Recruitment Evening at Wantage Fire Station

This evening I went along to see the recruitment evening which was planned at Wantage Fire Station and to give my support. Oxfordshire has an excellent Fire and Rescue service and there are plans across the county to try to recruit more retained firefighters at many of our local fire stations. See the press release here

There are currently 16 retained firefighters at Wantage and we would like to encourage more. There are 2 fire engines at the station and the plan is to be able to keep them both active. One of the requirements is that you have to live close to the station so that you can get there in an emergency within 5 minutes.

There were quite a few who turned up this evening to 'have a go' at the various tests that were on offer. Climbing the high ladder looked one of the biggest challenges - I think I would have failed that one! Anyone interested - do look at the weblink above and find out more. Everyone will remember how busy they all were during the July 2007 floods.

World's Largest Picnic in Grove

It was a real pleasure to help officially witness this event today which hopefully will make the Guinness Book of Records. Families had to register before 1pm to take part in the family picnic which was taking place on the playing field of Grove Church of England Primary School and was organised by Grove Free Evangelical Church. Myself as County Councillor and Frank Parnell, Grove Parish Chairman were there to see that the rules were being followed. Read more about it here

The weather was excellent and there was fun and games including bouncy castle, water balloons, football, rounders and finally a big tug o' war. There were 123 families registered altogether which will go forward along with all the other numbers counted at other events happening all over the country. In Oxfordshire, there was an another event organised at Cogges Museum in Witney. A good day was had by all.

Local bus timetables changing

Stagecoach, who run our local bus services into Oxford and Abingdon are to change their timetables in July and are currently consulting with the public about their proposals. To read in full and to download a timetable click here

The good news is that there will be more frequent journeys of the popular X30 fast service into Oxford. Also the first X30 bus into Oxford which can be used by those who are eligible for concessionary fares will now be 9.35am instead of 10.15am, which will give more time to make hospital and other appointments in Oxford. There are also some additonal evening services to improve journeys for passengers coming home. Oxfordshire County Council will be subsidising some of the evening services until December because of the poor patronage on some of these journeys - so a plea to residents to use it or lose it!

There will be a public meeting in Wantage next Tuesday evening 19th May in the Civic Hall from 7pm until 9pm where Stagecoach managers will be on hand to hear your views. You can also leave comments on the website link above.

May Fete in Grove

Here is a picture of the May Fete early this afternoon on the village green in Grove. Although there were a few drops of rain, the weather held and there was a good turnout throughout the afternoon until proceedings finished at about 4pm.

As usual, we were entertained by the excellent Wantage Silver Band.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Bank Holiday despite the doom and gloom in the newspapers.

Jousting on The Politics Show

Today, I was at Blenheim Palace to appear on The Politics Show on BBC South. The pictures on the left show me with the presenter Peter Henley. This all took place whilst a mediaeval jousting tournament was in full flight in the background. The idea was to have both knights and politicians "jousting" at the same time in the lead up to the local elections on 4th June!

The programme was covering issues surrounding the Oxfordshire county council elections (see previous entry regarding our Lib Dem manifesto). We covered the pedestrianisation of Oxford City Centre and educational achievement in the first half of the programme and then went on to the housing allocations in the forthcoming publication of the South East Plan.

As we all know, Grove and Wantage along with Bicester and Didcot, have all been named as locations for housing growth up to 2026. I tried to get across (although this can be challenging on live TV) the concerns of residents about large-scale housing in areas such as Grove where there is little existing infrastructure. Both Didcot and Bicester are much better locations as they have existing infrastructure like railway stations, close links to the A34/M40 and cultural/leisure facilities (e.g. cinema and arts centre at Didcot).

If you missed it, you can still watch the programme here. The Oxfordshire piece is about 30mins into the programme and is 20 mins long. There was a lot to pack into this short time, but it was an opportunity to try to push our message across.

May Day Manifesto and Grove Annual Parish Meeting

Today has been a very busy day for me. May Day revellers were launching themselves off Magdalen Bridge whilst I was busily preparing myself to launch the County Council's Liberal Democrat manifesto on Radio Oxford. I hope I got our main message across on the Drivetime programme this evening. We have been in Opposition on the County Council for the last four years, and it has not been an easy job for me as Leader. It has been difficult to have any influence on the administration with the Conservatives taking all the Scrutiny Chairs and basically scrutinising themselves instead of giving us the power to do that. This would be the obvious democratic solution. But with the County Council elections coming on on June 4th, it will be an opportunity to change things for the better.

Liberal Democrats have 7 clear messages in our manifesto:

• Helping our economy to thrive
• Giving our children the best start in life
• Improving our roads and pavements
• Investing in social care & home support
• Protecting our environment
• Making Oxfordshire a safer place
• Using your money wisely

Our key message is to invest in front line services – this is what people tell us they want. The County Council has been criticised for children’s poor achievement in schools, and we want to turn that around. We also need to support our young people, provide more youth workers and support the elderly and vulnerable. But when it came to budget setting this year, the administration chose to invest in things like appointing a new Head of Marketing and Public Affairs. Wasting money on glossy leaflets instead of spending money on residents’ everyday needs. We are ambitious to change that. This is what we have set out to achieve in our manifesto today.

Afterwards I attended our Annual Parish Council meeting in Grove, where I reported on my activities over the past year. David Buckle, our new Chief Executive at the Vale of White Horse District Council came to give us a presentation, which was very informative and I hope interesting to residents. He set our the savings we are achieving at the Vale with our shared management. He also gave us an update on the proposed development for Grove which now seems to be on hold due to the economic recession and the impact it is having on housebuilding.

There were not many questions from the public, and nothing controversial, so I suppose that means we must be doing something right. I always enjoy these occasions where it gives us a real opportunity to engage with our electorate. Interesting times ahead for all of us.

Wantage Town Mayor's Charity Ball

I attended this last Saturday evening, but where has the time gone since then? It has been a very busy week. However, I do wish to record that this was an excellent evening at Wantage Civic Hall. Music was by "Out of the Blue" and there was a wonderful performance of Riverdance which had us all tapping our feet! Proceeds from the event were donated to the Wantage Advice Centre, who are doing excellent work, especially during these times of recession helping people with debt problems. Oxfordshire MIND was the other nominated charity by the Mayor Patrick O'Leary. It was good to see old friends and new.

St. George's Day

Today I attended a Citizenship Ceremony at the Town Hall in Oxford which was conducted by the Oxfordshire County Council's Registration Service. Ceremonies take place each Thursday, but today was a special occasion because not only was it St. George's Day, but we welcomed the 5000th person to become a British citizen in Oxfordshire.

The decision to implement 20 mph speed limits in Oxford also took place today at County Hall, it will be interesting to see how this will be enforced. Oxford is the second city after Portsmouth to bring in such measures.

Finally, I ended up at Wantage and Grove Traffic Advisory Committee where we looked at many local issues which need attention. We had the discussion regarding the speed limit reduction at Mably Way, and it looks like we are going to have to wait for the countywide review of all speed limits. So not a quick decision on this one. Let us hope there will be no more accidents in the meantime.

Public Health and Community Safety

These are two of the issues I pursued at today's Cabinet at the County Council. The Public Health Report for Oxfordshire has been published and it was interesting to hear it reported on the news this evening as the 'demographic time bomb'. I sat on a scrutiny review commissioned by the Joint Health Scrutiny Committee where we spent many hours of the last 18 months looking at all aspects of this. We made many key recommendations which were reported to Cabinet in January. You can read the review here

Today, however, it was time to revisit the problems and highlight the concerns made about the challenges we face to deal with this in the future. Certainly, I was pleased to see the reference made to carers and how current health services and social services would collapse without them. It is time their role was officially recognised and they are given the support they need. Government is slow in ackowledging this. The full Public Health report is available to read online.

The County's Audit report was also looked at and it is well known that the 'excellent' 4 star rating was lost some time ago, especially due to their poor record on Children's Services. However, today I highlighted aspects of community safety which need to improve especially with regard to deaths and serious injuries on the roads. Funding for community safety schemes were taken out of the budget about 2 years ago and this would have helped to fund schemes like zebra crossings and road safety measures which may have helped to improve this. It will also be interesting to see how implementation of 20 mph speed limits in Oxford will go ahead, which is up for a delegated decision on Thursday. I know there is a debate about police enforcement on this.

Speeding is known to cause accidents, and certainly, Cllr. Jenny Hannaby and myself have been looking into the reduction of the speed limit on Mably Way as the doctor's surgery had contacted us after a resident was badly hurt on the crossing recently. This followed a fatality there just over a year ago. This will be discussed on Thursday at the Traffic Advisory Committee in Wantage. We arranged for a speed survey to be undertaken there, so it will be interesting to hear the results.

Wantage Town's Annual Meeting

Tonight I attended Wantage Town Council's Annual meeting. There were quite a few members of the public present which was good to see. We had a presentation about the Wantage Civic Hall from the Wantage and Grove District Arts Guild and heard about the possibilities of using it for the community and arts facilities. There were reports from the various town council committees and the district and county reports. I was pleased to present a report on behalf of the County Council especially focussing in on local matters. There were a number of questions from members of the public on various topics.

Last night I was at the local Neighbourhood Action Group in Wantage where we discussed policing matters. Street lighting and footpaths and pavements came up as they did tonight. Maintenance of our roads seems to be a very popular subject at the moment. Anyone who wishes to report a pothole can do so at the Oxfordshire County Council website online or telephone: 0845 3101111.

Smart Meters

Today at the County Council's full meeting, I proposed a motion calling for a scheme to introduce 'smart meters' for hire or to buy from local libraries. This was to make it easy for residents who wish to find out how much electricity they are using in their homes to then be able to reduce their fuel bills. This not only helps households during the recession, but helps to reduce carbon emissions and tackle fuel poverty. Too many of our electrical appliances, particularly televisions on 'stand-by', guzzle up energy without us realising it. By plugging in a 'smart meter' you are able to find out how much electricity is being wasted unnecessarily.

The BBC thought it was an excellent idea and I was interviewed on Radio Oxford this morning giving the merits of this scheme which was introduced in York last year with much success. A resident from North Leigh, nr. Witney was also interviewed telling us how much it had helped reduce his energy costs.

But, surprise, surprise, the ruling group voted it down despite their national leader's support for the meters. There is always a problem when it comes to trying to get the County Council to take on an idea - they rarely want to do it and always put obstacles in the way. This would have been a real opportunity to try to get families to help themselves during this recession, but sadly we will have to wait another day.

Two of our motions did get through (with a struggle and with amendments). One was to get supermarkets to reduce their packaging - not before time! The other motion we put was in favour of keeping the opt-out clause for the EU working time directive for Oxfordshire's firefighters. This is to enable our retained firefighters to continue to work without being penalised especially in rural areas. Both of these motions involve writing to relevant ministers - so not too hard a task to do. Let us hope they take notice so that today's long day of debate has not been in vain.

Can We Transform Oxford?

There is a lot of discussion at the moment regarding the County Council's plans to Transform Oxford. Basically, this is re-vamping an old idea to pedestrianise the city centre. In principle this sounds good. Many people have welcomed the pedestrianisation of Cornmarket (if we try to forget the problems with the resurfacing!), so how about the rest?

Queen Street is first on the list, but at the moment this is causing problems because there is no plan to deal with the buses. So the proposal is for an 'interim measure' which allows buses to drive through the street without stopping at all. Complete madness - everyone will have to try to avoid buses in all directions but can't get on one!

Many people come into Oxford by bus, indeed this needs to be encouraged, but if the buses cannot drop off in Queen Street then there needs to be a properly thought-out plan. However, as is usual at the County Council, the ruling group are not forthcoming about how they will deal with this.

One way we could improve the situation with the bus companies is to introduce joint-ticketing and joint timetabling, and this could be done by entering into a Quality Bus Partnership. This can now be done through the Local Transport Act 2008 which makes it possible for local authorities to act as an 'honest broker' in co-ordinating travel with bus companies.

I tried to get a motion through council on this very topic over a year ago, but this was voted down! All sorts of arguments were put up against it without realising the true implication - that we are a year further down the line and still no progress. Nothing is more frustrating than having to buy separate tickets for separate buses when one could do - it could be a Smart card or it could simply be a paper ticket. It doesn't matter which it is, so long as it is accepted by the bus operator - we don't need to get bogged down with the details - it just needs to work by having the county council dealing with the payments to the bus companies. My motion would have started this process as a pilot project in this area to be rolled out to the rest of the County. It would have been perfect timing. See my previous post on this topic here - as you will see it was almost exactly a year to the day - and April Fool's Day (who's the fool now?)

But there is no political will at the County Council to solve this problem, they just sit there blaming the bus companies themselves instead of trying to make it work. Transform Oxford is going to take a long, long time at this snail's pace. Positive discussions with bus companies should have been in place a long time ago - well before now. My guess it will remain 'Just A Vision' for the foreseeable future. What a pity an opportunity has been lost!

Singing Histories of Oxfordshire

This special new songbook was launched at Oxford's Westgate Library yesterday afternoon and I went along to take part in an enjoyable sing along with schoolchildren from St. Nicholas Primary School in Abingdon. The book will be available to download from the Oxford Inspires website soon. The songs in the book are written about historical events in Oxfordshire and is a great way to help children learn about their local heritage.

The project is a collaboration between the County Council, Sing London, Oxford Inspires, Oxfordshire County Council and The Oxford Folk festival. The songs were compiled by folk song expert Tim Healey from towns around Oxfordshire between the years 1521 to 1945. We learnt that these ballads were written to tell people about the news of the day. Without newspapers and radio, this was the way that everyday folk could inform everyone about a story that had to be told. So it's great to think they have all survived to be enjoyed by schoolchildren today.

Are We Making Progress?

At today's County Council Cabinet meeting, there were a number of items I raised. The first one was to welcome a new sound system for the committee rooms and council chamber, which is something I have been complaining about for a long, long time. Many members of the public who come to our meetings to hear democracy in action, often come away having heard very little of what is said. Let us hope this will change things for the better. It is due to be installed soon.

Another interesting item on the agenda was a scrutiny review of market towns, and I made a plea to the Cabinet to apply to the SEEDA (South East England Development Agency) for some funding of which £460,000 remains. Some of our smaller market towns like Wantage would certainly benefit from this, and having undergone a 'health check' is ready to make some progress.

Finally, I spoke about the Council's performance in a report on priorities and targets. We have recently been awarded a three star CPA rating, which although 'good' is not the 'excellent' we used to be. This is mainly because Children's Services have only received a two star rating for the second year in a row. One of the problems is our poor educational achievement, and I was keen to draw this to their attention again.

Other areas of concern include the under 18 conception rate which is on the increase not only in Oxfordshire, but all over the country. Some councils, like Gloucestershire have done some innovative work to turn this around, so I urged the Cabinet to look at this. Another area of concern is the delivering of our transport capital programme projects. This was raised at the meeting by one of the Cabinet members himself, who argued that often schemes in the capital programme simply didn't happen. So we have to ask ourselves - are we making any progress or are things taking too long to change? Well my bleating about the sound system fell on deaf ears for a long time - but they finally came round to it a few years later. There may be hope yet!

Vale Grants Awarded

At last night's South East Area committee, we had just £6,945.15 left in our pot to allocate. We had three applications from local organisations, so we decided to split the money equally into three. This meant that Wantage Town Football Club, Childrey Playing Field Trust and Wantage Air Training Corps all received £2315 each. The monies will go towards much needed equipment and make better facilities for these organisations who contribute to our local communities.

We shall be looking at our new budget at our next meeting in June. Anyone interested in finding out more about applying for grants at the Vale, contact the council's community grants scheme by clicking here or telephone 01235 520202 for more information.

Local troops off to Afghanistan

Yesterday afternoon, the Vale of White Horse District Council hosted a gathering in Abingdon for troops from Dalton Barracks who are departing for Afghanistan in the next few days. Around 30 soldiers were there along with their partners and it was good to meet them and talk about their role. We must all be proud to have such excellent young men and women who are willing to serve their country and make sacrifices on our behalf. They were also pleased to have the opportunity to talk to councillors and feel part of our community. Let us look forward to their safe homecoming once their six months' duty is over.

Reservoir on Hold

Last night I attended a meeting organised by Thames Water to inform councillors at the Vale of White Horse District Council about their latest plans for the huge reservoir proposed for Steventon. Basically, we heard that the original predictions for water usage across the London region and Oxford and Swindon had been rescaled to take account of new data which was emerging. According to their officials, many factors, including the economic downturn, two wet summers and residents being more prudent with their water usage, has meant that the huge reservoir will not be needed as soon as originally predicted. It will now be another five years away.

They shared with us some of the results of the recent consultation which is now available online here

The Vale is also celebrating what is seen to be a successful campaign against Thames Water's massive reservoir. Read the full story here. However, I do not think this will go away for a moment. There will be a delay, but it will come back. Also, let us hope they will scale down their plans to make the size of the scheme more acceptable to local residents. We will wait and see.

More Budget Matters

It is that time of year, when budgets are being set all round the County for the level of Council tax to be paid this year. Last Friday, I attended the Thames Valley Police Authority's budget meeting, where we set the tax level at 4.5% increase. Tonight, it was the turn of the Vale of White Horse District Council to set their council tax level which will work out at 4.8% increase. The Government's capping limit prevents having a rise more than 5% hence the target is to set the level below that.

There was a fair amount of discussion this evening, especially around the savings the Vale has been able to achieve having gone into a Shared Management arrangement with South Oxfordshire District Council. This means, that we not only share our Chief Executive, but also our senior management team who have now been recently appointed. Income to the council has suffered during the recession including that derived from planning fees, as less planning applications are being processed. We also have to fund the government's scheme of concessionary fares which was introduced to give pensioners free bus travel outside peak hours.

However, the Vale's Council tax has been the 12th lowest of the 286 non-metropolitan districts with a Band D property now costing just £112.31 a year - just £2.16 per week. Not bad, considering all the services provided to residents.

What was missing this evening however, was an alternative proposal from the Conservatives in opposition. A lot of moaning but no practical solutions, no ideas or any insight into how they would do anything differently. I guess that can only mean they are happy with our spending and saving proposals too. Not much of an opposition then!

Budget Matters

Yesterday at full Council, Oxfordshire County Council set its budget for the next four years. This year's increase in council tax will be 3.75% which amounts to a cost of £1,130 per annum for Band D properties. Liberal Democrats in Opposition put forward an alternative budget which, for the same council tax rise, would have spent more on children and young people, social services and the environment. We would have re-introduced a general weed control budget and in future years would be spending additonal money on highways maintenance. In our capital programme we wished to redirect investment into a new youth centre for Grove and Wantage, which has been put on the back burner by the current administration.

To pay for some of this we would not appoint a new post of Communications and Marketing and reduce the amount of glossy Council publications. We feel the Council is building a huge corporate empire to market itself rather than concentrating on front line services. However, after a full day of debate with all the budget presentations on offer including the minority Labour and Green groups, it was the ruling Conservative budget which was agreed. No surprises there, but a missed opportunity to put more into those services which people rely on.

The County Council takes the lion's share of the council tax, with Thames Valley Police, the district and the parish councils making up the rest.

Land of Snow and Ice

The recent wintry weather looks set to continue throughout the weekend. The picture above was taken near to the Green in Grove on Friday. Anyone travelling might want to check the following websites for the latest information:

• BBC Travel News for Oxford
• Highways Agency
• Oxfordshire County Council
• Met Office forecast (Abingdon)

I am advised that refuse collections should be back to normal from Monday... but that obviously depends on the weather and road situation next week.