The weather is so horrific outside that I really do want to do nothing but curl up into a ball and wake up in the summer. This would not only make the rain go away, but would also ensure I escaped the life-halting power of the forthcoming election campaign.

Sadly, hibernation wasn’t front and centre of last year’s manifesto, so going underground for four months may not please everybody, and instead I have to plan for the weekend.

I realised (i.e. was told) this lunchtime that it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday. I have not been entirely ignorant of its approach, and have in fact bought a card and present already. I was just not quite sure which Sunday it was falling on. Apparently it’s this one, so I am organising a lunch of some kind, at a venue still to be decided (or considered). That takes care of Sunday, and will be a nice thing to enggage me in between sessions of St Mary’s Focus delivery.

On Saturday I have a Lib Dem party event in Liverpool to attend, which is going on all day and which means I miss City v Wigan. I might make it home in time to catch the second half on TV, but I have discovered that it’s on Setanta, a channel who’s very existence I find annoying because it means paying even more money to watch all the football I want to.

And of course the entire weekend is dependent on us all not sailing away in a great flood cauused by the unceasing rain. At present such a fate seems more than possible, so I’m not going to book a table for Sunday just yet.

Rick

Last night was a meeting of the officers of the local party Executive, which progressed nicely until the lights went out and for a brief few moments was conducted using the light from my computer’s monitor.

Tonight I am out and about obtaining signatures from residents willing to sponsor our candidates to stand in the elections on May 1st. If a candidate wants to stand in a ward, ten people from that ward have got to sign saying that they sponsor the application. This isn’t a problem, but actually completing the form is proving challenging…

I attempted it on Tuesday night, but had to abandon my efforts after a few goes when I realised I’d filled in the form wrong. There was a sorry scene on a steeet in Bury of a Councillor almost crying on a strange and far away pavement after a hard day at work.

Obviously, being anything to do with officialdom, the form is the most excessively complicated procedure imaginable, with signatures and accompanying detail having to be presented precisely as requested or else deemed null and void. I made the cardinal error of printing out the names in the wrong way. So now I have the unfortunate choice between having to find new signatories, or going back to the old ones and asking them to do it again.

Whoever said a Councillor’s life was all glamour. parties and fine living was telling big lies.

Rick

I was woken up by the earthquake last night, as were many people in the area, I’m sure. Unfortunately Tam slept through the entire thing, thus robbing me of what will probably be the one and only chance I get in life to ask “did the earth move for you” with genuine interest.

A number of things struck me about the overnight tremors. First, my brain must have sensed that something was going on in the Earth’s crust, since it woke me up about 30 seconds before the action started. If only I could somehow isolate that part of my brain and apply it to football matches. I could catch up on much-needed sleep whilst hours of spirit-sapping tedium took place in the muddy centre circle, and have my brain wake me up in the few seconds before a goal.

The lurch from ”asleep” to “awake” did induce the “half-asleep” side-effect that gave the whole thing an even more disconcerting air. Not only did I have to contend with the unlikely fact that the earth below me was shaking violently, but I wasn’t quite sure whether I was awake or not. For a brief time I thought it was just a heavy train going past the house, and it genuinely did take a good few seconds for me to realise that I live miles from a train line.

After I had calmed down (I was scared like a baby, I am happy to admit) I also became glad that my new house is devoid of a chimney stack, because if there had have been one it would almost certainly have toppled over and landed on my car. Or my head.

And as the dust settled (almost certainly choosing to settle on the newly cleaned Prestwich Village centre), I became joyously thankful that I don’t live in California or Japan, where 5.2 magnitude earthquakes are to them what mild breezes are to us. I can’t really imagine what a 7 or 8 magnitude quake would be like - I’d probably have been tossed into the air along with everything I own, landing on something sharp. And doubtless Tamsin would still have slept through the whole thing.

Watch out for the next St Mary’s Labour Rose newsletter, and the headline which I predict will be a mixture of “Lib Dem / Tory alliance conspire to destroy Prestwich with new fault line” / “Vote Yellow, Get Quakes!” / “Lib Dems fail Prestwich as pot hole discovered leading to Earth’s Crust”

And of course our retort, which will be that we support this new fault line. In 21 years of Labour controlling Bury, the earth barely shook once. Give the Lib Dems 18 months in Prestwich, and we’ve pushed the Richter Scale up to 5.2 already! Service, action and geology all year round!

Rick

After five years of Labour inaction, and three months of Lib Dem pressure aimed at the action-free Tory Council, the promised “Deep Clean” of Prestwich Village finally began on Sunday night. It is due to finish in the next day or two.

Quite what they’ll unearth beneath the grime is a mystery to me. The Lost City of Atlantis may well be found under The Retreat. Rumours that Lord Lucan was spotted dusting himself down and heading into Hampson’s for a pie were unfounded. They thought they’d discovered an ancient Roman mosaic, but it was in fact the splintered remains of a dustpan and brush bought in 1976 from the fancy goods store next to Cunningham’s.

I just hope to God they don’t find where I stashed those 4,000 election leaflets I said I’d delivered last May…

But the important thing is that it’s done. We got it done. Labour had five years and did nothing, and were almost smug in their happiness that it took a while for us to make the Tories do it. The Tories themselves were one step away from needing a cattle prod to make them do anything. But that fate was avoided, and all it took was three questions to Council and a front page news story. Another Lib Dem success story, looking after Prestwich.

It’s done.

Rick

The word “elections” seems to be cropping up more and more in my conversations these days, which is worrying. It only seems like five minutes ago that it was last time, and now it’s next time already.

But, somehow, the world does not grind to a halt as the spectre of Bury’s local election’s begins to loom. And safe in that knowledge, I have once more been chasing up some casework today.

I have been in contact with the Council’s Environmental Services Department once more, stressing the importance of the St Ann’s Road junction improvements that have been promised by the end of the financial year. This is now barely more than a month away, so it is vital that we ensure that we keep the pressure on the Council to live up to their promise and get on with the removal of the dangerous second set of lights.

In addition, the continuing saga of the dirty streets in Church Drive carries on apace. We had some success last week when the troublesome trees were cut back. Now there is some confusion over whether it is the responsibility of the constructors at nearby Tulle Court, or the responsibility of the Council, to keep the streets clean. My argument is that both should be doing it, but neither seem to want to. So once again I posed the question today and await a proper response.

With any luck it will be as positive as the trees response last week.

Rick

Two bits of news over the weekend - the first that a senior police officer has called for the DNA database to be widened to include eveyone, and the second that the Crown Prosecution Service has admitted it failed to run checks on 2,000 crime suspects for over a year. Both are worrying.

The failure of the CPS to carry out these checks is yet another example of the public having been put at risk by the slapdash way that data is handled across Government departments.

The Government is investing a huge amount of money and faith into the power of databases without having the faintest idea of how to run them properly, and calls for the national DNA database to include details of everybody regardless of their criminal record should be seen in this light.

The DNA database has grown at an enormous rate, including the addition of many people who have not committed any crime, but it still needs basic human competence to work. Regardless of the civil liberties arguments against the database, which I think are absolutely compelling, it should be clear even to those who disagree with them that this government (and perhaps any government) cannot be trusted to handle incredibly sensitive and personal data without hitches.

Rick

Another weekend hurtles towards its speedy conclusion, much to my annoyance.

I have been out leafleting a fair bit this weekend. In Sedgley mainly, as we unleash the latest Focus upon the world. A new one for St Mary’s is on its way as well, and will be out shortly.

I am delighted at the new “wireless” broadband we now have in the house. I realise that this is hardly cutting edge technology, and that people have had it for years, but I haven’t, and am hugely excited by being able to type emails in front of the TV without trailing trip-wires all over the house and turning the living room into a suburban version of Indiana Jones. So thanks to Sky Broadband for allowing me to leave the 19th century phenomenon of “wires” firmly in the past. Having said that, I am right now sat in my study, at my desk, millimetres from the modem. I don’t really notice any difference…

Unfortunately the arrival of Sky TV has also availed me of the “miracle” of multi channel television. I always secretly laughed when people talked about “300 channels and nothing on,” thinking that they were clearly insane. However, I am now firmly of the view that the entire digital TV universe is awash with nothing more than an unending tidal wave of dross. For instance, Tamsin is currently watching “Most Haunted” on Living 2, a programme so God-awful, on a channel so exceptionally rubbish, that I am fairly close to lobbing a lump of stone at the screen. It really is laughably stupid, and the fact that my girlfriend is lapping it up leads me to believe that there may well be excessive mercury levels in our domestic water supply.

I did get to watch the Milk/Littlewoods/Rumbelows/Coca-Cola/Disney/Worthingon/Carling Cup Final earlier, on one of Sky’s 859 sports channels (I forget which), which was fairly exciting. And I suppose that if I flicked through the channels for long enough I might be able to catch the last few seconds of something good, before it’s replaced by “World’s Deadliest Trout” or something.

Anyway, I am being summoned downstairs now, probably to have my eyes assaulted by a jibbering idiot screaming into a camera on UK Rubbish 4 +1 or whatever channel we’ll be watching.

Give me good old BBC2 any day.

Unless Weakest Link is on.

Rick

This morning I did my overall sex-appeal no harm at all by attending the Transport Network Committee of Greater Manchester Passenger Transport Authority.

A couple of items may be of particular note to Bury. First off there has been a decision to do away with the X35 bus service which operates more or less non-stop between Bury and Manchester. It isn’t well used, which is the reason for its withdrawal after a trial period, although I imagine that the people who do use it may be annoyed to find that their quick bus service has gone.

This annoyance will be compounded given that the “speedy” alternative to the X35 is to be herded onto a Metrolink tram. Metrolink was the other interesting item on the agenda today, in particular the problems with the ticket machines. No serious twenty-first century transport system has ticket machines which can’t take cards, and of which only about half purport to take notes. Even where machines are able to take notes in theory, I think if a single speck of dust or microscopic crease is found, the note is rejected.

Resultantly there are hundreds of complaints, and passengers forced to hobble around carrying enough change to weigh them down, and then insert it manically coin by coin as the tram nears.

The ticket machines are due to be replaced, but because of works I am struggling to fathom, this won’t be completed for another 18 months!

These ticketing problems, combined with the ongoing saga of getting real time information (technology available in London for many years now) makes me feel that once again the entire Metrolink experience makes us second class citizens to other cities who have managed to fund proper public transport without having to resort to government bribery and congestion taxing.

Rick

Lib Dem’s Secure More Money for Children and Young People, and more money for Parks and Cleaner Streets 

Liberal Democrat Councillors saved services for young people and vulnerable children and secured extra expenditure on much needed environmental services such as parks, cleaner streets and environmental enforcement in Bury Council’s budget for next year.

The Lib Dem proposals, which were agreed and have become part of the budget:

- saved advice services for children and money for youth services across Bury

- saved services for disabled children, the “young carers” service and provision for children who are at risk

- secured new money for our parks and environmental services

- secured new money for a cleaner environment such as street cleaning and enforcement such as dog fouling and fly-tipping

 Cllr Tim Pickstone, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group said:

 “This is a difficult budget again for Bury. We all need to be clear on why these difficult savings once again have to be made. The blame is quite clearly with the Labour Government who, despite many years of pressure, continue to effectively give Bury a “poor deal”.

“Services to young people are already stretched  -  A vibrant youth support service is essential to ensure educational staying on rates and engagement in training or employment, with the subsequent positive impact on reducing anti-social behaviour”

“We are not prepared to put up with an unsafe reduction in support for vulnerable children, and to not see advances in supporting the environment in this borough.”

Cllr Richard Baum, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Resources said

“The people of this Borough want cleaner streets, green space and safe places for their families. And the Liberal Democrat group will ensure that as much as possible is done to give them what they want. Our proposals tonight are to invest in parks in this Borough to ensure that every community has a well-managed place of peace and greenery to enjoy.

Attacking the Labour Party Proposal to cut vital services for a zero Council Tax rise Cllr Pickstone said:

“This proposal is madness. We would all like to have a zero council tax rise, but the Labour Party are proposing to scrap £700,000 on much needed services for disabled people, are proposing to scrap services for young people and vulnerable children, and proposing to run Bury Council into the ground by running reserves down to a dangerous level. This is a disgrace - I am shocked that that Labour Party will stoop so low in a pathetic attempt to gain votes.

“There are two opposition parties in Bury. One, the Lib Dems, have achieved over £1/3 million of expenditure on young people, children and the environment, while Labour have achieved nothing but a cheap gimmick at the expense of vulnerable people.” 

In a shapshot, here’s what was agreed at last night’s Budget Council: 

- a Council Tax rise of 3.4% from 1st April. This is a significantly lower rise than in recent years - which is good. 

- A discount for the over 65s of 3.4% off their council tax. 

- The ability for people to pay their council tax in 12 installments, not 10 as is the case now, if they want. 

- More money to pay for pressures on services for disabled people, more money (thanks to the Lib Dems!) for environmental issues like parks, street cleaning and environmental enforcement. 

- A “capital programme” over the next three years which includes building the new High School at Radcliffe Riverside, as well as plans to develop Phillips Park Hall in Prestwich. 

What did the Liberal Democrats do?

The Liberal Democrats proposed an amendment to the Budget which proposed to reallocate just over £1/3 million of different expenditure than what was being proposed by the Conservative Party administration that runs Bury. 

£250,000 to maintain services in a number of important areas for young people and children. This included: - saving proposed cuts to the youth service and schools advice services. We believe that services for young people are an essential, not just for their own sake, but also because they help tackle issues like anti-social behaviour. 

- saving proposed cuts to services to vulnerable children including: disabled children, the whole young carers service, the whole service to support parents with mental health needs, and vulnerable children at risk. 

£100,000 of new expenditure for our parks, streets and environment 

- we proposed £50,000 on environmental issues to help deal with issues such as Street Cleaning and maintaining the “Green Flag” status of our parks. We’ve been promised a Saturday clean of town centre areas which should be excellent 

- we proposed £50,000 on environmental enforcement which will tackle issues such as fly-tipping, dog fouling and stray dogs (dog warden service). 

The Liberal Democrat Group amendment was accepted (not, it should be noted with any support from the Labour Party…) and became part of the agreed budget. 

Labour proposed to:

- ignore the needs of disabled people in Bury by removing £700,000 of much needed expenditure for people with learning and physical disabilities. This is a disgrace. They should be ashamed of suggesting that disabled people don’t need services from the Council. 

- ignore the needs of children and young people by cutting £350,000 of services for young people and vulnerable children. Mostly this was exactly the same list of services saved by the Liberal Democrats.  

- cut youth services, cut ALL services to young carers, cut services for disabled children and, most worryingly, cut services for vulnerable children at risk. This is a disgrace. 

- put the future finances of the council at risk by spending all the “reserves” down to the bare minimum (reserves are needed to cope for emergencies such as spending on flooding, unexpected demand etc) AND ignoring the long standing “equal pay” issue to address women employees who have been paid less than men doing the same job. 

And the Conservatives… 

In the end it was the proposals of the Conservative Party, with the addition of the new expenditure proposed by the Liberal Democrats that won the day which are outlined about. 

We didn’t feel able to support all the proposals of the Conservatives - particularly some of the savings around the environment and social services, so abstained on the final vote.

Rick

Last night Bury Council was stunned by a grossly irresponsible proposal from Bury Labour to cut funding for children, vulnerable adults, and vital reserves, to achieve the headline-grabbing and cheap stunt of a nil-increase Council Tax.

Their tactics must be seen in their true light – dangerous and short-sighted populism designed to do nothing more than win votes.

Labour will claim that their budget is sustainable. They will claim that it is the sensible answer to our problems. But it isn’t. It is a cheap political stunt designed to lure people’s trust. It is, in typical New Labour style, utter spin with no substance at all.

It is a lie to say that we can save services without raising Council Tax. We just can’t. And the reason is that the Labour government settlement for Bury is woefully inadequate. In Bolton and Oldham (coincidentally, two Labour-run Councils), government settlement per-head is so high that they can legitimately afford a 0% rise. Here in Bury, the settlement is so low that taxes go up and services come down each and ever year.

Last night it took Lib Dem action to secure funding for children and environmental services. The Labour government and the Conservative Group were happy to see them fall by the way side. We were not.

Labour’s response was to rob the people of Bury of their reserves. It was to rob vulnerable children of the funding for their youth and social workers. It was to rob disabled adults of the funding they need. And it was to cynically “earmark” money for electorally competitive areas which simply can’t be spent, just to lie about it in leaflets.

It was a disgrace, and I am glad it was defeated.

Of course I’d like a 0% rise in Council Tax. Then I’d like to see it cut, and then the Lib Dems are the only party who’d like to see it abolished because it is unfair and utterly regressive. Labour and the Tories support this tax.

But we can’t have a 0% rise, because there’s not enough money to fund the vital services if we do. It isn’t about efficiency, it’s about an awful government settlement from a Labour party who’ve let down Bury again.

Lib Dems were sensible last night, targeting money where people need it and people want it the most. Labour spun a web of deceit designed to win votes and headlines. They may well have done that, but they will lose respect along the way.

The Lib Dems are the only credible opposition to the Tory Council. Our amendment was the only one adopted, and voting Lib Dem is the only way to influence the ruling group. Labour’s plans are preposterous and were treated with bemusement and shock, rather than seriousness.

The last desperate attempts at credibility from this fading political force have fallen woefully short.

Rick

The speech below was to second the Lib Dem amendment to last night’s Budget motion. The Lib Dem amendment ensured £350,000 of extra funding for Children’s and Environmental services whilst keeping the Council Tax rise at 3.4%. Cllr Pickstone’s speech dealt with the Children’s element of the proposal, and mine with the Environmental side.

“Mr Mayor, once again this Council comes together to set a budget.  It’s an important thing that we do.  It should not be treated with disrespect. 

My colleague Cllr Pickstone has made it very clear that although the proposed budget has some positive elements, having studied it the one emotion that affects me more than anything else is that of frustration.

Mr Mayor, every year we ask the people of this Borough to put up with less, and to pay more for it.

Even tonight, a Labour amendment that purports to do the reverse has, I think, been unmasked as the lie that it is.

In proposing their deeply irresponsible amendment, Bury Labour stoop to the type of playground politics I suspected was beneath even them.

Their populist, petty, and preposterous proposals play politics with the future of this Borough at the expense of the neediest.

It’s not what any of us were sent here to do.

Money for disabled adults – Gone.

Money for vulnerable children – Gone.

Our reserves – Gone.

Common sense gone too. And in its place, gimmickry and cheap headlines.

And all for party political gain and a desperate clinging to seats in this chamber.

They should be ashamed. 

Mr Mayor, the people of Bury must not be fooled.

This is serious business and should not be treated this way.

Mr Mayor, Labour claim to have provided an easy answer. But there is no easy answer because, as Cllr Pickstone has said, every year the government ask us to provide more, but to do it with less.

Call it efficiency if you like. I am all for efficient public services.

But we aren’t some out of control organisation. It’s not like we’re The Home Office…

The axe that is being wielded tonight isn’t because there’s money wasted all over the place.

We are an efficient organisation.

The Audit Commission say that we’re performing well in every measure of how we use our resources.

Mr Mayor, the reason we’re setting a budget that has to make cuts is because the government’s settlement for the people of Bury is unfair, unrealistic, and woefully inadequate.

Three quarters of our money comes from central government, and once again they haven’t given us enough.

I think it’s worth repeating that the Borough of Bury is 15% worse off in real terms now than it was when Labour came to power in 1997.

15% worse off.

This is a disgrace, during a period when Council Tax has more or less doubled and services have been cut year on year.

Others have plenty Mr Mayor, whilst the people of this Borough have anything but.

The government chooses what it spends its money on, and once again I find myself standing here and saying that they haven’t chosen to spend it on us.

And this year Mr Mayor we have been hampered by political game-playing of the worst kind, from those falsely using the issue of congestion charging to push for an elected Mayor in a referendum that is as irresponsibly based as it is worryingly short sighted.

As Cllr Redstone remarked earlier, a six figure sum has been put aside to pay for the Mayoral referendum and the Mayoral election which may follow.

That’s before we start paying for the Mayoralty itself, which will be another six figures every single year.

The people calling for this referendum should know that mixing the issue with congestion charging means that their actions are dishonest, disingenuous and damaging.

They should know that the money put aside for this vote, forced through on the most flimsy and dubious of grounds, means that there will be less money for the children of this Borough, less money for vulnerable adults, and less money for our environment.

They should reflect on what they’ve done.

Mr Mayor, our amendment this evening seeks to ensure that the environment of this Borough remains as clean, green and safe as is possible.

I’m sure my inbox is no different to each and every one of the Members in the Chamber tonight.

The people of this Borough want cleaner streets, green space and safe places for their families.

And the Liberal Democrat group will ensure that as much as possible is done to give them what they want.

Mr Mayor, our proposals tonight are to invest in parks in this Borough to ensure that every community has a well-managed place of peace and greenery to enjoy.

In my ward, St Mary’s Park is a shining example of all that this Council does well.

It is an oasis which should be treasured, and when it is full of families and children and joggers and games of football it really is a sight to see.  A triumphant beacon lighting up lives and showing the glorious things we can achieve together.

It makes my heart sing Mr Mayor, and we want the same all over Bury, and we propose money be allocated for more Green Flag Parks so that the Council’s ambition of having twelve is realised.

We also want our streets cleaner.

Too often the lives of local people are blighted by the simple things.

Things that can be remedied with nothing more than a bit of money and effort.

Street cleaning is one of them.

I’ve led a relatively sheltered life Mr Mayor, and have never seen the aftermath of an explosion in a fast food wrapping factory.

But my sister is well travelled, and she tells me that the front gardens of my neighbours and me on a Saturday morning is a fairly similar sight.

It’s like a shrine to the God of Kebabs.

But it’s no good Mr Mayor, and we want rid of it. Which is why we propose more street cleaning including Saturday morning cleaning of streets in our commercial centres.

Too often it is too long between cleans, especially when weekend litter accumulates and it becomes difficult to tell where the bins end and the gardens begin.

We are proposing the funding to try and stop that.

And our streets need to stay clean Mr Mayor, which is why we are proposing further funding for enforcement of dog fouling, and increased investment for our dog wardens to work more efficiently.

Enforcement Mr Mayor. Not just of dogs, but litter, fly-tipping and so on, is vital to keeping Bury clean and green.

Mr Mayor, this Council faces difficult choices.

Desperately let down by the Labour government again, and facing local difficulties of its own with the Mayoral referendum, we have to face the people of this Borough and explain why they are, once more, paying more and getting less.

This amendment tries to make things better in the services people care most about. Our streets, our parks, and the many benefits improvements to these and the wider environment will bring.

And I am delighted to second the amendment.”

Bury Liberal Democrats broke new ground last night, ensuring the largest investment in the Council’s budget from any third party in the history of the Council.

In a budget amendment proposed by Group Leader Cllr Tim Pickstone, the Lib Dems ensured that £350,000 would be invested in services for the most vulnerable in our society, and to protect the environment and keep our Borough clean, safe and green.

We earmarked a quarter of a million pounds to reverse dangerous Conservative cuts to Children’s Services which would have drastically cut back the numbers of youth workers, social workers and those supporting disabled children. In doing so, we protected the neediest by providing the services that they desperately need.

The Lib Dems achieved this whilst calling for no greater increase in Council Tax than that proposed by the Conservatives. The 3.4% increase agreed by Council last night is lower than the inflation rate, and yet still achieves Lib Dem values.

Last year the Lib Dems ensured that the budget contained provision for every house in the Borough to have a blue recycling bin. This year, the Lib Dem commitment to Bury’s environment was shown even more clearly, with an amendment ensuring greater street cleaning and enforcement powers.

We have ensured that Saturday street cleaning occurs in commercial centres in the Borough such as in Prestwich Village, helping to alleviate the scourge of litter.

We have ensured that support is given to all of our parks, building on the successes of St Mary’s Park and helping the Council to achieve its vision of having 12 “Green Flag” parks across the Borough.

And we have ensured that enforcement of dog waste, littering and fly-tipping is boosted so that our environment is protected.

A third of a million pounds worth of additional investment is something I am personally proud of. We stood up for our values and made good our promises last night, in a sustainable and sensible way. It wasn’t the budget that a Lib Dem Council would have passed, but it instilled the Lib Dem ideals of a fairer, greener Bury, and made sure that the Conservatives listened to the views of those who elected us to make Bury a better place.

Rick

Last night, prior to the Budget Council meeting, I spoke to the Council’s Director of Environmental Services. He said that he was confident of a start to the promised (and much delayed) deep clean of Prestwich Village on Sunday evening, and if not then, very shortly afterwards.

We live in hope…

Rick

Tonight is the Council meeting where the budget is set for the coming year, including the Council Tax level. There is sure to be some heated debate before an agreeemtn is reached, as once again a poor financial settlement for Bury from the government has meant some tough choices.

It is sure to be an interesting meeting, and of course it is open to the public, if you would like to attend Bury Town Hall from 7pm.

Rick

Last night’s Sherbourne Court and Warwick Street TRA was a success, I think. A lot of tenants and residents are frustrated at the lack of Six Town Housing response to their maintenance issues, and are considering the possibility of a formal complaint.

I must say that I have a lot of admiration for the residents who put up with what seems to be quite a shoddy service at times from Six Town Housing. But they are not helped by some of the residents who share the block, who seem to be committing crimes and engaging in anti-social behaviour which is driving local people mad – doors smashed in, noise and general misbehaviour which is making the lives of local people all the more difficult.

The Police have been engaged and are working with the community but I often get very frustrated that their action is often too little, too late. Even the local police officers themselves are hugely frustrated with the lack of action they can take over offenders they know all too well. I think it is a case of continuing the hard work and waiting until it pays off. Unfortunately, in the meantime a lot of local people are suffering, and I appeal to local people to pull together and remember that the flats are shared by everyone.

On the plus side, there are plans for another walk about and potentially another clean up day. The last one was a great success, so hopefully this one will be as well. I will let you know when a date has been arranged.

And also, plans have been taken forward for some hanging baskets and extra flowers and greenery for the area, which is another piece of positive news. I have seen these schemes work very well in the past, and hopefully this one will work well here too when it happens.

I have been liaising with Cllr Dorothy Gunther, the Tory Executive Member for Environment, over Prestwich’s promised “Deep Clean.” The promise, made by a Council officer in October, seems to have gone unnoticed by Cllr Gunther, who was baffled by it when I mentioned it as Council the other day. There was some definite back-tracking in the wake of that meeting, but since then (possibly because the broken promise made the front page of the paper) there have been positive noises. I’ll believe it when I see it, but hopefully we might have a deep clean for the first time in five years very soon, and only three months after it was promised!

Rick

This week I am fairly busy as ever. Tonight I am visiting a local resident to talk about street-cleaning and over-hanging trees near his house, after we’ve been working together to get his issues sorted for quite some time (no success yet, but I have been promised that we’ll get some this week).

Also this week it’s the Sherbourne Court TRA (tonight at the Red Lion at 6.30), and then Budget Council on Wednesday. I will keep you updated as things go on.

Rick

I am back in work today, having once again endured the horror of coming in after a break. The feeling I got on the last night of school holidays has still never gone away, even now that I am supposedly an adult.

Much of the time I have spent here today has been wasted trying to get my head around the arrangements necessary to transfer my pension pot from local government (where it currently sits) in to the NHS (where I would like it to sit). The people responsible for devising the transfer scheme have clearly achieved their goal of creating the world’s most complicated system of forms, permissions and baffling serial numbers. I genuinely do think that it would be less onerous for me to gain planning permission for a gigantic animal rendering plant in the middle of Heaton Park than it is to transfer this pension fund. I must have sent about half a dozen letters to the two funds now, and we still only just seem to be at the stage where they think I am expressing just a mild bit of interest.

Anyway, here I am, back at my desk. The move is done. I no longer sit on camping chairs, and I have general peace and harmony where once there were boxes and more polystyrene than I ever thought possible. So let’s give thanks to that.

Rick

I am temporarily off-line for most of this week, so I doubt there’ll be any blogging. I am busy nonetheless. Last night was a meeting of the Bury Council Lib Dem group, where we talked about the Council’s budget and caught up with group goings-on over the past few weeks.

Tonight it’s another meeting of the Resource and Performance Scrutiny Commission. Once again I am disappointed at how ineffective we’re going to be as a Scrutiny panel. Last time I wrote about my disappointment that the Executive Member didn’t turn up for the meeting. This time the papers haven’t turned up. They arrived last week, but only the agenda and minutes were there. Every single other report was “to follow” and still hasn’t arrived in the post. So I have read none of them in advance, and so will be about as useful as an underwater camping stove.

And it’s hugely irritating that, once again, I am prevented from doing my job by factors beyond my control.

Anyway, I hope to have calmed down by the next time I write, which may well not be until next week. I have changed Broadband providers and am currently able to access none of them!

Rick 

I recently arranged for the Council to take away some bulky waste for me, and I have to say I was mightily impressed by the service they offered. So often I come on here bad-mouthing the Council, especially environmental services, for being awful, but on this occasion they excelled themselves. I put the stuff out the back of the house, and the next day it was gone. I assume it wasn’t looted, so it must’ve gone in the back of their lorry. Well done!

Rick

At the council meeting on Wednesday night I asked the Executive Member for Environment about the promised “deep-clean” of Prestwich Village. You may remember that this was promised for the end of 2007 at a meeting of the Local Area Partnership in the autumn. The promise came after growing frustration with the state of cleanliness on our local streets, and the enormous amounts of grime that have accumulated in the Precinct recently.

The deep-clean didn’t happen, despite our continuing calls. A broken promise by the Tory Council. So we kept up the pressure and demanded that street-cleaning managers came to the last meeting of the LAP and lay down a firm commitment to getting the deep-clean done. They said that it would be done by the end of January.

On Wednesday night, the Tory Council confirmed what we already know, which is that it wasn’t done. And, worse, they refuse now to give us a date when it will be done.

This is an absolute disgrace.

I was fuming on Wednesday night, and I am fuming now. This is a blatant example of the Tory Council betraying local people with a disgraceful service and yet another broken promise. Local people don’t ask for much - all we want is our streets clean. But the Tories admit that there hasn’t been a deep-clean of Prestwich Village in FIVE YEARS. And despite promising TWICE that one would be done, it hasn’t.

On Wedensday night we were promised “meetings” to discuss cleaning the area. We don’t want meetings! We want clean streets! We want the basic service we pay our taxes for to be given to us.

This Council is failing to provide even the most basic of services to local people, and are hiding their inaction and broken promises with even more empty promises! It simply isn’t on, and our pressure for a thorough clean of Prestwich will go on.

Rick

Once again last night the Labour party in Bury used their opportunity to question me as Passenger Transport representative to to claim that Lib Dem objections to congestion charging is putting at risk much needed investment in public transport.

And once again I stated the truth in response, which is that Lib Dems support the investment, but not the tax.

Labour Councillors Byrne and Boden suggested in their questions to me last night that it is Bury Liberal Democrat opposition to the congestion charge which is threatening the investment which we have bid for from the Transport Innovation Fund (the TIF bid).

This is simply wrong.

We have always believed that the government should use the tax we’ve already paid to adequately fund public transport, and plug the £3bn gap we’ve all identified.

They won’t, and insist on congestion charging, which we oppose as unfair, divisive and utterly unacceptable.

They are using our tax money for their pet projects – replacing Trident, building new nuclear power stations, and ID cards – rather than for what we want and need – better public transport.

The government have promised us up to £1.2bn from the Transport Innovation Fund if we agree to congestion charging. But don’t be fooled by this spin. This isn’t some special “fund” that’s just been discovered. This isn’t like coming downstairs on Christmas morning to find £1.2bn under the tree. This fund is made up of OUR tax money already, and it should already have been spent on the public transport that the government says is important and which it has had eleven years to sort out.

The remaining £1.8bn needed to plug the gap the government has created through non-investment, is to be loaned to us and paid back through congestion charging. Only Manchester will pay the congestion charge, and it will replace nothing. Not road tax, not fuel duty. Nothing. It will be an extra tax. A tax on going to work.

We are all for the investment, which we agree is needed. But we oppose this tax. This will continue to be our stance, as it has been all along. This isn’t just a party political issue, it’s what we believe is best for Bury. Other parties in other Boroughs are of the same mind – Our stance is also the stance of the Lib Dems in Stockport, and the stance of Conservatives in Trafford and Labour in Middleton. Labour in Bury have not said what they think as a group, but continue to snipe at us.

If, in challenging the government on this blatantly unfair extra tax on Manchester, we put at risk the investment, then it is a principle we firmly stand by. It would be a tragedy to miss out on this investment, but we believe that the government should pay for it using the money that the people of Manchester have already paid. We refuse to bow to the pressure of this bullying government, and feel that when it comes to trams, buses and trains we should tell the government where to get off.

The blame for this impasse lies fairly, squarely, and inexcusably at the door of government.

Rick

Last night was Full Council, when the 51 Councillors from across the Borough come together. It was a slightly unusual meeting in that there were no motions for debate, and so the entire evening was given over to questions to The Leader.

First there was public question time, with questions received about a variety of topics from speed-humps to elderly care. It was great to see that, because sometimes there aren’t any questions from the gallery and I wonder whether anyone knows or cares about our meetings. I was slightly disappointed that the elderly care question was brushed off with a bland “we’ll take your views into consideration” type response. The member of the public asking the question was really in some distress, and I think that it may have been more appropriate to arrange a private meeting for a more detailed discussion on what is clearly a troubling issue.

Normally the Lib Dem group try to ask about five questions to the Leader when members get the chance, and there often are a few others scattered about the place from other members. Last night there were nineteen (!) written questions, including six from a single Councillor, each with at least one supplementary question. There were also about four verbal questions afterwards. The whole process lasted a good hour and a half, and sapped the will from my very soul towards the end.

I asked two questions. First about the promised “deep-clean” of Prestwich, and the general littered natured of our streets. The second was about what powers the Council is using in relation to dog fouling. I wasn’t expecting an answer to the dog question because I gave no advance notice. But the answer I got on street cleaning was very disappointing indeed, and a slap in the face for Prestwich residents who were promised a deep clean which hasn’t happened and which now probably won’t. I was very annoyed.

The final part of the meeting was questions to outside bodies. In the absence of the Council’s Passenger Transport Authority spokesman, I stood in as his Deputy and answered two questions on the TIF bid and congestion charging, and answered a couple of questions on congestion charging, which I will post about in a second.

All in all, an a-typical meeting, but one which covered a lot of subjects, and highlighted the huge agenda which the Council has to deal with.

Rick

Last night’s meeting with the CPA inspectors was like pretty much everything else that I experience at the Town Hall - it had its good points and its bad.

It was very refreshing to see five members from three different parties sit in a room for an hour and not have a single petty political squabble. Despite us talking about the hottest of hot political potatoes in terms of issues in Bury, the debate stayed high-quality, and the discussion stayed out of the playground. The group of backbench members was made up of me, Cllr Ann Garner (Lib Dem), Cllrs Tim Chamberlain and Trevor Holt (Lab) and Cllr Jack Walton (Con). We were asked about our thoughts on Scrutiny, risk management, the Council’s priorities, and the challenges Bury faces.

The discussion was full of passion and vigour, which is no surprise to me because I have been struck by just how passionate our Councillors are about the Borough since I’ve come into office.

But I was disappointed with some of the questions, and the tone of the enquiry which struck me as sounding a bit like minds were closed to new ideas. Avenues were pursued relentlessly despite lots of us saying that they weren’t really relevant, and sometimes I thought that the inspectors’ knowledge of Bury was a bit sketchy. Which is a shame given that their report has so much importance.

Still, we’ll see how it goes, and what comes out in the wash. I think we can all be proud that we played our part and did it truthfully.

Tonight it’s full Council. I am asking the Leader a question on street cleanliness, and I may pop another one in there about something else if there’s time. I am also answering some questions as the Council’s Deputy Spokesperson on the Passenger Transport Authority. I will write a full report tomorrow. And don’t forget that it is a public meeting, with public question time available at the start. The Town Hall is the venue, and it kicks off at 7pm.

Rick

This evening I am heading to the Town Hall to take part in a focus group for Councillors as part of Bury Council’s Corporate Assessment. The  Corporate Assessment forms part of the overall Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA) score, which all Councils receive. The Corporate Assessment only happens once every four years, so this is a really important fortnight for the Council, as its ability to manage and improve services is judged by inspectors from the Audit Commission.

In my days as a Council officer with Oldham MBC, I experienced first hand the stresses of these inspections, and I know that the officers in Bury are probably going through a tough time at the moment. The burden of inspection on Councils may well be slightly less than it once was, but it is still very onerous, and the recent announcement that the Commission are increasing their fees by a huge amount will certainly do nothing to alleviate budgetary pressures as Councils face more of these types of inspections going forward.

Tonight’s focus group will be an all-party affair, with the Lib Dems being represented by me and Cllr Ann Garner from Sedgley. I don’t know quite how it’ll work, or what the focus of enquiry will be. But I will give an honest account of how I see things, and certainly won’t use the event as an opportunity to score political points. It will certainly be interesting to be on the other side of things for once!

Rick

St Mary’s Lib Dem Councillors have been chasing up a number of issues on behalf of residents in the last few days.

We have asked the Council to ensure that Shelley Road and Butterstile Lane are adequately gritted during the current cold snap, for the safety of drivers and pedestrians, and in particular because of the buses that travel down those streets.

In addition, we have once again raised the issue of the abandoned garages on Shrewsbury Road. This is a long-standing issue, with difficulties in identifying land-owners to take responsibility for cleaning up and sorting out the garages. In recent weeks the area has become something of a hang-out for trouble-makers, and there was a fire there recently too. We’re hopeful that this can be progressed in the near future, and we’ll keep trying.

Also today we have once more raised the question of why the shops on Warwick Street remain vacant and abandoned so long after the fire which put them out of use. We have been told a number of different stories as to why the fire damaged building can’t be repaird, from problems with the insurance to an ongoing police investigation. Whatever the reason, the derelict building is used as the excuse not to re-surface Warwick Street, a road which is comfortably the most pot-holed in the ward.

It’s a shame that we have to apply quite this much pressure to get any action taken, or even to illicit a response from Council officers to legitimate residents’ concerns. But we will keep trying, and we’ll update you when we get a result.

The petition submitted to Bury Council calling for a referendum on an elected mayor has been accepted and validated, and the vote will go ahead later in the year

What this means is that people in Bury will vote, later in the year, whether they want to change to a system where we have a Directly Elected Mayor, instead of the current system. If that’s what people vote for, it means an election would be held for an elected mayor of Bury, presumably next year.

The Liberal Democrats in Bury are OPPOSED to us having an elected mayor. Here’s why:

We believe its fundamentally undemocratic. An elected Mayor has all the “executive” powers of the Council for themselves, and once they are elected they are effectively unaccountable for the next four years until the next election! We don’t believe this is right or sensible. Decisions about local areas should be taken by local people, that’s why we’ve always pushed for greater say for local areas like Prestwich or Ramsbottom. How could one person, sat at Bury Town Hall, possible understand and make decisions for all the different towns and communities that make up Bury MBC?

Secondly, we believe it to be a waste of public money. We currently have 51 councillors in Bury and a ceremonial “Mayor”. If we had an elected Mayor that would be on top of the 51 councillors, and we’d still have to have a ceremonial “chair” of the Council. The average salary for an elected mayor in a principal authority in England is £66,000 - in some of those the Mayor has appointed a Deputy Mayor on about £40,000 as well! Personally I’d rather spend all that money on better council services, or a lower Council Tax.

For the sake of Bury, this mad idea should be confined to the dustbin.

Rick