BULKY COLLECTION CHARGES TO BE SLASHED
September 23rd, 2009 | 
Author: Liberal Democrats on Burnley Council are demanding an end to the £17.95 charges introduced by the previous Labour executive for collecting bulky items.
Coun Linda White, who represents residents in Brunshaw, said that many of the people who live in her area simply cannot afford to pay such high fees. At the moment, all the Borough’s residents must pay £17.95 for up to four bulky items, such as a wardrobe or a mattress, to be removed. For fridges and freezers, this charge is paid per item.
Coun White said, “If you have to pay £17.95 just to get your bedside cabinet removed because it won’t fit in your wheelie bin, that’s nearly the price of a small skip!
“When there’s so much uncertainty around about jobs and money, every charge the Council makes has to be looked at for savings. Surely this charge doesn’t reflect the true cost of collecting a sofa?”
Other councillors have said the Council should use Freecycle to improve re-use rates. Freecycle is a service that allows people with unwanted but usable goods to find someone who can make use of them. Coun Karen Heseltine, who represents Rosehill and Burnley Wood, said that the cost of sending goods to landfill was up to £50 per ton. Coun Heseltine said she would like to see some of the goods collected by the Council passed on to someone in need instead.
The matter is set to come before the Council’s decision-making body in the coming weeks. Coun Charlie Briggs, the executive member responsible, said, “I agree with Linda and Karen. These charges are too high and we have to look at a way of bringing the costs down.
“It’s made a bit easier because recycling rates in the borough have almost tripled since the Lib Dems took over running the Council. We’re keeping a lid on waste disposal costs because instead of paying to put rubbish into landfill, the Council earns money by selling clean rubbish to scrap dealers.
“On the other hand, our contractor charges us the equivalent of about £30 for each bulky collection, which is nearly double what we currently charge to residents.
“The exact price the Council can cut the charge down to for a bulky collection is still being worked out, but I’m determined we must pass all savings on to taxpayers. We should cut the charges as low as we can get them without it impacting the Council Tax, even though budgets are already very stretched.
“If we can get the charge down to £10 and do that without putting Council Tax up then I think everyone will be delighted. I’m going to ask officers if they can find a way to do that on a three month trial basis and see where we go from there.”
The final decision rests with the Council Executive.
Editors Footnote: Burnley and Pendle Freecycle is now known as Burnley and Pendle Realcycle, and can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/burnleyandpendlerealcycle/
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Posted in Uncategorized | 
Tags: birtwistle, campaign, election, gordon, hospital, lib dems, nhs, petition, results, winning, won | 
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Liberal Democrats back radical plans to give power back to consumers
Liberal Democrat Autumn Conference today backed a series of proposals that will radically change the relationship between customers and companies.
The proposals include introducing a ‘Universal Service Code’ for organisations providing a service to the public. This will commit them to:
- Make one of the first options in their telephone response system be to speak to a human being
- Make their customer service phone number free to call from both mobiles and landlines
- Train staff to deal quickly and effectively with customer enquiries
- Make and keep appointments for visits, installations and phone calls within a one hour timeframe
The proposals also include:
- A duty for energy companies to publish information on all available tariffs on their bills
- The immediate clearing of bank payments and transfers
- A requirement for restaurants and cafes to make their tipping policies clear to customers
- A beefed up consumer watchdog to name and shame companies involved in bad practice
- Measures to prevent supermarkets building up local monopolies
Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Business Secretary, John Thurso said:
“Too often, customers find their relationships with companies and public bodies skewed against them.
“So many commonplace practices are infuriating for customers who just want to be treated fairly and honestly.
“When they have a problem or an enquiry about a service they have paid for, it is reasonable that they should be able to talk to a person and not a machine.
“Customers must have the power to make fair and informed choices without the fear of being taken for a ride and bewildered by mindless bureaucracy.”
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‘HOSPITALS CHAIR MUST NOT BE HOODWINKED’ – BIRTWISTLE
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Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate Coun Gordon Birtwistle is demanding the re-opening of Burnley’s Accident and Emergency after discovering that the new East Lancs hospitals chief executive believes that two A&Es are needed even for a smaller population than that supported by just one A&E in East Lancashire.
And Burnley Council is set to pass a motion making its own demands at its next meeting. Led by the Lib Dems, the Council will insist that the decision to close the Burnley service be re-examined by outside experts, repeating the calls made by both Burnley and Pendle councils in February 2008, and echoing calls made recently by former hospital governors Ian Woolley and Peter Pike. The moves follow the delivery of petitions by Coun Birtwistle to the hospitals trust and to NHS East Lancashire containing a total of over 15,000 signatures. But incoming hospitals chair and former Labour County Council leader Hazel Harding said, “The Trust does not share the view that a further independent external assessment of emergency care is necessary. A further external assessment will not be commissioned by the Trust.”
The trust that manages Burnley and Blackburn hospitals has both a new chair and chief executive, and the Lib Dems believe this represents the best opportunity to get the A&E re-opened that Burnley is likely to have for several years.
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Lib Dem parliamentary candidate Coun Gordon Birtwistle said, “The new chair and chief executive were not part of the decision to close Burnley to emergencies. They bear no responsibility for it. There is no reason for them to insist on keeping it closed and they have nothing to lose by ordering a review of the decision.
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“The new chief executive also runs hospitals at Halifax and Huddersfield. Both these hospitals have an A&E but they are just 5.2 miles apart, much closer together than Burnley and Blackburn. These Yorkshire hospitals have no trouble meeting the A&E waiting time targets, the books are balanced and a national audit said these hospitals had the best probable survival outcomes for patients suffering major trauma, by which they mean things like traffic accidents.
“Burnley should have what Huddersfield has – the best outcomes for patients.
“The new chair needs to be bold and to meet the aspirations of the people who both pay for and use the service. She must not let herself be hoodwinked by what remains of the old management at the Trust.”
The Trust’s new chief executive splits her time between East Lancashire and the Halifax and Huddersfield areas.
Former trust governor and fellow Lib Dem Coun Darren Reynolds added, “The hospitals at Halifax and Huddersfield provide two A&Es for a population of around 435,000 people, but in East Lancs we have a single Emergency Department for over half a million people.
“It’s not just Halifax and Huddersfield that do better. Chorley and Royal Preston hospitals both offer an Accident and Emergency department. They are less than 14 miles apart, less than the distance between Burnley and Blackburn hospitals. The Chorley and Preston hospitals only cover 370,000 people, less than two thirds of the number of people in East Lancs.
“No-one is suggesting that these other areas would do better if one of their A&Es were shut.
“It is perfectly obvious to me that Burnley was downgraded for financial reasons. Board meeting minutes show that having an A&E at Burnley was not thought viable because it was too expensive. There are two reasons for that.
“One is poor management at the Trust. The breast cancer scandal does nothing to improve public confidence in the trust management, nor does the money wasted on the scrapped Foundation Trust bid, which should never have been started.
“The other reason is that we have a government that continues to prioritise killing people in foreign countries over saving people here. How can it be right to spend billions on new nuclear missiles when our own hospitals aren’t up to scratch?”
“This is unfair on Burnley. We’ve just as much right to the best health care as anywhere else in the country.
“But none of this can be blamed on either the new chair or the new chief executive. If they can get a grip of the situation and turn things around, the people of Burnley will be delighted.”
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Posted in Latest News, Local News, Local News, News |
Tags: a&e, birtwistle, campaign, gordon, health, hospital, nhs, petition |
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Breast screening review at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
You may download the Press Release here, or read in the viewer below. To scroll in the viewer, just click anywhere on the document, and use the up and down arrow keys.
Coun Darren Reynolds, until recently a representative of the public on the Trust’s Council of Governors, said, “At a time like this thoughts turn immediately to the women involved and their families. It must be terrible for them to have to go through this, first being recalled, then being given the all-clear, only to discover in the end that they are affected by cancer.”
Coun Reynolds is calling for a full investigation into the mistakes to prevent the problem happening again.
He said, “There have been serious management failings at the Trust in the past and I do not know yet to what extent this might have contributed to the problem.
“I want to make sure that the situation is dealt with by the Trust to the complete satisfaction of those affected and of the wider public. I would be grateful if anyone who has direct experience of the situation were to get in touch. We have to make sure diagnosis is performed as carefully and accurately as is humanly possible every time, and I intend to make sure that the right action is taken.”
Coun Reynolds can be reached on 07973 174148 or dreynolds@burnley.gov.uk
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DRIP BY DRIP: THE RETURN OF HOSPITAL SERVICES
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Burnley’s Liberal Democrats were tonight celebrating with Burnley people the news that another NHS service may return to Burnley General Hospital.
According to information uncovered by Burnley’s Liberal Democrats, NHS East Lancashire (formerly the PCT) has plans to return its out-of-hours GP service to the hospital. The move comes less than two years after out-of-hours GPs were moved out.
Leading hospitals campaigner and Burnley Council leader Coun Gordon Birtwistle said, “Drip by drip we are seeing services being returned to Burnley General.
“This was always the right place for the out-of-hours doctor to be. A lot of the time people go to the hospital when really they should be going to see their GP. By having the GPs at the hospital out-of-hours, it frees up staff to handle genuine hospital cases at busy times like Friday and Saturday nights.”
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 Gordon Birtwistle and a petition signee |
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Former hospital governor and Lib Dem Coun Darren Reynolds said, “It’s a pity that the services were moved out in the first place. Constantly moving things about creates confusion, when what people want at times of illness is simplicity.”
It is understood that appointments will need to be made to see the out-of-hours doctors at the hospital. It is not known when the move is due to take place.
Coun Birtwistle added, “One day we will also have a full A&E service restored at Burnley General. Burnley Council first called for an independent review of the changes in February 2008 but we got no response. Maybe now with the new chairman and chief executive at the hospitals trust, we have a new opportunity.”
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KIDS – COME FOR SOME FUN!
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A Burnley councillor is inviting children of all ages to free fun and sports training events in Burnley Wood.
The Lib Dems’ Coun Karen Heseltine, who represents the Rosehill with Burnley Wood ward, wants to see more children benefit from the scheme, which is part-funded by Burnley Council.
Coun Heseltine said, “The local residents and I have been running the sports training in Burnley Wood for about seven weeks, and we have 25 children attending each time.
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“There are skipping ropes and hula hoops for younger children and structured play with the Council’s Dambusters sports coaches for the older ones. The sports coaches are fantastic, really engaging the children and getting them excited about sport.
“All the children are made to use their manners, too.
“The children have been getting free fresh fruit when they join in, which they absolutely love. They swamp me like a plague of locusts when the fruit comes out!”
But the scheme is only part-funded. Coun Heseltine pays for some of the costs herself, including the fruit, and funding for the Dambusters coaches is due to end at the end of September.
Coun Heseltine said, “It’s so rewarding seeing the children benefit from this that I’ve been paying some of the costs myself, but I can’t really keep up. It will be a huge loss when we lose the sports coaches. They make a real difference. The children love the free training that’s on offer and they learn so much more than the skills and rules of the game.
“It brings them a warm discipline that’s missing in some of their home lives, it strengthens bonds between friends, and it really helps to bind the community together.
“I’m hoping that a local company will step up and offer some sponsorship. Perhaps a supermarket might provide free fruit for the kids, or perhaps a local employer will sponsor the coaches for a few months.”
The venue is Burnley Wood Recreation Ground, and wet weather facilities are available. The event runs from 6.45pm-9pm every Saturday evening. Potential sponsors can reach Karen on 01282 702894.
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SCANDAL: BACK-DOOR ALCOHOL SALES TO KIDS
The step-son of a Nelson Labour councillor have been implicated in selling alcohol to children out of the back door of an off-licence in Anglesey Avenue, Burnley.
On Friday 26th June a local resident from Anglesey Avenue, Burnley contacted the Police informing them that he had seen two 15 year old children being served alcohol from the back door of the Lifestyle Express Off Licence situated at 3 / 5 Anglesey Avenue, Burnley.
Later that day a Police Officer witnessed a 14 year old girl being served two 2 litre bottles of cider from the back door of the same premises by the shop assistant, Atif Ansar.
Although she was not formally in charge of the shop at the time, Nelson Labour Coun Eileen Ansar has since taken over as the supervisor. Coun Ansar is said to have made commitments to residents about controlling the sale of alcohol through the shop which she described as hers in public meetings. The premises licence is held by Mr Mohammed Ansar.
In a report to councillors, licensing officers said, “The residents of Anglesey Avenue have been plagued by alcohol related juvenile nuisance and disorder for a considerable period of time and it is the Police’s belief that availability of alcohol to children from these premises is the catalyst for this nuisance and disorder.
“The sale of alcohol to children is a particularly serious offence on its own, but to sell alcohol to children aged 14 and 15 out of the back door further compounds this offence and highlights a total disregard by the premises licence holder and staff, of the law and also serves to totally undermine the 4 licensing objectives.”
Coun Darren Reynolds said, “This type of thing has been going on in Burnley for a long time. It has got to stop and we as a Council are now going to put a stop to it.
“The Licensing Sub-Committee will have to make its own decision on the case. It’s not a political committee, so we can’t just tell it what to do. But anyone with an ounce of common sense can see the damage under-aged sales do to families, to communities and to the health of the children themselves.”
“If someone is making sales out of the back door, it shows that they know that what they’re doing is wrong, and that they’re trying to hide it. If someone who is supposed to be an upstanding member of the community is involved, then I feel that’s about as serious as it gets, and the maximum penalty is called for.”
Burnley’s Licensing sub-committee will meet to hear the case on the 19th August.
The Council report is here: http://www.burnley.gov.uk/downloads/_4__19.08.09_Lifestyle_Express_Anglesey_Ave.pdf
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OFF-LICENCE IGNORES SUSPENSION
A Happy Shopper has been caught selling alcohol to children – just days before its licence was due to be suspended for being caught out three times previously.
Mr Mohammed Ahmed, who runs the Happy Shopper on Briercliffe Road, had his licence suspended on 18th June. The suspension was due to run for four weeks starting Monday 13th July, which allowed time for him to appeal before the suspension took effect.
But police and Trading Standards officers went back on Friday 10th July and took a teenager with them to conduct a test purchase. They found that the shop was still prepared to supply alcohol to children.
Local councillor Liberal Democrat Coun Darren Reynolds said, “The Council’s stated policy is to take breaches like this extremely seriously.
“It’s a shame some licensees take a different attitude to their licences. Clearly the four-week suspension didn’t work. The Council now needs to do what their policy says and impose an extremely serious penalty.
“Burnley is one of the worst areas in the country for alcohol misuse and it’s part of my job to fix that. When kids get drunk in the street it’s a tragedy.
“It damages communities, it damages families, and, worst of all, it damages the long-term health of the children.
“Complaining that someone’s job depends on the licence is no good. Assassins’ jobs depend on being able to assassinate people, but we don’t make that legal just because it creates jobs, do we? In my view this licence should be revoked permanently.
“Other licensees take note: sell to children, and this councillor will get you.”
Coun Reynolds said that he was grateful to the police and Trading Standards for pursuing the problem vigorously, and said that his council colleagues from all political parties now needed step up to the mark to make their contribution to solving the problem.
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Clegg: Brown’s leadership is “running out of steam”
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Nick Clegg has described Gordon Brown’s policy plans as “a hotch potch of unrelated Whitehall schemes” with no unifying” vision from a prime minister who was “running out of steam”.Mr Clegg said both the Prime Minister and David Cameron were treating the voters as if they were children who were “too young to know the truth”.
He said: “Neither are willing to come clean on the difficult long-term savings we will need to make to balance the nation’s books.” |
| “It’s like a big hoax: they trade insults and numbers but hide the truth.” The public had been promised a vision based on decentralisation and personal entitlements but many of these entitlements were “just the recycled versions of old targets”, he said.
“Last week you called a cut an investment. This week you are calling a target an entitlement. Can you tell us exactly what’s the difference?” The Liberal Democrat Leader concluded that the Prime Minister’s statement was nothing more than a “hotchpotch of unrelated Whitehall schemes, a ministerial cut-and-paste job”. |
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KITTY USSHER’S RESIGNATION – LIB DEMS DEMAND BY-ELECTION
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LIBERAL Democrats in Burnley – already well-placed to take over from Labour MP Kitty Ussher at the next General Election – have called for her to resign immediately from Parliament so that voters can have their say on who they want to represent them.
Burnley Council leader and Parliamentary candidate Gordon Birtwistle said that if Liberal Democrat reforms of Parliament were made law, Kitty Ussher would be sacked by voters who would then choose her replacement.
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Coun Birtwistle said, “I am bitterly disappointed that there won’t now be a public fight. Burnley people have been fed up of her antics for some time and the writing was already on the wall.
“Liberal Democrats took five of Labour’s six seats on the County Council here two weeks ago, we topped the poll here in the European elections and we took majority control of the local Council last year.
“With Vince Cable proved right on the economy, our entire party proved right on Iraq, and only the Liberal Democrats fighting hard over the downgrading of our local hospital, it is quite clear who the political competition is in Burnley.
“But the main thing is the people of Burnley now have to put up with inadequate representation until the Prime Minister sees fit to call a General Election. That is no way to run a modern democracy. People want to see her sacked now, and our reforms would allow them to sack her themselves.”
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 Gordon Birtwistle |
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Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is pushing for reforms that would enable voters to “recall” an MP who they felt had let them down badly, and for the date of each General Election to be fixed in advance.
Kitty Ussher took her position as a minister just seven days ago, the second time she had worked as a junior Treasury minister, but says that she is stepping down due to the pressures of running a young family.
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