Eighty couples to celebrate their Diamond Wedding in Jubilee Year

Over eighty East Sussex couples celebrating their Diamond Wedding Anniversary in this Diamond Jubilee year will attend a celebratory event at the Winter Garden, Eastbourne on Tuesday 30 October 2012.

Organised by East Sussex County Council's Registration Service, this unique event (2pm – 4.30pm), will be attended by the Lord Lieutenant Peter Field, High Sheriff David Allam, Mayor of Eastbourne Mike Thompson, County Council Vice-Chairman Meg Stroude and County Council Chief Executive Becky Shaw.

2012 is also the 175th Anniversary of Civil Registration and representatives from the General Register Office will join the celebration for afternoon tea with music from a quartet playing jazz standards from the 1950s. Vintage crockery provided by SEApink Vintage China Hire will add to the 1950s atmosphere.

Councillor Tony Freebody, lead member for community services, said: “This is going to be a wonderful event for everyone attending. Anniversary couples have sent in photographs of their wedding day and these will be displayed at the event. We plan to present the display to The Keep, our new historical resource centre that is due to open in 2013, together with photographs from the event as a record of this special celebration.”

Labour's u-turn on Boris Bikes

Next year sees an important expansion of Boris Bikes in the capital. Docking Stations for them will appear across Wandsworth, and in my borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. There will also be more of them in Lambeth and in Kensington and Chelsea.

My borough has already had an early start with some Boris Bikes available near Westfield in Shepherd's Bush. But next year they will become a familiar site on the streets across Hammersmith and Fulham. From May there will 60-70 docking stations in our borough each with spaces for a minimum of 25 bicycles.

This is fantastic news for cyclists - who will find it easier to get around, save money, and keep fit. But it is also good news for everyone else. It means less pollution and an easing of traffic congestion and crowding on the buses and tubes.

This is a transport scheme that will be available 24/7 for residents and other people within our borough. It is also an affordable way to travel with annual membership costing just 12p a day. That is important when people are considering whether to take a low paid job, given the cost of commuting.

Nearly half (47 per cent) of Barclays Cycle Hire members have reported in customer surveys that they started cycling in London as a result of the scheme’s introduction.

Setting it up in new boroughs will cost money. It is not just a few bikes and bike racks. I have visited the operations centre in Islington and have seen how sophisticated the technology is. However, the bill in Hammersith and Fulham is not being picked up by the Council Taxpayer. Westfield has paid for the initial racks. There will also be £2 million from property developers via the "Section 106" payments. Also, of course, there is the £50 million of sponsorship London-wide from Barclays.

The popularity and benefits of the scheme mean that generally the Labour Party is not so foolish as to try and obstruct it. Lambeth Council is run by Labour but is mustard keen and regard chipping in some of their Section 106 money as thoroughly worthwhile.

Labour-run Merton Council voted last month to negotiate for Boris Bikes to be extended to their borough.

Under the Phase Two expansion to Tower Hamlets the council, a notorious favourite of Ken Livingstone, was pragmatic enough to contribute £2 million to get the infrastructure in place.
Cllr Shahed Ali, a Labour councillor and Lead Member for the Environment, Tower Hamlets Council, said:

“Barclays Cycle Hire has already proved immensely popular in Tower Hamlets, with close to 45,000 trips starting or ending in the borough during January alone. The additional docking stations represent a significant investment in the borough from Tower Hamlets Council. The scheme will make cycling even easier and more accessible to residents and help improve the transport links across the borough.

 

Yet in my borough the Labour councillors tabled a motion, at our council meeting on Wednesday evening, which calls on "all possible measures to block" the expansion of "the Conservative London Mayor’s pet project.” In a blog the Labour Group leader Cllr Stephen Cowan says the Council's backing for the scheme "stinks." Cllr Cowan added that the council should not have "anything to do with the recently discredited Barclays Bank" whose £50 million London-wide sponsorship has been crucial.

Incidentally, a year ago the Labour councillors had voted in favour of extending the Boris Bikes to our borough.

In their bout of oppositionitis the Labour councillors have shown they are out of touch with residents. Even before this expansion takes place, there are over 4,300 registered users of the Boris Bikes scheme, as of September 23, in Hammersmith and Fulham. That is astonishing given that apart from near Westfield, the scheme doesn't operate in the borough. There are sure to be many more users by this time next year.

Boris Johnson says:

"It is unfortunate that Labour councillors are seeking, for purely political means, to halt the expansion of cycle hire to Hammersmith and Fulham. London now has the world's best Cycle Hire scheme, and residents of H&F deserve to participate in this."

 

Cllr Lisa Homan, one of the Labour councillors who spoke on Wednesday evening and a London Assembly candidate, complained that "many of those who use the Boris Bikes do so for fun". An astonishing objection, revealing a drab Socialist mindset.

 

Cllr Homan stood for the South West London constituency in the London Assembly which includes Labour-run Hounslow. Does that council agree with Cllr Homan? I predict that once the Docking Stations appear along King Street next year the call will go up for some along Chiswick High Road across the borough boundary. Will Hounslow Council seek to take part in the interests of their residents? Or will political prejudice prevail with a refusal to be involved in the Mayor's "pet project"?

Right to buy is back on

COMMUNITIES Secretary Eric Pickles today blasts Labour for “blocking” right to buy schemes — and vows to make it easier for families to own their council houses.

Writing in The Sun, he pledges to revive Margaret Thatcher’s 1980s crusade for tenants to own their properties.

He claims Labour town halls are failing to tell tenants they can get a discount of up to £75,000.

Many offer little or no information on websites and fail to provide guides.
When residents in Labour leader Ed Miliband’s Doncaster constituency click to access the council’s right to buy webpage they are told it “no longer exists.”

Nearby Wakefield Council — in shadow chancellor Ed Balls’ constituency — does not mention right to buy on its housing page or in its guide to services.

Mr Pickles says: “Labour are actively blocking, playing politics and keeping people in the dark about their rights.”
Wakefield Council said its houses had been transferred to a not-for-profit organisation which administers right to buy.

Doncaster said its website was being redesigned.

Shame on Labour, I grew up on a Council estate and I recall seeing the optimism and aspiration amongst a number of families as they did something many never thought they'd be able to do. Margaret Thatcher did more for so many in this respect than many will ever give her credit for, changing many lives forever and inspiring another generation to believe they could aspire, work and achieve more. Well done Eric for putting focus back on this important policy!

St Anne's School site in Lewes to be sold for ‘community use'

The site of the former St Anne's School in Rotten Row, Lewes is to be sold by the County Council – but for community use only.

It means that the site cannot be used for housing development and any new owner must show how they can work with current tenant, the voluntary organisation 3VA.

The sale of the site was agreed this week by the Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Community and Resources, Keith Glazier.

Councilllor Glazier said: "This is really good news and shows that we have listened to local people in Lewes and followed their wishes. The site will be put up for sale for community use only and we will seek bids that show how the site can continue to be used for the good of the community.

“As well as securing the future of this site for the community, the sale makes financial sense for all our council tax payers. The buildings aren't fit for purpose and the backlog of repairs would cost in excess of £1m. Also the ongoing maintenance and security of this site costs about £100,000 per year so a sale would remove this ongoing liability.”

The site is over four acres and includes the former school buildings. The school was closed by the County Council in 2005. Since July 2011 the Council has been working with the local community to consult on the future of the site. This resulted in the creation of the St Anne's Steering Group which has been working on how the grounds could be used for community purposes. The Steering Group enabled the County Council to enter into an initial one-year interim lease at nil rent to 3VA, who will manage the use of the grounds.

For more information please see the lead member for community and resources meeting papers for 23 October 2012 – agenda item 6.

More funding to create and safeguard jobs in East Sussex

More help is being given to create and safeguard local jobs thanks to a £750,000 ‘East Sussex Invest' grant from the County Council.

The cash is part of the Council's £6 million Economic Intervention Fund launched earlier this year. The Fund will provide direct help to businesses and communities.

East Sussex Invest (ESI) is designed primarily to secure companies moving into the county, support job growth at existing companies and may also give short-term, interest-free crisis loans to help firms to safeguard jobs.

Councillor Matthew Lock, Lead Member for Economy, says the East Sussex economy has had a real boost in the last few weeks with new grants and positive announcements.

“The message is despite the tough economic times we all face it's definitely not doom and gloom – we're fighting back!” said Councillor Lock.

“ESI is the second grant to come on stream from our £6 million Economic Intervention Fund, following the launch of ‘RuGEF' – our rural growth and employment grant which went live earlier this month.

“These grants are excellent news and follow the other success stories we've had in East Sussex. Sea Change Sussex has won a £5.5 million government grant for development in Hastings from the Regional Growth Fund and Newhaven learnt that its port will be used to maintain the proposed Rampion off-shore wind farm, subject to E.ON being granted a Development Consent Order. These initiatives will create new jobs and protect existing employment, so it's good news all round.

“We've already had applications for our RuGEF grant and if you think you qualify for that funding or for the ESI grant, visit our Business grants and loans section or email: economicintervention.fund@eastsussex.gov.uk for more information. You'll also be able to check out when other grants are due to come on stream”.

Greenwich Council takes money from schools to pay for union officials

Last week there was a Cabinet Meeting of Labour-run Greenwich Council. You might have missed School Funding Reforms Appendix B: Delegation of central services/budgets. It includes the following:

Trades unions recompense: provides re-imbursement for school based staff for trades unions activities. The local authority intends to request de-delegation. Proposed delegation formula:
• Primary: £3 per pupil
• Secondary: £6 per pupil

 

In other words the council has approved an arrangement where funding is taken out of schools to fund the salaries of trade union officials - including such crackpot outfits as the National Union of Teachers.

The political aspect of this decision is highly dubious. Even when the unions, such as the NUT, are not affiliated to the Labour Party there are not proper checks on how their officials spend their day. What is to stop them during election campaigns spending their working hours, funded by the taxpayer, campaigning for the Labour councillors who vote through this cosy arrangement?

Also some of the money will go to non-teaching unions to reflect the non--teaching staff at schools. Unions such as Unison and Unite who are huge Labour paymasters and thus where the conflict of interest is even more stark.

The sums involved are considerable. A typical secondary in the borough will be paying £7,000 for trade unions, and other secondary schools a similar amount. Greenwich Conservatives estimate this will cost primary schools and secondary schools around £120,000 in total (about £60,000 for each sector). This is money taken out of education and handed to the unions - who will then use it to organise demos about cuts.

Cllr Adam Thomas, who sits on the Royal Borough’s Children & Young People Scrutiny Panel, said:

“This is a disgraceful waste of taxpayers’ money. We pay taxes to help children receive a good education, but the Labour Party in Greenwich are siphoning this off so that unions can spend more money supporting Labour candidates nationally and locally. In my opinion, this decision lays bare Labour’s priorities – when it comes to looking after young people in this borough, they will always put their own selfish interests ahead of their welfare and education.”

 

 

The good news is that a growing number of schools in Greenwich are academies and so outside the clutches of this arrangement. If the NUT go to Harris Academy Greenwich Park and ask them to hand over a few thousand to contribute to union salaries the school can politely decline the enticing invitation. Ditto St Paul's Academy. Also there's Corelli College. St Thomas More Roman Catholic School and Shooters Hill Post-16 Campus are in the pipeline to become academies. As the municipal empire crumbles so does the union one.

This is the context not only in Greenwich but around the country of union reps lobbying against schools being given the independence that academy status provides or against free schools being set up.

I don't doubt the ideological sincerity of the unions - they are dominated by the most fanatical left wing extremists. But in undertaking such campaigning - frequently resorting to bullying and dishonesty - they have a critical financial interest.

You thought the whole 'EUSSR' thing was over the top? Have a look at this poster

Take a close look at this promotional poster. Notice anything? Alongside the symbols of Christianity, Judaism, Jainism and so on is one of the wickedest emblems humanity has conceived: the hammer and sickle.

For three generations, the badge of the Soviet revolution meant poverty, slavery, torture and death. It adorned the caps of the chekas who came in the night. It opened and closed the propaganda films which hid the famines. It advertised the people's courts where victims of purges and show-trials were condemned. It fluttered over the re-education camps and the gulags. For hundreds of millions of Europeans, it was a symbol of foreign occupation. Hungary, Lithuania and Moldova have banned its use, and various former communist countries want it to be treated in the same way as Nazi insignia.
Yet here it sits on a poster in the European Commission, advertising the moral deafness of its author (I hope that's what it is, rather than lingering nostalgia). The Bolshevist sigil celebrates the ideology which, in strict numerical terms, must be reckoned the most murderous ever devised by our species. That it can be passed unremarked day after day in the corridors of Brussels is nauseating.

by Dan Hannan MEP, representing the South East of England