2010 is going to be a fascinating and exciting year. There’s a World Cup, there’s my wedding (which is probably more exciting for me than most of the people reading, but is still worth a mention), and there’s a general election.

Here is the New year’s Message from Nick Clegg, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats:

“I have a confession to make: 2009 tested my belief in politics to breaking point.

I remember once looking round the House of Commons during another Punch and Judy session of Prime Ministers Questions. In the real world, youth unemployment had just reached its highest level ever, our brave soldiers were facing extraordinary dangers in Afghanistan, the bankers were still gorging themselves on bonuses, and the economy was in the middle of the worst recession in generations. And what were the politicians doing? Yelling and guffawing at each other as if the world outside didn’t exist.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling a sense of despair about our clapped out political system. You are being taken for granted by the people in charge. Big money is hollowing out politics with some rich donors not even bothering to say whether they pay full British taxes or not. And to top it all the expenses scandals exposed some MPs as spivvy property speculators and tax evaders rather than public servants.

This whole set-up has to change. That’s what 2010 should be all about.  Big, permanent change for the better.

People’s  faith in politics may be dented, but I still believe in our ability to learn from the mistakes of the past, and set things on a new course.

2010 must be the year we press the political reset button.

But that will only happen if we do things differently.  More of the same won’t produce anything new.
Of course both Labour and the Conservatives have learned to parrot the language of change. But where’s the proof they mean it? Despite all the hot air about fixing politics they have both voted against giving people the right to sack MPs who’ve seriously broken the rules. Both have refused to clean up the rotten system of party political funding. Both refuse to give you your say by introducing  fair votes to the House of Commons. And both refuse to shake up the City of London, so that bankers can never again play Russian roulette with your savings.

Some people say, what’s the point of voting when the same old parties always win? I say: vote for what you believe in. If you like what the Liberal Democrats stand for, vote for it. If you want real change, not phoney change, vote for it. If you think things should be different, vote for it.

At the end of the day, politics should be about what you believe. What kind of Britain do you want to live in? What kind of world do we want our children and grandchildren to grow up in?

So as the countdown to the next General Election finally begins, I have a simple question for the other party leaders: what do you believe, really believe?

People don’t want leading politicians clinging on to power for its own sake, or just telling people what they want to hear. There’s got to be more to it than that.

I have one belief above all others: a belief in fairness.  Under my leadership the Liberal Democrats have been working on new ideas to make Britain the fair country I believe most people want it to be. We want to raise standards in all of our schools by giving specific help to the children most in need, and by making class sizes smaller. Soon we will be publishing new ideas to turn our economy away from its over dependence on the City of London to a new, green economy where hundreds of thousands of new jobs will be created as we rebuild our transport, energy and housing infrastructure. Above all, we are now the only party with a detailed plan to make taxes fair – removing all income tax on the first £10000 you earn, paid for by asking people at the top to pay a bit more.

If we as Leaders want people to turn out to vote at all at the next General Election, we have got to show people our convictions, not just dividing lines, our beliefs, not just soundbites.

I hope in the coming months even more people will get a chance to find out what I believe in, and the beliefs of the Liberal Democrats. If enough people share our convictions, our beliefs, then 2010 really can be the beginning of something new.”

Many people have had problems getting their bins emptied over the last week, due to the ice and snow. Bin lorries and the people working with them have not found it easy getting to everyone.

With this in mind, I asked last week if the Council would suspend the prohibition of additional black bags for collection. The original plan was for the Council not to collect black bags, in an effort to try to minimise post-Christmas waste. Now though, after my request, they have agreed to allow extra black bag collections this week.

So if you are due to have your bin emptied this week and have generated a bit more rubbish than will fit into it, due to no collection last week, then don’t worry because this will be collected.

In other ice-related news - I have asked for several local grit bins to be re-filled, so hopefully this will happen soon too (although I hope the ice melts even quicker!).

Rick

David Cameron’s Christmas Message contained about as much Christmas spirit as a message from Ebeneezer Scrooge himself. Unfortunately, although Mr Cameron may say he wants a “fair fight” at the upcoming general election, by claiming that there’s not much difference between his party and the Lib Dems he is doing precisely the opposite. He may claim to be above the political fray, but he is cynically using the media to try to manipulate voters. He is, quite simply, misleading them.

Mr Cameron says that there is now “a lot less difference than there used to be [between the Tories and the Lib Dems] on how to create a fairer Britain.” He is quite wrong, and he knows it.

For one thing, the Lib Dems are the only party promising a big tax cut (£700 per year) for low and middle income families. Mr Cameron’s Tories are promising to make it easier for millionaires to pass on their estates in inheritance. That doesn’t really strike me as a similar policy, nor does it suggest anything to make Britain fairer.

The Lib Dems want to make the electoral system fairer - giving people whose vote currently barely counts the chance to have their voices heard. The Tories don’t. They want the current, unfair system, to carry on.

And the Lib Dems want to end the culture which began under the Conservative government which says that individual greed comes before civic responsibility. Lib Dems have been at the forefront of campaigns to stop rewarding bankers and others who preside over failures which we all pay for, from pocketing big bonuses for their work. The Tories have been light years behind. Again, there’s a big difference between our “fair,” and Tory “fair.”

Don’t be fooled by Mr Cameron. He is playing clever games. He wants people disenchanted with Labour to think that is’s a two horse race. It isn’t. Look at Lib Dem policies set against the Tories. There is another alternative to Labour - one which looks after the poorest whilst protecting civil liberties and the rule of law. It isn’t the Tories. It’s us.

Rick

The continuing cold weather has seen the snow melt and leave nasty ice in its wake. A lot of local side streets and pavements are now very slippery indeed. Please do take care.

In addition, rubbish collections, already out of kilter due to Christmas bank holidays, may still be suffering in some areas due to the ice and snow.

The Council has only been running emergency services over Christmas, but tomorrow the non-emergency stuff starts happening again too. I have already asked about re-filling grit bins and rubbish collections. As soon as I know more, I will update readers of the blog.

In the meantime, thanks for your patience with the current difficult conditions. I know it’s frustrating and can be difficult. If you can’t get around and need to, emergency help can be made available. Unfortunately though, because priority has to be given to main roads, tricky conditions look set to continue until the weather warms up a bit.

Rick

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, and continues to enjoy the holiday if they’re lucky enough to be able to do so. My own holiday is punctuated by a day at work tomorrow, before resuming again to take me through until after new year.

My gift haul this year continues the disappointingly shrinking trajectory that has accompanied my reluctant journey into adulthood. I am forced to get excited by ”Outnumbered” Season 2 on DVD which, whilst amusing, is hardly a shiny XBox360 or some other such wild gizmo that I’d probably be getting were I 12. As well as that I received a hugely exciting metal detector, which I shall be using to uncover dropped pennies in the woods a few times before getting bored with it. And I received a clock, which is ticking as I type, affixed to my wall as a constant reminder of my slow, unceasing march towards the grave.

Thankfully, said march is interrupted now and again by moments of joy, several of which will hopefully come my way in 2010. The most obvious is my wedding, which is now alarmingly close. Gone are the days when my nuptials seemed about as relevant as the burning out of the sun. Now they are almost upon me (well, within 8 months) and so today I had to lurch blinkingly into a formal hire shop and stare in confusion at various types of suit.

I shan’t name the outfitters, suffice to say that by all accounts the company is connected to two brothers, one or both of whom had the surname Moss. And what struck me about their wedding suit collection was that they have named all the outfits after famous racecourses. There’s the Kempton, the Ascot, the Sandown. I could have shopped around, but I decided to get mine from there, and picked the Lingfield, after realising that there really was no more suitable place for me to hire my wedding suit from than somewhere which gleefully names its grooms’ outfits after places where men go to ruin their lives by taking massive gambles.

I returned from town, with its seventy six billion bargain hunting shop-a-holics, to my own ice-bound cul-de-sac. Fair play to the Council for keeping the main roads clear, but it’s been a week now, and judging by my mailbox and my own feelings, the pavements could do with getting some attention now. My attempts to walk anywhere resemble a Torville and Dean gag reel at the moment. Of which more in the post above.

Rick

I’d like to wish everyone a merry Christmas, and well over the whole festive season.

I will be taking a few days off the blog over the weekend, whilst I unwrap presents, eat myself into an early grave, and watch Manchester City 3-3 Stoke on Boxing Day.

If, though, there are any emergencies for which you need the help of your local Councillor, please do get in touch.

I hope everyone has a peaceful, happy and enjoyable Christmas.

Rick

I have had a lot of correspondence over the last few days asking why more roads and pavements have not been gritted during the cold snap. Anna Bawden in The Guardian has put the cost of recent gritting activity into context in this article in today’s paper:

“Far from putting everyone in a festive mood, the snow has led to a repeat of the hand wringing at the state of the UK’s infrastructure that we saw back in February when similar wintry scenes brought the country to a virtual standstill.

Certainly, it seems crazy that in one of the world’s biggest economies, our rails, roads and airports seem incapable of coping with a bit of bad weather.

But are we prepared to sacrifice other public services in order to ensure the UK doesn’t grind to a halt on the rare occasions blizzard conditions strike?

Take roads. According to the Local Government Association (lga.gov.uk), there are 240,000 miles of local roads. You would need around 180,000 tonnes of salt to grit them all once (assuming a rate of 0.75 tonnes per mile). As it costs in the region of £25-£30 per tonne of salt, it would therefore cost around £5m to grit all the roads once and £15m to grit them three times.

Currently, councils only grit around 40% of local roads (96,000 miles) during severe weather. It would therefore cost £1.8m to grit all 96,000 miles.

So keeping 40% of local roads ice free has been expensive enough. The LGA has estimated that since the cold snap started, local authorities have spent £8.1m on salt to grit 1.1m miles of road.

And that’s just the cost of the salt. The LGA says councils spent £185m on the winter maintenance budget in the year to April 2008 (the most recent date for which data is available). The biggest expense is not the salt, grit and lorries, but the cost of storing sufficient stockpiles to be prepared when the first snow flakes fall.

As the pre-budget report showed all too plainly, the Treasury doesn’t have any money to fund more gritting. Neither do councils.

But local authorities would need to find another £462.5m to grit all local roads, which would equate to £50-£60 added to council tax bills. If they wanted to keep all the pavements clear as well, that would send the costs spiralling further, perhaps even as high as £600m.

According to the LGA, £600m could pay for 69,930 home-care placements, 120,000 school places or 14,446 miles of road resurfacing.

Do we really want to divert such large sums away from frontline public services just to ensure that every local road and pavement is kept free from snow for only a few days each year?”

Due to the adverse weather conditions, the refuse collection service has been suspended.

In addition, Council administrative buildings will be closed from 1pm, and will not re-open until 29th December.

Emergency services will continue to operate as normal.

Rick

It’s snowing again in parts of the borough, as nature continues to try the patience of everyone not lucky enough to be off work or school. Navigating the roads of Prestwich before 8am, as I had to do again today on the way to work, is no fun at all, despite the best efforts of the gritters!

I have another update for anyone wondering about gritting and bin collections in the borough - Last night the Council’s gritters were called out at 18.30 and each did a full grit.  They went out again at about 21.00 and again did a full grit each.They were called out again at 3.30 this morning, doing another full grit.  They went out again between 5.30 and 6.00 and did another grit.

Four gritters are out again at the moment (10am) across the borough.

196 tonnes of salt have gone out in total, on top of the hundreds of tonnes so far distributed in this cold snap.

In terms of rubbish collection, all collection crews have gone out again, but with a delayed departure, with a brief to collect as much waste as they safely can.  This will inevitably mean that a lot of work is not completed. I don’t know about others, but the bins in my street were emptied yesterday despite it being an ungritted cul-de-sac, so well done to all involved in trying to keep the borough’s services functioning.

Rick

I hope everyone made it to work / school (if you haven’t broken up yet) and anywhere else you needed to go this morning. It’s icy and cold out in the snow, so take care.

I have received a further update from the Council regarding gritting.

Gritters were out all weekend and 535 tonnes of salt were spread on Saturday and Sunday alone.

Today all Street Cleaning staff are employed on gritting duties including in town centres and refilling of grit bins.

All 5 gritting vehicles are also out at the moment.

Refuse/recycling collections were severely disrupted on Friday in the Ramsbottom/Tottington area due to snow and ice.  The Council have vehicles in the area today mopping up missed grey bins as best they can, but if anything conditions will be worse than they were on Friday.

Brown bin collections are effectively suspended today with contents of bins frozen solid in any case.

This morning it was debatable as to whether the service should have been suspended or not on grounds of Health & Safety.  A decision was taken not to suspend the service, however all collection crews went out late and combined with the road conditions it will inevitably mean that not all of today’s work will be completed.

The Council is doing its very best to get all collections made before Christmas in very difficult circumstances. I have asked whether it might be possible to suspend the “no black bags” rule, given that for many people there will not be a collection this week because of the weather.

Rick

The Liberal Democrats have re-iterated their committment to scrap tuition fees for students.

The party’s federal policy committee has agreed a way to deliver one of our most important policies, the scrapping of unfair tuition fees. We’ve developed a plan to phase out tuition fees over the course of the next six years, to ensure this vital policy is affordable even at this time of economic crisis.

Labour and the Conservatives refuse to address the issue of fees and there is a real danger that both of them would lift the cap on fees which could mean even more debt for students when they leave university. We think that is wrong and our policy will prevent it happening.

It’s simply wrong to penalise people who want to make the best of themselves by saddling them with enormous mortgage-style debts from the day they graduate - especially when we know the root of the current economic crisis was too much debt. And it’s clear that people from disadvantaged backgrounds are far more likely to be put off going to university if it costs them tens of thousands of pounds. In a fair society, university admissions should be based on your grades and intelligence, not the wealth of your parents. You should decide whether going to university makes sense for you - and you shouldn’t have to make the decision based on your bank balance.

We were right to oppose tuition fees from day one, and have been right to continue to oppose any lifting of the cap on the limit of fees. The government has been obsessed with artificial targets for how many people should go to university, while putting barriers in their way in the shape of fees. Our priority is making degrees affordable, and that means scrapping these unfair fees, including for those who study part-time. This is vital, because it tends to be older or poorer students who can’t afford a full-time degree, but under current rules they have to pay up-front, while everyone else is allowed to defer their payments.

Of course, at a time of economic crisis, when the government has got the public finances into a mess, it is extremely important to be responsible about making a big financial commitment like this. Students want to be treated like grown ups; they know money doesn’t grow on trees and that big spending committments like this are only affordable over time. That’s why we have agreed together to lay out a financially responsible timetable to scrap fees, step by step, over the six years after the General Election.

Final year tuition fees will be the first to go. Too many people drop out, often put off by the huge costs. We’ll make it easier to stay on, because no student will pay any fees to complete their degree. In 2011, we’ll get help to part-time students, regulating the fees they pay (a vital step towards abolishing them). In 2012, part-time students will be able to access the same loans as full-time students. In 2013, we’ll extend free tuition to second year students. In 2014, we’ll extend that same free tuition to part time students. And in 2015, as the public finances are recovering, we will be able to afford to abolish all remaining fees.

Labour’s recession has made it more difficult to find the money to fund our priorities. That’s why we are right to adapt our plans for big spending commitments and why it is right that our General Election manifesto will focus this time on a smaller number of key commitments. But our message to students is clear: we remain the only party that believes fees are unfair, and the only party with a plan to get rid of them for good.

As you may have noticed, it’s been snowing outside.

It may well be that the roads are pretty treacherous, so please be careful. There is work going on to try to alleviate some problems. The Council gritting teams based at Bradley Fold went out at 1pm Saturday and worked until 10pm.  They were called out again at 4 o’clock this morning and were still out when the last update was provided at 1pm. 

There are two teams working in shifts to provide as much coverage as possible, and the trucks are working well and spreading as much grit as possible.

I don’t think the volume of snow was expected, and of course not every road can be reached in the whole of Bury. Please take care if outside, and let me know if there are any specific areas of concern you have. I can relay these to the Council who will act if they can. 

Rick

It’s been a confusing weekend.

First, I hear that Manchester City have sacked their manager Mark Hughes, despite him guiding us to the top six and a cup semi final with only two defeats all season. I can just about cope with that, because his tactics were more frustrating than a hot date with a nun. But then I hear that he’s been replaced by Roberto Mancini, whom I thought was the guy who wrote “Moon River.” Quite how that wil bring Champions League football is anyone’s guess.

And now, to add to my confusion, I hear that Radcliffe Civic Suite is hosting a Christmas pantomime which looks like being a real festive hit.

This in itself is not confusing. It’s just the type of local community venue which should be hosting family fun events like this over Christmas.

What is confusing is that Radcliffe Civic Suite is threatened with closure by the Bury Tories. Not content with seeing Radcliffe spiral into decline, the Bury Tories have now said that any attempt at regenerating it should be put off for five years. They have closed the local high school, and have installed a couple of used portaloos in town as the sum-total of their efforts to re-vitalise the place. It really is quite sad.

Another slap in the face is the current consultation on closing the Civic Suite. Like Prestwich’s Longfield Suite, Radcliffe Civic Suite is threatened with closure. Another chunk of the town’s identity, and the fabric of its community, to be closed on the Tory watch. So please take advantage of the Civic Suite whilst it’s still there. Go and see the panto, Jack and the Beanstalk, which is on in Radcliffe on Tuesday and Wednesday. There are two performances per day, a matinee and an evening show. Tickets are £7 for adults, £6 for children, or £23 for a family of four. They can be obtained from the Civic Suite on 253-7812.

Jack and the Beanstalk is about a boy selling a prize cow for some magic beans. Sometimes I get the impression that the Bury Tories’ approach to our Civic Suites amounts to much the same thing.

Rick  

It’s snowed, as you may have noticed. And it’s also been cold, which means ice on the roads and pavements. The Council have sent us Councillors an update about gritting, and this is it:

“All gritters were called out last night at 8.45pm and they did a full grit of the borough.

It was snowing fitfully throughout the night and a decision was taken to do another grit in the north of the borough, which was completed in the early hours of this morning.

5 gritters are out and about at the moment (Friday PM) across the borough, but they are particularly focusing on the north where conditions are worst.

All Street Cleaning teams are spreading grit by hand in town centres and other areas with a high footfall. Grit bins are being replenished too.

In total 108 tonnes of grit have been taken out by the gritters last night and today.”

So there you have it. If there are any particular problems where you are, let me know. Alternatively, contact the Council on 0161 253 5000.

Rick

On Monday December 21st from 7pm, Join the Mayor of Bury, Local Councillors, Faith and Community leaders for the first ever Prestwich Community Carol Service at St.Mary’s Church, Church lane, Prestwich.

I will be there, vocal chords primed and ready. Ear plugs are, therefore, advised.

Rick

A government survey was published today, which revealed that only one in 20 people take the recommended amount of exercise. I can safely assume that I am, shamefully, not that one in twenty.

Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem Shadow Health Secretary, said:

“This data shows there is a ticking time bomb with potentially disastrous consequences both for individuals and for the NHS.

“Lack of exercise leads to increased risk from diabetes, heart disease, strokes and cancer which means misery for so many families.

“If we fail to redirect resources into preventing ill-health, the NHS will face bankruptcy. It is imperative that we change direction.”

It’s all very important, as I try to convince those colleagues of mine who refuse to take the stairs in our three-floor office block.  But my own problems are brought starkly into focus when I realise that the overriding thought that goes through my head when reading that quote from Mr Lamb is “Ooh, a nice roast lamb would be lovely round about now.”

We all need to do lots more exercise - myself included. We’re all supposed to do 5 lots of 30 minutes per week. I don’t, but I should. I do however, vastly exceed the government’s recommended weekly packets of crisps allowance, and have been known to run to the shops to buy some.

I have a serious new years resolution in the pipeline which sees me start doing the running I stopped doing when I got elected to the Council. Gone are the days when I strode around Prestwich and Whitefield like a gazelle (admittedly a slightly podgy one). In their place are sedentary evenings listening to 12 year old Tory Councillors prattle on about political theory whilst Bury crumbles. Annoyance, sadly, doesn’t burn half as many calories as jogging.

Thankfully I may be aided in my quest to be thin for my wedding (on 7th August 2010…) by the election campaign(s) which are happening between now and then. There will definitely be a local election on the first Thursday in May. The General Election may be on the same day, or it may be before, in which case there’ll be two mammoth loads of leaflets and letters to distribute. All that brisk walking is actually a great form of exercise.

It is one of the fringe benefits of campaigning that we can work off the pounds as we wrack up the votes. People can lose over a stone in a long campaign, and get much fitter whilst they do it. I always think more people should be out at election time supporting the party they believe in. Now there’s another reason - it’ll get us healthier and help stop what will definitely be a big problem for the NHS in years to come.

And, if you help us leaflet, we give you a party at the end of the year! This Sunday it’s the Bury Lib Dems Leafleters thankyou party, where we all gather together and eat mince pies to undo the months of good exercise. I am looking forward to it despite that though, as it gives me the chance to see and say thanks to everyone who’s helped us this year. Next year will be the most important for the Bury Lib Dems in a long, long time, and we appreciate the help of all of our supporters.

Rick

Keen film buffs will know that the awards season is nearly on us. The Golden Globes, the Oscars, the BAFTAs. None of these compare in any way to the Property Week North West Awards, which have remarkably decided to shortlist Bury in the “Best town” category. And, which is more, you now get to temper the X-Factor withdrawl symptoms by voting for us. 

The award is given to a town or city in the North West of England whose public sector agencies have achieved most in terms of regeneration and innovation during the period 1 October 2008 to 1 October 2009. The judges will also be keen to see evidence of a strong partnership with the private sector, which we have been cultivating as a town during our mentorship with Cheryl Cole.

It says on the press release that I am stealing this post from that “over the past year partners across Bury have been working hard to market Bury the Place and promote the opportunities created by the developments taking place in the borough.” So there you have it. I don’t know why it’s necessary to use the phrase “Bury the place,” since Bury is already a place. It would be like saying we should vote for Bury to win this award the award. But who am I to query such things?

The award is decided by an online poll on the Property Week website. If, for some reason, that website isn’t already in your “favourites,” don’t worry because you can find out more by clicking here.
If you think that Bury deserves this award, click on the website and vote.

For more information about the changes taking place in Bury and news on the developments log on to www.burysurprising.co.uk

Rick

Last night’s Council meeting was notable for a number of firsts. It was the first meeting to have been broadcast to the world live via Twitter, courtesy of the Prestwich Advertiser’s reporter beaming our thoughts to the globe. Unsurprisingly this didn’t result in an international internet meltdown, but I saw this morning that at least one or two people had tuned in. Hopefully the interest will grow.  

I am of the view that we should follow the example of other Councils and broadcast the meetings themselves on line. The more open and viewable we can be, the better. It might also encourage some of the Councillors to behave better and think before they open their mouths.  I need to find out how this Twitter lark works, because if anyone’s self-absorbed enough to think that the world needs to hear my thoughts distilled into short sentences it is the author of this blog. Maybe next meeting I can tweet myself. 

Last night was also the first meeting to be over by half past eight. They normally trickle on til ten, but due to a mixture of end-of-year weariness and a growing realisation that it’s all a load of pointless shouting, nothing much was up for debate last night. I skipped the Mayor’s festive mince pies to make it home for the football. Which was a mistake.  The reason it’s a load of pointless shouting is because backbench Councillors (that’s all of the 51 of us except for ten 9 who are on the Executive) are more or less completely powerless thanks to the government’s changes to the way local Councils run. Voters may think that their locally elected representatives have a say on policy development and the future of the borough, but in fact they don’t. In 2000 the old “committee” system was overhauled, doing away with policy development by committee which would be voted on in Council, and introducing policy development by Executive members of the ruling group. Backbenchers were reduced to “scrutinising” their work, which is fairly pointless since the scrutiny is undertaken by people who largely don’t know what they’re talking about, and can be easily ignored. 

Now the government are going to make it worse by reducing the powers even of the Executive, and placing them in the hands of a new “strong” Leader of the Council. He can, if he wants, give back some of these powers to the Executive (although not to the backbenches). So last night there was another first, as members from all political parties openly criticised these new rules. Sadly, we had no choice but to adopt them. 

The government can talk about “localism” all it wants. The truth is that it has been a centralising force, taking power away from community representatives, and reducing backbench councillors to little more than community busybodies. There is little point in us existing if the only thing we can do is wait for the scraps from the Council’s table. Policies change, decisions are made and services opened and closed without so much as a word to Councillors. If we want things done, we rely on the will of officers without any power to change that will.  Gone are committees of elected people which decide on the borough’s future. In their place are officer and government controlled darkened rooms where decisions are made to go unchallenged.  

Gone are area boards where communities came together to decide on Council services. In their place are “area partnerships,” a hotch-potch of meaningless drivel mixing the elected with the unelected and where nobody’s quite sure who’s in charge or why. Partnerships are fine, but we were elected and the others weren’t, and that should be remembered.  We are the people of Bury, but we have so little say over how Bury is run. Last night’s Council meeting was the first time I’d really realised that. 

Rick

Tonight is another meeting of Bury Council - the last one of 2009.

it’s a public meeting, which you’re all welcome to come along to. It kicks off at 7pm in the Council Chamber at Bury Town Hall. I hope it will be over by 8pm, because that’s when Spurs v City kicks off at White Hart Lane. But there are 51 Councillors in a room together, each one’s ego bigger than the last, and so there’s more chance of the meeting finishing in an hour as there is of the match ending in anything other than City’s 43rd draw on the bounce.

It’s not a particularly heavy agenda tonight. There are no motions for debate, which is something of a relief after the debates last time descended into chaos amidst tied votes, arcane constitutional rules, and a gaggle of people not really sure what to do next.

What we do have is a proposal to change the way the Council is led, which has been forced on us by the government. It says that we have to elect the Council Leader for four year terms now, as opposed to a single year as now. The idea is to give Councils a “strong leader,” although in reality all it will do is mean that the same weak leaders are kept in post longer. Strong leaders aren’t created by tinkering with job descriptions, they’re made by strong leaders being elected to lead Councils. Unfortunately the government think differently.

Not only does the “strong leader” idea not work in principle, it also won’t work in practice for a Council like our’s which has elections most years - in effect it means electing a Leader for four years despite that Leader’s party not being guaranteed a majority, and despite the Leader himself probably being up for election during his term.

Thankfully, as well as being silly and pointless, the legislation is about as solid as a jelly skyscraper, and so it’s easily circumvented. We agree to elect a Leader for four years, but say that he can be removed after a Council resolution at any time. So if his party loses control, he can be got rid of.

Which is much as it is now, only after lots of time and money wasted drafting and having to adopt pointless legislation.

It’s a good job the country is awash with cash or else that would have been a colossal waste of mon… Oh.

Rick

A campaign by residents in St Ann’s Road has resulted in concessions from the Council after a long running dispute about garden tenancies.

Householders in the area were alarmed early last year when the Council tried to enforce new terms and conditions on land leased from them as gardens. In many cases, the land had been given over temporarily to householders in the Second World War, and then forgotten about. Residents has enjoyed use if it for decades, under varying terms. A large number were enjoying it for free, or paying a nominal rent. 

The Council sought large rental payments, to be increased year on year, as well as imposing various legal restrictions which had never been enforced previously.

The “Dig for Victory” residents campaign was formed, with support from other local Lib Dem Councillors and me. After a period of consultation, the Council have now agreed to a number of the residents’ requests. The Council’s concessions include:

- The granting of seven year leases, rather than leases for just one year

- Allowing residents to transfer the lease when they sell their home

- A cap on increases to match inflation

- A 50% discount for those over 60

- A flat rate of £50 for the first year

These are substantial victories for local residents, and I am glad that the Council have come round to our view that their original requests were heavy-handed and unfair. Obviously this will still mean an increased bill for some people, but the highest annual bill (which can be paid monthly or quarterly instead if residents wish) is just over £200.

Hopefully now local people can continue to use land which belongs to the Council but which has made up part of their garden for years, in a way which is fair to all sides.

Rick

The government has dramatically watered-down controversial plans requiring anyone working with children to be vetted and registered.

After protests from teachers’ groups, volunteers’ groups, charities and others, the rules have been changed to exclude private arrangements and school exchanges.

David Laws, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Children, Schools and Families, said
“This u-turn is long overdue. It has been clear for some time that the heavy-handed Government rules on parental vetting were likely to deny opportunities to young people, rather than significantly improve their safety.

“There must, however, be concern about whether the Government’s u-turn is going to go far enough.

“The existing daft regulations on child protection require even police officers to go through an expensive and bureaucratic registration system. It’s not yet clear whether rules of this type are going to be swept away.”

I also have significant concerns about this scheme, which will sit alongside the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) system which I have written about many time son here before. The changes are a move in the right direction. No right minded person could have thought it right that two friends agreeing to babysit each other’s children would need to be registered or else face prosecution. Yet that is what these rules would have meant.

There remain, however, big problems. Some are practical - For instance, this new vetting scheme has no personal right of appeal attached to it. This seems to go against the rules of natural justice, and has been criticised by, amongst others, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers. As things stand, someone barred from working with children cannot appeal that decision in person. That needs to change.

But there is also a problem of principle. It is a sad fact that some children are abused, and like all of us the government must do its utmost to stop that abuse. But a system like this won’t stop abuse from happening in the home, perpetrated by relatives and those known to the victim. This scheme is simply a smokescreen, ensnaring millions of innocent people in a government-run register. Surely it would be better to invest the money it’s costing to set up and run this scheme in more police, more social workers, more education and more effective protection measures for at risk children?

I understand the need for a system which tracks those who abuse young people. But casting the finger of suspicion in the direction of anyone and everyone who wants to help young people (and charging them £64 a time if they’re employed) is absolutely not the way to improve our children’s lives.

A targeted approach, better communication between agencies, and a system which is fair to the applicant, would be much better. Sadly, our intrusive and over-zealous government think differently.

Rick

In my weaker moments I have been known to order an artery-congealing lunchtime snack from one of the two branches of Gregg’s that inexplicably have enough pulling-power to both exist simultaneously within yards of each other in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre, where I work.

Today was one such day, when I made a “Jack and the beanstalk” type trading decision, and swapped my hard-earned cash for a Steak Bake.

The problem is, Gregg’s pasties lurch between being hotter than the sun, and colder than an Arctic morning. There is no middle ground between a tongue-burning scald-a-thon, and chucking 95% of it in the bin when the first bite is like munching down on a beef-flavoured profiterole. 

This, I have decided for the benefit of this blog post, is precisely the same as being a Bury Councillor. Gregg’s is either hot or cold. Council is either mad busy or dead. It seems that this year the schedule of Council meetings has been arranged specifically to annoy me by presenting me with bursts of activity followed by prolonged periods of calm. A bit like a round-the-world yacht race, I presume.

This week is one of the busy ones (immediately to be followed by a fortnight of nothingness whilst we all munch mince pies and watch Only Fools and Horses re-runs). Tonight is a double header, with a meeting of both the Bury Lib Dem Executive Committee and the Bury Lib Dem Council Group.

No, I don’t know how I handle the excitement either.

Tomorrow is an evening off, but I am making another questionable retail decision by going to the Manchester Christmas Markets. This fake-Teutonic collection of wooden shacks is the only place where rampant profiteering is not only tolerated but actively encouraged by shoppers so blinded by the magic of Christmas that they will willingly pay £3 for a single sliver of fudge. The entire experience will be made all the more unpleasant because I will be surrounded by 87,000,000,000,000,000,000 other last-minute Christmas shoppers all crammed into Albert Square thinking that it’ a good idea to drink mulled wine in the freezing cold at £4.50 a cup before buying some European tat for fifteen times its real value off a Swiss artisan grinning all the way to the bank.

Wednesday sees me back on the Council fun-wagon, as the final meeting of full Council of the year arrives to greet us all. I am looking forward to it about as much as I am my own ultimate demise, especially since City are on Sky. More of that to come nearer the time - and don’t forget that it’s a public meeting and you can come too!

So that’s what awaits me in the coming days.

Rick

Happy Chanukah to all the Jewish people who read this blog. I hope the festival is enjoyable for everyone celebrating it.

I often think that the story of Chanukah is about the closest to a biblical version of modern day local government as we’re likely to get. Back then, there was only enough oil to keep the lights in the temple burning for a day. The oil supply meanwhile, was a week’s journey away. God’s work meant that the light kept on burning anyway.

These days, it seems that Councils are being asked to provide lots more, despite being given nowhere near enough to pay for it. Unfortunately, I’m not counting my chickens that God is going to step in and help.

Thankfully I don’t have to think about it all the time, and can do other Councillor-y things instead, which don’t need any money. So today I did just that, spending a couple of hours leafletting, some time writing a speech for Council on Wednesday, and some more time catching up on casework. I ordered a new wheely bin for one resident, have asked for some pavement repairs for another, and enquired about improved park drainage for a third. I could do with God helping me there as well, come to think of it, because sometimes the only way to get things from the Council is with divine intervention!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend.

Rick

A neat new website is available for people to find out all about their local area. The “One Place” website allows people to discover all sorts of things about how local public services are performing.

Take a look and find out about Bury. You may be surprised to discover certain things. I was certainly pleased to find out that Bury is in the top third in the country for youth re-offending, and has amongst the lowest under 18 conception rates in the country. But, I was disappointed to learn that there are a number of measures in which we’re doing worse than we should.

For instance, we’re in the bottom 20% in the entire country for recycling waste, which is perhaps not surprising given the fiasco that the Bury Tories have presided over regarding local recycling facilities in Prestwich.

Worryingly, Bury’s children are less likely than average to have their case files reviewed on time if they’re in contact with social services. We’re in the bottom fifth for this indicator too, and I’d like to know why and what is going to be done about it.

Of course, these indicators aren’t an exact science, and it’s always difficult reducing complicated issues to scores and ratings. But this website, and the information it provides, will certainly start debate, can potentially show us who the best people are to learn from, and will give local people a chance to see how we’re doing at a glance.

I urge you to take a look.

Rick

Manchester City Council have announced that the application from Goals

Soccer Centres to build a commercial soccer centre in Heaton Park will

now NOT be considered at the Planning Committee on 17 December 2009. 

This is the second time that the proposals have failed to make it to Planning

Committee - earlier concerns meant the application was not considered in

September.

Local campaigners, whilst welcoming the delay, say the “fight must go on” to

stop this part of the park being ruined. The application is still expected to come

before Committee in the new year. 

Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary candidate for Bury South and local councillor said,

“I welcome this further delay and urge Manchester City Council even at this late

stage to reflect on the negative impact that this development would have on

Heaton Park and the surrounding community. The legacy to future generations

should be trees and open parkland not concrete and cages.”

“Don’t sell Greater Manchester short, abandon these proposals and start a real

dialogue on how best to ensure Heaton Park is sustainable and preserved for

the benefit of all, this generation and those that follow.”

Hopefully either GOALS or Manchester City Council (or both) will see sense and realise that this is completely the wrong place to build what they’re looking to build. Parks should stay parks - there’s plenty of brownfield sites to build 5-a-side football pitches on, and if they wanted to build them there there’d be a lot more support.

Rick

The pre-budget report has left me feeling let-down and deflated.

Let’s be honest, it was never going to be a champagne-popping occasion with free money raining down on us from a great cash cannon in the sky. But what it could have been was a decisive shift toward a fairer tax system and a more manageable public debt. It has ended up being neither of those things. Instead, the lowest paid get paid even less, the gap between the rich and poor gets bigger, and Labour expect the worst off to be placated by cheaper games of bingo and a scrappage scheme for boilers.

This report could have set the tone for Alistair Darling to use the last budget before a General Election to make good the Labour promise of looking after the lowest paid. It is not, and as a result it may well be the last budget he ever sets. 

Vince Cable, the Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems, and our shadow Chancellor, puts it better than I could. He said “This is a good budget for bingo and boilers but not much else.”

“What we needed was a national economic plan but what we got was a weak party manifesto.

 “There has never been a deficit like this and we need a sensible and coherent plan for dealing with it.

“The Chancellor has ducked the hard choices on spending and cuts. Instead of facing up to reality he has chosen to move the goal posts by relying on fanciful growth forecasts.

“He could have used this Budget to make the tax system fairer.  But instead people on middle incomes will be paying more tax while those at the top end continue to enjoy their loopholes.

“The bankers’ payroll tax is the worst type of gesture politics and a gift wrapped invitation to tax avoidance.

“The hidden costs of this budget will be borne by low paid workers who face a cut in real wages because of the 1% pay rise – which is lower than inflation.”

The Lib Dems’ public sector pay plans are much fairer. And I say this as someone who would myself lose out because of them. We propose a £400 cap on public sector pay rise, rather than 1%. This means that the lowest paid public servants - often the teachers, paramedics, hospital cleaners - will potentially get a higher than inflation rise, whilst those earning at the top end will get less. Not only does this give a boost to the lowest paid, but it closes the gap between the best and least well off, at least in the public sector.

Another chance missed by Labour, and another let down as the pre-election economic deceit continues.

Rick

Yesterday I attended a Climate Change Q&A session, hosted by Manchester Friends of the Earth. The star turn was Ed Miliband MP, the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, but also on the panel were Sir Richard Leese who is the Leader of Manchester City Council, the Chairman of the Co-op, and a representative from FoE.

It was Mr Miliband’s final engagement before heading out to Copenhagen (unfortunately and somewhat hypocritically, by plane…), but he was in hopeful and inspiring mood. Much as I think the Labour government have made a mess of a lot of things, they’ve also done a lot of good and have some senior ministers who are obviously knowledgeable and passionate. Ed Miliband came across as one such minister last night, with an honest and nuanced appraisal of the Climate Change and the importance and likelihood of a binding and properly financed settlement at Copenhagen. I do think we’d stand a better chance with a Lib Dem in charge, but Ed’s what we’ve got for now so I wish him well and I’m glad it’s him going rather than a lot of other people.

Unfortunately, nuance isn’t a word I found myself associating with the FoE representative, who’s opening gambit was that he wanted to achieve a carbon emission free-world by 2050 even if this meant an end to all air travel and various other modern ways of doing things. Whilst I admire the man’s fervour, this policy is obviously completely unrealistic and unachievable, and I wonder whether the people proposing it are more likely to turn people off responding to climate change than get us all taking the necessary action. It just seems plane stupid to me…

The other panel members offered their views of reasonable, practical but effective steps to take towards a more sustainable and responsible society. The Co-op, for instance, have numerous initiatives and policies, including doing no business with those involved with fossil fuels, and turning their massive city centre headquarters into the biggest solar panel in the country which means that almost 100% of their energy is sustainably sourced.

it was a good night. But unfortunately, as someone in the audience commented, most of the people there all knew each other. Obviously I knew nobody, because I have no friends. But most of the others were from the same tribe of eco-buddies who need less converting to environmentalism than Bernard Matthews does to Christmas. The real issue, as Ed Miliband recognised at the end, is how to get the secptics on board to realise how important this issue is, and how we all need to take action in our own way and through our governments, to stop crises. That’s a challenge that I hope Mr Miliband rises to.

Other than that, the only slightly concerning facet to the whole evening was that people kept mentioning the “elephant in the room.” I didn’t see it, but if there are now elephants wandering the streets of Manchester, what more obvious sign of climate change is there than that? What next I wonder, gazelles leaping through Albert Square?

Rick

For anyone fortunate enough to have enjoyed shopping at Bury Market in the last twelve months, or for anyone unfortunate enough to have become addicted to voting for stuff in the wake of X-Factor and Strictly, now’s your chance to make Bury Market the nation’s favourite.

The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) has launched their annual nationwide competition in an attempt to find Britain’s favourite market. Shoppers can register their vote online at www.nabma.com until Wednesday 20 January. These awards promote and celebrate the importance of local markets where high standards of service, products and good practice can be found.

Britain’s Favourite Market will be announced at an awards ceremony at the end of January, where you can also pick up five pairs of socks for £1.

Councillor Dorothy Gunther, Bury Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, didn’t say:

“Bury Market would benefit greatly from the ‘Park Free After 3′ initiative proposed by the Lib Dems in Bury, but we Conservatives have rejected it for no apparent reason.”

Instead, she ignored the issue entirely and said “Bury Market has justifiably won NABMA’s Best Market Award twice before and only last year became BBC Radio 4’s Food and Farming Award’s ‘Best Food Market’. The market continues to be a popular visitor destination attracting over 1300 coaches this year. It is really important that local people back Bury Market so that it gains the national recognition it deserves in this poll.”

Thankfully most of the food on sale in the market is a lot less bland than that quote.

So get voting, and let’s give Bury Market another deserved accolade.

Rick

The outcome of the recent Youth Service review in Bury has highlighted how badly the Conservatives are running Bury, and how, sadly, Labour are all too willing to put party politics before improved services in this borough.
 
The Tories imposed a £200,000 savings target from a review the Youth Service. This meant that from the start the review was about money and not quality. No matter that the service is high performing and popular. The Tories wanted to cut it by £200k, and so the service would have to be changed in some way to make that cut.

That’s no way to run a Council service. If I were in charge, I would review services and then decide if and where cuts needed to be made. Not so the Tories.
 
After the review though, we were faced with two choices (there were four originally, but two were discounted beacuse they’d been tried and failed elsewhere, and it’s not what young people wanted).

The first option was to keep the structure of the Youth Service, but cut back the amount of time youth workers spend with young people by 68 hours per week. The second was to merge the Youth and Connexions services, saving on management costs. The reduction of a manager’s post would mean that the nuymber of contact hours lost would halve, to 34.

Because of the Conservative commitment to cut the service by £200k, there were no other options.
 
Faced with this choice, Liberal Democrats favoured the merger option. I chaire dthe scrutiny group looking into this, and although there remain questions about how it will work, I say that saving management costs is better than losing more contact time directly with young people.

Labour, however, favour the other option, maintaining the management structure and losing more contact hours.

Whilst I understand that they don’t want to lose one or other of the service managers, the alternative is surely worse. As I said at the scrutiny meeting where this was discussed, the Tories are asking us to choose between the policy equivalent of receiving a broken arm or a broken leg.
 
It is not right that those who manage high performing services are put at risk, but the Tories gave us no option. Faced with the dilemma of cutting management or cutting front line services for young people, I chose the former. If that annoys some people in the Labour party, then so be it. If this upsets the people at risk of redundancy, then I apologise that they lose out, but say that my decision was taken with a heavy heart but was unavoidable because of the Tory-imposed cut. If I had another choice, I’d make it.

The Tories should be ashamed that they put us in this position, with their half baked ideas and their service reviews which are more about money than quality. It’s no way to run a Council. Labour’s reaction though seems at odds with anything they may say about protecting service quality, and they too have some explaining to do to the young people of Bury. They campaigned strongly to save the youth service, but then opposed a plan which would halve cuts to it.

I fear that their opposition is more about opposing for its own sake than it is about serving our young people. If so, they have some serious thinking to do.

Rick

At least half of the 38 Ministers and officials that the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) are taking to the Copenhagen Conference will be travelling by plane, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

The information was released in answer to Parliamentary Questions.
 
Liberal Democrat Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes will be travelling to the Copenhagen conference by train next weekend. The cost of his travel will be cheaper than the average £460 that DECC is paying to send each of its ministers and civil servants to the Conference.

Commenting, Simon Hughes said:

“It’s a disgrace that ministers and officials are flying today to attend the Copenhagen Conference.

“They are supposed to be discussing how to save the world from a climate crisis and yet many of them are using the most polluting form of transport available - and at a very high cost to the public.

“I will be travelling to the conference by train, a method of transport far less damaging to the environment. It may take a little longer to get there, but it certainly will cost less than the people at the Department of Climate Change are spending on their travel.

“Labour has to wake up and realise that words are not what is needed to avert a climate crisis, it is real action that counts.”

If the conference was in Cape Town or New York, or Melbourne or Santiago, then fly by all means. But it’s not. It’s virtually around the corner. If anything is likely to make people switch off and ignore the efforts that are needed, it’s silliness like flying when a train will do.

Rick

Bury Conservatives conceded defeat again this week and agreed to scale down cuts to the Youth Service after opposition intervention. They agreed not simply to cut the Council’s Youth Service and instead merge it with the Connexions service which provides help and support for 13-19 year olds. This climbdown came after two opposition scrutiny commissions recommended the merger option, which halves the amount of contact hours with young people lost each week.

A £200,000 cut in the youth service was outlined in the last Tory budget. This was to be achieved by holding a service review, because quite how to actually make £200k of cuts was beyond the Tories, who were happy to cut first and think second. Outsourcing was considered and rejected, leaving only simple staff cuts or the merger option. After two independent scrutiny reviews, one of which I chaired, the merger option has been chosen. I took no pleasure whatsoever in recommending it, not least because so much of the practicalities of making it happen are still murky.

Despite the end outcome being a bit better than it might have been, this is still a bitter blow for young people. Dozens of hours of contact time will be lost, as will one of the two service managers currently running the Youth and Connexions services. These Conservative measures reduce a high performing, popular service, against the wishes of young people and against the wishes of Bury Lib Dems.

It’s also another example of the Conservative’s putting the cart before the horse and getting policy decisions wrong. The future of public services should be judged on sustainable quality, but in this instance the review started knowing full well that it had to find £200k of savings regardless of any other outcome. What has resulted may not now be best for anyone except the accountants. It’s no way to run a Council, and our young people will suffer.

Rick

If you go to a quiet place and listen to the wind blowing, you will doubtless here a faint chorus floating on the breeze, as millions nationwide ask in unison “Where’s Richard Baum been for the last two days, and why have there been no blog posts?” Well, I can answer the fretting masses by saying that I’ve just been a bit busy at work, and thus haven’t had the time to write anything on here. That, plus nipping out to the football last night to see Manchester City fail to draw against the Arsenal u-12s.

But I am back now, and with exciting news, because I have been invited by the good people at Bury ADAB to attend a “Question Time “style debate with local sixth formers at Holy Cross College next Thursday. I’ll be delighted to be there alongside my Conservative and Labour general election opponents on the panel, amongst others. There’s lots on the agenda, including talking about the rise of the EDL / BNP, reaction to the Swiss vote on minarets, the economy, and community cohesion. I also hope someone will ask about Labour’s appalling record on civil liberties, the Tories’ eye-wateringly silly tax plans, and the Lib Dem alternatives to both. Because that would be fun.

It will also be nice to meet my Labour opponent Maryam Khan for the first time. I wonder if she has applied for an ID card yet, as her party would have us all do.

The last few days have not all been spent slaving away doing deeply unpleasant things like watching Man City. There have also been case work enquiries a-plenty as ever, and some leafleting.

Occasionally I get casework queries that, I confess, I find a bit odd. On Tuesday evening I returned home from work to find two messages which are at the more ludicrous end of the spectrum. First a lady complaining that the private flats she had bought came without sufficient parking spaces for her, her husband, and any guests that they may want to entertain. Whilst I can understand the annoyance, I don’t really think that I can do much to help, given that she wasn’t coerced into buying one by a despotic regime somewhere. I gave her the top tip I will give to anyone looking for property with three car parking spaces - don’t buy a flat.

And then, after that little episode of “Location, Location, Location” came something even more odd - a message on my answering machine from a new mother asking if I could recommend a good circumcisor for her baby boy. I was well and truly stumped by that one, as I believe it falls some way outside of my remit. I resisted the urge to ring any of my more observant Jewish friends, or even to take the spirit of public service to new levels and don the surgical gear myself, and instead referred her to her GP, and haven’t heard back since. I hope it ended OK…

Rick

I suspect that the only people who read local political blogs are other local politicians, and I’m no exception to that rule. Occasionally I look at Conservative PPC David Nuttall’s, and it was whilst doing so the other day that I was alerted to the existence of Bury Speakeasy, a very worthy charity helping people with a condition called Aphasia.

My Grandpa suffered from Aphasia towards the end of his life, and when I read about Bury Speakeasy on David’s blog I contacted them to say how good it is that they are providing a service for people with Aphasia today in Bury.

Aphasia is a condition affecting a quarter of a million people in the UK. Many are stroke victims, but it can also affect people who have suffered head trauma, brain tumour or other neurological illness. Aphasia doesn’t affect intellect, but the condition means that those with Aphasia have difficulty communicating and dealing with language. It can manifest itself in a number of ways, and it affected my Grandpa who died in 2006. He had trouble speaking and understanding others speaking to him, and it really affected his quality of life in his final few years.

Not many people know about Aphasia, which is a problem for people who suffer from it. You can find out more from the Bury Speakeasy website or from Speakability. Bury is lucky in having a good Stroke service locally, and the Bury Speakeasy charity is almost unique outside of London. Anyone with Aphasia is welcome there, even without a medical referral, regardless of where they live.

Funding for organisations like Speakeasy is always challenging, particularly in tough economic times. I am glad I’ve found out about the organisation, as this is a condition I am particularly interested in, and it’s good that an organisation like this exists close to home.

Rick