Just before Christmas, we learned that following the resignation of the postmaster and the withdrawal of the premises for Post Office use, the Penny Hill Post Office in Hunslet will be closing on Monday 26 January.
The Post Office says that they are “working hard to keep any period of closure to a minimum and are currently investigating the options available which will enable us to reinstate a Post Office service to the local community”.
This is clearly a big blow to those regular users of the Post Office, and we need to get it back as quickly as possible. I have been in touch with the Post Office to say that it is essential that a new postmaster is found speedily, and to seek clarification as to whether they are looking to reopen the branch in the existing premises or to find a new site.
We now know a bit more about how the Pride in Place scheme for Middleton is going to work. This is a great story because the area is going to benefit from £20 million of investment over the next 10 years and it is people locally who will shape how this money is spent. The money will be made up of £7.4 million in revenue spending, and £12.6 million in capital funding.
A Board will need to be set up to oversee everything, and the first step will be the appointment of a Chair, who cannot be an existing elected representative. The Board will have to be up and running by this summer, and it will need to produce evidence that there is community support for the projects it is proposing to fund. It will therefore be expected to undertake full consultation with the local community in Middleton so that it can draw up, together with Leeds City Council, a plan setting out how the money will be spent over over the next decade.
This really is a unique opportunity for the local community to decide what are the most important projects they want to see happen. Let’s seize it!
Some good news for Leeds City Council. It is to get more government funding for 2026/27 – the first such significant increase since 2010.
In other good news, the effect of efforts to tackle poverty and inequality in Leeds can be seen in the latest national Index of Multiple Deprivation statistics. In 2015, Leeds had 16 areas of the city in the lowest one per cent of neighbourhoods nationally. In 2019 that number had fallen to 12 areas, and in the latest rankings it is now just seven.
And as part of its commitment to supporting lower-paid staff, from 1 April the Council will pay the increased Real Living Wage of £13.45 per hour
I was listening to the fourth of this year’s BBC Reith lectures on the car radio the other day and the man delivering it was talking about the impact that social media and artificial intelligence is going to have on society. This is, of course, a hotly debated issue, with concerns expressed about the effects of social media – in particular hours and hours of scrolling each day – on children in particular. Australia has just banned social media for children under the age of 16 and many parents discuss at what age, if at all, to allow their children to have smartphones.
The lecturer – the historian Rutger Bregman – drew a very interesting analogy with the social campaign against the damage that alcohol did in the 19th century. This was where the temperance movement came from when people took the pledge and agreed not to drink alcohol. A few years ago I visited my great grandfather‘s grave and was surprised to learn that it had a list on it of the things he did in his life, including a reference to his support for the temperance movement.
And while looking up the history of the temperance movement in the UK I came across this entry in Wikipedia:
“The Band of Hope was founded in 1847 in Leeds, UK by the Reverend Jabez Tunnicliff. It aimed to save working class children from the drinking parents by teaching them the importance and principles of sobriety and teetotalism. In 1855, a national organisation was formed amidst an explosion of Band of Hope work. Meetings were held in churches throughout the UK and included Christian teaching. The group campaigned politically for the curtailment of the influence of pubs and brewers … Jabez Tunnicliff died at 2:45pm on Thursday, 15 June 1865, aged 56. His funeral was the following Sunday at Burmantofts Cemetery, Leeds, with an estimated 15,000 people present. The Leeds Express for 25 June 1865 reports that about 1,100 temperance supporters walked through the town following the coffin.”
Anyway, I digress. There is no doubt that the advent of social media and AI has been responsible for many good and useful things but also some bad ones, and the big question is, how are we going to respond to it, especially when it comes to the next generation?
Finally, I have a confession to make. I said in this column last January that I was determined to get my hearing tested. The truth is that I never quite got round to it. However, I have discovered the benefits of subtitling on television programmes in cases where the sound quality is poor, or the actors seem to be mumbling, or maybe just because I am getting hard of hearing. I have also discovered its delights in video calls. Mind you the word recognition technology can be a bit hit and miss at times.
Anyway, I have been left with no option but to roll forward last year’s New Year’s resolution to this year!
And on that note, may I wish you all a very Happy New Year.
Hilary Benn is our Member of Parliament. He represents the Leeds South constituency.
Email: hilary.benn.mp@parliament.uk | Website: www.hilarybennmp.com
Constituency office:
Unity Business Centre, 26 Roundhay Road, Leeds, LS7 1AB
Tel: 0113 244 1097
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