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County and Borough Councillors reports 2010

County & Borough Councillors Report 2010
County Council Report May 2010 To Tarleton Parish Council
Thank you for inviting me here tonight, I must congratulate Councillor James Kay on his stunning victory in the recent Borough elections.As you will aware there was a change of administration at county Hall last year and my group took over on the 25th July. Our priorities were no increase in Council Tax, reduce wastefull spending by reorganisation of the Directorates, increase help for older people, create a new cabinet post for young people and to increase contact with the District and Parish Councils.
When we finally had close examination of the books and Directorates we discovered much waste and duplication of jobs and managed to save 22mil in the first 6 months and hope to save 37mil in the full year we have managed to do this without any compulsory redundancies.
We have allocated an extra 6 mil for help to older people,Our new Cabinet member for young people Mark Perks is enthusiastically working with youth workers order to tackle the many problems encountered in this area.We have allocated an extra 5 mil for vulnerable children.
We are trialling working with District Councils to achieve joint working in many areas.
To improve relations with Parish Councils we have instituted ''Bite Size Briefings'' Open to Parish Councillors and Clerks.
Although we have abolished Lancashire Locals which were costing a great of money and massive use of officer time we have introduced more direct means of working with other bodies such as working directly with District Councils more responsibility and influence for Borough and County Councillors and more contact with Parish Councils.
In instituting our reforms we have received tremendous help from our officers who have pointed out many ways that we can improve efficiency and services to the public.
Amongst the many difficult issues that we have had to tackle the equal pay review stands out. The Equal pay review was instituted in law by the Government at the behest and agreement of the Unions.
All jobs at County Hall were scrutinised and evaluated and as a result 87% of employees salaries either stayed the same or were increased The remaining 13% were offered help in retraining, or extra responsibilities, the new conditions would not come into effect until 12 months after this August.
Obviously some people will be adversely affected by these changes and we do appreciate this and we hope the help we have offered will ameliorate the changes,but it must be understood that we were legally obliged to carry out the review
We have allocated an extra 24mil to be spent on the roads.
Much critical comment has been made under Parliamentary Privilege and in the press about our gritting policy ( the ormskirk Advertiser declined to publish the full content of my reply) I must point out that Lancashire County Council was considered to be one of the best performing councils in the country and indeed we actually helped out other Councils.We restored a £40,000 cut that had been made by the previous administration and instructed our officers to spend whatever was necessary. As a result all main roads and service roads to emergency services were kept open. We never ran out of salt but were hampered when the Government instructed all Councils to cut use of salt by 50%.
Tribute must be made to the emergency services who performed so well. Also to our Gritter drivers who worked all hours including Christmas day Boxing and New years Day and to the officers who supported them.


Borough Council Report
Over the past year the Borough Council under went a lengthy process in downsizing its workforce and after lengthy negotiations with the unions, GMB and Unison, this was successfully accomplished with a small number of redundancies. The rationale behind the process was the need for tight budgeting due to drastic reductions in Government funding. To achieve this while maintaining Front- Line Services has been a very difficult balancing act, and full credit must be given to our fine team of officers who underwent months of detailed staff re-structuring. The next twelve months promises to be even more difficult financially in common with many other councils in the country, especially so in the light of the current economic climate. The zero increase in Council Tax this year will, I am almost certain, not be repeated next year, but I think the public are fully aware of the sacrifices that will need to be made nationally and locally if we are to extract ourselves from the grave economic crisis.
I attended the Count for the Borough elections on Friday last at the Civic Hall, Ormskirk, and I am pleased to say that I retained my seat for another four years. The atmosphere was very cordial as usual with all parties chatting amongst themselves in a friendly manner, and of course there was the tinge of excitement and angst that is the culmination of every campaign.Jubilation, disappointment and sometimes tears are ingredients of the last act of an evergreen drama that always has a different ending. The political balance at the Council now stands at 21 Labour 31 Conservative and councillors. Myself, Councillor Evans and Councillor Mee and Councillor Barron, as well as our clerk Neil Leadbetter, have become members of a steering group to discuss the proposed Linear Park which could stretch from Hesketh Bank boatyard to Bank Bridge. This is an exciting project which should transform an area often seen as neglected with footpath erosion and questionable rights of way. Inputs from landowners, Altys, Lancashire Light Railway and the sailing groups will be taken into consideration. A foot bridge over the River Douglas near the site of the old railway bridge is also proposed which would provide a valuable link to footpaths in Hoole and even the Ribble Way which begins near the Dolphin Inn, Longton. Unfortunately projects such as this may be hard hit by the present economic climate.
The term of West Lancashire Borough Council’s first Mayor, councillor Geoff Roberts, is coming to an end. Geoff has done stirling work attending many civic functions and events, raising money for.Charities. This office involves quite a punishing schedule attending events throughout the Northwest and this month he hands over his chain of office to Councillor John .Baldock of Banks who will be our mayor for the next twelve months.The Council’s responsibilities include things like street cleaning, waste collection, environmental health but we are constantly aware of the need for partnerships which whilst maintaining Front –Line services help keep costs down. An example of partnership working is contracting LCC to carry out grass-cutting in our area. Another successful one is the Beacon Golf Club which is run by the private sector but still owned by the Council.
Finally, the completion of the much needed improvements to Coronation Park in Ormskirk have made this once more a source of pride not only for Ormskirk but also for the whole of West Lancashire.