Stretford and Urmston CLP

Mike Cordingley John Hannett General Secretary USDAW 188 Wilmslow Road Manchester M14 6LJ CLP Secretary 32 Raglan Road Stretford Manchester M32 8EB 23 January 2014

Constituency Development Agreement 2014

Dear John, Im delighted to forward our latest Annual Report in respect of our Constituency Development Agreement. The partnership between Stretford and Urmston CLP and Usdaw is longstanding and very much valued by the party. We continue to see Usdaw as providing a perfect fit as our partners given the nature of the Constituency as home to one of Europes largest retail centres at the Trafford Centre and the value we place on our town centres at Urmston, Stretford and Partington. 2013 has been a difficult year for ordinary people and for our town centres. However, Urmston has actually expanded its retail offer with Aldi and Quality Save establishing themselves together with the existing Sainsburys to provide a balanced retail offer. This builds on the farsighted decision of the then ruling Labour Group in Trafford to purchase and develop the dilapidated Urmston centre. Had the then Labour Council not done this, Urmston s decline would have continued. Also on a more positive note, Partington town centre is moving forward at last. The owners Peel gave the go-ahead to at last begin work on its redevelopment of the small shopping centre. We look forward giving news of its opening in the summer of 2014. Stretford however is such a difficult nut to crack. The Mall continues to operate under receivership. And its impossible to give a positive slant on either Aviva Commercial Finance who own the property via the finance arrangements of the previous owners, or Jones Lang La salle the appointed receivers. Quite bluntly, we in Labour could not be less impressed with their support for the town centre. It is difficult to contradict the opinion locally that in effect they are holding the Mall to hostage to force the Councils intervention. That intervention is never going to happen whilst the Conservatives control Trafford and we would need to see significant movement on the owners valuation before an incoming Labour administration could begin exploring possibilities. The possibility of Labour control of Trafford is very real. Last weeks byelection gain in Broadheath means that Labour needs two more gains to take the Council into no-overall control and five for overall control. The election

results in 2013 suggest that the wards are there to achieve this with a handful of seats having a Conservative majority of 150 or less. Three of these seats are in the Stretford and Urmston constituency. The level of support from across Greater Manchester in the Broadheath ByElection was stunning. And the fact it resulted in a Labour victory was testament to the contribution of our organiser Beth Penfold, one of the main targets of our funding and your help cannot be understated. Kate Green our MP continues to show why she was such a fantastic selection and her profile continues to rise. Her summing up as frontbench spokesperson in the bedroom tax debate for me is one of the political highlights of the year. She undertakes a phenomenal workload and makes many commitments to USDAW including attending your political conference and also chaired a consultation meeting on women in the workplace with USDAW women members for Labour's older women's commission. She remains in regular touch with the two national political officers on opportunities for joint policy work and campaigning in relation to eg low pay, flexible working, tax credits and benefits.
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How the 2013 CDP grant has been used over the year. We have contributed to the cost of a paid organiser for Trafford Beth Penfold - 07726 498 990. Replaced Riso printer with Sharp printer with enhanced imaging Ramped up campaigning to new levels across the constituency.

CLP Organisation Chair: Michael Melia (contact details below under TULOs) Constituency Secretary: Mike Cordingley postal address at top of document michaelcor@ntlworld.com 0161 865 9228 / 0796 319 8051 Trade Union Liaison Officers TULO (2) Dave Jarman david.jarman@trafford.gov.uk 61 Gorse Crescent, Stretford, MANCHESTER, M32 0UP 0161 866 8289 / 0786 797 2250 Treasurer: Steve Adshead Michael Melia m.melia@sky.com 5 Milton Road, Stretford, MANCHESTER, M32 0RD 0779 649 0422

steve.adshead@trafford.gov.uk 18 Sydney Street, Stretford, MANCHESTER, M32 0HE 0776 016 7488 / 0161 912 5218 And finally., Many thanks again for your support. Hopefully the work we do together over the next two years brings back a Labour Govt in 2015. Yours fraternally

Mike Cordingley