|
|
 |
|
|
Dr Mike Eddy’s Blog
Welcome to my Blog. I want to keep you updated on what’s happening here at County Hall and across the County. I also want to hear what you think about entries in my blog and about Kent County Council; if you want to comment click on the ‘talking head’ and let me have your views.
|
|
|
|
Older entries are available in the archived section; please feel free to comment on these too.
|
|
|
|
|
|
28th April 2009 Thursday’s media dinner In an earlier blog entry, I wondered whether the press corps would be entranced by a three-course dinner. Some may have been, but I suspect that most weren’t. Certainly there were some pithy comments on KCC’s “success” in losing between £3.6million and £5.4million out of the £18million deposited with Heritable Bank; Paul Carter’s leadership in the whole Icelandic Banking crisis; and the Conservative leader of Thanet District Council’s PR style. But perhaps the best bit of the whole event was the opportunity to tell Sr. Portillo that people in Deal and Walmer still haven’t forgiven him for closing the Royal Marine Barracks – the very last act he took under the last Conservative Government.  |
|
|
|
28th April 2009 Archaeological awards, Dover’s heritage and Sevenoaks roads On Saturday I spent a pleasant afternoon at the Council for Kentish Archaeology’s West Kent conference, learning about archaeological sites in Maidstone, Leigh and Medway. But also picking up the CKA’s archaeological conservation award, in the form of a cheque for £200, on behalf of the Western Heights Preservation Society. For those that don’t know, the Western Heights are on top of the hills opposite Dover Castle and they comprise the largest surviving complex of Napoleonic defences in Britain. Together with the castle, Dover has got a world-class heritage, one which the Conservative-run Dover District and Kent County Councils are desperately trying to ignore while they dream up ‘iconic’ towers and cable cars, and try to build world-class supermarkets to ‘attract’ visitors. Over in Sevenoaks, I bounced about on KCC’s ‘road’ system, fearful – as ever – for the Astra’s suspension. But I managed to get back to the motorway and East Kent with the cheque, a welcome addition to the Western Heights Preservation Society’s funds. |
|
|
28th April 2009 Help for Business Over the weekend, my colleague for the double county council division of Deal, Terry Birkett, and I delivered a short note to businesses in the town about what the Government is doing to provide “Real Help” for difficult times. I’ve added it to the website because I think it could be useful for business people across Kent. |
|
|
27th April 2009 “Looking After Our Town Centres” The Government has also identified some key steps communities can take to keep town centres thriving, and has announced up to £3 million to help communities reduce the negative impact empty shops can have on the High Street. A practical guide called Looking After Our Town Centres was published earlier this month by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Department for Innovation, Universities & Skills, and the Department for Culture, Media & Sport. The guide can be downloaded from the DCLG website by visiting http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/planningandbuilding/towncentres. Empty shops can be eyesores and magnets for crime, and can reduce town centre and business confidence. Councils can use licensing powers positively to permit things like farmers’ markets, which bring local produce and new trade to town centres and high streets. But there are other steps that can be taken to prevent stagnation of town centres. The new provisions include special planning application waivers, standardised interim use leases, and temporarily leasing shops to councils so they can get ‘makeovers’ for community benefit. |
|
|
27th April 2009 Budget 2009 The Budget, announced on 22nd April by the Chancellor Alistair Darling, included several measures intended to support businesses through the current global recession:
- Extended help for companies making a loss - they will be able to reclaim more taxes paid in the last three years until November 2010
- A ‘top-up’ trade credit insurance scheme to help businesses maintain their finances, in which Government will offer to match private sector trade credit insurance provision, for a temporary period, if insurers reduce cover to any UK business
- Enabling businesses to spread payment of this year’s inflation up-rating to business rates over three years, as announced on 31 March 2009
- Businesses' main capital allowance rate to be doubled to 40%, encouraging firms to bring forward investment
- A new £750m strategic investment fund to support emerging technologies and regionally important sectors of business (a third of this will be earmarked for low carbon projects).
|
|
|
27th April 2009 Government support for businesses and town centres Real Help for Businesses Now Real Help for Businesses Now is a Government package of measures to support businesses in the current global recession. The help on offer includes a package of financial measures to support viable businesses which are experiencing temporary cashflow problems. The Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme supports loans of up to £1 million for firms with less than £25 million turnover and can also allow for conversion of an existing overdraft into a loan to free up capital. The Capital for Enterprise Fund provides equity investment which you can use to pay off existing debt or invest in your business. Businesses may be eligible to spread tax, VAT, NI and PAYE payments over time to help them overcome temporary financial difficulties. Real Help for Businesses Now also includes free business health checks, confidential debt management advice, skills training, help with exports, and guidance on restructuring and how to avoid redundancies. To find out if you are eligible for any support from Real Help for Businesses Now, start by visiting http://www.realhelpnow.gov.uk/. This website also contains links to more local information about the Government’s Real Help… programme in the South East.
|
|
|
23rd April 2009 Conservatives Get Ready for Their Manifesto Launch In their own inimitable style the Conservative administration is getting ready for the launch of their svelte manifesto tomorrow. They're having a dinner up at Oakwood this evening for Kent's media moguls! In order to throw the newshounds off the scent, they've have taken the unprecedented step of inviting me and the Lib-Dem leader on KCC to this particular ball. This is the first time that either of us has been allowed to mingle with the media at one of these events, though we are of course outnumbered by the Tory hordes. The guest of "honour" is a certain Michael Portillo. Don Miguelito is well-known to my constituents in Deal as the Conservative Minister who, in the last days of the Major government, flogged off the Royal Marine Barracks for a song. The Tory manifesto will go out under the title of "Strong Leadership for Difficult Times" or some such slogan. I couldn't agree more. That's exactly why we need Gordon Brown in charge providing direction to the world during the difficult times of a global recession. And strong leadership is the last thing we've had from KCC Conservatives recently. I can't think of anyone, inside or outside County Hall, who privately thinks that we have had anything other than weak leadership from the Tories over the last few years. Let's hope, for the sake of the people of Kent, that the press pack see through the ruse of a night out to keep them sweet.
|
|
|
20th April 2009 Coincidence…? I can’t think why but the webcast of the most recent meeting of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee (held on 8 April) has yet to make it onto Kent TV. For those who have been desperately waiting to watch proceedings, it is thankfully available via the council’s main webcasting site at http://www.kent.ukcouncil.net/site/player/pl_compact.php?a=24919&t=0&m=wm&l=en_GB. The subjects covered were Children’s Centres (why KCC had changed its contractors, twice); the Freedom Pass (why Kent kids who go to school in Medway can’t have one); and the Chief Executive’s pay. As we still have Kent TV with us for the moment, and as it’s supposed to be an impartial, arm’s length channel (though of course funded by the council taxpayer to the tune of nearly £1.2 million), I feel it’s unfortunate that Scrutiny appears to have been quietly dropped. The cynic in “the reasonable man” might suggest that this omission could be related to the approaching county council elections on 4 June and the sensitivity of all three subjects in various quarters of the County Council. Or Con Trick …? I’ve recently acquired a copy of a leaflet delivered around Dover by the local Conservative county council candidates for the elections on 4 June – Messers Collor and Frayne. They propose an interesting argument as to why the good folk of Dover should vote for them. It goes like this:
- Roads, childcare and regeneration in Dover could all be better than they are.
- Other services delivered by Kent County Council, like adult education and care of the elderly, could be better too.
Nothing we didn’t know there! But their thesis goes on:
- Other areas do better than Dover out of KCC because those other areas have chosen to elect Conservative county councillors!
Hold on. A Conservative–led council treating Conservative areas more favourably than those represented by another political party! Some would say that that smacks of using council taxpayers’ money for party political purposes. Some might also think: if the Conservatives can’t deliver decent services, why would you want more of them on the County Council?
|
|
|
15th April 2009 A question of confidence Readers of this blog will be aware that my Kent Labour colleagues and I have had concerns for some time about the way in which Paul Carter has behaved with regard to the council’s deposits in Icelandic banks. We also believe that his reaction to the Audit Commission’s Risk or Return report has been disappointing, hypocritical, and – as we’ve said before - potentially damaging. For anyone who’s not familiar with the title Risk and Return, that’s the report in which KCC was one of seven authorities described as having ‘negligently deposited money after credit ratings for Icelandic banks were downgraded below acceptable levels’. And we’re not alone in having these concerns. Members of the public we talk to every day, and who’ve commented on the internet and in the local media, have lost any confidence they might have had once upon a time in Carter’s ‘leadership’. In response to a story on Kent on Sunday’s website, for example, readers placed comments including “Show some dignity and resign!” and “Go now, Carter. We simply can’t afford you”. If this were just about Paul Carter, that’d be one thing. But when you also read comments left on KoS’ website like “KCC should be ashamed” and “KCC is a shambles”, you realise that people are also losing confidence in the County Council as an organisation. And that weakens the Council’s ability to serve the people of Kent – which is, after all, its raison d’être – by working with them, supporting them, and representing them. The people of this County deserve a better relationship with their County Council. They need to be able to place their confidence in the Council. And Carter has become an insuperable obstacle to their confidence. That’s why Kent Labour County Councillors have submitted a motion of no confidence in Carter’s leadership for the next meeting of County Council, 30th April. We put in the motion yesterday afternoon so that there would be time for it to be put on the agenda of the Council meeting. It’ll be interesting to see whether, between now and then, the Administration dream up some trick to block our motion. It’d suit all the Conservatives not to have to put Carter’s leadership to the vote. Of course, it’d suit Carter and his cronies. But it might also suit those Conservatives who have doubts about the quality of their ‘Leader’ and would rather not be drawn out into the open as to whether they actively support him or not.
|
|
|
15th April 2009 RVH’s new enterprise? The Dover Ex-Press ran a story last week that Reg Hansell (he of the "Let's Build a Proper (Whatever That Means) Hospital at Whitfield and Make Sure that the Kent and Canterbury Hospital Closes" campaign) is ‘actively considering’ a ‘strategic candidature’ for the County Council elections on 4th June. Presumably Reg has plenty of time on his hands now that he’s no longer obliged to attend meetings of Eythorne Parish Council. The Ex-Press reports that although Reg has said he would stand where he sits, in Dover North, ‘allies’ – a shrinking band - suggest he may run for one of the Dover Town county seats or alternatively for Deal (which they describe as being my division, omitting to mention that I represent it jointly with Terry Birkett and thereby demonstrating once again the level of accuracy for which the Ex-Press is justly renowned). It’ll be interesting to see if Reg does run as some sort of ‘independent’ and how, if elected, he proposes to maintain his independence from the interests of fellow ‘proper’ hospital enthusiast Charlie Elphicke, the local Tory wannabe MP, with whom he has shared many a photo opportunity. It’ll also be interesting to see whether, if Reg does run as an ‘independent’, London tax lawyer Elphicke comes out to support his campaign as well as - or even instead of - the aspirations of fellow Tories standing for the County Council. Could Cheerful Charlie’s support help Reg bleed away votes from the Conservatives and assist in preventing them from winning seats? Or will Cheerful Charlie, like just about everyone except the team at the Dover Ex-Press, start to distance himself from Reg now that ‘a source’ has told the Ex-Press Reg is considering standing in the general election next year – presumably against Elphicke himself? Reg’ll have some explaining to do about his campaign for a ‘proper’ hospital, too. If he stands in Dover town, he’ll have to explain why he considers it a good idea to continue his (increasingly isolated) campaign to hold up progress on a community hospital in Dover town centre – despite the fact that it will have a minor injuries unit, an outpatients department, a minor surgery suite, renal dialysis, a birthing unit and child health unit, a day hospital, and various diagnostic and therapy services. And, of course, it’ll be easy to get to from everywhere in Dover, though perhaps not so easy to get to from the pool side at Reg’s Gothic pile in Shepherdswell. He’ll probably cook up a scare story about flooding on the proposed hospital site. But as I’ve said before in this blog, the Environment Agency seems to think the problem can be solved by building a small wall beside the River Dour (though Reg, of course, is an expert on aspects of the water industry following his other great campaign against compulsory water meters). And the hospital contractors and the NHS have to produce a strategy to reduce the risk of flooding on the site as part of their planning application. Of course if Reg does stand against Terry Birkett and myself, he might like to explain to the townspeople of Deal how his half-baked plans for a ‘proper’ hospital in Dover would affect the services currently being delivered by Deal’s own hospital – which has already been described as a ‘proper’ hospital by his good friend / potential rival Charlie Elphicke.
|
|
|
7th April 2009 Another Gaffe from Dover Tory Roger Walkden, Conservative District Councillor for the Maxton, Elms Vale and Priory ward in Dover, has certainly made his mark during his time on Dover District Council. Best known for publishing a tasteless "joke" about asylum seekers on a local web forum, Cllr Walkden has spent most of his time since then apologising "unreservedly". He has asked also for the "joke" to be removed from the website. As a testament to his powers of persuasion, it was still there this afternoon. According to the information on the District Council website, Cllr Walkden spends much of his time "working on how to improve tourism for Dover, and trying to generate interest in the many historical sites and attractions". He is also apparently "working on various Tourism initiatives to bring tourists back to Dover" which "will help with employment, benefit the historic sites and attractions, create new shops, pubs and restaurants and help Guest Houses and Hotels look better and thrive instead of just survive". Cllr Walkden was a guest house proprietor so he knows how important Dover's image is for travellers and tourists. And he managed the Dover Loyalty Card Scheme until the card literally and metaphorically folded last year. He clearly thinks he knows how to promote the right image for Dover. So it came as something as a shock to me and other colleagues when at Monday night's meeting of the Dover Joint Transportation Committee, Cllr Walkden piped up on the subject of a cycle route beside the River Dour which runs through the centre of Dover. In his opinion the river is nothing more than "a floating rubbish tip". That should bring in the tourists then!
|
|
|
3rd April 2009 Eythorne Parish Council - Again The citizen, formerly known as Chairman, Reg Hansell continues to huff and puff that he has been found to have been illegitimately "exercising the functions" of a parish councillor. He is more than miffed not to have been re-appointed to the five-strong interim Eythorne Parish Council set up by Dover District Council, which will allow the people of Eythorne and Elvington a degree of representation in the run-up to fresh elections for all the seats on the council. Mr Hansell - famed for his campaign to "Close Canterbury Hospital under the Guise of Getting a 'Proper Hospital' for Dover" - is going about the parish blaming the former Parish Clerk for the fact that all Eythorne's parish councillors signed the wrong form, which meant the Council wasn't legally constituted. Knowing Reginald Victor Hansell of old, it comes as no surprise that he should wish to shift the blame. In the meantime, he and his diminishing coterie are kept busy putting out a leaflet slagging off Dover District Council for not re-appointing them en bloc. After all, they did a brilliant job under his leadership - just like RVH International did when he was its boss. The Parish Council's Internal Audit Report for 2008/09 makes interesting reading in that respect: “Financial Regulation 10 refers to official orders which are not used by the Council"“I did not see any evidence of written records of any risk assessment or visual inspections of property"“The Parish Council currently has Fidelity Guarantee insurance of £30,000......[it] should be at least £70,000 and reviewed annually"“The reconciling of the cash book to the bank statements should regularly be reported to Members and the full reconciliation made available for scrutiny each time it is done""As well as keeping an Asset Register, the Parish Council should also keep an inventory of smaller items of equipment and furniture". Yes - certainly looks like Reg ran a tight ship there.
|
|
|
3rd April 2009 First of April's No Joke April Fool's Day for some reason has been always been the start of the new financial year and when new initiatives start. This year has seen a whole raft of changes which will make life easier for hard-working families and for vulnerable people. As from 1 April, the basic state pension rose to £95.25 – just one of the ways in which the Labour Government is putting money into people’s pockets during times of need and reaffirming our commitment to those who have given so much to this country.
From 1 April, people diagnosed with cancer have access to free prescriptions. This should save up to 150,000 people around £100 per year and fulfils the pledge made at the Labour conference last year.
From Wednesday, full time workers are eligible for an extra 4 days holiday per year - benefiting up to 3.5 million women and 2.5 million men. And April 1st was the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the National Minimum Wage. Thanks to a Labour government – and in the teeth of Conservative opposition – the National Minimum Wage first started paying into people’s pockets in April 1999. Since then it has made a huge difference in making work pay and helping thousands of families out of poverty in Britain. It remains one of Labour's proudest achievements.
|
|
|
3rd April 2009 Help and Advice for Carers And on 1 April a new advice line for carers went live. Carers are the unpaid volunteers who look after elderly and infirm relatives at home. Some of them are just children. They can end up feeling isolated and can find getting advice and assistance difficult as they can't just leave the person they are caring for. A national telephone helpline was identified as absolutely essential in the Government's National Carers Strategy published last June. Carers Direct can be contacted: by phone on 0808 802 0202 by email - Carers.Direct@nhschoices.nhs.uk by post - PO Box 4338, Manchester M61 0BY The information and advice is free and confidential. Phones lines are open seven days a week: 8am to 9pm Mondays to Fridays, 11am to 4pm at weekends.
|
|
|
1st April 2009 Kent's European Connection I wouldn't normally bother to record that I couldn't get into the courtyard car park at County Hall, but today is an exception. Arriving at 8.30 this morning, I found the entrance blocked by a juggernaut from which the County Hall porters were unloading huge cardboard boxes. Interestingly, given the views of the Conservative administration about foreign lorries on Kent's roads and their professed aspiration to support Kent's businesses, the lorry came from the Danko-Janko stable in Poland. At first, speculation was rife in County Hall. Did the boxes contain copies of the long-awaited Conservative manifesto? Or wine for the next Kent Ambassadors' get-together? Has KCC finally got round to registering its trucks overseas? But apparently, the boxes contained new furniture for the Sessions House Lecture Theatre. I know Carter, Chard & co are good at losing money down the back of Scandinavian sofas, so maybe to be on the safe side they're steering clear of IKEA and heading for Eastern Europe to buy seating for one of Kent's 'premier venues'. It's good to see that Kent County Council under its Conservative bosses is at last taking a positive stance towards the EU... though at what cost to Paul Carter's "Backing Kent Business" campaign?
|
|
|
1st April 2009 And Talking of Europe! Conservative MEP, Danniel Hannan, has achieved a deal of internet notoriety thanks to his petulant diatribe against Gordon Brown in the European Parliament. Hannan, of course, likes to promote himself as something of a financial whizzkid, so his critique of the Prime Minister has so much extra entertainment value. In the Daniel's gospel, "Independence evidently suits the Icelanders: remaining outside the European Union, they have experienced an economic miracle" (Daniel Hannan's blog for 24 August 2008). Just like the miracle experienced by the Egyptian army as it crossed the Red Sea in pursuit of the Israelites, I suppose. Even after the Icelandic economy went the way of all flesh, Daniel Hannan was still extolling Iceland's virtues. In his blog of 1 November 2008, he wrote: "I have been an appreciative traveller through [Iceland] for 15 years, during which time I have witnessed a miraculous transformation .... Reykjavik has boomed..." What is it that makes me feel that Daniel is a false prophet?
|
|
