A FORMER Warrington councillor who is now an MP has received the Citizen’s Advice Parliamentarian of the Year award.
Yvonne Fovargue, who represented Fairfield and Howley on the borough council until becoming Labour MP for Makerfield at the last General Election, received the award at a reception in the House of Commons.
Gillian Guy, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “Yvonne was selected for her tireless championing of the Citizens Advice service and our clients in Parliament, since being elected in 2010.
“While still a relatively new MP, the sheer amount of time and determination she has put into keeping the issues Citizens Advice work with high on the political agenda, and the effective way in which she has secured the support of so many colleagues, on both sides of the House, has had a huge impact on the service and on our clients.
“Yvonne’s successful leadership is evidenced in her work as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Legal Aid and the new chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Debt and Personal Finance. In these latter roles she has secured several debates on the impact of legal aid reform and on the impact other public spending cuts will have on the future of funding for free debt and welfare benefits advice.
“As a member of the Welfare Reform Bill Committee Yvonne spoke in favour of several proposed amendments to the Bill to expose and try to mitigate the negative impact some of the proposed changes will have on CAB clients and other vulnerable members of society.
“Together with other members of the APPG on Debt and Personal Finance, she has
been campaigning for more effective regulation of fee-charging debt management plans – a huge issue for our clients, and one we fully support.”
Yvonne was also formerly chief executive of St Helens Citizens Advice Bureau.
Pictured: Yvonne with Jane Mordue of Citizens Advice.
Ex-councillor wins Parliamentary award
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Gary Skentelbery
Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.
5 Comments
Well done Yvonne.
Wow what a good record, well done.
Seems the CAB looks after its own!
Emanon… that’s a bit harsh… a very large number of MPs have active links with the CABs and previous winners include Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Business Secretary in 2008, and former Treasury Select Committee Chairman Right Hon John McFall MP in 2007….neither of those worked for the CAB. Anyone who works in Personal Finance knows that levels of personal debt is a huge problem for the country and that we face a ticking bomb when it comes to increasing repossession rates and it’s good to see an MP using their knowledge and experience to make the country a better place… instead of just being elected because they are a multi-millionaire and then sitting on the back benches like a lemming.
Good to see an MP very active in looking after her constituents!