I’ve been a Councillor for Mapperley ward on the County and City for 10 years
and since May, I’ve been the Deputy Leader of Nottingham City Council.
Did anyone see Question Time on BBC last night?
I went to watch it recorded. Did anyone go last night?
Has anyone been?
I didn’t think it was a great episode,
although it was a revelation to see how much people were enjoying taking part.
A point was made last night –
that always brings me back down to earth –
“all this extra public money being spent on services. And we don’t notice the difference.”
Gets me really.
I know unemployment has halved. I know expenditure at my secondary school has more than doubled in 6 years and more kids are getting more grades. I know we’re boosting literacy and numeracy at key stage 2. I know we’re spending 20 times more on school buildings than we used to and that 2 schools in my new ward have new classrooms. I know the maximum waiting times for operations is done below 12 months and that more people are getting treated more quickly. I know we’ve put more measures in to promote public transport and that bus patronage is increasing year on year, for 3 years now, after 50 years continuous decline. I know we’re about get a high quality £180m public transport system that the people of this city deserve.
And yet; and yet;
I know that the charge that we haven’t made a difference strikes a chord with many people.
Perhaps their expectations have moved on in the last 6 years.
Perhaps people are still dissatisfied with the time they have to wait for operations, or the remaining levels of unemployment.
Dissatisfied with the degree of social exclusion in our city. And the anti-social behaviour on our streets, including the drug-dealing.
Whatever the reason, the message at the last local elections was very clear to us.
People still don’t think we’re using public resources well enough.
And I doubt the latest news breaking on the New Deal for Communities will help any.
What is it – 30% on admin?
It’s inevitable that there will be a new focus on the way partnerships work.
And it’s been a very difficult week for our Police service.
Our Chief Constable has been trying to drive a reform programme for over a year now; and there’s been a major spate of gun crime to deal with too.
But here too, there’ll be calls for improvements in service.
The City Council too knows that we have to improve.
Our Housing Benefits service has improved dramatically in the last 9 months and we’ve also moved away from using Bed & Breakfast for the homeless – but there’s still a long way to go on, especially on repairs.
Our street cleaning service does well, and yet there are big issues to tackle on keeping our streets clean, and making them feel safer. Key issues for the City
- Education.
- Equalities.
- Crime (Drugs, Guns, Personal Safety).
- Fair division of what is available (not as much as we would like).
- Helping the citizens of Nottingham achieve their ambitions in life.
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