It was a huge priviledge to serve as the Mayor of Reading from 2021 to 2023. We are a generous, big hearted town, a town of bridges not walls and it has been a true honour. I stepped down at the council AGM on 24th May. As part of the …
While I’m looking forward to supporting the Mayor this is at a hugely difficult time for us all.I am sure that we are all incredibly proud of the way that people from across our town have come together as we go through this crisis – from NHS staff and care …
Council press release:Residents in Katesgrove, Park and Redlands Wards are set to benefit from the introduction of new controls which will see landlords having to apply for planning permission if they want to convert their property into a small house of multiple occupation (HMO).Known as an Article 4 Direction, the …
Letter to local press: Dear Sir, I see that Tory Councillor David Stevens is indignant about the Council’s consultation on the abolition of Council Tax Benefit, claiming that “To say, as Reading Borough Council are, that the government is ‘abolishing’ Council Tax Benefit is at best a misrepresentation of what …
Council press reelease:An innovative scheme aimed at providing reassurance to people with disabilities has been handed a Promoting Community Safety Award by Association of Business Crime Partnerships (ABCP).Reading Business Against Crime (RBAC) is a partnership between town centre shops, Reading Borough Council and the Police and given the award was …
Council press release below. The context for thsi is that every local authority is having to work out how to either cut the cost of the council tax benefit or make cuts to services elsewhere as a result of this ‘hidden’ cut. The release below explains in more detail but …
In Reading as I’ve blogged many times before we are committed to doing all we can to improve the private rented sector including ensuring a level playing field for good landlords. Extract from council press release below: Tenants had to live in overcrowded conditions with blocked toilets, exposed electrical wires …
Suzanne at Jelly has asked me to publicise this, I’ve passed it to some schools I know directly but thought it might be of general interest if you work for or are involved in a school in Reading get in touch with Jelly! “The SMART 2012 committee are delighted to …
This money is tied very specifically to sustainable transport so won’t affect our general, very difficult, budget decisions, but it can be used to push forward Reading’s partnership with residents, neighbouring authorities, the NHS and business to encourage sustainable travel. This will be good news for cyclists and pedestrians especially those needing …
Last year Reading’s Labour councillors form a minority administration and this year, after we won 10 seats (gaining a net of 4) we have formed a majority. I believe the voters in Reading trusted us to stick to our pledge to be open and transparent about our plans, which as …
I’ve just stepped down from the Reading SACRE to enable new Labour representation on the committee and one of the things we were working towards was a new syllabus, that will hopefully be approved at tonight’s cabinet meeting. It’s been typical of the way that the different faith communities in …
At a time when many sources of grant funding are drying up Reading council under Labour has remained committed to maintaining and indeed increasing our funding of voluntary groups. The latest announcement is groups that are planning projects specifically linked to the Olympics or Jubilee celebrations. They are:” Reading Repertory …
This was a local manifesto commitment and a partial restoration of a badly thought through cut from the short-lived Conservative-led administration. We would like to restore it at all times but we need to make sure this is affordable. Talking to retired people the loss of the 9-9.30 period was …
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHOhTWNJSIY?feature=player_embedded]Doesn’t mention the local election results but a quick summary is: 11 Labour, 3 Conservative, 1 Libdem, 1 Green.
We are now putting out our post-election leaflet in Whitley, our top story of course is Mike Orton’s re-election with 65% of the vote. However we have also gone for a slightly different departure for us by analysing the result and why we think that “coalition” candidates did so badly – …
Last year I was really proud to launch the pilot the “Your community your cash” scheme where decent neighbourhoods funding will be directly budgeted for by local residents. I believe that the best way to ensure that money to improve neighbourhoods is spent wisely is to get local people involved. …
Local residents have consistently been calling for the use of planning legislation to control HMO’s in Reading. This is part of a wider picture as Reading’s Labour run council is determined to support good landlords, ensure decent homes for tenants and pleasant neighbourhoods for all. You can read more about …
So a big night all round in Reading. I take my hat off to the senior Conservative councillor who predicted correctly to me the way 15 out of the 16 seats would go last week (he got Tilehurst wrong). I certainly wasn’t expecting all of these results. I was expecting …
If you are reading my blog you probably are interested in politics, so I doubt you will forget to vote. But obviously don’t forget! It will be interesting to see what happens locally and nationally in the elections tomorrow. I won’t make any predictions, as ultimately it’s all down to …
Great news for tenants of these two properties, and for good landlords who shouldn’t have to compete with a rogue who doesn’t take his responsibilities seriously.I promise that a Labour council in Reading will continue to tackle problems in the private rented sector and get the best for residents.Details below:Yet …
Really looking forward to this:www.reading.gov.uk/childrensfest.Organisers are getting ready to kick-off what promises to be a celebratory year to remember with a bonanza of free activities for the Reading Children’s Festival.The festival, which celebrates its 23rd year, will deliver a three-week programme full of exciting events, music, drama, sports and arts …
At the moment it feels like the Conservatives in Reading are taking it in turns to say silly things: whether that it’s a myth that doctors are against the NHS bill/act or that the Conservative councillors are ‘a united team’.Now the MP for Reading East has decided it’s high time …
What a twisted tale this has been, but there is good news at the end of it. It shows that ambition and vision can still pay off even in these tough times.The Labour group has been pushing this since October 2010 (when in opposition) on this and once back running the council …
A number of things coming to tomorrow’s cabinet including a very worrying report on the potential impact of the police and crime commissioners. However of very local concern is a petition being submitted regarding the technology based 14-19 secondary school in proposed in east Reading. Instead petitioners want an 11 to …
Council press release:Disabled residents in Reading are celebrating the completion of three new accessible housing properties in Hastings Close, off Hatford Road, Southcote.A housing development site in Hastings Close, sold by Reading Borough Council to Ability Housing Association, has been developed to create three much needed disabled-adapted affordable homes.The accommodation …
On 28th March I wrote of the local Conservatives: “This is a sign of a party that is focused on what happens in the council chamber and not on people’s neighbourhoods A sign of a party out of fresh ideas. A sign of a party that is out of …
The nominations for elections in Reading are now all in and they will be published shortly. Some very interesting candidates for any follower of Reading politics. I’m proud to be supporting Mike Orton’s bid for re-election in Whitley ward. A resident and councillor for “longer than I’ve been alive” – as …
I hadn’t been planning to speak in the community schools debate at Tuesday’s council meeting but I was, as I mentioned in my post yesterday, incensed by the Conservative response to the balanced and sensible motion that John Ennis put forward. The nub of the motion was “Policy of this …
I had predicted a council meeting dominated by some key policy debates – the NHS, education and workfare. Instead I suspect this week’s local newspaper headlines will be dominated by the internal workings of the local Conservative party. The controversy about Cllr Chowdary’s deselection has received a lot of coverage …
Tonight’s council meeting agenda is a mix of the very administrative and the highly charged – the statement on pay policy and ratification of the recommendation of the Independent Re-numeration Panel’s recommendations probably fall into the first and motions on workfare, the NHS and education on the other. The Reading Labour party …
Council press release below and full report available here. This is a crucial area of the council’s work and we must never be complacent about it.An Ofsted inspection has found that Safeguarding and Looked After Children services in Reading are performing adequately.The report published today on the Ofsted website …
Or at least salvaging something…Assuming the Lords don’t change their tune and the government doesn’t drop the bill we will need to move to inch by inch defence of the NHS and public health at the ground level. Reading Borough council is leading the way on this locally:A special ‘Question Time’ event …
As a member of the Cooperative party I’m really pleased that in Reading we are making this link more high profile: Eight prospective Labour councillors in Reading and Wokingham, who are also members of the Co-operative Party are standing on a joint Labour and Co-operative Party ticket this year.The Co-operative Party has …
A version of this appeared in my work staff newsletter, I’ve adapted it slightly. Regular readers will probably not find this informative as they have probably picked up what I do and most irregular readers may find it a bit long and self indulgent. However for anyone who is interested …
Reading Borough Council is increasing the amount of money it gives to voluntary groups who provide short breaks for children with learning difficulties and their families. Short breaks provide a vital lifeline for many parents of children with learning difficulties by allowing them some much-needed rest time, while their children …
The full reports are available here – item that are labelled agenda item 15. However a summary is in the press release:Plans to improve Reading’s private housing sector by providing further support for tenants, house owners, landlords and local communities, will be considered by the Council’s Cabinet on 12 March. …
Reading’s Citizen’s Advice Bureua’s Director and I are interviewed on some major plans to improve the private rented sector in Reading. You may notice it’s quite windy today in Reading. I’ll blog on the details of this further but you can read the full reports here[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3fZmzvJStk]
Occasionally Reading Council does have to evict tenants, for the good of the majority (their neighbours) if nothing else. The advantage that we have where someone is a tenant is that it can be done – if a drug dealer is an owner occupier there’s not nearly so much that …
The NHS is probably the most urgent political fight the country is facing at the moment. So I make no apologies for my second guest blog of the month also being about the NHS. The focus in this is on the local party politics, while the previous was more about the wider …
I was just on @BBCBerkshire to talk about a recent prosecution of a rogue landlord. BBC South Today is also planning to cover the story this evening, so look out for it. Responsible landlords know that this sort of thing is horrendous behaviour and brings their role into disrepute. The …
As I did yesterday I’m posting up my answer to a question that came to full council earlier in the week, this time on the results of the tenant’s survey from Cllr Benson. The tenant satisfaction survey is carried out early in the municipal year, therefore the 2011 survey tells us most …
I’m reporting on the issues that came up in full council earlier this week in bits. One of the questions I was asked was by Cllr Willis on the issue of homelessness.My answer is below: Homeless People in Reading Would the Leader of the Council update me on the numbers …
Last night we took more than 10% – £12.6 MILLION out of the council’s budget. That followed on the previous year’s cuts of £19 million (according to last year’s Conservative press release), so decisions were always going to be painful. We might have expected some unpalatable decisions and …
At tonight’s council meeting there will be a lot on the agenda and particularly a lot to say about next year’s budget, which I will blog about tomorrow if I have time. However I am also proposing a motion to full council supporting a SARC in Reading, a single point …
Time for my increasingly traditional Friday post about the NHS and health services.While politically Reading Labour councillors including myself are completely against the Health bill and believe it will damage, and possibly destroy our NHS we have to plan for the future. Councils are proposed to have an increased role …
One of my priorities this year as the council’s lead on housing and neighbourhoods has been to look at how we can improve the private rented sector in Reading. While obviously most private rentals work well and are managed by responsible landlords there are a minority of landlords who don’t …
A win-win that I hope will benefit residents in both situations!Reading Borough Council will be increasing the range of voluntary incentives and support for tenants living in larger properties who are considering downsizing.Assisting tenants in this way will also enable the Council to release family size accommodation to help tackle …
I’ve already been contacted by a concerned resident who found a rough sleeper trying to keep warm in the lobby of her flats with the cold spell and wanted to help them. The council has an agreement with it’s voluntary sector partners abut providing extra emergency accommodation in cold weather. …
Although a decision for full council the council’s cabinet has to recommend a rent increase for council tenants. As I outlined at the council cabinet meeting earlier this is not something that can be done easily at the moment. Inflation is still over 5%, the government is recommending a 7.2% …
Yes probably you have if you read my blog… Well if you are interested there will be a presentation to the internal scrutiny committee (made up of cross party backbenchers) that is open to the public on Wednesday 6.30pm at the civic centre. This year we have tried to make our budgeting …
Council press release:A landlord is to pay £2,125 in fines and £1,815 costs to Reading Borough Council after admitting he failed to keep a property in East Reading in a fit state for tenants. Mohammed Mir, 41, of Cumberland Road, Reading, pleaded guilty to 16 offences relating to a house …
It’s not often a planning committee changes government policy. But that’s what has just happened following Reading’s planning committee decision to ensure that all developers, schools, itself, charities, businesses are treated on a level playing field when it comes to planning. Following this decision the Reading Labour run cabinet and …
After a thorough and wide ranging consultation with tenants, potential tenants, families and other interested organisations we will be considering proposals to improve our much valued sheltered housing service further at the cabinet meeting a week on Monday (16th January). There are 5 key proposals and together the aim is …
Congratulations to the staff and volunteers who make New Directions so special. One of my roles as lead councillor for Housing and Neighbourhoods is to sit on the council’s life long learning board along with fellow cabinet member John Ennis. The board oversees the work of the New Directions, which …
As probably many already know the council recently agreed to reorganise the senior management team. This was to both improve service delivery and join up working and also to save money at the senior level, to help protect to the extent possible the key services that residents rely on. From …
http://www.viddler.com/player/fea53523/I often get asked about the benefits of an accountancy qualification in my political life and conversely about why I am involved in politics in my professional life. The Chartered Institute of Management accountants recently interviewed me and also asked me to discuss the benefits of CIMA in a recession. I guess …
The community spirit and special atmosphere of our sheltered housing schemes in Reading is something that is valued by all of us: a safe and comfortable environment where residents live independently and there is always someone to call on. There is no question of this changing under the proposals we …
A consultation which ends almost 2 weeks after the changes come into effect, creating massive uncertainty for a fledgeling industry and not just moving the goal posts but taking the ball away for community environmental projects for the sake of the profits of the big 6 energy companies. Insert your …
We know that the Tory led government policies are forecast to increase homelessness substantially, with national forecasts showing scary figures. Here in Reading we are already seeing an increase in homelessness and we are worried about what the new year will bring. As an administration the Labour group is committed …
Last year in order to save the cost of a few hours of overtime the Conservative and Liberal Democrats voted to abolish the consultative forums from the access forum to the sports and arts forums. I assume at least this was the intention, rather than not wanting to discuss matters …
I was very pleased to see this report showing hte progress that hte council is continuing to make reduce carbon emissions. Organisations that signed up to 1010 had to commit to a 3% cut so getting 8.4% is really good news. The sustainability team at the council are really showing …
Hopefully anyone who bothers to read my blog has also remembered to return their electoral registration form. However if you haven’t – get it in! But it’s also a good idea to talk to friends and neighbours to remind them to return it. Next year there are local elections in …
We are running a consultation on HMOs in Reading and are doing this through a series of focus groups in the wards with the highest number of HMOs. We’re keen to hear from residents of HMOs, landlords and other local residents: 10th October: United Reform Church, Palmer Park Avenue (Park …
Labour in Reading is serious about working better with residents across the community to improve services and to deal with the unfair hand that the national government has dealt us. The survey’s we’re already sending out are part of that but while that’s a great idea for getting a spread …
One of the most thoughtless of the cuts made by last year’s Tory administration was the removal of free bus travel for disabled residents pre-9.30. In some cases this decision was actually counter productive even from a pure cost perspective. For example a number of councillors are aware of cases …
As the lead councillor with responsibility for community safety I recently agreed with the police that we should have a dispersal order in place again following the success it had in 2010. I won’t be going to the festival but it looks like it has a great line up – I would …
It’s no great shock, although it is a real worry that growth is stuttering to close to zero – 0.2% growth in 9 months since the Conservative’s cuts started to bite. However locally the Labour council is committed to working better with and supporting employers especially small businesses. If you …
I was going to advertise this here but saw that Cllr Sarah Hacker of Battle ward has written a very clear and good post explaining what this is all about. So nip over to her blog for more info Of if you just want to get stuck in go here …
While the phone hacking/Murdoch empire saga continues and is still making the headlines there are a number of things of greater long term importance happening under the radar (yes I know the future of the media is very important). Firstly the speculation has already started about low growth or even …
The press release below is the next step in our plan to work with people in improving housing – not just for people: Council tenants are to have more of a say in the way housing services are provided in Reading through a new independent tenant panel. The tenant scrutiny …
Firstly a quick plug for Reading Grow-a-lot they need votes today to get the allotment funding the number is 0871 626 88 68. Secondly I want to publish my answers to one of the questions I received at full council. The first two are from members of the public, one …
Lets face it it’s a difficult time for small businesses at the moment – cautious consumers, inflation, fuel bills and big businesses more able to access cash. The council can’t deal with all of that, but we are doing what we can to help, and we’re also my colleague, Paul …
People have been asking me what it means in practice when Labour in Reading talks about giving residents more say and being a council that works with people not just for people. Well below is a press release that the council has just put out. It’s an example of the …
I’ve inevitably been in the Civic Centre more than usual the last couple of weeks, to make sure I’m both up to date with what is happening in my new portfolio and also to ensure that council staff know what my priorities are. We’re working on some really important stuff …
With members of CRAG Today was the official launch of the Dee Park show homes (although apparently they’ve already sold 3 properties!). Below is a copy of my speech “As Reading’s lead councillor for housing and neighbourhoods it’s a real pleasure to be here today to celebrate the next step …
This evening at cabinet we approved our priorities for this year. You can see the full document here but the priorities from my portfolio are reproduced below. I was shocked by some of the things said by opposition speakers at tonight’s meeting. In particular I found Cllr Ralph’s comments about …
The three crucial votes of the night (1st two shown here) for Mayor, Deputy and Leader of the Council were won on the Mayor’s casting vote. Others will no doubt blog about the petulance shown by certain members, but I am off to bed! However just to reiterate – Labour …
I was nominated last night by the Labour party and group to be the portfolio holder for Neighbourhoods and Housing. This means that if we take control of the council I will be in the cabinet otherwise I will be shadowing the cabinet member. It’s a new role that combines …
For those readers of my blog who want to follow every twist and turn of the run up to the council’s annual meeting a second letter from Jo Lovelock to the two Green councillors is published at the bottom of this post. It has been issued publicly today and the …
I can confirm that the Labour group believes we have an electoral mandate to form a minority administration after winning 9 out of 15 seats and the largest vote share. It’s not the easy option but it is the right thing to do to stand up for Reading.Labour has increased …
For those interested in the analysing the numbers the information below might save you some time. It’s sorted in order from the largest Labour majority down to the largest ‘other’ (Conservative) majority. The fact that the Liberal vote collapsed is probably not surprising to anyone given that this was the …
Summary: March – a month of frustration with Conservatives and Libdems and hope for a new council. For the rest of April and until after the May elections I will be taking a break from blogging to focus on campaigning and on keeping up with council work as well. I …
This is my personal account as a Labour councillor. I don’t tweet during council meetings as I like to give my full attention but I do like to report back: Short report:Full council showed up what a shambles the administration is in: the Conservatives and Libdems did not have a …
Summary: January and February – a long time ago, but I still thought it would be worth putting this up. There has been so much happening, and I’m sorry for not doing a separate January report, but I was literally about to draft it when I received the phone call …
We won’t be walking away from this campaign and will be looking for ways to support the schools, WEC and the associated charity, ASPIRE2. I’ve just send this email out:“Dear All, As a signer of the petition to Save Whitley Excellence Cluster I wanted to email you to pass on …
I couldn’t find a list of cuts in the online version of full council’s agenda but you can see them here on p50 onwards as they were not, successfully, amended from those approved by the cabinet. You’ll see that children’s services were particularly badly hit. I spoke on the amendment …
Sadly the lead councillor said ‘no’ or rather he waffled very politely about what a wonderful thing the Whitley Excellence Cluster was and then refused to do anything. I had to ask a supplementary question to his answer to make sure that I was clear that this is what he …
Ironically given it is Valentine’s Day tonight the council’s Conservative-led cabinet will meet to agree the cuts they will be proposing to the rest of the council. The idea that front line services will be protected has been consigned to history. As I’ve said before, they are going to be …
…but Kirsten Bayes didn’t. Does Cllr Bayes not agree with the points he makes? He says:“1. This is not a shortsighted attempt at deficit-denying. It explicitly acknowledges the need for deficit reduction – with the consequences.2. In being scathing about Pickles, as I have done before, it underlines a collective …
Whitley councillor Jim Hanley died suddenly on Friday morning. Anyone who reads my blog is probably aware of this as it’s been all over the local blogs and getReading. It’s also why I haven’t posted anything since Thursday. What do you say when something like this happens? Jim was a …
I’ve seen a copy of a letter from the Chair of the Reading Council for Racial Equality to Cllr Mike Townend that was read out in the council’s own Ethnic Minority Forum . This is where residents come to discuss the council’s policies relating to ethnic minorities (there are similar …
This is my personal recollection. Last night was full council and it was a meeting which included some cross party work and sensible discussion. But it also included the first round of the budget cuts being brought for debate. The Conservative, Cllr Stevens (he never seems to enjoy\ political disagreement, …
Today has been a mix of highs and lows. A low is the proposed swingeing cuts that were published by the council on Friday. Along with Cllr Chris Maskell and Paul Gittings I met with council staff this morning (still can’t get used to calling them ‘officers’) to discuss the …
We have really started to get going with our campaign to save the Whitley Excellence Cluster’s work. Paul and Kelly, our Church ward and Whitley ward candidates along with other activists were with me today to ask residents to sign our petition. We had a really good response on the …
Summary: December has, as predicted been an odd month for my council work and have had some reduced activity compared, say with November. However I have still had some casework and also in the last week of the month launched a campaign to save the work of the Whitley Excellence …
I’ve spoken in the press about this already – I find it shocking that the coalition is so blasé about ending the good work of Whitley Excellence Cluster. I hoped that Cllr Ralph, the lead councillor for Education would be able to commit to at least looking at a way …
Summary: November has been a busy, but productive month. It has been affected at the very end by a family bereavement. There has been a lot going on in the ward, and I have felt I have spent less time in the Civic centre and more time out and about, …
Today I went along to the Whitley Sure start open day partially as a mum and partially with my councillor hat on. I had a really nice time and it was great to meet with other mums – hi especially to Grace and Shona! I really enjoyed the baby massage …
My colleague and comrade Jim Hanley has decided to retire from the council in May following his qualification as a social worker. I’ll be sorry to see him step back from front line politics and I know that many people in Whitley, and indeed across Reading, have reason to thank …
I’m not really a fan of sharing adverts on blogs, but I couldn’t help think this was brilliant. Cllr Willis can feel safe – I’ll not be submitting a question to council suggesting it! Although it is an interesting idea…
Summary: A busy month. some local positives overshadowed by the national news. Council work: Full council this month was I have to say a largely disappointing affair with a lot of bad temper and unnecessary amendments of motions for political point scoring. I kept out of the debates that caused …
If Labour was running the council this post would sum up how I was feeling. CllrTim in Bansley is agonising over horrendous decisions being foisted on him by central government cuts. Local government is probably the hardest hit of all departments, and this is after already spending years on efficiency …
Today of all days residents in Reading will be hoping that their local representatives will be thinking and acting responsibly. We will need to make some very hard decisions as the central Conservative and Lib-dem government have chosen to impose savage cuts on our budget – and to do it …
In advance of the spending review I thought I’d stick to positive stories today. Tonight I’m proposing that Reading moves forward with installing solar panels on borough buildings. I’m really hoping all councillors support it as it is a win-win. I was interviewed on the radio this morning and have …
Summary:September has been busy (and so has October, which is why this report is so late). I have managed to get some good news for some residents but overall things are not looking so positive. Council work:I attended environment scrutiny panel at which we examined some important items and …
It’s good to know that despite being an opposition councillor I can still get things done. Today’s achievement is that a new dog poo bin has been installed on Dawlish Road after I raised resident’s concerns. It’s not much comfort though when you have to watch the administration cutting £1.5million …
You may be wondering why I’ve been on Andrew Peach, done a press release etc and not mentioned the lights in my blog. There’s no cunning plan, just been too busy. If you’re interested the press release is on Whitleynews For the record my personal view is that I have …
Regular readers of my blog (all one or two of you – hi Mum!) will remember I proposed a motion to Reading council in June that was passed unanimously (amazingly given what else went on that night…) offering support to the “Keep Posties Cycling” campaign. Well they’re now getting somewhere, …
Summary:A quiet month but have used it to ensure that I’m on top of things happening in the ward and to get up to date with some key issues that are coming up. Council work:There were no formal council meetings or committee in August. However I did have a very …
Summary: As I predicted in my June report July was a quieter month on the council front partially as there has been less going on and partially due to the personal circumstances that meant I have taken some time out here and there. Council work: The only committee related to …
Really disappointed and surprised by just how short term the Con-Dem coalition is being. The scheme to build “extra care” homes for the elderly on the old Avenue school site has been axed by the Con-Dem coalition. It’s a cut that doesn’t make any sense, as it is a one …
This isn’t meant as a formal report but I do want to keep constituents in the loop. This is a much longer post than usual but I hope of interest to local constituents! Council work: Formal council committees that that I am a member of and met in June are …
Full council last night was full of hot air. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed by the game playing and the lack of real engagement in debate by the Conservative/Libdem groups. I had to make a real effort to attend (thanks to the staff who brought me …
As the local press has spotted I’ve put a motion in to the council calling on the Royal Mail to reconsider it’s decision to phase our most bike deliveries. As a cyclist myself I know that cycling can be the most efficient, cheap and environmentally friendly way to get about …
Well I’ve attended my first scrutiny panel what a varied agenda! It’s all publicly available if you want to see the reports that we had access to. Disappointing that the 10:10 report was shunted to the end of the meeting, but it looks like the council has been making good …
I was at the Reading faith forum earlier this week and it struck me just how little the very people you would expect to be keen on the Big Society – the faith groups that do such great voluntary work, seemed taken with the idea of the council and government …
Long post but I want to keep Whitley residents informed about what I’m doing as a councillor rather than disappearing into a black hole. Started with finishing off even more paperwork over the weekend! I am actually going to get back out and about this weekend hopefully… There was also …
So the Conservatives have managed to persuade the Lib Dems to enter a coalition in Reading as well as nationally. I could see the logic nationally. Of course I didn’t like it, any more than I liked the fact that the Conservatives got more seats than Labour – but that is democracy and it …
I’ve been elected as Whitley ward councillor. Some very varied results across the country. Locally of course I’m really disappointed by the General election result but surprised and pleased by the Reading borough council elections. Net impact is Labour are still on 19, Conservatives have lost a seat while the …
No great shock then. However with the local elections in Reading being on 6th May this is really good news for everyone, with the possible exception of the returning officer and count staff. It will mean that there will be higher turnout as people will have 2 elections to vote …
I’m getting increasingly frustrated about the “debate” on the future of social care. Of course I expect people with different political views to me to disagree on the solution but for goodness sake – the problem is obvious. We have an aging population, (which is one one level is great …
I’m on a Christmas break now but Martin Salter MP has asked me if I’d like to post up his comments on the recent snow… I pretty much agree with him: – it’s nice and simplistic to blame one group or organisation for everything that isn’t totally smooth in life …
I’ve been too busy to write but thought I better update on my earlier post (especially given the comment on it today!). I still maintain it was nice on Wednesday afternoon (hard to remember it now – a few flakes that didn’t settle!) Got home from visiting some of my …
Full details are here, overall the commission judged Reading BC social care to be ‘performing well’ and that there have been a lot of improvements over the last year. There’s still room to improve further but combined with the fact that Reading funds people with ‘greater moderate’ and ‘substantial’ as …
