Log, January 2005

Here’s a quick summary of news, events and casework for January 2005

31st – ODPM's Sustainable Communities conference in Manchester begins; 

30th – Iraqi General Election; a significant step towards a free society in Iraq; 

29th – Phillip Whitehead MEP hosts Regional Labour Party European forum at the GMB on Ransom Road; also speaking Michael Cashman MEP and Linda McAvan MEP;  celebrating the achievements of the EU including improved security and economic certainty, improved workers' rights and rules against discrimination, higher minimum standards for the environment and research programmes helping the development of the new European plane & regeneration projects including £2.5 million for NET; question for the EU constitution referendum expected in Spring 2006 will be "Should the United Kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the European Union?"; voting "Yes"  ensures effective operation of the enlarged Union which now has 25 countries;  a "No" vote will mean Britain will be isolated and weak in Europe; 

28th – David Blunkett MP attends a Nottingham Labour Party social;

28th – East Midlands Regional Assembly - Tory MEPs place motion calling for regional assemblies to wind up but don’t bother to attend to move the motion; bizarrely, Robert Kilroy-Silk says he can’t attend either – even though there are no Euro-parliament events on – but insists on a speech being read out; the motion is dismissed 46-23, because if authorities don’t use the assembly to develop understanding and support, our ability to win investment for the East Midlands will be diminished, in the face of the effective organisation of the north and the economic power of London and the South-east; also discuss "The Midlands Way" – a development package to improve the quality of life across the Midlands- focussing on smarter productivity, connectivity and energy use;

28th – NCT are consistently running 99.5% of their bus services, achieved in the main by driver numbers being at full strength. Vehicles continue to be well-maintained - spot inspections by the Vehicle Inspectorate have recorded a 100% pass rate this last quarter (the bus industry average is a 17% fail rate). NCT has 356 buses in its fleet - their average age is 5 years and 72% are low floor - and they are still looking to introduce new buses (Omni-Dekkas) on route 44/45 Red line through Mapperley in Spring and on the 58 Lime line serving Mapperley Park in Summer;

27th – Holocaust Memorial Day - Evening of Remembrance at the Council House, on the 60thanniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau; refugees to Nottingham from the 1930’s express their gratitude to the city and describe the work they’ve done for the city since they arrived;

27th – final revenue settlement for Councils announced; Nottingham can stick to Council tax increase remaining below 5%;

26th – India Republic day celebrating the adoption of its constitution 55 years ago; attend flag ceremony;

25th – City Council policy forum discusses the Gershon Review – a review of public sector efficiency; main speaker - Roger Latham, Chief Executive, Nottinghamshire County Council;

24th – Full Council – celebrate the progress of the tram and debate licensing arrangements; Georgina Culley, leader of the Nottingham Conservatives gives a new perspective on the campaign run by Anna Soubry, Mapperley Park resident and Tory candidate for Gedling, who has been standing by a leaflet saying she's ashamed of the city she lives in. The Tory Councillor proclaimed – “People with a political agenda should stop running Nottingham down.”

24th - Full Council; Motion - "This Council welcomes the praise given to Nottingham for its NET by the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Transport at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee during their 'Improving public transport in England through light rail' session on 10 November 2004 and calls upon Ministers to support the expansion of the NET to lines 2 and 3 at the earliest opportunity."

24th – Tory Party launches a new policy on immigration which breaks existing international agreements and law, some of which were a pre-requisite to joining the European Union; but the real challenge to good public policy is ignorance - for instance men think 18% of people living in the UK are immigrants; and women think 28%. The actual figure is in fact 4.8%. There is also confusion of who immigrants are. The largest group of the 4.8% who are immigrants are Irish; Immigrants from outside of the EU represent 2.8% of the people living here - the largest group of these are Australians;

23rd - The Turning Point Big changes in the way traffic travels across the north of the city centre. Burton Street closes at its junction with Talbot Street and South Sherwood Street so eastbound traffic uses a new route along South Sherwood Street and Shakespeare Street; chaotic impact on the following Monday morning, but back to normal on Tuesday;

21st - present budget issues to Nottingham North Labour Party;

21st - One City Partnership Fresh Start adopts 4 new targets to focus on - improving educational attainment of black boys; reducing teenage pregnancies; linking young people with job opportunities; and reducing drug-fuelled crime;

20th - UKIP in disarray as Robert Kilroy-Silk leaves their party complaining about their lack of effort; Kilroy-Silk then appears on TV to say others parties aren't honest and then refuses to say whether he will set up a new party;

20th - Voluntary and Community Sector Open Forum - over 80 people attend to discuss next year's budget, the progress made by Respect for Nottingham and improved ways of working together;

18th - Mapperley and Sherwood Area Committee - residents surveyed in September recognise significant progress on crime, anti-social behaviour and street cleaning - although we equally resolve that the drive on these issues has to be sustained; also hear of improved play development in the Wells Road Estates area;

18th - Executive Board - announce first analysis of the extra City Council services to be provided next year - £4.2m for schools, £3.0m for social services and £0.3m for youth services;  publish £3.8m of efficiencies and savings so that extra tax raised will pay for extra services; commit to a Council tax increase of less than 5%; also agree to proceed with new vision for Old Market Square;  and to support a bid for an elderly person's village in Clifton;  a new electronic document system is proposed for Social Services who also maintain their "two stars with promising prospects" rating for both childrens' and adults' services; 

17th - Review significant increase in provision made by Social Services, caring for those who need our help the most;

14th - Attend Home Office event on better delivery;  Nottingham is one of four authorities that the Home Office is providing a "Local Delivery" manager to improve co-ordination in the fight against crime and anti-social behaviour;

12th - Team Nottingham - meeting of City Council's top 250 managers - to focus on performance management;

12th - review at Elliott Durham;

11th - meet representatives of the Indian Community and the Leader of the County Council, Mick Warner, regarding the Asian Tsunami Appeal (ATANN), which aims to rebuild at least one village on the shores of the Indian Ocean;

8th - Heavy winds damage the clock tower on the Council House;

5th - Three minutes silence for the victims of the Indian Ocean earthquake;