Here’s a quick summary of news, events and casework for February 2005
28th – John Prescott, Deputy Prime Minister, tells East Midlands Labour Party that a Tory scheme to save pensioners Council tax would cost £1billion; and that the savings are to be found from less inspection, which costs around half of the money to be found;
25th – Alan Johnson, cabinet minister for work and pensions, tells East Midlands Labour Party that an extra £10 billion is spent on pensions and help for older people each year by Labour; pensioners are no longer the most likely people to be the poorest; and for the first time ever, more than half of registered disabled people of working age are in work;
25th – Minimum wage increased to £5.05; remember, the Lib Dems oppose the minimum wage;
22nd – Exec Board - pass budget proposals for consultation; extra money for schools, social services, tackling crime, anti-social behaviour and litter; also agree 9 children's centres for Nottingham as part of the Sure Start scheme, including one at Walter Halls school; £36,000 has been set aside for an ICT suite for the new children's centre; and the school also has new fire alarms to be installed by September (cost £37.5k);
20th – Michael Howard says society should be judged by how it treats older people; a step forward from Thatcher in that he recognises such a thing as society; but forgetful too - under the Tories, 2.5 pensioners lived on £69 a week (including an income supplement);
18th – host separate visits from Centro in the West Midlands and from Taiwan who came to find out about the success of Nottingham's NET;
16th – speak to an audience of IT professionals and transport enthusiasts on our ambition for Nottingham, how it's supported by next year's budget and how it's exemplified by the tram (NET);
15th – Chinese New Year celebration at the Council House;
28th – launch of the Nottingham city centre Emergency Plan; (CHECK)
15th – tour Pearmain Drive estate with housing managers; refurbishment and fencing work in progress on Emneth Close; railing installed along the steep pavement on Woodlane Gardens following a request to Cllr. Mo Munir on his last visit to the estate; (tipping cleared the following day);
14th – announce £16m of extra public services to be provided by the City Council next year; including £4.2m for schools (improving staff-pupil ratio) and £6m for Social Services (helping the most needy); £7m is supported by above inflation increases in grant from Gov't, £5m is enabled by efficiencies and savings in existing services which allows the Council tax increase of 4.8% to be within Gov't expectations;
14th – give evidence at the Regeneration and Renewal's Scrutiny panel on climate change; suggest more should be done to develop business and services supplying sustainable technologies, and that ideas from panel should be assessed for inclusion in the Council's departmental and service plans;
14th – Attend SIGOMA meeting to discuss local government finance and urban regeneration issues;
13th – Tony Blair announces fuller detail on the 6 pledges; discuss neighbourhood policing and the immigration service with Ministers;
12th – Give presentation on NET at the Gateshead conference; discuss progress on cleaner and safer communities with Labour Councillors from Oldham, Kirklees and Stockport - including progress on "Respect for Nottingham";
11th – Nottingham City and Nottinghamshire County Labour Groups win the Labour Party Best Practice Award for the Nottingham Express Transit; raise plans for NET lines 2 and 3 in quick meeting with Tony Blair;
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11th – Labour Party Spring conference (for local government, women and young people) - Tony Blair launches the new 6 pledges;
10th – A cracker from the Lib Dem candidate for Nottingham East, who says “In Iraq, Tony Blair … In cash terms … has cost the nation £4 billion : that’s two aircraft carriers …”; plainly, the Lib Dems want to save money on fighting wars to buy ...
9th – Gov't announce that money allocation to Nottingham City primary health care trusts will increase by 9.3% for 2006/07 and by a further 9.1% in 2007/08;
9th – Proposals for £140m investment in Nottingham's schools announced - the largest investment in education since the Victorian age; a new school - an academy - on the Elliott Durham campus is proposed;
8th – Italian community of Nottingham meet at the Council House to greet the Deputy Mayor of Accettura, where many of Nottingham's Italians originate from;
8th – tour Nottingham with Labour Party policy officers, discussing "Respect for Nottingham" and success of the tram;
7th – the 3 Mapperley Councillors write to the Evening Post to report progress being made on reducing street prostitution and the help being offered to prostitutes seeking to leave prostitution - without the need for toleration zones;
5th – John Heppell MP holds a "Roving Surgery" in Mapperley D & E Polling Districts (from Sherwood Vale down to St.Bartholomew's Road); interest very high;
3rd – Civic Reception for Milton Crosdale - on his retirement from Nottingham Equailty Council;
3rd – Meet reps of student unions from Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham;
2nd – speech from Gordon Brown and a presentation by Nottingham Chief Exec Gordon Mitchell on transport, at ODPM's Sustainable Communities conference;
1st – Launch of "The Midlands Way" at ODPM's Sustainable Communities conference; speeches from John Prescott and Mayor Daley from Chicago;
1st – Transport Minister Charlotte Atkins has describes the performance of Nottingham’s trams and buses as an “excellent example of an integrated transport strategy”; responding to a question in Parliament from Nottingham North MP Graham Allen, she said the Government will take into account the success of the city’s trams when it considers the case for the Phase Two extension of the system;
1st – Annual Audit Letter published - the District Auditor comments on the Council’s performance over the past year, noting improvements in major services in 2003/04; the District Auditor also identifies actions needed by the Council which include the need to maintain its focus on strengthened partnership working, performance management and core services, plus the need to strengthen procedures for the production of performance indicators, annual accounts and compilation of grant claims;
Car crime coming down - National Audit Office report that the number of thefts of and from motor vehicles has fallen by 30% nationally since 1999, based on figures from the British Crime Survey 2003/04. Nottinghamshire had the highest rate of vehicle crime in the country, but new figures from Nottinghamshire Police show a 20% drop in vehicle crime in the county since April 2004;
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