Month: September 2011

Liberal Democrat Conference: 19th September 2011 Post Offices

I was listening to Ed Davey MP on Post Offices, some of the changes make sense. No one wants to see any more Post Offices close, but going from a “nationalised industry” to a “mutualised cooperative” is something I’m sure the unions won’t be happy with. Taking nearby Hoylake Road Post Office as an example, … Continue reading “Liberal Democrat Conference: 19th September 2011 Post Offices”

I was listening to Ed Davey MP on Post Offices, some of the changes make sense. No one wants to see any more Post Offices close, but going from a “nationalised industry” to a “mutualised cooperative” is something I’m sure the unions won’t be happy with.

Taking nearby Hoylake Road Post Office as an example, there are three counters and usually two people working there. In addition there’s another person at a different counter that deals with anything you want to buy in the shop. Ed Davey said they’re trying out (through some pilot projects) everything being sold at the Post Office counter (which could cut costs making more Post Offices viable) whilst trialling self-service machines to cut down on queues.

Clearly queues is an issue that has been a greater problem since a several Post Offices in Birkenhead have been closed. Having used the Hoylake Road and Upton Road Post Offices in the last few months I think there’s only been one occasion when I didn’t have to queue.

I also remember the campaigns against Post Offices closures we ran a number of years ago. Paula Southwood campaigned in 2007 against the threatened post office closures in Spital and in Heswall. She put a lot of hard work into campaigning and getting petitions going.

In fact a year ago I tabled a question at the Liverpool conference in a session chaired by Lorely Burt MP about the future of the Post Office network. Hopefully any changes made will result in a better Post Office network and not the closures that happened under the previous Labour government.

I notice the next speaker after Ed Davey is also still taking up the Post Offices theme.

Local news: Teenager stabbed to death in Wirral Partnership Homes flat (Corporation Road)

I noticed the Birkenhead News and Wirral Globe story about the death of Darren Brewster (aged 17) from a knife attack last Thursday in Corporation Road.

The photo next to the article shows the block of WPH flats between Jamesbrook Close and the junction with Beaufort Road/Patten Street/Price Street.

Police have arrested and charged a 17-year old with murder, who appeared at Wirral Magistrate’s Court on Saturday.

10,000th visitor and Liberal Democrat Conference

The observant watchers of this blog will notice that the day before yesterday it had its 10,000th visitor. As it was my third wedding anniversary, I was spending time with my wife. Considering this blog was started only eleven months ago, in less than a year that’s pretty fantastic!

By the time this is published I should be (with Leonora) at the Liberal Democrat conference in Birmingham for the next few days. I’m not taking the laptop to Birmingham (relying on my notepad and camera instead).

As I don’t have a mobile phone with a decent keyboard, instead just relying on it in the traditional way for receiving and making phone calls, I’ll be writing up my experiences when I return. The conference will be shown on the BBC Parliament channel which you can watch live on BBC Iplayer or the TV if you want to see what’s happening at it.

Economy & Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5th September 2011 Part 4 Budget Issues for Economy and Housing in 2012/2013

Kevin Adderley replied that the target for the last seven years was higher than the actual income. They could set the price that equated to the gap between the income target but it would require changing the whole system. Next year they would publish how much it costs and calculate and publish an estimate of planning fees. They would divide the total costs by the number of expected planning applications to derive at the fee. With no savings there would be a £500,000 shortfall. Cllr Hackett referred to 2.1 on page 35 about the capital program. He asked if he was correct that in respect of capital borrowing it equated to an increase in yearly revenue costs of 10% of the total amount borrowed?

Kevin Adderley answered yes, to borrow £9.63 million would cost £963,000 in interest a year. Cllr Hackett asked if it was possible to delay two schemes for two years? Cllr Mark Johnston said he was nervous about the minutiae and thought such matters fell within the role of the Council Excellence Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be discussed on another day. He wanted to hear all councillors. Cllr Hackett said he was only asking questions and that he wanted to help and advise in a unpartisan way which was surely the idea of scrutiny?

Cllr Hodson said they scrutinised decisions. He asked where the formula for planning fees was? Were they going to take the figures, divide by planning applications with no savings? Kevin Adderley said that was the government’s suggestion which was similar to the way Building Control had been operating since the start of the year. Cllr Hodson said he thought planning applications had dropped in number and asked for his views on the new planning rules. Kevin Adderley said there was a report to the next Cabinet meeting asking for views and a response. It would be a detailed report with suggestions.

Economy & Regeneration Overview and Scrutiny Committee 5th September 2011 Part 3 Budget Issues for Economy and Housing in 2012/2013

Cllr Johnston said there had to be some explanation over why it was included, Cllr Foulkes had mentioned in his address to Council and the press that he would include scrutiny committees. He had expected chairs of committees to draw together and decide on direction, but he had only been given 24 hours notice to decide over the holidays and come to some conclusions. He had not been ready to remove regular items. There wouldn’t be a special meeting, but it was going to make this meeting longer. Cllr Johnston praised officers over the detail, but said the “information isn’t there to make detailed financial decisions”. The councillor said it would be helpful to have the portfolio holder and member of the Executive to present options and give his opinion. They could debate whether or not to engage scrutiny over the issue as well as the practicalities. They could agree to fully cooperate and scrutinise. Alternatively they could refuse to engage. The Executive needed to know by December, but he didn’t want extra work to impact on the agreed Work Program. A middle ground was the Executive giving the scrutiny committee options to scrutinise.

Cllr Hackett said the role of scrutiny was to inform and advise the executive and he thought they should help the executive to make savings. It was last-minute, but scrutiny could help. He had a couple of questions to ask. The first was about planning application fees. He asked if they were based on a realistic target and in the spirit of helping with the budget that if officers had no answers then could a further report come to the committee?