Is Southport’s once famous Shopping Centre closing down?

OVER the last year we have seen more and more of the major names, who have been pushing out the small businesses from the Town Centre, pull out or close down completely, but have we learned to support small businesses? Many would say no. So what is the long term future for the Town Centre, which was once regarded by the UK’s Tourist Board as the Jewel of the North West? Is it flats, as more and more office and shopping areas are converted to them, or is it charity shops and coffee shops? What do you our readers think? How can we stop this loss of small business and fight to keep out town alive? Interestingly in a new survey, released to celebrate the launch of a brand new SimCity, 'The King of City', building simulators reveals has shown that a staggering 90% of Liverpool residents feel the lack of independent shops on their high street is 1 of the biggest problems in their City and want to focus on regenerating it. Plus what is extremely surprising is that results also revealed 70% of residents would be open to the introduction of a congestion charge to help combat the retail issue. So should Southport take note as well as Liverpool? Email us to:- news24@southportreporter.com with your thoughts!

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GMB UNION WELCOMES COMMITTEE'S CALL FOR EVIDENCE ON ASBESTOS IN SCHOOLS

AS more schools leave local authorities to become academies or free schools there is a very real danger that the little knowledge over asbestos within school buildings will be lost says GMB. GMB, the union for school support staff, has welcomed the call for evidence by the House of Commons Education Select Committee on the issues around Asbestos in Schools. The call was made on 26 February 2013. The Education Select Committee will hear evidence on asbestos in schools on Wednesday, 13 March 2013, at 9.30 am. GMB has fed in evidence as part of the joint union asbestos committee (JUAC) submission as the GMB represents an increasing number of schools support staff who may be negligently exposed to the deadly asbestos fibres in schools. Over 75% of state schools contain asbestos much of it in a dangerous condition. GMB is concerned that while the Department for Education (DfE) is currently carrying out an audit on the condition of schools in a bid to establish refurbishment priorities asbestos is specifically excluded from this audit. John McClean, GMB National Health & Safety Officer, said:- “GMB welcomes the call for evidence on asbestos in schools. Last year’s report by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health & Safety made it clear that a cohesive and clear strategy to deal with this serious matter needed to take place. Hopefully the Education Select Committee which holds it hearing on Wednesday, 13 March 2013, will reach similar conclusions that enable the DfE to begin dealing comprehensively with this problem. GMB has major concerns with the manner in which asbestos is managed in schools as it is obvious that that it is often unclear who the duty holder with legal responsibilities is. As more schools leave the control of local authorities to become academies or free schools there is a very real danger that the little knowledge over asbestos within school buildings will be lost." This fear is echoed by Ofsted Chief, Sir Michael Wilshaw who said that:- "I want school governors to provide a more professional leadership. He then likened the worst governors to jurors who are not capable of understanding their responsibilities in a court case. Unfortunately GMB fears that many governors do not understand their responsibilities with regard to managing asbestos in schools and the DfE should do more to address this situation.”