Just a quick blog by way of update…
Happily, there is some great news from the CHAD Park Partnership. The builders have now moved on site to start the new Multi Use Games Area (MUGA) at the side of Gladstone Primary and it should be completed in a couple of months. The MUGA will include 5 a side and basketball equipment, and will also be marked out for other sports. It’ll have two gates, one attached to the school and one accessible for the public. During school hours the court will be exclusively for the use of Gladstone, but out of hours it will be accessible for the whole of the community to use.
The project has been made possible thanks to pro bono work by Mansell (the Gladstone School building contractors) with match funding raised from grants and ward budget bids by Partnership Chair, Sue Rammell and the school’s Youth Forum. The really great thing about the scheme is that it has been made possible by the whole community coming together to drive it forward: young people, parents, grandparents and councillors. However special credit needs to be given to Sue Rammell and Dave Eaglestone (Gladstone School Build Manager) whose tireless efforts and negotiations with the Sport England, City Planners and Funding Bodies are finally paying off.
And things get better – thanks to resources that have been made available the MUGA will now also feature a lighting system that will make it useable all year round. Also, work is beginning for a new under 10s play area at Anchor Road Rec. People who know the area will know the shocking state of the play equipment there – now a new naturalised play park is being installed using play-builder finance.
Also I think its worth mentioning a leading story in the Sentinel this week, regarding proposed savings from cutting the refreshments at meetings at the civic. http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/TEA-BISCUITS-FACING-163-20k-CUT/article-1701221-detail/article.html Cllr Kieran Clarke thinks that £20k can be saved by introducing a ‘refreshments policy’. That got me thinking about a couple of things.
Firstly, which meetings have refreshments to that value in the first place? I’ve never even seen coffee and tea at O&S meetings!
Secondly, and more to the point, why is a ‘policy’ being considered? When cutting valued services across the city and cherished facilities are being put forward by the Cabinet, it should go without saying that drinks and butties at the Civic be cut back completely. I was also a little bemused by the outraged responses of the Councillors that commented in the Sentinel’s coverage. Difficult budgetary decisions will have to be made in the coming months, but before I’m asked to vote on a closure for Tunstall or Shelton Pool I want to know that everything has been done to trim the fat in the authority. Perks for Members and Officers like snacks at meetings should be first on the chopping block, so let’s not shilly-shally around with a ‘refreshments policy’.
Friday, 15 January 2010
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Question Time
I’ve submitted the following questions to the Leader for the next ordinary Full Council. It will be interesting what Cllr Irving has to say on each of the issues.
1. Council Tax Relief
Will the Executive consider establishing a discretionary framework to re-introduce the 50% council tax discount on vacant properties where it can be proved that individuals are facing financial hardship, and are not in the possession of dwellings on a commercial basis?
2. Blacklisting
The council will note the investigation by the Information Commissioner into blacklisting by unscrupulous "business consultants". The council may also further note the subsequent report by UCATT trade union which revealed several large local authority contractors had been invoiced by the consultants. What is the Executive doing to ensure the trade union rights of former council workers and contractor workers are not eroded, either in current or future strategic partnerships?
3. Local Procurement
The full council recently passed a procurement strategy, which featured a policy on local procurement. What work are NSRP and procurement officers of this authority doing to ensure that local businesses are in a position where they are capable to entering successful tenders to provide council services?
4. Children and Young People’s Services
What checks and balances have the executive put in place to ensure that Children and Young People's Services Directorate is in satisfactory condition to be managed in house by the City Council? What is the Department for Children, Schools and Families' view as to whether continued intervention is required vis-a-vis management of the Directorate?
1. Council Tax Relief
Will the Executive consider establishing a discretionary framework to re-introduce the 50% council tax discount on vacant properties where it can be proved that individuals are facing financial hardship, and are not in the possession of dwellings on a commercial basis?
2. Blacklisting
The council will note the investigation by the Information Commissioner into blacklisting by unscrupulous "business consultants". The council may also further note the subsequent report by UCATT trade union which revealed several large local authority contractors had been invoiced by the consultants. What is the Executive doing to ensure the trade union rights of former council workers and contractor workers are not eroded, either in current or future strategic partnerships?
3. Local Procurement
The full council recently passed a procurement strategy, which featured a policy on local procurement. What work are NSRP and procurement officers of this authority doing to ensure that local businesses are in a position where they are capable to entering successful tenders to provide council services?
4. Children and Young People’s Services
What checks and balances have the executive put in place to ensure that Children and Young People's Services Directorate is in satisfactory condition to be managed in house by the City Council? What is the Department for Children, Schools and Families' view as to whether continued intervention is required vis-a-vis management of the Directorate?
Thursday, 1 October 2009
Longton Councillors & the NHS
Since April, both myself and Cllr Mark Davis have experienced the wonder of the NHS first hand. Mark spoke at Labour Party Conference this week about the excellent service recieved when his son was born prematurely. I have included the article below. Similarily, me and my wife welcomed our daughter into the world at the brand new maternity unit in August.
The fantastic facilities at the hospital are a credit to investment in the Health Service, and the excellent service we recieved was a testament to the professionalism and dedication of NHS staff. What worries me is the ideological cutting away at the Health Service threatened by Andrew Lansley and the Tories. Andy Burnham spoke very well on this at conference and his speech can be found at http://www.labour.org.uk/andy-burnham-speech-conference
Sentinel article on Cllr Mark Davis' conference speech
Published Thursday, October 01, 2009, 08:40
THE University Hospital of North Staffordshire's new £40 million maternity complex has been singled out for praise at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Speaking in front of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Stoke-on-Trent city councillor Mark Davis described the new maternity centre as "magnificent".
He told delegates how shortly before it opened in April, his wife, Jane, delivered a six-week premature baby in the old unit, who was then switched to special care in the new department.
He said: "Joseph is doing fine now and as he was about to be born, the delivery suite filled with people, obstetricians, paediatricians, nurses, midwives, in the end there were seven members of NHS staff to help our son into the world.
"Not a thought about cost, not a thought about health insurance, just there to help.
"Joseph was there when the state-of-the-art new maternity unit was opened and the same skilled and caring staff, the magnificent new building, our lives, like so many others, shaped by the NHS."
Chief executive Julia Bridgewater said she was delighted Mr Davis, pictured left, took such a public opportunity to praise the staff at the maternity centre.
She added: "The staff have been wonderful during the transfer of services from the old to the new centre.
"Six thousand babies are born with us each year and, like Mr Davis' family, they have benefited
from the quality of care offered by our staff in an environment that now matches their expertise."
The fantastic facilities at the hospital are a credit to investment in the Health Service, and the excellent service we recieved was a testament to the professionalism and dedication of NHS staff. What worries me is the ideological cutting away at the Health Service threatened by Andrew Lansley and the Tories. Andy Burnham spoke very well on this at conference and his speech can be found at http://www.labour.org.uk/andy-burnham-speech-conference
Sentinel article on Cllr Mark Davis' conference speech
Published Thursday, October 01, 2009, 08:40
THE University Hospital of North Staffordshire's new £40 million maternity complex has been singled out for praise at the Labour Party conference in Brighton.
Speaking in front of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Stoke-on-Trent city councillor Mark Davis described the new maternity centre as "magnificent".
He told delegates how shortly before it opened in April, his wife, Jane, delivered a six-week premature baby in the old unit, who was then switched to special care in the new department.
He said: "Joseph is doing fine now and as he was about to be born, the delivery suite filled with people, obstetricians, paediatricians, nurses, midwives, in the end there were seven members of NHS staff to help our son into the world.
"Not a thought about cost, not a thought about health insurance, just there to help.
"Joseph was there when the state-of-the-art new maternity unit was opened and the same skilled and caring staff, the magnificent new building, our lives, like so many others, shaped by the NHS."
Chief executive Julia Bridgewater said she was delighted Mr Davis, pictured left, took such a public opportunity to praise the staff at the maternity centre.
She added: "The staff have been wonderful during the transfer of services from the old to the new centre.
"Six thousand babies are born with us each year and, like Mr Davis' family, they have benefited
from the quality of care offered by our staff in an environment that now matches their expertise."
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