Lib Dem councillors call for Durham to accept 150 refugee families

We today sent an open, public letter to the leader of Durham County Council asking that he seriously considers offering to accept 150 refugee families.

We feel as a County that e must do more to help with this crisis.

We have heard this evening that Labour will discuss this at their Monday meeting.

Our letter:

SENT ON BEHALF OF THE LIB DEM GROUP ON DURHAM COUNTY COUNCIL TO COUNCILLOR SIMON HENIG, LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

Dear Cllr Henig and fellow Durham County Councillors

No doubt you are as distressed as we are at the scenes unfolding on our TV screens in recent weeks.

The Prime Minister has indicated that the UK will accept more refugees.

The question then is what is County Durham willing to do to help in this process?

We are confident that as a council and a county we have the capacity to assist in this crisis.

We have a population of more than 500,000 or around 0.7% of the UK population and depending on how you define them, at least 15 towns and hundreds of villages and settlements.

We have thousands of empty properties across the County, including over 1000 currently advertised to let.

We also note that we have spare capacity for  pupils in both secondary and primary schools in most parts of the County.

We strongly believe we have a moral duty to step up, be pro-active, and agree to accept a fair number of those refugees fleeing horrendous conditions.

Furthermore, there is an obligation on the government to support the Council in the resettling of refugees.

Can we therefore ask Cllr Henig, that you give serious consideration to putting forward an offer to the Government for County Durham to accept 150 refugee families, with Government support?

Kind regards

Durham County Council Liberal Democrat Group

Sign the petition to help refugees

Accept more asylum seekers and increase support for refugee migrants in the UK.

There is a global refugee crisis. The UK is not offering proportional asylum in comparison with European counterparts. We can’t allow refugees who have risked their lives to escape horrendous conflict and violence to be left living in dire, unsafe and inhumane conditions in Europe. We must help.

 

 

More details

With an estimated 173,100 asylum applications, Germany was the largest recipient of new asylum claims in 2014. The USA was 2nd with 121,200 asylum applications, followed by Turkey (87,800), Sweden (75,100), and Italy (63,700). By comparison, the UK received 31,300 new applications for asylum by the end of 2014.
(Source: UNHCR 2014 Asylum Trends Report)

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/calais-migrants-dangerous-rhetoric
http://tracks.unhcr.org/2014/12/welcome-to-calais/

These people need help.

 

 

 

Please sign the petition here:

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/105991

Vote Early Vote Often – It is Labour-run County Durham after all

In the Shotton and South Hetton By-election, 164 people have had the chance to vote twice after the Council’s printers sent out two postal votes to 164 people.

This is at least the second time there have been problems this year with elections in the County. Clearly it is time for another investigation before someone starts to question the probity of the election process!!

Vote Early Vote Often seems appropriate.

I note from The Times today that Matthew Parris says he has registered his four Llamas to vote in the Labour leadership election. Initially I thought I had misread it and it said you can vote for four Llamas.

 

Council refuses to advertise externally for new Chief Exec

Our esteemed Labour-run council has refused a Lib Dem request to advertise the position of Chief Exec outside of the Authority.

This was with the support of at least one of the independent group leaders and the Conservative group leader. Only the Lib Dems pushed for transparent process.

I fail to understand what the council has to lose by advertising to get the best person for job. None of the internal applicants would have anything to worry about if they are up to the position. There are senior officers who may be capable of being Chief Exec but it is unacceptable for local residents to not have a fully open selection.

The council has reduced the salary for the position from just over £200k down to £185k. However this is unlikely to save any money since the existing Chief Exec hasn’t been getting pension contributions from the Authority for a few years, and there is a good chance whoever comes next will get those contributions which could cost up to £35,000 a year.

It is time that Durham County Council reduced the number of Directors. If it is to select a Chief Exec from inside, there should not be a replacement position for the vacant Director position, but rather a reorganisation.

The council could operate quite comfortably without the Assistant Chief Exec position and one less director – many others do. The position of Director of Adult and Children’s Services has a budget and responsibility which is many many times that of other departments, so there is plenty of scope to make savings which could amount to £1m a year and help to protect other front-line services.

We have suggested this for many years and if it had been done already, millions of pounds would have been saved. Sadly our Labour-run council is ALWAYS behind the curve, and never a week goes by without it wasting money.

No answer to housing question at Cabinet – And no social housing either

Our Labour-run council is planning to build some private housing which it will then rent out. Great on the face of it. But it will not allow anyone on a low income to rent the properties. Rents will be as much as £200 a month over the local housing allowance rate.

I asked if after six years of my asking they would work with me to get some social housing built in our area. No answer was given to my question.

So we have a Labour run council happy to build luxury homes with taxpayers money and refusing to rent them out to anyone on housing benefit, whilst at the same time refusing to invest in social housing.

Meanwhile the Tories are putting social housing at risk through forcing the sale of homes without the money being made available to build new ones.

Begs the question “What’s the Difference between the Tories and Labour?

Forcing the sale of social housing without the money to reinvest is a madness – I expect that from the Tories. The Labour Party refusing to invest in social housing – that goes beyond madness, it is nothing short of disgraceful.

I will continue to push for social and affordable housing in our area on brownfield sites regardless of what our Tory-lite-Labour council does.

Council reserves rocket to £208 million

I attended the Cabinet meeting today to challenge the Council on its finances.

Total reserves have increased by £48.5m more than was predicted last April.  and by £24m more than was forecast back when this years budget was determined in March.

This has now reached the point of lunacy. I am really surprised that the Government hasn’t intervened.

What is very clear is that not only was there no need for the council tax rise this year, but other requests for additional investment from Lib Dem county councillors into Schools and Highways budgets could have been met, and money could still have been added to reserves.

Labour councillors once again cited the government cuts, but none could really justify hiking reserves. Indeed my request for a full review of all earmarked reserves did not appear to be taken up, so we will be looking at taking this matter further. The council for example now has over £15m in an insurance reserve – double that of many larger councils.

Labour are creating ways to hide money – 58 reserves and cash limits, some of which haven’t seen a penny spent for years or continue to see increases.

If the situation continues at its current rate the council will soon have half a billion pounds in reserves whilst our footpaths and roads fall apart and schools see wind blowing through their windows.

I noted during the meeting that council plans also include council tax increases every year for the next few years. So take money out of the economy by fleecing County Durham residents, then put the money in the bank, do nothing with it and earn next to no interest.

This really is a shocking state of affairs.

County Hall to be demolished

The Council is planning to tear down County Hall. And have a slimmed down version. They want it in the City Centre. Not sure this is sensible given the horrendous traffic and pollution issues, but open minded to hear what they propose. Here is the email from the Chief Exec:

 

Dear colleagues

 

Next week Cabinet will consider a report on the council’s approach to office accommodation.

 

As you know, over recent years our top priority has been to stimulate economic growth and regeneration, creating jobs and attracting investment to the county.  We are making good progress, with major investments such as Hitachi in Newton Aycliffe and Atom Bank in Durham City.

 

Cabinet will consider a  proposal for the council to move its headquarters from County Hall, at Aykley Heads in Durham City so that the area can become a ‘strategic employment site’, capable of attracting thousands of jobs and millions of pounds of investment to the county.

 

Aykley Heads has already shown its potential in recent years, with Sunderland Marine and Durham Constabulary developing new head offices on the site.  They will soon be joined by Atom Bank, who are going to build their UK headquarters on the site, having taken up temporary accommodation in a former council building which we made available to get them to invest in the city.

 

Depending on the outcome of the discussions over the County Durham Plan, we believe that the proposed strategic employment site could create between 2,500 and 6,000 private sector jobs.

 

We will also be proposing to Members that in moving off the site, they should consider relocating the council’s headquarters to Durham City centre, in order to support the local economy and to trigger further city centre development and regeneration.  This would be accompanied by accommodating more of our office-based staff in the four main office bases we have established in recent years – Crook Civic Centre, Meadowfield Direct Services, Green Lane in Spennymoor and Spectrum 8 in Seaham.  This approach would make the most of the council’s property assets across the county and help to spread the economic impact of the council’s operations.

 

As many of you will know, the existing County Hall is a very large complex, developed in the 1960s when local government was very different.  As well as being costly to run and maintain, it is too big for the current size of the council and if we move, we need to ensure that we develop more affordable and suitable accommodation, capable of meeting our future needs.  This includes the County Records Office archive, where we are running out of space and need to improve storage.

 

Office workspace and working practices have moved on considerably since the council’s main offices were established, so we are also suggesting that if we move, the council should adopt more modern working practices which will improve the way we work, achieve cost savings and ensure that the moves are affordable.

 

The proposed move is clearly a major project and will take some time.

 

Next week, Cabinet will be asked to agree in principle to moving County Hall to Durham City centre to free-up our Aykley Heads site for job creation and investment.  If Cabinet agrees, we would then develop an outline business case to look at potential options for the move.

 

Members would consider this towards the end of this year, and if they decide to proceed, we would then develop a detailed business case on their preferred option.

 

A final decision on that, would be made in Spring 2016, after which time we would begin planning in detail for the relocation and moves and changes to the way in which we would need to work.

If Cabinet agrees, then I envisage that we are looking at up to four years before we vacate County Hall and we start to see development work at Aykley Heads.

 

We will of course keep you informed as the proposals progress with regular updates and bulletins.  We are already planning another round of CMT staff roadshows later this year, when we hope to be able to provide you with more detail, once Cabinet has considered the proposal next week.

 

Best wishes

 

George Garlick

 

Milburngate Bridge closures

Below is the press release from the County Council about the closures planned for Milburngate Bridge. We did raise a variety of issues and suggestions with the Council about this asking that they do more to help reduce traffic in the City centre during the repair works and to look on this as a possible trial for longer term traffic reductions.

The council pretty much ignored us when we held a meeting with the Head of technical services a while ago. We asked for amongst other things:

Use of County Hall car park at weekends for free for visitors to the City.

Getting as many staff as possible to work from home at the Council and other large employers in the City.

Making the park and ride free for vehicles with multiple occupants.

Moving council meetings out of Durham City.

A huge number of other possible traffic reduction measures could have been looked at, but it was clear they didn’t want to listen to us.

Council press release:

People are advised of how they can help keep disruption to a minimum ahead of work starting on Milburngate Bridge in Durham.

The essential project, which will involve a major renovation of the bridge, gets underway on Sunday 12 July.

It will continue throughout the school summer holidays, when traffic using the route in peak hours usually falls by around 20 per cent, in order to minimise disruption as much as possible, although delays and congestion, particularly on other routes in and around the city, will be unavoidable.

Work will normally be carried out between 7am and 10pm, seven days a week, but working hours may be prolonged, if needed, to reduce the time it will take.

One lane will remain open at all times throughout the scheme and a footpath will also be provided.

The project will be delivered in three stages (see attached maps) – the first will see work carried out on the south lane and footpath, the second will be the north lane and footpath and the third will be the two centre lanes.

Start and end dates of each stage will be publicised as the scheme progresses.

The Claypath slip road will be closed throughout the works and the Walkergate slip road, which is off the south of the bridge on the same side as The Gates shopping centre, will be shut throughout the first stage of the project from Sunday 12 July until around 30 July. Diversions will be in place.

The footpath underneath the bridge between The Gates shopping centre and the Passport Office will be closed for part of the project – further updates will be provided closer to the time.

 

Access to Pimlico from Quarryheads Lane will be closed to all traffic for the duration of the works to prevent the road being used as a rat run. Local traffic will be able to access Pimlico via Grove Street and the parking bays will remain open.

It will also be necessary to close Milburngate Bridge completely for at least five nights, normally between 8pm and 6am – dates and alternative routes (see attached diversion map) will be publicised nearer the time but the first overnight closure will take place on 12 July.

The council is now advising motorists, public transport users and pedestrians of a number of steps they can take while the work is carried out.

John Reed, head of technical services, said: “We are doing our best to minimise disruption as much as we can by working from first thing in the morning to last thing at night as well as working overnight on some occasions.

“However, people need to be aware that there will unfortunately be delays in and around the city so we are urging everyone to help us keep this disruption to a minimum by only travelling if it is absolutely necessary.

“You can also consider alternative travel arrangements such as park and ride, avoiding peak times when travelling, thinking about changing working patterns, planning extra time for your journeys and planning any deliveries around peak times.

“We hugely appreciate the public’s understanding and cooperation in advance of this really important work.”

Cllr Brian Stephens, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, added: “This work is essential and has to be done in order to secure the future of this vital route through the city for both those who live and work here and visitors.

“We completely understand that delays and disruption on the roads can be frustrating and we would like to thank motorists for their patience and encourage them to think about what steps they can take during the project.”

The bridge, which is nearly 50 years old and carries about 48,000 vehicles every day, is still safe but the work is now needed as it has been nearly 20 years since its last major renovation.

The work will involve new drainage, parapets, resurfacing, concrete repairs and a replacement waterproofing system.

Once the project has been completed the bridge is not expected to need any further major maintenance for around 15 to 20 years.

The scheme is expected to take around seven weeks to complete and cost up to £1m in total.

To keep up-to-date with the work, including live webcam streams, visit www.durham.gov.uk/milburngate and use #milburngate on the council’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

Ends

Call from council to be on your guard against rogue traders

Residents are being warned to be on their guard against rogue traders after a string of reports of doorstep crime.

Up to 10 incidents have been reported to our consumer protection team and police in the last few weeks.

Most have featured householders being offered bogus property improvement services, such as roofing and garden work – also known as fair weather crimes.

In some of the cases victims have reported that the rogue traders have driven them to the bank to withdraw cash.

Who is being targeted?

The incidents have taken place throughout the county and victims have been of all ages, including elderly and vulnerable people and women living alone.

Victims have reported handing over between £300 and £2,000 for the work, as well as jewellery. Nearly every case has resulted from cold-calling.

Cold calling

Rogue traders will typically call uninvited at people’s homes and offer goods and services on the doorstep.

More often than not, they exert extreme pressure on householders, charge inflated prices and display poor standards of workmanship.

The summer months often see a spike in these types of incidents as many people think about having work done around the house.

This is when rogue traders are at their busiest and, in many cases, they will target the elderly and vulnerable.

Look out for your neighbour

Trading standards officers from the consumer protection team are now calling on friends, relatives, neighbours and carers to look out for others in their community.

We are advising everyone to be on their guard against rogue traders and we would also ask residents to keep an eye out for any suspicious roofing or gardening work taking place at the homes of elderly or vulnerable family members and neighbours.

Rogue traders have a significant detrimental effect on the most vulnerable in our society and our officers will take robust action against anyone found to be taking advantage of people in this manner.

Our advice:

  • DON’T accept the services of uninvited, doorstep callers.
  • DO seek recommendations from friends and family.
  • DO try and use members of a trader’s scheme, for example Durham County Council’s Registered Trader Scheme.
  • DO call the police or trading standards if you suspect that rogue traders are operating in your community.