Summer activities for youngsters

The other weekend I supported the launch of the Summer Activities programme in Ealing.  There are some exciting activities going on, which are detailed in a couple of brochures. We’ve split the brochure this year into ages 0-11 and 11-19.  The activities are run by the council and its partner organisations, and cater for all ages and interests – from storytelling for toddlers to tennis coaching for young people.

A range of free, nationally accredited courses is also available through the SummerUni programme, which will be offered to 11-19 year olds across the borough.  Courses include arts and fashion, photography, DJing, a cartoon workshop, Bollywood dance and off road driving, with participants receiving a certificate at the end.

I hope there’s something in there for everyone – click on the images above to download the appropriate brochure but be warned, they are quite big files  (>10MB).

Sun shines on Greenford Carnival

It was a glorious day at the Greenford Carnival on Saturday in Ravenor Park.  We only had one brief rain shower but otherwise it was fabulous. 

The Conservative’s had a stall there for the second year in a row and we were busy all day chatting to local residents.  Steve Pound, the local Labour MP wandered up to the stall and took one of our “People Like You Join the Conservatives” leaflets;  but he scurried off when I grabbed my camera. 

There were some excellent live shows and some interesting stalls and a good range of funfair rides – all in all, a great day out for the family.

Gordon’s hopeless

Did anybody hear Gordon Brown’s performance at Prime Minister’s Question Time today?  It was truly awful.  He tried to claim the Tories were basing their spending commitments on rising unemployment because we supported higher unemployment.  We all know that unemployment rates lag recovery in the economy so even if we have some green shoots (I’m sceptical about that), it will be some time before unemployment rates come down.

I was in a civil engineering consultants on Monday that had just laid off its entire structures team – some 70 people.  Virtually every office I visit complains about low workloads (despite the much vaunted fiscal stimulus) and have endures either pay freezes, cuts or redundancies.  Unemployment will continue to rise for sometime and Gordon Brown’s self delusion isn’t helping tackle the problem.

To make matters worse Gordon’s plans are falling to pieces around him.  Post Office privatisation apparently will be “jostled out” of parliamentary time.  ID cards have been scrapped (or have they?).  The comprehensive spending review has been put off.

I’ve said it before – but it really is time for this lot to go.  Bring on that general election!

Pound still failing to back Ealing’s Stroke Unit

An update on our local MP’s inaction on the stroke unit.  Steve Pound, Ealing North’s MP has still not signed the Early Day Motion (EDM) calling for the Ealing Hospital Stroke Unit to be kept open.  He also failed to defend the unit when there was a debate in the House of Commons.

I’ve investigated his willingness to sign EDMs – he’s signed over a 100 this term so he obviously doesn’t have an in principal objection to signing them.

It’s interesting to see that he’s found tiome to sign EDMs supporting

• Hugo Chavez (the Venezuelan leftie leader)
• Steve Coppell (former Reading FC manager)

He’s also concerned about health issues – well at least those of

• Chickens
• Seals
• Rabbits
• Sharks

But when it comes to the health of his constituents he remains ominously quiet.  I can only conclude that he supports the closure of Ealing ‘s excellent stroke unit.  I think that’s a shame.

Ealing Council wins prestigious award

Ealing Council has won the award for “Best Achieving Council of the Year”.  The premier award in the Municpal Journal’s annual awards was presented to us by news reader Huw Edwards, after we beat off competition from five other councils. 

• London Borough of Harrow
• Rushcliffe Borough Council
• Somerset County Council
• South Somerset District Council
• Teignbridge District Council

 

The judges said Ealing “displayed consistent and real improvement coupled with a constant ear to the public’s concerns”.  You might notice from the picture that I wasn’t there for the ceremony – I had another commitment – watching my daughter perform as Willy Wonka in her school’s production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Only parents  reading this will understand how you can turn down an invite to a swanky bash with free flowing drink to sit in a school hall with the anxious parents of 90 kids

By the way –she was brilliant!!

It’s a busy month

Apologies for the lack of blogging recently – my diary is mad this month and I’m struggling to keep up with everything.  Tuesday I was in Derby explaining to engineers how to design external concrete hardstandings -  then it was on to Leeds where I was debating the relative sustainable benefits of concrete v steel.  Today I was at a flooding conference in London.

This weekend there are numerous events going on – including Party in the Park  (Sunday)– hope I’ll see some of you there.  Hopefully, I’ll get a chance to post a few thoughts as well.

Flowery Steve’s Parliamentary Expenses online

I couldn’t resist having a quick trawl through Steve Pound’s expenses.  It’s hard to read some of the stuff online because a lot of the information has been “redacted” – parliamentary speak for covering it in black ink so that you can’t read it 

He’s not a serial abuser like some MPs but he’s certainly used the system’s weaknesses to his advantage.  There are regular claims for £200 or more unreceipted “petty cash”.  If I tried that at work I know what the response would be from the accountant – if I get a cup of coffee while away on business, I need a receipt to get reimbursed.

Steve obviously used to like to have a nice ambience in his office – in 2004/05 he claimed around £1400 for office flowers.  I’m not sure whether this meets the requirement of the Green Book which is the guide for claiming expenses – it states

It is your responsibility to satisfy yourself when you submit a claim, or authorise payments from your staffing allowance, that any expenditure claimed from the allowances has been wholly, exclusively and necessarily incurred for the purpose of performing your Parliamentary duties.

Are flowers a “necessarily incurred” expense – I don’t think so somehow!

£50 value for money rebate for all Ealing households

At Council on Tuesday night, Leader of the Council, Jason Stacey, announced our latest value for money initiative – a £50 rebate for all households in Ealing.  Value for Money is one of the Conservative Council’s 3 priorities – already we’ve delivered 3 below inflation Council tax increases (1.9%. 1.9% and then frozen this year).  Now, thanks to some good financial management and a bit of a windfall from a provision that’s been released, we are able to refund over £6 million back to residents.

We’ll get some criticism from some people who’ll say that we should spend it on this or that – but times are tough for many people and you’ve given us the money (through Council Tax, VAT, income tax etc), so it seems reasonable to let you have it back.  I was at a meeting tonight where Labour councillor Patricia Walker claimed it was a gimmick and said it wouldn’t even pay for her hairdresser’s appointment.  That may be true for Cllr Walker, but to many people £50 is a lot of money and a refund at Christmas will be very welcome.

We’re keen that this refund should help our local businesses and we will be making an announcement later in the month about how we will tie this into other initiatives (like scrapping local car parking charges again).  Stephen Pound (Ealing North’s  soon to be former MP), claims that this is some Conservative Central Office inspired initiative, because only Conservative Councils have done it – the fact is that it’s nothing to do with central office, and everything to do with good Conservative Councils managing resources effectively and working to support local businesses and residents.

The story made one of the lead stories on London news and you can watch it by clicking on the image above – did anyone notice my wife and daughter were caught in the TV clip?

Stroke Unit Update

We have a couple of motions at Council tomorrow night calling on the Stroke Unit at Ealing Hospital to be saved.  One is tabled by Labour and one by the Conservatives.  I note that Stephen Pound, Ealing North’s MP has still failed to sign the Early day Motion tabled by his colleague, Virendra Sharma.  It seems that councillors from both sides are uniting to save the stroke unit – it’s a shame the local Labour MP isn’t supporting the campaign.

Every Disabled Child Matters

I attended Mencap’s Every Disabled Child Matters fun day and conference at St Ann’s School, Hanwell on Saturday.  I formally opened the event, which was focussing on parent participation.  These events always make me come away thinking what an incredible bunch of parents we have and how lucky I am with my own personal family situation.  The demands on parents are immense and it staggers me how they find time on top of their 24/7 caring responsibilities to help organise events like this one and get involved in the parents forum and other organisations.  Gemma, one of the parents involved summed it up well saying that she was one of a bunch of “knackered parents” working to help other “knackered parents”.

I attended a couple of the workshops which were interesting and certainly gave me food for thought for issues that I need to raise with officers at the council over the next few weeks.