micksalih

Some parts of Stoke on Trent have not had the bins emptied today and probably the rest of the week due to the problem of accessing the side streets which have not been gritted. I have been complaining to officers of the city council for a number weeks asking them for grit bins to be placed in strategic areas on the housing estates in my ward the response I received was we have not got the funding to supply or fill the grit bins.

We now will have to find the resources for extra bin collections to clear the rubbish that will build up that could not be collected I envisage the sight of black bin liners ripped open or over flowing wheelie bins causing rubbish to be strewn on our streets (I thought those days were gone) is this the economics of a madhouse?. I suggest that if these grit bins had been filled and sited as requested the residents themselves would have used the grit to spread onto the pavements and roads that they know are difficult to access when there is snow and ice about, the council is suggesting to cut gritting by £100,000 in future budgets how can we cut funding when there is insufficient funding available for this service already.

The answer given to me by officers was that only bus routes are gritted well how on earth do we expect the residents to get to the bus stops in the first place to go to work or visit the shops when the pavements are so full of ice.

How do the emergency vehicles gain access to our estates and side streets to get help to sick and our elderley people especially when cars have become stuck .There needs to be a new way of thinking by our council officers to look at the bigger picture instead of just looking at how much money can be saved from a departments budget money can be saved in the long run by a little thought in the first place.

I know gritting is not always the answer but if we provide help in the communities with full grit bins it can alleviate some of the problems caused by the severe weather.

Mick

 So the Leader and Cabinet have decided to give away more of their powers to the North Staffordshire Regeneration Partnership by advertising for a Independent Chair on an annual salary of £24,000 for only one or two days work per month this decision was made against the wishes of the full council meeting that voted by a clear majority not to have a Independent chair, full council thought the Leader of the City Council should be the one to take up this important position with no extra financial cost to the city council.

How peoples opinions change? before Brian Ward became the Deputy Leader of the City Council he said on many occasions in the Council chamber that coucillor's voices should be heard and listened to he agreed with the majority of councillors that the position should be the Leader but he has now changed his view and is backing an Independent Chair. In the recent correspondence sent to all City Councillors he has stated his 7 reasons number 4 on the list states and I quote "with the best will in the world none of the political leaders including our leader have the connections with the private sector nor could they supply the time or expertise required to encourage businesses into the conurbation" so I ask why do these people hold the position of Leaders. Stoke on Trent city council is committed to over £110 million pounds to the NSRP and are the accountable body for this organisation if anything goes wrong it will be the council tax payers of stoke on trent who will be picking up the cost of any failures not the private sector or an Independent person.

Stoke on Trent City Council officers have identified potential risk of up to £2million pension payments becoming liable in 2009/10 financial year. These payments relate to a contract between the City Council and SERCO under the terms of the contract signed off by the Secretary of State the City Council agreed to fund the employees pension payments for SERCO staff into the Local Government pension scheme, under this scheme this would include any accured service arising from previous Local Government employment. This agreement was a key part of the package to help SERCO attract the high calibre of senior managers who were needed to improve children's services according to the City Council.

This pension agreement has highlighted a potential high risk and has massive financial implications to frontline services, Questions need to be asked and answered relating to this agreement as SERCO are a multi-national company with contracts in other local authorities and Government departments being a private concern I would like the answer to why we have entered into a pension agreement where public sector finance is paying for private sector employees pensions. Local Authorities have many contracts with private companies managing Council services how many more private sector employees would love the opporunity for their pension fund to be subsidised by public taxpayers money.   

 How long has the scandal of MP's expenses been going on I feel this is only the tip of the iceberg, Edwina Currie made a comment on television of her disgust regarding this issue but what about in the past when MP's expenses were not disclosed thank goodness for the freedom of information act and don't let us forget it was under Margaret Thatcher that the second home allowance was introduced and has been used to supplement MP's basic salary.

I feel that the MEPs expenses claims need also to be investigated I am sure that they have a lot of questions that need to be answered. This scandal hits right at the heart of Politics in this country and puts a shadow over all politicians from all parties. Everyone will be tarred with the same brush yet I know that the majority of politicians only come into this field of work because they want to help there communities in which they live.

My concern about this shocking event is that it will turn voters to the B.N.P. in the forth coming European Elections and the three Main Political Party's vote will disintegrate and any policy issues will be pushed into the background.

The voters of this country have been let down by a few greedy politicians and the price we could all pay will be a massive swing to the far right .

From Friday 1st May nominations forms for the position of Leader of the Council can be obtained from the Members  Services Department. Candidates must obtain the signatures from at least 6 Elected Members who are in support of their nomination and completed  forms are to be returned by 5-00pm Tuesday 26th May.

On Tuesday 2nd June hustings will take place this will provide candidates with an opportunity to present their campaign to other councillors and in turn will allow members to ask questions and hold the candidates to account. This for me will be the time when a leader should stand out from the crowd and put positive policies forward if they want my vote. I hope that the councillors who are going to stand for Leader don't  make promises of Cabinet positions to Members so that they will give their vote to them we need the best choices for a cabinet to make the system work. One proposed candidate has already approached a number of councillors offering positions in the Cabinet hoping to receive their votes. 

I only hope whoever gets the position of Leader will look at having an open and honest way of running this Council and listen to all the Elected Members view points, something that has not been seen in this Council for some years. He or she will have a massive job on and will need the full support of all councillors but he or she  must also be accountable and allow debate to take place, when difficult decisions have to be made the leader whoever is chosen needs to listen to the other councillors views before any final decisions are made.