Category: Blog

I caught bits of the Scottish Independence televised debate. It looked to me that Alistair Darling edged the contest.

I like Alistair, he’s a good labour man. He’s an honest man and it’s easy to see why he was chosen to lead the together campaign. I just happen to believe he’s wrong. The whole focus of the debate seems to be about the first few months of an independent Scotland under the SNP. My problem is that this is one of those huge decisions that can’t be judged over months or even a few years. I have absolutely no doubts that over time an independent Scotland can sort out any teething difficulties over currency or EU membership.

What seems certain to me is that in one hundred years the quality of the decision will not be judged upon the inevitable uncertainty that will exist whichever way Scotland votes. We have almost come to terms with the fact that as a nation we’ll often have periods of uncertainty whilst coalitions form yet Alistair was clearly making a period of uncertainty the absolute clincher in deciding that Scotland would have to remain ruled by London. Yes there would be days of the nation been swept along in a stormy sea but the prize being offered to an independent Scotland free from London rule is far too valuable and long lasting for it simply to be judged against a period of turbulence. It’s almost a crime against future generations to allow it to be determined on a week of two of discomfort.

My party supports the better together campaign. I think it’s wrong. I support the independence of Scotland

Alistair Darling Photograph

Financial Times, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Alex Salmond Photograph

Harris Morgan, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Select Committee responsible for looking at Councils has just launched an inquiry into litter.

The promotional video below is looking at very similar aspects to the Panorama last year featuring Gorse Hill. There’s a focus in the video on enforcement looking once again at the Braintree experience which has a zero tolerance regime.

Trafford has opted for zero enforcement and it’ll be interesting to see how the inquiry goes.

How we can contribute to the inquiry

Written submissions are invited from interested parties on:

• What problems do litter and fly-tipping create for local communities-is the situation improving or deteriorating?
• How effective are the actions of those responsible for managing waste in the local environment? What more should local councils, the Environment Agency, and Government funded bodies such as WRAP do?
• Does the current statute, regulation and guidance set an effective framework to minimise litter and fly-tipping. What, if any, further changes are required?
• What roles do and should the private citizen and campaign and action groups have in tackling litter?

The Committee particularly welcomes any evidence from local authority scrutiny committees.

Photographs

The Committee welcomes photographs illustrating problems with litter and fly-tipping and also before and after photographs where areas have been successfully cleaned up. Please tweet your photographs to @commonsclg, using the hashtag #litterpix

Deadline

The Committee asks for written submissions in accordance with the guidelines below by 2.00pm on Thursday, 16 October 2014. As a guideline submissions should be no longer than 3,000 words. 

Submissions should be uploaded onto the website in word format no later than the deadline.

More Details on the parliamentary website

Panorama Programme

Joan Bakewell’s original programme is hard to find but there is an excerpt still available on the BBC site that highlight’s the work of Gorse Hill’s PooBusters and the general approach to litter

 

Trafford Council  PR 3092    19/06/2014    [For Immediate Release]

Trafford Council to bring forward additional in year savings

Trafford Council is considering further measures to make sure it doesn’t exceed its budget in the current financial year.

Following a review of its budget, it was identified that the financial position it had been forecasting would be worse than expected.  The cost of caring for vulnerable people in the borough, particular the elderly and adults with a learning difficulty have increased considerably compared to previous assumptions.  In addition, demand is much higher than anticipated.

Adult Social Care assumptions are made through a complex financial monitoring process which incorporates individual placement costs, existing service users who may leave the care system and new entrants.  Additional demand was not highlighted in the regular budget monitoring reports and was not incorporated into base assumptions when the budget for this year was set in February.

As a consequence, despite allowing for an £2.1m increase in this service areas budget in 2014/15, the Council must now bring forward additional in year savings to ensure the authority remains in budget.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Sean Anstee, said: “This change in our financial position is disappointing as we already face a difficult task of balancing our budget in 2015/16.  The additional costs arise from our duty to care for some of the most vulnerable people in the borough and we take our responsibilities seriously.  All expenditure is being legitimately incurred and social care is by far the largest area of spend within the Council, of which we have a statutory duty to support.

I have asked for a detailed review into what happened and what lessons can be learned.

The Council must now find ways of saving a considerable amount of money, in the order of up to £6 million, to stay within our set budget for 2014/15.  Options for doing this are currently being formulated and will be considered by Elected Members in the coming months.”

Trafford Council, Marketing and Communications Team, 0161 912 1256.

Trafford, a value for money Council delivering excellent services for our customers. You can find out more about us by visiting www.trafford.gov.uk

Image Source: Trafford Town Hall by Peter McDermott, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

101 sexual assaults including rapes in one year in London alone from taxi and private hire drivers and the Tories with full support of the Lib Dems are relaxing rules.

source: Transport for London

The coalition government are so hell-bent on de-regulation there comes a point when we need to take a stand. What on earth are we doing putting women at risk in this way?

We know there are drivers who shouldn’t be in the role. Rather than tighten up the legislation, the Tories with the full co-operation of the Lib Dems seem so divorced from reality that they’re set on a shocking course that will encourage more of it. It’s appalling

Image source : Photo © Copyright Walter Baxter and licensed for reuse under a cc-by-sa/2.0 Creative Commons Licence.

Paul Wheeler poses an interesting question in the Guardian asking why Chicago has more influence?

Both Chicago and Manchester have about 2.8 million people yet Manchester still struggles to punch its weight on the world stage. Paul Wheeler poses the question as to whether this is to do with Greater Manchester’s dissipated local government with its 10 councils and chief executives all competing with each other, rather than the slim-lined single mayor of Chicago?

Interestingly, the BBC’s Evan Davis is raising the same issue tonight in his ‘Mind the Gap’ programme.

Both argue that we need to be less parochial. I think they’ve got a point, but a better comparison is with the single city council in Birmingham (the UK one). Can it really be said that Greater Manchester is faring badly compared to Birmingham, the UK’s largest council? We’re probably out-performing Birmingham on every single metric. The problem it seems to me is London, the imperial capital with its insatiable greed and self-regard.

Personally, as a person who’s always lived within the M60, I self define as a ‘Manc’, yet I’ve only lived two years of my life within the City Council’s boundary. I’ve never actually called myself a Traffordian; I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who does. I don’t have any sense of loyalty to a place called Trafford; largely because there isn’t such a place. It’s poignant that the place that calls itself ‘The Trafford Centre’ is the epitome of marketing insincerity with plastic columns and domes and an identikit retail offer to be found in every regional centre.

Emotionally, I can see no reason not to combine with Manchester. But until Greater Manchester is allowed the same independence as London, I don’t see us being able to exert our potential whatever the governance arrangements. Whilst we still have to doff our caps to Whitehall, we’re being held back. We won’t be allowed to organise public transport, highways, policing (perhaps a good thing considering the Met’s performance). If we ever are allowed to perform as a mature city region, there will be an argument for new local government structures, but let’s not kid ourselves the 10 councils are the cause of this.

It’s London, damn them!

Links
Paul Wheeler’s Guardian Article
Manchester Evening News Article on the Evan Davis programme

” Our cities offer people the biggest range of economic opportunities. They are home to the most productive parts of the economy and they are places where new ideas are generated, businesses are started and expanded, wages are higher and people’s ambitions can be fulfilled. Our 64 biggest cities are home to over half of the population, 60% of businesses, and nearly three quarters of skilled jobs.

Our task is to bring together the different interests in our country – business, employers and employees, the third sector, our democratic leaders – to build a coalition for national renewal from the bottom up and in the process transform how we govern the country.

Jon Cruddas Labour’s Policy Review
We will not solve our problems from Whitehall

Richard Townshend, CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0, via Wikimedia Commons