Cash windfall for East Sussex will boost jobs and growth

A grant of £5.5 million pounds to support jobs and the economy in East Sussex has been warmly welcomed by the Leader of the County Council.

Peter Jones says the funding for Sea Change Sussex for manufacturing projects and research and development in Hastings is a real boost for the area and for the rest of East Sussex.

The funding is part of the third round of the £1 billion Regional Growth Fund announced today (19 October) by the Conservative lead Government.

Councillor Jones said: “The County Council is responsible for managing this grant and we'll be working with Sea Change Sussex on this fantastic opportunity. The funding is great news for jobs and growth in Hastings – one of the most deprived areas of the UK – and it will also boost the rest of East Sussex as well.

“We want to help business and support economic regeneration right across our county. The County Council is providing a special £6m Economic Intervention Fund to do just that. The Fund aims to help our rural economy, support companies to relocate to East Sussex, provide investment for small and medium sized businesses and help the voluntary sector on projects that create jobs.

“The Intervention Fund is part of our overall four-year, £500 million budget for growth which includes funding for transport improvements and better and faster broadband.”

Here are the candidates for the Sussex Police & Crime Commissioner elections

Sussex police and crime commissioner candidates

Elections will be held on the November 15th to choose police and crime commissioners who will replace police authorities currently in charge of 41 forces in England and Wales.

PCCs, as they will be known, will be responsible for setting priorities for their police force, overseeing its budget and hiring the chief constable.

Those in the biggest force areas will get salaries of more than £100,000 and no prior police force experience is needed.



Nominations for candidates have now closed. This list of candidates is subject to confirmation.

KATY BOURNE - Conservative

Businesswoman Katy Bourne is a Mid Sussex district councillor and national chairman of the Conservative Women's Organisation.

A governor at Oriel School, Crawley, and Roedean School in Brighton, she lives in Mid Sussex.

Mrs Bourne has pledged to free up more money for frontline policing by reducing bureaucracy and waste, and to improve neighbourhood policing by putting more special constables in each community.

IAN CHISNALL - Independent

Ian Chisnall is a community development worker, who works in the private, voluntary and community sectors.

He was born in Liverpool but now lives in Brighton. He says his experience of helping develop partnerships between agencies in different sectors would stand him in good stead for the PCC role.

Mr Chisnall wants sufficient resources for domestic violence, abuse and hate crime, better drugs education and to encourage self-policing for communities to free up resources for more serious crimes.

GODFREY DANIEL - Labour

Godfrey Daniel, a mental health worker, is an East Sussex county councillor, a member of Sussex Police Authority and a former member of the Sussex Probation Board.

Mr Daniel is a former mayor of Hastings and has been a magistrate for more than 20 years.

He wants to crack down on anti-social behaviour through better neighbourhood policing and to plough more resources into investigating cases of domestic violence and hate crimes. He also wants Sussex Police to offload unnecessary assets.

DAVID ROGERS - Liberal Democrat

David Rogers has been a councillor in Sussex for more than 35 years, and has also served as chair of Sussex Police Authority.

He has pledged to listen to Sussex's diverse communities and act on their priorities.

He has also vowed to seek new ways to combat crime at its roots, saying: "It is not enough to just lock people up and throw away the key."

Mr Rogers lives in Newhaven.

TONY ARMSTRONG - UKIP

Tony Armstrong is a former Kent and Metropolitan Police officer, who was born in Tunbridge Wells but now lives in Burgess Hill.

He ran his own business as an executive chauffeur, before becoming a Taxi and Private Hire Licensing Officer for Worthing Borough Council. He resigned at the end of September in order to be allowed to stand in this election.

Mr Armstrong has said his priorities will be to ensure value for money and that any cuts do not affect frontline services.

He has also pledged to encourage the expansion of the Special Constabulary and police volunteers, and the deployment of greater numbers of road policing officers.

John Hayes MP, Energy Minister, a new Boris with the eloquence of Demosthenes and the common good written on his heart

The Prime Minister may not have come out of the last 24 hours particularly well but new Energy Minister John Hayes has had a good energy shambles. I wonder if a new star has been born? How many readers have seen (watch this Guardian clip from just after two minutes in), heard or read about John Hayes' performance at the despatch box yesterday? It took the breath away. The sketchwriters all feasted on his performance. Here is a selection of what they wrote...

Donald Macintyre in The Independent: "When the Labour MP Nick Smith congratulated the minister on his "chutzpah" before asking him if his Department had advised No 10 against the very policy Mr Cameron had announced 24 hours earlier, he said (astoundingly given the notoriously bad relations between his Energy colleagues and George Osborne) that it had "a wonderful relationship" with No 10 and the Treasury: "I say, with appropriate modesty, that that relationship has improved still further since my arrival."

The Daily Mail's Quentin Letts was equally amazed: "‘Alacrity and the defence of the common good – the heart of all I do,’ he said at one point, practically clutching his right breast and removing a tear from his eye. ‘Clarity is the prerequisite of certainty, certainty is the prerequisite of confidence and confidence is the prerequisite of investment,’ he said, quite unscripted... The Government would act ‘in weeks, rather than months’. He raised his chin and scanned the Chamber to ensure that it shared his astonishment at the Executive’s sense of urgency."

The Times' Ann Treneman who won sketchwriter of the year yesterday (for the second successive year) awarded Mr Hayes with a prize of her own: "“We all know that you are eloquent in the art of obfuscation,” soothed Labour’s Chris Leslie, “but will you set aside the flim-flam? Were you aware that the PM was going to make this announcement?” Mr Hayes, like an octopus, began to pump out black ink into the air. “The PM comes to this House weekly to be scrutinised. Does he give me notice of every answer and does he get notice of every question? Of course the answer is no.” Labour accused him of “linguistic acrobatics”. Mr Hayes loved that. “I add acrobatic skills to the many qualities been ascribed to me by this House!” It was a masterclass in gobbledegook. “More!” shouted MPs as a modest Mr Hayes bowed out." Taken from The Times (£).
Michael Deacon in The Telegraph wondered if Mr Hayes was a new Boris: "You could almost take him for a junior Boris, except that Mr Hayes is in fact six years older than Mr Johnson. And, if anything, Mr Hayes seems even more showmanlike. Everything he says sounds like a joke, but you aren't always sure whether it’s meant to."

The Speaker loved it too; at one point atrributing "the eloquence of Demosthenes" to the Minister. Ending the session Mr Bercow declared: "I think it is a fair summary to say that the House has enjoyed the scrutiny process over the past half hour." They really had. MPs shouted "More!".

Sir Winston Churchill's Series 1 Land Rover under the hammer

The Land Rover given to Sir Winston Churchill on his 80th birthday is to be sold by auction house Cheffins in Cambridgeshire this weekend. By Daniel Harrison

The early Series 1 Land Rover – with the registration UKE 80 was presented to Sir Winston Churchill on 30 November 1954. The original buff logbook shows that just three days later it was registered UKE 80 to a certain Rt Hon. Sir Winston Spencer Churchill KG. OM. CH. MP. Chartwell, Westerham, Kent although his signature is absent. This is a standard Kent registration (the middle K indicates that it it was registered in the southern county), though it is speculated that UKE signifies “United Kingdom & Empire”, while the 80 marks the wartime PM’s birthday.

Although largely a standard Series 1 Land Rover, the car does have special modifications to cater for Sir Winston’s specific needs. As he was largely chauffeured around his Chartwell estate in Westerham, Kent, there was a passenger-side footwell heater, an extra-wide seat, fold-down armrest and a leather clad grab handle is fitted to the bulkhead.

UKE 80 remained on the Chartwell estate until Churchill’s death in January 1965, shortly after, in June of that year, the buff logbook records the new custodian as Winston Churchill’s son-in-law the Rt Hon. A C Soames CBE. MP. Hamsell Manor, Eridge, Tonbridge Wells, Kent. It is known that the Land Rover was only road taxed until December 1967 and thereafter used exclusively around the Eridge farm until 1973, a warning note not to use the vehicle on the road still survives from this time.

Christopher Soames had by this time become Vice President of the EEC and this prompted a sale of farm equipment at Hamsell Manor, amongst which was the Land Rover. Mr Norman Mills placed a successful bid at the sale of £160 and, following an argument with the auctioneer, managed to obtain the logbook, paid for his lot and then wondered how to get it home.

Norman’s neighbour Frank Quay was asked to come to the rescue, Frank, on also seeing the logbook and sharing Normans surprise at the previous owner recorded, decided to make Norman an offer of doubling his money on the spot, the offer was taken and UKE 80 passed into just its third official ownership.

Frank and the Land Rover were soon put to work towing his daughter’s horse box to various events for the next four years, at this time Frank started to form an opinion as to the uniqueness of his vehicle and, in 1977, decided it was too important an asset to keep driving and UKE80 went into the shed. Occasional outings to local events and charity fund raising were all that disturbed the Land Rover for some twenty plus years. UKE 80 was put up for auction around 1999 but the early days of on-line auctions proved fraught with difficulties and Frank decided discretion was the better approach and the shed beckoned for the next decade.

There are just 12,932 miles on the clock and it expected to fetch at least £50,000 when it goes on sale on Saturday 20 October at Cheffins in Ely.

Eastbourne Lib-Dem Parking Hypocrisy whilst Motorists Suffer

Reading this week's local newspaper, one could be forgiven for thinking that there must be an local election on the horizon as our local Lib-Dems start banging the parking drum again as the deadline approaches for residents to let East Sussex County Council know their views about the review of our local parking scheme.

Eastbourne residents may remember the broken promises of Stephen Lloyd's local Lib-Dems who prior to the last two elections, promised to block the parking scheme. Not only did they fail to do so but they prevented the Eastbourne Council's own parking areas from being included in the town wide scheme, allowing them to increase the areas local motorists can be charged to park and charge them more.

During the winter months, the East Sussex scheme substantially reduced the cost of parking on the seafront to help businesses brave the most challenging months of the year in our tourist town but greedy Eastbourne Lib-Dems carried on charging full price!

Whilst the Lib-Dem smoke and mirrors spin machine cranks up a gear, their MP's continue to hinder progress on the much needed A27 improvements between Polegate and Lewes that could really unlock Eastbourne's potential for business and tourism. Eastbourne MP Stephen Lloyd maintains a deathly silence on this important issue and neighbouring MP for Polegate & Lewes, Norman Baker has a record of consistently campaigning against these much needed improvements after successfully convincing the New Labour Government elected in 1997 to cancel the previously approved Conservative improvement plans for the A27.

Renewed calls for A27 improvements have come about as the Highways Agency quango recently invested over £1m putting a new cycle way down between Beddingham and Firle which Norman Baker seemed to take great pleasure in launching whilst motorists continue to suffer on this heavily congested stretch of road.

Young people to pitch ideas to Dragons Den at Eastbourne Youth Fair

The Eastbourne Youth Partnership invites young people, their friends and families to a Youth Fair at the Winter Gardens on Monday 29th October 2012. Drop in any time between 11am and 4pm to see displays and performances, watch the Dragon's Den and try out different activities.

Download the booking form below if your group would like to book a table at the event and space for a display or contact us at youth@eastbourne.gov.uk

You can download a copy of the poster from the link below to put up in your local hall, club or school. For more information about the Dragon's Den and how to enter for funding of between £25 and £500 download the flyer from the link below.

http://www.eastbourne.gov.uk/community/youth/eastbourne-youth-fair/?locale=en

Foreign Secretary William Hague announces £480,000 donation for Bletchley Park

FOREIGN Secretary William Hague today launched a new drive to find and nurture the next generation of code-breakers and computer scientists.

Visiting the spiritual home of code-breaking, Bletchley Park, the Foreign Secretary announced a £480,000 donation to help secure the Park’s future and set out details of a new Apprenticeship scheme to recruit Britain’s most talented young people into GCHQ and the intelligence agencies.
Mr Hague met with Bletchley Park veterans and school children from Holne Chase Primary School during a two hour tour of the park. He was accompanied by Iain Lobban, the director of GCHQ – the modern day precursor of Bletchley Park.

He then gave a speech outlining the importance of the park and of the UK remaining at the forefront of cyber technology.

He announced £480,000 of Foreign Office funding for Bletchley Park which unlocks £5million of Heritage Lottery Funding, the roll-out of SIA Apprentices – a scheme to find up to 100 new recruits for GCHQ and the intelligence agencies, and the launch of this year’s National Cipher Challenge, an annual competition for schools to inspire young people into thinking about a future career in mathematics and cyber security.

 

“Bletchley Park was the scene of one of the finest achievements in our nation’s history,” he said.
“Without the code-breaking geniuses of Bletchley Park our country would have been at a devastating disadvantage during the war.

“Without the men and women of GCHQ and our other intelligence agencies we could not protect Britain today.

“It is part of the living legacy of Bletchley Park that Britain today is an international leader in cyber security. We are determined to preserve this legacy and build on it for the future.

 

“In the year in which we celebrate the centenary of the birth of Alan Turing, one of the finest mathematical minds our country has ever known and a leading light at Bletchley, we want to step up our efforts to find the most talented people to help sustain and secure the UK’s code-breaking and cyber expertise for the future.

“Young people are the key to our country’s future success, just as they were during the war. It will be the young innovators of this generation who will help keep our country safe in years to come against threats which are every bit as serious as some of those confronted in the Second World War.”
Home of the world’s first semi-programmable computer, Colossus, and the secret code-breaking effort during World War Two, Bletchley Park is of enormous historical significance to the UK.
The £480,000 Foreign Office donation, and the £5million of Heritage Lottery funding, will help ensure it can continue to inspire future generations by undertaking urgent restoration work to update its facilities. The money will also help Bletchley preserve the world war two huts in which code-breakers worked to crack the Enigma codes.

CEO of the Bletchley Park Trust, Iain Standen, added: “The Bletchley Park Trust is enormously grateful to the FCO for the contribution of £480,000 to complete the £2.4 million match funding necessary to unlock a further £5 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

“This will allow the Trust to commence the vital restoration of historic code-breaking huts, and the creation of a world-class visitor centre and educational exhibitions.” Following a successful pilot scheme, the first young apprentices will walk through the doors of GCHQ this autumn.
The SIA Apprenticeship scheme will now be rolled out in full. Open to 18 year olds with three good A levels, or an equivalent vocational qualification in science, technology or engineering, successful applicants will spend two years learning about communications, security and engineering through university education, technical training and work placements.

On graduating they will enter roles within GCHQ or the other intelligence agencies.
This is part of GCHQ’s broader efforts to find the most talented people to help sustain and secure the UK’s cyber expertise. GCHQ is looking not only for individuals with maths degrees, but for anyone with relevant experience or vocational skills to broaden the talent within the agency.
The nature of the cyber threat has changed significantly since the days of Bletchley’s code-breakers. It is now possible to buy off-the-shelf malicious software, designed to steal bank details, for as little as £3,000.

This summer, one group targeted over 200 email accounts at 30 government departments in a single attack.

Without protective security attackers might have gained unfettered access to sensitive government information. GCHQ’s future, and continued investment in the next generation of cryptanalysts and code-breakers, is vital to the UK’s continued security and prosperity.

Mr Lobban said: “I am delighted to visit GCHQ’s spiritual home, Bletchley Park, in the centenary year of Alan Turing’s birth.
“The challenges faced by our forerunners at the Government Code & Cypher School at Bletchley Park, and the successes of Alan Turing and many others who silently served, continue to be an inspiration to today’s GCHQ.

“The announcements made by the Foreign Secretary today, in particular those concerning apprenticeships and mathematics recruitment, should ensure that GCHQ continues to develop the skills and attract the talent it needs to meet today’s challenges around cyber security, and live up to the example set by our Bletchley Park forebears.”

During the visit to Bletchley Park, the Foreign Secretary was also given a demonstration of the Bombe machine by Jean Valentine, a Bletchley veteran.