Latest Kent News.  

WILL KENT TORIES BE GETTING A ROCKET?  15 September 2008

Kent Labour are interested to note that delegates to the Conservative Party conference this year have received a £10 reduction on entry to Birmingham’s Rocket Club, where they can experience lap-dancing.

The Club describes itself as “an exclusive gentlemen’s entertainment venue”. According to a story reported by the BBC, the vouchers were in a booklet sent out to delegates with official conference literature.

However, the Conservatives said in July this year that they would give communities more power to block the opening of lap-dancing clubs.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“The BBC story highlights the fact that Tory MPs will have received these discount vouchers.

But because they’ve been sent out to conference delegates with the official literature, I can’t help wondering whether any of our local Conservatives have got them too.

I gather that some senior KCC Conservatives usually attend their Party Conference. Will they be redeeming their lap-dancing vouchers? I think we should be told.”

TORY PROPOSAL COULD INCREASE CLASS SIZES AND WILL LABEL CHILDREN AS FAILURES  9 September 2008

Kent County Council are lucky to be one of twenty-one local authorities to be engaged in a pilot scheme to support children in an exciting new programme called Every Child Counts.

The programme is aimed at six year olds, focusing on the bottom 5% at Key Stage 1. This will mean that children struggling with early Maths are given high quality intensive specialist support from trained teachers.

30,000 children a year will benefit from the scheme nationally by 2010.

Christine Angell, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, said:
“Timely intervention to support pupils and their parents at an early stage is so important for future success.

There is no mileage in Conservative plans to insist children who ‘fail’ in school should repeat their last year of primary school.

Children do not learn by being told they are failures. Instead they flourish under high quality specialist support, which is the aim of these early intervention programmes.”

Kent is also to benefit from the Government’s expansion of the highly successful Every Child a Reader programme. A recent report from the Institute of Education found that the pilot, aimed at five year olds, had been a huge success, with children getting higher than average results for their age.

“Children don't learn by getting more of the same”, said Elizabeth Green, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for CFE.

“What the Tories call a ‘remedial year’ would stigmatise the very children who need extra help.

I understand the Conservatives’ policy has been condemned by teachers and head teachers. It is completely impractical. It would increase class sizes and make it very difficult for teachers and parents to plan ahead.”

CARTER SHILLY-SHALLIES ON HOUSING  4 September 2008

Kent Labour condemns KCC’s Conservatives for playing games about housing numbers in the county.

After today’s meeting of the County Council, Labour Shadow Deputy Leader of KCC, Derek Smyth, said:
“Conservative Council Leader Paul Carter proposed – then withdrew – a motion for debate at today’s full Council meeting.

The motion asked councillors to agree to lobby the Government as to how Kent was ‘expected to cope’ with additional homes being built in the County. In fact, further development in the county depends on market forces.

The latest housing figures proposed by the Government for development up to 2026 simply outline the number of new homes that in the Government’s view may be needed in the South East, if there’s a market demand for them.

But if the market’s not there for them, the homes won’t be built – it’s as simple as that.

So Paul Carter’s motion, asking the Council’s agreement to lobby the Government about how Kent would cope, was badly put-together. Any lobbying that started off from the position that the Government was imposing new houses on the County would be bound to be unsuccessful.

If the approach was based on a recognition that it is market forces that could produce this outcome, then to hold sensible conversations with the Labour Government on how best to plan for this would be more rewarding and intellectually sustainable.

I find it interesting that Carter and his Conservatives, of all people, do not seem to understand market forces when they see them”.

Derek Smyth went on to say:
“ Labour realises that the issue of housing brings with it many important considerations – the needs of homeless people, people in temporary accommodation, first-time buyers and those looking for affordable homes.

Paul Carter said that he was withdrawing his motion because of a lack of time, but one wonders whether he just didn’t feel confident enough to debate those important issues with us.”

TORIES FINALLY ADMIT ALL NOT WELL ON KENT’S ROADS  4 September 2008

Kent Labour today welcomed Conservative KCC Leader Paul Carter’s admission that all is not well with Kent Highway Services.

In an announcement to a meeting of the County Council, Mr Carter admitted that there was a need for a root-and-branch examination of the effectiveness of the County’s highway services.

Carter said that there was a need to get the current operation of Kent Highways to work more effectively before embarking on too many new projects.

The admission was welcomed by Deputy Leader of KCC Labour Group, Derek Smyth, who said:
“For our part, we are aware of the staffing, capacity and management problems facing Kent Highway Services.

However, given the admission that all is not well, we wonder how KCC can consider embarking on a contract for motorway maintenance management.”

KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet member for Regeneration & Highways Roger Truelove said:
“This is a much more realistic approach from the Tory administration. It is no good protesting that all is well when it is the experience of all of us, in all parties, that all is not well.

A new management structure has been put in place. As County Councillors, we do our best to support the management, but we are still experiencing serious problems with delivery.”

COUNCIL MOVES TO WRECK ABERCROMBIE’S KENTISH MINING VILLAGE  2 September 2008

Conservative councillors on Dover District Council met in secret on Monday 1st September to oppose plans to register the ‘Market Square’ in Aylesham, Kent, as a village green.

Aylesham was originally developed to a masterplan drawn up by Sir Patrick Abercrombie, arguably the founding father of British town planning, in 1928. Although the original plan was not fully realised the Market Square was planned from the outset as a green space central to the village.

Local county councillor Eileen Rowbotham says:
“I support the local community and parish council in opposing any attempt to eat into this green space. It is a key element of the Abercrombie plan and has been used for eighty years as a village green.”

Terry Birkett, a former miner and a Labour county councillor for nearby Deal, says:
“This District Council apparently wants to preserve its rights over the Market Square. Behind all this is a plan to encroach on what is and always has been a village green.”

Sadness at the Death of Sandy Bruce-Lockhart  14 August 2008

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, expresses his deep personal sadness at the passing of Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, former Leader of KCC.

Mike Eddy says: "Sandy and I may have disagreed on politics but he was a skilled politician with the interests of Kent at heart. It was a privilege to have crossed political swords with him. On a personal level he was invariably courteous, was prepared to listen - even if he didn't agree with you - and would always take on board good ideas, even when they came from his political opponents. I am sure everyone who knew him will be saddened by his death."

From the Office of Derek Wyatt MP
Shock at intemperate comments  7 August 2008

The Labour MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey has expressed shock and dismay at remarks made by his Tory opponent Gordon Henderson.

In a recent entry to his constituency website Mr Henderson says

INDIA’s PROPERTY LAWS ARE RACIST

Mr Henderson goes on to castigate the whole of India because his own ambition to buy a property in Goa has been prevented by local planning regulations. In a burst of intemperate indignation, Mr Henderson claims that if he were called Sunil Patel he would have no difficulty with planning.

Mr Wyatt who has been holidaying in Italy has only just been acquainted with the full text of Mr Henderson’s remarks.

He says,
“This is a shocking way for someone seeking election to Parliament to write about a friendly government. I cannot imagine what the Indian High Commission might think. I can’t imagine what the Leader of the Conservative Party might think either. What would this look like if the Tories were in Government and Mr Henderson were a backbench MP?

Of course, I do not know how Indian planning laws work. I think it likely that Mr Henderson’s presentation of the situation is over simplified. If he has a grievance then I have to tell him there are better ways of dealing with it then this outpouring of bile.

I know these comments have already caused great offence. It really does not help that Mr Henderson’s comments are not prompted by a desire to help a constituent but simply by his outrage at being denied something that he personally sought.

There ought to be an Inquiry into this in the Conservative Party."

TORY CANDIDATE SAYS PENSIONERS SHOULD SWEEP STREETS  6 August 2008

A suggestion that pensioners could sweep streets for “a few extra quid”, made by Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate Gordon Henderson, has been greeted with anger and disbelief by Kent Labour.

Henderson – who hopes to contest the Sittingbourne & Sheppey Parliamentary seat for the Conservatives at the next General Election – made his comments on his local party website.

Saying that local authorities should take a “new approach” to cleaning up neighbourhoods, Henderson went on to say: “One way might be for local authorities to employ pensioners for a few hours each week to keep their own street and alley clean and free of weeds. I am sure there are pensioners out there who would be delighted to earn a few extra quid and at the same time keep their street clean and tidy”.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“Henderson’s comments are outrageous.

Conservative-controlled KCC put up domiciliary care charges last year, now Sittingbourne & Sheppey Conservatives are going around saying the elderly should sweep streets for pin money.

It just shows that the Conservatives have no respect for the older generation at all”.

Labour County Councillor for Sheerness Angela Harrison added:
If Conservative-controlled Swale Borough Council did its job properly, there wouldn’t be any rubbish on Sheppey’s streets and alleys in the first place.

Suggesting that the elderly should be bunged a few extra quid for doing the work of the local council is typical of a Tory – everything done on the cheap, with no respect for people’s dignity.

“If this is what the Conservatives are like when they’re on their best behaviour in the lead-up to an election, just imagine what they’d be like in power”.

WOE, WOE, AND THRICE WOE…  4 August 2008

KCC Conservatives have started their campaign to pass the buck for next year’s council tax increase on to the Labour Government.

Labour Shadow Deputy Leader of KCC and Finance spokesperson Derek Smyth said:
“Of course it’s sensible for councils to look at economic trends and plan ahead accordingly.

However, the sudden concern about the economic situation being shown by County Hall’s Conservatives smacks to me of an attempt to find excuses for high council tax in 2009 - which will be the year of the next KCC elections.

I expect they’ll try to put the blame on the Labour Government. But I don’t see how the blame for a global phenomenon can be laid at Labour’s door. The fact of the matter is that the so-called ‘credit crunch’ arose from a lack of confidence in the financial markets worldwide.

We began to see the first signs of this phenomenon with the crisis over bank investments in US sub-prime mortgages. Essentially, greedy money men lent too much to people who could ill afford it. Underlying the credit crunch is a real decline in house prices in the States for the first time since the 1930s.

I don’t really see how any of this can be blamed on our Labour Government. The Conservatives just want to spin this out to try and fool people into voting for them at the next election."

Derek Smyth continued:
“Britain has the highest employment rate and the second highest GDP per head of any of the major industrialised countries.

The most recent UN report on investment from foreign companies put Britain as the number one destination for foreign investment for the first time in 30 years, attracting double the foreign investment being made in the United States.

We’re all feeling the squeeze. But the fact is that with a Labour Government, Britain is in a much stronger position than many other countries to cope with the current financial situation.”

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, Mike Eddy, said:
“KCC’s Conservative Cabinet are starting to say they’re worried about the impact of the current economic situation on the Council.

They’ll say, of course, that they need to husband their resources to preserve public services. But the Conservatives were starting to cut into Kent’s public services even before the global credit crunch really started to hit Britain.

Remember the price rises for domiciliary social care in the Spring 2007 KCC budget? The Tories proposed them before the sub-prime mortgage crisis had really started to hit home even in the US. At the same time, Carter and his Conservatives felt they could afford to shell out £1.2m revenue on setting up the Kent TV pilot.

The Conservatives are saying that the credit crunch will have a revenue impact on KCC of about £5m this year and £15m next year. To put that in perspective, their two versions of the Turner Contemporary gallery – the one they couldn’t build and the one they might finally get round to opening two years later than they said in Towards 2010 – will cost more than that in total… about £6m for the first abortive gallery and about £17.5m for the one we’ll eventually get, although Paul Carter promised in 2006 that it’d cost no more than £15m.

Next year, before Carter and his Conservative Cabinet start thinking about putting up council tax and cutting public services while hiding behind the credit crunch, they should take a good, hard look at some of their fripperies and waste.”

WAT-ER FIASCO!  4 August 2008

Kent Labour lays responsibility at the Conservatives’ door for any problems being experienced in the management of the county’s water resources.
Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, Mike Eddy, said:
“It’s amazing. In today’s Cabinet meeting, the Tories blamed the water companies for taking a ‘ruthlessly commercial attitude’ to the management of the county’s water resources, and said that ‘Kent will pay’.

Who was it that de-nationalised water resources in this country? The Conservatives. In fact, the person most directly responsible for implementing water privatisation was none other than Folkestone & Hythe MP Michael Howard, during his stint as Minister for Water & Planning in 1988-89.

It’s time for the Conservatives locally and nationally to take their share of the blame for the commercial exploitation of Kent’s hard-pressed water resources”.

Kent Labour’s Shadow Cabinet member for the Environment, Ray Parker, added:
“KCC’s Conservative Cabinet were quick to have a go at the water companies. Paul Carter blamed them for not working collectively, and Nick Chard blamed Thames Water for doing a lot of environmental damage by extracting water from Kent aquifers fifteen years ago.

It just shows that the Tories will even have a go at their mates in big business if it means getting themselves off the hook.

The Conservatives’ policies when they were last in power are still having an adverse effect on our environment and our natural resources. If they get into power again, who knows what damage they’ll do.



Michael Howard’s retiring at the next election. But his legacy of water privatisation means that even from the graveyard of politics, his spectre will loom large over the future of Kent’s water resources.”

FAIR PAY, FAIR PLAY: 10th ANNIVERSARY OF LABOUR’S NATIONAL MINIMUM WAGE  4 August 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the 10th anniversary of Labour passing the National Minimum Wage Act 1998.

The minimum wage was introduced following a manifesto commitment by Labour in the lead-up to its landslide victory in 1997.

The wage currently stands at £5.52, but it will rise to £5.73 on 1st October. Moreover, in a move welcomed by unions, changes will be introduced by the Government next year to prevent employers from using tips to make up the minimum wage.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, Mike Eddy, said:
“This is really one of Labour’s finest achievements as a government. The National Minimum Wage has benefited millions of people.

Everyone deserves fair pay in return for their work. Who’d want to go back to the bad old days, when people slaved away for only £1.20 an hour?

But that kind of thing was common and legal when the Conservatives were in power.

The Conservatives campaigned against the Minimum Wage and many of Kent’s Tory MPs voted against it. The Tories’ roll of dishonour includes Julian Brazier, Michael Fallon, Roger Gale, Damian Green and Ann Widdecombe.

The Conservative line was that it’d send unemployment rising. But Labour has delivered a rising National Minimum Wage and more people in work than ever before.”

Ashford-Brussels Eurostar Route  1 August 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the news from Eurostar that new services from Ashford to Brussels will start with the new timetable in December.

Local county councillor, and Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, Derek Smyth said:
“People across Kent have united to oppose cuts to the Ashford to Brussels Eurostar services and I would like to thank everyone involved. Kent's Labour MPs have been very supportive of Ashford's case and we all look forward to being able to use this service."

TORIES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT FAIL OLDER PEOPLE  17 July 2008

Kent Labour condemns the Conservatives who dominate local government for failing older people up and down the country.

The Audit Commission, an independent watchdog on efficiency, economy and quality in public services, has published a report today outlining the challenges facing older people who want to use council services.

Don’t Stop Me Now – Preparing for an Ageing Population showed that councils in England are not ready to meet the challenges or seize the opportunities offered as people live longer.

The report found that while the Labour Government’s 2005 strategy for older people, Opportunity Age, has the potential to improve the lives of the ageing population, the benefits aspired to by the Government aren’t being delivered across the country.

The Government defines older people as anyone over 50, but it is those councils with the most local residents over 50 which are least prepared to meet their long-term interests and needs. Most councils need to improve the way they provide information on matters such as volunteering, social activities and leisure, learning opportunities and transport.

Tom Maddison, Labour KCC Shadow Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services, said:
“The Labour Government gave a commitment in Opportunity Age to define priorities and to say what outcomes, or results, they wanted to see for older people’s wellbeing.

But the responsibility for local leadership, planning and delivery lies with councils.

The intention was that the Government’s priorities and outcomes should link up with councils’ strategies for older people. Those strategies were supposed to plan ways in which council services could work together, in a co-ordinated way, to support all older people – not only the minority who need social care, but also those who are still very active and independent.

But in 2008, three years after the Labour Government published Opportunity Age, the Audit Commission has found that 27% of councils have no strategy for older people apart from social care, and almost half are only starting to develop ideas”.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“Most councils up and down the country are controlled by the Conservatives. The time lag between what Labour is doing in central government and what’s happening in Conservative-dominated local councils like Kent shows that the Tories really don’t put a very high priority on addressing the needs and wishes of older people.

Eric Pickles recently told Conservative councils not to co-operate with the Labour Government. It looks to me like they’ve not been co-operating for a long time when it comes to the interests of older people.

If this is what the Tories are like in control of councils, I dread to think what’ll happen if they
get in control of the country.

An ageing population plus a Conservative government – now that would be a timebomb”.

LABOUR INVESTS IN MAKING NEIGHBOURHOODS WORK  10th July 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the Government’s investment of over £1 million this year to help people in Thanet back to work.

The Labour Government’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund is a new dedicated fund for local councils and communities to develop community-led approaches to helping people in deprived areas of England back to work.

The Fund will be worth a total of £1.5 billion nationally over the next three years, with more than £450 million being distributed in 2008/09, and £500 million in 2009/10 and 2010/11. Thanet will receive £1,012,404 this year.

At least £50 million will be available as a reward fund which will go to areas that have made good progress over the first two years on tackling worklessness and improving levels of enterprise.

Roger Truelove, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet member for Regeneration & Supporting Independence, said:
“The Working Neighbourhoods Fund shows once again the Labour Government’s commitment to helping people back into work and regenerating areas that have suffered from economic deprivation.

The million-pound investment in community-led solutions for Thanet demonstrates that Labour thinks local people are best placed to find answers for local problems.

I hope that the Conservatives at District and County council level put politics aside, for once, to acknowledge this investment by the Labour Government and to support local people in finding local solutions”.

ARE KCC’S CABINET FINALLY TAKING THANET OFF THE SHELF?  10th July 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the decision of KCC's Conservative Cabinet to take their next meeting out of County Hall - but doubts their motives for doing so.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, Mike Eddy, said:
“The Conservatives are trying to jump on the localism bandwagon, but a day trip to Margate doesn't mean that they really want to engage in a dialogue with local people, which is what localism is really all about.

I can't see anything on their meeting agenda about opening up the floor for questions, or inviting members of the public to make a contribution to the debate.

Putting it simply, this is localism Tory-style - they come to you when they want and with their own agenda".

Ramsgate County Councillor Liz Green said:
“One of the items for discussion is The Labour Government’s Working Neighbourhoods Fund, which is a new dedicated fund for local councils and communities to develop community-led approaches to helping people in deprived areas of England back to work.”

The Fund will be worth a total of £1.5 billion nationally over the next three years, with more than £450 million being distributed in 2008/09, and £500 million in 2009/10 and 2010/11. Thanet will receive £1,012,404 this year.

The Fund is meant for community-led initiatives to help local people get back into work - which makes me wonder why the Children, Families & Education portfolio holder will be making this presentation, and not the Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Supporting Independence, which would seem to make more sense.

Could it be that this event in Margate is actually being used to give Mr Wells a platform to raise his local profile in advance of next year's elections, when he'll face stiff competition from Labour?”

Mrs Green continued:
“I'm glad Margate has been receiving attention of late from KCC as it certainly has its problems, but Ramsgate and its residents also desperately need support and frequently get forgotten. I’m hoping, for example, this fund can be used to address the appalling lack of adult education and training in Ramsgate.

Perhaps next time the County Hall Conservatives come to Thanet, they will make a day of it, speak to the local councillors and look at issues facing the wider area - which is what our Labour Leader Mike Eddy does when he visits."

JOINT WORKING IN EAST KENT - A BUREAUCRATIC NONSENSE  19 June 2008

Conservative proposals for “Joint working” between Canterbury City Council, Dover District Council, Shepway District Council, Thanet Borough Council and Kent County Council were condemned by Labour County Councillors as “bureaucratic nonsense” at yesterday’s full meeting of the County Council.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says;
“This is a daft idea dreamt up by the Conservatives to cover up for the fact that their supposedly “enhanced two-tier working” is not working and not enhanced. It’s not even two-tier as it creates another tier of bureaucracy and centralisation.”

Liz Green, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Children’s Services, says;
“If this is a move to a unitary council, the Conservatives should be upfront about it. What it does mean is increased centralisation with only ten people, from one party, making decisions that get very limited local input. This is just a bureaucratic nonsense.”

The scheme allows any one of the five councils to make an agreement to share services with any one or more of the other councils in the group – or indeed to share services with any other council in the county or beyond. Something they can do already anyway.

ADULT EDUCATION PRICES FROZEN TO ATTRACT LEARNERS BACK  17 June 2008

Kent County Council has decided to freeze the cost of its Adult Education courses at last year’s prices as the Adult Education Service’s deficit increases.

Terry Birkett, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Member for Community Services, says:
“I welcome the new programmes on offer for the coming year alongside those that are established and well-tried. But I am not convinced that the Adult Education Service will be able to eliminate the current deficit which is running at some £830,000.”

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says:
“The high rate of increase in fees over the last three years will make it difficult to attract back those students who have dropped Adult Education courses because of rising prices. The Conservatives currently in charge of Kent County Council will blame a lack of Government funding for past price rises. The reality is that they have failed to provide the right service at the right price.”

Terry Birkett adds:
“I sincerely hope that this price freeze will bring people back into lifelong learning, which is something I am passionately keen about.”

KENT COUNTY COUNCIL’S TORY SPIN MACHINE TAKES ITS TOLL ON THE FACTS  17 June 2008

Ray Parker (Labour County Councillor for Northfleet & Gravesend West) has hit out at Tory Kent County Council for issuing another misleading press release about the Dartford River Crossing Tolls. Kent County Council had been getting £1million in supported borrowing fromthe Dartford Tolls that it used for projects in the Dartford and Gravesham area.

Last year to the amazement of both Officers and Opposition Members, Kent’s Tory Cabinet told the Government that it didn’t want the money anymore. Now the Government has withdrawn the offer this year, those same Councillors who refused the £1million are cribbing that they’re not being offered it again.

Ray Parker (Labour County Councillor for Northfleet & Gravesend West) said:
“Keith Ferrin (Tory Cabinet Member for Highways) has been spinning the truth when it comes to Government spending in Gravesham. Last year he refused an offer of £1million from the Government that could have been used to improve Gravesham’s public transport system, now the Government has withdrawn the offer he’s complaining. I’m flabbergasted”. Councillor Ferrin went on to suggest that the Government is moving highways cash away from Kent and that Gravesham will suffer.”

Ray Parker went on to say:
“Gravesham is suffering, Councillor Ferrin is quite right, but we’re suffering because he and his Tory friends are playing politics with our roads and pavements. While the Government, through the Highways Agency, is spending millions on moving the A2 away from people’s homes, and millions more on Gravesham and Dartford’s award winning Fastrack Bus Service he’s overseeing Kent Highways wasting millions on new offices and yet another reorganisation. People don’t want reorganisation; they want potholes filled, cracked pavements repaired and grass verges cut back”. The £1million refused by Kent’s Tories should have been used to upgrade Greenhithe Railway Station, but plans were thrown into turmoil when KCC announced that it wasn’t taking the money. Thankfully the railway company stepped in and came up with sufficient funds to see through the Greenhithe Station refurbishment.”

KCC COULD DO BETTER FOR CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE  3 June 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the publication of the OFSTED Joint Area Review and Enhanced Youth Inspection assessments of Kent County Council’s services for children & young people.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, said:
“OfSTED’s assessments found that on the whole, KCC’s services for children & young people are of a good or outstanding standard.
“That’s a real credit to the frontline staff who deliver those services.

“But OfSTED also found that there are important gaps KCC needs to fill. It raised concerns around work tackling teenage pregnancy, around services to children with learning difficulties and their families, and around the health of looked-after children.

“I hope that as well as publicising its successes, KCC will acknowledge and work on those areas where it could do better for children and young people”.

Christine Angell, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Education, added: “
The Review found that KCC scored a grade 3 - good, but not outstanding - on safeguarding children and on its services to looked-after children and children with learning difficulties and disabilities.

The Council shouldn’t rest until it can score an outstanding 4 for these services. A four star authority such as KCC should not be satisfied with only three stars for the children of Kent.

Kent Labour will keep up the pressure on KCC’s current Conservative leadership to deliver for all the County’s young people.”

NOT AS GOOD AS THEY’D HAVE US BELIEVE…  3 June 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the findings of the Audit Commission’s Corporate Assessment of Kent County Council.

Between November 2007 and May 2008 the Audit Commission assessed how well the council engages with and leads its communities, delivers community priorities in partnership with others, and ensures continuous improvement in everything it does.

Kent County Council has held on to its status as an excellent authority. However, while it retained scores of 4 out of 4 for ambition and prioritisation, it failed to improve its previous score of 3 out of 4 for achievement.

Its score actually dropped in two out of the five assessment categories, slipping from a 4 to a 3 for performance management and capacity.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, said:
“The Corporate Assessment rightly highlighted the County Council’s strengths, not least its able and enthusiastic staff, many of whom do tough jobs under difficult circumstances.

But the Audit Commission sent a very clear message that there are things KCC could do a lot better.

And funnily enough the Council’s current Conservative leadership are keeping pretty quiet about that, the same as they’re keeping quiet about the two categories where KCC’s scores have dropped since the last Corporate Assessment.”

Dr Eddy continued:
“We’ve always known KCC never found it difficult to be ambitious. But we’ve always said that it should listen more to other people’s ambitions – and the Audit Commission have backed us up by saying that KCC should adopt a more inclusive and listening approach.

We’ve always said that KCC’s current Conservative leadership is happy to take the credit for other people’s achievements – from Government departments down to small voluntary groups. And again, the Audit Commission agrees. It says that KCC needs to be more generous to its partners in its external communications.

We’ve previously picked up on areas where KCC is weak – equalities practice; environmental issues like recycling, waste volumes, and air quality; handling complaints about its own performance. And again, the Audit Commission’s agreed that the Council needs to deliver improvements on these issues.”

Dr Eddy concluded:
“Above all, we’ve said for a long time that Kent County Council’s main weakness is the attitude of the Council’s current Conservative leader, Paul Carter, and his Cabinet.

We’ve said that Carter and his gang don’t have enough respect for the views of their own Conservative colleagues, let alone Opposition councillors, and that they’re only willing to have their decisions and policies examined in public once they’re a done deal.

If elected councillors find it hard to make their voices heard, what chance have the people of Kent got?

The Audit Commission agrees. It has said that opposition and backbench councillors need to be given better support and earlier opportunities to take part in decision-making and monitoring performance, to make sure the views of all communities are fully heard before decisions are made.

It’s sensible advice. But anyone who saw Paul Carter’s recent outburst at Cabinet Scrutiny Committee knows he thinks strong leadership should mean taking decisions and then only having them looked at once they’d already been taken. He said right then that the findings of the recent Audit Commission inspection of KCC may disagree with his position, but he would be sticking to it.

I hope that KCC learns from its mistakes, but all the while Carter’s in charge, I can’t see it turning around those areas where its assessment score has got worse.”

LABOUR GOVERNMENT ACTS ON OPERATION STACK   15 May 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the news that work has begun on a moveable concrete barrier to ease the disruption caused by Operation Stack.

The Quick Moveable Barrier (QMB) is being installed between junctions 11 and 12 of the M20. Once in place it can be quickly and safely brought into use, allowing some London-bound lanes to be used by traffic heading towards the coast when the Port of Dover is affected by the weather or industrial action.

Work installing the QMB will take place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to limit delays. At least two lanes will remain open from 6am to 8pm every day. The work should take approximately fourteen weeks.

Kent Labour Shadow Cabinet member for Regeneration & Highways Roger Truelove said:
“The Labour Government knows that Operation Stack causes real disruption for people and businesses in Kent. The Quick Moveable Barrier is going to help ease that disruption.

Meanwhile, through the Highways Agency, the Government will continue to work with Kent County Council, the Police and other partners to help find a longer term solution to the problem of Operation Stack.

"Labour is proving once again that it is committed to congestion busting and improving the road network, making Kent a better place to live, visit and do business”.

KENT LABOUR ANNOUNCES NEW SHADOW CABINET   14 May 2008

Following the Annual General Meeting of Kent County Council's Labour Group on Monday 12 May, Kent Labour has announced its new Shadow Cabinet.

Terry Birkett, representing one of the two Deal seats, returns to the Shadow Cabinet to take on the Community Services portfolio. New to the County Council's Shadow Cabinet are Liz Green (Ramsgate) who takes on Children and Families and Tom Maddison (Dartford West) who takes on Adult Social Services.

They replace Leslie Christie (Northfleet and Gravesend West), Clive Hart (Margate) and Jane Cribbon (Gravesham East) respectively.

The rest of the Shadow Cabinet remains unchanged.

Mike Eddy, Labour Opposition Leader on KCC, says:
"I am grateful to every member of the former Shadow Cabinet. They did a great job and were a great team to work with. The incoming team is equally talented and I am really looking forward to working with them over the coming year. Kent is lucky to have a Labour Group which can hold the Conservatives at County Hall to account over issues as diverse as Kent TV, potholes and increased home care charges."

KENT LETS DOWN AGEING RESIDENTS   2 May 2008

Conservative-run Kent County Council has finally been forced to produce a strategy for older residents of the County, three years after the Government published its national strategy. Today the Council hosted a seminar on the subject at County Hall in Maidstone.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, says: "This is typical of Kent County Council. It huffs and puffs about caring for older residents but does nothing and then produces a draft strategy when the Audit Commission is about to produce research showing how local councils have failed to plan for our ageing populations."

The Labour Government published its strategy, Opportunity Age - opportunity and security throughout life, in March 2005. Active Ageing - KCC's Strategy for Later Life was published on 1 May 2008.

Mark Fittock, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Health, says: "The Conservatives seem to have been totally unaware until now of what is really going on in planning for an ageing population. While the Labour Government has been pushing this forward through its Opportunity Age Strategy, Kent’s Tories have been hiking up home care charges."

Mike Eddy adds: "I was pleased to see Kent County Council taking advice at today's meeting from leading figures in the field but as ever they have used these people to cover the inadequacies of the current Conservative administration."

NO DECLARATION, BUT HARDLY DISINTERESTED.   4 March 2008

Kent Labour has challenged KCC’s Conservatives to take local democracy seriously.

In yesterday’s County Council meeting, Leslie Christie (Labour – Northfleet & Gravesend West) pointed out that Conservative councillor Mike Snelling had spoken in a debate about the Council’s commercial activities without declaring an interest - even though he was a non-executive director of one of KCC’s trading companies.

Speaking after the meeting, Leslie Christie said:
“It’s not acceptable that councillors should stand up in public saying that KCC is using these trading arms in the best interests of the people of Kent, without declaring their own interests.

“It’s disappointing that some Conservative councillors don’t understand this isn’t just a formality. It’s about making sure that local government is democratic, transparent and fair”.

His Labour colleague from Northfleet & Gravesend West, Ray Parker, added:
“Mike Snelling isn’t just a County Councillor, he’s one of the Tories’ lead members for Finance and on top of that, he’s also the current Conservative Leader of Gravesham Borough Council.

“Someone in his position should have known that he needed to make a declaration of interest, now that Kent Labour has managed to get declarations put on the agenda for every Council meeting. Or maybe he did know he had to but just chose not to.

“Either way, it’s unacceptable that a senior Conservative made use of a chance to speak on this issue and only admitted his mistake after he was challenged by a Labour councillor.

“The Tories need to start showing that they take local democracy seriously”.

LABOUR CONDEMNS LIB-DEM AND TORY POLITICAL GAMES WITH GURKHA RIGHTS  3 March 2008

In response to a County Council question from the Lib-Dem Group Leader to the Conservative Leader of Kent County Council and Mike Eddy, Leader of the Labour Opposition on Kent County Council , Mike outlined all the steps the Labour Government had taken to support serving and former Gurkha soldiers.

Mike Eddy says:
"Since Labour was elected to Government, the conditions for Gurkhas have steadily improved and most serving or recently retired Gurkhas have chosen to move onto the British Forces Pension Scheme. Unfortunately the current Conservative Leader of Kent County Council has jumped on a Lib-Dem bandwagon that exploits our serving soldiers rather than helping them."

ONE VOTE TOO MANY…  3 March 2008

Kent Labour challenges KCC’s Conservative administration to take local democracy seriously.

In today’s Council meeting, Labour councillor for Deal Terry Birkett pointed out that votes were still being registered electronically from a councillor who had left KCC months ago.

Terry Birkett said:
“The Conservatives go on about how, under their leadership, KCC is using technology in innovative ways. I suppose in one sense they’re right. Registering votes from councillors who aren’t even councillors any more is certainly a new one on me.

“But at the end of the day, it isn’t a laughing matter. This basic error meant I had to question whether some of our votes were even legal.

“We vote in Council on important issues affecting people’s everyday lives. The people of Kent need to be confident that their Council is being led and managed properly.

“KCC’s Conservatives are always saying that the Labour Government ought to give them more power, more responsibility. Maybe they’d better start showing that they take local democracy seriously”.

LABOUR SUMMIT ON THAMESIDE ISSUES  3 March 2008

The Labour Shadow Leaders of Essex County Council, Kent County Council, Thurrock Council and Medway Council met on 5 March in Maidstone (Kent) to discuss a series of common issues focussed on the Thameside development area.

Mike Eddy, Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says:
"This was an extremely useful meeting at which we were able to exchange our experiences of progress in the Thames Gateway area and a number of other related issues like the lower Thames Crossing and Boris Johnson's eccentric proposal to revive the Cliffe Airport issue."

The four Leaders expressed their concerns at the continuity and delivery of the Thames Gateway project and sought to find ways of pressing Ministers to overcome the difficulties in working with a mixture of two tier and single tier councils controlled by Conservatives who have consistently been unhelpful to the revival of the Gateway area.

Paul Kirkman, Labour Shadow Leader of Essex County Council, says:
"The Thames has been a gateway for a long time. What we need is delivery of the cultural, economic and environmental regeneration Essex and Kent require to play our role in its future. What is clear is that the Tory County Councils on both sides of the river have been slow to commit wholeheartedly to this agenda and are still dragging their feet."

Paul Godwin, Labour Shadow Leader of Medway Council, says:
"Despite millions of pounds of government investment in regeneration in Medway; the Tories seem incapable of translating this into real benefits for our local communities."

KCC ACTION PLAN NEEDED URGENTLY!  27 February 2008

Kent County Council has been set a summer deadline by Ed Balls, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families, to develop action plans setting out how the Council is going to improve 32 low-performing schools across the county.

Plans are being made to send teams of expert leaders into hundreds of struggling state secondaries across the country as part of a concerted move to eliminate low educational performance.

Kent County Council must have an action plan for each of the 32 schools in the county where less than 30% of pupils achieved A* to C at GCSE including English and Maths, as well as any coasting schools where performance is not as good as may be expected.

Christine Angell, Kent Labour Education spokesperson, said:
“Although many schools give an ‘added value’ to education for their students, there is no excuse for not giving the young people of Kent the best education possible in terms of examination results which are essential to help them into the world of work, higher education, further education and vocational training.”

Kent Labour Children & Families spokesperson Clive Hart said:
“We must make sure that educational failure among the poorest children in Kent is not excused by KCC as simply being the result of their already disadvantaged backgrounds. I totally agree with the tough target of 30% set by Gordon Brown last year.

Local councils with high numbers of grammar schools are among those with poor performance figures. Kent has one of the highest numbers of grammar schools in the country.

KCC must wake up quickly to these performance problems and start acting to really exercise the powers it has for the benefit of Kent's children.”

CARTER HIDES BEHIND VULNERABLE CHILDREN TO EXCUSE COUNCIL TAX RISE  21st February 2008

Kent Labour condemns Paul Carter and Kent County Council’s current Conservative administration for the way in which they seek to hide their proposed council tax rise behind vulnerable children.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, says:
“KCC and several other authorities commissioned a report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers looking at their claims that the Government owed them money for services to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

The report was only produced at the end of last week, but KCC wants ministers to roll over and give it what it wants now, before having a proper look at their demands. That is unacceptable. The Labour Government is already in negotiations with KCC about asylum costs, but for KCC to demand that ministers should hand over taxpayers’ money without a second thought is just plain stupid.”

Mike Eddy went on to say:
“In a press release dated 21st January 2008 to announce the 2008-09 Budget, based on a council tax rise of 3.9%, Paul Carter said that ‘In deciding this budget we have assumed that our costs for looking after unaccompanied asylum-seeking children will be reimbursed by government. If they are not this may have an impact on council tax.'

The council tax rise that the Conservatives proposed today hasn’t changed from their original proposal of 3.9%. As such, neither unaccompanied asylum-seeking children nor the Government are to blame for the level of council tax that the people of Kent will have to pay next year. That blame should be laid squarely at the door of Paul Carter’s office.”

Derek Smyth, Labour Shadow Leader and Finance spokesperson, said:
“Paul Carter said in a press release today that he ‘would very much have liked to give taxpayers something back by reducing the proposed council tax increase’. If that’s the case, why didn’t he welcome and support Kent Labour’s alternative Budget, which would have reduced the council tax rise to 3.5%?

As usual, the current Conservative Leader would rather point the finger at anyone else than take a long, hard look at the way he and his Cabinet spend other people’s money.”

KCC CONSERVATIVES REJECT LABOUR PLANS TO SAVE YOU MONEY!"  19th February 2008

At a meeting of Kent County Council today to consider the Council’s Budget and Medium-Term Financial Plan, Kent Labour put forward an amendment which would have cut the proposed council tax rise from 3.9% to 3.5%. Labour’s proposal was roundly rejected by the Council’s Conservative administration.

The Labour amendment – one of two they put forward - would have meant that council tax on an average property would have remained under £1000 a year.

Derek Smyth, Labour Deputy Leader and Finance spokesperson, said:
“We in Kent Labour know that hardworking council taxpayers don’t see why they should pay over £1000 a year to fund KCC’s corporate communications PR machine, for example.

We put our amendment forward to try and get a fairer deal for council taxpayers. At the end of the day, though, we’re not surprised that the Conservatives would happily continue to waste other people’s money”.

Kent Labour also put forward an amendment to move the £300,000 set aside for Paul Carter’s Health Watch scheme and invest it in grants to voluntary organisations. Again, the Conservatives rejected this proposal.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader, said:
“The Labour Government is currently setting up and financing a complaints procedure through Kent County Council called LINks. This will go beyond what Health Watch is supposed to do, because its remit will include social care as well as health. But the Conservatives have decided to go ahead and spend £300, 000 doubling up on what the Government’s already doing.


To put it another way, 300 households are going to pay for Paul Carter’s pet project”.

Labour propose an extra 2p per month to save lives in Kent.  19th February 2008

At the budget meeting of the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority on 20th February 2008, Labour Members of the Authority will be proposing a change to the Tory Budget of an increase of just 27pence per year.

This will change the Annual Band “D” cost from the proposed £63.81 to £64.08 and, together with other minor changes within the budget, this will enable three height vehicles strategically placed around Kent to be permanently staffed, ready to go to any fire immediately their services are required. It will also include the additional two height vehicles to be maintained at their present staffing level.

This compares to the Tory proposal to have a total of five height vehicles, none of them permanently staffed. The Tory proposals mean that if a height vehicle is required firefighters will have to return to their station from a fire so that they can then staff the height vehicle and bring it to the fire, or alternatively a height vehicle will have to be brought to the fire from another more distant fire station assuming that they themselves are not out fighting fires.

Leslie Christie, Leader of the Labour Fire Authority Group, says:
“For an additional two pence per month this change can really affect the safety and the lives of the public and our firefighters. A readily available height vehicle is a major advantage in fighting many big fires and provides a safe base for our firefighters to tackle blazes from above. Clearly it also has the advantage of rescuing people from a height within its range which is considerably higher than a normal fire appliance.
I believe the public of Kent will see this as their money well spent. It will still keep the overall increase in the Fire Council Tax at the same level as the increase in Pensions and other benefits.”

KENT LABOUR WELCOMES GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT IN SCHOOLS  17th February 2008

Kent’s Labour County Councillors have welcomed news of massive Government investment in the county’s schools.

Plans are being exhibited for the transformation of schools in Gravesham and Thanet through multi-million pound investment as part of the Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme.

Labour spokesperson on Children, Families & Education Clive Hart said:
“Building Schools for the Future represents the biggest investment by central Government in improving school buildings for more than fifty years. The Labour Government aims to rebuild or renew every secondary school in England in the next ten years or so.
Labour wants to radically improve the school experience. In turn, that will help Kent’s young people to improve their educational performance.”

An exhibition about Building Schools for the Future will be held on Tuesday 26th February, 6pm to 8pm, at Northfleet School for Girls. A similar exhibition will be held on the same day and at the same time at Northfleet Technology College.

Plans for transforming Charles Dickens School in Broadstairs will be on show at the school on Wednesday 27th February, 6pm to 9pm.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“Building Schools for the Future shows that the Labour Government is ready to invest serious money in giving our children a 21st Century education. Top quality facilities will make it easier for teachers to raise standards in the County’s schools.
I hope that people in Gravesham and Thanet will get involved and find out more about these developments at their local exhibitions. It’s an exciting time for education in Kent, thanks to the Labour Government.”

LABOUR TO PROPOSE LOWER COUNCIL TAX  17th February 2008

At a meeting of Kent County Council next Tuesday, the Labour Group will make an amendment to reduce the rate of council tax. The current Conservative administration have come forward with a proposal to increase the rate of council tax by 3.9% - the rate by which state benefits and pensions will rise this coming April. The Labour Group has examined the budget proposals carefully and believes that savings can be made which will not affect front line services but give real help to Kent’s council taxpayers, especially those on fixed incomes.

One example of waste is the Conservative proposal to set up Health Watch which will cost £300,000. This is supposed to deal with complaints regarding the National Health Service. Yet the Labour Government is currently setting up and financing a complaints procedure through Kent County Council called LINks, which will achieve precisely what Health Watch is meant to do and more, because its remit will include social care. In other words, some 300 Kent residents would be paying council tax to no good purpose.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader on Kent County Council says:
“The Labour Government has poured money into Kent over the last decade. The cumulative effect of this has been to make it possible to consider lower rates of council tax increases than before. The Conservatives talk a lot about the need to help those on fixed incomes, especially pensioners, but when the opportunity presents itself they are not prepared to put their money where their mouth is.”

Derek Smyth, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, says:
“The Conservatives were wailing and whingeing about the awful settlement that they said the Labour Government was going to mete out to Kent this year. They were highly embarrassed that the settlement was much better than they had predicted and have found it difficult psychologically to adjust to this reality and ensure that Kent’s council taxpayers get the full benefit.”

COULD DO BETTER  8th February 2008

Kent County Council has received the results of its 2007 Comprehensive Performance Assessment, which make it clear the Council could do better.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“Although the current Conservative administration at County Hall have issued a press release saying the Council has received ‘the highest possible rating for a local authority’, they’ve ignored the fact that the Council’s scores have gone down in two areas of service.

Last year, KCC received the top ratings for Culture and for Environment but this year they’ve been taken down a notch in each category, from a score of four to a score of three. That’s hardly surprising when you consider the Conservatives made cuts to Libraries in the current year’s County Council Budget and also de-registered a museum in 2007. And they’re only just getting round to working out the carbon footprint of the Council’s own buildings.

Kent Labour know that there’s a lot of excellent work being done by KCC’s frontline staff and we appreciate what they do. That’s why we think it’s a shame for them, and the people of Kent, that the Council’s ratings have dropped in these two service areas of Culture and Environment.

The truth is, KCC’s frontline staff and all the people of Kent are being let down by the Conservatives at County Hall.”

ARE KCC’S EDUCATION CHIEFS KEEPING CARTER IN THE DARK?  8th February 2008

KCC Labour Group are appalled to learn that the current Tory Leader of KCC, Paul Carter, doesn’t seem to know what’s going on in the Council’s Education department.

Labour Shadow Leader of KCC Mike Eddy said:
“At a meeting in Westminster last night, Paul Carter was challenged by Sittingbourne & Sheppey’s Labour MP Derek Wyatt about the way KCC’s Education chiefs have been shilly-shallying about the money given by the Labour Government to deliver Sure Start Local Programmes.

“Sure Start Local Programmes deliver important services to support young children and families. Derek told Mr Carter in no uncertain terms that KCC has really angered the Minister for Children, Young People & Families, Beverley Hughes, by refusing to let Sure Start Local Programmes’ staff know how much money they’re getting from the Labour Government. KCC’s refusal to do this makes it look like the Council’s Education department wants to take the ringfenced grant, unpick it and use it for other things”.

Dr Eddy added, “I was appalled but sadly, not really surprised to hear Paul Carter say he didn't know anything about any of this. Clearly he needs to have serious words with KCC senior staff and with politicians in his own Cabinet! I can't imagine why anyone should want to keep the Leader of the County Council in the dark like this.”

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