28th June

This evening we had a meeting of the community services scrutiny to look at the decision of the Tory cabinet to close Willenhall Leasure centre and Bryntisilo campy site in Wales.

After some agrument the meeting was adjourned as many of those who are directly affected by this had not been invited to have their say...

I often !! despair of Walsall Council... this is yet another example of issues that should have been foreseen years and years ago but the relevant senior officer has not taken ownership of that issue and in conjunction with the relevant politician from cabint has not had the foresight to deal with and plan of action way long ago rather than leave until the clock is nearly at midnight and actions are just panic reactions... a story of a culture in walsall that has been disgraceful over the years and I think is the cause of many of the disasters that have happened in Walsall Council to the detriment of the council tax payers in thsi Borough and has wasted so much both in effort and money.....!! and we pay the chief executive of walsall Council nealry twice the pay ( including pension contributions) than the Prime Minister.. does it not get your blood to boil even without the heat of the present sunshine!?

regards

Ian

Cllr Ian Robertson

Blakenall Ward

Ban the Tat wagons from parking up in residential streets!

W Hi
    I am fed up and I am sure you are that these Tat wagons continue to flout the laws of planning.. again as your local councillor , both myself Ann Young and Bob Thomas keep raising this issue.. the latest is Notice of Council agenda for 19th July...

Notice of motion

This Council welcomes both the   efforts of individuals and those running a business,  to increase recycling.  .

Council notes the Notice of Motion passed on 2^nd July 2007… where

This Council resolves to make every effort via a full strength enforcement team to stop this activity and to urge and give every assistance to our partners such as the environmental agency and the police . Further this   Council will also share such  information with Walsall Housing Group to encourage them to enforce their tenancy agreements which are clearly being broken in these cases and where appropriate information will be shared with our statutory partners.

This Council notes with concern that since that Notice, the problem appears to have become considerably worse and is affecting an even wider area of streets in this Borough.

Council resolves to have urgent discussions with local Councillors, the Police, the environmental agencies, Walsall Housing group, and other appropriate agencies on how this serious anti social behaviour can be permanently stopped, while still encouraging the efforts of the more responsible people in recycling various forms of scrap or ‘tat’.

Also am asking the following questions.... 

Question…  …

What is the detailed breakdown in reasons for sickness absence by employees of this Council over the last year along with a length of time absence expressed if possible please in numbers of weeks absent for individual employees and cost of providing cover either by agency staff or by seconding other employees to cover these absences ? 

  News that over 90000 days were lost at Walsall Council last year due to sickness absence, equivalent to 391 years in work days,

    

When will the disgraceful state of Butlers passage be corrected? and what has been the cost  so far in the previous attempts to restore and clean up?

-         What is the current estimated cost and time scale of correcting the pothole damage caused by the frost during last winter?
    

regards

    

Ian

    

Cllr Ian Robertson

    

Blakenall

welcome news on helping those who over indulge!!

I am pleased that one of the recommendations of a scrutiny working party which I chaired has been implemented...we were looking at issues around anti social behaviour esepcailly around the Town Centre... it is so sad that many young people drink too much too often and will be causing so much long term damage... this has worked in other Towns and I shall be looking carefully at how this works in Walsall

regards

Ian

Cllr Ian Robertson

Blakenall Ward

Walsall’s new triage centre

JUNE 25, 2010

by Walsall Licensing

Last Wednesday (23rd June 2010) saw the launch of a new triage centre in Walsall. The centre has been set up to deal predominantly with young people who are suffering from alcohol related illnesses and injuries, but the facilities are there for any visitor to the town centre to use should it be necessary.

The idea of the centre is to provide an initial response to people who may have consumed excess alcohol or those who are vulnerable due to intoxication. A paramedic and a police officer will be patrolling the town centre, looking for people who may be in need of medical intervention.  Anyone found in need of care will have an initial assessment before being taken to a place of safety in the town. There, medical staff and police officers will provide further care and establish a plan to get the person home.

Similar schemes operate in other towns and cities in the West Midlands and have led to a significant reduction in calls to the ambulance service and fewer admissions to hospitals. This has saved the National Health Service a great deal of money. We are delighted that our partners in West Midlands Ambulance Service, St John’s Ambulance and Walsall Manor Hospital are supporting this initiative, as it has potential to make a hugely positive impact on crime and disorder in the town.

Initially, the triage centre will be run during the World Cup games. In the long term, it is planned to open the centre whenever there is likely to be a heavy footfall in the town, such as on pay days. On these busy nights, there are additional officers on patrol in the town centre, so they will be able to make referrals to the centre.

Pubs, clubs and other venues in the town have been made aware of  this scheme and will be referring patients to police officers on the town.

Once the scheme has been running for a while, we will post some feedback. In the meantime, if anyone has any suggestions for improvements, please submit a comment.

The centre will be open again this Sunday during the England – Germany game on Sunday 27th June.

News from Walsall Council

We learn that the latest news to tory run Walsall from this Tory Government is that funding for the Borough has been cut by a further £6 million pounds, including over £2Million on education alone. The details are being worked out by the tory cabinet at the moment , but we await the details and will be probing especially the effects on the most vulnerable and already disadvantaged in the Borough and even more so in wards we represent.




The news that we shall not be sending any more children to Bryntysillio and that Willenhall Leisure centre will close is bad news for those from more disadvantaged backgrounds who value such opportunities. This Borough faces a serious problem of overweight children which will result in many such now children being outlived by their parents.



The committee looking at the loss by this Council of £ 3 million pounds due to poor record keeping and poor officer management met last Monday and it was admitted that the records are there but not in the right files and so claims back cannot be made. Next Monday the audit committee looks at the draft accounts for the Council and seeing that we have 91officers ( excluding education where we have 215 more) earning over £50000 a year and a chief executive earning over £190,000 a year .. that is £40000 more than the prime minister… are we getting value for money as council tax payers?



The news that 1 in 5 cancer patients are having to wait over 2 months to get treatment was revealed by the Primary care trust in their annual meeting… can they imagine what it is like to have to wait that long to find out if you have a possibly fatal illness and have some treatment?

We shall as labour councillors be pursuing these issues with vigour and welcome your comments.

Regards

Cllr Ian Robertson Cllr Bob Thomas

Blakenall Ward ( Labour)

threat to our leisure centres

I note a visit to leisure centres by members of this tory council in other parts of the Country. I wonder what this Tory cabinet has in store to propose for the future of our leisure centres in Walsall? including our Bloxwich centre? I fear rhey are all at risk at a time when excercise is so crucial to improve the health especially of our young people.
A daft decision to ban leisure activities on the Broadway playing fields due to apparent concerns on 'contamination' shows health and safety issues again apparently good mad. Plus probably no support to continue using Bryntisillo as an activity centre for our children.
I am wondering what we acutally get for our council tax?
We will be asking questions and probing these decisions and reporting back!
regards
Ian Robertson and Bob Thomas