London super-council ‘could save £100m a year’

Three Conservative London councils have announced plans that could see them merge all their services and create the UK’s first “super-council”.

Hammersmith and Fulham, Kensington and Chelsea, and Westminster say the move could save £50m to £100m a year.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has backed the plans and wants other councils to follow.

But critics argue a wholesale merger would damage the local provision of services and lower standards.

They say fewer staff would be trying to cover a bigger area.

Hammersmith and Fulham leader Stephen Greenhalgh admitted there would be “significant reductions” in staff and that the spending cuts meant jobs could not be safeguarded.

Under the proposal, each authority would retain its political identity with its own elected leaders and councillors.

‘Absolute guarantee’

Efforts are already under way to merge the three children’s services departments, which cover education, but now the authorities are considering whether to go further.

The plans will be formally announced later and if they are adopted could create a local authority bigger than Glasgow or Leeds.

A series of working groups will be set up to look at ways of merging three main areas – environmental services, family services and corporate services.

The groups are due to report back by February next year and afterwards more detailed plans will be put out to public consultation.

There have been other examples of pooled resources – South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse district councils share a chief executive – but nothing on this scale.

The Local Government Association said this was the first proposal with initial agreement to potentially share all services, not just back-office ones.

In a joint statement, the councils’ leaders said the initiative would soon become the norm for local authorities looking to keep costs down while delivering quality services.

Eric Pickles says the merger plan leads the way, and voters will expect other councils to follow

Colin Barrow (Westminster), Stephen Greenhalgh (Hammersmith and Fulham) and Sir Merrick Cockell (Kensington and Chelsea) said that potentially sharing every service was a way to “reduce duplication and drive out needless cost”.

Mr Greenhalgh told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme he gave an “absolute guarantee” that merging and sharing services would not compromise the political sovereignty of the three councils.

He said: “There’s a lot of bureaucracy involved with delivering local services. You often find that of the £3 we spend, £1 is spent deciding what to do with the other two.

“This is about minimising that overhead, and we still have political sovereignty, still have the ability to choose how we spend the money locally.”

He added that the councils were not trying to create a “homogeneous blob” but were just being more efficient about the choice of services received.

Mr Pickles said: “These councils are leading the way in local government and voters will expect others to get on board and follow suit.

“This is exactly the sort of innovation that will help councils to protect hard-working families and the most vulnerable.

“By sharing back-office services, they’ll be able to protect the front line – and even improve the choice and services that’s on offer to local residents.”

But the Unite union warned councils against rushing into “untested structures” despite the pressure from cuts.

Its national officer for local government, Peter Allenson, said: “Councils have to be close to the needs of their communities and the people who elect them and pay for them – and council workers need to know who is in charge.

“Super-sizing the delivery of services like this means local councillors become insignificant and have little influence on the services they provide.

“Voters will soon become disenfranchised and wonder what they are paying for.”

Greenwich Pedestrianisation Update

After the consultation at Davenport house last weekend, a number of things became apparent about the Council’s preferred option for a one-way gyratory system clockwise on Creek Rd, Greenwich Church St, Greenwich High Rd and Norman Rd.

The cost of implementing the gyratory alone would be £3.5m and the answer Cllr David Grant received when asking what the benefits to local residents would be was “None”.

Chris Roberts, Labour leader of Greenwich Council, has been quoted as saying: “As a world heritage site, Maritime Greenwich receives around nine million visitors a year and we need to ensure the town is a fitting place for the increased numbers of people we are expecting in the run up to, and during, the 2012 Games.”

What he fails to mention but was brought up by the Consultation Team at Davenport house is: “there is currently no funding set aside for the pedestrianisation”, and “that it would not be ready for the 2012 Olympics!”

The Greenwich Council plans include pedestrianisation schemes and landscaping improvements to Cutty Sark Gardens however, there is currently no funding set aside for this project, and this is in the face of up to 40% spending cuts that the Council are going to be making.

Three-day Docklands Light Railway strike announced

Three-day Docklands Light Railway strike announced

The Rail Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) has said its members on Docklands Light Railway (DLR) will walk out for three days on 23 June over a pay row.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: “Our members will not be bullied by management into taking on more work without being properly compensated.”

The DLR members work for Serco, which called their demand “opportunistic”.

The stoppage will coincide with a 48-hour strike called by some London Underground maintenance workers.

Mr Crow added: “RMT has made every effort to reach a negotiated settlement on this issue, but all of our proposals have been thrown back in our face.

“That is no way to run a key element of London’s transport system.”

David Godley, managing director of Serco Docklands, said: “This threat of industrial action is an opportunistic demand for cash for employees who have not had any change to job descriptions or terms or conditions of their employment.

“We have offered further talks with the RMT and are awaiting a reply.”

Tube Lines maintenance workers on London Underground are due to stage two 48-hour strikes from 23 June and 14 July in a separate row over pay, jobs and conditions.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/10293456.stm

Making your mind up

With less than a day of campaigning left for all parties it is time to make your mind up.

The figures from the last election for which ward figures are available are from the GLA Elections in 2008 show that only the Conservatives can beat Labour here to change Greenwich West.

The percentage of the vote then was as follows:

The Conservatives are the only party to lay out a very substantial, detailed Council Election Manifesto available to all on Greenwich Conservatives website:  far more detailed than that of Labour or the Lib Dems and  offering real change and a return to local democracy.

So Conservatives should vote positively from the Conservative Candidates – there is no room for tactical voting in Greenwich.

To keep Labour out and bring change to Greenwich we are the only ones that can do it!

Conservative Manifesto 2010

A country is at its best when the bonds between people are strong and when the sense of national purpose is clear. Today the challenges facing Britain are immense. Our economy is overwhelmed by debt, our social fabric is frayed and our political system has betrayed the people. But these problems can be overcome if we pull together and work together. If we remember that we are all in this together.

Some politicians say: ‘give us your vote and we will sort out all your problems’. We say: real change comes not from government alone. Real change comes when the people are inspired and mobilised, when millions of us are fired up to play a part in the nation’s future.

Yes this is ambitious. Yes it is optimistic. But in the end all the Acts of Parliament, all the new measures, all the new policy initiatives, are just politicians’ words without you and your involvement.

How will we deal with the debt crisis unless we understand that we are all in this together? How will we raise responsible children unless every adult plays their part? How will we revitalise communities unless people stop asking ‘who will fix this?’ and start asking ‘what can I do?’ Britain will change for the better when we all elect to take part, to take responsibility – if we all come together. Collective strength will overpower our problems.

Only together can we can get rid of this government and, eventually, its debt. Only
Together can we get the economy moving. Only together can we protect the NHS. Improve our schools. Mend our broken society. Together we can even make politics and politicians work better. And if we can do that, we can do anything. Yes, together we can do anything.

So my invitation today is this: join us, to form a new kind of government for Britain.

http://www.conservatives.com/Policy/Manifesto.aspx

The Conservative manifesto is now available to download http://bit.ly/9bV8k8

National Citizen Service

David Cameron has announced that a Conservative Government will set up a National Citizen Service – non-military national service – for 16 year-olds.

National Citizen Service (NCS) will be a two month summer programme for 16-year olds, involving both residential and at-home components. It will be delivered by independent charities, social enterprises and businesses.

“I’m so excited about what we’re setting out today”, Cameron said. “It’s been a long time in development – a lot of time and effort has gone into making it a reality – and I think it will be one of the proudest legacies of a future Conservative government”.

A Conservative government will set for itself this ambitious goal: that over time, all 16 year-olds will take part in NCS. We want NCS to be a rite of passage for all sixteen year olds in Britain, and a shared experience that will bring young people from different backgrounds together. NCS will promote social mixing, help the transition to adulthood and promote community engagement.

The Conservative Party has been developing these plans for the past four and half years, and even while in opposition we have helped raise £2 million for, and worked with, independent charities and social enterprises to run pilot programmes in London, Wales and North West in 2006, 2008 and 2009.

Speaking at his first press conference of the election campaign, where he was joined by actor Michael Caine, David Cameron described what the NCS is about:

“We must give young people more to aspire to. More shape to their lives. More responsibility. More pride in themselves and what they can do. And we must all come together to do more about the national scandal of all this wasted promise. We owe it to the next generations.”

Outlining how it would work, he said it was “a kind of non-military national service – a two-month programme for sixteen year-olds to come together in common purpose”.

“It’s going to mix young people from different backgrounds, different ethnicities and religions, in a way that doesn’t happen right now. It’s going to teach them what it means to be socially responsible by asking them to serve their communities.”

“Above all it’s going to help a generation of young people to appreciate what they can achieve. For themselves, and by themselves. Gandhi put it beautifully, as he did so often: ‘the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

He added that these plans are a central part of the Conservative vision for a Big Society. “Our ambition is that over time, every sixteen year old will take part. That’s hundreds of thousands of teenagers – year in, year out – volunteering, playing their part, making a difference”, he said.

“This is about sowing the seeds of the Big Society – and seeing them thrive in the years to come.”

To read more about our plans for a National Citizen Service click here to download a copy in PDF format.

Giving local people the power to recall MPs

Our People Power manifesto, to be unveiled next week, will give local people the direct power to recall MPs found guilty of wrongdoing without having to wait for a General Election.

Conservatives will empower local people to cast a vote of no confidence in their elected representative and bring an end to the concept of the ‘safe seat’.

This proposal will make MPs directly answerable to their constituents over the whole of a Parliament – not just every five years.

How the Right to Recall process will work:

• The recall process will begin with the filing of a notice-of-intent-to-recall petition, to be signed by at least 100 constituents and submitted to the local returning officer
• Once registered, a recall petition can be circulated within the constituency, petitions for the recall of MPs must accumulate signatures equal to 10 per cent of the local electorate
• Any petition that crosses the signature threshold within 90 days would trigger a by-election

Shadow Leader of the House Sir George Young said:

“The last five years has been disastrous for Parliament and trust in politics has reached an all-time low. People want change and politicians must become more directly accountable for their actions.

“We have proposed a power of recall that will allow constituents to remove their MP mid-term without having to wait for a general election. Giving local people the power to cast a vote of no confidence in their elected representative will bring an end to the concept of the ‘safe seat’ and make MPs directly answerable to their constituents over the whole of a Parliament, not just every five years.

“Recall will be triggered by a completely restructured Committee on Standards and Privileges that, for the first time in Parliament’s history, will contain non-parliamentary members – as I recommended to the Committee on Standards in Public Life last July.

“Our proposals will help to rebuild trust in Parliament and put more power where it belongs – in the hands of the people”.

http://www.conservatives.com/News/News_stories/2010/04/Giving_local_people_the_power_to_recall_MPs.aspx

30 more business leaders back Tories on National Insurance – Telegraph

General Election 2010: 30 more business leaders back Tories on National Insurance – Telegraph.

30 more business leaders back Tories on National Insurance

Another 30 leading business leaders have backed the Conservative pledge not to increase National Insurance next year.

They include the chief executives or chairmen of Corus, Northern Foods, Reed Elsevier, Easyjet, Travelodge and House of Fraser.

In total, the heads of 68 of the country’s biggest businesses have now backed the Conservative policy of cutting Government waste rather than increasing National Insurance. They employ almost one million people.

All the country’s major business groups have also called for the proposed increase on the “tax on jobs” to be scrapped.

The new names were released by the Conservatives minutes before the last Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament before the general election.

David Cameron accused the Prime Minister of threatening to “kill the [economic] recovery” if pushing ahead with the tax rise.

“Does the Prime Minister know more about job creation than business leaders?” Mr Cameron asked. “This Government would wreck the recovery.”

Gordon Brown defended the National Insurance rise saying he would rather increase taxes than cut frontline public services.

The new names were released hours after Mr Brown used a television interview to attack business leaders who were campaigning against National Insurance rises. He accused the business leaders of being “deceived” by Conservative election promises.

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Brown: “I think they have been deceived because the big issue at the moment is can we sustain the recovery.”

He told GMTV: ”Britain is on the road to recovery. Don’t put that at risk. The Conservative’s policy would take £6 billion out of the economy. That is a huge sum of money to take out of the economy.”

However, Mr Brown declined to repeat the accusation that business leaders were being deceived when repeatedly pressed to do so in Parliament.

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, said Mr Brown had “declared war on British business” ahead of the May 6 election.

Mr Brown’s comments come after Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, last week accused David Cameron of “peddling a deception on businesses up and down the country and on the British people.”

Both Mr Brown and Lord Mandelson spent years cultivating business backing to show that New Labour could be trusted with the economy.

The new business leaders to support the scrapping of the one pence in the pound increase in National Insurance are: Kirby Adams, Chief Executive, Corus; Surinder Arora, Chairman, Arora International Hotels; Stefan Barden, Chief Executive, Northern Foods; Robert Bensoussan, Executive Chairman, LK Bennett; Simon Blagden, Chairman, Fujitsu Telecommunications (Europe); Tony Brown, Chief Executive, Beales; Chris Dawson, Founder and Managing Director, The Range; Sir John Egan; Ralph Findlay, Chief Executive, Marston’s plc; Stephen Goodyear, Chief Executive, Young & Co’s Brewery PLC; Anthony Habgood, Chairman, Reed Elsevier; Andy Harrison, Chief Executive, easyJet; Peter Harrison, Chief Executive, Furniture Village; Grant Hearn, Chief Executive, Travelodge; Peter Hindle, Chief Executive, Jewson; Neil Hornby, Chairman, Hornby plc and Umeco plc; Luke Johnson, Founder of Risk Capital Partners and Chairman of Royal Society of Arts; John King, Chief Executive, House of Fraser; Richard Kirk, Chief Executive, The Peacock Group; Simon Lockett, Chief Executive, Premier Oil Plc; Rick Medlock, CFO, Inmarsat Plc; Mike Norris, Chief Executive, Computacenter; Tony Pidgeley, Group Chairman, Berkeley Group Holdings Plc; Jamie Ritblat, Chief Executive, Delancey; Nick Robertson, Chief Executive, ASOS; Tim Steiner, Chief Executive, Ocado; Michael Turner, Chief Executive, Fuller, Smith & Turner Plc; Tom Wells, Chairman, Charles Wells Ltd and Muntons plc; Nick Wheeler, Founder, Charles Tyrwhitt; Bob Wigley, Chairman of Sovereign Reversions plc.

Practical Support for our Armed Services

Greenwich Conservatives have made a positive commitment to provide support to Armed Forces Service leavers in the Borough by counting their time in the Services towards an allocation for housing.

Ryan Acty, Conservative activist in West Greenwich who served in the British Army for nine years and saw action in Kosovo in 2000 and Irag in 2004 has welcomed this move:

He said: “This is about time. When I was leaving the Army in early 2007 I approached the Council for housing in Woolwich only to be told that I wasn’t eligible under existing rules and would be at the bottom of the waiting list even though I would have effectively be made homeless on my discharge date.”

“During the time of my resettlement I was having to make an adjustment from life in the Army to civilian life, the added burden of housing was an additional worry that this commitment will help to alleviate.

This is least that the Council can do to recognise the commitment and sacrifice that out Armed Services make for this Country.”

Meeting with Ken Clarke QC MP

I spent a wonderful evening on thursday meeting with one of the heavy-weights of British Politics, the Rt Hon Ken Clarke QC MP.

The Shadow Business Secretary was attending an annual meeting at Shendish Manor on his way to the Midlands

Ken Clarke was on top form but painted a gloomy picture for the Government after the election – whichever party is in power. He emphasized the importance of dealing with the deficit and how crucial that is for Britain’s recovery.

He said “20 years ago we turned around an economy left in tatters by Labour, got Britain growing, and left Gordon Brown with a golden economic legacy.”

Now we need to do it again.

Ken Clarke  is a very capable and experienced politician who will play a key role in the next Conservative government and a critical role in ensuring Britain’s recovery from the massive debt crisis left by Gordon Brown.