Priorities, Priorities

On 21 January I wrote a piece “my opening priorities” which I rather pompously said would create a benchmark to see if my views changed over the campaign and afterwards.
Having just handed in my nomination papers and started to write my campaign thoughts, it’s time for a first checkpoint.
I had four priorities and an overriding concern:
- Care of the elderly
- 2/3 tier education
- Economic development, incorporating Affordable housing and Support for tourism
- Dualling the A1
My concern was the centralisation of the Council.

I visited a number of people in February and March with a survey to establish what they were concerned about, and have picked up many points of view generally. As a sweeping generalisation from the surveys, affordable housing and the retention of middle schools were the main issues (although not everyone agreed with these needs). Other comments were that people were pretty happy with health care but felt there weren’t enough facilities for young people, or a visible enough police presence. They did not feel enough was done to encourage recycling and wind farms were not popular. Quite a few didn’t want the A1 dualled.

But the main issue is, as I noted before, that many people are very cynical about politics in general and the Council in particular. They see money wasted, decisions being taken without regard to what people think (I still find the timing of the Seahouses car park work unbelievable) and services declining rather than improving. These comments override the detail.

So overall, I am still comfortable my first priorities match most people’s worries. And the wide cynicism supports my concern about the Council’s management and approach. In fact it’s even worse than I thought. Regular readers will know I have gone on about the centralisation of power in the Council and how the new structure is likely to widen the gap between the Council and residents, between the Governing and the Governed. It’s all very well to blame the officers, but they are meant to implement Councillors’ wishes. And although Councillors may cover the detail well, they do not seem to respect residents’ concerns for the big picture.

It’s time to get a grip on what happens - i.e., to vote for me!

Sympathy For The Devil

I feel a bit sorry for Peter Hain.

I never thought I would write that – but I’ve just completed my various nomination forms to stand, and have read the guidance notes for candidates.

The section on election expenses and donations is over 20 pages. It does at least recognise that the legislation is complicated. As are the expense forms, which have to be completed within 35 days of the election result. I can see they are trying to prevent people buying votes and elections and creating transparency about where political funding is coming from – but anything which is this complex is clearly ripe both for careful abuse and accidental error. I did find it hard to see how senior politicians could forget the odd £100,000 or so coming into their campaign. But now I see it’s not that surprising given the form-filling and the legalistic approach. The focus is on mechanics not principle.

The good news is that I don’t think anyone is going to give me a donation (and, actually, if they did it’s clearly more trouble than it’s worth so I wouldn’t accept it).

As regards expenses, each candidate is allowed to spend £600 + 5p per voter – that’s about £800 for me. I can’t spend it on something useful like buying people a drink: that’s expressly forbidden, although it exposes me to verbal abuse when it would otherwise be my round.

I will report at the end what my costs were. In practice, I think most will be the cost of printing leaflets only a select few will read. So far it’s $10, being the cost of the address of this web site. I hope you think it’s worth it.

Anyone for Croquet?

My cousin is involved in running the Edinburgh Croquet Club, and is keen on setting up a club and a lawn in Bamburgh as another sport for residents, and if it takes off, visitors. There isn’t a croquet club between Edinburgh and Belsay. There could be a good reason for that – but also, there could be an untapped demand.

So on Easter Saturday, on what felt like the coldest day of the year, we stood on the Castle Green hitting croquet balls to see how true the grass was (the grass visible under the snow that is) watched by some incredulous passers-by and the remains of a snowman.

I hadn’t played croquet properly (i.e. not the bash other people’s balls off the court variety) before last year, but I found it engrossing. My cousin gave me some shots to compensate for my lack of skill, and three hours later we were about 2/3 of the way round the course. It’s an immensely strategic game. It’s obviously useful to be able to hit the balls where you want to but even more to think ahead about where you want to be. I’d recommend it, especially for board or card game players who want fresh air.

There should be a place on the Bamburgh web site to express interest in joining a club soon..

Manifesto

10 Point manifesto pledge:

Local Communities making local decisions
Labour and the Liberals want everything centralised. They want 27 new quangos to provide services miles away from where you live.
Conservatives will keep the six districts we’re all used to. We promise to provide a one stop shop in each district – a local service centre with a local 24 hour call centre.

Better Schools
We want to liberate our school-age children from Labour’s “one size fits all” policy. From Berwick to Haydon Bridge, Conservatives will give the power back to local schools and communities to decide their own future – bottom up not top down.
We are committed to free school transport for post-16 students
We will look at ways of improving after school services in our communities.

Affordable housing
Conservatives promise local housing for local people in sustainable communities.
Labour’s failed planning system created the problem. With a better planning system, a choice-based letting system giving priority to local people, we can provide local housing for local people.
We must do this to keep younger people in Northumberland.

Council Tax
Under Labour, Northumberland has one of the highest levels of Council Tax in Britain.
Conservatives can find the savings to lay on better services with lower Council Tax.
Council Tax is a Labour stealth tax. Our top priority is to keep it down.

Jobs and economy
Our younger people struggle to find work in Northumberland. Often they leave altogether. Others travel many miles to get work.
Conservatives promise to promote Northumberland as the place to create fairly-paid, year round, local jobs.
We’re committed to finding solutions that will help people who only find work in the summer tourist season.

Our roads are in a shocking state – have been for years.
Labour and the Lib Dems have cut road repairs across Northumberland.
Only the Conservatives are promising better roads.
Conservatives oppose congestion charging.
We will support community transport plans.
We will work towards a single transport policy with Tyneside and Newcastle.

Law and Order
Conservatives promise to support our community wardens and work with the police to cut crime.
We will make ASBOs tougher and ban drinking in public places where there is a problem.
Conservatives will engage our younger people with our communities using sport, education and training with support centres for them in each community.

Support for the Elderly and Disabled
The most vulnerable people in our communities are often treated shamefully.
Conservatives will review adult social care.
We will provide care locally to deliver it better.
We oppose rises in care charges.
We will review the way the Care Trust works.

Climate change
Conservatives want Northumberland to lead the North of England in recycling.
We’ll introduce a well promoted recycling scheme across the county
Conservatives will help make homes more efficient to reduce emissions and cut energy bills.
Conservatives demand an end to the huge waste of energy in public buildings.
We’ll take immediate action on climate change to save public money.

Clean Green Environment
We are proud of our environment in Northumberland.
Conservatives will stop unwanted development, we will enforce planning rules.
Conservatives want Northumberland to be a better place to live, work and visit.
We will maintain clean streets and green open spaces.
We will combat litter and dog fouling.
We will use rapid response teams to clear graffiti and fly-tipping within 24 hours.

The summary:
Conservatives have a track record of running good Councils with low Council Tax.
Labour have scrapped our Local Councils. There will now be just one Council, in Morpeth, for the whole county.
Northumbrians voted “No” – but Labour imposed it anyway.
Conservatives promise to cut red tape. We promise to put people first.
Under our management, we will provide excellent services and better value for money.

An Easter Treat

I mentioned in an earlier blog there were lots of reasons to vote Conservative on May 1st. As a special Easter variety treat, here are some of them:

Schools for local needs:
Conservatives will adopt a new education policy to get away from the “one-size fits all” approach. We want the structure of the school system to be driven by local needs. We do not support forced elimination of middle schools.

Better care for older people:
Older residents deserve better than the current arrangements. Conservatives will review the operation of the service with Northumberland Care Trust (who provide the service at the moment) We have opposed outright the proposed increases in care charges.

Manage the Council Tax: Conservative Councils have a history of Council Tax rises below inflation. We know we can find efficiencies to give better services and we intend to keep the Council Tax down. Under the present administration, Northumberland has one of the highest levels of Council Tax in the country.

And as well as dualling the A1, we will ensure good weather during Bank Holidays.*

Incidentally, did you know there is a reason the weather is often worse at weekends (and therefore bank holidays) than during the week? Look here..

* I am advised that I should point out this is not a serious policy commitment.

Here's the Beef

The Council Tax bills for 2008/9 have arrived.

In many ways, this is what it’s all about.

I had a few thoughts on the (helpful) statement sent out with the bills:

a) The total spending of the Council is well over £1/2 a billion pounds. Central Government and business rates reduce the amount they then have to collect from residents. But the total spending is a lot of money. It’s £2,500 for each adult in the County. It’s more than twice Northern Rock’s costs in a year. It’s close to Sage Group’s costs in a year. Amounts that big need to be properly managed and controlled.
b) Northumberland County Council has increased its charge by 1%. But this is after taking £18m from reserves. If they hadn’t raided the reserves, the increase would have been nearer 14%.
c) We were told that having one council would save lots of money. Eventually. However, in 2008/9, there are extra costs budgeted of £15m because of the transition to one authority.

Even if much spending is set and funded by Central Government local control of the detail is necessary.

Belford Plan

The Belford Development Trust has been updating plans to restore and update the High Street and vicinity, and the South entrance to the village . They have carried out a survey of residents to establish our needs and views. The plans and ideas were on display at the bank building last week.
They looked very interesting and show what can be done if a group of people develop plans “bottom up” rather than have them imposed “top down”. With other groups, they are now seeking funding to implement the ideas and to encourage new businesses to come into the village.
I thought one of the most interesting ideas was the removal of much modern street furniture, road markings and so on which encourage the separation of and lack of responsibility from different road users – essentially, drivers are more likely to ignore pedestrians. Many road safety markings can actually make roads less safe. And having a clean, harmonious relatively sign free environment looks better and makes people feel better. In Belford, it would contribute to the idea of building on the town’s heritage.

The local papers: How not to run an election

The Berwick Advertiser’s supplement recording its 200 years of reporting has a section on the 1859 election. It comments on the “Gull-hole”, a house of a former Conservative agent, where systematic corruption of voters took place. It was reported in the newspaper that the sum of £2 was given to any who would vote for the Conservative candidates.

It was all so much easier then….

Touched by greatness.....

Today saw the highlight of my campaign so far: a photo opportunity with David Cameron (“Dave”). The Conservatives are having their Spring conference in Gateshead so this was an opportunity for the those standing in the local elections for the County to meet Dave. And, while we waited, with other members of the shadow cabinet (the “B-team” as George Osborne put it).

I’ve met a couple of famous people before: my best was the politicians’ favourite standby, Princess Di, who visited the company where I worked (rather embarrassingly, the day after my colleagues had got me a strippergram for my 30th birthday). She did have real charisma, and apparently expressed interest in the strippergram. But obviously nothing compares to Dave.

We arrived, had a drink overlooking the Tyne and then fell into a group. The selection process of Northumberland candidates has been excellently handled by the party: we were just about a perfect mix of heights to make a symmetrical and harmonious gathering. Some tried to gain extra height by standing on the fountain in the hotel lobby but health and safety soon put a stop to that. And then we waited – and saw and talked to a good selection of the shadow cabinet, until Dave appeared. And we were briefly touched by greatness, immortalised for posterity (and our campaign leaflets).

Being serious for a moment, he came across as a genuinely nice guy interested in our task and aware of the issues we faced in the County.

(I am on there somewhere - at the back, two to the left of DC)

Parking is such sweet sorrow

Work started this week on the car park in Seahouses. The work will apparently take 16 weeks. It will cover 3 bank holiday weekends, the School Easter holidays and one half term. And the start of the main holiday season.

So exactly when the businesses in Seahouses need to make money to last them through the year, visitors will find it hard if not impossible to park. It’s hard to understand what went through the mind of (forgive the politics, Lib-Dem controlled) Berwick Council when planning this work. The driving force of the economy of this area is tourism. Tourism needs visitors, and it needs visitors to leave their cars and spend money. That is what car parks are for. Visitors tend to come during the holiday season, and the car park has since last October been largely empty (and will be largely empty again in 7 months time). So why now? I doubt if it’s a strategic plan to regenerate other parts of Berwick at the expense of Seahouses: I suspect it’s just a failure to appreciate how the real world works. It’s a further sign of the enormous disconnect between the governed and the governing.

One of the main paragraphs in my campaign leaflet was going to be:

Support for Business:
A vibrant local economy is fundamental to improving our well-being. In this area, tourism is of particular importance and we will encourage investment and support local businesses with publicity and by ensuring Council policies are business - friendly.

I was worried that this paragraph represented an important sentiment but was just meaningless words. But the issue of the car park shows they do have meaning and the sentiment has to be driven into how the Council thinks. You need people who care about business to make that happen.

Grace had an English Heart

One of the advantages of being a relative interloper is that I still enjoy playing tourist when friends come to stay, and the Farne Islands are one of my favourite trips. The Grace Darling story has always been significant and 20 years ago I was pleased to find a book “Grace had an English Heart” by Jessica Mitford. I think it’s out of print now, but it’s an affectionate re-telling of the fact and the myth. The title comes from “The Grace Darling song”: I’d read the lyrics in the book, but not heard them sung until the Seahouses First School performed the song excellently at the reopening of the Grace Darling museum in Bamburgh.

The ceremony was a great mix of history, respect for the RNLI and the achievements of its volunteers, and thanks to those who lead and funded the new museum. The new museum is well worth a visit: it immediately evokes the era and the lighthouse. But for me the most amazing thing is the coble Grace and her father rowed. I can’t even imagine rowing it across a quiet pond never mind a rough sea. If Grace did this with an English Heart, I don’t think there’s a lot to be said for joining Scotland, despite the recent TV poll in Berwick (or the Calcutta Cup result).

Which reminds me of the power of TV voting: when I was in hospital a family opposite was discussing Berwick joining Scotland. They were completely convinced it had just done so, that the majority in the TV poll was all that was needed and the boundaries had accordingly been redrawn. If only life were that simple. Politicians do make things seem hard, I know. But it really isn’t that simple.

One other postscript: if you missed Seahouses First School singing the song and want to hear the Grace Darling song then, as the New York Times article said in the link above, the folk group, the Limeliters, recorded the song in the early 60s; it’s available on itunes amongst other places. They don’t take it quite as seriously as the School did, though.

Ashes to Ashes

I first came to the area 50 years ago: I don’t remember it but I’ve seen the cine films. The hotel we stayed in (then and for many years after) recently had an opening night after closing for refurbishment. They had a mass of people, a cookery demonstration and a wine tasting. It was great fun with good food; the refurbishment looked classy.

But what I really enjoyed was the tour upstairs: just like the previous episode of Ashes to Ashes where Keeley Hawes as an adult walks through her childhood bedroom, I remembered the stairs where I played and where I watched the adults go in and out of the bar at night; the bedroom where I steered my Dinky cars round the carpet; the views across the fields with the sheep baa-ing. It was all smaller – perhaps I’ve grown – but familiar. One thing had changed. All the rooms had en-suites. As I remember, there was only one bathroom for the hotel (now the ladies cloakroom). But I don’t remember us smelling.

The local papers: Belonging Communities

I’m afraid my pick from the papers this week relates yet again to Belonging Communities. Meetings are being held across the County to discuss them but their role is still not clear. It seems to me that they will muddy the responsibilities of Parish Councils and Councillors but without having clear responsibilities themselves. They are an example of the centralising plans of the new Council.

There are lots of reasons to vote Conservative on 1 May (I’ll probably write about them in the next few weeks) but the organisation of the new Council is a critical one. At the moment Labour with Lib Dem support plan a cabinet of 8 councillors, 3 area committees (too remote to be useful) and the 27 mini-quangos, Belonging Communities. We need to break the Labour majority to no overall control and to ensure Conservatives have a strong voice on the new Council so these plans can be modified to keep the provision of services local and with identifiable responsibilities. Sorry to go on about this, but I do think it matters and the other parties are letting it pass by.

Essex Post

One of the best pieces of news at the weekend was that Essex County Council is considering taking over the running of some Post Offices due for closure (or already closed).

The deliberate* running down of the Post Office network by the current Government is one of its most inexplicable actions. I suppose it’s because the network, with public service at its heart, is just not “modern”. And so services, gradually, have been taken away despite the fact it’s a fantastic community support network for those most in need. This isn’t just a rural issue – it affects cities as well. Which makes the Government's approach even more strange .

Essex is apparently looking at taking over contracts for a period of time to see if it can re-energise them by linking Council service delivery with Post Office business. There is clearly a long way to go but it would be good for communities if it is achievable. Would Northumberland follow? Well, it “wasn’t invented here” (forgive a cheap point: Essex is a Conservative Council). And there’s not much sign of supporting local services here. But hopefully it would. And if elected I would certainly do what I could to ensure it did.

* I say deliberate: like many others, I experienced this when I tried to open a post office card account for my Mum’s pension. The DWP officials made it as hard as they could, and kept asking me to open a Bank rather than a Post Office account instead. The Minister denied it was a policy to do that when I wrote – but I heard what the DWP was trying to do.

The local papers: what shall we call Northumberland County Council?

Er….Northumberland County Council?

Apparently that would be too easy.

One of the papers reports on the appointment of consultants to advise on Changing the Cultural Identity of the new council. For £1m. While a lot of worthwhile things are not being done.

The creation of a single council will not be an easy thing to do: 6 districts go, and even though the existing county council is the continuing authority it has to take on all the old district functions and make them work together. The most important thing is that residents see no reduction in service, and ideally improvements, which requires amongst other things all employees becoming aware of how the new organisation works and how they fit into it.

That can only come from management – senior executives working with councillors – setting clear responsibilities and motivating people to work within the new organisation. Appointing £1m consultants is not going to help that. Nor is giving everything a new name or logo. Sadly, it’s another example of the priorities of the new council being inward rather than outward looking. Management may care what they are called. Residents and employees just want a good service.

Time for a change?

Fit for Purpose?

As a forthcoming candidate I thought I should find out a bit more about public services in the area. But I was a bit surprised when my body, actually my heart, decided to test out the NHS.

I had a chest pain which I first assumed was indigestion, but when it didn’t go away I went to the Doctors; the nurse gave me an ECG and very tactfully said it was fine but there was just one thing she wanted to check with the Doctor. I heard them talk – then laugh, a good sign, but then the Doctor came back with her. “You are going to have to go to hospital for a check up”. I couldn’t go home; I had almost no money; a mobile phone out of charge and I hadn’t even locked my car which was left in the car park of the surgery. The reason was that I had a very slow heart beat – similar to Bjorn Borg’s but he was a bit fitter than me. (At the hospital one of the nurses checking me asked if I was an athlete: as I was almost undressed at the time I assume she was joking).

Anyway, a few minutes later I was in the back of an ambulance, siren sounding, off to the Wansbeck (40 minutes Belford to Wansbeck, not bad). I was very well treated in the ambulance, and A&E, although I could sense the tension as they tried to find me a bed within the 4 hour target time, and sure enough 3 hours 55 minutes later I was taken to a ward (actually, this could be a co-incidence: the target time is for being treated and I was being treated from the moment I arrived).

I slept quite well and felt more comfortable in the morning. The only problems were first, how to phone people to say why I wasn’t where I was meant to be: my mobile had no charge, and of course I couldn’t remember any numbers without it, and the hospital would only let me make local calls. I couldn’t phone the people in London I was meant to be talking to; I couldn’t phone directory enquiries to find out numbers. Of course, the fact that I cared showed I must be feeling better. Second, I had run out of things to read: I had pinched (with permission) a golf magazine and Heat from the surgery but had exhausted them well before the paper trolley came by at lunchtime.

My number one tip: plan your hospital admission. Don’t visit your GP without an overnight bag. However, they did give me something to wash with and something to wear (although for some reason (fashion?) it was backless; they eventually gave me another one to wear frontless to create a tasteful discreet unitary garment. But it wasn’t a good look.

Actually, there was one major problem. I had to do an exercise ECG, where they try to make your heart break and then measure the consequences. Once done, if clear, I was told I could go home. It was requested in the morning but at early afternoon they said they could not do it that day and I would have to move to a new ward. I did, and spent 24 hours doing nothing, with no treatment, until the ECG the next afternoon after which I was sent home. As it happened I learned that they had found a time the day before, but my new ward nurses (without talking to me or the doctors) said I couldn’t go.

I remember from Mum’s two last hospital visits that you have to fight to get out of hospital. There’s supposed to be a beds shortage – yet they won’t let you go. I wasted 24 hours of bed space for no reason. My number two tip is for the NHS: learn how to let people leave.

My conclusion on my NHS experience exactly matches my prejudice beforehand. Most of the staff do fantastically well a job I cannot conceive of doing, but the processes and management in the hospital let them down.

But my heading – Fit for purpose? – obviously relates to me not the NHS. In fact, I’m still fit enough – my doctor said that a bit of stress would do me good, and they ruled out a lot of things while I was in hospital. Our political agent reminded me that our interests were aligned. The last thing he would want would be a by-election if I was elected and didn’t survive.