As part of the launch of National Apprenticeship Week 2016, Sharon was invited to be a part of the North-East launch at Unipres in Sunderland and gave a speech in front of staff, apprentices and young people about the great work seen by Unipres to invest in the economy and workforce on Wearside, the importance of National Apprenticeship Week, along with the benefit of young people doing an apprenticeship to help them on their path to career success.

As part of the visit to Unipres, Sharon met with various young people from local schools who were interested in doing an apprenticeship and those who are currently doing an apprenticeship at Unipres and how it has benefitted their lives. The visit also included a tour of the factory and to see the skilled workforce in action working with the machinery – including the two new presses which went live in December 2015 to accommodate the increase in demand from Nissan and other car manufacturers across the country.

Following the launch at Unipres, Sharon said:

“It was wonderful to be invited to take part in the celebrations at Unipres here in Sunderland to welcome the start of National Apprenticeship Week.

“Unipres has been a vital employer in Sunderland for 27 years now and has provided essential employment to over one-thousand people on Wearside, and the wider North-East, and it is welcome that they have been able to double their apprenticeship numbers in the last year.

“It is always important to recognise and showcase the route to a high-quality and well-paid job through an apprenticeship and I hope that this year’s celebrations in the North-East, and across the country, for National Apprenticeships Week are a success.”

You can read Sharon’s speech to the apprentices, Unipres staff and pupils from Link School and Biddick Academy here.

Sharon Hodgson with Unipres Staff, Gatsby Project team; George Ritchie, Chair of the North East Apprenticeship Ambassador Network and Associate Director PX group and pupils and staff from Link School and Biddick Academy - 14th March 2016

Image Copyright: Unipres 2016.

For National Apprenticeship Week 2016, Sharon was invited to Unipres in Sunderland to welcome the beginning of the week, meet with apprentices and have a tour of the Unipres factory. In her speech, Sharon spoke about the importance of apprenticeships to helping young people reach their potential in life and recognised the work done by Unipres in Sunderland over their 27 years based in the City to support the local economy and workforce.

You can read Sharon's speech here below:

Thank you for inviting me to join you for today’s launch of National Apprenticeships Week celebrations here at Unipres.

It is wonderful that National Apprenticeship Week, which started in 2008, is now in its ninth year where we continue to showcase the positive impact apprentices have on our economy, whilst celebrating the tens of thousands who are currently developing their skills, expertise and knowledge through an apprenticeship, may it be in nuclear technology, fashion design, or of course, car manufacturing.

After the success of last year’s celebrations which saw 600 events held right across the country and businesses pledging to increase apprenticeship numbers by 23,000, I hope this year’s events will build on those achievements ensuring we reaffirm our commitment to apprenticeships as a vehicle to achieve great success in life.

This year’s theme for National Apprenticeships Week is all about rising to the top and recognising the importance an apprenticeship can have on an individual achieving their potential, by learning and earning at the same time.

This is something which is at the very heart of the business ethos of Unipres, who for the last 26 years, have been an important employer here on Wearside, whilst developing a close relationship with Nissan to whom they supply parts for the cars manufactured just up the road.

Unipres’ clear commitment to Sunderland’s local workforce is shown through their continued investment into training local people, providing sustainable and high-quality job opportunities and nurturing a sense of pride in the work that goes on here in Sunderland.

In recent years Unipres has invested heavily into their factory here on Wearside with capital investment of over £40 million between 2012 and 2013 in preparation for the increased production at Nissan, and more recently Renault.

This led to an additional investment of nearly £13 million to install two new presses – which went live just before Christmas and I hope we will get to see them in action later this morning – this created 22 additional new jobs at the factory to work on the production of supplies for both Nissan and Honda’s assembly plant in Swindon, along with exporting to international markets including mainland Europe and Russia.

Parallel to all of this investment into the future of the business, there has been just as much investment into the future of the workforce where over the last year there has been a doubling in the number of apprentices based at the factory.

In total, Unipres now has over 60 apprentices who are studying for their qualifications in engineering, electrical engineering and die and tool-making whilst training hands-on here in order to reinforce what they learn in the classroom.

For any of those young men or women here today, I wish you all the very best with your studies and future career success here at Unipres.

But as the leadership here know the work to inspire the next generation coming into the workforce starts way before they join the business as an apprentice. That is why Unipres has supported an excellent initiative, called Industrial Cadets, which aims to spark the imagination and minds of young people about the career possibilities within engineering and the sometimes unknown career success that can come with starting a high-quality apprenticeship.

That is why it is wonderful that this year’s National Apprenticeship Week celebrations in the North-East have been launched today here at Unipres – showing appreciation of the leadership of Plant Director, John Cruddace, and the hard-work and dedication of everyone who works here.

This week is all about celebration and marking the importance of apprenticeships, and I wish all the success in the world to this year’s National Apprenticeship Week and hope that events like this inspire the young people attending to start an apprenticeship so they too can achieve their full potential and reach the top of their chosen career.

Read Sharon's latest Sunderland Echo column below or find the published column on the Sunderland Echo's website.

Last Sunday, mothers across the country would have woken up to breakfast in bed, cards, gifts and flowers from their families, thanking them for caring for loved ones and nurturing their children all year round.

We all know mothers care can go unrecognised – but we do it nonetheless.

Then on Tuesday we celebrated International Women’s Day. I was delighted to welcome Katie from St Robert's Sixth Form to shadow me and take part in International Women’s Day celebrations here in Parliament.

Katie was one of nine selected out of 75 young women from across the UK, who were also shadowing their MP, to swap places with MPs on the Women & Equalities Select Committee and question them on what more we can do to address inequality.

Some argue that celebrating a woman’s place in society can be counter-productive to our struggle for equality.

Yet, with the gender pay gap still persistent in many areas of the workforce and women still greatly under-represented in top positions in business and public life, it is clear we still need to continue our fight for gender equality.

Unfortunately, this Tory Government is exacerbating women’s inequality.

Women face the brunt of public sector cuts; one in nine pregnant women are forced out of their jobs each year, and by 2020 women will have paid for 81% of the Government’s tax and benefit changes implemented since 2010.

Pair all of this with the 763 fewer Sure Start Centres, which provided vital support to families, then it is obvious this Government’s strategy for women is not working.

Labour understands if our country is to succeed, then women must be a part of that success, too.

That is why we pushed further than any other Party on women’s representation with All-Women Short Lists. We also introduced rafts of equality legislation, reduced the gender pay gap by a third over our time in office and we were the first administration since the Second World War to develop a childcare policy and flagship programmes, such as tax credits, to help women into work.

Instead of this Government rolling back women’s hard-fought rights and support, what we need is a strategy to support women, as both equal members of society and as drivers for the economic growth we need.

Labour recognises this and will do all we can to achieve this when holding the Government to account in Parliament.

News from Westminster

Read Sharon Hodgson MP's report - News from Westminster - Feb-Mar 2016 - number 83

Welcome to my online monthly report - News from Westminster - which details some of the highlights from Westminster and the constituency.

Sharon Hodgson MP's report - News from Westminster - Feb-Mar 2016 - number 83

Read more of Sharon's reports here >

Sharon is supporting musicians and film-makers from her constituency by calling for local artists to enter Parliament’s two largest creative competitions, Rock the House and Film the House.

The competition, now in its fifth year, was set up by former Member of Parliament, Mike Weatherley during the last Parliament and offers the opportunity to put local musicians and film-makers in direct contact with the movers and shakers of the two industries and to have the best of Washington and Sunderland West’s talent take front and centre stage.

The competition is judged by the leading lights of industry, with prizes ranging from festival slots, studio time and top-notch equipment, the Rock the House and Film the House competitions are a pioneering opportunity to showcase what Washington and Sunderland has to offer, raising awareness about the importance of Intellectual property (IP) to our creative industries and country.

In the lead up to the competition, Sharon said:

“It is wonderful to see two of Parliament’s most-hotly contested competitions grow from strength to strength and now entering their fifth year.

“It can be hard to break into the music and film scene and that is why I welcome both Rock the House and Film the House in helping raise the profile of budding talent right across the country.

“There is plenty of local talent across the constituency and it is only right that often unrecognised talent receives some recognition and is celebrated at the heart of British democracy. I hope as many artists, bands and film-makers from our area pick up their guitars or cameras and enter this fantastic competition to gain the important exposure which could transform their lives.”

Important dates for the 2016 competitions are:

• 1^st May, closing date for entries to MPs
• 31^st May, closing date for MPs to announce their constituency nominations
• 20^th June, final battle of the bands
• 4^th July, awards ceremony

Further information on how to apply for each competition can be found at:

• Rock the House – Removed
• Film the House – www.filmthehouse.com

Sharon has supported the findings of a report by the national deafblind charity, Sense, which has revealed restrictions faced by disabled children and families when accessing play schemes.

Sharon photographed with Anna Turley, Member of Parliament for Redcar, and Ted - a young boy who attended the reception.

The report followed a three month public inquiry, chaired by Lord Blunkett and Lesley Rogers, a parent of a deafblind child with multiple needs, into the provision of play for disabled children aged 0 – 5 with multiple needs in England and Wales.

The report identified failings at every level which has resulted in disabled children missing out on play opportunities, this included highlighting a lack of attention by government, insufficient funds at a local level and a negative attitude towards disabled children and their families as barriers to access to schemes.

It is estimated that out of 570,000 disabled children in England, there are approximately 100,000 0 – 19 year-olds living with multiple needs.

The report was launched at a packed-out Parliamentary reception in the Churchill Room last week with children and families all gathering to show their support for the report. Sharon spoke at the reception about the light this important report has shone into this area of policy and welcomed the chance of working together with Sense, play providers and families of disabled children to improve the access to play settings for those children. You can read Sharon’s speech here.

Following the reception and launch of the report, Sharon said:

“It was wonderful to see so many children and their families come to Parliament and make their case for better play provision for disabled children, whilst also having a lot of fun.

“The afternoon made it clear just how important play is to a child’s life, especially disabled children who can often be locked out of access to these kinds of schemes. That is why it was welcome to see those MPs and Peers who came along were given the chance to fully understand the disparity seen in access to play schemes.

“This is a timely report by Sense which includes a clear wake-up call for policy-makers and Government to act, and I hope that following the report’s launch it will create the much-needed public debate to improve the schemes and settings on offer to disabled children and their families.”

Sense is a national charity that has been supporting and campaigning for children and adults who are deafblind and have complex needs for over 60 years. These are currently around 250,000 deafblind in the UK. Sense provides specialist information, advice and services to deafblind people, their families, carers and the professionals who work with them. Sense runs services across England, Wales and Northern Ireland and employ 2,000 people who work in services directly with deafblind people. Further information can be found on the Sense website – www.sense.org.uk

Labour MPs Sharon Hodgson and Catherine McKinnell hear from a young man with learning disabilities about his hopes for the future.

Left to right: Amie Dobinson (Development Co-ordinator and Head of Transitions), Catherine McKinnell MP, Sharon Hodgson MP, Joe, and Stacy Milner (Service Manager)

Sharon Hodgson speaking in the Opposition Day Debate on transitional state pensions arrangements for women - 24th February 2016

Image copyright Parliamentary Recording Unit 2016

Over the last year, Sharon has had local women who were born in the 1950s raise their concerns with the equalisation of the State Pension Age, which has negatively impacted many thousands of women across the country. During one of Labour's allotted Opposition Day Debates, Sharon raised her concerns with these changes and one of the cases of her constituent who has been impacted by these changes.

Read Sharon's speech in Hansard here: Sharon Hodgson MP in WASPI Debate 2016

Text pasted here:

Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab):

Hansard text:

24 Feb 2016 : Column 351

3.28 pm

Mrs Sharon Hodgson (Washington and Sunderland West) (Lab): Today, we again debate the need for transitional arrangements following the equalisation of the state pension age. Contrary to what the Minister said, everyone—including the women affected—accepts the equalisation of the state pension age for men and women in principle. However, in practice it is clear that these changes have had such a detrimental effect on the lives of a particular group of women born in the 1950s—many thousands of them up and down the country—that we must look at transitional arrangements. We can ignore this no longer.

Like many others in the Chamber today, I have had many women from WASPI contact me at my surgeries, or via email or social media, to raise their concerns about the impact that the lack of transitional arrangements will have on their lives. In recent weeks and months, we have had many debates on this important matter, yet time and again the Government have failed to move an inch in their position and have continued to ignore the concerns of these women.

The common theme of all the many letters I have received from constituents has been that the escalation in the equalisation of the state pension age has ruined these women’s plans, savings and, in some cases, lives. One constituent’s case stands out in particular. She was born in 1957. I will not name her, but she explained to me that she saw these changes mentioned on the news a few times but as she never received a letter, she assumed they must not affect her, as she would surely have been told if they did. She eventually received a letter in 2014. She thought it was a routine pension calculation, but it showed her state pension age as taking effect in 2023. She thought it must be an error and was horrified later to discover that it was not. What that meant for her was that instead of retiring next year, as expected and as she planned for, she has to work a further six years. She is in very bad health and could just about envisage coping until next year, when she thought her state pension age applied. However, upon the realisation of the enormity of this information and what it meant to her and her life; her health rapidly deteriorated. She became severely depressed and required medication, and I would hazard that she may never be the same again.

No one here has a magic wand, not even the Minister, and none of us can turn back time, but just for a second, can the Minister put himself in that lady’s

24 Feb 2016 : Column 352

position? Imagine being that lady and finding out that news in that way—imagine how that would feel and imagine the shock! We—this institution, this Parliament—did that. Lots of us were not MPs in 1995, but some of us were in 2011, and the laws of the land that we make here affect people out there. Was it not our duty to ensure that these women, to whom we were about to deliver this great life-altering shock, at least knew about it? Should we not have ensured that they knew when they heard it on the news that it did indeed affect them, not because they had researched the small print themselves, but because the Department for Work and Pensions wrote to them and personally told them in good time, not as late as 2014? Surely that was the least the DWP should have done and we, Parliament, should have insisted upon it.

As I have said, we cannot turn back time and we cannot wave the magic wand that a lot of people think we have, because we do not have one—it does not exist. But we can do something today: we can insist that the Government do something. The Minister must go away and draft, with haste, transitional arrangements for this group of WASPI women who have been failed by the system and failed by these changes. We cannot fail them today. Parliament is at its best when using its powers for the good of its people. Parliament is speaking very clearly today to the Government. It is saying, “Go away, sort this out and bring forward transitional arrangements so that these women are not left destitute in what should have been their well-earned retirement.”

3.32 pm

Sharon Hodgson speaking at the launch of the Sense Inquiry into disabled children's access to play settings and schemes - 24th February 2016

Image copyright Office of Sharon Hodgson MP

As Shadow Minister for Children, Sharon was invited to speak at the launch of Sense's inquiry report into the access opportunities to play settings and schemes for disabled children, where she welcomed the findings of the report and the need for policy-makers, charities, play providers and families of disabled children to work together to call on the Government to do more to address this disparity.

You can read Sharon's speech below:

Thank you for having me along today.

It is such an honour to be here and support the launch of such an important report.

Already we have heard some wonderful speeches, including Lord Blunkett’s eloquent run through of the report’s recommendations and Leslie Rogers talking about her experiences of Play and highlighting just how important it is to children lives, especially those with SEND.

I, of course, am not going to differ greatly (if at all) from what has already been said by our two previous speakers.

For me, it is important that all children have the opportunity to explore and experience the world around them through play. Yet, sometimes, this can be harder for SEND children.

As many of us here in this room will know, there are multiple and complex needs of a child with SEND and early childhood can be a stressful time in that child’s life.

From medical appointments, health interventions and medical therapies, it can be one thing after another for a child who only wants to enjoy their childhood and live a care-free life.

That is why it is important that children with SEND, and their families, are enabled to access play schemes so that that child can experience as normal a childhood as possible – just like all of their peers, allowing a child to access play settings allows them that escape and respite to just be a child and relax in that moment where all that matters is how much fun they are going to have.

For parents, it is a beautiful moment that they can see their child doing exactly what they always wanted them to do as a child – have fun.

In the report, there is one quote which sticks out for me on this.

“Play is so important; it helped him realise he existed. Before that he was not doing anything – just lying down.”

This is such a powerful quote which hits home about exactly why play, and the access to play is so vital to disabled children’s lives.

It allows them to be a child.

Yet, the reality does not always seem to be the case.

As this inquiry found:

• 51% of children had been intentionally excluded from play opportunities by providers …
• 40% of families said they faced additional financial costs when seeking access to play settings …
• And, families felt there was a lack of specialist support on offer locally and had to travel further afield to access the right kind of play setting.

These findings are damning in highlighting the reality that many of those here in this room have experienced with their own children.

And it is up to us Parliamentarians from across the House to work to ensure that the right kind of policy is implemented that benefits these children.

No matter what their circumstances, children deserve the best start in life and for many this can come through play opportunities where they can expand their minds, enjoy their childhood and be amongst their peers.

That is why it is so important that Sense’s inquiry has been published today and makes a strong case to Government and policy-makers to improve the access to play opportunities for disabled children with multiple needs.

Labour has a proud record of campaigning for better services for disabled children, which most recently was seen in our efforts to review childcare for disabled children during the passing of the Childcare Bill to make sure those children did not miss out on high-quality provisions.

That is why I can assure you that the disparity seen by families with disabled children accessing play is something I am fully aware of and I cannot stress how much I support calls for better provision and will press Government to take action on this by working closely with Sense, providers of play settings and those who access these settings to ensure that parity is achieved for all children.

This fantastic report will aide my work as Labour’s Shadow Children’s Minister and the development of our future policy proposals around play settings and the access for disabled children.

Again, thank you for inviting me along to talk to you all today.

I hope you have all had a wonderful day and I look forwarded to meeting many of you after the other speeches.

Thank you.

You can find out more about the inquiry and Sharon's reaction post-reception by following this link here.

Following the Prime Minister's renegotiations with other European Union (EU) leaders and his statement to the House of Commons today (22.02.16), Sharon has released a statement on why she is supporting the UK remains in the EU. 

Over recent months, Britain’s future in the European Union has been a constant feature of public discourse with various groups and individuals coming out as wanting to remain or wanting to leave the European Union whilst the Prime Minister has renegotiated Britain’s position within the EU.

Now that the Prime Minister has achieved his intended goals for renegotiation, it is now time for the country as a whole to make a decision about our future membership of the European Union in the lead up to the referendum on Thursday 23^rd June 2016.

David Cameron’s renegotiation talks with other European leaders were a long and drawn out affair which never delivered the reforms that would have made the EU work better for working families.

Whilst the Prime Minister could have made more of a case for better working conditions and democratic accountability, this does not mean we should vote to leave the EU based on Cameron’s botched renegotiations and instead remember that the reform is not a flash-in-the-pan venture but an on-going process that must always ensure the British public are at the heart of decisions made by the EU.

As a proud trading nation, almost half of our exports go to EU countries – worth an estimated £337 billion last year to the UK economy. Not only do we benefit from trade but also from the direct investment from other EU countries, which is on average worth £26.5 billion. To lose access to the single market by leaving the European Union would have a direct impact on our future economic prosperity and the estimated 790,000 more jobs to be created by 2030 by opening up markets in digital services, energy and tourism within Europe.

As a region, the North-East benefits greatly from our membership of the EU with our region being the only regional net exporter in the UK to Europe, receiving significant investment from EU budgets to address social issues and invest into our economic future but also the large companies from all over the world who choose to base their companies in our region, such as Nissan here in Sunderland, and recruit and train a local workforce and bring much-needed growth.

Labour understands the importance of our continued EU membership and the good that this can bring to ordinary working people’s lives. It was Labour who worked within the European Union to push for better rights for British workers, including minimum paid leave, rights for agency workers, paid maternity and paternity leave, equal pay, anti-discrimination laws, and protection for the workforce when companies change ownership. To exit the EU would put this all in jeopardy.

Britain has a proud tradition as an outward-looking country whilst working collaboratively with the international community on issues that not only affect our national security, but that of the rest of the world, including matters relating to climate change, terrorism and cross-border crime. Instead of becoming an isolationist nation, we must use all the avenues possible to us to ensure our nation remains protected. This includes our continued membership of the EU.

Britain is far better off remaining a member of a reformed European Union fighting for further reforms, rather than standing on the side-lines as spectators throwing stones.

The next few months will be important in deciding the future of the UK, and may be one we never see again in our lifetime. That is why I will be campaigning to remain a member of the European Union so that we can protect Britain’s best interests, both in terms of the lives of ordinary people, our future economic prosperity and national security.

Following the Prime Minister's statement to the House of Commons after his renegotiation talks at the EU Summit, Nissan's Chairman and CEO, Mr Carlos Ghosn, released this statement:

"We are a global business with a strong presence in Europe. We have a rich heritage in the UK with 30 years of manufacturing and engineering presence, and remain committed to building and engineering cars in the country. Last year we produced more than 475,000 vehicles in the UK – 80 percent of which are exported.

"Our preference as a business is, of course, that the UK stays within Europe - it makes the most sense for jobs, trade and costs. For us, a position of stability is more positive than a collection of unknowns.

"However, this is ultimately a matter for the British people to decide.

"While we remain committed to our existing investment decisions, we will not speculate on the outcome nor what would happen in either scenario."

"We obviously want the Nissan UK plant and engineering centre to remain as competitive as possible when compared with other global entities, and each future investment opportunity will be taken on a case by case basis, just as it is now."