Merrick + Headline = Scare

The Northern Echo's front page headline and story today about reductions in local police budgets is journalism at its most sensational. Despite "Durham Police Authority promising that its front-line service will be protected" the eye-grabbing headline reads "Budget cuts will hit police numbers", which is quite clearly not what the article below says.

North Yorkshire Police say there will be no effect on front-line staff. Durahm Police say there will be no effect on front-line staff. Cleveland Police say there "could" be an effect though they will "try not to affect the service to the public".

Yet we have a scare-mongering headline clearly designed to suggest that the numbers of police on the beat where you live will be cut. And the Leader inside repeats fears about a decline in community policing.

Nowhere in the article does it mention the deficit and the desperate need for the new Government to take action to reduce this - to avoid our country following Greece into economic and financial meltdown. Nowhere in the article does it say that the actions being taken by the Coalition have been necessary because of the grotesque way in which the Labour Government ramped up the deficit in order to buy votes.

The result in Thirsk and Malton, showing a sizeable swing from Labour to both the Coalition parties, shows that the electorate are not stupid. They realise the Labour Government got us into this mess and the Coalition has to take firm action to get us out of it. By allowing Rob Merrick free reign to write scare stories about Coalition policies is out of tune with public opinion and is, frankly, poor journalism.

OK to wear England Football shirts

Following a typically baseless story in The Sun a couple of weeks ago that a local authority in London was advising pubs to ban football supporters wearing England shirts during the World Cup, reports have been coming in to councillors in Darlington of people on the street being threatened with a £30 fine for wearing an England shirt in public, and of a pub being told by the local police that they were banned from displaying an England flag.

Durham Constabulary have this morning issued a statement which says that football shirts will not be banned and nor will England flags. Well, that's cleared that one up then. We now have official permission to wear whatever shirt we like, though personally I'd like to know whether this extends to wearing a Reading shirt on High Row.

Blink and you'll miss them

Two small sentences caught my eye in the new Coalition Programme for Government which will be of interest in Darlington.

In amongst all the grand plans we see this:

"We will allow councils to return to the committee system, should they wish to."

and this:

"We will impose tougher rules to stop unfair competition by local authority newspapers."

There is no doubt many local councillors, particularly among the Conservative ranks, view the Leader-Cabinet-Scrutiny model as far too centralised and undemocratic and many of them pine for the days when a vote in Committee or in Council actually meant something.

Could be an interesting debate if power changes hands next May. Would the local Tories actually propose the tearing down of the Cabinet system if they get their hands on a bit of its power?

Personally, I don't have a big problem with the Leader-Cabinet model. What does annoy me is the lack of information and lack of consultation which comes from some departments within the Council. Ward councillors from all parties complain about officers not keeping them informed about things which are happening in their ward and not consulting them about proposals for their ward.

It's all very well promoting ward councillors as "local champions" but in some Council departments in Darlington there is a culture of "officers know best" or "it'll make our lives a lot easier if we don't tell the ward councillors about this." This is particularly galling when many of these officers do not and never will choose to live here. For them, Darlington is just the next step on their rise up the local government ladder. They think they know best because their professional rule book tells them what to do.

It doesn't always work like that on the ground, as they sometimes find to their cost. Involving ward councillors throughout would help avoid the time consuming, costly and undemocratic mistakes which are sometimes made.

I haven't seen any comment from Peter Barron, the editor of the Northern Echo, about the second quote. He has been engaged in a long-running campaign against the unfair, as he sees it, competition for advertising revenue presented by the Council's colourful monthly Town Crier (or Town Liar) magazine.

What these "tougher rules" will be is not spelt out, but I would expect there to be widespread support for this measure from everywhere outside the ruling Labour Group.

Update: Peter Barron either reads this blog or he's got enough time on his hands to read the coalition's programme - or both. About an hour after I published this, he has blogged about it. Read Peter's on-line blog here.

Annual Council and Mayor Making

Last night was Darlington's Mayor Making ceremony in the Town Hall. Definitely one of the high points of the year with abundant good will and civic pride.

The outgoing Mayor, liberal-minded Conservative Jim Ruck, has been a popular and successful mayor, carrying out his civic duties, as was said by his sponsor, with a beam on his face.

The incoming mayor is chosen strictly by seniority defined by the number of years spent on the Council (and, amongst those elected in the same year, by lots drawn at the first Council Meeting after their election). For the coming year, the Mayor will be Councillor Bryan Thistlethwaite.

Bryan is a Labour Councillor who has represented Cockerton East (a Conservative target ward, so it's lucky for him that he crept in this year!) for 19 years. I don't know Bryan at all, but apparently he was a skilled engineer with BT. The delight and pride on his face and those of his family members was plain to see. He took the Chair with confidence, as might be expected of someone raised in the trade union movement.

I'm sure he will enjoy his year. In case you were wondering, following the North Road by-election, I have risen from 53rd and last to 52nd in terms of seniority. I don't expect the chains of office will ever hang around my shoulders!

One interesting by-product of yesterday's ceremony: at the reception afterwards, senior Labour Councillors took it in turns to bend the ear of one of my ex-Labour Lib Dem colleagues, telling him he'd always be welcome back in the Labour Party, now that we are in coalition with the Conservatives. They got nowhere, of course.

Regional offices to be downgraded

Next week I expect the Government to announce a major reorganisation of One North East, Government Office North East and the Homes and Communities Agency. I understand that significant numbers of staff employed by these organisations are to lose their jobs, perhaps following the merger of their responsibilities.

£57m BSF money frozen

One of the themes of my General Election campaign here in Darlington - a campaign, by the way, which produced an increase in our vote from 7,000 to 10,000 (23.4%), against the general trend elsewhere - was that voting Conservative and getting a Conservative Government would lead to the withdrawal of our promised £57m Building Schools for the Future money for the rebuilding or renovation of Longfield, Hurworth and Branksome schools.

Although many cherished Lib Dem policies have made it into the Coalition's platform, on education it seems to me that the Conservatives, with their plans for "free schools", hostility to the BSF programme and continued support for University tuition fees, have taken the lead. The Guardian reported yesterday that the Building Schools for the Future programme has been frozen pending review.

I could not support this policy if, indeed, the Coalition Government decided to withdraw this funding. We would effectively have a two-tier school system in the town, at least in terms of bricks and mortar. We know that the education provided by these schools is good and that buildings do not a school make, but with parents across the town seeing some pupils learning in bright new well-equipped classrooms with the most up-to-date equipment, while others struggle on in a range of outdated and temporary accommodation, it will certainly seem to parents that some pupils have a built-in advantage.

No doubt our new MP is making our case. I have written to both Sarah Teather and David Laws urging them to use their best endeavours to ensure that projects already in the pipeline are allowed to complete their course.

The Darlington Debate

A couple of clips from last night's Darlington Parliamentary Candidates' hustings are now on the Echo's website: including my put down of the Conservative candidate, who seemed to be saying that the Hunting Act should be repealed because it was badly drawn up and had taken a long time to go through Parliament.

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/video/regional/99801/

Support from ex-Labour Party member

I have been sent a copy of a resignation letter to the Labour Party by one of its long-term members in Darlington. In his letter, this gentleman remembers the vibrant, exciting times when he campaigned to help get Alan Milburn elected as the town's MP.

I will not detail his reasons for quitting here because some of them are personal and relate to his treatment by the local labour Party, but he ends his letter:

"Some of our Councillors give me the impression, being councillors, as if they have touched the sky, achieved the ultimate, though not all. Mike Barker, Lib Dem, he is very down to earth and a popular councillor, many Darlingtonians log on to his blog.

"I feel I should vote for Mike Barker and not for Jenny, because he is mature, level-headed, polite and courteous, he puts forward his arguments very cogently and above all he is a successful businessman who understands the problems of local businessmen and traders, their concerns and issues related to the town's economy and jobs: what has Jenny to offer to them?"

GP surgery full

I understand from a phone call from the daughter of an elderly couple, that their local GP practice in town cannot take them as new patients, even though they only live a couple of minutes walk away, because "priority is given to people who live on the other side of town."

I'm writing to the PCT about their policy for admittance on to GP lists, the apparent inadequate supply of GP services in our town and their proposals to improve matters so that elderly people can be guaranteed a place on a local GP list.

I'm sure "people on the other side of town" do not enjoy the hassle of having to travel across town to see a GP either. Despite all the money the Labour Government has been pumping into the NHS, it seems that the legions of health service managers who have been appointed can't even ensure that elderly people can see a GP near where they live.

Today's Echo full of Lib Dems

Today's edition of the Northern Echo is full of stories about or including the Lib Dems, including the results of a regional poll conducted largely before last week's Leaders' Debate which, even then, showed Durham City falling to us. Now I think they'd have to add at least three more seats to that one.

There is also an article, complete with an artistic photo of me on my knees, about vandalism in West Cemetery. This is a most upsetting story which has been dragging on with no effective solution from the Council or the police. Here is the article from today's on-line version of the Echo: definitely the paper to read for daily local coverage of the General Election:

More vandalism attacks at Darlington cemetery

A GENERAL election candidate has called for more to be done to tackle vandalism and theft at a Darlington graveyard after another spate of incidents.
Liberal Democrat Mike Barker said Darlington Borough Council and the police have failed to protect the graves at West Cemetery despite repeated complaints from grieving relatives.
Graves have been vandalised, flowers and mementos have been taken and a headstone was even stolen since the trouble began a number of years ago.
A Facebook group calling for CCTV to be installed at the site has attracted more than 8,000 members, but the council claims the equipment would not work.

Mr Barker said he has received complaints from people who had their relatives graves targeted over Easter. "Every week it seems that memorials are damaged, flowers, flower baskets and other mementoes stolen", he said. "Over Easter, lights, flowers, pots, baskets and soft toys have all been stolen. Relatives of people buried in West Cemetery are angry at the apparent unwillingness or inability of both the police and the council to protect their loved-ones graves.
Despite meetings with council staff and the police, no action has been taken by the authorities to deal with this."

Mr Barker said he will arrange a meeting with the cemetery manager to discuss what action can be taken to stop the problems. He added that people are considering getting in touch with the private security firm Sparta Security to police the site.

Rachel Francis has a number of relatives buried at the site. She said she plans to send out a newsletter to ask people who have had their loved ones graves damaged to get in touch.
"There has been a number of incidents and memorial stones have been damaged quite badly, she said. On a weekly basis property is stolen from graves up there.
When we were up there the other day an old lady came over and told us she has had things stolen from her grand-daughters grave. It can not go on."

A spokeswoman for the council said: The council works closely with the police and families and has met with them to discuss these issues.
Where an increase in vandalism or thefts has occurred, the police have stepped up their patrols. The council has also painted the cemetery walls with anti-vandalism paint and has erected warning signs. The installation of CCTV cameras has been discussed as an option but is not seen as a practical or effective deterrent to the problem.
It is always distressing when any amount of vandalism or theft occurs at the grave of a loved one and we are keen to work with families and the police to stamp out what is one of the most insensitive forms of crime.