Priorities established on 22nd January 2008
1. Overspill parking from the RUH and rubbish from smokers not allowed in the RUH grounds.
2. Weston Park - speeding.
3. Lack of lighting in Chandlers Close.
The panel voted, by four votes to three, to dismiss the call-in, with Conservative Councillors from outside of
The call-in panel raised a number of issues around poor consultation and excessive increases to permit costs. Although all Councillors agreed that consultation on this decision had been inadequate, Conservative Councillors appeared more concerned with the state of the Council’s finances than the issue of engaging with those who will be affected.
A call-in on the decision to increase the cost of home care services for elderly residents has been submitted by the Liberal Democrat Group on
The signatories are calling on the Cabinet member to reconsider his decision to increase the charges for a range of services to elderly people, such as:
“When we heard that Cllr. Vic Pritchard the Conservative Cabinet Member was authorising these extortionate price increases for Home Care we were incensed. The price increases will have a huge impact on our residents who so desperately need these services. My fear is that many residents may cut down or even cancel the use of home care due to this hike in charges, and this could then lead to our residents struggling to live independently in their own homes.”
Councillor Cherry Beath (Combe Down) said:
“When decisions like this are made, you have to question the focus and value systems held by this current administration. This decision is, like many we have seen in recent months, all about money, and disregards the dire impacts it will have on a particularly vulnerable group of our residents, hitting them hard at their point of need, and at a time in their lives when they are least able to protect themselves.”
The undersigned Councillors wish to support the call-in of the decision E1795 ‘Charging Policy for Adult Care Community Services’ taken by the Cabinet member for Adult Social Services and Housing, Cllr Vic Pritchard (WL
· Home care rates are to rise from £8.04 to £14. This represents an increase of 74% which would seem to be an unfairly steep rate of increase the impact of which should have been given more weight in the decision making.
· Evidence is given that charges are being increased in line with those of neighbouring authorities. However no evidence is given that the difference in cost of living between authority areas has been taken into account.
· In section 6.2 pf the decision paper it is stated that only an estimated 90 service users will potentially be faced by domiciliary care charge increases. However in the same section it is stated that the Council expects an extra £100,000 of income from these 90 people. This equates £1111 per person on top of the charges they are already paying. This would seem to be disproportionate and unfair.
· Similarly, the charges for community transport are to rise by 50%, with an expected additional £133 income to the Council per user, per year. Again this seems disproportionate.
· Charges for community meals are to rise by 38% or £1.05 per meal. This will have a wider impact than some of the charges mentioned above given that 67,000 meals are served per year.
· No evidence is given that an assessment has been carried out of the impact on those residents who will be affected by several or all of these price increases. Many pensioners are on fixed incomes; with costs of food and fuel also rising, these charges increases could be the last straw.
· If costs go up residents may reduce their care. There is no evidence of a risk analysis of this possibility having been carried out.
Plans to improve the look of roundabouts in
After at least 15 years of going backwards and forwards, including 297 emails from one Councillor to try and get something done, the Planning Committee gave permission for the first sponsored roundabouts last summer. It was hoped that the scheme would help make the entrances to our city more attractive and would save council tax payers money.
However, despite Councils across the country allowing companies to sponsor roundabouts, the legal department at B&NES Council is not sure whether we can do it here. Now Liberal Democrat Group leader Cllr Paul Crossley has written to Cabinet members Charles Gerrish and Malcolm Hanney asking them to take action and clear away this most recent hurdle.
Cllr Nigel Roberts (Odd Down) who has been following this issue since permission was given in principle for two roundabouts in Odd Down, said:
“It's now 8 months since permission was in theory given for these roundabout sponsorship deals. It's not as if B&NES would be blazing a trail – this is a well-established practice in many areas. You would think that the Cabinet as it has been putting up charges in so many areas would want to pursue this idea.”
Councillor Marian McNeir (Lyncombe) said:
“When you travel around the country, you see many well planted and looked after sponsored roundabouts. They can often reflect something special about the local area, for example there is one near the
