West Midlands Fire Service Consultation

The fire service are consulting on their future model of operations - what response times they should set, what their priorities should be, how they should respond to incidents and whether they should continue to prioritise road traffic collision reduction.

They want your views, so you can either watch the videos and comment online or you can complete a paper version and return it for their consideration.

Do have a look.

Planning Applications to 15 December 2012

Nothing last week, but one this week. 

2012/08246/PA - 14 Starcross Road
Erection of detached outbuilding to rear. 

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Budget Consultation 2013

Tonight sees the last of the public meetings as part of the consultation process for the 2013/14 budget for Birmingham City Council. It will be held in Committee Room 3 & 4 in the Council House and the public are welcome. I've been to two of the three so far and they've been lively affairs, but generally well-ordered. We've heard the detail from Albert and the cabinet team, who have answered questions from the floor and spent far more time than was originally allocated to ensure that all those who want to speak get the chance.

Incidentally, if you miss the meeting, there will be a webchat with Sir Albert on Wednesday 19 December from 6:30pm to 7:30pm on twitter using the hashtag #askalbert. Even after that, you can send your comments to budget_views@birmingham.gov.uk or write to Budget Views, Room 127, Council House, Victoria Square, Birmingham B1 1BB.

Youth services and support for the disabled are key issues that keep being brought up. For those that doubt the importance of consultation, Cllr Ian Ward revealed that the consultation into the Council Tax Benefit scheme that we have to introduce next year has raised some important issues and he is minded to adjust our proposal to ensure that the disabled are protected, even if they are moved off Disability Living Allowance onto Employment Support Allowance and he is also looking to protect carers as well. Both of those are directly attributable to responses received from the consultation process.

One thing that comes up time and time again is a demand that we set an illegal budget, as Liverpool did in the 80s - where we plan to spend more than we actually receive.

Councillors can no longer be personally surcharged or jailed for setting an illegal budget. Actually, if that was all it took to sort this, there are several in the Labour Group who would accept it with equanimity, but that isn't the reality. While the council can move small amounts around between years to deal with events, it isn't legal for it to set a deficit budget that spends more than it brings in. The council could set a budget that was in deficit, but the chief finance officer (acting under s114 of the Local Government Finance Act 1988 - after the Tories got wise to that trick) would refuse to sign it off. Thereafter, the council would be unable to incur any expenditure, enter into any new contracts or collect any council tax until a lawful budget was set. Services in Birmingham would actually cease to be delivered fairly rapidly. Ultimately, if the council still refused to set a budget, the Department of Communities and Local Government would send in a small team to consult with officers and agree a plan of action, which would result in a budget being set solely to meet financial demands, with no thought for services. As the council had not been able to collect council tax, this would lead to a further shortfall in our budget, meaning deeper cuts still.

I do not believe that residents in Birmingham would thank any council for playing that sort of political game and it would be a dereliction of duty on our part to play it.

Who would you rather take decisions about services that affect you - Pickles' Whitehall mob or your local councillors?

All those who cite Liverpool as an example should remember exactly what concessions the government made when faced with that stand in 1985 when the authority refused to set a budget. Nothing. Not one iota. Just as Gove is spoiling for a fight with the teachers to prove his muscularity, so Pickles would relish putting the boot into Birmingham. We know where it ends - which is why I've included the clip from Neil Kinnock's magnificent 1985 conference speech.

We're taking enough of a beating from this government already. A deficit budget would not work and would actually damage the services that this council is trying to protect.

We were elected in May to run this city and we'll do just that. The budget envelope within which we have to work is not sufficient for the needs of Birmingham, but that is not the fault of this council, but the fault of the Tory and Liberal Democrat government that sets that envelope.

We just have to do the best we can with what we have.

Acocks Green Library Update

Just to let people know - the temporary closure has been delayed for the time being as the contractor isn't ready to start work yet.

Birmingham's Christmas Rubbish Collections

There will be no collections on either Christmas Day or Boxing Day. 

If you are scheduled to have a black bag collection on  25 December, your next collection will be on Tuesday 1 January 2013. Any recycling collection planned for Christmas Day will be completed on Tuesday 8 January.

If you are down for a bin collection on 26 December, the collection will be made on Wednesday 2 January 2013. Any recycling collection scheduled for Boxing Day will be made on Wednesday 9 January.

There shouldn't be any Tuesday collections in Acocks Green - that's the 'fallow' day in this ward, but there are a number of Wednesday collections - including one in my own road.

Please remember that green waste collections are now in their usual mid-winter suspension until the 25 February 2013. 

Don't forget that our Household Recyling Centres - including the one at Tyseley - are open as usual each day (except Christmas Day and Boxing Day) from 8am to 6pm weekdays and 8am to 4:30pm at weekends if you have any recycling that you want to dispose of in between collections.

Also, the police do advise that you don't tempt thieves by leaving identifiable packaging visible outside your home. Take it to the recycling centre if you possibly can.

Temporary Library Closure from 31 December

Acocks Green Library will close for essential roof repairs on the 31 December 2012. There will be a short hand over period to the builders and work is due to start on the 7th January, with a planned reopening date in early April 2013. Stewart and I will both be keeping a close eye on the works, as when South Yardley library closed for repairs, it took eighteen months to reopen.

Sadly, we've been unable to secure an alternative local site in the meantime, despite some very hard work by the officers and local groups, but we will be able to offer additional opening hours at South Yardley library, just a short hop away on the 11 bus towards the Swan Island.

PLANNED SOUTH YARDLEY LIBRARY OPENING HOURS 
Mon - 9am - 7pm (extended)
Tue - 9am - 5pm
Wed - 9am - 5pm (new)
Thu - 9am - 7pm
Fri - 9am - 5pm
Sat - 9am - 5pm

These should apply from when the library reopens after the New Year holidays until services transfer back to Acocks Green, when normal hours will resume.

If there are any further updates, I'll let everyone know.

EDIT: The closure and repairs have been delayed as the contractors won't be ready in time. More when I get it.

Upcycle your unwanted bike with Gear Up

I ran across Gear Up at the Sheldon Country Park festival this summer. They are one of several around the city and a small team of unemployed young people have got together to form a social enterprise to repair 'pre-loved' bikes for resale. Along the way, one of them has acquired the skills to be a Cytech Level 2 mechanic.

They are running low on stock, so would welcome any donations. You can either drop them off at the Hub on Bromford Drive or contact them on 0121 448 3739 or Melanie Glass by email on gearup (at) worthunlimited.co.uk to arrange collection.

Well worth supporting them.

Budget Consultation

If you remember, Albert Bore stunned the media a few weeks back stating that this government was engineering the end of local government as we have come to know it.

We're currently consulting on next year's budget and we need your views.

The Tory and Liberal Democrat government are forcing us to make £110 million of cuts to our services this year. Unlike previous years, it won't be officers pushed out to justify political decisions - the Labour Cabinet will be at these meetings to hear your views and explain the choices ahead.

The next few years will be difficult, to put it mildly. The cuts that we can see coming down the line from the government will slice almost half of the money that we can actually choose how it is spent. That has to impact our services and all we can do is try to minimise the impact on those most in need.

Travel details:

Erdington Baptist Church - Wood End Road, Erdington, B24 8AD

Rail: Erdington Station                                  Bus: 11, 25, 88, 167, 168, 638, 966, 966a

http://www.erd6waysbc.org/where.php

South Yardley Library - Yardley Rd, B25 8LT

Rail: Acocks Green Station                           Bus: 11, 58, 59, 59A, 60, 900, 957

www.birmingham.gov.uk/southyardleylibrary

Friends Meeting House, Cotteridge - 23a Watford Rd, B30

Rail: Kings Norton Station                            Bus: 11, 18, 45, 47, 48, 49, 84, 145, 146http://www.centralenglandquakers.org.uk/web/local-meetings/cotteridge

Committee Rooms 3 and 4 - The Council House, Victoria Square, B1 1BB

All rail and bus routes into the city centrewww.birmingham.gov.uk/council-house 

Snaglist

A little bit of good news for the poor residents on Tyseley Lane who complained about the awful noise caused by an ill-fitting drain cover on the Warwick Road. Amey were out today reconstructing it and have now resolved the problem - so that means that the residents should get a good night's sleep tonight. I was lucky enough to run into them at the Yarnfield police meeting, so was able to share the good news with them. It has taken some nagging at Amey to get this sorted.

Lighting Columns to be Fixed
Three along Warwick Road, one on Dolphin Lane, one on Flint Green Road

Gulleys to be cleared
Spring Road, Onslow Road by the junction with Tyseley Lane

Diary Date - Full Council

Full Council
Tuesday 4 December 2012 - 2pm
Council Chamber - streamed live too.

Key agenda items:

• Question time
• Public questions to any cabinet member or district committee chair
• Questions from any councillor to a committee chair or lead member of a joint board
• Questions from councillors other than cabinet members to a cabinet member
• Questions from councillors other than cabinet members to the leader or deputy leader
• Review of City Council's Constitution
• Gambling Act 2005 - Statement of Licensing Principles
• Reports of Overview & Scrutiny Committees
• Closing the skills gap
• Adults with autism and the criminal justice system
• Motions for debate

Planning Applications to 1 Dec 2012

And a bit more calm this week with just two. 

2012/07652/PA - 71 Arden Road
Erection of single storey rear extension

2012/07868/PA - 19 Fox Green Crescent
Erection of two storey side and rear extension and single storey rear and forward extensions. 

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Planning Applications to 24 November 2012

A Christmas planning rush!

2012/07043/PA - 1073 Warwick Road
Change of use of first and second floor from dwelling use (C3) to beauty salon (Sui Generis).
'Sui generis' classes are those that don't fit into the usual range of classes listed here.

2012/07688/PA - The Oaklands Primary School, Dolphin Lane
Erection of two storey extension to accommodate 6 no. classrooms and associated external works (this is to allow the expansion of the school to cope with the increase in school age children. 

2012/07821/PA - 1091 Warwick Road
Erection of conservatory to front & single storey rear extension, installation of staircase to rear

2012/07754/PA - 122 Westley Road (land at rear)
Erection of 1 no. 3 bedroom detached dwelling house

2012/07692/PA - 56 Mayfield Road, Tyseley
Erection of single storey rear extension

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Snaglist

Odds and ends to be fixed:

Overton Road, Warwick Road, Severne Road, Francis Road
Failed or faulty lighting columns to be fixed

Acocks Green
Two Christmas lighting panels to be repaired.

Oxford Road
Damaged illuminated bollard to be refixed.

Warwick Road/Tyseley Lane
Severn Trent access cover clanking whenever drivers pass over. Sounds like nothing, but this is a busy road and the closest neighbours are being kept awake with the noise. I'm on the case with Amey who recently resurfaced the road.

Olton Boulevard East
Tree pruning ongoing here - this is completing work that should have been done in the Spring. It has largely been done, but will be finished soon. I'm keeping an eye on this one.

Warwick Road, Shirley Road bus shelter, Acocks Green School - Westley Road
Offensive graffiti and it all looks to have been done by the same aerosol warrior who has done it elsewhere. Now removed.

On with the lights

And a week after the city centre lights went on - complete with camels and the Lord Mayor in a sleigh - Acocks Green switched on its lights, with Black Country comic Lizzie Wiggins doing the honours.

Christmas really does seem to get earlier every year.

There are some more pictures over at the Acocks Green Focus Group.

The Farmers' Market seemed to be back up close to strength this month after a quiet October.

Diary Date - Yardley District Committee - 22 Nov

Yardley District Committee
Thursday 22 November 2012
2pm - Committee Room 1, Council House

Key items of interest (check the agenda below for full list):

• Adult education service
• Housing repairs performance report
• Revenue budget monitoring (April to October)
• Birmingham Development Plan - consultation on growth options
• Update from Amey

This is a public meeting and the chair has the option to allow members of the public to speak. Sadly, this meeting isn't going to be streamed on the web as we've yet to get the committee rooms set up to do that. Hopefully that will not be the case in the near future. 

Planning Applications to 17 November 2012

Another week with just a single application - possibly more controversial

2012/07602/PA - 17 Shirley Road

Change of use from vacant unit to amusement arcade (use class sui generis)

'Sui generis' classes are those that don't fit into the usual range of classes listed here.


You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Police & Crime Commissioner results - Yardley

For those interested, here are the figures for Birmingham Yardley's four wards. Labour won all four, with the LibDems pushed back into fourth place in both Acocks Green and - shockingly - their fortress of Sheldon. This can't be good news for either their councillors or the current MP, John Hemming.

Acocks Green
Bennett (Con)         222      10.9%
Etheridge (UKIP)   112       5.5%
Hannon (Ind)          314      15.4%
Jones (Lab)            936       46.0%
Khan (LD)             206       10.2%
Rumble (Ind)          90         4.4%
Webley (Ind)          152       7.5%

Spoilt                      57         2.7% of all votes cast (incl invalid)
Turnout                               10.2%

South Yardley
Bennett (Con)         257     10.7%
Etheridge (UKIP)   137      5.7%
Hannon (Ind)          261      10.9%
Jones (Lab)            1009     42.2%
Khan (LD)             503       21.0%
Rumble (Ind)          89         3.7%
Webley (Ind)          136       5.7%


Spoilt                      77         3.1% of all votes cast (incl invalid)
Turnout                               11.6%

Stechford and Yardley North
Bennett (Con)         209      11.1%      
Etheridge (UKIP)   193       10.3%
Hannon (Ind)          261       12.3%
Jones (Lab)            667       35.5%
Khan (LD)             332       17.7%
Rumble (Ind)          89         4.7%
Webley (Ind)          157       8.4%


Spoilt                      48         2.5% of all votes cast (incl invalid)
Turnout                               10.4%

Sheldon
Bennett (Con)        254      15.8%
Etheridge (UKIP)   150      9.3%
Hannon (Ind)          326      20.3%
Jones (Lab)            427      26.6%
Khan (LD)             234      14.6%
Rumble (Ind)          98        6.1%
Webley (Ind)         119       7.4%


Spoilt                      41        2.5% of all votes cast (incl invalid)
Turnout                               10.0%

Yardley Constituency
Bennett (Con)         942     11.9%
Etheridge (UKIP)   592      7.5%
Hannon (Ind)          1133    14.3%
Jones (Lab)            3039     38.4%
Khan (LD)             1277     16.1%
Rumble (Ind)          90         4.6%
Webley (Ind)          152       7.1%

Spoilt                      223       2.7% of all votes cast (incl invalid)
Turnout                               10.6%

And so the white smoke did rise from the ICC...

The West Midlands elected its first Police and Crime Commissioner and it has got a good one. Bob's got a great deal of experience dealing with the police, but he's also a decent, down to earth person and there was nobody else on the list who - despite my party allegiance - came anywhere close to being up to his standards.

He's got a tough job ahead of him, though - he's now the Head of Blame for crime in the West Midlands. Never mind that the biggest chunk of his budget comes from the Home Office - the police precept that we pay with our council tax only makes up 14% of the total spent on policing in the West Midlands and would have had to rise in total by over 40% last year to cover the cuts imposed by central government. From now on, though, the government will have a defence to criticism - they will point to your Police & Crime Commissioner as the person to hold to account.

The election itself saw a record low turnout, which the Prime Minister blamed on the public 

the turnout was always going to be low, when you're electing a new post for the first time

Oddly, the people of London weren't used to voting for a mayor in 2000, but 34% of them turned out. In Stoke in 2002, 24% of the electorate made it to the polls for their inaugural mayoral election and  28% of the people of Bristol turned out this Thursday to vote for their first mayor. A national turnout of 15% indicates something is seriously wrong with the policy that has led us to this. Even Conor Burns, Conservative MP in Bournemouth, was moved to tweet that he now regrets voting for the bill - although this may not be unrelated to the fact that a Bournemouth Tory councillor failed to win the post there in what seems to have been a particularly ill-tempered campaign with mudslinging aplenty. (FullFact have a series of graphs detailing turnouts here)

Every election brings a handful of ballot papers spoilt with insults to the candidates or the process, but only a handful (the candidates and the agents get to see all of them). I've never seen so many ballot papers spoilt with such clear opposition to this policy - people brought pre-prepared stickers detailing their objections or just scrawled across the paper comments opposing the politicisation of the police, the cost or even just noting that they couldn't decide because they didn't have enough information about the candidates.

This election has been an unmitigated policy disaster - a normal day at the office for this government. From the timing of the election - the cold, dark days of November do not encourage voters to trudge up dark alleyways to find polling stations, to the decision not to fund the same mailout to electors provided for all parliamentary and European elections, to the expensive error that meant emergency legislation had to be pushed through parliament to allow ballot papers in Wales to be printed in both English and Welsh, to a complete failure to explain why these posts were even necessary and even to the point that they were not made to fit in with the normal election timetable in May, just speaks of the appalling mismanagement of the implementation of a policy that the public showed absolutely no appetite for. £125 million has been poured down this drain.

I'm not sure we can draw an awful lot of firm conclusions from such a low turnout and so many additional parties in the form of independents. Indeed, in the Midlands, Cath Hannon fought an excellent campaign, even running neck and neck in Sutton Coldfield with the Tory candidate, Matt Bennett, a great achievement given the challenge of running any sort of campaign across 28 parliamentary constituencies, something that stretched even the organised parties. The Liberal Democrats, with just two candidates in the region (the other being in Gloucestershire) did see their vote slump - putting Ayoub Khan down in sixth place out of seven. Until the Birmingham vote came in, he was in serious danger of losing his deposit and he lost the Yardley vote by a crushing margin, took a beating in Solihull (both currently Liberal Democrat parliamentary seats with a solid base of Liberal Democrat councillors) and in Coventry, more people actually preferred to spoil their ballot papers than vote Liberal Democrats. The uncharitable would suggest that voting Lib Dem is actually a waste of a ballot paper in any case.

It is always possible that these posts may prove to be rampantly successful. I doubt it very much. I hope that Labour will commit to scrapping them at the first opportunity and replacing them with an effective system of local governance of the police. Ironically, the model of governance deemed unsuitable for policing has been accepted as perfectly adequate for the regional bodies designed to drive economic development and growth - the Local Enterprise Partnerships.

I wish Bob every success - he'll be a fine PCC for the West Midlands. I also hope he will be the last.

Planning Applications to 10th Nov 2012

Just a single item this week - probably uncontroversial enough.

2012/06607/PA - NatWest, 1160 Warwick Road
Display of 1 no. internally illuminated ATM surround

You can find the details by inputting the reference number into the Council online database here

If you have any comments, you can submit them online - feel free to pass your comments on to me.

Today is PCC Election Day - Vote for Bob Jones #bob4pcc

I'm not a fan of the Police and Crime Commissioner as a concept, but I do know that after today we will have one for the West Midlands, so I want the best person for that job.

Bob Jones is unquestionably the one with the most experience in holding the Chief Constable to account - he knows how the system works and appreciates the importance of the role. He's up to the job and he'll be my choice when I vote today.

The ballot paper may be new to you - don't forget that you need to make a mark next to Bob's name in the FIRST column. Only marking the second column will invalidate the vote. If you happen to make a mistake, do ask the polling station clerks for a replacement paper and return your original one to them.