ALAN WHITEHEAD

'Alan Patrick Vincent Whitehead' (born 15 September 1950, Isleworth) is the Labour Member of Parliament for Southampton Test. He was first elected to the seat in 1997. Before becoming an MP, Dr Whitehead was the Leader of Southampton City Council from 1984-1992 and a professor of public policy at Southampton Institute. He studied at the University of Southampton, was President of Southampton University Students' Union and holds a PhD in Political Science. He is currently set to be the first MP to have a wind turbine installed on his roof.
Dr Whitehead voted against the Iraq war on the basis of the mission not receiving endorsement from the UN[1]. He lobbied for changes to the Government's Education White Paper. He does not support building new nuclear power stations, believing nuclear to be uneconomic. He voted in favour of ID cards and for a ban on fox hunting.
Along with fellow Labour MPs Estelle Morris, John Denham and Martin Salter, Dr Whitehead co-wrote the so-called alternative education white paper 'Shaping the Education Bill- Reaching for Consensus,' which criticised the weakening of the role of Local Education Authorities in the provision of education services and called for the schools admissions code to be made mandatory. He voted for the Bill when Alan Johnson, the new Education Secretary, accepted many of the alternative white paper’s proposals.
Dr Whitehead is married with two children. He is a member of the Saints Trust and plays in the UK parliamentary football team.

Contents

Renewable energy politics

Career in Parliament

See also

References

External links

Renewable energy politics

Dr Whitehead has lobbied for the increased use of sustainable energy sources, particularly microgeneration. He criticised the results of the Energy Review[2] and was the co-author of EDM 2204 [3] which states ‘the case for nuclear has not yet been made’ and urges the government to ‘recognise the enormous potential for reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by energy efficiency and conservation, greater use of combined heat and power, and rapid investment in the full range of renewable technologies, including microgeneration.’
As leader of Southampton City Council in 1986, Dr Whitehead proposed that the city council take measures to become a ‘self sustaining city’ with regard to energy generation[4]. One such measure was the conversion of Southampton Civic Centre to being heated by local reservoirs of geothermal energy. The scheme recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. In a recent survey of carbon emissions in major UK cities conducted by British Gas, Southampton was ranked as being one of the lowest carbon emitting cities in Britain[5].
Dr Whitehead now sits as a non-executive director of a new Combined Heat and Power (CHP) project, funded by the Government as part of the regeneration of outer Shirley[6]. The CHP system:

★ generates electricity using palm oil

★ recycles the by-product 'low grade heat' made during the electricity generation process

★ uses the by-product to heat water which is piped to local homes.
Dr Whitehead’s Private Members Bill Management of Energy in Buildings, was ‘talked out’ by Conservative backbenchers in 2005, but many of the Bill’s most important aspects were incorporated into the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006, sponsored by Mark Lazarowicz MP. The Act received royal assent in 2006[7].
Dr Whitehead’s amendments to the bill included:

★ requiring better compliance of building regulations for energy efficiency

★ the removal of planning permission for microgeneration in homes

★ new regulations to ensure a minimum energy standard in new homes including microgeneration

Career in Parliament

★ 1997-1999: Member of the Select Committee on Environment Transport and the Regions

★ 1999: Parliamentary Private Secretary to Baroness Blackstone, Minister for Higher and Post 16 Education

★ June 2001 - May 2002: Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (responsible for local government, the regions and the Fire Service)
Current committee memberships:

★ Member of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee

★ Member of the Standards and Privileges Select Committee.
Chair of PRASEG, the Associate Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group
Co-Chair, Associate Parliamentary Sustainable Waste Group
Secretary of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Poland
Member, Associate Parliamentary Ports and Merchant Navy Group
Member, Group on Charitable Giving
Member, Estonia All-Party Parliamentary Group

See also

★ Wessex Constitutional Convention

★ Energy policy of the United Kingdom

★ Geothermal power in the United Kingdom

References

★ Alan Whitehead's Spring 2005 newsletter

★ Southampton is a low carbon city

External links

★ Alan Whitehead MP official site

★ Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Alan Whitehead MP

★ TheyWorkForYou.com - Alan Whitehead MP

★ PRASEG, the Associate Parliamentary Renewable and Sustainable Energy Group