B&NES ‘Opts-In’ to Sustainable Communities Act

Liberal Democrat Councillors have welcomed the adoption of their motion on the Sustainable Communities Act.  By adopting the motion B&NES Council has resolved to “use, to the full, its powers under the Act by preparing and submitting proposals to central government”. 

The Act became law in 2007 and gives Councils the opportunity to make proposals to make proposals to Government to encourage the improvement of the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of the local area. 

This Act empowers local communities to raise issues and get their voices heard.  It works on the principle that local people know best what is needed for their area. 

The Act can be used to address issues such as over-concentration of second homes or student houses, ‘clone cities’ and protection of post offices and local shopping areas. 

Now the Council needs to decide how it will advise and help communities develop proposals to be submitted to local government and how it will evaluate these proposals. 

This is a great opportunity for Councils to reverse the trend of removing services from local communities.  Under this act the Council should be able to make devolution and decentralisation into reality.

70% Care Charge Hike: Real Cost Revealed

Massive price hikes have led to a drop-off in demand for Council services according to opposition Councillors on Bath and North East Somerset Council. 

Liberal Democrats on the Council committee scrutinising Health and Older People’s issues have strongly and consistently opposed the Cabinet member’s decision, made earlier this year, to put up prices of community meals, transport and home care. 

Now a report to the Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny Panel of the Council shows that many people have stopped having home help since Conservative Council chiefs increased the charges and a number of residents have cancelled meals due to the price increases. 

We said that this would be the wrong decision and the Cabinet member ignored us.  When we organised a challenge to these price hikes, back in April, we warned the Cabinet member that our vulnerable residents would probably reduce their care and we tried to persuade him to change his mind. 

We dread to think of the difficult circumstances these people and their relatives have to face as a result of the Cabinet member’s decision. 

We remain opposed to these increases and believe that, given the current economic climate of rising costs and falling interest rates, service users will struggle to secure the care they need.

Government finally makes right decision on Post Office Card Account

Bath MP Don Foster has stressed his relief that the Government has finally reached the right decision on the Post Office Card Account, giving the contract to the Post Office. 

Don said that he had spoken to a lot of sub-postmasters during our campaign to save post offices from closure earlier this year.  The concern about this contract going elsewhere was palpable.  Sub-postmasters were saying that without the Card Account they would lose so much business that they would be forced to close.  This is important news in maintaining the number of post offices we have available in the city. 

Unfortunately Labour MPs voted against a Liberal Democrat motion to have more Government services available through the post office network. 

More than 4 million people in the UK receive pensions and benefit payments through a Post Office Card Account at their local Post Office.  At the end of 2005 there were 5,500 Post Office Card Accounts in Bath. 

The contract had previously been put out to tender, risking the loss of 3,000 Post Offices if a private firm won the contract. 

Local people have shown just how important their local post office is to them by joining our campaign earlier in the year against closures.  Don has  also received thousands of items of correspondence on the Post Office Card Account, so he is pleased that the Government have performed this u-turn. 

However, the Government should have realised the importance of post offices to communities and awarded the new contract to the network without these months of delay. 

Instead, local branches have had to deal with the uncertainty that ministerial dithering and unnecessary contracting processes has caused.

Lib Dem Comment on B&NES’ New Recycling Partnership

Sadly Bath’s recycling contract has now passed from the ‘third sector’ (not for profit) for the first time.  May Gurney has a good reputation, so let’s hope that the need for this PLC to make a profit does not interfere with service to residents.  I am encouraged by Nicola Peake’s comments and wish the Company well. 

The Council is once again silent on the broken promise to collect ‘kitchen’ waste (including cooked food), which would further boost our recycling and composting rate to around 60%, reducing the damage that this organic waste does to the environment and making B&NES the top recycling council in the country.

Fourth Place is Not Good Enough on Recycling

The Conservative-run Cabinet of Bath and North East Somerset Council has become complacent about recycling and waste policies.  As the first Council to adopt a zero waste policy, under Liberal Democrat leadership, B&NES Council was seen as a trailblazer on recycling.  However since the new Administration took over however the Council’s waste record is becoming a damp squib. 

The Cabinet are happy to congratulate themselves about Government statistics, but meanwhile they are once again considering delaying their promised introduction of kitchen waste collections – now saying this could be put off till 2011 – and same day collections of waste and recycling will now not come in till 2009.  These measures would already have been in place under Liberal Democrat plans and local recycling rates would have been nearly 60% by the end of next year. 

This latest boast from the Administration should really be an admission that recycling and global warming are not high on their agenda.  77% of B&NES residents recycle – residents clearly want to do their bit and want to start now.

New Student Action Line Number

As of Thursday 6th November, the new Student Action Line number (01225 396996) will be live.

Instead of an answer phone, callers will be connected straight to the Council Connect call centre.  This means a member of staff will be available to talk directly to residents, record their issues and report them to the relevant person to deal with at the Council as well as forwarding the details on to the University to deal with in line with their disciplinary procedures.

If the problem concerns any area within the Council’s remit, for example waste and recycling, the service area will also be notified, whether or not it is actually a student related issue. Ideally people calling in to report issues need to provide a full address or postcode that the problem relates to.

The Student Action Line was launched in 2004, when Cllr Shaun McGall persuded the Council to set up the Student Liaison Committee, to better integrate students into the communities where they rent accommodation and resolve any issues of concern. It was operated by a 24 hour answer phone, where residents would report any student related problems related to noise, poor refuse and recycling management, and general anti-social behaviour.

Somer Housing – Residents Meetings

The next meeting of the Somer Housing Bath South Area Panel for residents is to be held on the 24th september 2008 between 3.00 p.m. and 5.00 p.m. the Bath Community Resource Centre which is at the Carrswood Day Centre on Cleeve Green in Twerton. 

 If you would like to attend, please call the Residents Involvement Team at Somer Housing on (01225) 366199 or 366147.

PACT meeting – July 2008

Around 20 local residents and owners of business from Moorland Road attended the recent Partners and Communities Together (PACT) meeting on the 9th July 2008.

These residents and local business leaders spoke about their concerns and issues in Oldfield Park.

The panel member who attended this meeting included your local councillors, the local Police team, a representative of Somer Community Housing and an officer from the Council who listened to the comments and suggestions for the priorities that should be taken up.

The resulting priorities agreed upon my local residents and business representatives were:

1) Securing a youth shelter for the Sandpits play park;

2) Poor maintenance of gardens by students and / or their landlords in HMOs / privately rented housing; and

3) Refuse and recycling placed out for collection on the pavement all through the week rather than one the specified day especially in HMOs / privately rented housing.

The previous public priorities were:

March 2008

1) Tackling general misuse of the Shaftesbury Road Memorial Gardens;

2) Reviewing parking and driveways on the Moorfields Estate; and

3) Providing facilities, such as youth clubs for children and teenagers in the area.

November 2007

1) Levels of car crime – criminal damage to vehicles in Monksdale Road;

2) Litter – increase road sweeping;

3) Speeding in Third Avenue, Monksdale Road and Hillside Road.

All the partners are now working on how these issues can be tackled and resolved.

Currently no date has been set for the next meeting but it will take place again at 6:30 p.m. at St Alphages Church, Oldfield Lane, Oldfield Park, Bath.

All members of the public are welcome to attend the next meeting.

Outcomes of the Pizza and Cola Evening (PACT) meeting for younger people held in June

The Police held a successful Pizza and Cola Evening (aka PACT meeting) at Hillside Hall at the end of June for the younger people from the Oldfield Park area.

The priorities that the young people identified at Oldfields Pizza & Cola evening were as follows:

1. Shelters needed in the park
2. Dog fouling
3. Litter (smashed bottles etc)
4. Poor public toilets
5. Cycle paths all around Bath
6. Another Skate Park

It was agreed that the top three priorities would be forwarded on to the July PACT meeting for residents to vote for one of these priorities.

It was generally agreed that our first Pizza and Cola Evening went well and the Police and local councillors hope to hold another evening in the Autumn.

Council administration ignores concerns over care charges

The Cabinet member for Adult Social Services and Housing for on the Council has announced that he will not alter his original decision to implement new charges for home care services despite the call-in of the decision having been upheld.

It is extremely disappointing that the Cabinet member has decided to ignore the recommendations of the call-in panel to phase in care cost increases and allow people who use this service the time to adapt. The Lib Dems have expressed our opposition to these steep increases time and time again at O&S, Cabinet and Council and the Cabinet member has taken no notice.

The Cabinet member will no doubt face criticism for his unwillingness to listen to the call-in panel and indeed for his announcement to the press before the call-in even took place that he did not plan to change his decision no matter what might be said. We are disgusted by his dismissive attitude to the democratically-expressed concerns raised by not only the Liberal Democrat and Labour Groups but also service users and Action for Pensioners. These charges are fundamentally unfair and will hit vulnerable people hard.

Will Sandry said

I have grave concerns about the consultation process that took place before the original decision was made. At the call-in I was unable to find any evidence that the consultation had influenced the proposals on which the decision was made. I am angry that Cllr Pritchard has implemented these huge increases in home care charges, which I think are cruel.

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