A busy weekend of canvassing...

Me, Cllr Moira McDonald and Exeter Council
leader Cllr Pete Edwards in Summerway

Well, what a great weekend of canvassing! Saturday was a gloriously sunny and crisp day in Pinhoe, and I was joined by an army of local Labour councillors and activists to "blitz" the doorsteps of the Summerway area. Councillors Pete Edwards, Ian Martin and Moira McDonald joined me at one end, while Councillors Tony Wardle, Greg Sheldon, Rosie Denham and our local organiser Dom Collins covered another area. A lot of people were out in their gardens or making their way to the local shops and parks, so we had a great opportunity to get out and meet people. 

The response was extremely favourable, with many saying that they are very satisfied with the way Exeter is currently faring, despite the gloom of the national situation economically. It seems that my recent message that Exeter is managing to prosper despite adverse national conditions, while Tory-run local cities such as Plymouth are struggling  is really resonating with people. I had a good conversation with a new voter to the area, a woman in Willow Way, recently moved to Exeter from London. "I usually vote Conservative," she said, "at least I did at the general election, and I did in London for the council there. But Exeter is lovely, it's doing so well. So I don't really want to vote against Labour - you're doing a good job here." I wasn't going to argue!

On a sadder note, we also spoke to people who are being adversely affected by the coalition's policies nationally. Many were concerned about the noises being made about welfare reform and cuts to disability allowances, I spoke to 2 concerned carers. Another was worried about cuts to housing benefits, and that the proportion of the household income that would be spent on rent and utilities would make their home unaffordable from 2013. These are real concerns for many people in Exeter as my phone canvassing has also shown. I had a long conversation with on guy who works as a fitter for a solar panel company. The uncertainty within the industry as a result of government prevarication over feed-in tariffs has made him very worried about his job. At a time when we are trying to encourage more people to switch to renewable energies, the government is totally failing to give leadership, and in its pledge to be the greenest government ever, and I will be writing in more detail on this issue later in the week.

We noticed the exposed metal bollard stumps in Margaret Court parking bays. These cannot be good for tyres, and would certainly be a trip hazard for an elderly person, or a person of limited mobility. Moira has already been on the case and reported them to the council to follow up with the housing association responsible. 

Finally, the most unexpected moment of the day was when one older gentleman shook my hand, apologising for the oily state of his hands. "I've been busy on one of my projects", he explained. I asked what he was working on, and he invited me to come and have a look. So round I went to his shed, where he pulled off the cover to reveal a stunning restored classic BSA motorcycle. It was stunning, but only one of 6 he had already lovingly restored to their former glory. It really made my day to see the passion of the man for a classic British piece of engineering. I am looking forward to calling round more between now and May to see how the latest project is coming along... "You won't be too busy to get out to vote will you?" I asked as I left. "Never missed one yet," came the reply, followed by, "and don't worry, boy. Your lot always get my vote." His taste in politics, like his taste in motorbikes, is clearly impeccable!

Highlight of my day! A stunning 1963 BSA

Door-to-door work over with, Cllr Ian Martin, my partner Jenny and I made our way up to Holy Trinity church where the guides were holding a jumble sale. While Jenny and Ian were buying up half of the bookstall(!) I had a chat with Maggie, one of the leaders. It turns out Maggie is a graduate of Exeter CVS "Speaking Up" course - a course in personal development, confidence, and active citizenship. It was a pleasure to hear from Maggie how her experience on that course had given her the impetus to get involved in leading the guides, and also to become more involved in her local school to support learning. (You can find out more about Speaking Up here.)

The new, carved youth shelter at Arena Park

Finally on Saturday, Cllr Ian Martin then showed me the new, unique youth shelter carved from wood by local artisan woodcraftsman James Bond. What a stunning and imaginative facility for a meeting place for children and young people! Another great example of the sort local facilities that are coming from the vision and the creative partnership between Exeter's Labour-led council and local business leaders and craftsmen. Long may it continue!

Greener communities, stronger communities

Something I have been asked a lot on the doorsteps of Pinhoe is what I do for a living. People understandably want to know what their representatives DO, what motivates them, what makes them tick. I am proud to tell people that I work as a Business Development Manager for Exeter Council for Voluntary Services (CVS). 


A CVS is an organisation that supports, represents and develops community and charity organisations through training, consultancy, representation and advice & guidance. 

Exeter's Real Food Store

Lately, I have been leading on a bid to the BIG Lottery Fund which - if successful - will bring up to £1 million to Exeter to invest in grassroots community projects that make our communities more resilient & sustainable, will lessen our impact on the environment, and will promote community action and the creation of "green" jobs in the city. The partnership in Exeter is extremely strong. The bid is fully supported by Labour-led Exeter City Council who are core partners with us, as are major local "players" such as the Met Office, the University, EDF Energy and South West Water. However, the beauty of it is that it is also largely driven by smaller, community-based organisations. The Real Food Store is a community-owned local enterprise that enables people to buy locally grown and produced food, a great alternative to supermarket shopping! Co-cars is a co-operative solution to the hight cost of running your own vehicle, and of there simply being too many cars! It enables local people to share a "pool" of vehicles to use only when they need them. Exeter Community Initiatives (ECI) is a vibrant community development organisation that helps local people and communities by supporting them to run projects themselves that meet their own needs. 

Exeter City Council's Dawn Rivers and
Cllr Rachel Sutton at the Planning Event

There are too many to list (over 40 organisations in all) from the public sector, commercial sector and the community sector - all coming together to commit to working with Exeter residents to improve our communities, improve our environment, and reduce the impact we all have on the globe's climate. It's a wonderful process to be part of and a privilege to be leading it, whether the bid is successful or not.


I see part of being a community leader to be bringing different sections of our community together so that united we are more effective and achieve more than we would individually. 


We held a wonderful planning event with partners at the Hub on the Green - a lovely little community venue and social enterprise based near the Cathedral, and the Real Food Store catered for the event. Partners discussed what the focus of the bid should be, where we should plan our activities, and mapped what strengths we have - and what projects already exist - within Exeter's community & environmental networks.



So, what would the projects achieve? 
The partnership has selected two areas of the city to work with; the Arena Park / Beacon Heath area (straddling the Pinhoe / Mincinglake border) and the Exwick / St Thomas area. 


These areas have been selected because in the Pinhoe / Mincinglake case, we felt that despite some deprivation factors, there were established community networks to utilise, and some good projects already there to build on through ECI's Harvest project and the Sure Start Children's Centre. In the case of Exwick / St Thomas, this area sits in the highest-risk area as far as Exeter's Strategic Flood Risk Assessment is concerned, Exwick has areas with no mains gas, but also there are again projects to build on (such as the St Thomas allotments project.) Also, all the areas of Exeter selected do not feature too well on the Exeter heat-loss survey. You can find out how much heat your house is losing by putting in your postcode here!


Project ideas so far include community reclaim-reuse-recycle schemes, energy assessments to help save households money, community garden and food production schemes, greening spaces and urban wildlife projects, and renewable energy and water sources. Sadly, coalition government prevarication on the issue of feed-in tariffs has somewhat blunted the initial momentum and enthusiasm for domestic renewable energy, but we will watch the outcome of their policy wavering with interest. 


The partnership will submit an expression of interest which, if successful, will see us progress to the next "round", and an award of £10,000 to support community engagement in the selected neighbourhoods to capture residents' thoughts, ideas and priorities, and to plan with those neighbourhoods how to make their community stronger, more resilient and more sustainable. A final bid will then be submitted by early June, and we will get a verdict in July. 


Wish us well, and get your thinking caps on.... we'll be keen to hear your ideas!

Get involved! If you are interested in environmental projects, the sustainability agenda and "real food" and would like to know more about local projects you may wish to consider joining Transition Exeter. Details here.

Left out in the cold

Last night saw Cllr Stuart Barker, cabinet member for Social Care from Conservative-led Devon County Council attending the Community Scrutiny Committee of Exeter City Council to try to justify the County Council's reduction in funding to the Supporting People budget.

Supporting People is a funding stream that was introduced under Labour in 2003, to enable those people with additional support needs to live stable, independent lives in their own accommodation, in their own communities. Beneficiaries typically include some of our most vulnerable populations: people with physical and sensory disabilities, older people, people with a lived experience of mental ill-health, people with a history of addiction, rough sleepers, and the victims of domestic violence. Supporting People as a strategy acknowledges that to support people with such complex needs in the community is more cost-effective and less resource-intensive than accommodating them in residential centres, or simply leaving them to fail, and need more acute care and attention through the NHS, criminal justice or intensive social care services. Perhaps more importantly, it allows individuals to live independently and with dignity, and to play a full part in their communities.

Cllr Stuart Barker

Cllr Barker was called to the all-party committee by a unanimous vote when it met in November, and members expressed concern that local accommodation providers were reporting cuts to over 200 bed spaces in the city. (See here) As somebody that works in Exeter's  community sector and with considerable experience of working with homeless people, I attended the meeting to see how this apparent slashing of Exeter's provision was explained.

Cllr Barker explained that any reduction the County Council was making was "based on evidence". The fund had been reduced by 40% he said, but this was against an apparent reduction in rough sleeping and homelessness in the city of 47%. He went on to say that the County Council was seeking to use funds in a different way, setting up a service described as a "trusted assessor." Anybody that was believed to possibly be in need of a supported service would be assessed, and their package of care would be based individually on that assessment, rather than simply funding on-going services. Parallel accommodation could then be "spot purchased" as and when needed, rather than funding services constantly. "The number of people we will be supporting," said Cllr Barker, "will be the same."

This may sound reasonable, but it is all smoke and mirrors. 


The subsequent cross-examination of Cllr Barker's statement came primarily from your Labour city councillors.


Portfolio holder for Housing at ECC, Cllr Rob Hannaford expressed profound concern that Devon County Council should be paying significant sums into its reserves this year at a time when it was cutting services so deeply. I can't help but wonder whether DCC are front-loading cuts now, and squirrelling away funds so that next year (coincidentally an election year for the County Council!) the mostly Conservative members can go to the electorate's doorsteps with good news.


Cllr Margaret Clark (herself a former Social Worker and Housing Manager) set out some of the impacts of the cuts and changes in Supporting People spending strategy. The Bridge Project (a project for rough sleepers) had closed, a loss of 14 supported housing units. The YMCA had lost 8 units. Gabriel House, a project that works with rough sleepers and those with addictions had closed 10 units, and lost 5 members of support staff. The Shilhay Community, a charity that manages Exeter's Street Homeless Outreach Team, has reduced its staff, losing 5 support workers. Both the YMCA and Shilhay reported that there had been no consultation about changes. The Amber Project, a centre in mid Devon that receives referrals from Exeter, has reduced from 22 supported units to just 1, provided on a spot-purchasing basis.


"I don't understand those organisations..." was Cllr Barker's response. (Almost certainly true, but possibly not for the reasons he said it.) He went on to explain that the county council wanted to base interventions on "assessed need", as part of individual care plans that helped people move on as part of recovery plans. For that reason, he said, spot purchasing was felt to be a more cost effective option.


Spot purchasing creates an "as-and-when" commissioning climate. Service providers, many of them voluntary or not-for-profit organisations, are unable to strategically plan service provision and - critically - plan staffing levels. This means less full-time, experienced and qualified staff on the front line, and more reliance on short-term, casual staff. In working with people with complex, long-term needs the ability to build and maintain a therapeutic relationship is vital. A casual workforce is less able to do that.


Cllr Richard Branston added casualties to Cllr Clark's list. He had spoken to the Operations Manager of Westcountry Housing who had made 6 redundancies in its project worker staff. "Social support in Exeter is being dismantled," the manager had told Cllr Branston, before going on to say that soon Westcountry Housing would only be able to offer accommodation to people in work.


Cllr Barker repeated that the number of people offered support would not drop, and anyway that there had been a fall in the numbers of people presenting as homeless. I would like to question the validity of this response. It is easy to say the number of people supported will remain the same. This is simply the number of people offered a service. It does not address the intensity, quality or level of that support. If - as we have seen - the number of support staff delivering a service has fallen, but the number of people that receive services is maintained, then presumably caseloads for workers must rise. This can only mean that the amount of contact time - and therefore support- that each individual receives is reduced. When a service is stretched to capacity, and the word-of-mouth reports are that the service is over-stretched and unable to meet needs, it is reasonable to expect the number of people referring to that service to drop. This is not because they do not have a need, it is because they see no point in pursuing support when they are told that in all probability the service will be unable to help them. 


I would question Cllr Barker's assertion that homelessness has fallen simply because presentations have fallen. Cllr Branston stated that over 70 under-18s had been referred to bed & breakfast provision in the past 3 months alone, a significant rise. B&B is an appalling, and expensive, response to the needs of such a vulnerable group. Furthermore voices such as Crisis, Shelter and even Eric Pickles (!) have predicted that forthcoming welfare reform will see an increase in homelessness. Yet against this backdrop the Conservative County Council still insists on reducing provision. it is worth noting that it is not only cuts to housing provision that is critical here. So-called "wraparound" services that teach life skills, employability skills, and basic personal care have also been cut, as have mental health services and addiction services.

Cllr Tony Wardle pressed Cllr Barker on the creation of the "trusted assessor" service he had referred to earlier. He asked who would deliver this service, given that staff within agencies were losing their jobs, and the County Council itself was facing redundancies and reorganisation. Cllr Barker said he "was not certain" at this stage, things were "still being sorted out." It would be commissioned, he said, through joint arrangements between the local authorities and the NHS, but this was not finalised yet. 


"Is the assessment process and assessment toolkit developed yet?"  he was asked. No, came the response, this too was yet to be finalised.


So there you have it. While all serious predictions are of rising homelessness, Tory-controlled Devon County Council are choosing to reduce Exeter's provision while boosting their own reserves, a move they justify by saying they will "support the same numbers of people" - with less staff - based on "assessed need." 


Only they don't know what that assessment will look like yet. 


Or who will do it.




(And for my Pinhoe readers, you may be interested to know that your Conservative Councillor, Cllr Cynthia Thompson, was in attendance. Her contribution to this important debate, like her city council Tory  colleagues, was... well, nothing at all. Complete silence.)


If you see a vulnerable person rough-sleeping you can contact Exeter's Street Homeless Outreach Team on 01392 208294

Update: Yet more Tory disarray in Plymouth

Regular readers will know I have been urging anyone who may be considering voting Conservative in Exeter in May to consider the state of our nearest Tory-controlled urban authorities, Plymouth & Torbay. 


Last week, Plymouth Tories lost a councillor who defected to UKIP saying the Conservative Party "did not listen" to local people. (here)


This week has seen another Conservative councillor, Cllr Stark, break ranks with party colleagues, attacking the council for a "vague" budget and arguing that members were being asked to "take on trust" the success of the business development function of the authority.


Leadership on the issue came from Labour, with Councillor Tudor Evans arguing that the council had made too little provision for job-creating projects in the city:


"When you have a catastrophic level of unemployment and a retail crisis, things are perhaps not as good as they might be." (More on this story here)


We have already looked at how Conservative-run Torbay and Plymouth lag behind Exeter in economic regeneration. (here)


The message is simple. With a Labour MP and a Labour-led city council, Exeter is prospering, despite the appalling economic and social policies of the Tory County Council and the coalition government. 

It is essential that Exeter does not let the Tories back in in Exeter this May. 

The Tories, of course, would rather you didn't compare Exeter with their shocking record in Torbay and Plymouth. One local Conservative activist tweeted me to say it was a "shame" I was looking so closely at neighbouring cities rather than focusing on Exeter. 

It is precisely because I want the communities of Exeter to be protected and prospering that I think it is so important that we see the mess the Conservatives have made of our neighbours. 

It is perhaps little surprise that many commentators are tipping Labour to take control of Plymouth City Council this May. I shall continue to watch with interest...

Blog update: Further evidence from Plymouth

Further to yesterdays post, readers might be interested to see that Plymouth Conservative councillor Peter Berrow has defected to UKIP. 


His reason?


"I have become increasingly frustrated with the Conservative leadership at Plymouth City Council who are not taking account of local community voices in much of their decision making."


See http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/Tory-city-councillor-defects-UKIP/story-14387987-detail/story.html

As I said yesterday, the reason Exeter won't want to risk a swing to the Tories is that the evidence from neighbouring Conservative-controlled Councils is that they simply don't listen, and ride roughshod over the views of local residents.

Sorry I was out when you called....Part Two

If you have been enthusiastically following my blog, you might have seen that on Saturday I somehow managed to miss a personal call from Cllr Thompson. Thompson is the last surviving councillor from the Conservative party for the Pinhoe ward. Indeed, she called at my house but unfortunately I was out so not able to engage with her political campaign face to face. (Incidentally, my house is now listed via ‘FourSquare’ using GPS as “The Pinhoe Labour Safehouse” if you’re interested.)

Just in case the information slipped my radar, she tweeted a picture of herself stood outside my home. Additionally, she was courteous enough to leave a card. On this was Her Message to Pinhoe.

In Monday’s post we had a look at her important announcement that the Lib Dems "CAN'T WIN HERE!" as one might imagine Cllr Thompson shouting this invaluable piece of knowledge. She's right. They can't. Pinhoe will be won in May by either Labour or the Tories. Cllr Thompson is further quick to draw attention to the statistics: she rightly points out that in 2011 the electorate of Exeter gave the local Labour Party a 6% margin over the Tories. This means Pinhoe has a near-complete Labour team of Ben Bradshaw as our Labour MP, Saxon Spence as our Labour County Councillor, and Moira MacDonald as our Labour City Councillor. Once Cllr Thompson has gone, the community of Pinhoe will have an effective, united Labour team protecting and promoting its interests.

As Cllr Thompson also highlighted, as a key marginal, Pinhoe might also decide the final balance of the City Council. Which brings me to today's post. 

In keeping with Cllr Thompson's theme: "DON'T RISK A LABOUR COUNCIL,” today I will outline the paradoxical nature of her deeply flawed view. I’ll persuade you that a Labour council is the one thing we ABSOLUTELY need, in this very uncertain time nationally.

Why the people of Exeter wouldn't 

want to "risk" a Tory council

Come May, Exeter Council will take one of two routes. It shall be run by either the local Tories, or the local Labour group. That much Cllr Thompson and I can agree on. The key question is who has the ability to tend to the local people’s needs most effectively. Are the local people better off under Labour, or the Conservatives? Cllr Thompson is quick to outline that you wouldn’t dare want to “risk” a Labour council, but what about the risks you would be taking through the re-election of a Conservative Councillor in Pinhoe? Can we afford to let Exeter council to slip back to a Conservative majority? Is it wise to be persuaded by a party currently running the nearest comparable urban authorities: Plymouth and Torbay? (Don't get me started on the County Council! !) 

Let me elaborate...

Economy. 

The facts are unavoidable. Whichever way you look at it, Exeter is booming. Despite the global financial crisis, despite the poor growth outlook in the UK, despite the shocking VAT increase, businesses continue to invest in Labour-run Exeter. Exeter is growing. Exeter is succeeding. While the airport in Tory-controlled Plymouth closes, Exeter airport is growing. Home to Europe's largest domestic carrier, we have seen the opening of a state-of-the-art Flight School and continued investment in new routes. 

Despite a disastrous retail trading climate due to poor national consumer confidence, Labour-led Exeter has actually seen the number of vacant retail units FALL under a Labour council to just 6.4%. This is compared to 11.6% and up to 18% in Tory-controlled Plymouth and Torbay respectively (and a national average of 14%)

Jobs.

Only two local authority areas in our region have a Job Seekers Allowance claimant rate in the worse 50% nationally. Yes, Tory-controlled Plymouth, and Tory-controlled Torbay. The percentage of adults of working age who are deemed "economically inactive" in Labour-led Exeter is 17.7%. In Tory-run Torbay it is 23.6%, and even higher at 25.3% in Tory-controlled Plymouth. Exeter’s prosperity, generated and maintained by Labour, is illustrated by the average wages in the city, which are higher than both Plymouth and Torbay. 

Exeter's workforce is more successful, and it is skilled, and trained to a higher level. In Labour-led Exeter 75% have an NVQ Level 2 or higher qualification. In Tory-controlled Torbay the figure is 70.3%, and just 68.2% in Plymouth.

A Council that listens.

Despite widespread objections, Tory-controlled Plymouth council, pursuing its ideology of privatisation, spent nearly £1 million of local tax-payers money to sell-off the City Bus operation.

Recently, the Chair of Torbay’s Conservative Future, Nick Benstow, called for the scrapping of the protection of green belt land, ignoring all serious objections and outcries. Aside from Breaking ranks from his party's attempt to be seen as the "greenest government" he argued that it was a move bound to upset the "green freaks". Charming, I know.

Local residents' objections fell on deaf Tory ears in Plymouth

Meanwhile Conservative-run Plymouth Council has just approved the building of a massive incinerator that will "import" waste from across the south west, will operate 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, and see over 260 HGVs per day drive through surrounding residential areas. This decision flew in the face of unparalleled local opposition. One Tory councillor even declared she was "prepared to lose her seat" (by de-selection by her own party) in order to oppose the scheme. Despite Plymouth Labour's best efforts, and to the absolute astonishment of local residents, the Conservative majority forced the vote through. So much for "localism." These very recent, very real events really do speak for themselves.

But now we have a real chance to continue to take Exeter’s Council in the RIGHT direction...

A Labour-led Council for Exeter will continue to develop the local economy, despite Tory cuts at national and county level.

A Labour-led Council for Exeter will continue to protect local jobs.

A Labour-led Council for Exeter will continue to engage with local residents and work in partnership with them.

Exeter’s success really is an exception to the rule in these hard national times. The success that Labour is generating here in the South West is fantastic. But the success is not luck, nor coincidence.

It is down to a hard-working, dedicated Labour MP, our Labour county councillors, and a  committed team of Labour city councillors.

DON'T RISK A TORY-LED COUNCIL.

Vote Labour on May 3rd.

Next time: “#allyearround”. Really?

Sorry I was out when you called....

Well, well, well.... on Saturday I had a visitor call at my home in Pinhoe. I was out, but was very disappointed to have missed her, for it was my local councillor. Well, one of them. Cllr Moira MacDonald you probably all know. This was the Tory one. You know, Cllr Thompson. Yes, Cllr Thompson. No? Oh well, let's see if this jogs your memory...

She left her card...

...and Exeter Tories tweeted that she's called round. The tweet included her photo. Here she is with her two helpers...

Turn around Cynthia! You can see my house from there!
(Cllr Thompson is the one in the middle by the way.)

...right outside my house! (Well fancy that!) Now, on the reverse of her card, were her key messages. So pay attention, because Cllr Thompson has something to tell  you. I thought it might be fun to take one of her messages per day, to have a look at how it all stacks up. 

Today's message: The Lib Dems "CAN'T WIN HERE!" 

(Ironic, really. The Tories couldn't win without the Lib Dems.)

The message is that the result in Pinhoe could decide the council. This is very important. So she's put it in block capitals. The Lib Dems, she would like to point out, cannot win in Exeter and Pinhoe. To illustrate this point, Cllr Thompson would like to draw your attention to the fact that at the 2011 elections, Labour were a full 6% ahead in the vote when the people of Exeter chose their councillors:

2011: Exeter backs Labour

The Lib Dems were on 15% last year. To say the Lib Dems are struggling as a party is something of an understatement these days. A recent You Gov poll suggests that 25% of those who voted Lib Dem last time around are already intending to back Labour. 25% are sticking by the Lib Dems. 25% are still "undecided", with a further 25% intending to back "another party": nationalist parties, Greens, Independents, and possibly the even the Tories. You never know, I suppose.

No wonder the Tories are nervous. Nationally, it looks as though the disaffected Lib Dem vote is coming across to back Labour. The Parliamentary by-elections held since 2010 have shown an average swing to Labour of 7.9%. 

Locally, it is even worse for the Tories. Council by-elections in the south and south west in 2011 saw an average increase in Labour's vote of 13%! The message is clear, and I am grateful to Cllr Thompson for pointing it out again:

Lib Dems cannot win here. Greens cannot win here. If you previously voted Lib Dem and want to vote for a progressive candidate; if you want a stronger, fairer community, then please vote Labour.

Tomorrow: Why the people of Exeter wouldn't want to "risk" a Tory council...