megilleland

give us some idea of how much this costs us all.

In the Council's October monthly expenditure £41,700 paid to Worcestershire County Council Pension Fund. This is a regular monthly payment and for the year around half a million pounds a year.

As I understand it Councillors can opt in or out of their pension scheme. Some make contributions and some don't.

It would be nice if a Councillor would jump into the bear pit and explain why this has been going on, for how long it's been going on and give us some idea of how much this costs us all.

I suppose if you are a full time councillor it makes sense to join and if you keep getting re-elected the more beneficial it is to you. It's a shame that we have to pay for them out of the council tax. If I pay £120 a month council tax then I am popping £24 into their pockets. I would rather it went to some of our senior citizens.

Thanks Bobby. Its all on the internet. You just have to search for it. The Council try and make it difficult by putting interesting items in the depths of its websites (the original and their beta2 version).

Looking at No 26 on the list "Freeze councillor allowances and end councillor pensions". I didn't realise that councillor's qualify for a Local Government pension scheme, but apparently they do.

From Pensions for Councillors in England and Wales

You pay 6% of your allowances as a councillor into the LGPS. If you pay tax you will get tax relief on your contributions at the time they are deducted from your allowances and if you pay National Insurance you will pay a lower rate of NI contributions up to State pension age. Your council pays the rest of the cost of providing your LGPS benefits, which costs the council about double the amount you pay.

At a time when public sector pensions are under the spotlight, the TaxPayers’ Alliance can reveal the true cost to taxpayers of ‘employer contributions’ to the Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS). The equivalent of £1 in every £5 of council tax raised in the UK is spent on council pensions. This report also details the explosion in the number of councillors claiming council pensions.

Despite fulfilling a supposedly volunteer role, there are now 4,548 councillors on the LGPS, up by over 1,000 since 2007-08.

The Pension Fund is administered by Worcestershire County Council on behalf of their own employees (except Teachers), those of the Herefordshire Council, the District Councils and other bodies in the county of Worcestershire. You can see all Participating Employers of the Fund at 31 March 2011 here on p35 & 36:

Herefordshire Councillors' Allowance scheme here:

In view of the generous benefits I would be surprised if no councillors were partaking in the scheme. Maybe the council can tell us?

On the Council's website they say they aim to respond to at least 90 per cent of complainants within five working days by letter, telephone or by visiting your property. Have they done this? If not follow the advice below and keep an up to date log of events. Has a councillor heard this noise?

Neighbourhood noise

Neighbourhood noise includes noise arising from within the community such as industrial and entertainment premises, trade and business premises, construction sites and noise in the street. It does not include general transport noise, which falls under the definition of environmental noise.

The Government takes the issue of neighbourhood noise seriously, and have given powers to local authorities to deal with noise.

In today’s society, noise is an inevitable consequence of a mature and vibrant society, but for some, it is an unwanted intrusion that has an adverse effect on their quality of life, affecting their health and well being.

The Government is working towards securing a sustainable society and a healthy environment and recognises that the management of neighbourhood noise requires a co-ordinated and long term approach that embraces various aspects of modern society, as set out it the Noise Policy Statement for England (NPSE).

If talking doesn’t work, the most common kind of formal action is complaining to your local authority about the noise problem.

Local authorities have a wide range of legal powers to act against noise and noisy neighbours. Under the law, local authorities have a duty to deal with any noise that they consider to be what’s known as a ‘statutory nuisance’. In general terms, this means that they can deal with most problems of noise where an individual’s behaviour is concerned.

It is a council’s duty to take reasonable steps to investigate complaints about noise coming from the following:

land (such as construction sites)

buildings

vehicles (excluding general traffic noise)

machinery or equipment in the street, such as construction equipment, roadworks and outdoor sound equipment

Under the Noise Act 1996 and the Environmental Protection Act 1990, the council’s powers to seize equipment are set out in detail. They are able to seize noise-making equipment and issue financial penalties to those responsible.

What do you do to complain?

You should contact your local authority, usually the environmental health department. The number will be in your local telephone directory.

If they visit or witness the noise and agree that it is a statutory nuisance, they must take immediate action. If the noise happens from time to time, they may ask you to keep a diary of when the noise happens, or leave equipment to record it. Sometimes they will measure the noise as part of their investigation into a complaint. There is no set level at which noise becomes a statutory nuisance.

How a local authority can act on noise

If the local authority thinks that the noise is a statutory nuisance, or that a statutory nuisance is likely to occur or recur, they must serve an abatement notice - which is an order to deal with the nuisance.

This may demand that the noise stops altogether or only happens at certain times of the day. A person can appeal against an abatement notice within 21 days of it being served.

A local authority can put off serving an abatement notice for up to seven days from when they decide that a statutory nuisance exists. This might be so that they can try to talk to your neighbour about the problem or so that they can use other legal powers.

Your local authority has to take steps to deal with the issue within the seven days. If these don't work, the local authority must serve an abatement notice.

If the noise continues

If a person receives an abatement notice but carries on making noise without a good reason, they will have committed an offence. The courts and the police have a range of powers they can use to punish the offender.

Courts can impose fines of up to £5,000 for individuals and £20,000 for businesses.

Complaints about the local authority

Your local authority aims to work with you to resolve noise problems.

If you are unhappy about the way they have handled the case, find out about the formal complaints procedure of your local council and make your complaint.

You can also complain to the Chief Executive Officer of the local authority or talk to your local councillor.

If you are still not satisfied about the way your complaint has been handled, you can ask the independent Local Government Ombudsman to look into your case. In certain circumstances, they may investigate complaints against local authorities and use their powers to check that the local authority followed the correct procedure under legislation.

For further information please call their advice line number 0845 602 1983 or go to their website www.lgo.org.uk

Complaining to a magistrates’ court

If, for whatever reason, the local authority does not take action, or if you do not wish to involve them, you can complain about a noise problem direct to a magistrates' court. The magistrates’ court will need to be persuaded that the noise problem amounts to a statutory nuisance.

It is important that you keep a written record of the dates, times and duration of the noise, as well as a description of it and the distress it causes you.

The first step to take when thinking about taking action through a magistrates' court is to seek advice from the clerk at the court. Before you start legal proceedings, you are required to write to the noise maker and explain that you intend to take legal action.

The noise maker must receive three days’ written notice before you begin proceedings.

What happens at court?

If you win the court case, the court will issue an order telling the offender to stop the noise nuisance and what they have to do to achieve this. The court may also give the noise maker a fine.

If the court finds that the nuisance existed at the date of making the complaint, they may award you the reasonable costs incurred by you in bringing the action against the noise maker. If you do not win, you may have to pay your own costs and the costs of the person you have taken to court.

What if the noise carries on?

If someone breaks the rules of an abatement order and carries on making noise without a reasonable excuse, they will be guilty of an offence and can be fined.

Useful contacts

Defra

Because of concern about neighbourhood noise, Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) is conducting research into this area, looking at ways to raise awareness of the problem and influence behaviour.

Defra works closely with other Government departments and outside organisations.

For further information on Defra noise policy and for more contact details, including those for a number of noise campaign groups, go to: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/noise/

For more information, please contact:

Defra Helpline

Tel: (8am to 6pm Monday to Friday) 08459 33 55 77

Email: helpline@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Write to: Defra Customer Contact Unit

Eastbury House

30 - 34 Albert Embankment

London SE1 7TL

Here you are Colin the full works available on the Herefordshire Council's website. I bet you will be surprised by what they own or is it us as ratepayers?

Hello Bobby. Just to let you know the October 2012 expenditure spreadsheet is up for scrutiny. Happy reading.

In The Guardian today Eric Pickles' announces that he is slashing local authority funding by up to 8.8%.

Financially weak councils will go bust and others will be forced to drastically reduce services to cope with cuts to town hall budgets outlined by ministers on Wednesday, local authorities have predicted

The warning came after the government revealed that councils in England would face spending reductions of up to 8.8% from April, with an average cut of 1.7%. The communities secretary, Eric Pickles, described the settlement as fair and said the onus was now on councils to do more to cut costs and pursue "sensible savings" to protect public services.

Following his cut The Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government released today his:

50 ways to save: Examples of sensible savings in local government

I wonder how many of these have been adopted by our council especially as it's the Conservatives in the riding seat, and it is our council tax going up 1.9% from April 2013.

1. Share back office services

2. Community Budgets - Bring staff and money together

3. Use transparency to cut waste

4. Tackle duplicate payments

5. Clamp down on corporate charge cards

6. Special spending controls

7. Tackle fraud

8. Claw back money from benefit cheats

9. Get more for less by improving procurement

10. Buy together

11. Stop the scope for procurement fraud

12. Utilise £16 billion of reserves creatively

13. Improve council tax collection rates

14. Encourage direct debit and e-billing for council tax

15. Close council cash offices

16. Better land and property management

17. Hot-desking, estate rationalisation and sub-letting

18. Open a ‘pop up’ shop in spare office space

19. Close subsidised council canteens

20. Cancel away days in posh hotels and glitzy award ceremonies

21. Open a coffee shop in the library

22. Cut senior pay

23. Share senior staff

24. Scrapping the chief executive post entirely

25. Introduce a recruitment freeze

26. Freeze councillor allowances and end councillor pensions

27. Cut spending on consultants and agency staff

28. End expensive ’leadership’ courses

29. Cut spending on head hunters and expensive adverts

30. Review and reduce absenteeism

31. Scrap trade union posts

32. Charge for collecting trade union subscriptions

33. Stop spending money on commercial lobbyists

34. Stop translating documents into foreign languages

35. Reduce the number of publications and media monitoring

36. Earn more from private advertising

37. Cease funding ‘sock puppets’ and ‘fake charities’

38. Scrap the town hall Pravda

39. Stop providing free food and drink for meetings

40. Reduce first class travel

41. Cut mileage payments

42. Video conference instead of travel

43. Help the voluntary sector save you money

44. Cut printing costs

45. End lifestyle and equality questionnaires

46. Sell services

47. Hire out the town hall

48. Lease works of art not on display

49. Save money on computer software

50. And finally… ask your staff for more sensible savings ideas

To check out the reasoning read the document here:

Just had a trawl through the internet and found these items where traffic lights are being considered for removal or have been turned off.

Traffic light free junctions: 'sharing' the space

Traffic light failure in Ealing, London, sparks trial of traffic-light-free junctions

'Remove traffic lights from Cambridge junction'

Traffic lights at Portishead's Cabstand junction to go for good

Experiment: Town in England turns off traffic lights, surprising results.

Why don't you just switch off those traffic signals and go and do

something more challenging instead?

The camera and post has been removed today.

The camera is back again attached to the same lamp post as above!

Noticed today that there is a vehicle counter across the road by the Belmont Road bridge. Also where the Oval service road joins Goodrich Grove there is a new CCTV camera positioned next to the lampost looking over the Belmont Road junction and pointing across to McDonalds. Wasn't there last week was it?

The camera and post has been removed today.

On 17/03/2011 at 16:36, Glenda Powell said:

I advised that I would send a report on the meeting held this morning regarding the GWW Big Clean Up Day. In attendance Cllr Powell,Cllr Edwards, Colette Cutter HHL, Tom Hll Amey,Bethon Fortey, Craig Sandeman ( commutity Enforcement Team officers) Sam Knox (police)

I am sending a quick update From Bethon Fortey:

Colette Cutter HHL to accertain whether they can remove back fencing to HHL

property in Charles Witts Ave to provide access route for items to be removed

Colette Cutter t6o also accertain whether HHL can provide the labour in the

form of two operatives and a three and half tonne truck.

Amey ( via Herefordshire Council) to provide two operatives and a three half

tonne truck.

Amey to assess the area initially to ascertain whether there is asbestos present.

The idea of a litter pick along the GWW was mentioned by Cllr Powell to pair with the clear up, (residents welcome to help)but we will need a date in the first instance before this can be planned.

Ideally, we want to carry out this clean up as soon as possible in April / early

May (2nd week)

I will let you know when I know more!

Bethon Fortey

Enforcement Officer

Community Protection Team

Herefordshire Council

01432 261671 / 07792881403

END

Obviously nothing came about from this missive. What went wrong?

Noticed today that there is a vehicle counter across the road by the Belmont Road bridge. Also where the Oval service road joins Goodrich Grove there is a new CCTV camera positioned next to the lampost looking over the Belmont Road junction and pointing across to McDonalds. Wasn't there last week was it?

The plastic sheeting I reported on 11th March 2012 in the tree by the garages just past/before Belmont Road bridge is still there! Photo here.

Hello Colin. More support here in The Daily Telegraph today:

National Trust chairman calls for removal of traffic lights

Nearly all traffic lights should be removed from Britains roads because they cause more accidents, the chairman of the National Trust has said. Sir Simon Jenkins called for 90% of the signals to be torn down, describing them as a form of state control and claiming that they are dangerous and slow down motorists.

Read article here:

Colin maybe you could drop a line to the Hereford Taxi Association who say there are 263 registered taxis in the county and 583 badged drivers (news release 2011). It would be to their advantage to sign the petition

Hello Frank.

You need to go to Herefordshire Council's website and under the alphabetical listing along the top of the site click on T and then Transparency. This takes you a homepage with the heading Contracts and Spending - click on this and then open September 2012 contracts (Excel) - 298kb.

A large spreadsheet opens. Scroll down to row 118 where you will find details of the Integrated Waste Management (PFI) with Mercia Waste Management. The contract started on 23rd December 1998 and runs to 1st December 2023, with an extension date option to 1st December 2028. The contract for the initial term is £227,500,000. But from experience, especially with projects funded through private finance initiatives (PFI) the reality is the public get a poor deal and that the accrued costs could easily cost tax payers up to a billion pound with overruns.

Read this article concerning Nottinghamshire County Council using a PFI scheme to renew and maintain the City's street lighting.

Amazing that our MP has been going on about this for ages and people are only beginning to listen to the facts. Read "After PFI" by Jesse Norman MP

I have seen the signs put up on the railings asking people to sign the petition. Pity we couldn't get a message on the billboard just past the crossing, before Belmont Avenue, but no doubt cost a fortune.

Thanks for the PM bobby.

The billion pound costs I imagine will arise during the term of the contract which is a private finance initiative (PFI). Not only is the taxpayer paying for the initial capital cost of the project, but also annual charges each year of the contract term running into millions of pounds These costs are the frightening part of the exercise which since its method of operation has generally resulted in the public being screwed by the private sector. There is a lot to read on the internet, most of it very unpleasant for tax payers now and in the future.

Explanation of PFI (taken from Wikipedia). I have highlighted the interesting bits which our councillors may have missed!

 

This operates by where a public sector authority signs a contract with a private sector consortium, technically known as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV). This consortium is typically formed for the specific purpose of providing the PFI.[4] It is owned by a number of private sector investors, usually including a construction company and a service provider, and often a bank as well.[4] The consortium's funding will be used to build the facility and to undertake maintenance and capital replacement during the life-cycle of the contract. Once the contract is operational, the SPV may be used as a conduit for contract amendment discussions between the customer and the facility operator. SPV's often charge fees for this go-between 'service'.[5]

 

PFI contracts are typically for 25–30 years (depending on the type of project); although contracts less than 20 years or more than 40 years exist, they are considerably less common.[6] During the period of the contract the consortium will provide certain services, which were previously provided by the public sector. The consortium is paid for the work over the course of the contract on a "no service no fee" performance basis.

 

The public authority will design an "output specification" which is a document setting out what the consortium is expected to achieve. If the consortium fails to meet any of the agreed standards it should lose an element of its payment until standards improve. If standards do not improve after an agreed period, the public sector authority is usually entitled to terminate the contract, compensate the consortium where appropriate, and take ownership of the project.

 

Termination procedures are highly complex, as most projects are not able to secure private financing without assurances that the debt financing of the project will be repaid in the case of termination. In most termination cases the public sector is required to repay the debt and take ownership of the project. In practice, termination is considered a last resort only.

 

Whether public interest is at all protected by a particular PFI contract is highly dependent on how well or badly the contract was written and the determination (or not) and capacity of the contracting authority to enforce it. Many steps have been taken over the years to standardise the form of PFI contracts to ensure public interests are better protected.

Jesse Norman MP is very concerned about this method of paying for our hospitals, schools and other large infrastructure projects. In a speech in the House of Commons Jesse Norman said:

"Since its inception in the early 1990s, the private finance initiative has resulted in more than £200 billion of public debt, the cost of which will hang over the British taxpayer for decades. It has created great private fortunes and fundamentally shaped the nature of our public services. It has generated huge public outrage, as we will hear in this debate. It has raised profound issues of fairness between this generation and the next and it has affected virtually every constituency in the land and the lives of millions of people". Read the debate here.

Other PFI projects in Hereford include Whitecross School, The Hospital, and The Magistrates Court.

So which ever way you look at it we are going to be paying through the nose for a long time to come. I also think the acronym SPV referred to above should have been called SPIVS!

For fuller information on this planning application see the Herefordshire Council website here. The detail lists

* Application dates and tracking

* Consultees (30)

* Application form (1)

* Supporting documents (13)

* Drawings (4)

* Correspondence (1)

* Representations (30)

* Legal (1)

Some files are large and take a few minutes to download. To see the overall plan which you can zoom into, click on Drawings and then on Indicative Master Plan (4 mb).

I agree with you. Herefordshire Council do not take on board the desires and wishes of the local community. Their statutory consultations on local issues are difficult to participate in, badly advertised and any suggestions from the public, unless they fit into the cabinet's secret agenda are plainly ignored or glossed over. The majority of councillors on this council, like the public, are only aware of issues, when matters are raised by concerned citizens, usually to late to take on board or incorporate into any schemes.

The main problem with this council is that it's officers and it's councillors only follow trends, usually years behind other UK cities, and fail to lead with some inspiring and imaginative projects to give Hereford a unique character/identity to lift the public's spirits and fill them with pride.

One only has to go abroad to see how other cities have pulled themselves up and offer their citizens a higher standard of infrastructure and quality of life.

From Hereford Times today:

Quote

Have your say on £1bn incinerator

OPPONENTS of the incinerator plant pitched as the future for the county’s waste will hold a meeting at Hereford’s Kindle Centre on Tuesday from 1.30pm.

Herefordshire councillors have been invited to attend to attend and all members of the public are welcome.

The PFI project at Hartlebury, Worcestershire, had been approved and could eventually cost ratepayers up to £1 billion.

The incinerator would take waste from the county that would otherwise go to landfill, saving Herefordshire Council millions of pounds in government imposed fines.

Sounds like a lot of money to get rid of waste - more needs to be done to get it recycled. We recycle our household waste, but the council sends all its litter bin waste to landfill and council tax payers pick up the bill.

The tax is charged by weight and there are two rates. Inert or inactive waste is subject to the lower rate. The present rates are £64 a tonne and £2.50 a tonne for the lower rate. This is going to rise to £80 a tonne by 2014.

I see you have got your petition up and running Colin, just added my name to it.

The Council has a lot of consultation on at the moment and members may be interested in responding to issues they are interested in.

The council's consultation page listing those currently active is here.

To quote the council this section provides you with information about past, present and future involvement activities and consultations by both Herefordshire Council and partner organisations. This includes both electronic consultations and more traditional involvement activities.

Giving you access to past, present and future consultations responds to one of the commitments in the Community Involvement Strategy, which is to be open and accountable to everyone living and working in Herefordshire about the information we have gathered through consultations, and how we have used this information to provide the best possible services in the County.

If you want to participate in electronic consultations, you will be required to register, using the links provided. All we require is a valid email address and your name, although further information will help us target future consultations more effectively and invite you, depending on the information you have given us about your particular interests, to participate in future consultations.

You are also able to access the results of closed consultations and find out what Herefordshire Council has done with the information gathered through consultations. By using the 'search' categories, you can search according to specific areas, target groups and dates of consultations.

All information you give us about yourself when registering will be treated in strictest confidence in line with our privacy policy.

Herefordshire Council's Local Transport Plan (2012 to 2015) public consultation begins on the 10th September and will close on the 16th November 2012.

All consultation materials can be accessed from the resource box at the bottom of this page. The Local Transport Plan consultation document sets out a wide range of proposals including:

* Car parking in Hereford

* 20 mph residential zones

* Countywide bus service

* A new approach to reducing the number of potholes

* Hereford Transport Plan

* Rural Herefordshire Transport Plan

* Future spend priorities

We are keen to hear views from as many residents as possible in order to help shape transport across the county. There are a number of ways to get involved. Visit the Herefordshire council's website here for ways to reply on-line or in a consultation leaflet.

Notice that the storage has now extended the whole length of the grassed area along Waterfield Road. There is going to be a big mess here when they leave in December. Not really the right time to sow grass so we will end up with another muddy blighted part of the estate. Should complement the abandoned church at the other end.