Broken Britain – A Genuine Picture?

Sometimes when reading the letters pages of the local press, one can be given a rather depressing and nihilistic view of the world. Often, the same narrow band of correspondents are pushing an intolerant view of life, choosing to focus upon that which divides society rather than what brings us together.

Other times, those with a particular axe to grind will seek to make political capital out of isolated national tragedies far from Shrewsbury. A recent instance is David Cameron’s ‘Broken Britain’ claims following the child violence case in South Yorkshire.

Personally I prefer to concentrate on the facts, and recognise that not all was well in the good old days. For example the number of violent deaths among children in England and Wales fell by almost 40% in the past 30 years, or nearly 50% when taking into account growth in the child population, according to the recent report by Bournemouth University.

Improvements in social care systems, along with a greater focus on child poverty, had helped lower the death rate. Thirty years ago England and Wales were the third or fourth highest child killers in the western world, but we’re now fourth lowest.

These national tragedies are terrible and one violent death of a child is too many but this research clearly proves the way to protect children’s lives is to invest in our social care systems, fight child poverty and support those families who need it.

To consider cutting initiatives such as Labour’s Sure Start scheme, which provides health, education, parenting and employment services to pre-school children and parents, is in my opinion, bordering on the cruel.

I hope our Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski will confirm that he will back our four Shrewsbury Sure Start centres in Monkmoor, Crowmoor, Harlescott and Meole Brace, and not permit any cuts in their funding laid out nationally by his own party.

Free VAT Open Day for Businesses

Free VAT advice open day for businesses

Shropshire Council and HM Revenue & Customs will be holding a free advisory day in Shrewsbury on 11 March to help explain to newly-registered businesses the importance of filing their VAT returns online.

Under government proposals it will become compulsory from April 2010 for VAT registered business to complete VAT returns online and pay any VAT due electronically.

Shropshire businesses affected by this change are being invited to the exhibition and seminar programme at the Prostar Stadium on Thursday 11 March to meet experts from government department agencies, and to find out more about help and support to start, survive or grow in business today.

Jill Poole, from HM Revenue and Customs Business Liaison Team, said: “I am pleased to be able to invite businesses to this event which offers a wide range of advice for small and medium sized businesses. In addition, we will be offering assistance to VAT registered businesses for the VAT Online service.”

Councillor David Roberts, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for local environment and economy said: “I’m pleased that we are able to support this important event which I would urge businesses to attend. One of the main aims for the Shropshire Business Board is to work with partners and other organisations to simplify the information available to businesses and to make it easier for them to access existing support services. This event will help to meet this aim.”

For more information about the event, call 01682 755214 or 01743 252531

SHREWSBURY MP’s FREE SUNSHINE HOLIDAY TRIPS

I was pleased to read that our Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski had no issues to answer concerning his domestic Parliamentary expenses claims. However, his constituents should be aware Parliament holds other financial details on our MPs. I’ve just had a look at Daniel Kawczynski’s Register of Interests entry, and his liking for free foreign trips makes worrying reading.

In February 2008 our MP travelled to Saudi Arabia for meetings with Saudi Ministers and officials. Flights, accommodation, internal travel and security were paid for by the Saudi Government.

In May 2008 Daniel Kawczynski travelled to the Sultanate of Oman, for meetings with Ministers and Members of the Shura Council, at the invitation of the Majlis A’Shura. All costs including flights and accommodation for him and his spouse were paid for by the Majlis A’Shura.

In February 2009 our MP travelled to Israel with the Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI), for meetings with politicians and officials and to visit the Golan Heights. Costs of the visit were paid by CFI.

On 2-5 October 2009 Daniel Kawczynski travelled to Saudi Arabia to meet with Shoura Council (Parliament) Members and Ministers in order to promote Anglo-Saudi relations. A donation of £5,000 was given to Daniel Kawczynski by the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Register does not detail what the donation was for.

On 11-13 October our MP travelled to Doha, Qatar, to participate in the Doha Debates. A donation of £4,000 was given to Daniel Kawczynski by the Doha Foundation. The Register does not detail what the donation was for.

I have several questions regarding these 5 overseas free trips made within the last two years. With the UK in the grip of global economic crisis, with many local residents losing jobs and houses, and local businesses being forced to close, what possible relevance to Shrewsbury & Atcham did these visits have?

As our elected representative, being paid a salary and expenses from public funds, does he think it appropriate to be making these free trips abroad, during Parliamentary time?

Regarding the £9,000 of donations received in October 2009, during the height of the MP’s expenses scandal, from the Saudis and Doha Foundation, will he be donating this money to charity?

School Places Solution Vital

The problem of surplus school places in Shropshire is back on the front page (Shropshire Star 2nd Feb). Now the spotlight has moved on to our secondary schools, which are reported to be facing large reductions in pupil numbers over the next 5-6 years.  This issue has been central to school funding in our County in recent years. To be fair to the controlling Tory group on the former County Council, they did recently attempt to tackle surplus numbers in the primary sector.  Sadly, rank and file Tory Councillors when faced with the inevitable angry protests buckled under the pressure, and appeared more concerned with the approaching unitary elections than with making progress on the matter.

Well, the problem has not gone away. I fully appreciate, and sympathise, with village residents concerned about the risk of closure to their school. On top of the loss of the local shop, pub and bus service this can seem like the last straw. But we must all accept small rural schools cannot be considered in isolation. Surplus places kept open mean less funding for the rest of our schools, including those in both village and town.

In my opinion what is required is an approach that considers the whole of our school system, and whilst listening fully to the people,  is not then derailed by narrow local electoral considerations. The issue is very emotive and inevitably supporters of some schools will be disappointed. The ruling Conservatives on Shropshire Council face some very tough decisions on the matter, but to do nothing is no longer an option.

What was not acceptable was the stance of certain prominent local Tories, who sought to blame the Labour Government for Shropshire’s surplus place problem. Spouting misleading and  inaccurate claims will not solve the problem, and does nothing to foster the informed debate we all need to have on the subject. The funding figures per pupil are largely a product of past failures to tackle the surplus place problem. No Government, of whatever party, is going to pay us to maintain significant numbers of empty desks.

If the same people repeat these claims now, they will truly have exposed themselves to be unable to understand simple mathematics, or worse, to be total cynics.

MP Silent on Local Tory Turmoil

The very public spat between ousted former Tory Borough Council leader Peter Nutting and current Tory Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow throws up several significant questions. Cllr Nutting has been ruthlessly stripped of his Deputy Leadership and sacked from all his other main committee posts on the unitary new authority.  Yet only recently our Tory MP praised Cllr Nutting in the fullest possible terms.

In a Parliamentary debate on Local Government in March 2007 MP Daniel Kawczynski said of the Borough Council “It has an excellent chief executive and a formidable council leader, Peter Nutting.” Yet less than 3 years later Cllr Nutting has been ejected from power by his own Party, and Robin Hooper seems long gone.

As a Councillor on all of the Borough, County and Unitary Councils I always respected Peter Nutting as a hard working local representative. But I had deep differences with him over policy, particularly the spending spree the Tories indulged in with the sale proceeds of the Borough council houses. A recurring problem I found was getting information to scrutinise these spending decisions. The regular exclusion of the public under the exempt item rules, such as happened with the secret sale of the Barker Street car park, is just one example.

Sadly this is still going on. I have found great difficulty in getting details out of the Tory led Shropshire Council, to try and get to the bottom of of the huge Quantum Leap spending total. Yet both Peter Nutting and Keith Barrow are now publicly claiming they want more open and democratic local government. They can start by holding a full investigation into the huge sums spent on the Darwin celebrations, and why local residents  seem to have got so little in return.

And what of our Tory MP Daniel Kawczynski, what has he got to say about this local Tory turmoil? When it comes to his own Party, he seems to go very, very, quiet.

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