A Treat spoiled

Today the staff of my mother's care home had booked a wheelchair accessible bus to take residents to Middlesbrough for lunch and a look around the shops. This is a rare treat because most of them are too frail to go often, it's an expense for which funds have to be found and it's dependent on volunteers from families or staff to push the wheelchairs. Sadly, they were let down by the bus providers. The bus arrived at 1015 instead of 10 and the driver announced that he was picking them up from Middlesbrough at 1.15 instead of 2.30. After much argument with his office the time was extended to 1.55, but as a result of all the time spent on the phone the bus didn't leave until almost 10.40. So a day out for the residents turned into a somewhat stressed rush. It shouldn't have happened and complaints are being followed through so at this stage I won't name and shame.

Alcohol Abuse

Today's meeting of Stockton Renaissance Partnership received a report on the Alcohol Abuse Reduction Strategy for the borough. It's frightening to think that Stockton has the worst problem in the Tees area and that the North East has the worst problem in England. Fortunately the team working on a strategy for improvement seems to hae a pretty good idea of what needs to be done.
Of course they can't do anything about the law which allows sale of alcohol almost on people's doorsteps all hours of day and night. Just this week our local "neighbourhood" store applied for and had to be granted a licence to sell alcohol until midnight. This is the company which claimed before opening the shop that it would be responsible, community minded etc. So 100m from houses they consider it appropriate to sell alcohol from 6 in the morning till midnight, daily. Who is the abuser of alcohol now? The addict buying his or her last bottle of the night or the company which deliberately opens late in order to sell it to them?
I really hope that Stockton's strategy helps to reduce the number of people with an alcohol related problem and to reduce the number of families being damaged by those problems. I really wish that the lawmakers who don't listen to their own chief medical officer's advice and continue to allow cheap alcohol to be sold on any street corner or shopping parade could be made to spend some time with the police, the doctors, the nurses and others who have to pick up the pieces. Then maybe they'd think twice about the laws before they pass them.

Carbon Saving

This afternoon's special meeting of the Environment committee went fairly smoothly. We now have hammered out a set of recommendations which should meet with cabinet approval and should help to drive up the carbon efficiency of the council's operations. The devil of course will be in the detail, in this case the action plans which will be brought forward in order to implement the recommendations.
The one issue which might still lead to some internal argument is the future positioning of the Energy Advice Centre. This little gem is the council's secret weapon - so secret that many residents apparently can't find it - and it needs to move to where it can be seen and easily accessed. If we're serious about helping people to reduce their own carbon footprint we need to have the advice right in front of noses.
Meanwhile the weather has turned colder and winter is approaching rapidly so heating is being used more often and for longer, standing at bus stops is less attractive and the temptation to use more fuel of one sort and another is growing. Get thee behind me Satan!!

Remembrance Sunday

Again this year it fell to me to lay the Borough Council wreath at Preston War Memorial. Its upkeep is shared between Preston and Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe Parishes so there are wreaths laid by both Parish councils as well as the church and members of the Guiding and Scouting movements. A young man played both The Last Post and Reveille beautifully and the whole occasion passed in a suitably reflective mood. I went past again later in the day when the autumn sun had disappeared behind grey clouds and the red of the wreaths was the only splash of colour. A reminder that for a short time at least a crowd of people of all ages had gathered there to remember the fallen.

Seeking Asylum

On Saturday evening we had a wonderful dinner at a fund-raising event in aid of Justice First. The efforts put in by this organisation are Herculean and much appreciated of course by those who seek their help. I don't argue in favour of having no policies on immigration - we need a proper system of encouraging those who have skills and talents to offer at all kinds of levels to come here and share them with us in the same way that some of our citizens go off to other countries to use their skills. But that's a completely different policy area to that of refugees and asylum seekers. Someone whose political or religious beliefs or ethnicity or tribal loyalty or sexual orientation or anything else means that they are persecuted in their home country needs a safe haven. I've written and spoken regularly of the people I've met who've left everything to get to safety. The man who fled Afghanistan because he believed that his very intelligent wife and daughter should be using their skills just as much as he and his son; the last surviving son of a family wiped out in the bombing of Kabul; the business man from Baghdad who'd upset Saddam's cronies once too often; the young Turkish Kurd who'd watched helplessly as his wife was raped and murdered while he lay wounded in the hill above the village; and countless more. These are people who need help and support and who might hope one day to go back to their homeland and help to rebuild it in peace. These are the people who sometimes don't have papers or evidence of how they've been treated when they arrive here. These are the people who are so traumatised by their treatment and their losses that they can't tell their story straight away. These are the people who need our help and who sometimes have to turn to Justice First when all else fails.
The dinner was in the Chinese Community Centre in Middlesbrough, Harmony House, a splendid building in the heart of the town. Supporters of Justice First had worked all day and for weeks before planning and preparing. It was wonderful to see the young people from St Andrews youth club acting as waiters. Some looked as though they'd been doing it all their lives. As well as local supporters who'd bought tickets there were a number of people there who are currently waiting for decisions on their asylum claims and it was lovely to be able to share the meal with them, relax and enjoy an evening and hear some of their stories of what they're doing in Teesside while waiting for a decision. Some of them had offered their skills to the Auction of Promises which closed the evening, reminding us that even in the most adverse circumstances we all have something we can offer to others. No doubt I'll be writing later about the things we bought when we've arranged the details and can enjoy them!

Remembering

The last few days have been a cause for remembering different things with grateful thanks to different people. First of all my mother reached the grand age of 92 having flirted with death several times in the last 12 months but now in the words of her grand-daughter seeing the birthday photos "she looks as well as she did 10 years ago". Many thanks to the staff at her care home for the TLC they lavish on her day after day.
Yesterday marked 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall. I remember not quite believing my eyes and ears when it happened, waiting for the catch and being a bit stunned when it didn't happen. Then the following summer my daughter was part of a group of Guides at a large camp in (West) Germany. She was told roundly and firmly by her hosts not to refer to it as West Germany any more "We're all one country now". How strange it sounded to us who'd grown up with two halves all our lives to have teenagers telling us that it was all one. How difficult it was to get used to saying it and writing it on envelopes at Christmas. Now of course there's a whole generation who don't know what the fuss is about and that brings problems of its own - how to remember enough to make sure it doesn't happen again while looking forward and building for the future.
That same difficulty arises every November as we approach Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day. How do we ensure that the sacrifices made by people 90 years ago aren't forgotten or, even worse, minimised by the knowledge and understanding we now have of wrong decisions taken by commanders or the fact that politicians didn't learn the lessons. We can look now at the world and see many of the same kind of mistakes being made but it doesn't take away from the heroism on the spot of the people doing their job under incredibly dangerous circumstances. But how do we as politicians ask the awkward policy questions, ensure that the strategies are correct and based on proper evidence and decision making without it sounding as though we're denigrating the work of the armed forces? Nick Clegg tried it yesterday but journalists want instant sound bite answers and despite his efforts they were reducing it to one line at the end.
The arguments around the wearing of poppies seems to be even more dippy this year. Why do some people think that they're being bullied into wearing one? Surely what's important is that in some way each and every one of us makes an effort to ensure that those who've suffered in the armed forces are properly looked after no matter what we think of the politics which sent them into the war in the first place? Whether we do that by donating to the poppy appeal is irrelevant as is whether we wear the poppy having made the donation. Even less relevant is whether we wear the poppy in the "right" way for heaven's sake. If we ever reach the point where there's so little conflict in the world that we've got time to worry about whether the poppy leaf is up, down or sideways I'll be the first to rejoice.

Trees, Roots and Branches

We had a busy ward surgery this evening for a change. Two related problems came to light and probably neither of them has an easy solution. Clifton Avenue and Ashville Ave both owe a great deal of their character to the mature trees which line the roads. However, over the years of their growing they've had a deleterious effect on the pavements and sometimes on the walls of gardens and even garages. As a result some have been cut down and not replaced, upsetting those residents who live in those roads because they like to look out on trees. Meanwhile the unrestrained root activity of others make the pavements very uneven and inaccessible to wheelchair users. We need to have some discussions with the Council's arboricultural experts to see what if anything can be done to enhance the appearance of the roads while improving accessibility.
Riverside Lounge also came up - the length of time the development is taking and the amount of debris littering the area is a frequent cause of complaint and tonight was no exception. Once again it's a case of seeing what can be done within the laws relating to planning and development which all seem to be stacked in favour of developers.

Preston Park Update

This afternoon's meeting of the Preston Hall & Park Management Committee was dominated by positive news for a change. Phases 1 and 2 of the refurbishment of the museum are under way. Taking advantage of the winter months with their lower visitor numbers some of the work on the park is about to start. The main field drainage will be the biggest most obvious work to be undertaken and should be completed around Christmas. Then comes the big challenge of protecting the newly sown grass while it gets established. Harriss fencing is too expensive to erect all round the field for three or four months and would detract from the visual amenity of the park too much, especially now that the Hall is such a popular venue for weddings so a combination of other methods will have to be used including extra surveillance and asking the community to help protect their future enjoyment by not using the field until it's declared to be up to standard.
Over the same few months there will be work done to make a new path to the river bank, less steep than the present one though still a formidable slope for wheelchair users, given the contours of the land.
The Museum will be closed on Mondays for the foreseeable future to allow the staff to move items, clean and do the myriad tasks behind the scenes which are needed in preparation for the major refurbishment work during 2011.
There's a real sense of anticipation and excitement as people begin to see the fruits of years of planning and working to obtain funding for projects and even though there's going to be major disruption at times and we didn't get the funding for the big schemes in the park there will still be a very visible improvement to our local tourist attraction.

Parking Problems

Surprise, surprise - the problems which we predicted with parking at Timothy Hackworth Court have materialised. When the plans for this sheltered housing scheme were submitted those of us with some local knowledge said that there was insufficient parking included. Ah, said McCarthy & Stone, you won't need that much parking because residents will give up their cars when they move in. You'll see - it's happened in all of our other establishments. We had anecdotal evidence that this wasn't the case and that they were having to offer inducements to people to give up their cars but it wasn't acceptable in the planning decision making process. Although the Planning Committee refused permission the Planning Inspector allowed the scheme to go ahead. 42 apartments with less than 20 parking places. Already there are problems. It seems that the grasscrete which was put down to protect the trackbed of the original Stockton to Darlington railway line was not laid properly. As a result it had to be replaced last week, meaning that many residents couldn't park anywhere in the grounds for parts of the day while the work was going on. Now it seems they want to replace it with gravel which can't possibly protect the trackbed in the same way or it would have been used in the first place as the cheaper option. There are only 17 flats occupied at present - heaven help us when all 42 are filled.
Meanwhile the question of parking a couple of hundred yards away at the station hit the Gazette tonight. While SBC officers have been working away quietly trying to get the best possible deal for passengers and for the residents of Station Rd and nearby streets as train services are becoming more popular and the Metro development draws ever nearer our illustrious MP decided to gain a bit of publicity by "calling for better parking". Is there an election coming up shortly I ask?

Season of mists etc?

No mists here for the start of November, just torrential rain. The torrents hitting the windows woke me early and they continued till lunch time. I'm not usually envious of people in sunnier climes but friends jetting off on Friday to Spain certainly had the better deal this morning. At least the water table has been topped up.
It made us very glad our carport had been installed so that we could load up the car without getting too wet but unloading in Yarm for the monthly Fairtrade stall was a wet experience. Although fewer people came in for coffee than often do, it was still a good morning and well worth the discomfort.
Coming home and being able to catch up on personal e-mails was a treat - it brought news that the Fairtrade shop in Middlesbrough is likely to open in a fortnight. It won't be in quite the same spot as in recent years but will still be in Dundas Arcade, opposite Boyes.

Congratulations NEDL

Last night saw the end of a very pleasant few days spent with our daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughters. Despite having to fit in visiting mothers/grandmothers/great-grandmothers in care home and hospital we managed to spend time sight seeing in Whitby, shopping in Newcastle, eating out and lots more. A thoroughly enjoyable time which always makes the council blackberry seem much less interesting or important than usual.
We saw them off on their journey home and went to visit said elderly relatives - no problems, just an hour catching up on what they'd been doing and making sure that all was well. Homeward bound there was the prospect of a quiet second half to the evening, perhaps a glass of something soothing, perhaps a good book or a dvd to watch. How wrong could we be? We were greeted by our neighbour walking along the road checking to see whose lights were still on as theirs had gone off then come on again at much reduced power. No streetlight on the corner - we opened our door to find that we had the same problem. No freezer, no fridge, no oven, no lights (low energy bulbs didn't cope with reduced power). A call to our supplier produced advice to turn off all appliances "just in case" and to wait for the arrival of "someone". In 30 minutes or so he was at the door and soon produced the news that the supply was dangerous and should be turned off completely. Whoopee! Candles aren't that good for reading by and don't really keep you warm. Laptops only work for a short time on their batteries especially if, like mine, it was almost run down anyway. Modem and phone didn't work so no internet anyway. The dark ages descended and my warm bed called, especially as I was starting with a cold.
This morning we had a full crew out before 9, tests done, road digger called out and a temporary supply rigged up for us using another neighbour's connection. By 2pm all was fixed and the only evidence of a problem is the deep hole immediately outside our neighbour's house and the fact that our fridge, which was living on borrowed time, has given up and refused to come back on. It's defrosting itself quite well at the moment and I'm about to look at nice new ones.
So well done NEDL for a prompt service. Now we look forward to the hole being filled up and the pavement reinstated.

So far this week I've had an update meeting with the Corporate Director of Neighbourhood Services who's now been in post a couple of months and describes himself as being in sponge mode at present - soaking up all the information he can on what's happening in the area. He had some interesting and hopeful updates on such things as the regeneration of our town centres and was keen to hear from me about Fairtrade in the Borough. So nothing unexpected in the first such meeting but also nothing to make me think that we'd made the wrong appointment.
Today was the first meeting of the Fairtrade Borough Partnership since the awards ceremony in London. Early plans discussed for Fairtrade Fortnight - with a main focus on tea it will be very different to the banana events this year.

BST to GMT

The clocks went back last night/this morning and the usual bleating is heard from those, usually resident in the south of these isles, who want us to stick with BST all the year round. Why, I ask myself? Why do we have BST at all these days? How many farmers and labourers need that extra hour in the summer evenings to gather in the harvest or get home from work? Here in the North East of England we have few farmers cutting hay by hand or digging up potatoes with spades. Mechanisation is the name of the game. At this time of year, just when the mornings are getting depressingly dark, we have the joy of rising again to bright daylight for a few more weeks. Whoopee I say! Evenings are when it should be dark and we can sit indoors in the warmth and enoy those activities that seem right for winter evenings.
I am old enough to remember the experiment in the 60s with keeping BST all year. Setting off for college in the dark, watching the sunrise glow still in the sky during first lecture of the day, then going home in the dark at the end of the day - no fun at all. It might work further south where the hours of daylight are a little longer, but not here.
Meanwhile, we're still harvesting the last of the tomatoes - I don't know if that's a sign of climate change or not as I didn't make a note of the last harvest in recent years. It just feels later than usual.

The News, A Fortnight Late

Yesterday's Hartlepool Mail finally printed the story of our Fairtrade Fortnight award. It doesn't matter that it's late of course - the important thing is to keep the Fairtrade message in the public eye.
To that end I've just spent an hour working on our Partnership website as another little item in the campaign armoury. Also it made for a nice break from sorting out what is allowed to go back into our nicely floored out and clean loft. It's still not finished of course but the next couple of charity bags to drop through the letterbox will easily be filled.

Bede 6th Form College

Tonight I had an opportunity to tour the new college, just over a month since it opened. It was fascinating to see what has been created - a stunning new building with a great deal of thought given to maintaining what was good about the old one (a feeling of being full of busy students, a sense of a small college where people know each other) while introducing state of the art facilities and exciting interesting teaching spaces. There are lots of features which will help to keep the energy used in the building down to a minimum - solar panels to pre-warm water before it's heated, natural ventilation in all the classrooms, motion sensor light switches in classrooms, automatic shut-down of computers when the building closes for the night, clever use of the thermal properties of the building materials to help maintain a pleasant working temperature and so on.
It was good to hear that they now have concerns that the A level chemistry course might be over-subscribed next year, that physics is still popular along with geography and biology. The newer courses in media related studies, film, photography, music technology and so on certainly have some wonderful equipment and all the staff we met are wonderfully enthusiastic.
Stockton Council's head of regeneration was certainly impressed with the possibilities there and had only one regret - that it isn't right in the town centre, helping to build up the footfall there!
I could only marvel at the contrast between the new building and the old Stephenson Hall which previously occupied the site and in which I started my teaching career all those years ago.

Secret State Setback

Just caught up on the rest of yesterdays news and realised that the much-needed Liberal Democrat amendment to the Coroners Bill was passed in the Lords last night. It shows how important it is to have an independent second chamber, one that looks carefully at the small print of proposed legislation and does something to correct the sneaky things that this Government tries. A clause to give the right to a government minister to stop an inquest (in public) and replace it with an inquiry (in secret) if there is sensitive information involved sounds as though it's straight from Orwell or worse. But no, this is a serious attempt by a political party in this country to hide the facts if they might damage the reputation of a public body like the police or nhs.
The government's response? "We'll take it back to the Commons" where of course the backbenchers elected as lobby fodder by our First Past the Post unfair voting system will push it through. Another nail in the coffin of transparent public service.
My father was so proud of the Labour party when I was growing up. It was the party of working people, standing up for them against the Tory Tyrants. I'm glad he's not here to see it now, rushing to outdo the Tories in how reactionary it can be.

Carbon Reduction on track in Stockton

At full council tonight the Tory Cabinet member had put a motion on the agenda supporting the 10:10 campaign. Sadly, she'd forgotten to arrange for someone to second it. We'd already decided that I was speaking on the motion and that we of course would support it. After all, all the Lib Dem group are already signed up to the campaign along with other members of the party all over the country. That gave me the chance to second the motion and to thank her for saving me the effort of writing it!
We knew that the result of the Parliamentary debate on the same subject was due at about 7.15 so Denis was primed to watch the BBC Parliament channel and send us the result as soon as he saw it. In plenty of time before my speech the disgraceful result came through - a Labour majority of 70 saw off a motion in support of something their very own Milliband had supported at its launch. Fine words not worth the paper they were written on when it came to the crunch.
I did get a certain amount of pleasure in announcing the result during our council debate and seeing those Labour councillors who know something about climate change (not many of them it seems) look suitably embarrassed.
Stockton's motion was carried and so the council is now committed to signing up as individuals and to encouraging businesses and our communities to do the same.
First steps are being taken and more will happen as the year progresses. Stockton Lib Dems are having a competition to see who can cut their emissions the most during the year - watch this space!

Democracy in practice

At tonight's ward surgery we had 3 young people, accompanied by a youth worker, who came to find out just what goes on. I'd warned them that sometimes we don't have anyone come to the surgery and then we use it as a time to catch up on information we need to share and decisions we need to take. Tonight started like that, and the young people sat with us while we debated how to move on after our consultation on possible parking bays on Cedar Crescent. We concluded that we need some further information from Stockton Council's enginneers. The young people decided that we had done the right thing in consulting and then taking action on what we'd heard.
One resident who did venture in through the rain tonight was more than happy to have the young people sit in on her discussion with us. The state of the surface on a footpath near her house was the main concern. John was able to explain something of how the repairs and resurfacing of footways and highways is prioritised and we promised that we'd find out where in the hierarchy that particular footway sits at the moment. Sadly, many of the tarmac footways in Eaglescliffe were constructed at around the same time and are now all showing their age but the budget won't allow resurfacing of them all at once so the area is going to look a bit tired and shabby.
There won't be any increase in our budget from central government while the Brown-Darling gang are borrowing record high amounts. How can any country claim to be an advanced economy when it's running on borrowed funds? How can it be reasonable to borrow nearly 60% of our Gross Domestic Product? And now it's not them who'll suffer the consequence but every child growing up in Britain today who won't have quite as good an environment as they could have had if the people in charge hadn't let them down.

General Election Count

After consultation with councillors and likely candidates the decision has been taken to count the votes immediately after the polls close on whichever Thursday is chosen by Gordon Brown. There had been a suggestion to count on Friday morning with some good arguments on both sides.
The huge number of postal votes now used and the fact that people can still take their postal vote to the ballot box at a polling station means that the final verification of the postal votes can't happen until after the polls close. The verification requires special equipment and it all has to be set up somewhere. There are fewer people now willing to be trained to work at the count and at all the jobs which need doing during polling day, so some people have to both work at a polling station and then at the count. That doesn't make for accurate counting which will be important if the result is a close one. Logic then seems to favour Friday, especially if lots of other places are doing it on the Friday.
BUT there's a magic about the count on the night after a hard day trying to get every single supporter out to vote. I remember waiting with bated breath outside Stockton Town Hall for the announcement of the result in the sixties and the disappointment that my favourite hadn't won, even before I could vote. Even now, when the count is so much bigger and takes so much longer there's something about going home after the campaign, freshening up and heading off to see the result unfold before our eyes.
So, I'm sympathetic to the people who have the difficult job of finding the staff to operate what could easily be a 20 hour day, especially if Stockton South ends up being a close call. I hope that they can find enough volunteers to make it a good experience for all. And I hope that those with postal votes have pity on the workforce and post them in plenty of time!
But I look forward to seeing the results unfold. I just hope the phone doesn't ring at 8 on the morning just after I've gone to sleep!

As always on the Sunday morning after Yarm Fair I was impressed by the speed with which the rides are packed up to travel off to the next venue. Huge amounts of steel and other materials are packed into small spaces and trundle off. I'd hate to pay the fuel bill for some of those juggernauts! Already Care For Your Area staff were cleaning up behind them and Yarm High Street was beginning to return to normal. It's disruptive but it's a long standing tradition and I for one don't want it to die out. I know that many residents feel the same though some understandably would like it to move elsewhere.

Be a Councillor, part 2

The second session of "Be a Councillor" was this morning at the Town Hall. Amazingly, one person had not previously realised that the building is the Town Hall! It's common to have people who've never been inside the building because it never used to be opened to the public except for special occasions. But to meet someone who's lived in the borough for many years and didn't know what the building is - that shows how far we have to go in opening up the council, its buildings and its procedures to the residents of the borough.
Apart from that the morning went much as expected with a handful of people genuinely interested in what was being said, though some admitted they just wanted to know more about the council and how it works but not to be a councillor.
Going in to Stockton on the bus proved to be an unrealised hope. I'd thought that at 9 in the morning Yarm Fair wouldn't have a significant effect but something did. After waiting 15 minutes for a service that runs every 10 minutes I began to think I was going to have to go home and get the car when a neighbour pulled up and offered a lift. So I arrived at the town hall bang on 9.30, carbon footprint strategy intact.
Nice fresh veg bought from the market and home on the bus for lunch.

Catching up

Yet again I had cause to be glad to be part of such a supportive group this week. I don't know what the lurgi was that struck me down but spending 2 days in bed while others stepped into the breach at an hour's notice makes me really appreciate the team.
This morning I was fit to go to Newcastle to the regional Fairtrade forum which was inspiring, despite arriving a little late. You'd think I'd remember about temporary traffic lights in my own ward wouldn't you!
Fledgling plans for next Fairtrade Fortnight were soon in place and we all left with a number of ideas to share with our own steering groups and partnerships and discuss further before the next regional forum in November. Well worth the trip to Newcastle, though I confess that I couldn't face the early start needed to do the journey by train.
Sadly, the uplift was punctured slightly by a series of emails about the review of carbon management which I thought was completed. It seems that some people don't like our recommendations and there could be some argument next week.
However, that was countered to some extent by the news that Dave Hodgson was elected mayor of Bedford. What were the Tories doing? Surely they should have won that one?
A meal for hubby's birthday at our favourite restaurant completely restored the good feelings of the morning - and no emissions to get there as we walked.

Be A Councillor

Stockton Council's efforts for Democracy week have centred on encouraging people to think about being a councillor. Word was sent out through various networks and the press and last night about 8 adults turned up to hear what is involved and to talk to political groups about what they do. Two teenagers came along also, interested in shadowing councillors to see more of their work.
Almost 3 hours was a long time, especially as the previous 2 hours had been in a hot stuffy room listening to a presentation on what residents think of the borough, but it was worthwhile because the people who turned up were genuinely interested.
There's a repeat on Saturday morning so if anyone thinks they'd like to attend do get in touch for the details. No commitment is being sought at this stage - it's all about finding out for yourself and getting your questions answered so that you can make an informed decision about whether or not to give it a try.

Grand Central not quite so grand

Sad to say, although it's wonderful that we have a train stopping at Eaglescliffe and going straight to London, it didn't quite live up to its claims on Saturday evening. The seat reservations had been duplicated so many people were in the position of finding that someone else also thought the seat was reserved for them. Fortunately the train wasn't full and so everyone got a seat but it wasn't very pleasant at the start of the journey.
The advertised Free Wifi didn't exist and there was nothing on the train to explain why. Having a lot to catch up on after being in Brussels and then leaving early for London that was a real inconvenience. Also no power point for the laptop despite having that advertised on the website. I was lucky to get a table as not every seat had one, let alone a Board game embedded in the surface. An email of complaint produced an apology and a statement that the Wifi etc should be fitted in a month. All I can say is it's a good job I've got more to do than pursue Trades Descriptions and other such matters.

Fairtrade Supporters Conference

It would take more space than there is here to describe all that happened yesterday, but I'll do my best to pick out the highlights.
On a very personal note, before even arriving at the conference, there was one of the best breakfasts I've had in a long time with lots of fresh fruit and decent coffee served by cheerful staff.
Arrival at the conference itself meant being greeted by friendly welcoming members of the Fairtrade Foundation team and being shown exactly where everything was and what to do.
The first session was a plenary discussion chaired by George Alagiah of the BBC, former patron of the foundation, between Douglas Alexander MP, Secretary of State for International development and Harriet Lamb, Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation.
The theme of the day was Fairtrade in relation to sustainability and climate change.
George Alagiah pointed out in his introduction that aid is a relatively modern invention but trade is as old as mankind, obvious but often forgotten.
Douglas Alexander described being brought up in a family committed to Fairtrade, drinking Campaign coffee because it was the right thing, not because it tasted good, and now as a government minister being completely committed to promoting Fairtrade as part of the solution to dangerous climate change. He announced the government grant of £12m to the foundation as a sign of the commitment the DfID has to Fairtrade as part of the solution to poverty. His personal commitment was obvious and it was pleasing to see someone so obviously in the right job in government. I have never applauded a Government minister so enthusiastically.
Harriet Lamb talked of the time it takes to develop a product/group to Fairtrade certification. E.g. Zaytoun Olive oil took over 5 years. This kind of commitment needs a lot of investment. Much of the investment comes from the fees paid by producers for certification so the Fairtrade movement is self sustaining but larger investment needs large donors. She welcomed the announcement by the government of £12m grant to the Fairtrade Foundation which will allow much more of the development work to be done working with the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation.

In the course of the discussion examples of rules made in the developed world which make trade difficult and unfair for developing countries were given. The one that hit me hardest and which I wished I’d known about a few days earlier when at the European Parliament was that all bananas entering the EU have to be washed! Why??? Health and Safety apparently! As a result water that should be used for drinking is being used to wash the bananas.

After that came the presentation of awards. Groups from all over the country were recognised for their achievements in Fairtrade Fortnight. Interestingly, both the winner and the runner up in the Most Imaginative campaign category were in the North of England - Scarborough and Tees Valley. Our trip round the Tees Valley with a giant inflated banana had really impressed the judges. Shared Interest had contributed money to give cash prizes this year so we have a base on which to build next year's campaign.
The photo was taken by Moe Kafer.
Workshops on different subjects followed and I was pleased to find out that a group of producers in the DRC are working towards achieving Fairtrade certification for their coffee despite the dangerours political situation in that country.
During the afternoon plenary session I was made aware of something I didn't know was happening in this country (where have I been for the last few weeks?). ASDA has initiated a banana price war, cutting their price 6 times in 6 weeks. At 39p a kilo for loose bananas there's no way it's sustainable and someone is suffering. In the short term it's not the consumer who's saving money nor the shareholder who's getting profits from the increased footfall in the stores. The first people who suffer are the producers who are paid less and less. Thank God for Fairtrade which guarantees a fair price to the grower. But as Renwick Rose of the Windward Islands Farmers pointed out, even Fairtrade growers will suffer because the supermarkets that aren't committed to Fairtrade will just stop buying their produce. He had a revolutionary solution which won't be adopted - pay some of the increased profits back to the farmers who grow the bananas!
There was much more debate about sustainability and climate change but I'll close with the comment from Sophi Tranchell of Divine Chocolate: "It’s down to you. Everything you do and buy makes the world the way it is.” Do we want a world run entirely for the benefit of the few, destroying the lives of the many or will we make the necessary changes?
A Thank you presentation to George Alagiah for his support during 7 years as patron rounded off the plenary session, before we went off to taste wine and chocolate and ask all the burning questions that hadn't been answered in the day. A completely spontaneous standing ovation for George expressed everyone's heartfelt gratitude for all he's done. Tammy Stewart-Jones of Thanet Fairtrade group made the presentation on behalf of all campaigners, old and new.

Return to London

A fairly rapid turnround meant that just over 12 hours after arriving home I was on the way again, this time to receive a Fairtrade Award on behalf of Stockton Fairtrade Borough Partnership.
I took advantage of the evening spent in London to go to the theatre. An Inspector Calls is a play which I've long wanted to see so this was an ideal opportunity, especially as I could find a better deal on a decent hotel as part of a theatre break! It was an even better deal than originally expected because the first hotel I had booked had a problem with its computer and double booked the room. I was asked to move to a better quality hotel in the same chain. I agreed so had a deluxe king sized room in a 4 star hotel for the price of a basic single room in a 3 star - not a bad deal.

European Commission

The second day in Brussels included a visit to the European commission, housed in the kind of building that Brussels seems to do so well - preserved red brick frontage, saved from the convent which used to occupy the site, with a modern designed for the purpose building behind it.
The chapel next door is an ecumenical one, designed by and looked after by Christians but open to all to use. Cleverly arranged with a space for private prayer and quiet contemplative group worship in the crypt, a welcoming space on the ground floor, a traditional chapel on the next floor and meeting rooms above, it provides a welcome haven in the busy day of a European civil servant.
The Commission does a great deal of the day to day work of proposing legislation and enabling the negotiations which enable agreement to be reached. The briefing provided some very useful information to counteract some of the myths which are perpetrated.
After that it was time to board the coach and head to the station in time to catch the train back to London. Wide open spaces make building high speed rail links relatively easy and the result is that it's significantly quicker to get to Brussels from London than it is to get to Newcastle. Yet we have a government that dithers over investment in high speed links in this country and when it does decide to invest it chooses the North West rather than the North East to include!

Visit to European Parliament

This morning was free to do our own thing so for most of us that meant a walk or metro ride up to one or more of the tourist attractions in the centre and perhaps a bit of souvenir shopping.
I was intrigued to come upon a group playing music with tools such as hammers in one of the squares. It was part of a campaign calling for decent working conditions and was quite amazing.
The rain held off till after lunch and then there was time for a brief rest and freshen up before the coach took us to the European Parliament. A quick trip into the visitor centre allowed for the collection of lots of useful pamphlets and then it was time to go into the Parliament building itself. The external architecture of the Parliament and associated buildings is stunningly beautiful and unashamedly modern; the inside needs some work – little or no natural light or ventilation in huge areas of it. The stuffy atmosphere made it difficult to concentrate on a genuinely interesting talk on the Parliament. Following the briefing we were taken into the public gallery of the Parliament to watch part of the debate on the result of the Irish referendum.
It was interesting to hear Irish and French and Polish speakers emphasise that politicians across Europe need to start to tell the story of the Union properly and loudly – the benefits that come from membership to individual countries as well as the benefits that come to Europe as a whole. I’ve been saying for years that here in the UK we don’t tell the story well enough, we only seem to make a fuss about the bad aspects of the Union – the difficulties with the rules, the lack of co-operation between member states. It seems as though it’s not just in the UK that that’s true. Others were complaining too.
I look forward to seeing the Lib Dem leadership giving a real lead on being positive on Europe.

Off to Parliament

Not the Westminster one but the European one.
The train journey was uneventful except for the one person who hadn't thought of the need for a passport because we were just travelling within Europe! Miraculously he managed to get a train from Newcastle to Darlington, meet up with someone who'd kindly brought his passport over to Darlington, caught the next train from Darlington to Kings Cross and ran from Kings Cross to St Pancras to get on the Eurostar seconds before the doors closed! The security staff and others at St Pancras were superb, rushing him through just in time.
We arrived in Brussels right on time and walked round to the hotel to check in before walking up towards the centre for something to eat. A restaurant that was previously a cellar was the perfect setting to enjoy a meal and to introduce our friend to the joys of Trappist Beers. An excellent start to the visit.

Spending too much time visiting North Tees hospital at the moment to blog much. Sufficient to say that we had a good session this weekend with colleagues from across the borough planning activities for the next few months, the Tory conference sounds as though it's going to be as meaningful (not) as ever and the Labour one has faded into oblivion.

For the first time in a long while I took an hour out to walk today with no other purpose than to enjoy it. From Municipal Buildings down to the riverside footpath, along to the Infinity Bridge and over to the south side of the river, along the much less used path to the Millennium Bridge and over into the town centre. It's interesting and a little sad that the part of the path which runs beside buildings full of staff doesn't get walked on enough to kill the weeds which sprout up between the paving blocks. We need to encourage the people working in those offices to get out and enjoy the riverside on that side -it's too nice to waste.
Just time to pick up some Christmas cards for Sunday's Fairtrade stall and then it was off to the Library for the Cabinet meeting. This doesn't usually give rise to much debate but I couldn't help pointing out the irony of cabinet congratulating itself on being ahead of the game on Carbon Reduction strategies while sitting under an overhead projector which was switched on in readiness for a presentation to be made an hour and a half later!
The biggies on tonight's agenda were the Business Case for Building Schools for the Future which went through with no real comment from cabinet despite it depending on being able to sell the land on which closing schools stand for housing development; the pressures on Social workers at present owing to the continuing increase in referrals of children suspected of being abused in one way or another - no easy answers there as there's no end in sight to the problem and no bottomless pit of money to pay the extra staff and hours needed; Billingham Town centre, delayed yet again; and the economic climate which is looking slightly more positive with B&M taking over the old Woolworths store, opening on 14th Oct, and a few other retailers showing a great interest in the town along with one or two companies taking on more staff.
The cabinet meeting was followed by an update on the NHS Momentum plans - all very positive and not really looking at the possibility of not getting the money to carry on with the new way of working. I suppose it wouldn't do to come along and admit that of course if the government pulls the plug on spending it won't go ahead!
I was pleased to hear that they're expecting to have as a condition of the planning permission for the new hospital that the community facilities in Hartlepool, Billingham, Stockton and Yarm have to be up and running first. That's the best bit of the whole proposal. A nice new hospital will be a bonus but if we all have to have cars to access a range of treatment and diagnosis we won't be happy. The community facilities will allow basic x-ray and ultrasound, some simple surgery, plastering, maternity and childcare, physio and other therapies which currently are in hospital. It can't come soon enough in my opinion and I look forward to it. Next Friday will be the special planning committee which will give Stockton's response to the plans in readiness for Hartlepool's meeting the following week to determine the application.

Are you a winner?

Colleges week is upon us, so says an email which popped into my inbox this week. Actually it's from 9th - 15th November but now's the time to get ready to enter a competition with lots of amazing prizes. If you're a student of any age, 16 - 116, you can put your creative talents to work and be in with a chance to shadow Sven-Goran Ericsson or chat with an astronaut or visit the set of Hollyoaks to name but 3.
The competition is designed to celebrate the amazing things that go on in our colleges and encourage students to have a go at being creative. All you have to do is submit a video entitled "I'm running the show", explaining in any way you like what you'd do if you were in charge. Details are to be found at the website. Worth a look if you're a student of any age.

Water Aid

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I am very proud of my daughters. This week it's Kirsty's turn to make me say it. I shall let her husband explain the reason, and hope someone might join me in sponsoring her.

Lots of cool stuff is going to happen in October, I am sure, but the one you need to know about right now is that my ever-delightful wife Kirsty is going to be walking 10,000 steps each day this month. Probably 40,000 steps in reality because her pedometer only seems to register every fourth step!

I'm not quite sure how she is going to manage this feat as there are only so many hours in a day, but I'm sure she'll do it. If you know Kirsty, you'll know that water is one thing she is very passionate about and this challenge is for Walk 4 Water 2009 for WaterAid Australia.

WaterAid enables the world's poorest people to gain access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. These basic human rights underpin health, education and livelihoods and form the first essential step in overcoming poverty.

The reason that you need to know about this is because Kirsty needs your support. You can sponsor Kirsty and her friends by going to Walk 4 Water and following the instructions. I know she will appreciate your support and I do too.


How could I put it any better? For someone who spends an enormous amount of time at her desk or travelling to site it's going to be a huge challenge. I foresee very active lunch breaks.

Area Transport Strategy Group

Tonight's meeting of the Area Transport Strategy Group showed how much can be achieved by working together. This was the meeting when decisions had to be made about spending the balance of the budget. The traffic calming scheme near The Links school couldn't be considered because it's still not finalised. Consultation with the Parish council is ongoing. The scheme might be a contender for next year's funding but not this.
Similarly a suggestion to do part of the work on Greens Lane in Yarm couldn't be progressed because the cost was way beyond our budget so that'll have to wait until the golf clubhouse is built and the section 106 money is available.
A build-out to prevent unsafe parking on Spitalfields was well supported and then we were back to the thorny issue of speeding traffic. Staffing problems have meant that the safety camera has been deployed less often than we'd like on those roads where speeding is thought to be an issue. We heard more evidence about Speed Indicator Devices and how they can be used. It's possible now to use them to record speeds and to show what time of day or night is most in need of the enforcement camera, thus allowing for more effective targeting of those more expensive cameras.
We discussed Yarm Rd, where most people thought the speeding was related to taxis going to and from Yarm but there were several views as to which section has the worst problem.
We talked about the problem of the A67 from the Hunters Green roundabout towards the Tesco roundabout where for some reason many drivers don't seem to realise they're in a built up area. Having said that, a few years ago I took part in filming for a documentary about speed cameras on site with the camera on that stretch of the A67 and some drivers seemed to be deliberately speeding up, flashing their lights and gesticulating at the camera and at us filming so it's not accidental speeding for some people.
We also discussed Worsall Rd where everyone seemed to agree that speeding is a problem but there were several opinions on which stretch is the worst.
Because there was so little agreement on the detail of the speeding problems officers are going to have to do more investigations on Yarm Rd and Worsall Rd before we can go any further on that matter. Fortunately we agreed tonight that the remainder of he work could be done without more meetings! We even agreed on a proposal to put to a neighbouring Area to jointly fund something which is in their area but has an impact on ours. Co-operation indeed.

Can one woman save the world?

The article in today's Indie is actually entitled Can One Woman save Africa? but the principle extends to the world. It's an amazing inspirational story so read it then do something, however small.
It reminded me of cramming for my O level Geography exam, for which we needed to know the growing conditions of various crops - honestly. I can't remember which crop needs 70 days at 70 degrees under the shade of banana trees but something does. The point being, that trees aren't just trees, they're also sun-shades, carbon sinks, homes for birds and insects, fuel for fires, compost for the ground and so ad infinitum.
If there's room in your garden, plant a tree. If not, plant one in a woodland somewhere through the Woodland Trust or one of the countless other schemes around.

ICT - slave or master?

Once upon a time there were some councillors who wanted to be able to do such complicated things as download and save a document to read off line later. Those same councillors wanted to be able to write letters on their laptop sititng out in the garden or waiting for visitors to their ward surgeries and then to email said letters at a suitable time later. Foolish councillors - they didn't realise that this is too complicated for the wonderful IT system to cope with. To be able to do such things they need to have endless visits from the computer doctor who seems to get younger and more chirpy with every passing problem. And all because a team of computer doctors devised a solution to a problem, not realising that their miracle cure would cause a myriad of other problems in its wake.
Thus, this morning I had a meeting at the unforgiveable hour of 9am in Municipal Buildings. Unforgiveable not because I had to leave home early but because that time means travelling through all the school traffic and parking problems on the estate. The schools supposedly have green travel plans but all I can say is that they don't seem to have much impact on the number of cars taking children to school each morning.
The computer doctors listened to us, nodded sagely and promised to cure the problems.
So what happens? 9 hours later an email from Suzanne to say that the problems have got worse and cost her an enormous amount of time this afternoon. The patient is not cured and there is no sign of a cure on the horizon. The rest of our group are protecting our computers jealously, lest they too succumb to the dreaded "upgrade".
This evening I chaired the shortest ever meeting of the Western Area Partnership Board. The main business of the evening was an update on the work starting in the area on helping people to cope with financial problems in the recession. It's starting later in the year than we'd hoped but sounds even more comprehensive than we'd first thought so a bit of swings and roundabouts. I just hope that people find it helpful. If you live in Eaglescliffe, Yarm, Long Newton, Elton, Kirklevington or Aislaby watch out for the flyer coming through your letter box. If nothing else it has some useful phone numbers on it and a helpful checklist to look at your monthly income and outgoings.

Jobsworth bureaucracy

Why do the good things all come at once? I have the chance next month to go to Brussels and see the European Parliament, a chance to really understand some of the differences between it and our national parliament as well as an opportunity to see something of how it works. All fine and dandy - arrangements made to join a party from the North East travelling by train. But it finishes on a Thursday night and I want to be in London the night after. Can I leave the party early and stay in London? No! That would invalidate the group rail ticket. Now I can understand if someone wanted to join the train part way, but someone not taking up a seat? How can that possibly cause a problem? So rather than run the risk of having the party organiser fined I must go home to Eaglescliffe on Thursday evening and then travel back to London on Friday afternoon.
And to add insult to injury the North East isn't going to get a high speed rail link! Though I must confess that when the train is as crowded as it was going to Bournemouth last week I'd rather have some extra luggage space and extra seats than a few minutes shaved off the journey. Having to balance a suitcase on my knee to let the refreshment trolley get down the aisle was no joke.

Whoops!

Guess who forgot about the Mayor's sponsored walk today along the Teesdale way from the Borough boundary past Aislaby and Eaglescliffe. I met the party walking up Carnoustie Drive this afternoon. That part of the walk has to leave the banks of the Tees as the Golf Course and Teesside High School are in the way. A stroll through a housing estate and then along Yarm Rd rather takes the edge off the rest of the walk along some of the loveliest parts of the river.
I've now promised to sponsor the Mayor retrospectively. This year the Mayor's Benevolent fund is directed towards organisations supporting older people and encouraging young people to enjoy the outdoor life.

Spending money, maybe

A pleasantly empty diary this morning allowed me to catch up on some of the things which haven't been done recently. Cancelled meetings do give these opportunities, though they also bring problems of course.
This afternoon I had the pre-meeting briefing session with transport engineers to discuss the issues for next week's Area Transport Strategy meeting. I'd hoped that we'd have some local evidence to put with the national evidence we had last time about the effectiveness of Speed Indicator Devices (SIDs) but such evidence as there is doesn't really help - some slight reduction in speed sometimes in some places but not enough evidence to really be sure whether mobile or fixed are better or indeed whether either has any long term effect. There seems to be some evidence from such areas as Ingleby Barwick that a little like fixed speed cameras or some speed bumps, they cause people to brake as they reach them but not to alter their normal speed or driving style. However, the evidence is mostly anecdotal.
Other projects which we'd decided to look into spending money on are coming out either far too expensive or to be covered by other budgets in due course or the consultation hasn't been completed. At present Yarm, Eaglescliffe and the surrounding villages are very safe according to the statistics with no accident blackspots and no residents coming along to ward or town councillors with serious concerns to take to the Transport Strategy Stakeholder meeting.
Because of the way the funding is arranged we can't carry it over into next financial year so what isn't allocated at next week's meeting will go back into the central pot to help out with general works. It's going to be an interesting discussion - what to spend money on when there are no pressing requests from residents and no statistics suggesting that some safety work should be done.
On the way home I did manage to spend money - my own this time - on some much needed grocery shopping!

Back to normal

The rest of the conference passed in a whirl of activity, too long to note here. Very limited access to the internet while away meant that posting more blog entries didn't happen.
Suffice to say now that there were excellent debates and resolutions on MPs' expenses, torture, consumer rights, tidal power, cutting our carbon emissions, preserving our natural heritage, housing, the war in Afghanistan and much more.

Sadly, the amendment which had been submitted and worked on by a number of members the length and breadth of the country on contracts for waste treatment plants was rejected because people just didn't grasp the complex argument for it.

Suzanne Fletcher took the opportunity to remind conference of the appalling situation in housing revenue where rents from council houses in some boroughs like Stockton are used to subsidise housing in other boroughs. Over the past 9 years she had found out that Stockton tenants paid £88m out to other boroughs, money which otherwise could have been used to improve houses here in Stockton.

The membership took a number of opportunities to remind the leadership team just who makes policy in this party and it seemed as though the message had finally got through. Conference votes on policy and the Federal Policy Committee decides which things should be highlighted in the manifesto. We are the Liberal DEMOCRAT party.

The key messages we all seemed to agree on during the week were:

In the wake of the recession, the world has changed significantly and many of the old assumptions no longer apply. Given the state of public finances it would be dishonest for any party to go into the election with a long shopping list of pledges and not say how they can be afforded.The next government will have to make hard choices about spending. Fresh Start sets out a framework for how the Liberal Democrats would go about making those choices to deliver three key priorities:
Create a sustainable economy: Putting people back to work through investment in green economic growth; breaking up banks so that the risks they take never again jeopardise the whole economy.
Build a fair society: The best start for every child – so that young people do not pay the price for mistakes made today, through smaller class sizes, extra help for children struggling at school, cutting student debt, training and jobs for young people.
Clean up Politics: Cleaning up Westminster – to stop Labour and Tories going back to business as usual after the expenses scandal; Fair votes – so that every vote counts and safe seats are a thing of the past.
And we will cut taxes for people on middle and low incomes – so that no one pays a penny on income tax on the first £10K they earn – paid for from green taxes and closing the loopholes for the very rich.

Mosquitoes should be banned

And not just the winged variety.
In this afternoon's excellent debate on civil liberties Liberal Youth had submitted an amendment calling for the banning of mosquito devices. For those readers not familiar with them these are small devices fitted to the outside of buildings which emit a high pitched noise, extremely uncomfortable for young people whose sensitivity to that pitch has not yet been degraded by age. Typically, people over about 25 aren't affected. They are marketed as effective tools in dispersing gangs of youths, but of course they affect young people gathering together with no ulterior motives. Babies and young children who happen to be in the vicinity are also affected. There have been calls to ban them from no less than the Children's commissioner, Sir Albert Aynsley-Green.
Today Liberal Youth successfully argued the case for a ban being Lib Dem policy. Well done I say.

More from Bournemouth

This morning there were three consultative sessions – sessions run at conference to consult on possible direction for future policy development. I believe we’re the only major party which does that openly with all members able to take part. I went to the session on Quality of Life, a brave attempt to tease out those things which make a real difference to our quality of life and to see if they can be expressed in a way which will help all of our policies to enhance it. There was a lot of discussion, very passionately for and against government interventions in some things, and we could have spent at least as long again on it I’m sure. I look forward to seeing the second stage consultation next spring.

A session on participatory budgeting filled the lunch break, but there were some nice sandwiches, vegetable sticks and fruit to eat. Participatory budget setting is a relatively new idea which enables communities to decide priorities for funding in their area. It can be done with fairly small budgets right up to hundreds of thousands of pounds. A quote from a Brazilian man struck me: when talking about the difference between this and consultation he said “If it feels like we’ve made the decision it’s PB. If it feels like they’ve made the decision it’s consultation”. I certainly want to explore the possibilities in Stockton. It goes much further than anything we already do. What’s more, the speaker from the PB Unit talked about how it empowers LSPs because in order to make the money go further there needs to be partnership working and levering in of extra funds.

The major part of the afternoon agenda was on a policy paper on women’s issues. It’s an excellent paper on the whole, but some of the wording of the motion struck me as a bit sloppy. It produced an excellent debate and although I didn’t agree with all of the wording I could vote for the motion as a whole, confident that if we get to the position of being able to enact it into law the wording will be sorted out and in the meantime the drafters of the policy are working with some of the important bodies which need to be influenced in order to start the process of change voluntarily. That’s the value of bringing something to the forefront as a proposal for policy – outside bodies sit up and take notice.

And then on to a discussion on campaigning on the environment. Fiona Hall MEP spoke very well about how many jobs are up for grabs in the renewables and energy efficiency industries and the need to grab some of them for the UK. But she and Simon Hughes both made the point that unless we as councillors and individuals start to boost the market for the goods by granting the necessary planning permissions and by using the goods ourselves where possible and leading the way in the community the market won’t be there and the jobs won’t be created. Food for thought.

Conference rally was good in places – but I’m going to write a formal complaint about Sarah Teather’s “jokes” about individuals especially Mark Oaten. I just thought it was completely out of order.

Later tonight I’d a phone call to say that everyone was here and meeting up to discuss the amendment so at 10pm I was walking down the road to meet up with people I didn’t know. Only at conference!!

Off to conference

Everything packed up and ready to go, a quick visit to my mother and then off to the station. With a long train journey ahead I’d packed lunch and plenty of documents to read. Two changes of train ensured that we could have a little walk occasionally. We were fortunate and had seats all the way but there were plenty of people getting on the train at around 5pm who didn’t, some of whom complained bitterly about paying good money and not getting a seat. One woman said she’d paid £107. We really do need much more investment in our railways to make the journeys both affordable and comfortable. Cars don’t have standing room only, and until trains & buses are as comfortable they’re not going to compete on an even footing.

The evening was pleasantly warm when we arrived in Bournemouth so Suzanne and I took a walk along the promenade and through part of the town to shake off the lingering stiffness from the journey. There’s something very attractive about the pier and the sea at night. Away from the sea Bournemouth by night reminded me a bit of Yarm by night – a lot of mainly young people enjoying drinking, music and loud chatter.

Adopt a Phone Box

That was the invitation received by Egglescliffe & Eaglescliffe council earlier this month - pay £1 and take over the red phone box on the village green at Egglescliffe. Apparently just 19 calls were made from it in the whole of last year and BT have decided it no longer justifies having a phone maintained in it. However, it's an old red phone box and it's in a conservation area so the council made enquiries about what was involved in adoption. Not a lot it seems. Loathe to see this little bit of our history disappear the council resolved tonight to take it on. When the necessary paperwork has been completed the phone box will be looked after by the local council, along with the village green which it stands guard over.
A little bit of history preserved for another generation.

Fairtrade Stockton

It's official - Stockton is still a Fairtrade Borough! After a great deal of work by the people on the Fairtrade Partnership all the evidence was collected, all the photos and press cuttings correlated and sent off. There followed weeks of waiting until out submission was evaluated. Had we done enough? Were we still flying the flag high enough for Fairtrade in the Borough?
The answer is a resounding yes. We have done enough to earn that accolade for another 2 years. We are now looking forward to getting our new Fairtrade Borough logo and using it on our publicity.
If you want to know more just click on the picture and browse.
A huge thank you is due to all the people in the borough who've bought and sold Fairtrade goods over the last couple of years, to those who've encouraged people to try something from the vast range (from avocado to zaytoun olive oil) and to those who've turned out to support events. The producers across the world do appreciate your efforts and they benefit from them.

Man's inhumanity to woman

I spent most of this evening on the phone with a very distressed person who worked extremely hard, not just in her employer's time but in her own as well, on a project only to find now that its success is being recognised her manager has removed her from it and is doing his very best to claim it as a success for the organisation with no acknowledgement of her contribution. I could do nothing practical to help and could only offer sympathy.
Not on the same level as rape and torture in Darfur but very upsetting all the same.
Perhaps tomorrow I'll have something more cheerful to report.

Communities Together

That is the name of the project for which Stockton has been awarded several thousand pounds from a quango in order to try to involve more people in the Area Partnerships. At a meeting today I heard people getting very enthusiastic about the idea of encouraging more people to be involved by taking them round the area, showing them what's happened when money has been spent and how local people have influenced the spending and then asking them what they'd like to see in their area. All very laudable, but with budgets being cut left right and centre at present I'm not sure it's the best possible use of taxpayers' money. But who am I to question a government quango? Only an elected representative of a few thousand people, that's all.
The sad thing is that I don't think a change of party in charge at Westminster will deliver any better local democracy until we get proportional representation and a significant Lib Dem presence in government. Neither Conservatives nor Labour believe that local politicians can be trusted, so we will go on having quangos with "directors" getting expenses for doing jobs that councillors and council officers should be doing. Such is Britain at the moment.
A recent poll has shown that most people would support the idea of having a referendum on voting reform. What are Labour and the Tories afraid of? Could it be the people?

Roseworth Lodge Open Day

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Following substantial refurbishment Roseworth Lodge celebrated with an open afternoon. The staff had worked flat out to make sure that everyone and everything looked their best, there were some wonderful items to be auctioned, a raffle and the Mayor and Mayoress of Stockton were there to make the day for many of the residents. The only disappointment was that no social workers turned up to see the unit which offers stepdown/step up beds for residents of this borough, clients as the current jargon has it, who need that extra support from time to time. Although they do carry out the necessary visits to people who are in temporary residence to see how they're getting on, I thought they might have taken the opportunity to see the home in a different light with the community spirit which makes it such a welcoming place to people who are feeling vulnerable and poorly.
Back at the ranch, so's to speak, there were plenty of emails to sort through including the information that the week after next (21st Sept) work will start to put traffic lights at the entrance to Preston Park. Short term that will cause some problems but long term it should make it easier to control the traffic for big events.
There were other things too, including plans for a consultation on whether Stockton council should have an elected mayor, but that's too big an issue to tack on the end of a blog and needs a section on its own when I've digested all the documents.

Holding the Cabinet to account & Standing up for Justice

Not the Downing St cabinet, but the Stockton Council cabinet. The meeting of full council is one time when it's possible to question cabinet members in public about anything that falls into their remit. Tonight's meeting had a marathon lot of questions down for responses. Of course the question is submitted in advance and the cabinet member can ask officers of the council to prepare answers but then the questioner can ask a supplementary question and that is unscripted. Tonight Alan asked again about facilities for young people in the borough and especially why we don't have anywhere for our youngsters to go and enjoy skateboarding and off road cycling in a controlled safe environment. He got the usual anwers about us having lots of other things but it doesn't get away from the fact that our cabinet has not put the resources into getting that sort of facility when other neighbouring boroughs have.
John's questions about the disruption to bus services during SIRF produced a woefully inadequate answer from the cabinet member, claiming that the delays to bus services were only 5 minutes when we have evidence from one of our own members of an hour wait for a bus that should have been running every 10 minutes as well as complaints from others. Then he claimed that some relevant minutes hadn't been shown to him when they're sent to all members on the same e-mail. I do wonder, yet again, about the quality of some of our cabinet members.
I'm sure that Suzanne will have something to say on her blog about the missing millions paid into other councils from our council tenants. Suffice to say here that the answer to her question wasn't surprising but was appalling.
Perhaps the snappiest quote of the meeting came from a Thornaby Independent councillor protesting about a local PPC trying to claim credit for work done by council officers and councillors. I didn't see the alleged piece in the local paper so I can't comment on the veracity or otherwise of the statements made in the council chamber tonight but his question did bring at least a smile to most faces and applause from some: "Is the ability to distort the truth a product of legal training or being a Conservative?".
On a more serious note the meeting ended with a motion deploring the continued deportation of people back to the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deputy leader of the labour group moved the motion with a very good speech on why people shouldn't be made to go back there when they're not safe. Suzanne Fletcher spoke movingly of the young man who'd stayed with them for a time before being deported and of the dangers and privations he faced and is still facing. I spoke of Stockton's history of people who stand up and are counted on the side of right and Justice and of how proud I am that Stockton is the home of Justice First, working for justice for people trying desperately to be granted a safe place to live. I'd thought of mentioning the disgraceful response Fiona Hall MEP had from the Minister concerned when she'd raised the issue of safety for those going back but decided against introducing any possibility of being accused of party politicising the subject matter. Those who need to know do know the work that Fiona did at that time.
The motion was carried unanimously of course, because no-one would vote against such an emotive motion, but I hope that many councillors will do more than just go home after it. I'd hate to think it was just lip service.
On the way home I found out that there's to be a fund-raising dinner to support this work so if you live in the Teesside area and you can afford to pay for a ticket you could keep Nov 7th free and watch this space for more details.

More questions and still no answers

I went with John and Alan to meet the owners of Witham House this morning in an effort to find out what their plans are and how long the people of Eaglescliffe will have to wait for a replacement housing scheme. The answer seems to be How long is a piece of string? The housing market isn't strong enough, building costs are high, we need to make some money in order to replenish the coffers having made big investments in housing elsewhere in the borough, etc etc. What it comes down to is that the admittedly not up to modern standard housing which was available isn't any longer there and there seems to be no prospect of its replacement coming any time soon. The deal which was struck between Erimus housing and Stockton council has turned out to be a pretty poor deal for Eaglescliffe even if it has been of great benefit elsewhere in the borough.
I needed a bit of good news and it came later in the day as our daughter told us they've moved a step nearer to selling their house and finding a better one. Hooray. One bit of the housing market that's recovering anyway.

I spent some time today studying the papers for Wednesday's council meeting and drawing together comments and questions on all sorts of issues. There's so much happening at the moment and it's not always easy to keep track of the things that really matter to our residents. For instance, we have the issue of whether Stockton should have an elected mayor or have a Council Leader chosen from amongst the councillors. We have a massive programme to rebuild or refurbish the secondary schools of the borough except for Egglescliffe, Conyers and All Saints. How to spend the money wisely for the future education of the children who're only just learning to walk? What do we do with the schools which aren't included in this funding bonanza? Egglescliffe school building is hanging on by the skin of its teeth and really should be replaced but where and how? Ingleby Barwick needs more places near at hand for its children but where and how will it be paid for?
Council owned housing is about to become a thing of the past thanks to Government policy on funding but who should take it over and how can we be sure that our tenants will be happy with their new landlords?
Young people in our ward and other parts of the borough ask constantly for better facilities for them to spend their leisure time so how do we get them? Why hasn't the present or previous administration in Stockton done more for them?
So many questions and so few answers. Maybe we'll get a bit nearer with some of them on Wednesday.

Out around the ward meeting residents yesterday it was interesting to hear their concerns but also their compliments. The Parliamentary expenses scandal has really damaged politics and democracy in this country, with many people unable or unwilling to distinguish between the different levels of government. It's helpful to be able to meet people face to face and explain what local councillors do as opposed to MPs. When people can talk and ask questions understanding grows. It's a pity that some of the players on the world stage don't remember that at times.
Last night was spent in a completely different task. My sister had returned from a trip to Ireland with lots more information for the family history we're compiling. A couple of hours with the computer and bits of paper and we think we're up to date. Of course, that's only till we meet up with someone else or one of the family remembers something else!

Yesterday was an exhausting but exciting day. I started off wearing my school governor hat, taking part in a professional development day at a local primary school where I'm a governor. We take it for granted that teachers take part in these days on a regular basis but on this occasion the whole adult part of the school community had been invited to take part. So round tables in the school hall were teachers, lunchtime supervisers, governors, teaching assistants, admin staff and the caretaker. We discussed what we expect from everyone in the school, what makes the school the special place it is, what could make it better and our relationships with the wider community.
High on everyone's list of hopes for the children is that they leave the school with confidence in themselves and a hunger for learning, able to achieve their full potential as people not just as exam fodder. I was sorry to have to leave after lunch to go to another meeting. Most people were carrying on in the afternoon and more governors were arriving for that session. I left feeling bouyant and excited about what would be happening in the school in the coming months and years.
The meeting I left to go to was very different - a meeting of the cumbersomely titled "Multi Agency Looked After Partnership", known as the MALAP for short! It's a gathering of representatives of all the bodies and agencies which have any responsibility for or do any work with the children who are in the care of the local authority. Until I became a councillor I'd no idea that I'd be taking on the role of parent to a number of children whom I'd probably never meet. But that's exactly what happens when a child comes into the care of the authority. Whether they're in a children's home or in foster care the council is their "corporate parent". We have a responsibility to ensure that they have a safe home, an education, leisure opportunities and so on - all the things we'd expect to give our own children. Over recent months some representatives of the young people in our care have been meeting with some council staff to discuss what they would like the council to provide for them and what their own responsibilities should be. Yesterday we were shown the results.
One of the young people concerned came along to the meeting and delivered a presentation to us, explaining what was important to the young folk she represented. She seemed quietly confident in herself, in her relationship with the council officer accompanying her and in her role as a representative of those less able to express themselves. As someone who's been in care for a few years she had some valuable messages for us.
The wishes of the young people were not in any way excessive. They wanted a commitment from the council that they'd have as normal a life as possible for someone who's not able to live with their natural family for whatever reason. The next step is a pledge to be drawn up to encompass those needs and for the council to commit to. Then there'll be a regular monitoring of how well we keep our promise and what we do if we fail on any point in it.
So two meetings, two different groups, but both on the same track of doing their best for the young people depending on us. Both looking for definite actions, not just words. The name of the group of young people doing all ths work - Let's Take Action - said it all.

Well, the die is cast - the draft recommendations on Carbon Management are more or less agreed now with just a few details to be sorted out at the next committee meeting. If they can be implemented and enforced they should make a significant contribution to the council's carbon footprint reduction work and, perhaps more importantly build up the council's ability to act as community leader. By sharing our experience openly and fully with businesses and other organisations we can help and encourage people to take the steps needed with the confidence that they're not going to make a costly mistake. By using our buildings as educational tools we can help the wider community to understand the implications of their actions (or lack of them) on energy efficiency, micro-generation and so on. Now all we have to do is write the report, word the recommendations properly and present to cabinet for their approval. Then the real work begins!

Later in the afternoon another die was cast when Cabinet agreed to the proposal to carry out a feasibility study on a further 3 options for secondary schooling in this part of the borough. For reasons best known to the mandarins in Whitehall the only schools in the borough which are not to be included in the funding for major refurbishment or rebuild under Building Schools for the Future (BSF) are Egglescliffe, Conyers and All Saints at Ingleby Barwick. Too many children are needing to travel out of Ingleby for schools around the borough but primarily at Egglescliffe or Conyers and it would be wonderful if IB could have another secondary school or a bigger extension of All Saints. However, land availability is a problem so the IBIS councillors have come up with the suggestion of relocating Egglescliffe comprehensive into Preston Park. The feasibility of that option will be investigated under this new decision.
I've made my views quite clear on the suggestion that a park, loved throughout the borough and beyond, should be partially taken over by a school and it's gratifying to see from the reaction of residents that Im not alone in that view. It will be very interesting to see the result of the study!

This morning I went to the funeral of Jim Cooke, Freeman of the Borough and Honorary Alderman. I didn't know him personally, though I think I met him when I was a child. He and my father were active in the Boilermakers union and I sometimes went with my father to collect or drop off papers at other officials' houses. Jim Cooke had been a councillor in Stockton for many years, serving as mayor for a year and leading the council for several years. It was appropriate therefore that his funeral was something of a civic occasion. Councillors and council officers were led by the Mayor and Mayoress at a simple service in the Parish Church in Stockton High Street. I hope the family found some degree of comfort in the presence of councillors, council officers and ex-councillors.