Roger Reports ..
Feb 2012
Roger Reports... First the good news - it seems that there will be no increase in Council Tax (CT) from the district council - generally about 12% of the total or from the county council - about 66%. As yet I have no information about the Police Tax which is usually about 13%. But ’savings’ are needed to achieve the coalition government’s policy of nil increase in CT. Cumbria County Council has already cut nearly 1,000 posts and proportionate cuts are being implemented by SLDC. Members’ allowances have been frozen now for three years, and there will be £50,000 savings by reducing training and the number of meetings. On the county, gone are the days when we got a hot luncheon at the six full councils. However, I am told that Lancashire County Council has retained its subsidised ’members mess’ with waitress service! I am particularly concerned about libraries where book issues have declined by 20%. Hopefully, Milnthorpe branch library (whose opening hours were increased by 35% in 2011) and Kirkby Lonsdale library are safe - but there will probably be branch closures elsewhere. I am, however, fearful of losing my long campaign to keep our mobile libraries. Although our south area lost one of its two library vans in 2010, book issues have remained steady at 11,700 pa. But county-wide, mobile library use has declined by 33%. Last year there were 1,900 occasional borrowers but only 550 ’active’ borrowers which - l am told - works out £118 each pa. Our ageing van will cost £100,000 to replace, so we must now look at cheaper alternatives such as Library Links. These could be in shops and village halls. They would have a tiny stock and IT for orders, and their opening hours would be longer than branch libraries. In the meantime I will continue trying to save the van. Please remember the Library Home Delivery Service for house-bound readers, telephone 01539 713520. A major achievement was the opening, on 11 January, of the Carlisle Record Office which began in 2004 when I had the cultural portfolio. Most of the £6m cost came from the Heritage Lottery Fund and not from the Council Tax. On the district we, in effect, said good-bye to council houses when 85% of the tenants voted to transfer ownership to a housing trust. But most councillors will still want to assist housing applicants and tenants, as affordable housing remains our biggest social problem. Burton houses often cost five times more than average earned incomes. Planning restrictions about, for instance, the conversion of barns for local occupancy do not help. Yet, we have few second homes compared e.g. to Ambleside which has 20%! As Cumbria’s Older Person’s Champion I am, also, stressing the need for new-build owner-occupied or rented accommodation for older people, which would release larger houses to become family homes again. Since 2001 the over-65 age group has increased by 15%, and the working age group has gone down by 1%. But South Lakeland is relatively prosperous with, at 9%, the county’s lowest child poverty percentage, compared to Carlisle at 16% and Barrow at 23%. Moreover, we have one of lowest crime rates in England. Happy New Year! PS - I saw the first snowdrops on Drovers Way on 5 January. |
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