Debates at County Hall

Today I have been at the County Council all day where we have debated a whole range of motions.  Firstly, we had a debate on the future of BBC Oxford because I am sure many of you will have heard that our local radio and television is under threat due to £89M of cuts to be made from the national BBC Journalism budget.  I put forward an amendment to ensure that radio was included because this is such a vital local service.  I remember during the July 2007 floods many people found BBC Radio Oxford a lifeline as it brought up to date news whether you were stranded in your car or at home.  The Council will write to the Chairman of the BBC Trust and Director General of the BBC.  I must admit I have already emailed the BBC Trust with my concerns.

We debated National Carers week (13th - 19th June) and all councillors including myself were signing on the 'Carers Wall' which was hung in the foyer.  I think the NHS and social services would collapse without dedicated carers looking after their families and friends, and a special tribute was paid to young carers.   My message was 'A big thank you to you all!"

We also debated the adverse Care Quality Commission report which made press headlines about a private care home in Oxfordshire some weeks ago.  It was agreed unaminously to make sure proper monitoring takes place in future.

We then welcomed the Coalition Government's announcement to replace the Educational Maintenance Allowance and called on the council to urge take up of this support for our young people in school, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.  This was voted through despite Labour voting against.

It was then the turn of libraries where I put forward an amendment calling on the Cabinet to quantify the savings it is proposing to make from the library service.  This includes the staff reorganisation and reduction (using more volunteers), more efficient procurement of book stock and developing existing library buildings for mixed use and by charges for services provided by libraries.  Much as we all welcome the reprieve, we need to clarify the position for the future and ensure that we do not end up in a similar position again.  This was voted down by the ruling group.

And finally, we debated the restructure of the youth service and called for the Cabinet to ensure there are trained youth workers at the new 'hubs' which are being set up under the recent service redesign.  This was also voted down.  So I suppose the message here is that you win some and you lose some - but that's democracy at its best.  Shame there are no webcams or you could have watched it all for yourself!

Oh I nearly forgot - we rounded off the day with a seminar on adult safeguarding.  This is a very serious matter, but there is a dedicated service at the County Council for anyone who has concerns.