The most recent figures for Acocks Green have showed a worsening against last month and the year on year figures. 1215 people are now claiming unemployment benefit in the ward - 10.8% of the economically active population. That's up 33 on this time last year and 15 on last month's figures. It sits below the Birmingham figure, but well above the national average.
Birmingham continues to have the worst record of the other core cities, with a claimant rate of 12.5%, which compares poorly to 6.7% across the Midlands and 5.4% across the UK.
This doesn't show the full picture, as it relates only to those claiming unemployment benefit, but the outlook is very worrying given the continued problems with the economy.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
A million to lift you up (and down) in Acocks Green
I'm delighted to see that CENTRO have finally secured funding to improve access to Acocks Green - the busiest station on the local network without disabled/pushchair access to the platforms. It may take until 2014 to complete the work, but at least it means that those disabled spaces on one side of the station, separated by a few yards and stairs or a very long push from the actual platform, will be accessible. There's £1 million of funding coming to fit lifts to the station as part of the Department for Transport's Railways for All scheme, which was launched under the last Labour government and is planned to run until 2015. This was something that I discussed with the then CENTRO lead member back in 2008, so it is great that things have finally moved forward.
The station is great for access to the City - you can be in the heart of Birmingham in a little over five minutes - so I hope that these changes will mean that even more people will use the station to travel.
The station is great for access to the City - you can be in the heart of Birmingham in a little over five minutes - so I hope that these changes will mean that even more people will use the station to travel.
Friday, December 09, 2011
Asda Planning Application #john4ag
Just up on the Birmingham City Council website are the details for the proposed Asda development on the Eaton site in Tyseley. In the first phase are relocated buildings for MEM and Eaton, 70 new homes, lots of highway works (including what looks suspiciously like shared space - an innovation in the ward!) and an Asda superstore. Phase two - scheduled for whenever the market picks up - includes further 'employment opportunity' space and another section of retail park. This is the outline planning application, with a detailed one due to follow in the middle of 2012, with construction of the first phase planned in for 2013.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
Application 2011/08182/PA. Planning Application search page here.
Have a look and let me know what you think.
Application 2011/08182/PA. Planning Application search page here.
Monday, December 05, 2011
Yardley Constituency Committee - 24 Nov 2011
A rather belated report....
For years, the Liberal Democrats in Yardley have run a one-party state and they still aren't used to the presence of two Labour councillors on the constituency committee - hopefully that number will at least double next May. They particularly aren't used to Cllr Stewart Stacey, a man who has the experience to understand the mechanics of how the process of democratic accountability should work and the shortcomings of how that is applied in Yardley at the moment. But we'll come to that in a bit.
The first query actually came from me. At the end of each ward or constituency committee meeting, it is moved that the chair is empowered to take decisions pending the next meeting, when any such decisions should be reported back. I can't recall the last time that the chair mentioned any decisions that had been taken in the interim, even though these meetings are two months apart. When queried, Cllr Mike Ward, the Liberal Democrat chair, didn't seem to recall taking any decisions that he needed to report back on since the last meeting, although he was rather vague about it.
Then the meeting moved on to the financial report - the revenue budget report for the second quarter of 2011-2, the main item of the meeting. The problem is that the Liberal Democrats have managed to overspend quite dramatically this year and there is currently a budget hole of £423,000 in this financial year with no identified solutions identified. In fact, it is worse than that. Previous years overspends have been carried forward and there is an additional debt of £394,000 which is supposed to be repaid over a period of three years with an initial repayment of £137,000 this year. Bear in mind that although the total budget this year is £9,138,000, £5.6 million of that is already assigned as fixed costs as part of specific service level agreements for Highways, Pest Control, Street Cleaning, Refuse Collection and Parks and Allotments, so the locally managed aspects only account for £3.5 million. That means that we have an in-year overspend of 12% and a total liability of 23% of effective annual budget - and no plans to deal with any of it.
At the start of this item, Cllr Stacey reminded Cllr Ward that as the supporting documents for this item hadn't been available until after midday on the day of the meeting, the chair needed to agree that the items could be considered as urgent business and explain that decision. Again, Cllr Ward seemed unwilling to do this and tried to put it to a committee vote, which is not procedurally correct, but we finally moved on to the meat of the subject. Procedures matter - they ensure that the council is transacting business in accordance with the law and working outside them is dangerous for all concerned.
Delays in providing information is a serious problem. The committee did not get to see the Q1 reports until September - almost at the end of Q2 - and were asked to consider the Q2 reports with about six hours notice, rather than the usual five working days.
Cllr Stacey queried the service impacts of some of the changes proposed (although mostly already implemented) which amounted to the deletion of posts where officers had already taken redundancy in constituency management, administration, libraries, community development and the environmental wardens.
From the floor, I queried the repayment programme for the previous years' overspend and was informed that the repayment has been deferred until next year and the three year process will then restart, so the Liberal Democrats will leave a nasty legacy to the next Constituency Committee to manage in 2012-3.
We had an update on the Tesco development, which is moving on apace and looks likely to open in February 2012. It was confirmed that as a result of the first round of local recruiting, 138 Birmingham people who are currently either unemployed or are young people not in education, employment or training are about to start a 4 week training programme, which promises them a job upon successful completion. Of those 138, 55 are from Yardley and 27 from Hodge Hill and the total is slightly up on the 130 originally promised by Tesco, which will comprise about a third of the staff at the store. The remaining jobs will be advertised online shortly.
Cllr Neil Eustace (LD) sang the praises of the committee which has backed the Tesco development from the beginning, dropping in a comment about Labour fussing over "5s and 6d." Actually, Cllr Eustace rather underestimated the value - it was rather closer to £300,000 or about 50 minutes of Tesco's profits.
Moving on, there was some discussion about changing the hours of the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Office, which will be open 3.5 days a week. It is clear that there will be different channels by which people will choose to access the Council's services - telephone and internet will be key - but there is still a need for face-to-face support and we have problems with allocating that at the moment. Responsibility for that part of the service falls within Cllr Paul Tilsley's (LD) purview at the moment and all is clearly not well on the happy ship of the Cabinet:
For years, the Liberal Democrats in Yardley have run a one-party state and they still aren't used to the presence of two Labour councillors on the constituency committee - hopefully that number will at least double next May. They particularly aren't used to Cllr Stewart Stacey, a man who has the experience to understand the mechanics of how the process of democratic accountability should work and the shortcomings of how that is applied in Yardley at the moment. But we'll come to that in a bit.
The first query actually came from me. At the end of each ward or constituency committee meeting, it is moved that the chair is empowered to take decisions pending the next meeting, when any such decisions should be reported back. I can't recall the last time that the chair mentioned any decisions that had been taken in the interim, even though these meetings are two months apart. When queried, Cllr Mike Ward, the Liberal Democrat chair, didn't seem to recall taking any decisions that he needed to report back on since the last meeting, although he was rather vague about it.
Then the meeting moved on to the financial report - the revenue budget report for the second quarter of 2011-2, the main item of the meeting. The problem is that the Liberal Democrats have managed to overspend quite dramatically this year and there is currently a budget hole of £423,000 in this financial year with no identified solutions identified. In fact, it is worse than that. Previous years overspends have been carried forward and there is an additional debt of £394,000 which is supposed to be repaid over a period of three years with an initial repayment of £137,000 this year. Bear in mind that although the total budget this year is £9,138,000, £5.6 million of that is already assigned as fixed costs as part of specific service level agreements for Highways, Pest Control, Street Cleaning, Refuse Collection and Parks and Allotments, so the locally managed aspects only account for £3.5 million. That means that we have an in-year overspend of 12% and a total liability of 23% of effective annual budget - and no plans to deal with any of it.
At the start of this item, Cllr Stacey reminded Cllr Ward that as the supporting documents for this item hadn't been available until after midday on the day of the meeting, the chair needed to agree that the items could be considered as urgent business and explain that decision. Again, Cllr Ward seemed unwilling to do this and tried to put it to a committee vote, which is not procedurally correct, but we finally moved on to the meat of the subject. Procedures matter - they ensure that the council is transacting business in accordance with the law and working outside them is dangerous for all concerned.
Delays in providing information is a serious problem. The committee did not get to see the Q1 reports until September - almost at the end of Q2 - and were asked to consider the Q2 reports with about six hours notice, rather than the usual five working days.
Cllr Stacey queried the service impacts of some of the changes proposed (although mostly already implemented) which amounted to the deletion of posts where officers had already taken redundancy in constituency management, administration, libraries, community development and the environmental wardens.
From the floor, I queried the repayment programme for the previous years' overspend and was informed that the repayment has been deferred until next year and the three year process will then restart, so the Liberal Democrats will leave a nasty legacy to the next Constituency Committee to manage in 2012-3.
We had an update on the Tesco development, which is moving on apace and looks likely to open in February 2012. It was confirmed that as a result of the first round of local recruiting, 138 Birmingham people who are currently either unemployed or are young people not in education, employment or training are about to start a 4 week training programme, which promises them a job upon successful completion. Of those 138, 55 are from Yardley and 27 from Hodge Hill and the total is slightly up on the 130 originally promised by Tesco, which will comprise about a third of the staff at the store. The remaining jobs will be advertised online shortly.
Cllr Neil Eustace (LD) sang the praises of the committee which has backed the Tesco development from the beginning, dropping in a comment about Labour fussing over "5s and 6d." Actually, Cllr Eustace rather underestimated the value - it was rather closer to £300,000 or about 50 minutes of Tesco's profits.
Moving on, there was some discussion about changing the hours of the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Office, which will be open 3.5 days a week. It is clear that there will be different channels by which people will choose to access the Council's services - telephone and internet will be key - but there is still a need for face-to-face support and we have problems with allocating that at the moment. Responsibility for that part of the service falls within Cllr Paul Tilsley's (LD) purview at the moment and all is clearly not well on the happy ship of the Cabinet:
Coun Rudge continued: “An elderly person finding that they have got an appointment on the other side of the city would be horrified. The idea is to improve services, we must bear that in mind. I hope we can build improvements in as quickly as possible. This needs to be sorted out. There has to be enough understanding by those taking the calls not to send people to the other side of the city, unless they don’t mind.”
Responding to a claim by Labour councillor Peter Kane that elderly people in Kingstanding were being offered appointments “in three weeks time in Yardley”, Rudge replied: “The call centre doesn’t come under my portfolio. If it was my portfolio we wouldn’t be in that position.”
And just to make sure we understood where he was coming from, Coun Rudge added that he had expressed his views “quite strongly”
There was a brief report on the new Community First programme, which will bring in funding over a four year period - £84,775 to Acocks Green, £67,820 to Stechford & Yardley North, £33,910 to Sheldon and £152,595 to South Yardley (figures are for the full four years, not per year) which will be allocated to a 'Community First Panel' in each ward. These panels will have 4 to 8 members and come from the local community and have representation from the public, private and voluntary sectors (that seems a lot to get into just 8 people), allied to a 'panel partner' like a charity. An interesting idea, although just over £8000 a year in Sheldon seems rather limited, especially as the disbursement will range from £250 to £2500 and will have to be match funded (by money, time or resources) by the applicants.
We also had a briefing on the Shopping and Local Centres Draft Supplemental Planning Policy (a catchy title for an important document). This will set a course for centres like the Villlage or Fox Hollies in terms of the development that will be allowed and encouraged. For example, the proposal is that centres will be restricted to no more than 10% of the units being occupied by fast food outlets and changes of use that would increase that presence would be refused by the planning committee. Have a look and add your views here.
Then we came to the Community Chest allocations for the wards not blessed with Ward Committees. The Liberal Democrats have resisted spreading localised democracy and accountability to the other three wards in Yardley for some unfathomable reason, so decisions about community chest spending that Acocks Green is able - quite competently - to take locally have to be decided by the constituency committee. Oddly, now that their dominance in Yardley may be threatened - next year may bring enough Labour councillors to the committee, enough to threaten a constituency committee majority if a couple of Lib Dems are absent - they have decided that Fortress Sheldon can be entrusted with local decisions. Stechford and South Yardley are still excluded from this. They hold consultative meetings with local residents - meetings that do not have the legal power to take decisions.
While I happen to back the ward committee model, I'm happy to see some local engagement and to have those views represented to the constituency committee, but not to have those meetings take decisions. Clearly this is happening as only the bids approved by this consultative body are brought to the constituency committee for decision. Quite how councillors from outside the wards concerned can be expected to properly decide on these bids is a key point. That isn't to say that the bids brought forward are bad ones, nor that they would not be the successful ones in any case, but there is an important element of accountability here. The consultative meetings are not accountable and not allowed to make decisions. The constituency committee is, but is not being provided with full details of all the bids raised. I struggle to see how the councillors can possibly reasonably exercise their duties in terms of handing out public funds. Indeed, in relation to another matter, Cllr Eustace made a similar point about councillors being accountable for spending.
For a party that prides itself on open government, the mechanism in Yardley is heavily obscured.
Finally, there was a discussion on the boundary changes, which caused widespread concern amongst the councillors at the loss of Sheldon to Solihull (effectively wiping out whatever majority John Hemming thinks he might have in 2015). Still, this was their idea as part of the coalition government.
Police Ops in Acocks Green
Amazing what a bit of traffic work can deliver, isn't it? It has been known for some while that if a vehicle is stopped for no insurance or tax, there is a good chance that other offences will materialise.
Remember that accidents involving uninsured drivers hike the costs of insurance for everyone else, so the news that one day in Acocks Green took 7 cars off the road has to be good news for all drivers who pay their way. If the cars are not collected by an insured driver with proof that the tax has been paid, then they will be removed from the road permanently and delivered to the crusher. The police promise that this will happen across the winter, so the message to those who want to break the law and put others at risk has to be - the boys and girls in blue will be pulling you over for a quiet word.
Monday, November 28, 2011
Distraction Burglaries -
Acocks Green Police have reported a small number of distraction burglaries in the Pemberley Road, Fox Green Crescent & Edenbridge Rd areas. Please be aware of offenders posing as officials or passers-by asking for help. Don't be bullied or pressurised into letting people you do not know in to your house.
Local officers are out and about speaking to residents and handing out crime prevention information. Make sure you report any suspicious behaviour and if in doubt, keep them out!
Remember that genuine callers will carry identification and will normally make an appointment first.
Always put the chain on the door - make sure your back door is locked while you answer the front door.
Don't be afraid to ask them to wait while you check on their identity or to come back at another time. Genuine callers won't mind that - they won't be bothered if you close the door to allow you to check. If you have any suspicions - just don't let them in. And remember - report it by dialling 999 and tell your neighbours too.
Friday, November 04, 2011
Acocks Green Ward Committee - 2 Nov 2011
Just a quick update on the Acocks Green Ward Committee, held Wednesday night in Severne Road JI School and plunged into darkness on a number of occasions thanks to motion sensors controlling the lights. This is from notes and memory, so errors are possible, but not intentional.
The main agenda item was the proposal for a new Morrison's supermarket on the Denso site on Spring Road. This would include not only the supermarket, but also an Extra Care village and housing. There was a good turnout from Morrisons, Extra Care and the developers and they expect to bring the plans to committee before Christmas, with initial site works for the store starting in May or June 2012 with an eight month construction time. As one of the site occupants, AEC, is still to relocate to a new site on the Birmingham Business Park, the whole construction process for the three phases of the scheme is expected to take around three years.
This is planned to be a large format store and will include a petrol filling station. The Extra Care village will provide 278 units with a mix of residents - from those who need sheltered housing to those who need quite substantial support - as well as facilities available for the wider community. It is also hoped to bring back into use the derelict car park atop the railway line, as the developers have just agreed a lease with Network Rail. It was also made clear in the meeting that the development is essentially a package - the Extra Care Village's costs are reduced by the gains from the store development and that would seem to be critical to its viability.
As part of this development, there will need to be work done on the surrounding highways. In particular, the junction of Spring Road and Olton Boulevard East will be remodelled, changing the alignment of the road and installing traffic signal controls. Pedestrian crossings will be added to Spring Road, including a zebra crossing outside the station and a pedestrian refuge further down the road. This latter caused some concern from one of the residents present, who felt that it should be a proper, signal-controlled crossing and the developers seemed happy to take this on board. Given the volume of traffic you would expect down that road once the store opens, this seems entirely sensible and I think it is quite important that the store doesn't unintentionally discourage pedestrian access from the Yarnfield estate opposite by making the site effectively isolated. There will also be a dedicated right turn lane, although not signal controlled.
Morrisons are also promising a local labour agreement, which will require them to hire 90% of the employees from within a given radius around the site. Positively, this will apply not only to the store staff, but also to those employed on construction and in the Extra Care Village, which is expected to employ about 60 people by itself. As always with developer's promises, words are cheap - delivery is key.
I know that there are concerns from within Acocks Green about the likely effects on the Village and those worries need to be voiced within the planning process. The reality is that the forthcoming planning guidance from central government offers little wriggle room in the face of sustainable development proposals and this would seem to tick a whole range of boxes. The Asda plan for a retail park on the Eaton site on Reddings Lane has also appeared in recent weeks and this is interesting, but it seems unlikely that both will be developed.
Your thoughts on this would be welcome.
Elsewhere, Amey sent a representative along to talk lighting. They are currently replacing about 1000 lighting columns (not lamp posts) a month, which sounds a lot until you realise that Birmingham has 95,000 of the things currently, but will have around 80,000 when Amey have finished. Amey are carrying out letter drops where columns are to be resited and marking the pavement with yellow paint, including an indication of the height of the new column.
The new streetlights are all LEDs and this is long-lasting and highly energy efficient technology, which will reduce the electricity bill for street lighting by £1.8 million. Amey don't want to waste the light, so the lamps are designed not to cast light much more than 2-3 metres behind them, putting all the light where it needs to be. The aim on residential roads is to light from the footway edge to footway edge, not into front gardens. On more major 'traffic routes', then the lighting has to cover an area extending some 5 metres back from the roadway to ensure that drivers can see anybody approaching the road. Lamp posts are also being relocated to the edge of the footpath where they are currently sited by the road or to behind the verge where they are currently on a verge. This protects both the lights and careless drivers in accidents.
The poorly sited lights on Yardley Road were raised again at this meeting - there are a couple of newly relocated posts that are right in the middle of the footpath - and Amey undertook to look into it.
Other items of interest were two planning applications. One is yet another plan to redevelop the site at the end of Francis Road (search here for 2011/06797/PA), which had approval some while ago for redevelopment with flats and has a new application submitted for ten two-bedroom houses and a turning head, which will at least help deal with the access problems for emergency services, delivery and refuse vehicles. However, looking at the plans, the site is very cramped. A few of the homes will have postage stamp back yards and some won't even have those, with one having a back door opening virtually onto the canal. From discussions with residents over the last planning application, I know that they actually want the site brought into residential use and aren't resisting change for the sake of it - they want the environment improved.
Elsewhere, there is a proposal for land behind 230 Fox Hollies Road and Hazelwood Road, (search here for 2011/06865/PA) and effectively extending the relatively new housing development on Green Acres with an additional 12 properties. Again, this is likely to be approved, but the two middle properties are in an odd location out of keeping with the others.
Other than that, we had the usual routine items. Some more expenditure from the Community Chest - supporting the Christmas Lights up at Fox Hollies, although Springfield have declined to help out, so there won't be any on their side of the road!
Perhaps the key issue upon which to invite comments are the supermarket proposals. Thoughts?
Monday, March 15, 2010
Lib Dem Let Down (the story continues)
Liberal promises have a use-by date - 12 months at the outside.
Another matter raised at last week's Ward Committee meeting was the future of Acocks Green Library - a very busy library that is at the heart of the local community. Last March, the serving Liberal Democrat councillor promised those who attended the Constituency Committee meeting that money to be spent on that library would be spent on library facilities. No equivocation. It was rumoured at the time that the Neighbourhood Office was to be relocated within the library, but this was denied.
Last week, it was confirmed that the Neighbourhood Office is to be relocated from the current site in Botteville Road and into the library. At least six desks are to be sited in the library - probably in what is currently the children's section. Clearly, this will mean additional noise, a need for privacy for the users of the neighbourhood office function and will also place additional security considerations on the rest of the library, quite apart from the disruption caused by the required modifications.
Needless to say, the opposition has already kicked off - there's even a Facebook group dedicated to the campaign with well over 100 members. That's not bad for a community in just a few days and shows the depth of anger at the decision and the feelings that they have been let down.
Another matter raised at last week's Ward Committee meeting was the future of Acocks Green Library - a very busy library that is at the heart of the local community. Last March, the serving Liberal Democrat councillor promised those who attended the Constituency Committee meeting that money to be spent on that library would be spent on library facilities. No equivocation. It was rumoured at the time that the Neighbourhood Office was to be relocated within the library, but this was denied.
Last week, it was confirmed that the Neighbourhood Office is to be relocated from the current site in Botteville Road and into the library. At least six desks are to be sited in the library - probably in what is currently the children's section. Clearly, this will mean additional noise, a need for privacy for the users of the neighbourhood office function and will also place additional security considerations on the rest of the library, quite apart from the disruption caused by the required modifications.
Needless to say, the opposition has already kicked off - there's even a Facebook group dedicated to the campaign with well over 100 members. That's not bad for a community in just a few days and shows the depth of anger at the decision and the feelings that they have been let down.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Lib Dem Let Down
Last Wednesday's ward committee meeting in Acocks Green was slated as a brief affair - only a single, substantive item on the agenda to pass the Community Chest funding for the year. I was running a little late and fully expected to find the meeting on the verge of breaking up when I arrived around ten past seven.
I was amazed to find that there was only one spare seat - a contingent of ladies who all attend the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre to use the pool had turned up to hector the three Liberal councillors about the closure of the small cafe at the centre. They were angry and had even provided a petition, but this was to no avail - the decision to close was already made.
The claim is that the cafe is losing £50,000 a year, but this has to be set against the fact that a number of groups and clubs that currently use the centre's facilities may decide to relocate somewhere with more attractive facilities. It was pointed out that this has already happened in at least one case. The cafe is also a community facility in its own right - providing a place for these ladies to meet after their swimming session and have a quick, warming cuppa. My comrade, Stewart Stacey, pointed out that this was rather similar to the status of the buffet cars on British Rail. The management in that industry wanted to get rid of them, because they consistently lost money, but when the cars were removed, they found that this cost more in lost ticket sales than it cost to maintain the service. It is a loss leader to encourage use of the centre - all the more important now that Sparkhill Baths are closed for the next two to three years and Fox Hollies should be well-placed to take advantage of that business.
Cllr Harmer said that there was no alternative - that the money had to be saved to allow the setting of a balanced budget (quite how the constituency will achieve that this year, given that they are well over £600,000 over budget at the end of the third quarter of 09/10, isn't clear). Perhaps if some £90,000 wasn't being spent on a former Sun hack to spin for the discredited management of the Children's department, there might be more cash to be spent. Or perhaps some of the millions spent on consultants by Birmingham City Council might have been better spent on services.
I fear that this will be death by a thousand cuts - that gradually, other items of the centre might be closed because of falling attendance, rather than attempts be made to run it properly, to advertise it and to generate business.
I was amazed to find that there was only one spare seat - a contingent of ladies who all attend the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre to use the pool had turned up to hector the three Liberal councillors about the closure of the small cafe at the centre. They were angry and had even provided a petition, but this was to no avail - the decision to close was already made.
The claim is that the cafe is losing £50,000 a year, but this has to be set against the fact that a number of groups and clubs that currently use the centre's facilities may decide to relocate somewhere with more attractive facilities. It was pointed out that this has already happened in at least one case. The cafe is also a community facility in its own right - providing a place for these ladies to meet after their swimming session and have a quick, warming cuppa. My comrade, Stewart Stacey, pointed out that this was rather similar to the status of the buffet cars on British Rail. The management in that industry wanted to get rid of them, because they consistently lost money, but when the cars were removed, they found that this cost more in lost ticket sales than it cost to maintain the service. It is a loss leader to encourage use of the centre - all the more important now that Sparkhill Baths are closed for the next two to three years and Fox Hollies should be well-placed to take advantage of that business.
Cllr Harmer said that there was no alternative - that the money had to be saved to allow the setting of a balanced budget (quite how the constituency will achieve that this year, given that they are well over £600,000 over budget at the end of the third quarter of 09/10, isn't clear). Perhaps if some £90,000 wasn't being spent on a former Sun hack to spin for the discredited management of the Children's department, there might be more cash to be spent. Or perhaps some of the millions spent on consultants by Birmingham City Council might have been better spent on services.
I fear that this will be death by a thousand cuts - that gradually, other items of the centre might be closed because of falling attendance, rather than attempts be made to run it properly, to advertise it and to generate business.
Liberal Democrat Lie
Accusing a party of telling a direct lie is not something I do easily or happily, but the Liberal Democrats in Yardley are distributing a full colour, A3 leaflet that includes a direct and demonstrable lie.
It may not mean much to them, but it is an absolute untruth to accuse the Labour Party of not campaigning in Acocks Green - for that is where this leaflet is being distributed, although I have no reason to believe that it is not being distributed elsewhere in the constituency.
We have campaigned since 2005 - I've run three campaigns myself since then. The councillor retiring in Acocks Green this year, Cllr Iain Bowen, will certainly recall the 2006 campaign when a small team helped me halve his majority. Much as I like Iain personally, we're putting up a fight to unseat him this year. We campaigned again in 2007 and 2008, campaigning also on behalf of Labour's team in the European parliament. A very successful campaign has been run to save the libraries in Yardley Constituency and we also fought to preserve the 41 bus route (John Hemming has copies of our leaflet, since he posted them on the Stirrer some weeks ago).
Sadly, we don't have the benefit of the £250k coming into the pockets of councillors, cabinet members and an MP, let alone Hemming's millions, so we have to find the money to fund our own campaigns and can't run to paid deliveries.
Perhaps the Liberal Democrats have spent too much time with their Conservative mates and are learning how to airbrush history, rather than just photographs.
Sunday, March 07, 2010
Countdown and out
Those who can do, those who can't, teach and those who can't teach become Tory education ministers. Question Time this week saw a car crash of a performance from Carol Vorderman, when she was thoroughly outclassed by those around her and her 'independent' voice was exposed as a sham. Unqualified to serve as a teacher under a Tory government, she relied on reading her crib notes - wonder who briefed her? - and independently took shots only at Labour throughout the show.
Gaby Hinsliff watched the show as well
Gaby Hinsliff watched the show as well
Chatty Carol, the lovable whizz with a whiteboard, metamorphasised before the Question Time audience into a malfunctioning robot apparently programmed by a shock jock. Smoke billowed from her wiring as she veered between shrill (on the public's apparent right to hunt down Jon Venables) and hesitant (whenever she lost her place in her cribnotes). By the time they got on to Iraq, the whiff of melting circuitry filled the studio.
Thursday, February 04, 2010
No Go to Conservation Area in Acocks Green
People in Acocks Green have been stunned and angered by a decision to delay plans to establish a conservation area to preserve the historic appearance of parts of Acocks Green.
Only a few months ago, the Liberal Democrat councillors promised that work to set this up would start within six months, but it has been revealed that it hasn't even been scheduled with the conservation team at the City Council, who currently have their work planned out for the next eighteen months.
It was further revealed that even this work is under threat as the conservation department's experienced manager is retiring and not being replaces and further job cuts are on the horizon.
So, as it stands, a promise made by the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Cllr Neville Summerfield, at a meeting with interested parties in Acocks Green, will not be delivered. Given that the Liberal Democrats are allied with the Conservatives to run the City Council, it is a measure of their unimportance that breaking a promise is taken so lightly.
Only a few months ago, the Liberal Democrat councillors promised that work to set this up would start within six months, but it has been revealed that it hasn't even been scheduled with the conservation team at the City Council, who currently have their work planned out for the next eighteen months.
It was further revealed that even this work is under threat as the conservation department's experienced manager is retiring and not being replaces and further job cuts are on the horizon.
So, as it stands, a promise made by the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Cllr Neville Summerfield, at a meeting with interested parties in Acocks Green, will not be delivered. Given that the Liberal Democrats are allied with the Conservatives to run the City Council, it is a measure of their unimportance that breaking a promise is taken so lightly.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Financial Woes
A very interesting meeting. So interesting that Cllr Paul Tilsley spent most of his time working through the emails on his Blackberry, although I'm sure that he was keeping an ear on the discussions.
First up was the financial situation across the constituency. The councillors sat there, impassive and silent, while an officer ran through the report, which was a pile of bad news. This bad news actually dates from last September, as the data has - apparently - not been available until now. Quite how anyone is supposed to manage the constituency without current financial data is entirely beyond me and I simply don't believe that these figures weren't available earlier. The quarter 2 data apparently indicates a forecast overspend at year end (that's the end of March 2010) of £564,000, but this seriously understates the position, because the budget reconciliation is based upon 'efficiencies' of £364,000 being delivered by the end of the year. Given that at the end of September, a grand total of £0 had been delivered and that the councillors failed to deliver £118,000 in 2008/09, the signs aren't good. This means that the true end of year position is likely to be somewhere north of £920,000 - an overspend against locally managed services of some 20%.
I did ask - just as I did at the last financial reporting session - for some details about how these savings are to be achieved, but no answer was forthcoming, either from the officer or his elected masters, who left him to struggle bravely, supporting him by remaining silent. Some of this overspend has been gifted to Yardley from the centre, as no allowance was made for the costs of retrospective appeals against the outcome of the Pay and Grading exercise. Cllr Whorwood tried to shift the blame for these costs by saying that it would have been cheaper if done earlier, but this ignores the simple facts that the process was flawed and some additional costs should have been factored in from the start. Basic business practice would dictate that, but such was the confidence in the process from the very top that it was thought unnecessary. In any case, only a small part of the overspend relates to Pay and Grading.
The only information available is that £177,000 has apparently been earmarked for recovery against 'general efficiencies.' However, only £52,000 has actually been saved and that is 'not fully in place.' The remaining £125,000 is classified as 'one off savings in place for 2009/10', but it is actually coming from the 'Constituency Investment Fund.' That sounds like a good idea - we need some investment in our constituency, but I suspect that this grand name is actually a cover for the use of central council reserves to try to cover up the failures of the Regressive Partnership. A similar funding solution has been employed in Hall Green, where the Liberal Democrats in charge face swingeing cuts to try and cover a deficit of £1.8 million - comprised of a history of years of overspending and failure to meet savings targets. The short version is that this £125k isn't an efficiency saving, but an additional chunk of funding from the centre that has been dressed up to look like efficiency.
There are also problems incurred through the 'Customer First' scheme, which is running late and has therefore failed to deliver the forecast savings within this year, so these will have to be found from somewhere else. It isn't clear who is to blame for this delay or whether any of those costs can be contractually recovered, but Yardley will pay the price in the immediate term.
And there is more. The officer presenting the budget tonight let slip that the figures for the third quarter actually show a further deterioration in performance.
According to Paul Dale, underperforming council officers can expect to face meetings with Cllr Tilsley which will be as painful as having teeth pulled without anaesthetic. Perhaps he should start closer to home.
First up was the financial situation across the constituency. The councillors sat there, impassive and silent, while an officer ran through the report, which was a pile of bad news. This bad news actually dates from last September, as the data has - apparently - not been available until now. Quite how anyone is supposed to manage the constituency without current financial data is entirely beyond me and I simply don't believe that these figures weren't available earlier. The quarter 2 data apparently indicates a forecast overspend at year end (that's the end of March 2010) of £564,000, but this seriously understates the position, because the budget reconciliation is based upon 'efficiencies' of £364,000 being delivered by the end of the year. Given that at the end of September, a grand total of £0 had been delivered and that the councillors failed to deliver £118,000 in 2008/09, the signs aren't good. This means that the true end of year position is likely to be somewhere north of £920,000 - an overspend against locally managed services of some 20%.
I did ask - just as I did at the last financial reporting session - for some details about how these savings are to be achieved, but no answer was forthcoming, either from the officer or his elected masters, who left him to struggle bravely, supporting him by remaining silent. Some of this overspend has been gifted to Yardley from the centre, as no allowance was made for the costs of retrospective appeals against the outcome of the Pay and Grading exercise. Cllr Whorwood tried to shift the blame for these costs by saying that it would have been cheaper if done earlier, but this ignores the simple facts that the process was flawed and some additional costs should have been factored in from the start. Basic business practice would dictate that, but such was the confidence in the process from the very top that it was thought unnecessary. In any case, only a small part of the overspend relates to Pay and Grading.
The only information available is that £177,000 has apparently been earmarked for recovery against 'general efficiencies.' However, only £52,000 has actually been saved and that is 'not fully in place.' The remaining £125,000 is classified as 'one off savings in place for 2009/10', but it is actually coming from the 'Constituency Investment Fund.' That sounds like a good idea - we need some investment in our constituency, but I suspect that this grand name is actually a cover for the use of central council reserves to try to cover up the failures of the Regressive Partnership. A similar funding solution has been employed in Hall Green, where the Liberal Democrats in charge face swingeing cuts to try and cover a deficit of £1.8 million - comprised of a history of years of overspending and failure to meet savings targets. The short version is that this £125k isn't an efficiency saving, but an additional chunk of funding from the centre that has been dressed up to look like efficiency.
There are also problems incurred through the 'Customer First' scheme, which is running late and has therefore failed to deliver the forecast savings within this year, so these will have to be found from somewhere else. It isn't clear who is to blame for this delay or whether any of those costs can be contractually recovered, but Yardley will pay the price in the immediate term.
And there is more. The officer presenting the budget tonight let slip that the figures for the third quarter actually show a further deterioration in performance.
According to Paul Dale, underperforming council officers can expect to face meetings with Cllr Tilsley which will be as painful as having teeth pulled without anaesthetic. Perhaps he should start closer to home.
Labour government supports expansion of Yardley schools
Tonight's constituency committee meeting was more revealing than I expected.
As part of a briefing on school place appeals, it was revealed that the government has agreed to pump £24 million into Birmingham's schools to fund additional places, money which has to be matched by Birmingham.
What does this mean for Yardley?
Currently, it is planned to have 60 additional places available by September this year by deploying mobile classrooms, with 1365 additional places promised by 2012 in Yardley alone.
That has to be good news and I hope that the City Council delivers, given the support that they have had from the Labour government.
As part of a briefing on school place appeals, it was revealed that the government has agreed to pump £24 million into Birmingham's schools to fund additional places, money which has to be matched by Birmingham.
What does this mean for Yardley?
Currently, it is planned to have 60 additional places available by September this year by deploying mobile classrooms, with 1365 additional places promised by 2012 in Yardley alone.
That has to be good news and I hope that the City Council delivers, given the support that they have had from the Labour government.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Community Unity
Another great community gathering this weekend - the major communities of Acocks Green were well-represented for a multi-cultural celebration under the banner of Community Unity. The mosque sent along a group to sing and the Poles had a choir and a talented young musician as well, there was face-painting, mendhi painting and acres of food to serve all tastes. This event has been organised for the past few years and is always well attended. A certain Father Christmas even put in an appearance as well.
Friday, December 04, 2009
Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum
Interesting meeting at the Acocks Green Neighbourhood Forum yesterday.
The key speaker was from Birmingham Friends of the Earth and he spoke about their campaign to have a blanket 20mph speed limit on all residential roads in the City. This would exclude any roads classified as A or B, but would impose new limits on all others and this could be done by the City Council making a traffic order, as a number of others already have - Portsmouth being a good example of current practice, with Bristol running a trial. Even the GLA have investigated the idea for London.
I don't think anyone expects that just because the limit is reduced, that drivers will change their habits overnight, but this is more about changing mindsets over a period of time, although a report by the Transport Research Laboratory indicates that just changing the limit by itself reduces the overall average speed by around 2mph and cutting accidents by 5-10%. Adding in traffic calming measures as well cuts accidents by around 60%, but this also comes at a significant cost in street work.
There were a number of concerns raised by bus users and drivers whose business keeps them mainly on residential streets and these would need to be addressed. It was pointed out that smoother running often increases average travel speeds, even if the peak speed is reduced - the idea behind the traffic management system on the M42 is an example, where they intentionally reduce the speeds of all vehicles to stop bunching and stop/start travels. I suspect that a blanket 20mph might cause problems on bus routes, but I do think that this an idea worth considering for the vast majority of Birmingham's residential streets. We'd certainly be the biggest authority to implement this and I think that it is certainly worth further investigation.
The police were there and reported that action had been taken following a disturbance in Cypress Square back in September and that four people have been charged and bailed pending a court appearance. Sgt Mirams also explained that while they had been called to Pinfold House following reports of a break-in, as the witness couldn't confirm that the people found on the premises had actually forced entry, the incident had to be put down to trespass and the matter was closed. The police have visited the homes of the young people found on the premises as a follow-up measure. They also put out a plea for friends to join them on Facebook! A concern was raised by a member of the public about inconsiderate parking at the junction of Douglas Road and Dalston Road. They also confirmed that early next year, the police operational boundaries will be redrawn to coincide with the political ward boundaries, which will make joined-up working that much easier.
The key speaker was from Birmingham Friends of the Earth and he spoke about their campaign to have a blanket 20mph speed limit on all residential roads in the City. This would exclude any roads classified as A or B, but would impose new limits on all others and this could be done by the City Council making a traffic order, as a number of others already have - Portsmouth being a good example of current practice, with Bristol running a trial. Even the GLA have investigated the idea for London.
I don't think anyone expects that just because the limit is reduced, that drivers will change their habits overnight, but this is more about changing mindsets over a period of time, although a report by the Transport Research Laboratory indicates that just changing the limit by itself reduces the overall average speed by around 2mph and cutting accidents by 5-10%. Adding in traffic calming measures as well cuts accidents by around 60%, but this also comes at a significant cost in street work.
There were a number of concerns raised by bus users and drivers whose business keeps them mainly on residential streets and these would need to be addressed. It was pointed out that smoother running often increases average travel speeds, even if the peak speed is reduced - the idea behind the traffic management system on the M42 is an example, where they intentionally reduce the speeds of all vehicles to stop bunching and stop/start travels. I suspect that a blanket 20mph might cause problems on bus routes, but I do think that this an idea worth considering for the vast majority of Birmingham's residential streets. We'd certainly be the biggest authority to implement this and I think that it is certainly worth further investigation.
The police were there and reported that action had been taken following a disturbance in Cypress Square back in September and that four people have been charged and bailed pending a court appearance. Sgt Mirams also explained that while they had been called to Pinfold House following reports of a break-in, as the witness couldn't confirm that the people found on the premises had actually forced entry, the incident had to be put down to trespass and the matter was closed. The police have visited the homes of the young people found on the premises as a follow-up measure. They also put out a plea for friends to join them on Facebook! A concern was raised by a member of the public about inconsiderate parking at the junction of Douglas Road and Dalston Road. They also confirmed that early next year, the police operational boundaries will be redrawn to coincide with the political ward boundaries, which will make joined-up working that much easier.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Back again for Christmas
It has been a little while since I've posted (real life has got in the way), so time to resurrect the blog.
Tuesday saw the switching on of the Christmas lights in Acocks Green (not Winterval) and the event was pretty well attended, with the local schools providing an ad hoc choir and the Inn on the Green providing the venue, with financial support from dozens of local traders, organisations and Council funding as well. There was a slight delay when the magic plunger was pressed by Ray Newton, one of those local residents who has served the community in various voluntary roles for years and deserves greater recognition for his fine service, but somebody found 50p for the meter and the lights flickered into life.
Still - could have been worse. At least Martin Mullaney didn't organise it.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
"I warn you not to grow old"
To quote a fine leader of our party. He was speaking of a Conservative victory and not of the Regressive Partnership that is getting down to work dismantling the role of the City Council and reducing it to little more than a parish council talking shop, but his words ring true today.
The first piece of 'good news' comes as an advance leak from the Cabinet meeting planned for next Monday, which will see a recommendation backed by Cllr Sue Anderson - the Cabinet Member for Adults and Communities - that Birmingham City Council should cease to supply hot meals on wheels to the elderly and vulnerable by 2012 and must push all those who currently receive a delivery of pre-packed frozen meals off to private providers by 2010.
Naturally, this is being spun as anything but a cost-cutting measure. Heaven forbid that anyone would dare suggest it. This is about improving choice. Forget the data in the report submitted to Cabinet that the frozen and hot services both enjoy approval ratings of 94% and 88% amongst their customers and that the proposed option is the least popular amongst current users. Forget the focus group data quoted in the same report:
The focus groups held indicated that service users were generally content with the ‘Meals on Wheels’ Service currently being provided by ‘Meals Direct’. Some worrying factors arose from the groups in response to the question ‘what would the implications be for you if there were no ‘Meals on Wheels’ service?’. Service users made comments such as ‘My family would be very concerned’, ’I would worry’, ‘I would go hungry or try to cook for myself’.
This has nothing at all to do with improving choice. A problem was highlighted with supplying BME customers with appropriate food options, but that is hardly insurmountable. Of far greater importance was the increasingly urgent need to spend £140k on repairs and maintenance to the Cook Freeze Centre.
Should we be surprised by this? Not really, given that a leaflet distributed across 45,000 Yardley homes by the Liberal Democrats - complete with a picture of Cllr Anderson on the front - came with a recommendation from their MP and councillors to choose a specific private sector supplier and no mention of the City Council at all.
That's how much faith Cllr Anderson has in her own department.
That's how much faith Cllr Anderson has in her own department. This private supplier apparently charges £20 for five frozen meals including dessert, compared to the £12 charged by the City Council for five meals - a whopping 66% increase in costs. For only £16, five hot meals are provided. To put that into perspective, that means an annual cost of £1460 for a daily frozen meal provided by this company, as opposed to £876 through the City Council - a thumping £584 annual extra bill for the elderly.
That doesn't take into account the vital daily contact offered by the Meals Direct service - often this can be the only contact an elderly person may have during the day. Incidentally, this supplier doesn't appear to offer much, in the way of ethnically-appropriate meals, unlike the range available from Meals Direct.
This is nothing to do with increasing choice. This is about cost-cutting - another of those inaptly named 'Business Transformation efficiencies' and it will end up costing these service users more.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Coincidence
Sometimes, it takes a while for mainstream media to pick up on local issues. Acocks Green Labour Party campaign leaflet, 2006
Birmingham Mail, 25 July 2008.
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Carnival Time Again
It didn't seem too good this morning, with darkened skies and the rain lashing the windows, but the gloom lifted enough to give us a few hours of sunshine and blue skies. As usual, the Labour Party in Acocks Green turned out to run a small stall and the visitors were quite positive about us and we did a good trade in our games, including a Guess the Weight of the Cake competition. 
As today marks the 60th birthday of the National Health Service, my wife produced this doctor's bag laden with equipment and medicine for the stall.
We'd barely set up the stall in the shade of the trees when our first customer hove into view. You know, I'm sure I've met him somewhere else before. Ironic really, that John Hemming's shiny pound will go towards the costs of ejecting him at the next election. His guess, of 2lbs (everybody made their suggestions in imperial measurements) was way out, as the actual weight was just under 2 lb 13 oz and the winner now has her cake.
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