RESURFACING WORK WELL UNDERWAY – MORE GARDEN WASTE BINS ARRIVE
It was great on my trip round the area today to see that much of the resurfacing work has already been finished including Rowan Drive and The Avenues in Fram.
As well as this some of the areas of Pity Me which did not get garden waste bins have now received them – although many bungalows which did not want them also got some – still no one’s perfect.
Even better news is that the whole of Brasside is being delivered garden waste bins today after I worked with a number of people at County Hall – another Lib Dem success – thanks must go to the officers and Portfolio Member for taking time to arrange this as well.
MP’S EXPENSES
Clearly all MPs are quite rightly under serious scrutiny over expenses, but waht is not being published is the hard work the Lib Dems have been doing for years to change the system: (Some of this is a bit technical, but overall it does show that we have been trying to stop the abuse.)
Background
A reminder of the Lib Dem record in pressing for greater openness and accountability for MPs
Resistance to MPs’ FOI exemption
Don’t forget – Liberal Democrat MPs have led the opposition to attempts by some Labour and Conservative MPs to exempt MPs from freedom of information laws.
In the 2006-7 session senior Conservative MP David Maclean, a former chief whip for the party, introduced a private member’s bill, the Freedom of Information (Amendment) Bill, which would have exempted both Houses of Parliament from the scope of the Freedom of Information Act. The effect would have been to remove any obligation for details of MPs’ expenses to be made public.
On 20th April 2007 the Bill was ‘talked out’ by Lib Dem MP Norman Baker, with assistance from Simon Hughes and a handful of MPs from other parties. But on 18th May 2007 it came back and was voted through by Labour and Conservative MPs. 96 MPs (plus two tellers) voted for the Bill at third reading – a majority of them Labour but with a significant number of Tories (and no Lib Dems). In addition to these 98, a further 21 backed (or were tellers at) the closure motion which enabled the third reading vote to take place before the Bill ran out of time.
You can find out if your MP voted to block the publication of MPs’ expenses details at the links below –
Vote to exempt MPs from FOI laws – ‘Aye’ vote is a vote for the FOI exemption –
Vote on closure motion – ‘Aye’ vote is a vote to help the FOI exemption get through by curtailing debate and moving to a vote on it –
Both the Labour minister and Conservative spokesman said they were neutral on the bill. All Lib Dem speakers, including spokesman Simon Hughes, spoke against the Bill and the party’s then leader, Ming Campbell urged MPs of all parties to reject it. (You can read a report on the debate at http://tinyurl.com/foibill.
Thankfully the high profile campaigning against the Bill paid dividends and the Bill ultimately fell because not one peer was willing to sponsor it in the House of Lords.
Attempts to strengthen FOI laws
Norman Baker, early in 2007, won a legal challenge to House of Commons secrecy. As a result, Parliament was forced to declare how much each MP has claimed in travel expenses broken down according to whether it was by car, rail, air or bicycle.
Tom Brake, then the party’s local government spokesman, introduced a ’10 minute rule’ bill in the 2006-7 session which would have –
(a) removed the veto which allows ministers to overrule the Information Commissioner and Information Tribunal on FOI requests
(b) introduced a time limit for responses to public-interest FOI requests
(c) brought school academies and large private contractors working for public authorities within the scope of FOI legislation
The Bill did not get government support and failed to get through.
Support for toughening up expenses regime
On 3rd July 2008 an unholy alliance of Labour and Conservative MPs voted down a number of proposals from the cross-party Members Estimates Committee (MEC) for tightening up MPs’ expenses and allowances.
Among the recommendations rejected were:
- Robust external audit by outside professional teams for quarter of MPs each year (replaced by internal audit proposal)
- Putting audit for MPs on same basis as for other public bodies
- Reducing the receipt threshold from £25 to zero so that all claims, however small, would have had to be backed by receipts
The MPs who voted to reject this toughening up the expenses regime were 146 Labour MPs (plus two tellers), 21 Conservatives and 2 independents. No Liberal Democrat MP voted against it. Details of how each MP voted can be found here: http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2008-07-03&number=253&display=allpossible&sort=name
(The ayes were voting for an amendment to the original motion which removed a number of the proposals. The noes were voting to keep the original robust proposals from the Members Estimate Committee intact.)
The following day Nick Clegg committed that the Liberal Democrats would unilaterally introduce the recommendations of the MEC, including independent spot checks of MPs expenses.
Nick Clegg’s proposals on expenses
On 9th April 2009, Nick Clegg set out a series of proposals for urgent reform of the rules on MP expenses.
These are based on the following principles:
1) Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent
2) All expenses have to be justified on the basis of enabling MPs to do their job
3) Reform should not increase, and should ideally reduce, the total cost of politics to the taxpayer.
They include –
- Personal additional accommodation expenditure should be restricted to rental agreements (no help with house purchases), utility bills, and council tax.
- Payment of personal accommodation expenditure should be on the basis of the production of bills and rental agreement only.
- Designation of first and second homes should be independently approved to ensure that payments reflect the necessary circumstances of Members in fulfilling their parliamentary duties and value for money to the tax payer.
You can find more details of Nick’s proposals here –
GARDEN WASTE BINS
After working with officers to get more garden waste bins I can report that parts of Pity Me which were not covered by the initial roll out have now been delivered.
Parts of Woodbine Road, Folly Terrace, The Anvil and the Forge and Red Briar Walk should now have received their garden waste bins if you have still been missed please let me know.
I will continue to push to get Brasside included.
PACT MEETING
After discussions with the police and neighbourhood wardens, a PACT meeting has been arranged for Thursday 14th May at Framwellgate Moor Community Centre.
Details below:
Police & Communities Together (PACT) Meeting
Thursday 14th May 2009 – Framwellgate Moor Community Centre – 6pm
Dear Residents
As a result of various issues and a general drive to make sure there is better community involvement in improving our area we are working with the Police, the Parish Council and the County Council to arrange a PACT meeting. Below is a brief description of what a PACT meeting is. We expect to have local Parish Councillors, your
If there is a specific issue you would like to ask a question about which you think might require some research before the meeting, please feel free to email or call us and we will pass the details to the relevant person.
WHAT IS A PACT MEETING?
PACT stands for Police And Communities Together. It is an initiative from Durham Constabulary aimed at giving villagers a say in how Framwellgate Moor area is policed. It is an opportunity to meet the Community police and tell them what your priorities are in terms of local policing. These issues will then be discussed to determine the way forward.
HOW DO I GET INVOLVED?
The PACT Meeting will take place in Framwellgate Moor on Thursday 14th May and there will be future meetings as well. Look out for posters around the village for the dates, times and venue and just go along. If you can’t get to the meeting you can contact the local police team on …..
WHAT CAN I ASK AT A PACT MEETING?
Basically you can ask whatever you want! The idea behind PACT is to give you the chance to task your local bobby to deal with the top policing priorities in your area in any given month. It is about policing issues, but if you want to raise something else, the Community Beat Manager will be able to pass on that information to the relevant part of the Constabulary or one of the Constabulary’s partners – including the local authority.
HOW WILL I KNOW IF MY REQUEST HAS BEEN CONSIDERED?
All the issues raised in the PACT Meeting will be discussed by the PACT Panel that will then decide on the main priorities for that month. This will then be reported back to residents online and at future meetings.
WHAT IS A PACT PANEL?
The purpose of the PACT Panel is to agree a realistic and achievable course of action over the month, which will address the policing issues raised by the community at the PACT meeting.
WHAT DOES THE PACT PANEL DO?
The PACT Panel reviews all the issues recorded in the PACT meeting and agrees three priorities for the coming month and the actions to be undertaken to address the identified priorities. Additionally, the PACT Panel reviews the progress made on previous actions and targets.
As well as the police, you can also raise your concerns about the local area with the Parish Council, your two
HOW LONG TO FILL A POTHOLE
Update: I can confirm that this pothole was repaired a few weeks ago.
Over the last year we have reported hundreds of potholes and pavement defects to the Council, and in the main these requests have been dealt with promptly. Just recently however, it would seem that something is going wrong.
Over five months ago I reported the pothole on The Avenue. Since then I have made continued efforts to get this fixed, with parish councillors and the parish council itself having contacted the Council as well as local residents.
This hole is now dangerously deep, yet despite my discussions with the very top officer in the council, still nothing done. Today I will be speaking to the Portfolio Member Bob Young to ask him to investigate this clear breakdown in communication.
If you have a pothole on your street please text the details to 07500125325, call me, or email mark.wilkes@durham.gov.uk
I would also like to hear from you if you hacve previously reported a highways fault and nothing appears to have been done.
CALL FOR MEETING OF CIVIL CONTINGENCIES UNIT
Well it would appear that the Council does not consider it important for councillors to know what is going on. It is now over week since my request to question the authority.
UPDATE:
Having not received a response to my request for meeting for Councillors I have today emailed all members and relvant officers with the following:
I thank you for your update yesterday. You may be aware that I have contacted Mr McDermott at CCU, Cllrs Henig, Hovvels and Armstrong as well as Assistant Chief Exec Lorraine O’Donnell to ask when councillors will be able to question the CCU, PCT and other bodies about their emergency strategy. Do date I have not received an answer to this question from anyone and am increasingly concerned that in the event of a serious emergency situation members will not be briefed at an early enough opportunity. I point out the CCU statement in yesterdays press release: It is important that Local Authorities take the opportunity to review their existing level of planning and preparation and satisfy themselves that systems are in place to protect the staff and the public in the event that this situation develops. I have copied members and relevant officers in on this email and look forward to being told by someone when the CCU, Council and other bodies will be organizing a meeting for members to discuss whether or not we are prepared for a public emergency in County Durham.
Tuesday 28th April This morning I wrote to the Leader of the Council and spoken with the Civil Contingencies Unit which overseas emergency management, to ask for councillors to be given the opportunity to ask questions in relation to what is being done in County Durham in realation to the current flu outbreak, and also to ask general questions on emergency strategy and implementation in County Durham.I would like to see a seminar for Councillors involving the CCU, County Council, PCT, Fire, Police and other relevant organisations to ensure that we are currently up to scratch and in a position to deal with any pubilc emergency.A previous seminar last year was not attended by all councillors, and this is an ideal situation to test whether or not our public bodies are fully prepared for a public emergency.
DOUBLE YELLOW LINES FOR BRASSIDE? ?
The continuing problems in brasside on the road down to Finchale Abbey are set to be reduced.
After the initial imposition of a white line, and the failure of this to fully address the problem, i have been in discussions with the council and they are now to consult (it is a statutory requirement) on the implementation of Double yellow lines on both sides of the road for a considerable distance.
If this is approved, we will have to continue to monitor the situation to ensure that any knock on effects are also dealt with.
I will update when I have more.
LIB DEMS TO CUT INCOME TAX
Liberal Democrats will cut people’s income tax bill by £700
Mon, 20 Apr 2009
The party will promise to raise the income tax personal allowance to £10,000 by closing tax loopholes exploited by big businesses and the wealthy.
Measures which will be used to pay for this proposed increase in the personal allowance include:
- Restricting tax relief on pension contributions to the basic rate
- Taxing Capital Gains at marginal income tax rates, allowing for indexation and retirement relief
- Tackling Stamp Duty Land Tax avoidance and Corporation Tax avoidance
- Subjecting benefits in kind to National Insurance Contributions as well as income tax and applying National Insurance to multiple jobs
- Switching aviation taxes from per person to per plane and increasing taxation on non lifeline domestic flights.
Speaking at the launch, Nick Clegg said:
“These plans will give money back to the people who really need it at the time when they need it most.
“It is time to end the unfairness that sees big businesses and the wealthy treating taxes as something to be easily avoided, leaving everybody else to pay out.
“For too long governments have been letting companies stash their money in offshore tax havens while taxpayers are left to foot the bill.
“Over time a tax system has developed that creates loopholes for the wealthy and does nothing for those who really need help.
“People who say there isn’t enough money to make our tax system fair are wrong. Our plans wouldn’t add a penny to the overall tax burden, but they would spread that burden far more fairly.
“Far from making this reform difficult, tight Government finances and a harsh recession make it absolutely vital. It will help millions of low and middle income taxpayers who are most likely to spend money so helping the wider economy.
“The Liberal Democrats will create a fundamentally rebalanced system that is fair for all, putting hundreds of pounds back into the pockets of millions of British people, and taking four million out of paying tax altogether.”
COUNCIL FORCED TO INVESTIGATE PARK AND RIDE
PRESS RELEASE:
Councillor Mark Wilkes, County Councillor for Framwellgate Moor Division on Durham County Council has forced an internal investigation into the Park and Ride Tender due to his serious concerns about the tender process.
Councillor Wilkes commented: “On Wednesday I called a meeting of the Head of Department and the Council’s legal monitoring officer to discuss these concerns.
“The Council’s specialist procurement solicitor is now looking into the way in which the entire process was carried out and I have been told that this exercise should be completed by the end of next week.”
Following a high profile campaign by Durham Lib Dems against the decision, there has been much public outrage at the Council’s awarding of the contract to Arriva despite two other companies, including Scarlet Band, tendering lower bids.
Claims from the County Council that Arriva was awarded the contract based on the energy efficiency of their proposed buses have been dismissed by Scarlet Band who proposed using the exact same buses had they been successful.
Councillor Wilkes finally commented “It is clear that not one of the 126 councillors at County Hall had any input into to the criteria for assessing this contract. We need an urgent change of direction at County Hall before there is a complete breakdown of trust between the Council and the residents of County Durham. County Durham’s residents need to know that their elected representatives are in control of the Council and that their money is being spent as wisely as possible.
“A working group of councillors is also being set up to look into the decision and, I hope, the entire procurement process at County Hall will be reviewed.”