Latest Kent News

Latest Kent News.

LABOUR BELIEVES IN HEALTH EDUCATION – TORIES BELIEVE IN HEALTH WATCH 20th February 2009

At yesterday’s County Council meeting, Kent Labour proposed an amendment to KCC’s Budget which would have meant a further investment of £300,000 in health education.

The additional money – to be used for campaigns to promote responsible attitudes to obesity, teenage pregnancy, smoking and alcoholic drinks – would have been taken from the Conservatives’ unpopular Health Watch project.

However, Conservative county councillors blocked the amendment.

Mark Fittock, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member Public Health, said:
“It’s typical that instead of spending money on useful campaigns to promote public health, the Tories would rather continue to splash the taxpayers’ cash on their pet project.

Health Watch has had a minute number of calls for the amount spent on it so far. Moreover, it duplicates the LINks being brought in by the Labour Government, but which KCC is taking forward at a snail’s pace.

KCC just wants to stick its oar in and meddle where it can in the local health service.”

Mr Fittock went on to say:
“The Tories’ Public Health supremo, Alan Marsh, reckons that the sexually transmitted infection chlamydia is– as he put it in yesterday's Council meeting – ‘generally associated with ladies, per se’. But men and women can be infected with chlamydia. And it’s a major public health issue.

When you’re dealing with that kind of ignorance in a senior politician, you’ve got to wonder whether Kent’s Tories have got any right to start meddling in things they clearly don’t understand.”

LABOUR SAYS END KENT TV, INVEST IN ADULT EDUCATION 20th February 2009

Kent Labour proposed an amendment at yesterday’s County Council meeting that would have taken £400,000 from Kent TV and invested it in adult education.

The amendment – blocked by the Conservatives – would have ended the Kent TV project and helped improve the skills and employability of local people.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, said:
“When we raised the issue of Kent TV in today’s meeting, the Tories kept banging on about how wonderful it was going to be in raising the county’s profile for tourism, and how much good that would do for the local economy.

But isn’t promoting the county the job of the Kent Tourism Alliance, which KCC already supports through the Visit Kent Partnership and which already has an excellent website, www.visitkent.co.uk.

I find this very ironic, given that Kent TV was supposed to help save the Council money by avoiding duplication on publicity.

Instead, KCC is still duplicating its publicity spend and still putting more money into Kent TV. The Tories are wasting Kent taxpayers’ money.”

Dr Eddy went on to say:
“What would be really good for Kent’s economy would be for local people to develop new skills and get more qualifications. That would help them compete in a tough jobs market.

Employed people would have more money to spend with local firms – helping them to stay in business, and keep more people in work. It’s a win-win situation.

But not one that captured the imagination of Kent’s Conservatives, who would rather splash more cash on their pet project.”

TORIES BLOCK LABOUR CLAIM FOR FAIRER PAY 19th February 2009

Kent Labour proposed an amendment at today’s County Council meeting on the KCC Budget, aimed at raising low wages and reducing fat cat salaries, which was blocked by the Conservatives.

The amendment proposed that the lowest Kent Scheme pay grade be taken out. This would have had the effect of lifting those people currently earning between £11,691 and £12,403 per year up to an annual salary over £12,700.

A better standard of living for the least well-off would have cost only £350,000 – which would have been paid for by a review of the top KCC salaries and the market premiums on senior executive jobs.

Derek Smyth, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance, said:
“Now we can clearly see what Kent’s Tories are all about.

They said they’re already negotiating with the unions to delete the bottom pay grade. If so, what was the problem with our amendment?

One can only assume that the problem was our demand for transparency and restraint on top level salaries.”

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC, said:
“I cannot imagine why the Conservatives are so keen to maintain their fiction that the poorly-paid can go without while the well-paid need to be cosseted even more.”

LABOUR FORCES TORIES TO LET GO OF CASH 19th February 2009

Kent Labour welcomes the announcement made at today’s Council meeting that County Councillors are to receive control of £25,000 of money to spend on Highways.

This announcement followed a recommendation by KCC’s Select Committee on Accessing Democracy – chaired by Labour County Councillor Christine Angell – that KCC should delegate budgets and influence on services to local members and local communities.

Christine Angell said:
“I am delighted that Kent County Council’s Conservative leadership have finally decided to start ‘letting go’ of the money for Highways, and allowing local members and local communities to have some real control over funding projects.

However, I am concerned about the impact this is going to have on Highways staff.

Councillors and communities already have trouble getting routine road maintenance work done, let alone extra projects.

If it’s already proving too much for our hard-pressed Highways staff to keep up with demand, after several failed ‘reorganisations’ and underfunding by the Tories, how are they going to keep up once proposals start coming through from councillors and communities all over the County?

They’re certainly going to earn the measly 1% pay uplift the Conservatives are offering them for 2009 – 10.”

RENDEZVOUS WITH (OR WITHOUT) TURNER 18 November 2008

The sea-front Rendezvous car park adjacent to the Turner Contemporary site in Margate has become the latest battleground in the desperate fight to make the art gallery project a success.

Local Labour councillors say that if a gallery is to be built then parking should be a priority whilst the Conservative administration at County Hall insist the Rendezvous car park has to be intensively re-developed with apartments and a hotel to help pay the estimated £2.3million annual running costs for the Turner scheme.

Margate & Cliftonville County councillor Clive Hart said:
"It's been proven over and over again that the success of major public projects like this one rely on good transport links and parking provision. In London the Dome suffered badly due to lack of parking and associated difficulties with access, but now as the 02 Arena and vastly improved parking, the venue is a great success. In Margate, and in particular the Old Town area, we have serious parking issues and we will need every parking space possible for the Turner project to succeed."

Margate Central District councillor Iris Johnston said:
"The problem of car parking is one of the most significant issues in our ward and the matter has been raised by local residents and businesspeople at numerous public meetings."

KCC Labour Communities spokesman Terry Birkett said:
"An artistic icon like Turner Contemporary cannot regenerate Margate and East Kent on its own. If County Hall's Conservative leadership insist that it can, why is it being led by KCC's Communities department - with other purely cultural activities - and not by its Regeneration department? The fact that it's not integrated with Regeneration helps explain why in Margate, it often seems as though one bit of KCC doesn't know what the other bit's doing. It's too late to change responsibility over now, though - another example of how this project, which could have been so promising, has been mismanaged by KCC."

CARERS AND THE ARTS BENEFIT FROM COUNCILLORS' GRANTS 12 November 2008

This year the arts in Deal and carers who look after vulnerable relatives are set to benefit from Kent County Council's Local Schemes Grants.

Labour County Councillors Mike Eddy and Terry Birkett have recommended between £4,000 and £5,000 each to the Dover District Carers Centre, the Astor Theatre, the Memorial Bandstand, and the Move the Miner campaign.

Mike Eddy says:
"Carers do an immense amount of work with very little recognition and support. This is an opportunity to help them and the people they look after.

Both the Astor Theatre and the Memorial Bandstand are key elements of the artistic life of Deal and Walmer, while the Move the Miner campaign recognises the importance of Deal's mining heritage."

Dover District Carers Support receives £4,761.69 (the organisation's full request) to provide disabled access and other facilities at its centre in Deal. The £4,000 grant to the Astor Theatre will contribute to the costs of a 5 month programme of refurbishment, while the £5,000 grant to the Deal Memorial Bandstand Trust covers a fifth of the estimated costs of refurbishing the Bandstand. The Move the Miner campaign receives the remainder of the money (£4,895.45) for the relocation of the Waiting Miner statue and the provision of other civic art works in the Kent coalfield area.

Terry Birkett says:
"I am delighted to be able to assist these important projects and wish that we could have funded more.

There is, however, still some money left in the pot that each Deal and Walmer county councillor has available!"

JOINT SAFETY CAMPAIGN WELCOMED 10 November 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the start of a three-week awareness-raising campaign across to the county to improve Kent's poor health and safety performance. The campaign brings together local council workplace inspectors and officers of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and follows a similar exercise undertaken last month in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of Kent County Council, says:
“All of Kent's councils are now operating a flexible warranting scheme which allows council officials to inspect sites traditionally covered by the HSE and vice versa. Where there is a risk, flexible warranting allows action to be taken more quickly to make sites safe. And for most businesses it will cut red tape by reducing the number of re-inspections."

During the three-week duration of the campaign, inspections will focus on the way employers assess and control risks in the workplace, both for employees and for members of the public. Each stage of the campaign is preceded by a mail shot to employers informing them that visits may take place and explaining the purpose of the visit.”

Mike Eddy adds:
“This initiative is designed to raise employers' awareness of health and safety issues and to help them make workplaces safer for everyone. But it will also help to inform employers about the flexible warrants and how inspectors from local councils and the Health and Safety Executive can now work together more efficiently and effectively.”

WORRIES OVER FUTURE OF THANET SCHOOLS 7 November 2008

Kent Labour is concerned about the future of education in Thanet, as consultation goes ahead on a local federation of schools.

Despite being more than five miles apart, the governing bodies of Dane Court Grammar and King Ethelbert schools have resolved to consult parents on becoming what is known as a “hard federation”.

This would effectively place the schools under one governing body with one executive head teacher.

The move appears to be part of Kent County Council’s belated response to the difficulty King Ethelbert School has in achieving 5 A*-C’s for their pupils in GCSE results. This was highlighted in the “National Challenge”, launched by Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools & Families, on 10 June 2008.

The National Challenge placed a requirement on local authorities to ensure higher standards in all secondary schools so that at least 30% of pupils in every school gain five or more GCSE’s, including Maths and English, by 2011 .

Elizabeth Green, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, said:
“Despite the attacks made by KCC’s Conservative administration on the National Challenge, it is at last pushing them to do something to help pupils in the 33 schools in Kent that are not achieving the standards expected. That is a move in the right direction.

But KCC’s Conservatives should have put extra resources in place far earlier.

Parents will need to consider whether this proposal for a ‘hard federation’ will actually tackle the problem of standards at King Ethelbert’s. The amount of extra funding for the proposed option will not go far in dealing with the underlying causes.

Local parents need to ask KCC why other possible solutions such as a Trust or Academy status, which would bring far more resources with them, are not on the table.”

KENT CONSERVATIVES SAY THANK YOU TO THE LABOUR GOVERNMENT 7 November 2008

Kent Labour is delighted to note that Kevin Lynes, Conservative County Councillor for Tunbridge Wells East, fully supports the proposal for a Government-funded Academy in his area.

Christine Angell, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Families, says:
“Conservative-led KCC has failed to support children who are struggling in Kevin’s area, so the Labour Government has stepped in to help, as part of the National Challenge.

So many Conservative policies have failed children that only by taking up the offer of Labour Government funding can pupils succeed.”

Elizabeth Green, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for CFE, adds:
“Across Kent schools are benefiting from the Labour Government’s Building Schools for the Future programme, which will rebuild and renew secondary schools nationwide.”

Christine Angell concluded:
“It is amazing that the policies of KCC’s Conservative administration have had such a detrimental effect that there are 33 schools in Kent that have been failing to achieve standards expected – yet KCC are so proud to call themselves an ‘excellent’ authority”

KENT SLOW TO CATCH UP WITH SOCIAL SERVICES TRANSITIONS 4 November 2008

On 6th November, Kent County Council and its partners will launch the Kent Transition Protocols, to help young people and their families who have been receiving Children & Families Social Services support to have a better experience of the move to being supported by Kent Adult Social Services.

But Kent Labour points out that other local councils have had excellent transition arrangements in place for years, and that it has taken Conservative-led Kent County Council a long time to catch up.

Elizabeth Green, Kent Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Children, Families & Education, says:
“This launch is being portrayed as a KCC good news story. But it really highlights where Kent has been failing these young people and their families.

The transition from childhood to adult life for those with disabilities has long been identified as a time when very real problems can arise.

KCC are only now catching up with many other County Councils in addressing these problems. It needs to ensure the resources are at last put in place to provide support for these young adults and their carers.”

Christine Angell, Kent Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for CFE, added:
“It is sad that it has taken KCC this long to listen to the people who matter - other local authorities have had excellent support arrangements in place for years.

I wonder why it has taken the Conservative Administration at Kent County Council so long to catch up.”

KENT LABOUR LAUNCHES ONLINE FACILITY FOR SMALL BUSINESSES 31 October 2008

Kent Labour will be launching an online facility for small businesses on Monday 3rd November. Kent Business Watch will allow firms to report any instances of late payment by Kent County Council, by filling in a quick and easy form by visiting www.kentlabour.org.uk and clicking on the link to Kent Business Watch.

Roger Truelove, KCC Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Regeneration, says: “The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, has given a commitment that the Labour Government will pay bills to small businesses within 10 days. This will help them keep their cash flow going in today’s difficult economic climate.

Gordon Brown has also called on councils to pay their bills to small business within 10 days too.

KCC’s record isn’t as good as it could be on paying invoices within 30 days, let alone 10. If Kent businesses are waiting too long for KCC to pay up, Kent Labour would like to know.”

The Labour Team recognises how important the small business sector is to the whole Kent economy. Helping businesses in any way with their cash flow needs is an essential part of keeping people in employment and helping them to pay their mortgages. The County Council needs to reconsider all its priorities in the light of the current economic climate, including bringing forward capital projects, in line with good government practice.

KCC TORIES TRY TO STIFLE COVERAGE OF ICELANDIC BANKS AFFAIR 22 October 2008

Conservatives sitting on Kent County Council’s Cabinet Scrutiny Committee tried today to stop the media from covering the Committee’s meeting – and in particular, its consideration of the Icelandic banks affair.

A request from a local TV station to film the meeting was brought to the Committee Chairman, Dr Mike Eddy, since according to the Council’s Constitution, only the Chairman’s consent is needed for filming to take place.

However, when Dr Eddy informed the rest of the Committee about the request Conservative members voiced objections, saying among other things that this “would introduce an undesirable element” into proceedings.

Dr Eddy, who is also the Leader of KCC’s Labour Group, said:
“It really was extraordinary. The Conservatives seemed dead set against having TV cameras at the meeting.

They said that TV stations should just make use of pictures from the internet, as the meeting was being webcast. Funny – that never stops them from having the media into their Cabinet meetings.

The fact is KCC’s Conservatives just want to manipulate the media to put across their point of view. That’s why they spend millions of taxpayers’ money on publicity.

When the media take an interest in scrutiny, and not just the ‘official line’, the Conservatives don’t like it at all.

Luckily, only my consent as Chairman was needed for the TV station to attend – and I’m very much in favour of openness and transparency in every respect, as are my Labour colleagues on the Committee.”

KENT HEALTH WATCH LAUNCHED LATE – TAXPAYERS’ MONEY WASTED 3 October 2008

KCC’s Conservative ‘leadership’ are inviting members of the local media and County councillors to a press conference to launch Kent Health Watch… ten months later than planned.

The launch, scheduled for 10th October 2008, takes place nearly a year after Graham Gibbens, the former Cabinet Member for Public Health, told a meeting of KCC’s Cabinet Scrutiny Committee that Health Watch would be up and running by the end of 2007.

And it will take place nearly seven months after a report to the Council’s Corporate Policy Overview Committee pledged that Health Watch would be operational by 30th June 2008.

Mark Fittock, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Public Health, said:
“KCC’s Conservatives tried to make a lot of political capital out of the Maidstone & Tunbridge Clostridium difficile crisis last October, at the expense of the local NHS and with a view to having a go at the Labour Government.

Paul Carter’s big idea was to set up this Kent Health Watch scheme, at a cost of £300,000 to Kent’s council taxpayers. That’s despite the fact that at exactly the same time the Labour Government has been investing money in developing a Local Involvement Network for Kent – an organisation to involve the public and offer a truly independent health and social care complaints procedure.

The choice of Maidstone Hospital as the launch venue shows you that even a year later and with C. diff infection rates down 35%, thanks to the hard work of NHS staff, Carter’s still trying to squeeze some political gain out of the C. diff scandal.

But anyone can see how much of a priority Kent’s Conservatives really put on people’s health concerns. It’s taken them a year - and several broken promises over timescales - to get their much-publicised Health Watch up and running.”

Mark Fittock added:
“Still more extraordinarily, according to his blog the current Conservative Cabinet Member for Public Health, Alan Marsh, was under the impression as late as August 18th this year that Health Watch wouldn’t be launched until April 2009!

The Tories as a whole don’t appear to have had much of a clue about when Health Watch would finally materialise.

It seems this pet project of Paul Carter’s has been something of a mystery to everyone except him. So much for Conservatives being the responsible party.”

CHIEF EXECUTIVE HOLDS THE FORT AS KCC LOSES OFFICERS 24 September 2008

Kent Labour is concerned that Kent County Council’s services will suffer as a result of the ongoing exodus of senior officers.

At a meeting of the Council’s Cabinet Scrutiny Committee today, Chief Executive Peter Gilroy admitted that he had taken on the responsibilities of the recently-departed chief of the Council’s Environment & Regeneration directorate. He added that for the time being he would be receiving any complaints about the County’s Highways service.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader of KCC and Chairman of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee, said:
“It really is extraordinary. For a so-called ‘excellent’ council we’ve lost a lot of officers in the last couple of years – some of whom I know did a really good job.

But you have to be concerned when the Council’s senior councillors and officers tell you that certain vacancies won’t have an impact on the service to the public.

If not having someone in a position won’t affect services, especially if that position is highly paid, then you’ve got to ask why the job exists at all.

I did ask that question during today’s meeting – and I didn’t get a proper answer.”

Dr Eddy continued:
“One area of work that really does need doing is putting the County’s Highways service in order. You only have to bump along Kent’s patched and potholed roads to know they’re not maintained to a decent state.

But we were told today that the Chief Executive, on top of everything else, is going to be holding the fort while he has a think about the future of the department.

He said that, among other things, he’ll be receiving complaints and comments about the Highways service.

With Autumn rains set to flood all the roads where drains and gullies haven’t been cleared for ages, I think Mr Gilroy’s going to be quite busy over the next few months.”

Gravesham Tories back down on Gypsy Site 23 September 2008

Gravesham’s Tories have done a u-turn on a proposed site for Gypsies/Travellers in the Northfleet area.

On 15th September the Cabinet of Conservative-controlled Gravesham Borough Council decided unanimously to proceed with an outline planning application for a Gypsy/Traveller site next to the cemetery at Northfleet.

The proposal would have meant the closure of the Royal Naval Association Club and the football changing facilities nearby. But the Cabinet’s decision was taken without allowing any public opposition to be heard.

At the time, the Leader of the Council made strong statements about getting the gypsies out of their present site at Cobham/Sole Street. He made no mention of the concerns of the residents of Northfleet, but was only slightly embarrassed at the potential closure of the Royal Naval Association Club.

Later that week, in an obvious u-turn, Gravesham Borough Council decided not to proceed with the planning application at the present time. The Council’s decision follows a public outcry by Northfleet residents and a planning application from the Cobham/Sole Street Gypsy/Traveller community to remain in their present site for another three years.

Labour County Councillors for Northfleet and Gravesend West, Leslie Christie and Ray Parker, continue to strongly oppose this politically-motivated move. They see it as a Conservative-run authority trying to solve what they see as a problem in a Conservative area by moving it to Northfleet.

Leslie Christie says:
“I have seen some Tory somersaults in my time but this takes the biscuit. Unanimous decision on Monday – rescinded by Thursday!

Once again Gravesham’s Tories have been bested by the Gypsy/Traveller community and – finally - the Tories have realised what a storm they have provoked in Northfleet.

I welcome the decision but it should be a permanent decision, not just temporary.”

Ray Parker says:
“The residents of Northfleet have reacted strongly and so far they’ve had a partial success. Leslie & I will continue to fight for their interests, on this and other issues of concern.

Green spaces in urban Gravesham are rare and they should not be misused.”

NHS HEARING AID PROGRESS WELCOME 18 September 2008

Kent Labour congratulates the NHS for reducing the waiting times for audiological assessments across the county.

Mark Fittock, Labour Shadow Cabinet Member for Health, said:
“These assessments – which include assessments for digital hearing aids – are vitally important in making sure people get the help they need to live independently with hearing difficulties.

In West Kent Primary Care Trust area, the waiting time has gone down from 17.2 weeks in January this year to 3.4 weeks in June. In the Eastern & Coastal Kent Teaching Primary Care Trust area, the drop in waiting times has been even more dramatic – from 48.8 weeks to 3.4 weeks.

These figures came to light in a response from the Secretary of State for Health to a question by the Conservative MP for Sevenoaks, Michael Fallon.

Kent’s Conservatives always seem keen to knock the NHS when they think it is falling short of their expectations. I’m saddened, but not surprised, that they haven’t taken this opportunity to congratulate Kent’s health workers on reducing waiting times.”

NHS DECISION ON DOVER 18 September 2008

Kent Labour welcomes the decision taken at yesterday's meeting of local NHS bosses to invest some £20 million in a brand new community hospital in the centre of Dover.

Mike Eddy, Labour Shadow Leader on Kent County Council, says:
“This is just the news that Dover needs. The long wait for a replacement of Buckland hospital, a former Victorian workhouse, is finally coming to a close.

A new, state-of-the-art community hospital in the centre of Dover will provide more and better healthcare for the majority of the town's residents. It will also bring a much-needed fillip to town centre shops and businesses.”

Mike Eddy adds:
ldquo;The campaign for a new out-of-town hospital for Dover has been kicked out, and quite rightly, too. That campaign was a cynical attempt to delay a new hospital for Dover and to revive the previous Conservative Government's plans to close Kent & Canterbury.

I have written to the Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, Andrew Lansley MP, to ask him if his party is still committed to backing the local Conservative wannabe MP behind the plan for a new general hospital for Whitfield - and no hospital for Canterbury and Deal and Folkestone.”

Gravesham Tories use Gypsies as political football 15 September 2008

The Cabinet of Gravesham Borough Council tonight (15th September) are considering proposals to create a Gypsy/Traveller site next to the Cemetery at Northfleet.

The proposal will in all probability mean the closure of the Royal Naval Association Club and the removal of the football changing facilities nearby.

The urgency for this debate is that the Council have to find a site for the Gypsy /Traveller group who are currently based in Cobham/Sole street area and have been for the past three years. This group are due to be moved by October 2008.

Labour County Councillors for Northfleet and Gravesend West, Leslie Christie and Ray Parker, are strongly opposed to this proposal and see it as a cynical political move by Conservative-run Gravesham Borough Council to move what they see as a problem from their own Conservative area of Cobham/Sole Street to Northfleet.

They have circulated a letter to residents and business adjacent to the site (copy attached) and in less than 24 hours have gained strong support.

Leslie Christie says:
“The proposed site is next to the local cemetery; very close to sheltered housing; surrounded by dense housing; and will mean the removal of the Royal Naval Association Club which has been there for 30 years.

There is a scarcity of green space in urban Gravesham; recent months have seen the loss of green space and sports facilities to make room for the new police station.

Why should the local people of Northfleet suffer just to satisfy a political whim of the Borough Council? Why should Naval Veterans lose their accommodation after their loyal service to the country? Northfleet needs more green space not less.”

Ray Parker says:
“The proposal is outrageous. All over Northfleet open space is disappearing as Ebbsfleet is developed and thousands of houses are being built.

There is a new development, “Springhead Park”, just being opened across the road from this proposed site. I doubt if the developers were aware of this proposal.”

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."

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