Monday 27th February 4pm - Culture Portfolio meeting at Grafton House
6pm - Labour Group meeting
Wednesday 29th February 6pm - Ipswich Borough Council, Full Council Meeting
Thursday 1st March 5pm - Rushmere Youth Club - planning meeting
Friday 2nd March 7pm - St Helens School quiz night
Saturday 3rd March 10.30am - Labour campaigning in East Ipswich
This week will see our budget discussed and voted on at the Full Council meeting, we hope that this budget will lead to Ipswich Borough Council starting to build council homes again. It will also see money put into helping get more investment and jobs in the town. We have managed to put these initiatives into the budget whilst still freezing Council Tax.
But do not expect the Ipswich Tories to congratulate us, instead expect some stupid stunt and claims that they would have reduced council tax ( by cutting more services, selling anything they can off and making more staff redundant)
Wednesday night could see an interesting debate in the Council Chamber.
Sunday, 26 February 2012
Sunday, 19 February 2012
My week ahead 20 - 26 February 2012
Monday 20 February 1pm - Meeting at Sidegate Primary School
6pm - Labour Group meeting
Tuesday 21 February 5.30pm - Tony McNulty talk at UCS
Saturday 25 February 10.30am - Labour campaigning in South East Ipswich
This week we finished setting the budget for Ipswich that we will put to Full Council at the end of the month. I believe Ipswich residents will see that we have managed to put forward a progressive budget even with the limitations placed on us by the Tory/Lib Dem Government. More information on the budget here.
Over the next few days I will be continuing to talk to residents about the proposal to build a shop on the site of the Golden Key.
6pm - Labour Group meeting
Tuesday 21 February 5.30pm - Tony McNulty talk at UCS
Saturday 25 February 10.30am - Labour campaigning in South East Ipswich
This week we finished setting the budget for Ipswich that we will put to Full Council at the end of the month. I believe Ipswich residents will see that we have managed to put forward a progressive budget even with the limitations placed on us by the Tory/Lib Dem Government. More information on the budget here.
Over the next few days I will be continuing to talk to residents about the proposal to build a shop on the site of the Golden Key.
Friday, 17 February 2012
Labour run Ipswich Borough Council - a budget for jobs and growth
At the end of the month, Ipswich Borough Council will vote on the first Labour budget for 8 years, certain Tory and Lib Dem commentators were already stating that they thought we would raise Council tax, but even with the cut in grants from the Tory/Lib Dem national government we have managed to freeze council tax.
But we have also manged to produce a budget for jobs and growth, these are the key points;
1. First Labour budget for 8 years
2. A Budget For Jobs and Growth
a) Major investment in jobs and skills
b) First new council houses in over 20 years
3. No cuts to frontline services
4. A freeze in council tax
The establishment of a £1.5million Jobs and Skills Investment Fund. A report to the March Executive will set out how this Fund will focus on:
Up-front and one-off investment in initiatives that will support jobs and skills issues in the next year
Initiatives that would provide a return and enable the creation of a revolving fund
Initiatives that the Council would support over a number of years;
A £5 million a year programme for the provision of new affordable housing – mainly via the construction of the first new council houses in Ipswich in 20 years.
A £1 million revolving fund to bring empty homes back into use;
Reintroduction of renovation grants to support improvements to homes in the private sector.
But we have also manged to produce a budget for jobs and growth, these are the key points;
1. First Labour budget for 8 years
2. A Budget For Jobs and Growth
a) Major investment in jobs and skills
b) First new council houses in over 20 years
3. No cuts to frontline services
4. A freeze in council tax
The establishment of a £1.5million Jobs and Skills Investment Fund. A report to the March Executive will set out how this Fund will focus on:
Up-front and one-off investment in initiatives that will support jobs and skills issues in the next year
Initiatives that would provide a return and enable the creation of a revolving fund
Initiatives that the Council would support over a number of years;
A £5 million a year programme for the provision of new affordable housing – mainly via the construction of the first new council houses in Ipswich in 20 years.
A £1 million revolving fund to bring empty homes back into use;
Reintroduction of renovation grants to support improvements to homes in the private sector.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Golden Key - second planning application
Back in October I helped local residents in their campaign to stop Greene King building a supermarket on the site of the Golden Key pub in Woodbridge Road.
The application was turned down but Greene King have now put in a second application - more details here.
Please contact me with your views on the planning proposal to put a supermarket on the site, I have heard from residents both for and against the proposal, but even those in favour of a store are concerned about the traffic congestion that may be created at what is already a busy junction.
Other than two more windows on the side of the building, there seems to have been very few changes to the original application. I am disappointed that Greene King have not used the last few months to enter into a full consultation with their neighbours. A missed opportunity.
E mail your views by the 20th February - alasdairross@hotmail.com
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Tuition fee increase bad for fledgling university
I do not usually re print my Evening Star column in my blog, but as the two recent 'Star' stories have an interest to people beyond Rushmere Estate, I thought I would
Portsmouth and University Campus Suffolk
A half term football match enables me to combine a visit to my daughter at Portsmouth University and a chance to watch Ipswich on the South coast. Now Portsmouth may be struggling as a football club financially but as a university city it is thriving and both Pompey and Southsea are destinations that many of our young Ipswich residents head for.
As you walk along the Southsea Common you will pass hundreds of students going between the campus and their rented houses in Southsea, we hope that in a few years’ time as we walk along the Waterfront in Ipswich we will pass hundreds of students moving between the UCS Campus and the town centre but there are doubts and the reduction in the number of young people applying for university places is a worry. Even more so with UCS reporting a drop in figures as we know many of their prospective students would be Suffolk residents who have chosen UCS – not only because it is a good university but also so they can keep the cost of studying at university as low as possible by living at home.
Back in December 2010, Ben Gummer spoke in Parliament in favour of raising university tuition fees. Rather paradoxically, he is on record in this debate as saying “the continuation of university campus Suffolk is critical to my voting in favour of these proposals” . How could increased tuition fees improve the financial chances of a fledgling university in the early stages of developing a reputation worthy of such high tuition fees?
Perhaps concerned at their ability to attract student applications, UCS (University College Suffolk) did not utilise the full potential of the tuition fee increase that most universities adopted. In March 2011 they announced tuition fees for UK and European Union full-time undergraduates for 2012 entry at £7,500 for Foundation degrees and £8,000 for Bachelor degrees .
So it seems many of us have been proved right and Ben Gummer wrong, the raising of tuition fees has not helped those who wish to go to university and is certainly harming new universities like UCS as they attempt to follow Portsmouth and become a town that attracts students in their thousands rather than hundreds.
Portsmouth and University Campus Suffolk
A half term football match enables me to combine a visit to my daughter at Portsmouth University and a chance to watch Ipswich on the South coast. Now Portsmouth may be struggling as a football club financially but as a university city it is thriving and both Pompey and Southsea are destinations that many of our young Ipswich residents head for.
As you walk along the Southsea Common you will pass hundreds of students going between the campus and their rented houses in Southsea, we hope that in a few years’ time as we walk along the Waterfront in Ipswich we will pass hundreds of students moving between the UCS Campus and the town centre but there are doubts and the reduction in the number of young people applying for university places is a worry. Even more so with UCS reporting a drop in figures as we know many of their prospective students would be Suffolk residents who have chosen UCS – not only because it is a good university but also so they can keep the cost of studying at university as low as possible by living at home.
Back in December 2010, Ben Gummer spoke in Parliament in favour of raising university tuition fees. Rather paradoxically, he is on record in this debate as saying “the continuation of university campus Suffolk is critical to my voting in favour of these proposals” . How could increased tuition fees improve the financial chances of a fledgling university in the early stages of developing a reputation worthy of such high tuition fees?
Perhaps concerned at their ability to attract student applications, UCS (University College Suffolk) did not utilise the full potential of the tuition fee increase that most universities adopted. In March 2011 they announced tuition fees for UK and European Union full-time undergraduates for 2012 entry at £7,500 for Foundation degrees and £8,000 for Bachelor degrees .
So it seems many of us have been proved right and Ben Gummer wrong, the raising of tuition fees has not helped those who wish to go to university and is certainly harming new universities like UCS as they attempt to follow Portsmouth and become a town that attracts students in their thousands rather than hundreds.
Support talent of the future
I do not usually re print my Evening Star column in my blog, but as the two recent 'Star' stories have an interest to people beyond Rushmere Estate, I thought I would.
Makes you proud
As an Ipswich supporter I always feel even more proud when a Town teams wins with products of our famed Academy in the side. You may wonder what this has to do with North east Ipswich, but currently one of those players who has us feeling good about our football is Luke Hyam a product of Northgate High School. He is not the only Northgate old boy playing in the Championship, with Liam Trotter who was in my daughters class at school not only playing for Millwall but also captaining the side – another Ipswich academy product.
But in the future we may see ex pupils from Northgate, St Albans and Copleston plying their trade up the road in Norwich.
Currently the FA are looking at changing the Academy system and Ipswich town have to decide if they wish to apply for Category 1 Status or Category 2, many Football League clubs will end up only having Category 3 or 4 and some will not bother having an academy at all.
With the money made from the sales of Wickham, Dyer, Bent and others it would seem a no brainer but the Football Club say they have still not decided and that the cost of Category 1 could force them back into administration.
Norwich will go for Category 1 as will some Championship clubs like Watford – I feel we should go for it and make it work, the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Trust are pushing for Category 1 and over 5,000 signatures on a petition that they will hand into the club asking for us to seek Category 1. I back them fully and not just because I am a football fan but also for the sake of our kids and parents. I want them to be trained and nurtured at Ipswich not up the road in Norwich. Just think of the cost in petrol alone as Ipswich parents traipse up to Norwich or even south to East London.
So if you see Trust members outside the ground at the next few home games, sign the petition. It has been backed by ex-Town players like James Scowcroft and even top football journalists like Henry Winter. If we want to see more Northgate pupils follow in the footsteps of Liam Trotter and Luke Hyam we need to have Category 1 Academy status.
Makes you proud
As an Ipswich supporter I always feel even more proud when a Town teams wins with products of our famed Academy in the side. You may wonder what this has to do with North east Ipswich, but currently one of those players who has us feeling good about our football is Luke Hyam a product of Northgate High School. He is not the only Northgate old boy playing in the Championship, with Liam Trotter who was in my daughters class at school not only playing for Millwall but also captaining the side – another Ipswich academy product.
But in the future we may see ex pupils from Northgate, St Albans and Copleston plying their trade up the road in Norwich.
Currently the FA are looking at changing the Academy system and Ipswich town have to decide if they wish to apply for Category 1 Status or Category 2, many Football League clubs will end up only having Category 3 or 4 and some will not bother having an academy at all.
With the money made from the sales of Wickham, Dyer, Bent and others it would seem a no brainer but the Football Club say they have still not decided and that the cost of Category 1 could force them back into administration.
Norwich will go for Category 1 as will some Championship clubs like Watford – I feel we should go for it and make it work, the Ipswich Town Independent Supporters Trust are pushing for Category 1 and over 5,000 signatures on a petition that they will hand into the club asking for us to seek Category 1. I back them fully and not just because I am a football fan but also for the sake of our kids and parents. I want them to be trained and nurtured at Ipswich not up the road in Norwich. Just think of the cost in petrol alone as Ipswich parents traipse up to Norwich or even south to East London.
So if you see Trust members outside the ground at the next few home games, sign the petition. It has been backed by ex-Town players like James Scowcroft and even top football journalists like Henry Winter. If we want to see more Northgate pupils follow in the footsteps of Liam Trotter and Luke Hyam we need to have Category 1 Academy status.
Sunday, 12 February 2012
NHS only safe under Labour
The You Gov poll today shows that few people trust the Tories with the running of the NHS - not a great result for Cameron who spent most of his days in opposition trying to persuade the public that the Tories could now be trusted to look after our health service. He may have persuaded some but the Tory failure to win a majority in May 2010, tell us that he could not persuade everyone.
There was no mention of the current NHS Bill in the Tory manifesto or in the Coalition agreement but within weeks of Cameron moving into Number 10, Lansley was bringing out a detailed document outlining major changes to the NHS.
No surprise to many of us, for all Cameron's attempts the Tories have never been great supporters of the NHS - In the 1940s, the Tories voted against the NHS. Not once, but on the 1st, the 2nd, and 3rd reading of the bill. The Tories FULLY opposed the NHS.
Now some Tories are calling for the NHS Bill to be dropped, this is not because they love the NHS but they see the bill as political suicide, so we have ConservativeHome plus three Tory Ministers calling for the bill to be dropped. Even here in Ipswich, leading Tory Gavin Maclure has called for the bill to be dropped but if you read his comments you can see he has little respect for those who work in the health service, his view on Doctors: "I think GPs are the worst people to be given more power over my health: they are generally rude, arrogant and many are patently incompetent" and he does not care much for our nurses either: "is better performance management of nurses who leave our elderly grandmothers to wallow in their own faeces, and thirsty because they don't provide drinking water"
Now our MP, Ben Gummer has been very silent about the NHS Bill, surprising as when he was trying to be elected he seemed to be at the hospital every other week and you just had to mention the words 'Heath Road' and he would have a comment in the Evening Star. So what does Ben think about the bill? Does he have the same opinion of Doctors and Nurses as his friend Gavin Maclure has?
Should he not tell the Ipswich public why he is supporting the NHS Bill?
Now the local Lib Dems have also been silent, even though one of their leading members is a local Doctor. Daisy Cooper a leading Suffolk Lib Dem has shown her support for the bill to be dropped on twitter but what does she think of her Lib Dem MP's and Ministers? It is three Tory Ministers who are calling for the bill to be dropped, the Lib Dem Ministers remain silent. Simon Hughes has called for Andrew Lansley to be sacked - but only AFTER he has got the bill through.
So it seems the public are right the NHS is not safe under a Tory Government, even one that is propped up by Lib Dems
All I can ask is that you sign the 'Drop the Bill' petition here.
There was no mention of the current NHS Bill in the Tory manifesto or in the Coalition agreement but within weeks of Cameron moving into Number 10, Lansley was bringing out a detailed document outlining major changes to the NHS.
No surprise to many of us, for all Cameron's attempts the Tories have never been great supporters of the NHS - In the 1940s, the Tories voted against the NHS. Not once, but on the 1st, the 2nd, and 3rd reading of the bill. The Tories FULLY opposed the NHS.
Now some Tories are calling for the NHS Bill to be dropped, this is not because they love the NHS but they see the bill as political suicide, so we have ConservativeHome plus three Tory Ministers calling for the bill to be dropped. Even here in Ipswich, leading Tory Gavin Maclure has called for the bill to be dropped but if you read his comments you can see he has little respect for those who work in the health service, his view on Doctors: "I think GPs are the worst people to be given more power over my health: they are generally rude, arrogant and many are patently incompetent" and he does not care much for our nurses either: "is better performance management of nurses who leave our elderly grandmothers to wallow in their own faeces, and thirsty because they don't provide drinking water"
Now our MP, Ben Gummer has been very silent about the NHS Bill, surprising as when he was trying to be elected he seemed to be at the hospital every other week and you just had to mention the words 'Heath Road' and he would have a comment in the Evening Star. So what does Ben think about the bill? Does he have the same opinion of Doctors and Nurses as his friend Gavin Maclure has?
Should he not tell the Ipswich public why he is supporting the NHS Bill?
Now the local Lib Dems have also been silent, even though one of their leading members is a local Doctor. Daisy Cooper a leading Suffolk Lib Dem has shown her support for the bill to be dropped on twitter but what does she think of her Lib Dem MP's and Ministers? It is three Tory Ministers who are calling for the bill to be dropped, the Lib Dem Ministers remain silent. Simon Hughes has called for Andrew Lansley to be sacked - but only AFTER he has got the bill through.
So it seems the public are right the NHS is not safe under a Tory Government, even one that is propped up by Lib Dems
All I can ask is that you sign the 'Drop the Bill' petition here.
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