Council cuts litter picking and bin emptying without any notification – We must not let this continue

The Council cut litter picking and bin emptying a few weeks ago on Fridays and Saturday mornings in Framwellgate Moor and other areas.

The results are clear to see already with overflowing bins and a lot more rubbish lying around. We fought bitterly to get an improved service in the area, particularly in Framwellgate Moor which has such enormous footfall, and we cannot allow the Council to go back to the bad old days.

The current situation means that from early on Friday before the lunchtime rush, until Monday morning no litter picking is taking place, no bins emptied. It’s completely unacceptable and was done without even consulting with Councillors.

After raising this last week with the Head of Service I have asked for urgent talks to get the service reinstated. I have already had numerous complaints.

What is even more galling is that just a few weeks back the Council to great fanfare announced a major “Spruce Up” of the area which we fully supported, getting a bigger area cleaned up than originally planned.

Some of the gulleys and channels in Framwellgate Moor are already blocked up again due to the cut backs and some are now wondering if the Spruce Up was an excuse to make things look good before secretly slashing the service.

Needless to say, along with the takeaway issue, we will not be letting this drop.

Council surveying all staff after Lib Dems challenged sickness absence levels – but still no compulsory survey

A few years ago as councillors on one of our committees we started a review of sickness absence/attendance management at the Council. Average number of days off for council staff is now 11.48 days a year a slight improvement from 12 days but still way off acceptable levels. I have pushed for serious action for a long time. Sadly I don’t see enough progress when I see the figures.

On some councils sickness levels are 5 days a year in line with the private sector. At DCC things are not good. Much of this I believe was down to not giving managers the necessary tools and backing, the fact that so many had not had the relevant training, and failed processes.

What was truly horrendous though as I have previously reported was that staff with mental health problems – stress, depression etc – all very serious were not being passed to occupational health for months, in one case someone wasn’t referred for a staggering 300 days!! It had to be gross mismanagement by the Labour Party to blame as we had banged on about changes and made suggestions for years.

The Council has just started a survey of staff to get more information on health and wellbeing. This is more extensive than previously thanks in part to the pressure I and other councillors put on.

However it is not compulsory which in my eyes means the results could be skewed. The survey is fully anonymous so I fail to understand why Labour councillors refused to allow this, especially given that identifying problems is of benefit to all staff, and reduced sickness absence makes for better services and shows there are happier, healthier staff.

After 8 years of banging on about sickness absence by opposition councillors, and especially the Lib Dems, and not seeing any real improvement – this year Labour has no more excuses. Sickness absence amongst council staff must come down more quickly. This can only take place by making sure that we properly invest in the necessary background assistance needed, including in occupational health, and by referring staff quickly when they have a particular problem. The fact that we have some of the worst figures in the Country suggests that Durham has a localised problem. A problem which in my view lies with the Labour councillors failing to get a grip.

Carriage lights return to Oatlands Way and cul de sacs after council apologies and Lib Dem action

Over a year ago the Council removed without any consultation the carriage style street lighting from large parts of the Rosemount estate.

Residents complained and we got on the case, repeatedly requesting action. Sure enough they accepted they’d made a mistake, and would rectify it. Months later the lights on the Rosemount street itself were replaced. Unfortunately the ones on the other streets  remained untouched and we had to kick up a fuss. And then kick up a fuss again, and then again,

Finally the Council apologised and agreed to get it sorted and thankfully the lights have now been replaced.

I will be off to check that all the ones which should have been done have been.

New School Sports Hall well underway

The construction of the new sports hall at Framwellgate School Durham is well underway. The old sports hall was in dire need of replacement after years of under investment by successive governments and the Labour-run council in to school buildings.

The school secured a £2m grant for the work and the school is looking to open the facilities to the local community once the site is completed. Your local Lib Dme councillors are working with the school on this and other projects.

 

County Council can’t empty its inbox – incompetent and frustrating and plain daft

In September last year I complained that the council’s main email address help@durham.gov.uk had a full inbox – so no one could email issues. At the time I thought it was laughable that such an email would have a data limit for one of the biggest local authorities in the Country.

I made this clear to officers when on the 19th October it was again full and asked for action.

Today I find groundhog day is upon us.

To some this might not seem so important, but every single bounce back could be an important issue and some people may miss the bounce back or have to wait and telephone to report issues, clogging up phone lines for more important issues. It’s totally unprofessional for such a large public organisation to repeatedly over many months have this problem and fail to address it.

You could understand if an individual had this problem due to the fact that their inboxes are limited in size at the Council, but for the main front facing email address to be full or have a limit is unacceptable.

This time I’ve asked the Chief Exec to take action.

Wet feet, wet pram – no big deal for me but perhaps for others it might be

Around there area there are a number of places where walking on the pavement isn’t always that easy – especially with a pram. I imagine in a wheelchair or without sturdy boots you’d struggle to. Here’s an example:

This is near Darcy’s garage on Old Pit Terrace. I’ve reported it a number of times but the Council does not see this kind of thing as a priority.

Of course there are more pressing problems for the Council but I still think it should be fixed.

Getting your feet wet is far safer than pushing a pram into the road, but not having to do either would be better.

If you know of anywhere which is the same or worse let us know.

 

Spruceup aftermath – path disintegration

One of the problems with the Council, in good faith coming in and doing work which should have been done years ago is that you find out that perhaps better maintenance might have been cheaper.

This is the main path from Framwellgate Moor down to Pity Me following the work to cut the grass back to the original path edge.

I expected it to be a bit worn but what should have made the area look better has been commented on by some residents as highlighting the need for a newly resurfaced footpath and safety repairs. Trouble is, it looks like the pin kerbs at the edge of the path may have rotted away, and a simple job is now going to be more costly.

I’ve passed the photos on to senior officers at the Council, where I imagine the highways department is a bit upset with the Clean and Green department for showing up the state of the path!