Press and publicity

On Thursday morning I was interviewed by a reporter from Radio Cleveland about the election and the future for Stockton. She was putting together a piece with interviews of all three main party leaders. I managed to catch it on Friday morning before 7.30. If that was the only time it was broadcast it's a pity because many people wouldn't hear it and she'd done a good job.
Friday morning's paper showed that a Conservative shadow minister had been at Egglescliffe Comprehensive and the report indicated that it was a political visit - The north isn't a Labour area according to him! Well, true - Newcastle & Durham Councils are Lib Dem, Redcar & Cleveland is a Lib Dem - Tory coalition, but it seemed odd to have such a one-sided political visit in election time to a school with voters amongst its 6th form and staff. Questions to be asked there when normal service resumes on Monday.
Friday evening's paper brought a story of a local woman protesting about the parking of dangerous chemical tankers on land behind her house. Alan and I drove round there this afternoon to have a look and found that the haulage company seems to have extended its storage yard and is now relying on the houses and garden fences to provide part of the boundary. More questions to be asked on Monday, this time of the planning department to see whether permission is needed.

A Week to Go

Well, postal votes have hit the mats and lots of people have already sent them in. Canvassing continues apace and people do seem very positive. Next Friday morning's count will tell the final tale. So many things could change in Stockton if only people will give us a chance.
Meanwhile the last planning committee of the council year took place yesterday. The plans for the temporary cafe in Stockton High Street were passed despite serious misgivings on the part of some. A cafe that relies on the Shambles being open to give access to the public toilet seems to me and some of the other members a wrong approach. To say that it's temporary and will move if need be for the International Riverside Festival seemed to fly in the face of business planning - who moves away at the busiest time for them? However, a majority of the committee agreed to approve the application so it went through. Leaves a bit of a sour taste at the end of the municipal year.
The Parish Council had its final meeting of the year tonight, but the two members who decided not to stand again couldn't be there so no chance to say a final farewell to them. Sue's been on the council since before me, and Pete for 10 years. In their different ways they'll be missed. In two weeks there'll be a new chairman, new vice-chairman and one new member. Times they are a-changing.

Tory Innocence?

Today a leaflet dropped through the letterbox from the local Conservative candidates. Only one actually lives in the ward and his phone number was obliterated by Tippex or some such whitener! So we know how much he wants to be contacted don't we. It could be of course because he's a university student so probably not in the area at the moment.
I couldn't believe that a deliverer had walked past our window with its Lib Dem poster in it to deliver their leaflet, nor that she hadn't been given a list of the sitting councillors and candidates to avoid their addresses. But then I read the first sentence and nearly died laughing - "We know you've been well served by your present councillors". Doesn't anyone tell these people about how to write a leaflet? Someone at church thought that meant the Tories were supporting us, and thought it rather nice of them. I hadn't the heart to disabuse him.
Otherwise it's full marks to them for getting the name of their PPC into more homes than it would have gone otherwise. The general election campaign has started already in Stockton South.

Children, children, more children!

Today seemed to be all about children. Stockton's "Virtual School" for Looked After Children was first on the agenda. This is an idea that's been growing in the council for almost a year now, that we need an organisational tool to bring all the services together to make sure that children in the care of the council get the best deal we can give them. They're not with their birth parents for all sorts of reasons, mostly round the parents' inability to give them a stable caring upbringing, and the council has the responsibility of being "corporate parents" to them. Now we have one person with an overview of what should be happening, working with schools, social workers, councillors, and everyone else to make sure it does happen. We heard some very honest and moving comments from young people who are in our care system or have just left it about what they would have liked to see in their lives. We had really useful workshops coming up with suggestions about practical matters, and I came away determined that whatever the outcome of the election I'm going to know more about what's happening to these children and work to get better results for them than we've got at present.
After that there was just time to get home and have a meal before going out to Egglescliffe Parish Annual Meeting. This is the biggest thing that sets first tier councils apart from Borough and County councils - the Parish has to have a meeting at which it reports to the electorate and answers questions from them. There was a really good turnout, largely because people wanted to talk about the potential new development at AllensWest, and people asked lots of questions and made lots of comments. What was really good was that 3 women, all mothers of young children in the area, came forward afterwards with ideas for ways to improve the play facilities in the parish. They're very enthusiastic and talked of setting up a "Friends of Amberley Way Play Area". I hope they carry on and have promised to keep in touch and to find out about insurance restrictions and so on. One of them knew that Tesco have sponsored a play area in another town and is going to find out how the people there got that funding.
So high hopes on two fronts, and a very positive day.

Some Good News

At last a bit of good news on the planning front. I picked up my council post on Monday evening and found a letter telling me that the application for Quad biking and motor cycle sport at Riverside Lodge had been refused. It was one of those applications where the vast majority of local residents are absolutely opposed and have been complaining about the noise for the past 3 or 4 years at least, but the applicant was determined that he could do enough to get planning permission. I just wasn't sure whether he could or not, and I wasn't looking forward to it coming to planning committee with a recommendation for approval. The committee would have needed the wisdom of Solomon I think, to make the right decision. As it is, the officers have said that the traffic hazard and the noise will be unacceptable and that there's a possible impact on wildlife which hadn't been addressed. I'm sure the applicant will go to appeal but I hope now that the inspector will agree with the council and the residents.
The not good news was that my friend's relative had died on Sunday in hospital. Police are appealing for any witnesses to the accident on Durham Lane on Saturday morning to come forward. (PC Craig Portas on 01642 301552)
We're at the stage in the council year when some committees complete their work and can't start anything else till after the election, while others like planning have to keep going to the bitter end. Yesterday another of the former completed its year.
It was also our last ward surgery of the municipal year, and the last one ever for Mike. We didn't have time to get maudlin though - a resident came along in response to articles about the area to suggest some ways in which we might brighten up Eaglescliffe and make it pleasanter for people travelling along Yarm Road. They were good interesting suggestions and I've noted them for consulting on after the election.
There was just time for a little bit of canvassing before going to our group meeting - again the last one before the election. We went the length of Elmwood Road where I'd been told there was a great deal of worry about road safety, but not one person raised the issue with us on the doorsteps. We did, however, get issues raised about the park which will be followed up. Yet again we have young people congregating, making it seem intimidating for older people, leaving the debris of their illicit drinking behind, but they have nowhere to go that doesn't cause these problems. A real priority for after the election.

I finally managed to reply to all the residents who kindly completed surveys for us over recent weeks. Yet again leisure facilities, especially for young people, and recycling/green issues were prominent. I've also sent a long list of people to the Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator for him to contact with more information on joining. Somewhere for young people to hang around safely, being able to chat or kick a ball about without upsetting others, is a real priority but I just don't know where we're going to find a suitable space.

The latest editions of Focus for all the wards are now uploaded to the website and we're getting a number of enquiries via that route which shows that people are finding it a useful resource. I also succeeded in putting the Parish Council Newsletter up onto that site so that people can find it there. It was good to be able to escape the heat of the sun and do a little work indoors. Sunday was far too hot for April, though apparently not the hottest April on record.

On Saturday morning Durham Lane was closed off by the police for a time due to an accident. I'm always sorry to hear of accidents but didn't know any details until yesterday morning at church I discovered that the driver of the car involved was a relative of a friend. I pray that she pulls through.

The national news is full of the arguments surrounding the sale of two stories to the press after the release of the prisoners from Iran. I hope that the easy target of whether the defence secretary authorised it doesn't stop a proper investigation into why it was so easy for the Iranian forces to take prisoners in those circumstances. I should have expected better armed and protected personnel to be doing that job and if it turns out that we're still sending people into danger without proper training or equipment that's a much more important thing than who authorised the sale of the stories. It's bad enough that we allow 17 yr olds who are too young to vote to go into battle for us, but if they're not getting the best possible protection then heads should roll and fast.

Friday the 13th

The end of a very busy week approaches. Last weekend passed in a blur of hospital visiting, rearranging Easter Sunday activities and preparing to have our grand-daughter for her first visit without parents. She was a real hit, attending meetings with me and generally being a great distraction from the work around us. I managed to return her safely to her parents mid-week.
On Thursday I presented the report of the Children and Young People Select Committee on Bullying to the Cabinet. After almost no debate the recommendations were all agreed except one. Interestingly, it was the one which was strongly promoted by one of the Labour members of the committee. On this occasion, as on several others in this committee in the past, party politics was put aside in a genuine attempt to get the best result for the young people of the borough. The recommendation which caused the upset was one suggesting that the council doesn't buy a piece of software until the schools have all been consulted on whether they'd use it. The officers say they have no choice, the union reps said they were very dubious and the Cabinet followed the advice of the officers. It'll be interesting to see whether anything is made of the decision at Council on Wednesday.

Though I'm not normally superstitious about such things, today certainly wasn't an auspicious one! Hurrying to get some tasks done before a meeting I was first stuck in a traffic jam caused by the Gas main needing emergency work, then in one caused by a train at the station keeping the level crossing shut. Then discovered that my mother-in-law hadn't been able to go out on a planned trip because she wasn't well, then that I couldn't access the internet on the council laptop. I gave up and went out for a late meal at the local vegetarian restaurant with my husband!

Good Friday

The first day of the long Easter weekend. Yesterday was busy, trying to do all the bits that needed doing before Municipal Buildings closed for the weekend. I had a good meeting about the agenda for the Western Area Partnership meeting next month, and agreed a community engagement idea to develop with the relevant officers. Felt much more positive about the Partnership, partly as a result of discussions with people from other parts of the country on Tuesday and Wednesday on my course.
The Statement of Persons nominated was published officially and it was a relief to see that all of our candidates are in place and validly nominated. I was sad to see the list of nominations for Billingham Town Council and to see how few people other than Labour party borough council candidates had put themselves forward for the Town council. I can't see how some of those Labour people can hope to have the time to devote to the town council if they're on the Stockton Cabinet again. But several of the people who've worked so hard to establish the idea of the Town Council then didn't decide to stand for election to it. I can't understand it.
Egglescliffe Parish again has too few nominations so there won't be an election, and similarly Preston. In fact the only ones that are having elections are the ones where there's a real issue like Yarm, Ingleby, Thornaby and Billingham. I don't know whether people in Egglescliffe and Preston are satisfied with their councillors or just don't see any hope of getting better ones.
Sadly, this morning a family crisis arose and so I spent a large part of the day at the hospital, seeing yet again how wonderfully the staff cope despite long shifts and little thanks. For the first time in I don't know how many years I didn't make hot cross buns for this morning and didn't get soup made for lunch. Two more traditions bite the dust. Never mind. I also missed the ecumenical walk of witness this morning carrying the cross into Yarm, so I hope there was a good turnout. It's one of the very few days of the year when something overtly Christian happens in the area and it's the best possible day for it.

Deadline Day

Well, like it or not, the deadline passed at noon for nominations. Too late now to wonder if someone would have liked to stand for a parish council or even the borough. I was on a course in York, along with other councillors from all over the country, and several were frantically sorting out last minute hitches by phone, darting in and out of the seminar room.
I came home to a quiet phone for a change and just a little hiccup over our Focus deliveries. They'll be a bit later than we'd planned because we hadn't communicated properly around the team. A lesson to be learned there!

Election Fever

Only two days to go before the close of nominations for the elections. This morning I took in the nomination papers for Alan, John and I for the Parish Council. They were the easy ones to complete. John and Alan had sorted out signatures for the Borough Council nominations and they've gone to our agent. People from all 3 main parties are scurrying round trying to get nomination papers signed in the wards where they don't have a big membership base, and looking increasingly fraught. The electoral registration desks are a hive of activity but seemed very well organised.
I spent time trying to organise things before I go away tomorrow morning on a course - not a good time to do that. Colleagues were still getting papers signed in far flung wards, and then Alan and John went out to do some surveys in the ward. I must say I'm impressed by the return rate we're getting on them. People do seem to be pleased to be listened to. Many of the responses have issues which need taking up and replying to, so that's a pile of work for later in the week when I return.
In the midst of all this were frantic phone calls about a problem that had cropped up, rumours of things going wrong for other parties, and the effort to carry on doing the casework which residents bring to us. And there's still a month to go till the election!!

Palm Sunday

Sunday mornings are politics-free zones, with family and church taking precedence even this close to an election. That doesn't stop people talking to me about local issues when they see me, but I'm not going to do anything about them immediately. Palm Sunday service starts in the Parish Hall with the blessing of the palms, and continues with a procession into the church. It's not a very long way, but it is a rare act of witness in our busy lives.
A large chunk of the remainder of the day was spent on laying out Focus, ready for printing and delivery before Easter. I enjoy working on the layout, but it does take a long time. The regular buzz of e-mails arriving reminded me that the rest of the team were busy too, responding to complaints and enquiries from residents and commenting on planning applications in the ward.
When not working on Focus I had other IT problems to worry about. A virus on our PC meant I was working on a laptop, which isn't as comfortable for long periods. Something went funny on it and I couldn't handle one set of photos a colleague had sent me. Then it decided to crash every time I tried to do certain things. By the end of the evening I was tearing my hair.

Plans and More Plans

This morning was the official launch of the Friends of the Tees Heritage Park. The Friends hope to be able to work with everyone concerned to protect the green areas remaining on the banks of the Tees between Yarm and Stockton. Backed by CPRE, Borough Councillors for Eaglescliffe, Ingleby Barwick and Thornaby, Parish and Town councils on both sides of the river and with lots of people from the communities all along the banks it got off to a good start. The steering group had already done much work but now it's over to the community to take it up and help. I've joined, along with fellow councillors and lots of local residents. If you want to join e-mail me and I'll send you the contact details of the treasurer.
After a quick lunch I went over to Orchard Estate shopping parade to see the exhibition by JG Land of their plans for the Allen's West site. The agents seemed to be receptive to suggestions and comments but we've seen that before and then been let down. However, I took the opportunity to suggest (just in case they do get approval of their plans) that they might consider some affordable sheltered housing for elderly people now that we've lost so many rented units in Witham House. We shall see just how much they've listened to the concerns of local residents about traffic and housing of types we don't need.

A Proper Perspective

After a very long irritating evening battling with some software which wouldn't behave itself, and having to work on the laptop because the desk top PC had a virus problem I went through a long and frustrating meeting this morning where certain members just didn't listen and tried to shout down others trying to have a proper discussion of things. It was all put into perspective by the news later in the morning that two friends have got very different but very serious health problems. Suddenly computers and meetings seemed unimportant.

Democracy Wins (I think!)

What a day Tuesday turned out to be. First of all the House of Commons report, confirming lots of things we'd heard in evidence in our Select Committee. Then a so-called Tripartite meeting of me as Chairman of the Children & Young People Select Committee, two officers from the Children, Education and Social Care dept (known as CESC) who have responsibility for policies relating to bullying and finally the Cabinet Member for Children & Young People who has the political responsibility for the policies. We were all supposed to agree the recommendations proposed by the committee last Friday, or modify them in such a way that they would be agreed. The people in the council who think that smooth working and consensus is all-important believe this is the best way forward. So discussions take place between "leaders" and everyone else falls in line.
At that meeting I thought that the assurances I was given about how the pilot of the software was going to be done were adequate - not brilliant but adequate. Fast forward 5 hours to the committee meeting. A Perfect Storm erupted. No way were those assurances adequate for some members of the committee. A democratic decision was taken - all schools and teaching unions should be consulted before the software was purchased to ensure that all were going to be on board with the system. The Scrutiny Officer was instructed to draft another recommendation and circulate it.
Wednesday dawned foggy and damp. I had arranged to take my mother to hospital for an early morning appointment. I emerged to e-mails on the Blackberry from councillors saying they approved the draft recommendation and from the SO asking me to ring him as soon as possible. The CESC officers couldn't accept the recommendation - it wouldn't work, the committee was asking the impossible etc. etc! Phone calls, e-mails and a further tripartite meeting set up for the half hour before the council meeting that night, except this time it was only bi-partite because the Cabinet Member couldn't get there in time. The Corporate Director couldn't agree the recommendation and I wouldn't take it out because the committee had made the decision to have it in. I said the debate had to take place at Cabinet over whether to accept or not. Certain elements not happy - this isn't the smooth presentation of a previously agreed report which they want to see. I am happy - the decision will be made in the open with the Cabinet member having to justify why he proposes whatever he proposes. Whichever way it goes he has to live with his political judgement - the most strident demands for the recommendation were from members of his own party.
Now I've found that the Cabinet member won't be there - he'll have to brief his colleagues in advance. Fun and games. I'm waiting to see which of his colleagues he trusts to speak for him!

After that it was the annual non-discussion of the Council plan before adoption. We're presented with reams of plans and expected to adopt. Most members don't even read them and there's no proper debate or discussion.

Bullying

This morning the report by the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee on bullying was published. They've produced some very strong guidance on what should be included in school policies which will be very useful in Stockton and reinforces what I hope Stockton's Select committee on children and young people will confirm at its meeting this afternoon. I'm hoping to get some publicity for Stockton' s report so that young people and their parents know that we didn't ignore their concerns.

Traffic Chaos and Tragedy

The day started with a shocking story. Parking problems near a local primary school have been at boiling point recently, with residents of one narrow estate road fuming at the parents who park opposite drives and even across them sometimes. Residents had contacted police and councillors about the problems, but a small number of inconsiderate parents still persisted in causing a problem. This morning we heard that one elderly resident had collapsed on her drive during the morning school run. We were told that it followed an argument over parking, and later heard that the lady had died. A post mortem will reveal the cause in time, but meanwhile there's a grieving family and a shocked community. Parents at all the schools in the ward keep telling us that they take their children to school by car because it's safer for them, but I wonder if now they'll stop to consider the potential danger to frail and elderly residents of the streets near the schools.

The review of bullying in Stockton came a step nearer to completion when I had a meeting with the Cabinet member and the officers responsible for the strategies. We had a useful discussion of how the proposed software would be used and how it could be set up to take note of the concerns of committee members. I don't think that all of our concerns will be allayed but i hope that things have changed enough from what was said on Friday that we can now put in a robust but helpful report and start to really reduce the threat of bullying to children in our schools and ultimately outside of school.

At long last I had time to go and set up some software on Alan's computer so that we can all hold canvass data and check information. A bit of progress was made on the alternative website for the Mayor's blog while the election prevents it being on SBC website. Anyone wanting to see what's been happening in the past or check on links to the charities can still have a look. It's not as professional as the SBC site was, but we haven't got time for too much fiddling.

Then Alan and I took the opportunity provided by the sunshine to go and do some door to door surveys in Hunters' Green. We met some interesting people and it was good to know that they all received Focus regularly, thanks to our volunteer deliverers. It was also good to see how many of them have children who walk to school at least some days of the week, as it's not the nearest estate to the schools by any means.

The last meeting of the day was cancelled because so many of us couldn't be there for one reason or another, so a windfall time to do a bit of tidying and have a look at the manifesto for the election. A little silver lining to the cloud! Now that I've done the easy bits I need others to do the hard sections and then we can print it.

Elections Approaching

Another step on the way to election day came on Friday when I collected the paperwork for nomination to Egglescliffe Parish Council for Alan, John and me. Mike is valiantly seeing to the Borough Council paperwork and deserves a medal for it.

I spent part of the morning in a meeting about how we assess the performance of senior officers of the council. It's a very difficult subject - so many things that really matter to us are beyond their control like bus timetables and yet they have targets to meet! I hope we've set in motion a slightly more sensible system but it'll take time to see if it works. The officers do a great job and it seems hard at times to be looking for ways to challenge them to do even better, but that's what performance management involves.

Then it was time to sort through some papers and try to catch up on things I'd missed when not well earlier in the week before trying to sort out an IT problem for another councillor. The more I read the more I concluded that Ming Campbell was right - Gordon Brown has wasted a great opportunity in his budget. Then I read about how little of the Lyons Review seems likely to be implemented and I thought "How on earth do they expect Local government to work when they won't finance it and won't give us the freedom to listen to our electorate?" Except I wasn't quite as polite as that when I was muttering.

Time to produce a Focus leaflet and get it to deliverers before Easter! Much more satisfying than listening to Labour MPs telling us why we can't be trusted to do things.

The Bad and the Good

Tuesday brought stories of young people congregating again near Orchard Shops, drinking alcohol and being nuisances to residents and passers by. Alan is taking that up with the police. We had complaints about people trespassing on the school playing field near Allens West, breaking through the hedge and fence, even being dropped off by adults in cars to do so! Mike has taken that up with the school who've been asked in the past to put up a better fence. The residents of the houses nearby are mostly elderly and are understandably unhappy with the situation.
Wednesday was Western Area Partnership Board, when our young members updated everyone on the Fashion Starz project which had been a huge success. 18 girls from the local youth clubs had worked for 7 months on a project, finding out about the history of fashion, photography, catwalk style, dress design and lots of other things. The culmination was a fantastic event on 10th March at Preston Hall which finished with a catwalk show of the clothes they had designed and made. The outfits and photos and the story of the project is on display in the Museum at the moment and everyone should go along and see what they achieved.
We then discussed the possibility of an environmental project to improve the gateways into the Western Area with planting of bulbs or flowers. The meeting took place at the Youth Club so that we could meet some of the members and ask their opinions. Alice led that session and showed that many of the young people would be willing to get involved in such a project. Unfortunately, and very annoyingly, we weren't allowed to put out a press release via Stockton Council about their involvement because it was deemed to be publicising councillors too near the election!!! So the youngest voting members of an Area Partnership Board are deprived of a bit of positive publicity because some councillors are involved as well. What a topsy turvy view of democracy is held in our legal department.

And then in the middle of the day we had the budget - what a swindle. Headline announcements that sound as though everyone's going to be better off, with the small print showing that this is a "tax neutral" budget - in other words increases for some to benefit others. Nothing significant for the environment, so yet again Labour fiddles while the world warms. I despair at times.

175 years on

The celebration dinner for Durham University's 175th birthday was last night at the Queen's Campus in Stockton-on-Tees. Actually, as the site is on the South side of the River Tees, it's in Thornaby-on-Tees which is part of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. And if that's not complicated enough, the Queen's Campus is about 150 years younger than its parent university. So we celebrated the growth of the "baby" as well as the venerable age of the "parent".
It was my good fortune that the Mayor's Consort was unable to attend and I was invited in his place. I met Sir Kenneth Calman at his final event at this campus as vice-chancellor, Sir Fred Holliday (after whom the Holliday building is named), and heard of the vision which led to the foundation of Queen's and of the exciting vision for the future all while enjoying a superb meal.
The Mayor spoke of the good relationship that has developed over the last 15 years and of the things she hopes will develop in the future. I just hope that her successors continue the good work. If I can do anything to encourage it I certainly will. Unfortunately the weather forecast was spot on for the evening and the gale made the marquee seem a very dubious place to be, especially when a bulb from a chandelier crashed to the ground. Suzanne carried on with her usual determination and people listened and enjoyed what they heard, but Sir Kenneth decided that it would be safer to adjourn to the Rotunda for the rest of the speeches which were given without benefit of microphone and so were more difficult to hear from where I was standing.

No-one was injured and everyone seemed to have enjoyed the evening, even if I didn't win the signed Middlesbrough shirt!

St Patrick's Day

I always feel a bit special on 17th March, thanks to my Irish mother, and this morning was no exception. Especially when the door bell rang and it turned out to be lovely flowers from my daughter in Australia. Coupled with a beautiful card from our other daughter in the Midlands they made me feel like a very special Mum indeed.
A quick update of the party website this morning and then I could spend the rest of the day on family and personal matters before I have to get ready to accompany the Mayor to dinner tonight. But more of that after I've been.