A visit from Shadow Chancellor George Osborne

GEORGE Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, was in Taunton Deane today, and briefly chatted with me.
I think I had about 20 seconds with him during a reception at The Castle Hotel to launch the Conservative manifesto to which I have signed up as a candidate for the County Council elections on June 4.
Brief though it was, George Osborne made a lasting impression on me - I was still thinking about him while driving home afterwards!
Seriously, though, he was an impressive politician.
Actually getting to meet him and to be in the same room and hear him speak brought home just how good he is going to be when he sits at the Despatch Box next year as this country’s next Chancellor.
I think it was probably George’s first visit to Taunton Deane, but he had been well briefed by Councillor Ken Maddock, who is the leader of the Conservative group at County Hall and who will be council leader if we win the elections on June 4.
George knew all about the fiscal mismanagement of the county council under the Lib Dems and how they have doubled our council tax and landed us with a mountain of debt.
As well as launching the manifesto, George Osborne highlighted how important Somerset is to the national political scene.
It is one of the few areas where Conservatives are principally up against Liberal Democrats rather than facing a contest with Labour.
This means the election battle will be very different from other areas.
Against Labour, it is possible to talk about how their Government has ruined the country, brought about the worst recession we have ever known, and created the fastest-growing unemployment queue ever seen.
With the Lib Dems, this cannot be done as they are not, and never will be, in Government, which means they can - and frequently do - say anything they like about what should be done with the country, without any concerns about how it would actually be done if they were running the economy.
The drawback for Somerset electors is that this Lib Dem national ‘it doesn’t matter what we say because we’ll never be held accountable’ attitude rubs off on their Somerset councillors.
It results in Somerset Lib Dems telling the electorate many things which are not true by any stretch of the imagination in the desperate hope that they will not be kicked out of office for doubling our council tax, tripling our county debt, and making a mess of our roads and pavements.
A case in point is the £25 million of council taxpayers’ money which the Lib Dems have lost in Iceland.
The Lib Dems tell us that the money is not lost, because there is a slim chance some of it may be recovered.
They also say that even if it was lost, it won’t make any difference to council taxpayers.
They must think people like you and I are stupid.
If you lose your wallet in the street, then the money is lost, even if you hope that maybe you will be lucky enough that it will be found and handed in.
And to say that £25 million makes no difference to the county is plainly daft. The list of what services the council pay for with £25 million is huge.
The tragedy of the Lib Dems’ gamble on risky investments in Icelandic banks is compounded by the fact that not only did they make a bad investment, they also made a bad choice of bank.
For, the bank they gambled on is not even one of those which has since said it hopes to return substantial amounts to UK councils.
Another case in point is how Lib Dems tell us that they are committed to improving education in Somerset.
Yet, they have started a vicious round of closures of small rural schools and have ignored the protests of local communities.
They also say the school closures are not financially motivated.
Yet, they quote the higher cost per pupil of educating children in a small school and point to how the money will be better spent in a bigger school.

• The photograph shows George Osborne holding a giant credit card to symbolise the high spending and high borrowing nature of the Lib Dems at County Hall, with Councillor Ken Maddock symbolically cutting it in half. They are watched by county council candidates, including John Thorne (second, left).

Manifesto pledges which just don't stack up

MANIFESTO season is upon us, the time of year, or, rather the time of the quadrennial, when local politicians make all sorts of claims about what they have achieved for you during the past four years and what more they will do in the next four years.
All you have to do is give them your vote and everything will be okay.
I never cease to be amazed at how these manifestos and claims of achievements can twist the truth to a point where what is being said is unrecognisable when actually compared to what was done.
One local politician who comes to mind must be nothing less than a superhero if they have single-handedly done all that they claim.
In fact, you wouldn’t need any of the other councillors at all, as they are so wonderful.
In truth, though, a single councillor in the political system we have at the moment can only work as part of a team and should share collective responsibility for both achievements and failures.
That is one of the reasons why you won’t find me saying that I have single-handedly saved, for instance, a phone box or a Post Office, as it wouldn’t be possible to do it on my own.
What I will say, is that personally I have done what I can and that it is the Conservatives (plural) who have achieved it.
Take the much-trumpeted zero council tax increase at Taunton Deane Borough Council as an example.
The credit for this rests with the Conservative opposition group of councillors, although most of the work was done by our group leader Councillor John Williams.
It was his alternative budget which was cherry picked by the Lib Dem administration on the very day they were proposing a 2.7 per cent council tax rise – with the effect that they then agreed with the Conservative zero increase proposal and put that to us at the evening budget meeting.
I played my part as a Conservative councillor by inputting to the alternative budget, but I’m not claiming any superhero powers and saying I did it alone so therefore you should vote for me.
Looking at the manifestos which have been published, it is interesting to read the ‘key facts’ the Lib Dems want you to remember when you go to vote, and then to compare them with what the ‘real facts’ are.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they ‘will continue to keep council tax increases among the lowest of any county’.
True fact – they have already doubled your council tax during their reign of power and are now so worried about losing control that they are trying to appear to be matching the Conservative pledge to ‘freeze’ your council tax.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they ‘have plans currently being actioned to invest in jobs and businesses’.
True fact – they have just been forced to publicly admit their claim to be investing £5 million in the Somerset Economic Recovery Plan was a crude spin doctor deception because all but £280,000 is money from other organisations or was already in the budget.
Lib Dem ‘Key fact’ – they have achieved the highest recycling of any county.
True fact – they have broken their promise to give us plastics and cardboard recycling and it will be 2011 before most people actually get it, if at all.
Other examples of bending the truth can be found in the Lib Dem 2009- 2013 manifesto published on their website.
It claims, for instance, they will ‘protect village schools’.
Well, we are in the middle of a savage Lib Dem cost-cutting exercise which is closing village schools such as Blagdon Hill and Nynehead and others, and leaving many others under threat.
Only Conservative councillors, including myself, have fought against these closures.
The Lib Dems claim, for instance, not to have closed any special schools – but they don’t say it is not for want of trying and that if Mark Formosa, the Conservative Parliamentary candidate, had not battled them in Wiveliscombe, then Kingsmead School would have lost its special needs unit.
They claim credit for the successful 'Handyperson Service' – it is actually called the Handyman Service, which shows how politically correct they cannot help being – but they don’t give any credit to the Taunton Deane Conservative administration which actually started it some years ago.
They claim to have eased traffic congestion on the Silk Mills road by building a railway bridge.
But in truth they have ruined the good work of installing the bridge by creating a mess of traffic light-controlled junctions and different vehicle lanes which now cause as much, if not more, congestion than before.
They promised to roll out 120 new transport schemes and to improve road safety, but they have done nothing to progress a new railway station for Wellington, or a northern distributor road for the town, while we have seen those yellow signs on 'Red Routes' advising of safety amendments to come in 2008 amended to read '2009' - and we are still waiting.
I could go on, but I suspect few people have even read this far.

The great plastics and cardboard recycling con - yes you can have it, no you can't

YOU may have heard that I recently seconded a call-in of a decision to continue with plastics and cardboard recycling trials.
A call-in is a process where a decision by the Executive or one of its members can be put on hold for a short time while it is challenged and looked at again to ensure the right decision has been made.
The call-in was proposed by Councillor Tony McMahon, who is the Conservative shadow executive member for environmental services and who is also standing for election to Somerset County Council.
However, we withdrew the call-in after receiving an explanation and more information from one of our most senior officers about what was actually intended.
It was disappointing to note that the Executive member himself did not respond – and interesting to note that it was the officer who wrote up the decision for him as he seemed unable to do it himself.
Despite what some may say, this was not a Conservative attempt to have the trials withdrawn.
Far from it.
In fact, we were anxious to ensure the Lib Dems kept to their word this time and actually delivered to the public what they promised during the election campaign.
We are now almost two years on from the 2007 elections and I clearly recall how the Lib Dems promised they would give people plastics and cardboard recycling – mind you, so did the Conservatives.
I recall speaking with one couple in Stapley who were already taking their plastics and cardboard to the recycling centre as they wanted to do their bit as good citizens and not wait until the council got around to it.
I told them that on this particular manifesto issue there was not a lot to separate the two parties, it was just that the Conservatives would do it quicker.
How right I have proven to be.
Two years on, and all that has happened is that the Lib Dems have started some trial collection rounds.
Even that decision took 12 months to reach and, the cynics will note, was finally taken when the Lib Dems faced a difficult by-election campaign in Comeytrowe - which, of course, just happened to be one of the first areas to be given the trial collections.
A lesson in ‘how to win votes and influence people’.
Fine for the residents of Comeytrowe, but not so good for everybody else, who, like myself, has to stack up the plastic bottles and cardboard in carrier bags in the garage until there is enough to lay down the back seats of the car and take it out to the Poole recycling centre.
Anyway, the point is that we are now in a situation where both the Executive and the Full Council have voted to ‘phase in’ the full roll-out of plastics and cardboard recycling across Taunton Deane this financial year.
Naturally, like me, you will no doubt be looking forward to receiving this service before 31st March next year.
So, when Councillor McMahon and I saw the Executive member’s decision to continue the trials this year until such time as the Executive takes a decision on the full roll-out to all properties, alarm bells started ringing.
It seemed they were only going to do the trials and nothing else this year - hence the call-in was triggered.
Now, I find that is not the case.
It was a badly-worded decision and one which lacked any explanation for councillors like myself who are battling to provide the best possible service to the people we represent.
It turns out the Lib Dems simply made a mess of the decision to introduce the trials, because they only approved them until 31st March this year and the trials would have been stopped, leaving people with nothing until the ‘phasing in’ began.
It also turns out that the talk of phasing in plastics and cardboard recycling is little better than a ‘con’.
All they are going to do is expand the collections this year to another 2,000 households on top of the 3,000 who already receive them.
By the end of the financial year, they hope - and the emphasis is on the word hope – to include a total of 20,000 households.
Now, given that there are 43,000 households in Taunton Deane, you can see that more than half of all households will not be getting the plastics and cardboard recycling service which they thought had been promised them.
The so-called promise made by the Lib Dems means the majority of households in the Deane - more than 50 per cent of them in total - could be waiting until 31st March 2011.
And, of course, in May, 2011, we will be having another round of Deane council elections which I am sure will focus the minds of the Lib Dems who will be desperate to ensure the service is delivered beforehand so they can tell you how good they are when they are asking for your votes.

Highway maintenance budgets cut despite roads getting worse

IT is official - Somerset’s roads are getting worse under the Liberal Democrats.
County Council highways officials have stated in official reports that roads in the county are deteriorating fast.
Only months after the County Hall Lib Dems slashed their highways maintenance budgets, their own officers have admitted that the number of safety defects has increased significantly.
They also admit the condition of both major and minor roads across the county has been deteriorating.
Councillor Anthony Trollope-Bellew, who is the Conservative county council group spokesman on highways, said: “It gives me no pleasure to say I am not surprised to hear this news.
“I warned the Lib Dems that any cuts to these essential budgets would lead to a worsening in road condition and misery for road users, and this is exactly what has happened.”
Councillor Ken Maddock, the leader of the county council Conservative group, said: “Yet again, another Lib Dem cut hits a vital service and has a real impact on the lives of the people of Somerset.
“The Lib Dems have constantly denied that Somerset’s roads are getting worse, even though everybody else in Somerset knows how bad they have become.
“But now that their officers have painted such a bleak, honest picture of their condition, I hope that the Lib Dems will finally sit up and take action.
“Conservatives will rescue our roads and make Somerset a better place to live.”

• The photographs show some examples of how bad Somerset’s roads are becoming.
  

Our pavements are officially the worst in the Westcountry

PAVEMENTS in Somerset are the worst in the Westcountry - and that is official.
My Conservative colleagues at County Hall have reacted with shock after seeing the latest performance figures showing that Lib Dem Somerset’s pavements are the worst of any council in the South West.
A report from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) collated data from the Audit Commission which showed the condition of Somerset’s pavements is almost twice as bad as the national average.
Somerset was also placed bottom of the list for South West local authorities.
CSP figures show that 42 per cent of pavements in Somerset are in need of repair, almost twice the average for the whole country.
The situation nationally has only marginally improved since last year, when the CSP called on local authorities to urgently address the problem of broken pavements, which can increase the risk of falls, especially for older people.
No wonder my county Conservative colleagues were so dismayed by the news of Somerset’s failings.
The CSP report showed that almost half of all footways in the county are in need of repair.
The practical reality of the situation is that every day, thousands of Somerset residents have to take their lives into their own hands just by walking down the street.
This needs action before any more residents injure themselves.
We must take action as a matter of urgency to put this right.
If we leave it, then it will only end up costing the county council - that means us council taxpayers - more in the long-run.
There will be more injuries, more claims against the council, and more misery for local people.
We deserve better.
The CSP wants councils such as Somerset to make 2009 the year for carrying out repairs to broken and uneven pavements, which will improve safety and help to protect people from unnecessary falls.
Lynn Sutcliffe, a spokeswoman for CSP and vice-chairman of AGILE (Chartered Physiotherapists working with Older People), said: “Once an older person has fallen, it can seriously affect their physical and emotional wellbeing.
“It can make them anxious and limit their enjoyment of activities they previously enjoyed.
“Walking on uneven ground requires older people to be fit and strong, and able to withstand disturbances to their balance.
“If local authorities act sooner rather than later to fix the pavements that need repair, many unnecessary falls could be avoided.”
The subject of broken pavements was the theme of National Falls Awareness Day 2008, run by Help the Aged.
The charity carried out research showing that 2,300 older people fall on broken pavements every day and nearly 80,000 of those who have fallen each year are subsequently afraid to leave the house.
Pamela Holmes, Help the Aged healthy ageing manager, said: “These new figures released by the CSP show that broken and damaged pavements still represent a significant problem for older people with mobility problems.
“Our own research suggested that councils are caught in a vicious circle.
“On the one hand they are required to sit on large sums of money to cover legal fees and compensation, and on the other they are cash-strapped when it comes to repairing pavements that may cause falls in the first place.
“It is vital that councils invest more money in keeping public walkways safe, as falls are a leading cause of death for over-75s and at the very least, one fall can shatter an older person’s physical and mental well-being.”
Mark Formosa, who is the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Taunton Deane, has already helped to collect a large petition in Taunton which complains about the state of some pavements in the county town.
Mark has presented the petition to the county council because it is responsible for maintaining the footways.

• The photographs show the state of some pavements in Taunton, and also Mark Formosa with two residents with whom he worked to collect a petition protesting at how the county council was failing to properly maintain the pavements.