Monday – 17 March, 6pm Labour Group
Tuesday – 18 March, 5pm Sidegate Primary School Finance meeting
6pm East Area Housing Panel
Wednesday – 19 March, 6pm Ipswich Borough Council – Full Council meeting, Town Hall
Saturday 22 March, 10am – Labour campaigning – South East Ipswich
This week we have seen Mr Gummer our MP visit the Suffolk Police Control room – expect to see in the paper soon ‘Suffolk Police Control room saved after Tory PCC is lobbied by Tory MP Gummer’ – similar to ‘Bishop Hill lights will not now happen after Tory cabinet member is lobbied by Tory MP Gummer’
Now I am sure that lobbying by Ben Gummer and Tory Cllrs did help persuade Graham Newman to shelve the plan to put traffic lights on Bishops Hill but I have no doubt from meetings held with Mr Newman that he still thinks lights should be placed on the approach from Felixstowe Rd, but has been persuaded to halt the work as it is seen as a vote loser in the marginal ward of Holywells.
The Police Control room issue is slightly different as the Tory PCC seems to have decided himself that it is political suicide to close the control room, do not be fooled by the story about the ‘business case does not stack up’ – when he spoke to the IBC Scrutiny meeting last month he made it quite clear that the control room would probably close with other back office jobs coming to Suffolk in return. You would have thought when he spoke to Scrutiny he would have already known of the business case and details of the closure, weeks late he was happy to send every house in Suffolk a letter detailing the savings he has already made and the savings of close to £6 million he will be making in the future – was the closing of the control room in his savings – or has he no idea of where the savings will be made?
In reading that letter you would get the impression that he is in full control of the budget and has a full understanding of the business plan, but now we seem to get the impression (from Mr Passmore) that he had no prior visibility of the business plan.
I am sure Mr Passmore was surprised by the large attendance of staff and union members at the meeting held to rubber stamp the merger of control rooms with Norfolk, he would not have felt comfortable with the presence of two Labour PPCs in the room and I am sure he would have been slightly surprised by the anger shown by those who were likely to lose their job. But I believe his main reason for the sudden change in plan was when the local paper the EADT, announced they were against the plan.
What had been noticeable up to his announcement of his ‘change of mind’ was the total silence of the seven Suffolk Tory MPs – and even after the sudden change of plan, only Mr Gummer has commented on the issue- possibly due to small majority he holds in Ipswich.
Suffolk MPs do seem loathe to comment on any cuts being imposed by the Tory run County Council or the Tory PCC, maybe they know that the Tory Cllrs would not be happy to be lectured to by MPs when they are just carrying out Tory policies!
So do not expect to hear Mr Gummer making too much of a fuss over the closure of the Felixstowe Rd Children’s Centre, just expect him to repeat the County Council line of ‘services will be maintained but at other locations’ – the question is what locations?
Showing posts with label Graham Newman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graham Newman. Show all posts
Sunday, 16 March 2014
Sunday, 23 February 2014
Taking deserved credit or just trying to win votes?
This week the Tory County Council announced that they had decided not to install traffic lights on Bishops Hill in Ipswich. So did Tory County Councillor Graham Newman listen to residents? Was this a victory for people power?
The Tory MP and Ipswich Tories have been quick to take credit for the u-turn with Cllr Newman himself stating that it was the work of Ben Gummer and Tory Cllr Liz Harsant that had helped him make his mind up.
There was no mention of the survey and leaflets put out by us in the Labour Party or the South East Area Committee meeting held last year where Mr Newman was asked to give his reasons for the installation of the lights. He certainly left that meeting knowing that most residents were against any further lights.
Over the last few weeks the County have held a ‘consultation’ on not only this scheme but two further schemes in the town, but we hear that very few people responded to the consultation and as Cllr Newman was already aware of the feelings of local residents from the area committee meeting and also the opposition from councillors of all political groups why has he waited till after this sham of a consultation to tell us that the lights will now not be going in?
At least one local political correspondent was critical of what he believed was squabbling between us and the Tories to claim credit for the u-turn. I for one was annoyed by the way the Tories attempted to take all the credit, helped by the statement by Mr Newman. The tweets by our MP, Ben Gummer seeking to take credit for the u-turn , when asked by myself was he implying that Graham Newman did not listen to Labour he said he was not implying it but we had done little more than deliver a few leaflets. Yes again he got his facts wrong, Our transport spokesperson Sandra Gage has been in conversation since August asking for a consultation, the South East Area committee meeting attended by Graham Newman was organised by the Labour Chair and it was the hard work of Sandra that forced the Tory run county to hold meetings with Borough councillors so we could get over to rural Tories what our residents think about some of the Travel Ipswich schemes. The Tory leaflet mentions that the Holywells Councillors have attended these meetings to get over their views- funny they mention that their candidate for the elections in May – George Debman has attended these meetings, funny because the two that I have attended he has not been present.
Then again he may have been at the public meeting organised by our Tory MP, Ben Gummer. Again I was quite surprised that we never heard about this meeting, Ben Gummer mentioned on twitter that he had organised one but when asked where and when was it held- all we got was silence? Did any of you attend it?
Now where do I stand on the lights option for Bishops Hill? To be honest I am not sure but I am certain that Mr Newman thinks we should have them, what I am certain of is nothing needs to be done till after the consultation on the Nacton Rd/Ravenswood/A12 issue is over and the scheme to solve that problem is in place, it is only then that we can see the real traffic flow results on Bishops Hill..
So did Mr Newman listen to residents? Did he take on the views of the Labour councillors – no, he did just listen to Mr Gummer and Mrs Harsant and he decided to stop the scheme because they are desperate to hold onto Holywells. As a number of residents have already worked out from listening to Mr Newman on Radio Suffolk that when traffic continues to stack up in Ipswich he will blame residents for the u-turn on the Bishops Hill lights.
He certainly did not listen to the consultation as it was just a sham, a few boards in a shopping centre, and if you could understand the boards you could then send of your view on the back of a postcard! The board which showed the details of the Argyll Street junction did not even show two existing sets of traffic lights that are within 50 metres of the proposed new lights. It was just a sham consultation.
So if Mr Newman is going to state that he did listen to residents and to local politicians – then can he tell us when he is going install toilets at the Old Cattle Market bus station? Or as I believe he is making decisions depending on how many votes the Tories can get out of it.
The Tory MP and Ipswich Tories have been quick to take credit for the u-turn with Cllr Newman himself stating that it was the work of Ben Gummer and Tory Cllr Liz Harsant that had helped him make his mind up.
There was no mention of the survey and leaflets put out by us in the Labour Party or the South East Area Committee meeting held last year where Mr Newman was asked to give his reasons for the installation of the lights. He certainly left that meeting knowing that most residents were against any further lights.
Over the last few weeks the County have held a ‘consultation’ on not only this scheme but two further schemes in the town, but we hear that very few people responded to the consultation and as Cllr Newman was already aware of the feelings of local residents from the area committee meeting and also the opposition from councillors of all political groups why has he waited till after this sham of a consultation to tell us that the lights will now not be going in?
At least one local political correspondent was critical of what he believed was squabbling between us and the Tories to claim credit for the u-turn. I for one was annoyed by the way the Tories attempted to take all the credit, helped by the statement by Mr Newman. The tweets by our MP, Ben Gummer seeking to take credit for the u-turn , when asked by myself was he implying that Graham Newman did not listen to Labour he said he was not implying it but we had done little more than deliver a few leaflets. Yes again he got his facts wrong, Our transport spokesperson Sandra Gage has been in conversation since August asking for a consultation, the South East Area committee meeting attended by Graham Newman was organised by the Labour Chair and it was the hard work of Sandra that forced the Tory run county to hold meetings with Borough councillors so we could get over to rural Tories what our residents think about some of the Travel Ipswich schemes. The Tory leaflet mentions that the Holywells Councillors have attended these meetings to get over their views- funny they mention that their candidate for the elections in May – George Debman has attended these meetings, funny because the two that I have attended he has not been present.
Then again he may have been at the public meeting organised by our Tory MP, Ben Gummer. Again I was quite surprised that we never heard about this meeting, Ben Gummer mentioned on twitter that he had organised one but when asked where and when was it held- all we got was silence? Did any of you attend it?
Now where do I stand on the lights option for Bishops Hill? To be honest I am not sure but I am certain that Mr Newman thinks we should have them, what I am certain of is nothing needs to be done till after the consultation on the Nacton Rd/Ravenswood/A12 issue is over and the scheme to solve that problem is in place, it is only then that we can see the real traffic flow results on Bishops Hill..
So did Mr Newman listen to residents? Did he take on the views of the Labour councillors – no, he did just listen to Mr Gummer and Mrs Harsant and he decided to stop the scheme because they are desperate to hold onto Holywells. As a number of residents have already worked out from listening to Mr Newman on Radio Suffolk that when traffic continues to stack up in Ipswich he will blame residents for the u-turn on the Bishops Hill lights.
He certainly did not listen to the consultation as it was just a sham, a few boards in a shopping centre, and if you could understand the boards you could then send of your view on the back of a postcard! The board which showed the details of the Argyll Street junction did not even show two existing sets of traffic lights that are within 50 metres of the proposed new lights. It was just a sham consultation.
So if Mr Newman is going to state that he did listen to residents and to local politicians – then can he tell us when he is going install toilets at the Old Cattle Market bus station? Or as I believe he is making decisions depending on how many votes the Tories can get out of it.
Sunday, 4 August 2013
My week ahead 5 - 11 August 2013
Monday 5 August - 6pm, Labour campaigning, South East Ipswich
Thursday 8 August – 4pm, Area Committee Chair’s meeting
Saturday 10 August - 10am, Labour campaigning, North West Ipswich
August always has slightly less meetings than other months but this will allow more time to get out campaigning and more importantly, meeting residents.
This week I attended the South East Area Committee meeting at Ravenswood School, a large attendance due to the fact that Tory Transport chief, Graham Newman was to address the meeting. He was invited to speak about general transport issues but by the time the meeting came round the only real topic was the proposed installation of traffic lights on Bishops Hill.
It was hard to find any resident keen on the idea and Tory Cllr Newman would not have been happy that another Tory Cllr, Liz Harsant insisted that longer was given for residents to question Mr Newman.
At the end of the meeting Mr Newman agreed to a further meeting some would say consultation! But I have a feeling a second meeting may take place but there will be no consultation it will be more of an information meeting to just say why and when the lights are going in. From the meeting it seems obvious that there is little contact let alone discussion of policies between the Ipswich and Suffolk Tory Groups.
In the Holywells ward the Tories seem to be using the St Margaret’s Lib Dem Modus Operandi – just saying whatever residents want – even if it is the opposite to Tory policy or even the opposite of what you said last week.
It seems we have a certain Holywells Tory councillor against the proposed Holywells Park upgrade (due to Heritage Lottery Fund grant) because of the parking issues in Cliff Lane and surrounding streets, even though a few weeks earlier all the Holywells Tory councillors had been mentioned on a Tory leaflet along with Ben Gummer celebrating the grant.
Even a St Margaret’s; Lib Dem would have been proud of the ability to say one thing and then a week later say the complete opposite.
Just so all residents are clear the idea to place lights on Bishops Hill and remove the Norwich Road mini-roundabouts is a TORY plan, which they could not tell residents about as the timing of the proposals clashed with the County Council elections (a date they had known about for 4 years)
According to Ipswich Spy, I was cycling on the pavement in Ipswich on Tuesday, funny as I was in Oulton all day campaigning for Len Jacklin and then at the SE Area committee meeting - Tories should worry - two of me!
Thursday 8 August – 4pm, Area Committee Chair’s meeting
Saturday 10 August - 10am, Labour campaigning, North West Ipswich
August always has slightly less meetings than other months but this will allow more time to get out campaigning and more importantly, meeting residents.
This week I attended the South East Area Committee meeting at Ravenswood School, a large attendance due to the fact that Tory Transport chief, Graham Newman was to address the meeting. He was invited to speak about general transport issues but by the time the meeting came round the only real topic was the proposed installation of traffic lights on Bishops Hill.
It was hard to find any resident keen on the idea and Tory Cllr Newman would not have been happy that another Tory Cllr, Liz Harsant insisted that longer was given for residents to question Mr Newman.
At the end of the meeting Mr Newman agreed to a further meeting some would say consultation! But I have a feeling a second meeting may take place but there will be no consultation it will be more of an information meeting to just say why and when the lights are going in. From the meeting it seems obvious that there is little contact let alone discussion of policies between the Ipswich and Suffolk Tory Groups.
In the Holywells ward the Tories seem to be using the St Margaret’s Lib Dem Modus Operandi – just saying whatever residents want – even if it is the opposite to Tory policy or even the opposite of what you said last week.
It seems we have a certain Holywells Tory councillor against the proposed Holywells Park upgrade (due to Heritage Lottery Fund grant) because of the parking issues in Cliff Lane and surrounding streets, even though a few weeks earlier all the Holywells Tory councillors had been mentioned on a Tory leaflet along with Ben Gummer celebrating the grant.
Even a St Margaret’s; Lib Dem would have been proud of the ability to say one thing and then a week later say the complete opposite.
Just so all residents are clear the idea to place lights on Bishops Hill and remove the Norwich Road mini-roundabouts is a TORY plan, which they could not tell residents about as the timing of the proposals clashed with the County Council elections (a date they had known about for 4 years)
According to Ipswich Spy, I was cycling on the pavement in Ipswich on Tuesday, funny as I was in Oulton all day campaigning for Len Jacklin and then at the SE Area committee meeting - Tories should worry - two of me!
Sunday, 28 July 2013
My week ahead 29 July - 4 August 2013
Monday 29 July - 6pm, Labour campaigning, East Ipswich
Tuesday 30 July – 9am, Campaign Day in Oulton Broad for by-election
Wednesday 31 July – 10am – Visit to Christchurch and Holywells Park
Saturday 3 August - 10am, Labour campaigning, South West Ipswich
This week had an enjoyable evening with the Ransomes sequence dancing club, the Council have helped them find a temporary location at Gainsborough sports Centre whilst they wait for IBC to take over the running of the Ransomes Sports Club.
The members of the club made myself and the Mayor very welcome and told us how they were looking forward to going back to Ransomes once the legal situation is sorted out. The club are also happy about our proposals on how the site will be run and the improvements we have planned for what has become a very ‘tired’ pavilion.
The local Tories seem to be in disarray, local splits in the Ipswich group over the selection/de-selection of candidates for the Borough elections next year and more worrying for the residents of Ipswich seems to be the breakdown of trust between the Suffolk Tories and Ipswich Tories. This has caused a major fall out over the Tory run Suffolk plans to introduce lights on Bishops Hill and the removal of the mini roundabouts on Norwich Road.
I am not sure if the lights will benefit residents, but what is certainly true the lights were not in the original plans and there has been no consultation with local residents over the issue. This has now led to a public spat between the Tory County Portfolio for Transport, Graham Newman and leading local Tory, Liz Harsant.
There also seems to be no attempt by the local Tory MP’s Ben Gummer and Dan Poulter to bring the two groups together – trouble is it is only Ipswich residents who will lose out over this.
Tuesday 30 July – 9am, Campaign Day in Oulton Broad for by-election
Wednesday 31 July – 10am – Visit to Christchurch and Holywells Park
Saturday 3 August - 10am, Labour campaigning, South West Ipswich
This week had an enjoyable evening with the Ransomes sequence dancing club, the Council have helped them find a temporary location at Gainsborough sports Centre whilst they wait for IBC to take over the running of the Ransomes Sports Club.
The members of the club made myself and the Mayor very welcome and told us how they were looking forward to going back to Ransomes once the legal situation is sorted out. The club are also happy about our proposals on how the site will be run and the improvements we have planned for what has become a very ‘tired’ pavilion.
The local Tories seem to be in disarray, local splits in the Ipswich group over the selection/de-selection of candidates for the Borough elections next year and more worrying for the residents of Ipswich seems to be the breakdown of trust between the Suffolk Tories and Ipswich Tories. This has caused a major fall out over the Tory run Suffolk plans to introduce lights on Bishops Hill and the removal of the mini roundabouts on Norwich Road.
I am not sure if the lights will benefit residents, but what is certainly true the lights were not in the original plans and there has been no consultation with local residents over the issue. This has now led to a public spat between the Tory County Portfolio for Transport, Graham Newman and leading local Tory, Liz Harsant.
There also seems to be no attempt by the local Tory MP’s Ben Gummer and Dan Poulter to bring the two groups together – trouble is it is only Ipswich residents who will lose out over this.
Friday, 1 February 2013
Education in Suffolk is a mess – says who?
The Tory run Suffolk County Council is being accused of letting the children of the county down. Graham Newman the Tory Cabinet member is being left on his own to carry the can – Bee, Noble and Terry and other Tory Cabinet members have been silent ever since a second set of poor results were released.
But before Tory bloggers – shout – ‘You would say that’ – here are other comments about the Tory run County Council:
“Do I think SOR has been well handled? No I do not.”
“Register your protest – you have the Council County elections in
May. “He continued: “The concerns you’ve raised are impressive, and I’ve had my eyes opened. It is a mess.”
"If you’re saying that they [SCC] made a dumb decision and it’s ended in a plane crash, then yes, I will say that. In the last ten days we have seen disastrous performance. This is a great county with great kids and teachers. Why a county like this is a tail end Charlie is a scandal.”
“I will be seeing Mr Newman and he has to make himself accountable.”
Who made all these comments? Was it some left wing teacher or a Labour politician? – No – these comments were made last week by a Suffolk Tory MP, Mr Ruffley MP
But maybe the best comments have been made by parents, and have included: “Graham Newman and his cabinet colleagues do not listen.”
And what did the HM Chief Inspector for Schools say in 2001 when Labour run the County?
‘Suffolk is an outstanding local education authority, with many strengths. Under the excellent leadership of officers and members, the LEA is clearly focused on continuous improvement and is a credit to the community it serves.’
But before Tory bloggers – shout – ‘You would say that’ – here are other comments about the Tory run County Council:
“Do I think SOR has been well handled? No I do not.”
“Register your protest – you have the Council County elections in
May. “He continued: “The concerns you’ve raised are impressive, and I’ve had my eyes opened. It is a mess.”
"If you’re saying that they [SCC] made a dumb decision and it’s ended in a plane crash, then yes, I will say that. In the last ten days we have seen disastrous performance. This is a great county with great kids and teachers. Why a county like this is a tail end Charlie is a scandal.”
“I will be seeing Mr Newman and he has to make himself accountable.”
Who made all these comments? Was it some left wing teacher or a Labour politician? – No – these comments were made last week by a Suffolk Tory MP, Mr Ruffley MP
But maybe the best comments have been made by parents, and have included: “Graham Newman and his cabinet colleagues do not listen.”
And what did the HM Chief Inspector for Schools say in 2001 when Labour run the County?
‘Suffolk is an outstanding local education authority, with many strengths. Under the excellent leadership of officers and members, the LEA is clearly focused on continuous improvement and is a credit to the community it serves.’
Sunday, 27 January 2013
My week ahead 28 January - 3 February 2013
Monday 28 January, 4pm, Culture Portfolio meeting,
5pm – Electoral Services Working Group
6pm - Labour Group meeting
Wednesday 30 January, 6pm – Full Council Meeting, Ipswich Borough Council,
Thursday 31 January, 7pm – North East Ipswich Area Committee meeting
Saturday 2 February, 10.30am – Labour campaigning in North West Ipswich
Full Council week and the issue of ‘Council tax’ will be discussed by many, the Tory Police and Crime Commissioner has set a 0% rise but only thanks to using his reserves and the County Council have also decided on 0%, but many will wonder what they will do next year when there is nothing left to get rid of/sell off – will the collapse of the deal to allow Balfour Beatty to take over Suffolk roads put a dent into their budget proposals?
With the cuts in grants being made to local authorities by the coalition government plus the uncertainty of how councils will receive housing benefit money it is hard for councils to not have to make cuts to their services, The bribes of extra grants and then the threats of having to use an expensive referendums to put council tax up leaves council with little room for movement.
Tories in opposition including in Ipswich are quick to call for 0% rise or even a cut but at the same time we had Nadia Cenci asking for the council to spend money by cancelling the contract (agreed to by the Tory/Lib Dem council) with a wind turbine firm. This would have cost every resident in Ipswich money but it seems they are happy to ask us to spend money but do not understand that this will mean having to put tax up or cut another service to pay for it!
The abysmal way the Tories and Eric Pickles are treating local authorities has even led to a number of Tory authorities to write to David Cameron and complain, counties like Essex leading the way in this protest but with Suffolk being led by the likes of Pickles ‘clone’ Colin Noble there is not much chance of Suffolk County Council rocking the boat.
The Suffolk Tory leadership – Cllrs Bee, Terry and Noble were quick to tell the public what a great job they have done and are doing and they still managed to set a 0% Council Tax but last week you would have thought the same three Cllrs must have been out of the country as they left Graham Newman to take all the flak for a second set of terrible educational results for the County.
I will leave the finals words to a Tory Suffolk MP when describing the Tory run County education service – “It is a mess”.
5pm – Electoral Services Working Group
6pm - Labour Group meeting
Wednesday 30 January, 6pm – Full Council Meeting, Ipswich Borough Council,
Thursday 31 January, 7pm – North East Ipswich Area Committee meeting
Saturday 2 February, 10.30am – Labour campaigning in North West Ipswich
Full Council week and the issue of ‘Council tax’ will be discussed by many, the Tory Police and Crime Commissioner has set a 0% rise but only thanks to using his reserves and the County Council have also decided on 0%, but many will wonder what they will do next year when there is nothing left to get rid of/sell off – will the collapse of the deal to allow Balfour Beatty to take over Suffolk roads put a dent into their budget proposals?
With the cuts in grants being made to local authorities by the coalition government plus the uncertainty of how councils will receive housing benefit money it is hard for councils to not have to make cuts to their services, The bribes of extra grants and then the threats of having to use an expensive referendums to put council tax up leaves council with little room for movement.
Tories in opposition including in Ipswich are quick to call for 0% rise or even a cut but at the same time we had Nadia Cenci asking for the council to spend money by cancelling the contract (agreed to by the Tory/Lib Dem council) with a wind turbine firm. This would have cost every resident in Ipswich money but it seems they are happy to ask us to spend money but do not understand that this will mean having to put tax up or cut another service to pay for it!
The abysmal way the Tories and Eric Pickles are treating local authorities has even led to a number of Tory authorities to write to David Cameron and complain, counties like Essex leading the way in this protest but with Suffolk being led by the likes of Pickles ‘clone’ Colin Noble there is not much chance of Suffolk County Council rocking the boat.
The Suffolk Tory leadership – Cllrs Bee, Terry and Noble were quick to tell the public what a great job they have done and are doing and they still managed to set a 0% Council Tax but last week you would have thought the same three Cllrs must have been out of the country as they left Graham Newman to take all the flak for a second set of terrible educational results for the County.
I will leave the finals words to a Tory Suffolk MP when describing the Tory run County education service – “It is a mess”.
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