On Tuesday, I was delighted to attend the official opening of the new Lancashire Adult Learning Centre at Brierfield Mills (Northlight) following their move from Chorley.
Lancashire Adult Learning is one of the UK’s largest adult education providers. They help 11,000 adult learners to learn new skills every year. I am delighted they chose Pendle for their new headquarters, and Northlight has taken another big step forwards after so years of hard work.
In Parliament, on Wednesday, there was welcome news as the Government announced a call for evidence on protecting renters and landlords from rogue property agents.
As many in Pendle will know from bitter experience, there are some shocking examples of appalling behaviour from property agents. There are 4.5 million tenants across the country renting their home. They deserve to be treated properly and have a decent place to live but many do not.
Measures being considered include giving leaseholder tenants a say over who their managing agent is, transparency about what agency charges are for, and requiring qualifications to become a property agent.
Currently, anyone can become a property agent regardless of their background or lack of experience. This is unfair on qualified property agents that do act professionally but who have to compete against unscrupulous cowboys.
The call for evidence is open for six weeks and I am sure many from across Pendle will want to contribute their views to ensure the Government takes the right steps to improve the situation for renters and landlords alike.
Less positive, we also heard the latest proposals from the Boundary Commission on how to redraw the political map of Britain, which hasn’t been done for some time. As towns grow and people move, some constituencies are now much bigger than others, meaning some people’s vote counts more than others.
Sadly, their plans for Pendle are to split it half, with Nelson joining parts of Burnley while Colne and West Craven joins a constituency that stretches along the A59 all the way to Bamber Bridge. These plans are a mess than many in Pendle strongly oppose. I am continuing to fight against them.