Commenting on Labour’s plans to reform social care, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: 

“After 13 years in power spent ducking social care reform we probably shouldn’t be surprised that Labour has once again hit it into the long grass.

“A white paper without any commitment to substantial change in the next Parliament is barely worth the paper it is written on.

“We’re now being offered a series of piecemeal reforms that have not been properly thought through or costed. Seeking consensus is the right approach but that will only work if the cross-party commission is free to consider all ways of funding social care, not just Labour’s preferred policy. The commission should report within a year so changes can be implemented straight away.

”Vic D’Albert, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Bury South added:

“Gesture politics coupled with desperation has meant that the Government made this announcement now rather than seeking to further develop consensus and properly consider how the scheme would work and be funded.

“The issue of social care for the elderly is too important a subject to be reduced to a sound bites and slogans.

The announcement has been followed by suggestions that the Attendance allowance benefit may be slashed by £100m to pay for it.

“It is important right now that we make it clear to Labour and the Tories that we will not stand by and allow other vulnerable groups and disadvantaged communities to see their budgets slashed to pay for this.

“It’s no use addressing the need of the elderly while punishing the disabled or others to pay for it.”

Anyone see the Chancellors debate on Channel 4 last night?

The general sense seems to be: - The audience: 6 rounds of applause for Cable, 3 for Darling and 1 for Osborne - The journalists: Audience pretty much unanimous cable won

Here’s Vince’s closing remarks:

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all in the Jewish community a very happy passover.

May you share peace and happiness amongst family and friends during this festival of freedom.

Next year in Jerusalem!

So Alastair Darling has presented his last budget before the election and possibly his last budget for ever, who knows. It was a nothing budget. It said nothing, offered nothing, achieved nothing. Much ado about nothing.

What we do know is that it was a typical Brown Budget, as upbeat as possible, with some nice little titbits BUT all the detail missing. With Brown and Darling the devil is definitely in the detail. As usual it has already turned out that some of the  nice little sweeteners won’t actually happen until 2012 - if they happen at all. Meanwhile he forgot to mention the cuts. Now we all know we face cuts, we were all expecting if not the nitty gritty, more detail than we got. To give us no detail at this time is unfair and unnecessary and shows that Labour are intent on manipulating the situation to their advantage all the way to polling day if possible.

Whilst Labour won’t give public spending cuts details and neither will the Conservatives (yet), only the Lib Dems have said precisely how they would cut the budget deficit with £15bn of specific measures announced already.  Yet within 24 hours of the budget Alastair Darling was letting us know that the cuts, that he can’t tell us about, would be as bad as under Thatcher. Only for the Tories to insist , well we will cut even more then.

It’s a ridiculous unholy child like squabble of who can cut most between the Tories and Labour. When what the people deserve is to know what will be protected, to what extent, how will the cuts break down and as for taxes, how will they be affected.

We need more openness (especially after the expense/lobbying/foreign trips/ scandals) and on a need to know basis, the British Public need to know. Isn’t that the least they deserve, after all they will be paying the bill!

Why not join the Bury Rangers on one of their events;

Tuesday 30th March Easter Fun.
Bring along a hard boiled egg for an afternoon of egg-citing activities – egg decorating competition, chocolate quiz and crafty fun. Booking essential – all children must be accompanied by an adult. The Barn Countryside Centre, Philips Park, Prestwich to book call 0161 253 7984

Wednesday 31^st March Easter Surprise.
Join the rangers at Whitehead Park, Bury and get creative with a variety of Easter Activities. Booking Essential  to book call 0161 763 1628

Thursday 1 April. Easter Bunny Hunt
This is no April fool - all of the Easter bunnies have gone missing and they need your help to find them. Hop down to Burrs Country Park between 10 – 11am to register. No booking required – all children must be accompanied by an adult. Meet at the chimney, main car park, Burrs Country Park, Bury. 

Wednesday 7^th April. St Mary’s Park, Prestwich. Easter Egg Hunt
Hunt the park for clues to find the eggs the Easter Bunny has left behind. Register between 1.30-2pm. Meet at the Ranger Base

Thursday 8th April. Nuttall Park, Ramsbottom. Easter Egg Hunt
Hunt the park for clues to find the eggs the Easter Bunny has left behind. Register between 1.30-2pm. Meet at the Ranger Base

Just returned from the Town Hall where David Hanson, Bury’s Head of Democratic Services had organised a get together to mark his retirement after 27 years of dedicated service to the authority.

It was a sad yet happy occasion and I wished him well on behalf of my Lib Dem colleagues, it’s fair to say it was a great turnout, with a lot of councillors present, senior officers past and present and many people who have come to know David over the years.

Watching David give his speech following a presentation from Jayne Hammond, Chief legal officer, I couldn’t help thinking how rare it is for someone to work for one organisation for that length of time these days. To give such committment and dedication to his job, mindful of the true value of the impact of his actions in a sensitive role is a great testament to his enduring legacy in the Town Hall.

Well done David, may you enjoy the rest of your life in peace, happiness and health.

The Following Credit Card Scam warning has been received from Bury Councils Press Office and has is currently being circulated as widely as possible via Neighbourhood Watch, School Safe and others.

The caller provides YOU with all the information, except the one piece they want. Note, the callers do not ask for your card number; they already have it.  By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you’ll be better prepared to protect yourself.   The scam works like this: Person calling says, “This is (name), and I’m calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My badge number is 12460. Your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I’m calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank) did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for £497.99 from a Marketing company based in London ?” When you say “No”, the caller continues with, “Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range from £297 to £497, just under the £500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?” You say “yes”. The caller continues - “I will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 0800 number listed on the back of your card (0800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number.The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. “Do you need me to read it again?”Here’s the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works the caller then says, “I need to verify you are in possession of your card.” He’ll ask you to “turn your card over and look for some numbers.” There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card. The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he’ll say, “That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?” After you say, “No,” the caller then thanks you and states, “Don’t hesitate to call back if you do”, and hangs up.

Read the rest of this entry. Read the rest of this entry.

Just when we thought the MP’s expenses scandal was over, we get the MP’s lobbying scandal followed swiftly by the MP’s foreign trips scandal!

Please insert a word of your choosing in the following sentence: MP’s _______Scandal. It will probably happen.

We started off thinking that the system of managing and authorising expense claims was unregulated, archaic and open to abuse, it’s now beginning to look like every nook and cranny of Parliament is either unregulated or abused at will by all and sundry.

I’d like to think things aren’t really that bad, that it’s partly the fault of an over hyping media, to sell newspapers increase audience etc.

BUT irrespective of the hype and the motivation the facts are undeniable. That is that on the one hand we appear to have a largely unregulated systems in place throughout Parliament that are largely left unregulated or loosely monitored and secondly that we have too many MP’s and Lords that are prepared to abuse the system or lack of one.

Perhaps the time is fast approaching when we need a Royal Commission to undergo a sweeping review of our parliementary processes and interaction with Lobby firms and foreign governments et al.

In the meantime it won’t half make the coming General Election fun - Unless you are a candidate of course! 

According to the local advertiser the Labour MP, Ivan Lewis is calling for virtual independance from Bury for the Boroughs 6 townships.

Whilst the detail of his letter to the press doesn’t quite go that far in reality, he might as well have gone for independance for all the sense his remarks make.

Now as a good old fashioned liberal , I’m all for devolution and bringing power down to the lowest possible unit of government etc, power to the people!

BUT the Lewis Plan is pure fairy tales meets electioneering meets desperation.

He calls for Area Partnerships to be replaced by Area Boards. Whoopee, so we scrap our partnerships with the Police, NHS , Voluntary sector and community organisations do we? 

He then says that “Significant funds” will be devolved to the local boards. What does significant mean, where does this come from. Is Bury Council replaced by an Area Board as well or does Bury just become a glorified central supplies and managements body?

The trouble with this proposal is that it hasn’t been thought through, and that is because it’s a blatant election gimmick. Of course prior to the past 3 years of Tory rule at Bury we had 21 years of Labour control. 21 years without a hint of “significant funds” delegated to local areas. Funny how Labour politicians don’t believe in devolving power from the centre until they lose power.  

Then of course he omits to mention that Area Partnerships and the current system of local Government has all been brought in by this Labour Government, with precious little say or influence allowed by the local councils concerned.

Gimmicks notwithstanding, I do hold certain sympathies with his comments. He may well be reacting to local dissatisfaction over Bury Conservatives handling of regeneration in Radcliffe, and their treatment of local people over the threat to Civic halls etc. We should not forget by the way the shocking manner Labour treated local people over the review of High Schools when they were in control.

What we do need locally is to re-connect local power with local people, that does mean devolving decision making and appropriate funds to the 6 Towns of Bury. But if it is to work properly whilst maintaining the economies of scale and the savings provided by one central administration, then there have to be clear areas of responsibility to be devolved.

A good example that I have often cited is our parks. Clearly it is plain for all to see that certain parks fall under certain areas. It would therefore be easy to pass responsibility for local parks to local area partnerships, giving local people a greater say in how they are run. Meanwhile savings could be maintained by having one central parks staff and management. That way we see value for money and greater community involvement.

That I feel is a more common sense approach that utilise the current Town hall structure to the advantage of local areas whilst passing greater responsibility and influence to local people and their elected representatives. And, if better, unlike the Lewis plan it could be implemented very quickly.

So, no need for gimmicks just common sense and political will. 

The last Prestwich Area Partnership of the municipal year was held at the recently refurbished Church Lane Community Centre in Prestwich last night.

It was a packed and generally upbeat meeting full of developments from around Prestwich.

MINUTES SILENCE

The meeting started with a minutes silence for Barry Simpson, Vice Chair of Downham Gardens Tenants & Residents Association who sadly passed away recently.

ST.MARY’S PARK AND PLAY AREAS

Neil Long from Bury Council Parks and Leisure Services gave a presentation updating the partnership about improvements to local parks and play areas. The highlight is St.Mary’s Flower park which is currently having £30,000 spent on it to restore it too something akin to its former glory.

PRESTWICH CLOUGH DAY

Our Partner spot saw David Stanley from Prestwich Clough Centenary Committee outlining the aim of the organisation and plans for this years Clough Day on May 16th . This annual event now marks the start of Prestwich Festival. You can find out more about this great family event here.

ANTI- WASTE CAMPAIGN  

We also had a great presentation from the Waste Disposal Authority encouraging people not to waste so much food and offering some handy hints and free goodies too.

POLICE

Sergeant Ian Campbell presented an update on Crime and policing. In particular highlighting the success of their clampdown on anti-social behaviour.

MONEY FOR GOOD CAUSES

And finally the Area Partnership approved hundreds of pounds of grants to local good causes including the Church Lane Community Centre, Rainsough TRA and Simister Village Community Association.

THANK YOU

As it was the last meeting of the municipal year, as Chair, I thanked officers for all the hard work and support and the members of the LAP for their input and of course the great Prestwich public for their attendance and input. 

NEXT MEETING MAY 20th, from 6.15pm - LONGFIELD SUITE