Meeting with County
Toton Sidings
Notts Police
 

Hi all -

I'm away at a conference for three days, so this is just a quick update on issues discussed recently to keep you posted. Apologies to those of you who are awaiting a reply on any issue - I should catch up at the weekend.

1. Meeting with the County Council

The meeting with Cllr Cutts and her Conservative colleagues on the County Council took place on Friday. By tacit consent we avoided partisan exchanges and had a professional discussion.

My impression, for what it's worth, is that the Council was open to argument on the transport schemes, after I and other MPs pointed out the very limited savings involved in cutting off the support and the amount of volunteer effort that would be lost. I also said that the service (taking elderly people to shops and medical facilities) would probably turn up elsewhere in the system as a need that the Council would have to pay professionals to do, either as a transport service or by taking people into care. The councillors suggested that if medical transport was involved then the PCT should be asked to chip in, which seems to me a very reasonable suggestion.

They seemed less flexible on care homes. They didn't dispute that the effect could be a dispersal of the expertise on Alzheimers and dementia in Bramwell, or that it could lead to a levelling down to the statutory minimum standard, but they still seemed pretty determined. I asked them to at least look at the care homes individually rather than make an ideological policy decision to sell them all, regardless of their individual costs and benefits.

They seemed unwilling to reconsider the closure of the Stapleford recycling centre, arguing that better centres were within easy reach and that the current centre was ageing and would need investment to bring up to standard.

On gritting, we pressed them to review the experience of recent weeks and consider suggestions to avoid another period where the residential areas become prisoners in their homes. They said that the County had had stocks of grit well above the national recommended level, but agreed that a review would make sense.

We'll know by February 3 whether the other arguments helped - that's when they will reach final Cabinet recommendations.

2. Toton Sidings

Many thanks for all the supporting messages flooding in for my effort to get the owners to open a dialogue. There have been several developments:

a) I've identified the owners, who are a couple living in Harpenden, and made indirect contact through their solicitors, asking for an urgent meeting.

b) I reported the tree-felling to the Forestry Commission, who have sent two inspectors to look at the site: I understand that they have reported to their supervisors that the rules do appear to have been broken. I'm investigating what remedial action the Commission can require - I gather they are not toothless. Ideally I should like to see a requirement to replant!

c) I understand that the owners primarily had in mind to recover their investment by removal of the ballast, and had no particular views on how to use the land after that. If that's the case, the need for a meeting is all the more, since they clearly aren't familiar with the local implications.

I'll report back further as matters develop, and will be inviting councillors as well if a meeting can be achieved.

3. Chief Constable meeting

Most Notts MPs met Julia Hodson, the Chief Constable, this morning, to discuss policing throughout the County. She said that crime was very markedly down in the City (minus 27% in a few years) and in our area (Broxtowe+Gedling+ Rushcliffe) . She credited Ruth Hyde (the non-party chief executive of Broxtowe Council) for very effective coordination of the three councils in working with the police. She said cooperation with local authorities was not as good everywhere, and in general the picture was less good in the north of the County (Ashfield and Mansfield), and in those areas crime, although still falling, was falling less than in similar areas elsewhere. Accordingly, she was deploying back-office staff into the north of the county, including some highly-trained officers from the murder squad in the city, since the murder rate had fallen so heavily there: these would tackle the 'hard cases' outside the city.

I raised concerns about the thin cover of the popular neighbourhood policing schemes, with some officers covering two wards and delays in replacements when any left. She said it's now policy to bring former PCSOs who have trained to full officer level back to the area they were policing, so the area gets the benefit of someone who's been on the beat in the same streets.

I hope this update is helpful - it's written in a hurry between meetings so please forgive any typos, but I wanted to keep you in the picture.

Best regards

Nick