
Friday, 19 April 2013
Westminster Hall Debate, Bus Services for the... Read More...
IMAGE Angela speaks out on the latest dog attack
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
The dog attack on Jade Anderson is shocking and my... Read More...
IMAGE Angela speaks out on cuts to leisure services
Thursday, 14 March 2013
Westminster Hall Debate, Olympics Legacy and local sports... Read More...
IMAGE Angela Smith calls on Japan to end its cruel commercial whaling
Wednesday, 20 February 2013
Penistone & Stocksbridge MP, Angela Smith has called on... Read More...
IMAGE Angela creates buzz about bee decline
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Angela recently joined a giant bumble bee and campaigners... Read More...
IMAGE Angela welcomes HS2 announcement
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Angela Smith MP (Pensitone & Stocksbridge) welcomed... Read More...
IMAGE Angela Smith stands up to prejudice
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Angela stands up to prejudice by signing Holocaust Memorial... Read More...
Movement but Not Enough
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Responding to the news that the Sheffield Council has... Read More...
Angela calls for joint meeting with the council
Friday, 18 January 2013
Angela has responded to a request from Stocksbridge Town... Read More...
IMAGE Angela calls for Stocksbridge Leisure Centre to remain Open
Monday, 14 January 2013
Angela Smith has today called for the pool at Stocksbridge... Read More...
IMAGE Stocksbridge Leisure Centre
Monday, 14 January 2013
Many of my constituents, and especially those living in the... Read More...
IMAGE Christmas Comes Early!
Monday, 10 December 2012
Local school children collect prizes in Angela’s... Read More...
IMAGE Angela pledges to end the institutionalisation of children
Tuesday, 04 December 2012
Angela Smith pledged to support efforts to end the... Read More...
IMAGE Angela calls for improvements in services for ovarian cancer patients
Friday, 30 November 2012
Angela, joined women affected by ovarian cancer from across... Read More...
Angela Smith MP delivers Christmas encouragement to posties
Friday, 30 November 2012
Angela Smith MP has visited Royal Mail’s Stocksbridge... Read More...
IMAGE Planting the future
Monday, 19 November 2012
Angela along with Stocksbridge Mayor Susie Abrahams reently... Read More...
Angela attempts to Save Compensation for 90% of Victims
Wednesday, 14 November 2012
Angela recently voted to stop the Coalition Government’s... Read More...
IMAGE Well badger Me
Monday, 12 November 2012
Mr Brock receives a stay of execution. At the last minute... Read More...
IMAGE Angela helps children celebrate
Saturday, 10 November 2012
Angela Smith, helped children at Silkstone Pre-school... Read More...
can't open file