Courses at Framwellgate Community Centre

Starting September 2011

Digital Imaging Starting Tuesday 13^th September 6.30 – 8.30

Learn how to move pictures from your camera to your computer and improve the image

First Step IT Starting Thursday 15^th September 6.30 – 8.30

Learn the basics of computing

Employability Skills Starting Friday 16^th September 10.00 – 12.00 Brush up on your CV, application form, letter writing, job search, to enable you to find the job you want

Tai Chi Starting Wednesday 14^th September 10.00 – 12.00 Exercise your Mind and Body with this oriental delight.

For further information Contact:

Terry Simpson on 0191 3863356

Or

Ian Defty on 0191 3839176

At a previous meeting of the Charter Trust which oversees the Mayorality of Durham, a Labour member backed up by some colleagues called for travel expenses for attending Charter Trust meetings. A report has been drafted for next weeks meeting of the Charter Trust asking for trustees to agree or disagree with  proposals to introduce expenses.

I am against this, I imagine most members of the public are against this and I will vote against it. There are only five or six meetings in any one year. It is an honour to represent the Charter Trust and the administration costs of processing all this will probably be as high as the claims.

The flowers I arranged to be planted on the roundabouts around Pity Me are to be replaced in part. (Keeping the Duraniums)

A lack of watering at the start by the Council and perhaps some other issues with the flowers left them in a bad way so new plants are going to be put in by Pity Me Nurseries for free.

The council will carry on with watering them but if you live near any of the tubs which are OK, please help at weekends with a bit of water.

Today’s meeting of Cabinet confirmed what is already known, that the council is to close Sherburn, Ferryhill and Crook leisure centres.

Abbey is reprieved, but Cabinet refused to remove the word “temporary” from the report which means that whilst we have won the battle to save Abbey, the war goes on so to speak. That said, this will be a constructive process. Your Lib Dem county councillors will be working with the steering group we are members of, the county council and staff to find a solution to the requirement to bring down costs at the centre.

I personally believe that there are a huge number of ways that income can be increased and costs reduced and in the coming weeks we will be putting these to the council and have been promised their commitment. However until this trust is repaid with investment and action I will remain sceptical about the long term future of the centre in the Council’s hands.

The Council says that the centre will have to run on lower opening hours. Ensuring that this is done in the best way possible for users of the centre is one of the areas where we will be concentrating our efforts.

I would urge everyone to visit the centre, check out what is on at www.durham.gov.uk/sports and join in so that together we can turn the centre into at least a break even situation.

Your local councillors are committed to putting in neighbourhood budget money to improve the centre once we can be sure of teh councils commitment. This includes my redline of wanting a dedicated youth gym facility.

The council has a large number of events going on at or based from Abbey Leisure Centre over the summer. You can search for these at:

http://www.durham.gov.uk/Pages/SportsLeisure.aspx

The report on leisure centres is out tomorrow, when we should find out what the next step is for the council regarding the fuure of Abbey. But for now, there is a lot to do.

Council press release:

Schools Out for Summer

With the school holiday rapidly approaching, Durham County Council is offering young people across the county a whole host of fun and exciting sports and activities to keep them entertained and active during the summer.

The Schools Out! programme will be available for booking from July 4 and includes fun-filled sessions for under 18s ranging from athletics to zumba.

Special offers include a week of swimming lessons for just £15 for children aged four and above.

Schools Out! activities will be listed in the council publication, ‘Your essential guide to summer fun in County Durham,’ which will be distributed to all homes in County Durham between July 4 and 18.

The magazine will, for the first time, bring library, sport, leisure and cultural information together into one publication, as School’s Out! has been produced separately in previous years.

The activity programme is being co-ordinated by Durham County Council and will be delivered by a network of local sports clubs, coaches and volunteers.

For more information, please visit www.durham.gov.uk/schoolsout or look out for the summer guide.

At last weeks Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting an officer commented that it was good news that sickness absernce figures it had risen to over 9 days a year per employee (average) because this meant that the figures were more accurate. So for the last 3 years and possibly for the near future we still will not know the real sickness absence figures. What we do know though is that the council thinks these figures are OK because “they compare similarly with the other councils in the North East”. I hardly think that a sickness absence rate double the private sector average is anything to be happy with at all. At a cost of perhaps £20m a year or upto £90 per household on council tax.
Then again the mess the council has made of local government reorganisation it doesn’t surprise me that staff may be stressed or ill. Though work colleagues are clearly having to take up more work and not all of the absence can be justified otherwise the rate would be only slightly higher than the private sector.

It is clear to me that there is a core small minority spoiling it for everyone and costing the council a fortune. It is grossly unfair on the rest of the staff who have to pick up this extra workload and is unacceptable to the taxpayer too. We need far better management to tackle those who are abusing the system, and Labour seems either incapable or unwilling to crack down.

A councillor working group has been sent up to look at how to deal with this, and I hope it will result in some serious action, not more talking.

At yesterdays Corporate Issues Scrutiny, one of the Labour councillors tried to blame the coalition government for the atrocious delays in processing benefits claims for housing and council tax in County Durham.

This was a disgraceful attempt to hide the truth of a council in chaos. Three years in to a new authority, and vulnerable people are waiting on average 33 days for a new benefits claim to be processed – that means some are waiting much longer. This is almost entirely down to the failure to sort out the computer systems and the bringing together of the now defunct district councils.

Council officers admit the chaos, and hope to have everything merged onto one system by December,  some Labour councillors, like Councillor Joe Armstrong are living in denial however. They try to blame an increased workload, the reality is complete failure to get to grips with running the Council

Labour councillors would be wise to think how they would feel if after over a month their benefits claims were still not processed and they were threatened with eviction because of council incompetence. Perhaps in a couple of years time some of these councillors will be out of a job for forcing this County Council on us and failing to make it work properly!

The council is consulting licence holders on  proposed changes to tariffs for hackney carriages following the introduction of a single taxi zone for County Durham. The proposals are below:

Dear Licence Holder

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE HACKNEY CARRIAGE TARIFF

On 16 June 2011 Durham County Council’s Corporate Management Team agreed to a proposed harmonisation to the hackney carriage tariff’s to coincide with the introduction of a single zone within the County on 1 September 2011.

This letter, which provides an overview of the potential changes, is to inform you of the proposed single table of fares (tariff’s) and invite you to give your views.

The attached table of fares and copy of the press advert gives an overview of the proposed tariff’s:

Your comments on the proposed amendments to the hackney carriage tariff’s are now invited and you may comment via the following methods:

Completing and returning the enclosed comments sheet

• E-mail licensing@durham.gov.uk

Comments must be received no later than 28 July 2011

Click Hackney Tariffs Pricing proposals

Hackney Tariffs – 2 Legal Notice with prices

Peter Hall (Chair of Abbey Steering group) and I attended a meeting with leisure officers and the Portfolio Holders for Finance (Alan Napier) and Leisure – for this issue (Bob Young) after my request yesterday for a meeting.

This was a constructive meeting with discussions of our bid and the current situation, with frank discussion about how we propose to run the centre, some disagreements but also some agreements.

We still do not know which way the council will decide to go, and though it would not surprise me if a leak found its way out as has happened before, it looks like we will have to wait until the 6th July to see the cabinet report and to find out if the group or any other group are progressing to the next stage.

What I am very clear about and all members of the Steering group are too, is that we are confident the group could successfully run the centre, protecting staff, improving facilities and making it sustainable for the future. Whether the Council agrees – we have to wait and see.

Big thanks to the neighbourhood team for clearing the window high weeds from Pity Me Front Street today. It looks 100% better.