Local media response to the Comprehensive Spending Review

For those of you who are interested there's an article in This is Somerset about the Cabinet Member for Enironment at SCC, Anthony Trollope-Bellew, resigning.  He's open about the reasons and about how irresponsible the cuts to the highways budget are.  So congratulations to Ken Maddock for doing something so daft he's managed to get me agreeing with Anthony Trollope-Bellew.  

This is Somerset: http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/news/Cuts-willlead-road-deaths/article-2788998-detail/article.html

Also a piece in BBC Somerset.  Of note two other councillors seem to have gone as well (Stephen Martin-Scott & William Wallace).  Not sure as to the reasons but Ken Maddock is trying to spin it as a savings decision, with it leaving just five cabinet members left. There is more to it and may indicate some fracturing in the Tory group.
 

BBC Somerset: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-somerset-11597481

Some more in the County Gazette, which I think is more than went in yesterday's print edition.  The question I'd ask is where are the Lib Dems? Do they even have an opinion on this as I haven't seen a remark/quote from them in weeks?

    

County Gazette: http://www.somersetcountygazette.co.uk/news/8469231.Spending_review___more_on_Somerset_County_Council_s_savage_cuts/

UNISON march and rally - 6th November

The local branch of UNISON are holding a rally and march on 6th November in opposition to the cuts at Somerset County Council.  The rally will be held at 10.30am in French Weir with the march at 11.00am. 

This needs to be publicised at widely as possible to try and get a good turnout to show the Conservative group the level of opposition in Taunton and Somerset to the cuts they are proposing. 

I will be writing a fuller post on the Comprehensive Spending Review and the actual cuts in Somerset soon but for the moment here is a link to the letter that the Chief Exec at SCC sent out to all staff.  Here is the UNISON response.

More after the break.

Southwest One makes pre-tax loss of £16.5 million

As I mentioned at the bottom of my last post Southwest One has posted a pre-tax loss of £16.5 million.  This is not good news and as much as I think that Southwest One was never a good idea at any point I would rather it didn't start losing money hand over fist as I'm a little vague about how losses are distributed.  SW One is 75% owned by IBM with the remaining 25% split between SCC, Taunton Deane and Avon & Somerset Constabulary.  Both Taunton Deane & SCC seem to be suggesting they will not be directly paying for mistakes/losses by SW One which is probably technically correct.  I'm sure the truth is somewhat more complicated.  SCC had the following to say:  

Somerset council said it would not cost extra money as it was a fixed contract.
David Huxtable, the councillor responsible for resources at the county council, said: "I don't have any concerns or fears about the ability of the company to deliver our services because we made sure we partnered with huge international business and I have security in that.
"We asked people to bid to run our services at less cost to us and that's what they did.
"It may be that they over or under bid for the contract but I feel that is their problem, and not necessarily ours."

Note the Not necessarily ours.  Well that's alleviated all my concerns then - good job David.  I suppose if the worst happens you can always suggest selling County Hall again.

Taunton Deane charged £15k for 'widespread' accounting failures relating to SW One

BBC Somerset are reporting that Taunton Deane have been charged an additional £15k by the Audit Commission for widespread failures relating to the Southwest One contract.  SCC are also due to receive a "charge" for the same reason; the fee has yet to be decided.  I've included the main body of the report below the break along with some thoughts on Southwest One. 

Strangely familiar

As much as I was attempting to follow our new leader's speech intently I kept finding my eyes strangely drawn to a spot just above his shoulder.

Well done to Rob for finding the best position in the hall to maximise his exposure!  Not sure about the view from that spot but I think I could live with an hour of looking at the back of Ed's head.  I hope Rob enjoyed it; he certainly seemed to be nodding/clapping etc at the appropriate moments

Brenda Weston re-elected to National Policy Forum

Congratulations to Brenda Weston on her re-election to the National Policy Forum (NPF)!  Brenda is a long standing (and sometimes suffering) member of Taunton CLP and has in the past been both a County and District councillor as well as until recently the CLP Secretary.  This is a fantastic result for both Brenda and indirectly the Taunton CLP and we wish her much success in developing a new policy platform going forward.

Our Youth Officer, Rob Thompson, also took part in the ballot for the NPF Regional Youth Rep but was unfortunately unsuccesful on this attempt.  Despite the result we're sure this has been a useful experience for Rob on his path to greater things.  

The full result for the South West ballot is as follows:

SOUTH WEST
Results
BLACK, Vicki	2,004
DHILLON, Keir	3,126	Elected
FORD, Glyn	4,310	Elected
JARVIS, Daniel	1,261
MACKENZIE, Charlotte	1,937
MOODY, Clare	3,071	Elected
NAYSMITH, Doug	2,704
PHILLIPS, Ann	1,595
STOKES, David	1,516
WESTON, Brenda	2,779	Elected
NPF Regional Youth Representative
Results
ANDERSON, Tom	1,957
BAKER, Gus	2,931	Elected
THOMPSON, Rob	1,549

Labour's new Training Academy

The national party has recently launched the Training Academy to provide training to Labour Party activists throughout the country in effective campaigning.  It can be accessed through membersnet, and consists of both distance learning packages and day courses:

Labour's most valuable resource is you, our members. Our campaigns are made many thousand times stronger by you adding your voice in support.  We want to help you harness your passion and skills so that Labour can win.  Only Labour can beat the Conservative- Lib Dem coalition and stop their unfair cuts agenda decimating our country. And we can only do this with you adding your voice and skills to Labour's campaign.

Train to Win  - by training our members to be expert campaigners we can win back Labour representatives at every level of government and challenge the coalition's plans

Training for you - You can play a crucial role in your local campaign, and build up skills and experiences that translate not only to helping Labour win but also into wider personal development.

The Training academy can be found here on membersnet.

Of note to Taunton CLP members there are two training days coming up in Taunton on the 2nd and 30th of November.

Modules covered on the 2nd November are - Community organising; Membership and capacity building.
Modules covered on the 30th November are - Beating the Lib Dems; Brand, message and pledges; Leadership
Both training days will be held a Unison House on The Crescent between 10.30 - 4.30.  This training will cost £10 including lunch. Please book a place via membersnet and send your cheque to Labour South West or pay cash on the day.

Welcome to the Taunton Deane CLP rolling blog and newsletter

Welcome to Points Left - The Taunton Deane Constituency Labour Party (CLP) public blog and newsletter.  Points Left forms part of a renewed effort by Taunton CLP to create an open online presence that is accessible to both members and the wider public within the constituency.  It will be used to provide up-to-date information on the activities of the CLP, such as upcoming meetings and campaigning as we build up to the local elections in May 2011.  It will also contain posts on events and debate within the wider Labour movement.

Under Construction

This site is currently under construction.  Please check back soon for updates.