Whitley arts festival

Not many councillors can say that their ward has its own major arts festival, but Whitley arts festival is currently in the middle of another really successful year (last year's major commission ended up in the Tate!).  I popped along to the launch event for the flagship commission by local artist Jo Thomas, she's on the left of the picture, that showcases an original view of Whitley - including both Morrison's and the flood plain in an installation inspired by a sunset walk.  It was really worth a look, it's not in your face, but is a subtle adaption of the second floor space of the museum and kind of creeps up on you in a really nice way.  If you know the area it's particularly special.
There are still some events to come and there will be another sunset walk starting at 3.30pm from the restoration centre on Wednesday 3rd November led by Jo Thomas, which I intend to go on.

Watch Paul O'Grady call Osbourne a 'Blankety blank" #cuts

And then sign the petition calling on Osbourne to pay his taxes!  We're all in this together?

My mum (who is not political) was the first person to tell me she'd heard that George Osbourne was avoiding tax (not evading - he'd be put in prison for that).  I couldn't believe it at the time as surely the guy has more sense than to cut services and benefits for the poor and middle income and give everyone in the country a tax hike (VAT at 20%), while doing all he can to get out of paying tax himself.  But no, Channel 4 Dispatches have caught him out.  I'm really disgusted by this.  He should be ashamed of himself and so should anyone else who is doing something similar while calling on the rest of us to tighten our belts.

The Story of England

I've been really enjoying "The story of England" with Michael Wood the last few weeks - if you've missed it I would definitely look out for repeats or go on iplayer.  It is great to see a history program that gives you a real idea of how your own life might have been if you'd been alive a few hundred years ago.

It's also nice to see that mass movement politics was there going back to the 12th century. it gives a bigger perspective on modern politics and the struggle for equality.

The morning after...

If Labour was running the council this post would sum up how I was feeling.  CllrTim in Bansley is agonising over horrendous decisions being foisted on him by central government cuts.  Local government is probably the hardest hit of all departments, and this is after already spending years on efficiency drives.  I wish I was in his position.  Why?  Labour is doubly in opposition at the moment in Reading - nationally and locally.  So what am I feeling?

I am feeling rather like many people I know, somewhat helpless and in shock.  As the largest group on the council we might be able to influence things a little and we will certainly make our voices heard.  However we know from the last two council meetings that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats speak with one voice in the chamber, although to be fair I am sensing disquiet and worry from some of the Liberal Democrat members - outside the chamber at least.

So rather than faced with very difficult choices about services and council staff my Labour colleagues and I are faced with only two things to do.  Firstly, and importantly in the short term, make sure that I stand up for my constituents in Whitley and residents in the rest of the town.  I strongly recommend that you give your input into the consultation the council are currently running.  I have no idea how genuine it is, since the first Labour heard of it was the press release, but at least you will be able to feel that you have given your input.  I will be demanding that full results are shared with all councillors, so we will be able to see what people have said.

In the medium term I will work as hard as I can to ensure that Labour takes back control of the council as fast as possible and finally I will work for the return of a Labour government nationally in the long term.  Only then can I be confident that cuts will not be met with cheers from the government benches but if any are still needed in 5 years they are done with compassion and a genuine consideration of the impact the will have on the most vulnerable.  It is the least I can do to help ensure the sort of Britain I have spent my adult life in will be there for my daughter and the other children of this country.

If you want to help: join the Labour party or get in touch

#CSR = some links

On the spending review I am still in shock about some of the details and will have more to say, particularly about housing.  Nick Robinson did a blow by blow account A good economic analysis is here.  A pro-Cuts response is here and an anti-cuts response is here.  A distributional analysis is here - although this graph says much of that:

Deeply worrying.  How we are going to find 26% cuts in the council budget I don't yet know.  I promised during my election campaign I would use my vote to protect key local services as far as I can.  I mean to honour that promise, but I am sure that there will be painful times ahead.

UPDATE:  I'm glad I wasn't the only one who found Osbourne's confusion of real, cash annual, cumulative cuts annoying

Grown up politics?

Today of all days residents in Reading will be hoping that their local representatives will be thinking and acting responsibly.   We will need to make some very hard decisions as the central Conservative and Lib-dem government have chosen to impose savage cuts on our budget - and to do it in a very short timescale.  I don't blame our local Conservative/Liberal Democrats for this, although a cursory look at Daisy Benson's Twitter account seems to suggest that she doesn't have any criticisms of the csr review.

However I do expect that they behave like grown up politicians.  Last night's council meeting didnt't reassure me.   Richard McKensie who presented the petition on Maiden Erliegh (which I support fully) has already complained about the behaviour of some councillors* and I also noticed members being rude about - and to - residents who presented a petition on free swimming for over 60s.  They were even accused of being put up to it by Labour!


 I am a new councillor, so perhaps am not immured to this kind of thing, but I would like to apologies on behalf of councillors for the behaviour of those colleagues.

After most members of the public had left I put forward my motion on feed in tariffs.  I took the opportunity to ask members to put asside petty point scoring and actually look at what is good for people of the town.

Cllr Swaine did what had happened to every opposition motion and put forward an amendment that started "Delete all the words after 'this council'":  in other words he substituted his own motion (and in his speech declared himself to be the greenest councillor in Reading to my amusement and Rob White's - understandable - surprise!)  This was despite  fact that I deliberately made my motion, and my speech, general enough to be flexible and non-party political. 

Having said that I knew they had the votes to pass whatever they wanted and much of his revised motion was fine - in fact some of it was just giving more detail about what I called 'all options' and 'the borough's buildings.  It did remove the a specific suggestion that I had, which was to focus on the borough's schools.  I spoke to him after the meeting and he said 'we can't tell schools what to do'.  There are ways around his concerns, and I will push to ensure that they are fully considered.  I reluctantly accepted the revised motion, and am glad that one thing that all sides of the chamber seem to agree on is that they all want to make Reading a leader on the environment.

I will blog seperately, and breifly on the spending review.

*I have a confession to make, I did - briefly - use my mobile phone during the council meeting as well, although I wasn't spotted by the gallery, but this was because needing to know how my young daughter was doing so I sent 2 text messages to my husband during the evening.  I am sure all parents who have had a sad small child will understand that and that they won't equate it to twittering during a crucial meeting or a lack of respect for the important of the meeting.

Feed in tarriffs

In advance of the spending review I thought I'd stick to positive stories today.  Tonight I'm proposing that Reading moves forward with installing solar panels on borough buildings.  I'm really hoping all councillors support it as it is a win-win.  I was interviewed on the radio this morning and have already had some press on it, and just noticed that the story has been tweeted!

We're looking very seriously into it for our own property, as we have a south facing roof.  Reading energy Pioneers are a voluntary organisation who are bringing people in the Reading area together on it.  Unfortunately their website is down at the moment, but you can find our more about them here.

Fuzzy is OK - my entry

As part of Whitley Arts festival there is an exhibition of photos that didn't come out quite how you planned, called 'Fuzzy is OK'.  There's still time to enter your snap, which you can do by email.  Mine is from a trip to Yorkshire with family, the light didn't quite work, but it's reasonably dramatic!

Whitley Park school and election day 2010.

Had my first visit to Whitley Park schools since election day yesterday.  It was great to see the progress they are making on becoming a single school, and the great ethos that the school has.  I always think it's hard to put your finger on what makes a school a positive place but what ever it is Whitley Park has it.  Great credit must go to the head and the excellent governing body. 

My previous memory of the school was sitting out side the polling station with my red rosette on,  I love polling stations,  I always have even before I got involved in politics (yes there was a time!).  Part of it is the 'polling station' signs that look like they have been used since before universal suffrage, so I feel a link to the great campaigns of the past - I always think of Millicent Fawcett and Nelson Mandela when I go to vote.
Part of it is the general feeling of the power of civilisation and goodness.  It is surely a cause of optimism that in so many parts of the world that we are willing to determine who rules us not by who has the most guns but by a social convention involving people putting marks on a piece of paper.  There were short queues this year at Whitley Park polling station and despite many people having deep anxieties about the likely result of the election, there was a really cheerful atmosphere.

My favourite 2 incidents from that day was a young man who brought every member of his family (and some friends) to vote over the course of several hours, including his 80 year old grandmother who had never been to vote before, or so she told me.  The other was a resident who I had met a number of times, but had never 'canvassed' coming to the polling station with his postal vote saying 'I didn't get round to sending this but I had to make sure that I supported you'.  He then took his girlfriend who lives in another part of the ward to her polling station after they found she couldn't vote at that one!

An open goal

Fortunately Milliband didn't miss.

The miners' rescue...

...shows that we can do more together than we can apart.  Just like my Labour membership card says.

People can do amazing things when there is a specific project and a tangible outcome. 
The problem is not everything is like that.  How do we harness human ingenuity where it is more complex?  How do we make sure that we're all pulling together?

A market in higher education

I was one of the first years to pay tuition fees when I got to university, but under the system most of my fees were paid by the government.  Even that system felt unfair though, burdening many friends with debts that they may not pay off until they are 40 or more (effectively meaning that they are paying 29% tax on earnings over £15,000 instead of 20%).  These new proposals mean that no longer can an argument be made about a balance between the benefit to the student and to society, as it appears that the aim is the student paying for the full cost of the course.


Mike Baker is a well respected education journalist who I think normally tries to give both sides.  His take is that "there are also worrying precedents on rising costs, value for money and the dangers of social segregation."  It's worth a read for giving a full look at the proposals

NHS waiting times already going up

The official government figures show a 56.7% increase in people waiting over 6 weeks for an appointment for diagnosis from July to August.  and in case you were wondering if it was a seasonal variation, that's also a 46.7% increase from August last year.  The proportion of those waiting who had been waiting less than 6 weeks has fallen.

Now I hope that's a blip but after years of waiting lists falling what has changed?  (yes I know a Labour to a Conservative government, but it's hard to see a direct causation there - yet!).  The only big thing so far is the abolition of targets.  At the time the Conservatives claimed this would free doctors to serve patients better.  Waiting for longer for diagnosis isn't better service in my view.

We'll see, but this does not bode well for Conservative plans for the NHS in general.

September councillor's report - at last

Summary:
September has been busy (and so has October, which is why this report is so late).  I have managed to get some good news for some residents but overall things are not looking so positive.

 

Council work:
I attended environment scrutiny panel at which we examined some important items and agreed the future work program.  I also attended the Cycling Liaison Group.  I am continuing to get contacted by local residents with concerns, please do feel free to contact me.

Out and about in the ward:
We held our regular surgery in the South of the Ward, Swallowfield Drive this month.  A particularly important piece of casework came up there.

More informally I helped out with replanting the Northumberland Avenue roundabouts (2 other councillors came for the photo), which was a really fun day out!
I also visited all the residents in the ward on Hartland Road and Corrine Close to survey their reaction to some new road markings (if they were out I left the survey - thanks for the many responses that have come in! Watch this space). 

 

Other:

I discussed the planning situation of the old brewery site and Wotton Grange, two key sites in the South of Whitley with council staff.

There have been a few good bits of good news for the ward, which I'm really pleased about, in particular the improved bus services to Kennet Island which I've been pushing for for a while.

The Shinfield Road lights has been, and continues to be a key issue.  Whitley's councillors are standing up for residents.  If you want to see our press release it's here.  We were covered in the Chronicle, the Post and I was also interviewed on the Andrew Peach show on BBC Berkshire.  We hope to have more information soon.

Labour party and campaigning

I attended Group executive meetings as a back bench representative and also the party GC.  More colourfully I attended Reading Pride, helping out on the Labour party stall and enjoying the atmosphere.  I also helped out Cllr John Ennis with some leaflet delivery in his ward as well as keeping out and about in my own patch.

Next month:
October will be a key month for both national and local politics.  I hope that the spending review on 20th doesn't hit Reading too badly and that the local council administration shows some common sense with dealing with it, although since they chose to take £1.5million of in year savings straight into children's services hitting both our successful school improvement program and children's centres really hard rather than spreading it across the council budgets I'm not hopeful.

#1010 #101010

Personally I'm more exited by 01.11.10*,  but I have completed my solar panel installation survey, as I'm hoping to be able to afford to install some with the Reading Energy Pioneers group and I cycled to my door knocking in the middle of my ward. 

*That's because I like symmetry.

Food for thought

Andy Flannegan on money and God.  A 2 minute short from Channel 4.  How much is enough and what is the right response to inequality?  Big questions to which I don't have the answers but the thoughtrs I do have are some of the reasons I got involved in politics.

Child benefit cut, in a cack-handed way!

Frozen for 3 years already, but now if one parent is a higher rate taxpayer won't get anything.
For the avoidance of doubt I strongly believe in universal benefits but if you are going to cut benefits at least do it consistently.  Lets assume that cutting child benefit and means testing is the only option available for now.  I am an accountant but not a tax specialist, and it has only taken me 5 minutes to see some big problems in the way it's being done.  So did the treasury have a competition to come up with the most perverse way of cutting child benefit?

The first and most obvious point is that if both parents say earn £43K they will keep it, it but if one parent earns £45K they wont.  So some households with combined incomes of £86K will still get it - but some households with an income of £45K wont.  That's arbitrary.

Secondly if you read the small print the proposal is that this is being implemented as a change in the tax code and declaration on your income tax return as a higher earner.  Effectively it's a tax rise.  Why not just have raised higher rate income tax by a small amount?  That would have spread the pain more and focused the costs on those who earn more.  I suspect this is because it sounds better to cut benefits than to raise tax if you are a Conservative.  So it's ideological.

Finally this is not really going to be properly 'means tested':  You get if or you don't.  Now I hate to say this but  Ian Duncan-Smith has been talking a lot about work incentives over recent months, but what this means is that if I was lucky enough to be offered a pay rise from say £43,999 to £44,0000 as a parent I would say no, as it would cost me over a thousand pounds a year (post tax!) as a mum-of-one and more if I had more children.  So I would be better off not taking on more responsibility or working more hours, or seeking a promotion.  That's anti-aspiration for parents.

(NB Throughout this I've assumed that the threshold for higher rate is £44K, this is not exactly correct and of course will change by 2013, but the principle applies)

Kennet Island

Held a coffee morning on Kennet Island today with Mike and Jim, my fellow councillors today.

Every time I go to Kennet Island I'm impressed by the changes on a year ago. 

I sound like an estate agent don't I?

But seriously, once they get the parking sorted and as long as the community groups that are starting up are allowed to flourish I think it will be a great place to live.  I've also been for dim sum in town with my husband.

Balancing the books on the backs of children?

Save the Children have a on-line campaign to ask George Osbourne to balance the books in a fair way - that is not on the backs of the poor and children, and to announce how in his conference speech.  You can sign up here

I also went to the library today and carried my books and baby home in the rain (we had an umbrella!), so I balanced the books and a child on my own back.  I was trying to work out what pun/reference I could make there but haven't really got time to work it out