What was Labours ambition in Bath

These are my own thoughts after a few weeks reflection.

Labour could expect to be rightly buoyant going into the General election and could expect to make some progress in the City.

We were aware that they were working hard in several wards that in the end did not come their way although increasing their vote across the City.

The surprise came in my own ward of Twerton where a young Labour candidate finished second although still being a long way behind my own personal vote deposing a long standing councillor. I in fact increased my own vote quite significantly and even put my majority up, but the hard work of this young Labour candidate saw him elected in second place only time will see if he will put the work in that is needed in this area?

I blame myself somewhat for not seeing the signs that votes were leaking away from my former ward colleague and am reflecting on what we could have done differently.

At a General election Labour has normally faired quite badly in Bath just holding their deposit on many occasions, but this time they put their vote up quite significantly by reducing the Liberal Democrat Vote in the parties heartlands. 

It is ironic that the rise in the Labour and Green vote in Bath was nearly all from the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative vote hardly moved.

If you were cynical you could say that by people voting Labour at the General Election succeeded in electing a conservative MP for Bath.

Is this something that Labour wanted only they can answer that but that is what they succeeded in doing.

From listening to residents over the weeks since the election many have said what have we done.

I suspect that the Labour vote at this election may be a high point for them in Bath but only time will tell.

How did the Consrvatives win Bath

The question has been raised many times by local residents in the past weeks since the Conservative victory at General election and also in the local elections in Bath.

Some answers have been coming forward and lots of theory's as to what happened that the Conservatives could take what looked to be impregnable seats in the South West at both Local and National level.

I have spoken to many residents who said they woke up on Friday Morning 8th May and said what have I done?. On questioning them a bit further had they voted conservative their reply was pretty much the same no that had not but had voted either Labour or Green, but now wish they had not. My Sample is small no more that several dozen people in Twerton Ward but if this was repeated across Bath and the rest of the country then we can see how the result came about.

It seems that we were all undone by a ruthless well organised Conservative party machine that had more resources in financial terms and drive than all the other parties put together.

This is explained in great detail by the Conservatives themselves on the Conservative Home webpage to which I have provided a link at the bottom of this article.

Why they would produce this is not known and is a complete surprise to us all unless we are being conned yet again?

http://www.conservativehome.com/thetorydiary/2015/06/the-computers-that-crashed-and-the-campaign-that-didnt-the-story-of-the-tory-stealth-operation-that-outwitted-labour.html

Trauma recovery centre Bath

I was pleased to be able to visit the Trauma recovery centre at Freedom House on Thursday and to be able to learn of the work that is being carried out there.

My initial reason for the visit was to look at a proposed planning application for a new modern building at the rear of Freedom House on the Lower Bristol Road that would expand the unit for the vulnerable children that are receiving help there.

Another reason for the application is that it would also provide a new religious building that would be used for worship on a Sunday.

Any way back to my reasons for this entry.

I was really astounded at the work that is carried out at the unit of the trauma recovery centre that deal with young Children through to young Adults that are going for a crisis in their life's that is caused by traumatic events.

This unit is on the edges of Twerton and this work is a welcome addition to our community.

Instead of my harping on how good that they seem to be it would be better if they told their own story and here is a link to their website so you can see what they say about themselves.

http://www.trc-uk.org

Statement regarding petition for an elected mayor

A petition presented to Bath & North East Somerset council concerning a ballot for a directly Elected Mayor has failed a scrutiny test.

A Statemebt issued by the council  today is below.


Bath & North East Somerset Council has confirmed today (11th June 2015) that the petition it has received for an elected mayor for Bath and North East Somerset has been unsuccessful due to a shortage of valid entries.

The Council has notified the organiser of the petition today that the total number of valid petitioners has not met the statutory number set out by the Local Government Act 2000.

In assessing and verifying the petition of 13th May 2015, the Council followed the strict guidance set out by the regulations. These require the Council to check each entry individually against the current register of electors. As a result of this detailed checking the Council established that there were 5,039 entries which matched the electoral register and 2,241 entries which did not. The total number of valid entries required to validate the petition was 6,437. A number of the entries had been amended and the expectation is that, if a petition is resubmitted, these will be corrected.

In order to be a valid entry each person must be on the local register of electors. Everyone signing the petition is required to provide their first name, surname and address and the date on which he or she signs the petition.

Almost half of the invalid entries were from people who were not on the electoral register or had not given their full address. The remaining entries included a mix of either duplicate entries; incorrect names or addresses; initials rather than full names or they were not sufficiently legible to enable identification.

The organisers of the petition can amalgamate the number of valid entries with any subsequent petitions submitted to the authority. The petition dated 13th May will be retained for inspection by the public from Electoral Services at the Guildhall, High Street, Bath, during normal office hours until 11th July 2015.

Conservative spending cuts risk to B&NES residents’ health

In-year cuts to public health spending are a threat to B&NES residents’ health, according to local Liberal Democrats. The Government has announced a £200m cut to public health spending by Councils.

Councillor Tim Ball (Liberal Democrat, Twerton) commented:

“These abruptly-announced cuts to public health spending represent a clear threat to local residents’ wellbeing. Public health programmes, such as helping people stop smoking, contribute to preventing illness and it is the most vulnerable residents who are likely to suffer if they are withdrawn. 

It is also short-sighted of the Government to threaten programmes aimed at reducing wider health and social care costs.

“The Government has indicated that Councils are expected to use reserves to cover the cost of services including drug and alcohol harm reduction programmes and smoking cessation clinics. However reserves can only be spent once. Local Councils are doing good work with new public health powers, but they need the freedom and funding to continue:.

“With the new B&NES Conservative administration reviewing many programmes planned by the previous Liberal Democrat administration, B&NES residents would be justified in fearing further local cuts.”