One Year In Power Reading Reviewed

After a year in power, its time to look back on the record of the local and national ruling parties. Here I look at Reading Council.

Locally the Tories and LD were in a coalition, just as they were nationally. In return for supporting the Tories the LD were given some power and some cabinet positions.

LD Cllr Daisy Benson was lead Cllr for Community Care, Housing & Health made much during campaigning of her desie to bring empty homes back into use. She proudly states that in that year "12 empty homes were brought back into use". That would be one a month. According to her own figures this number was reduced by 369 in the previous 2 years! Would it be mean to suggest she should thank the previous administration or perhaps she was more effective in opposition that when in power.
Comunity and voluntary groups have seen cuts in funding, including the RCRE.

(ex) LD Cllr Warren Swaine was lead Cllr for the environment and sustainability for most of the year. He says he and his sucessor, LD Cllr Ricky Duveen, have managed to implement:
* First community based compact fluorescent lightbulb recycling scheme in the UK.
* Weekly collections for priority areas.
* Kerbside battery recycling.
In 2007 Reading's recycling rate was 35%
in 2010 it had actually gone down to 31%
It would be interesting to see if this has changed.

Conservative Cllr Richard Willis was lead strategic planing & transport, he has:
*cut free bus passes for the elderly,
*campaigned for less traffic lights yet introduced the Labour plan for them on the Shinfield Road causing an expensive disaster.
He promised this year to "introduce a London-style cycle hire scheme" but we already have such a scheme, indeed we had it before London.
I've been searching his blog for references to transport but have only found one sentence in the last two months. Back in feb he talks about reducing more traffic lights; nothing about cycling (aside from the London scheme), walking, buses or trains. Though bus services have been cut. And free travel for pensioners during peak hours.

The Council is looking to make cuts of £18.8 million in its budget for next year (2011/12 financial year). The cuts package will hit the most needy and least well off the hardest.
*Expect 150 compulsory redundancies.
*Deprive vulnerable pensioners of Council care in their twilight years
*Cuts in front line education posts and buyback of services for schools from the Council will lead to reductions in service to vulnerable families.
*Domestic Violence staff levels are to be cut increasing the risks of domestic abuse and leading to abusers escaping the law.
*Transport services for school children, patients, the elderly, and those in care will be reviewed and cut with Readibus, the NHS, and Reading Buses.

Woop-de-doo they changed the colour of the logo on the website from red to blue on the main page. The other pages still have it in red. No yellow seen so far, is there anything to read in that?


The Cabinet Were
Andrew Cumpsty
Chair
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Leader of Council

Daisy Benson
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Community Care, Housing & Health

Ricky Duveen
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Environment and Sustainability

Mark Ralph
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Education & Children's Services

Jeanette Skeats
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Communities, Voluntary Sector and Enterprise

Tom Stanway
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Culture & Sport

David Stevens
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Finance & Service Improvement

Richard Willis
Lead Councillor Portfolio: Strategic Planning & Transport

Tesco Sinks Town

My first big campaign was to try and stop Battle Hospital being converted into a Tesco. As strange as it seems it is true, and it was done by a Labour administration. They closed a Hospital and allowed a Tesco to kill off many local shops.

Now this was 2007, and you can ask whats the relevance. But one of the Cllrs that helped this happen, Chris Maskell, now thanks Tesco, and tells us its his favourite grocer!

Do they pay him for all this free publicity? Probably not, as he goes on to very mildly criticize them for wanting to wake local residents up early in the morning with deliveries. He wants tesco to be more a part of the local community, what little is left after they took over parts of the town that is.

In Bristol there was a tesco riot, but most people just seem to let them take over areas in a submissive sheep-like posture. In the ward where the riot happened the Greens won a seat in the elections last week. Tesco has met with newly-elected Green Party councillor, Gus Hoyt, to discuss the recent unrest in the Stokes Croft area of the city. Mr Hoyt said he would be calling for an independent inquiry into the cause of the protests before the shop reopens.

In Reading in 2007 all the politicians from the three big parties supported the ghastly Battle Tesco, only now is there some concern at there size and power. Is time to break up there empire, let our towns get some vitality back. Competition among shops is fine but the size of one competitior allows them to dominate.

www.tescopoly.org

Hardest Hit March

Today campaigners are hoping to see at least 10,000 people march past the Houses of Parliament.

To ensure that you receive updates on arrangements for the day and that any support or access requirements that you have are catered for - sign up online now! Sign up via The Hardest Hit website
thehardesthit.wordpress.com/the-may-protest/

www.rnib.org.uk/getinvolved/campaign/yourmoney/welfarereform/Pages/hardest_hit.aspx
http://bit.ly/m4nvMA
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/thousands-to-protest-against-welfare-benefits-cuts-2282260.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/10/disabled-people-march-london-cuts

Drought & Forest Fire Warnings

Unless sustained and significant rainfall arrives in the southeast in the next few weeks, and this doesn't look likely at the moment, then expect to hear more and more about the drought that is now killing crops over parts of East Anglia and southeast England.

Its been so dry forest fires have been burning in Bracknell for a week.

Climate change, the gorilla in the room thats too scary to mention.

www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOME/

Greens In The Balance

It seems we Greens are going to hold the balance of power.

On the one hand Lab 22 Cllrs ; on the other a coalition reflecting the national one Con 16 + LD 5 with 1 ex LD = 22. Evenly balanced.

This leaves 2 Greens. The Local press is speculating which way we will go. We shall have much to discuss this week.

You might think the Tories would be trying to get us on their side, as their leader implied in the video interview. But local Tory bloggers have been saying as we voted along with Lab last year we will support Lab. Rob was a lone cllr, and voted as an oposition. Can't help if Lab did the same on occasion.

This has a video interview with Cllrs Rob and Melanie.

Tory Cllr Willis says "It remains to be seem whether Labour and the Greens will team up to form an administration or whether Labour will seek to run Reading as a minority administration with tacit Green support." He gives no chance at all for us supporting a Tory LD coalition, or indeed for the LD to support Labour. Before the election he said "The Greens won the ward by a landslide last year but that was with Rob White who had run what has been characterised as the longest election campaign in Reading’s history (around 5 years)! This year’s candidate is unknown and does not seem to have put in the work that Rob White undoubtedly did before his election." Revealing his ignorance, Mel works very hard indeed.

When we started in 2004 the other parties either ignored us or asked us not to stand (LD). They told us we couldnt possibly win. But every year we did better and better, mostly thanks to the hard work of Rob and a team of helpers. But also thanks to the other Park Cllrs doing almost no work. So its funny to hear ex Cllr Wazir Hussain described as a hard worker! He did very little but did try a nasty leaflet right at the end; that clearly didnt work, he came nowhere. Then this year they said only Rob could win, once again they are wrong, they underestimate us at their peril.

Tory Cllr Emma Warman says "Park, of course, was always going to be difficult as Wazir Hussain had won in 2007 with only 7 votes and the ward had subsequently gone first Labour and then Green. This has been a closely contested 3-way ward and it was no surprise, although still disappointing, that Wazir Hussain was unable to retain his seat. Having worked with Wazir on the Council for the past 3 years I can say he is a genuinely nice man and was a hard working councillor and I think he will be missed by the people of Park ward. There is no doubt that the Green Party have campaigned hard in Park over the last few years and to that extent their victory is deserved, although from what we have seen from Cllr White over the last year they seem to be very much Labour Party stooges with little to offer of genuine substance. I fully expect them to do a deal with Labour in the next few days." Trying to woo us with kind words perhaps?

LD Gareth Epps says "They (Labour) could try and form some sort of accommodation with the Greens; they could also find themselves in opposition against a rickety rainbow coalition of Tories, Lib Dems, Greens and the Other." He at least admits there is more than one posibility.

Ex Lab MP Jane Grifiths says "remember that Cumpsty is right when he says the Tories have shown they can work with partners from other parties. Remember too that Rob White has shown this too over the past year. The Greens have a history of selling themselves cheap - they should go into a rainbow coalition with the Tories and LibDems, the price of which would be a Green in Cabinet - and then get Reading working again. No more sweetheart deals, clean government, openness and transparency. What do you say?"

Local Elections, if it was PR

If we had PR, how different the outcome would be.

I noticed in Reading that the total Green vote (4999) was quite close to the LD (5719).

If we voted with PR for all the council seats, we would have about 15 Con, 18 Lab, 6 LD, 5 Greens and an independent. Except many voted tactically, they would not have under PR.

With first past the post (and elections in thirds) we have Lab 22; Con 16; LD 5 ; 2 Green; 1 Independent.

Its as though we were robbed by the Tories and Labour, you can see why many of them dont like the idea of a fairer system.

If only the referendum had been about PR. Instead we were saddled with a choice described as a 'miserable little compromise' by the man "leading" the campaign.

The low stanards of the No campaign were matched by the poor quality of the Yes one. It was like fighting with both hands tied behind your back, not a surprise we lost. I blame some of it on Clegg, who should have held out for PR or AVplus, something campaigners could have really got behind. So lets not expect any reform for many years, a victory for the Tories and many in Labour who benefit. The loosers are the ordianry voters, though many don't know it yet.

Video Of Victory In Park Ward

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