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                           <title><![CDATA[The Role of Charity Trustees (January 2010)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Trustees are the unsung heroes of the charity world. In an adjournment speech to the House of Commons on Monday 18 January Labour MP Tom Levitt spelt out the importance of their roles and the support they deserve.  CLICK HERE to read Tom's speech and the very positive reply from Third Sector minister Angela Smith....]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 20 Jan 2010 03:48:15</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Volunteering and the Environment (March 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[On 18 March 2008 Tom spoke to a Natural England conference in York. He was invited as a member of the Commission on the Future of Volunteering. Here is his speech:
 'Volunteering and the Environment' Thank you for inviting me to York, it&rsquo;s a city with a great history; not only has it a long record of volunteering &ndash; from people coming forward to fight the Romans onwards &ndash; but also my grandma used to live here. And Natural England&rsquo;s Martin Doughty, I happen to know, is a man with a bit of history about him too; not only have...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[volunteering-and-the-environment-march-2008]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:46:41</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Volunteering and the Inland Waterways (2 Nov 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[On 2 November Tom, as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector, spoke to 100 delegates at a conference on 'Volunteering and the Inland Waterways' in London. He made several references to the wider issues on the future of volunteering and voluntary organisations.
Speech to the AINA conference, 2 November 2009 Members of the Waterways fraternity will know my High Peak constituency best as the home of Bugsworth Basin and the Peak Forest Canal.  I am not pretending for a moment that it was built by volunteers, back in the 18th century, but I...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:07:53</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Visit to Tanzania with READ International (19 September 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Tom Levitt MP has been READ International&rsquo;s Patron since he hosted our parliamentary launch at House of Commons in October 2007. In September 2009 he travelled to Tanzania at his own expense to accompany a one week trustee/patron tour, to see first hand the work READ is doing out there. This is his account of the week. Monday (Travel from Dar es Salaam to Tabora) Flying towards the heart of Tanzania from Dar es Salaam we looked down on desolate hillsides and sparsely populated scrubland. Our travels over the next five days would take us many miles on road and...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:10:53</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Improving police accountability (23 October 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[On 23 October 2009 Tom Levitt spoke to a conference organised by North Yorkshire Police Authority on ways of improving police accountability. He was invited as a member of the David Blunkett's team which had reviewed the subject at the Home Secretary's request, following the Governent's decision to drop the provision of directly elected policing representatives from the Policing and Crime Bill. Around 100 people representing the police, police authorities, local government and partner organisations were present in Northallerton. The Blunkett review came about because of a dissatisfaction amongst Labour MPs, the police and local government generally that the proposals...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[improving-police-accountability-23-october-2009]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 10:48:14</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Launch of Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum (17 September 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Click here for more information about the Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum  Speech at Launch of Kresy-Siberia Virtual Museum Polish Embassy, London, 17 September 2009  Ladies and gentlemen, I bring a message of support for the Kresy-Siberia virtual museum from the many British people who regard themselves as friends of Poland. I am a former Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Poland and a founder member of Labour Friends of Poland. It has been almost 30 years since I first started to get to know the Polish culture and Polish people. In that time I have been impressed...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:36:43</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Traditional Crafts (25 June 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Tom spoke in an adjournment debate on Traditional Crafts on Thursday 25 June 2009. The debate was prompted by a visit to traditional sieve maker Mike Turnock of Whaley Bridge and a meeting with Robin Wood of Edale, who formed the Heritage Crafts Association. The debate prompted the minister to agree to meet the HCA directly. The Heritage Lottery Fund has also contacted Tom since the debate to explore ways in which they might help. Click here for the full debate on Hansard Click here for the response by Barbara Follett MP, Culture Minister Click here for the response from...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:15:35</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[The impact of the recession on voluntary organisations and charities? (11 May 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[What will be the impact of the recession on voluntary organisations and charities?  Writing exclusively for the House magazine, Tom Levitt MP reports as Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Community and Voluntary Sector. In the face of a global downturn we need to take a sober view of the reality of the recession on the voluntary sector. The truth is that the recession is challenging for all, with different charities affected to differing degrees. How will organisations respond to the economic climate? Will they weather the storm and develop the long-term strategies needed to emerge...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Sun, 17 May 2009 08:39:57</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Adaptation 2009: Tackling Climate Change (29 January 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Tom Levitt
has praised East Midlands local authorities for their commitment to
tackle climate change and promised them the tools to deliver on
Government targets. Speaking to the Adaptation 2009 event in
Leicester on 29 January, the Deputy Regional Minister cited
projects in his own High Peak constituency, Moors for the Future
and the Torrs Hydropower project, as examples of good and essential
practice. Tom
Levitt speech - Adaptation 2009: Tackling Climate
Change I am very pleased to join you
today. Phil Hope, the Regional Minister, has been unavoidably
called away and has asked me to speak on his behalf. Let me give thanks to Ross
Wilmott and his team here in...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Skills are essential, recession or not - Levitt (4 February 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Whether or not we were in a
recession, says Tom Levitt, "The message to business and industry
must surely be exactly the same: if Britain is to compete
successfully on the global stage, what we need is a high-skill,
high-wage economy. We have to look now at where we want to be at
the end of this recession; we have to look now at the skills that
we need in a rapidly changing globalised economy; and we have to be
aware of what our competitors are doing, not only in the UK market
but abroad." Tom Levitt was speaking in a Commons debate on Skills on 4 February
2009....]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Mountain Rescue (21 January 2009)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[In his speech in the 21 January
2009 debate the High Peak MP told of his personal experience of
Mountain Rescue. He expressed frustration that different issues
relating to Mountain Rescue had to be directed through different
Government departments rather than through a single
minister. On funding, Tom quoted Buxton
Mountain Rescue Team Chair Ian Hurst, who had told him: “We are
managing our financial resources very well and Buxton MRT will
continue to provide a first class service to our communities next
year, but funding that will become very much more difficult [in the
recession]. Click here
for Tom's speech Click here
for the full debate in Parliament Click here
for the...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Japan Day Seminar in Matlock, Derbyshire (18 November 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Speaking in
Matlock to an event celebrating ten years of twinning between
Derbyshire and Toyota City in Japan, Tom Levitt gave the following
speech. He was speaking in his capacity as Assistant Minster for
the East Midlands and covered the regional response to the economic
downturn and the success of Japanese enterprises in UK. He
particularly praised the Derby-based Toyota car company for making
no redundancies and maintaining training levels during the
downturn. Japan Day Seminar
(Matlock 18 November 2008) Apologies from Phil Hope MP.
Although he is and remains Regional Minister for the East Midlands,
he has recently been appointment Minister of State for Care
Services as well. Because he has...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[East Midlands Talent Debate (13 October 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Speech to
Talent Market Place Conference, Mansfield. Tom's first speech as
Deputy Regional Minister, East Midlands, on 13 October
2008
East Midlands Talent Debate Thank you the introduction and
the opportunity to come here to Mansfield today. I am sorry I am
not Phil Hope: but I am now his officially appointed Assistant
Regional Minister here in the East Midlands. My constituency is
High Peak in Derbyshire – the other end of the region from Phil’s
in Corby – so together our aim is to cover it all better than one
minister could do alone. You can think of me as Phil’s
eyes and ears, hands and feet, liver, kidney, spleen,...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Carbon Monoxide Detectors (8 January 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Two constituents who lost their
daughter to CO poisoning in 2004 inspired me to put this issue on
the record. Click here for the 8 January speech on
Carbon Monoxide Detectors...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Town and Village Greens (25 March 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[Town and Village green
applications are frustrating genuine and socially valuable
developments across High Peak - in housing and leisure. This was my
chance to put the case to change the rules to environment minister
Jonathan Shaw. Click here for the 25 March Adjournment
Debate on Town and Village Greens...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Middle East debate (1 May 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[In this debate, which I
requested, I wanted to put on record the horror of my recent
experience visiting Gaza. Click here for the Topical debate on the
Middle East on 1 May 2008...]]></description>
                           <link><![CDATA[9099402b-03d5-dec4-7ded-0557aa232d26]]></link>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Saviour Siblings debate (19 May 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[I spoke in favour of this
controversial issue after a constituent told me that saviour
sibling technology was the only way his young son would survive to
adulthood. Click here for the debate on Saviour
Siblings: Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Bill...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Opposition Day debate on Volunteering (4 June 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[This speech supported the
Government's programme for encouraging volunteering and criticised
the Tory approach. I spoke as Chair of the All Party Group on the
Community and Voluntary Sectors and of the Community Development
Foundation, and as a former member of the Commission on the Future
of Volunteering. Click here
for the 4 June Opposition Day debate...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[Making the Police More Accountable (1 October 2008)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[An
election too far? Writing in Progress magazine (October 2008) Tom
Levitt questions whether the proposal in the Policing Green Paper,
to establish direct elections to police authorities, is really the
best way of making the police service more accountable. Whereas elections should always
be democratic, democracy does not always require elections.
Democracy is about accountability; the degree of ownership the
governed have over the process of governance. Every existing democratic
election ranks somewhere between essential and valuable. My concern
is that bringing direct elections into the operation of individual
public services with a narrow remit is neither necessary nor always
helpful in the process of making them accountable. Police authorities...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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                           <title><![CDATA[What England means to me (November 2007)]]></title>
                           <description><![CDATA[In November 2007 Tom was asked
to write a short article for a web site on 'What England means to
me'. The web site describes itself as a “Domesday Book” of the
mind for England at the beginning of the 21st century.Here,
slightly tongue in cheek, is his contribution: http://whatenglandmeanstome.co.uk/?p=95...]]></description>
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                           <pubDate>Wed, 30 Nov -0001 12:00:00</pubDate>
                           
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