Debt and Deficit

To say that we had to make some difficult decisions this week would be the understatement of the century, after Eric Pickles announced on Monday afternoon the final settlement for Local Authorities for the next two years, the full horror of the scale of the cuts that have to be made started to sink in.

We had prepared ourselves for what we thought was the worst case scenario, and though extremely difficult, we had managed to put together a budget that would meet the 28% reduction in Government Grant over four years as highlighted by George Osborne in the Comprehensive Spending Review in October. We had not however contemplated that the settlement would be even worse, and as it turns out we will be getting a reduction of very nearly 28% over the next two years. So even though we had a very traumatic Cabinet meeting on Wednesday night where we agreed on a plan to save just over £2 million, we have to go back to work over the next 6 weeks and find another £250,000 for next year, followed by another £1.1 million the year after.

There is no way that savings of that level can be made without radically changing the shape of the council, and that is exactly what we will have to do, it certainly is not going to be easy.

I made the point during cabinet that whoever caused the country’s debt problem, we all knew that cuts were coming and that it would be very difficult. It would require all councillors to respond to the challenge and we would have to work together with the officers of the council to achieve some sort of solution. I did say at the meeting that the country was massively in debt, that the situation could not be allowed to continue and that everyone was going to have to share some of the pain.

Well that was Wednesday and gosh how fast things change. By Thursday morning I found out that we are all saved, Alleluia, the country isn’t in debt at all, we just have a bit of a deficit problem, and the purveyor of this wonderful news, none other than our new Lib Dem councillor in Shepton. He proudly announced on his website, (well he used to say it’s not his, but finally admitted in public on Wednesday night that he shares in the organisation of it!!!), that I was wrong to say the country is in debt, and that we merely have a deficit.

Well being the product of a progressive education in the 60’s and 70’s, and not being a University drop out like my illustrious adversary, I thought I’d better check. After all,  If the country is not in debt, why are we worrying, it’ll all be fine, if we just ignore it it’ll go away, so I did a bit of research.

UK National Debt Clock - DebtBombshell

There is a very useful website http://www.debtbombshell.com/, this site looks at all the government data that is available and even provides a debt counter to keep tabs on the National Debt. (See above) As I write this the clock reads £982,350,000,000 and is going up at a rate of about £8,000 per second, yes that’s right £8,000 per second, £540,000 per minute or £32.4 million per hour. It is forecasted that National debt will increase by £167 billion this year and reach £1.1 trillion next year while it is being brought under control. A trillion is a thousand billion and it would take about 31600 years to count to a trillion at normal counting speed.

So the country has massive debts, the highest in our history, and even higher than at the end of the Second World War, the previous record. As a matter of interest, we only paid off the debts from WW2 less than 10 years ago, so the current debt mountain will not disappear quickly.

The deficit that everyone talks about is the difference between tax income and government spending, and this year we will spend £167 billion more than we take in tax, and that money only goes to increase the overall debt mountain. The interest payments to service the debt for the next financial year amount to over £42 billion, this is a the third biggest individual bill that the government face, behind the NHS and Education but ahead of defence for example.

So our local Lib Dem economist appears to be talking out of his hat, he has already be branded “unpleasant, distasteful and unprofessional” (MDC Standards Board October 2010), and now this rubbish.

He has contributed nothing, nada, zero to the budget setting process despite being given full access to the figures and having been invited to joint cabinet and shadow cabinet meetings, he continues to hide behind his USA based website, sniping from the sidelines, spreading misinformation and innuendo whilst trying to stir up public unrest. He offers no alternative, follows the Lib Dem negative campaigning rulebook to the letter, and supports his beloved Tessa to the hilt.

Oh and while we are on the subject of debt, the Lib Dems know all about that particular matter, they had to conduct a fire sale of the council house stock in Mendip to clear £16 million debt the last time they were in power here and they left Somerset County Council shackled with £400 million of debt, after years of profligate spending. The County Council now have to make much deeper cuts due to the fact that they have to service this huge debt making the situation much worse than it would have been if the authority had been debt free. At Mendip, the Conservative run council has zero debt,  no interest charges to pay, so even though deep cuts have to be made, we don’t have to pay interest to the banks as well!!

Is Clegg finished as Lib Dem leader?

So another interesting week for the coalition comes to an end. As I predicted last week, the four headed Lib Dem snake reverted to type and went off in all directions at once. Clegg just about managed to get his ministers to vote alongside the government; however I suspect the votes in favour had more to do with fears of loss of the ministerial limousine than it did with any conviction that they were doing the right thing.

The Munter from Mark as predicted got splinters in her arse by sitting on the fence to the very end and abstaining. What it is to have a conviction MP capable of making up her mind and then seeing it through to the bitter end. The Lib Dems are really the most spineless bunch, and their lack of intestinal fortitude is there for all to see the first time that the chips are down and a tough decision has to be made. God help us if we have to face a threat against the country with Clegg at the helm, that lot would still be fighting each other about the issue when the enemy tanks come rolling down Whitehall.

The mutterings of the Guardian readership classes are starting to heap pressure on poor old Clegg, the beard loving, sandal wearing,  yoghurt knitters are starting to revolt, (they’ve always been very revolting), and it appears old Cleggovers’ days may be numbered. With Lib Dem support dwindling away, down to 8% according to a recent poll, it may not be long before we see the usual me, me, me clamour for the top job. If Clegg is unable to command more than a quarter of his troops in the first big skirmish of what is likely to be a long war against Gordon Brown’s debt mountain, the coalition is unlikely to survive 12 months, leave alone the 5 years that is planned. The only solace that Clegg must have is to look around and see what the opposition looks like. I mean the Lib Dems have such a huge raft of talent at their disposal don’t they!

Charlie Kennedy’s battle with the bottle has ruled him out, poor old Vince Cable and Ming Campbell are past their sell by date, Simon Hughes is wetter than a wet thing and far too left wing to be taken seriously, David Laws could have been a contender until he was caught paying his parliamentary rent money to his boyfriend,  and Chris Huhne is struggling to hang on to his seat while flying thousands of miles back and forth to Cancun in Mexico, causing tons of Carbon Dioxide into the bargain, just  to attend the climate change conference!!! Still perhaps a bit of extra Carbon in the atmosphere might stave off this cold weather we are having! I suppose there is always the possibility that Munter from Mark could step into the breach, now that really would be entertainment worth seeing. Can’t you just imagine Deputy PMQ’s  with madam at the dispatch box?

No, come to think of it nor can I!!

The protests against the tuition fee increase provided yet again, an opportunity for rent-a-mob and every anarchist group in the country to go on the rampage causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage, injuries to dozens of police officers, and threatening the safety of the heir to the throne.

I read today that the young hooligan seen swinging from the Union Flag attached to the Cenotaph in Whitehall is none other than the son of Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Gilmour junior is a history student at Cambridge, who claimed that he did not know what the monument was there for! Cambridge University are not going to take any action against him apparently, as the incident took place outside of term time. I would think they ought to take action against both him and his lecturers, if the spoilt brat is still so ignorant of the country’s history, despite a University education, that he does not know that the Cenotaph is there to commemorate the thousands of British soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice in two World Wars to ensure that he has the freedom to act in such a loutish manner.

He says that he acted in this way because he was high on LSD, I think if you check the law you will find that LSD is still illegal in this country. He is now contrite because he has been caught, however this is not the first time he has been filmed being involved in violence, and the first question I would ask him is why would you go to a march, wearing latex gloves to prevent incriminating finger prints, if you were not planning to get involved with illegality? Perhaps he's been watching too much CSI Miami instead of studying History!

Lib Dem chickens coming home to roost.

I’ve made the point often enough with regard to local politics that it is awfully easy to snipe from the sidelines without all the facts at your disposal, and to pontificate as to how you will act in this situation or that, when you have little or no chance of having to enforce your view, or little likelihood of having to make good on your manifesto promises.

Manifesto promises have often been the subject of scrutiny, as incoming governments and incoming local authorities often have to change their minds after coming in to power and realising that the dream they had in opposition, doesn’t stack up when the cold harsh light of reality kicks in, such is the position of the Lib Dems at the moment.

In a opportunistic attempt to garner the student vote at the last general election, our yellow friends decided en-masse that they would all sign their names to a pledge that no matter what, they would fight tooth and nail to prevent any increase in student fees. All of their leftie friends in colleges and universities around the country thought this was a wonderful idea, and many thousands voted in their support as a result. This policy now sees the Lib Dems in total disarray with at least four different outcomes sought depending upon which faction of the party you listen to.

My own personal view, developed over the last 13 years of campaigning against Lib Dems, is that getting into coalition with them, is rather like getting into bed with a four headed snake and then trying to avoid being bitten or crushed! They have always been the dirtiest political opponents who will unashamedly lie, cheat, deceive or prevaricate if they think there is any sort of political advantage in it for them.

A couple of years ago our slippery coalition partners produced a campaign document, Effective Opposition, produced by the Association of Liberal Democrat Councilors’, this fascinating document says on page 21 "Be wicked, act shamelessly, stir endlessly, on page 23, it says: "Don't be afraid to exaggerate. For example, responses to surveys and petitions are always 'massive'. If a council is doing something badly public expressions are always of 'outrage'."

Does any of this ring any bells when you read the local Lib Dem propaganda I ask.

On page 4, of the same tome it states, "Positive campaigning will NOT be enough to win control of the council,” on page 6, it says that "you can secure support from voters who normally vote Tory by being effectively anti-Labour and similarly in a Tory area secure Labour votes by being anti-Tory."

So no problem with principles then!!

It goes on to say: "Oppose all service cuts ... No cut is going to be popular and why court the unpopularity that goes with the responsibility of power?" and finally "You are NOT running the council. It's NOT your problem."

So you see what I mean about dirty tactics and if you translate those instructions into action it is easy to see how our favourite Lib Dem councillor got the inspiration for his hateful website.

Returning to the current issue with the Lib Dems, this week they have to decide whether they are to be taken seriously as a political force, or whether they will result to type and be against everything, and in favour of nothing. The debate on the proposed changes to university funding has been very enlightening. Vince Cable for example was the primary architect of the coalition’s new policy that will allow fees to increase to a maximum of £9000 per year. He was obviously in favour of the policy when he designed it, he was then against it when the rent-a-mob started to protest against it, he then decided to sit on the fence and abstain until he realised that as a minister of the crown he has a duty to vote in favour of government policy or otherwise resign. So as I write this, Vince is now going to vote in favour again.

Our own MP, the Munter from Mark, has pontificated long and loud on the subject, but so far remains firmly on the fence to the degree that she is likely to get splinters in her posterior. Her illustrious colleagues are going to vote in favour, or against or will abstain, or today I see a whole new bunch want to defer the vote until next year. So there you have it dear readers, the four headed snake trying to decide which head it’s going to bite you with.

We can only hope that this episode will teach the Lib Dems a lesson or two about making promises in opposition that they may have to translate into policy one day. I would hope therefore that our local Lib Dems may even become more responsible in opposition at county and district level, but with instructions from the top to the contrary, I’m not holding my breath.

Christmas Shopping is coming.

Firstly this week can I say a big thank you to everyone who is reading this blog on a regular basis, we now have hundreds of hardcore supporters and it is very gratifying that people take the time to read and contribute. For those who send me comments, again many thanks, there have been some very useful and thought provoking contributions, not all agreeing, but hey it's a free country. If you want me to publish your comments, please identify yourself, and provided there is nothing libellous, I am happy to display what you have written, however I won't publish anonymous contributions no matter how good they are.
My parking scheme for Shepton is going full steam ahead, we now have 23 businesses signed up, with another 3 or 4 due to make up their mind during the next week. There will be plenty of high profile work over the next few weeks to try to ensure that everyone is aware of the scheme, and it has shown how the traders and council can work together for the common good.
I did get one criticism this week from someone querying the administration costs for the project, can I just confirm that apart from the £1100 set up costs that Mendip are covering, there is zero ongoing administration, we are merely asking the participating businesses to tell us at the end of the trial whether they found it scheme beneficial, and a rough idea of how many times they gave a refund. We don't need any other information, but will want an opinion as to whether the scheme is continued after the trial or not. It is not our intention to impose the scheme on anyone who doesn't want to participate, however the scheme will always be open to any business that wants to join at a later date.
A number of commentators have suggested that what Shepton really needs is free parking and I think it is worth looking at what that would mean. Firstly there is no evidence that free parking will actually improve footfall. In 1996 Mendip tried an experiment in Shepton to give free parking for 2 hours in all of the car parks. A footfall survey was conducted prior to the experiment and during the free parking period. Contrary to the belief that footfall would increase if car parking was free, during that experiment footfall actually fell from 17,500 per week to 15,000. So free parking on its own is not a panacea, footfall will only increase if there is a retail offer that people want to use. What was also interesting about the survey in 1996 was a survey of empty retail premises. 14 years ago there was a 25% vacancy rate in Town Street that has now been reduced to 10%. Vacancies have increased in the High Street slightly, but that is mainly due to the 5 shops that were kept empty artificially so that the Turn Back Time project could be completed. When those shops are let, we will actually be in a better position overall than we have been for nearly 15 years. So the stories of doom, gloom and a never ending spiral of decline are not accurate, things are improving gradually, even if there is still an awful lot to do.
The parking refund project actually gives shoppers an incentive to spend their money in the Town Centre, where free parking does not. In a previous blog I also mentioned that free parking has a number of other drawbacks.
Firstly the cost of maintaining the car parks does not go away, and if parking is free, that burden has to be put on the council tax payer, whether they use the car parks or not, whether they own a car or not and that tax hits those that can least afford it harder than most.
Secondly, if parking is free, there would be no money for car park inspectors either, leading to anarchy within the parking regime, with vehicles being left in the most desirable positions all day every day, thus using up the very valuable resource that the town centre relies upon. The comment was made a couple of weeks ago that parking in the Market Place and High Street is abused by people parking all day. The only way to remedy that is to have inspectors carrying out regular patrols, and yes issuing tickets to those who abuse the system. The police do not see parking as a priority issue and only act if there is an obstruction or if the "blue badge" zones are being abused.
If the free parking provision in the town is well managed, there is quite sufficient to cater for all of those people who want to "stop and shop" and just spend a few pounds, the parking refund scheme will incentivise all those who want to spend more time and money in the Town Centre, and the charging regime ensures that the car parks can be effectively managed.
This year no-one will have an excuse not to do their Christmas shopping in Shepton, let’s hope it’s a bumper year for all of our Town Centre traders.

Town Centre revival on the way.

It’s been a little less frantic on the political front this week, and I’ve had the chance to catch up on a few of the things that I had to do in my business, and even earned some money for a change!!

Late last week a client contacted me from Hastings who had a serious issue that he needed help with, so I decided to visit him on Monday, Hastings is not the easiest place to get to from this part of the world, you either have to chance your arm with the M25, or find an alternative route across country, I chose the former and immediately regretted it as the traffic ground to a halt as the result of an accident leaving me completely stuck for over 2 hours. By the time it all cleared and I got back home it was well past 10pm and after a quick snack it was off to bed!

On Thursday we had a visit from a company called Shopjacket, who are based in the North East near Whitley Bay, they specialise in helping town centres turn themselves around, providing a variety of solutions to help new business start ups, and to attract more enquiries from potential businesses. I have to say they were very impressive, with some great ideas, and endless enthusiasm. It is early days yet, but I think there is a lot of potential in what they are suggesting. I think Shepton has a narrow window of opportunity to really go for the regeneration of the High Street especially as we have the added interest in the town as a result of the Turn Back Time series, and I think we have to grasp this opportunity with both hands. Shepton is not the only traditional town centre in the country that has suffered in recent years, yes we have our own particular problems, but the demise of shopping in high street’s across the country is well documented.

What we need to do is to focus on what can be done, what the people of the town and our visitors want, and to stop trying to wish away the things that have happened in the past. Supermarkets are here to stay, so there is absolutely no point in having a strategy that requires the town to get rid of the ones that we have already got. There does seem to be an appetite for shoppers to return to a situation where they have a lot more choice from a variety of retailers, rather than merely relying on what one or two have to offer. The trick will be to ensure that any new retailers in Shepton have done their research, they understand what their customers want, and are capable of providing that service. From what I’ve seen the guys from “Shopjacket” are capable of providing an environment where that sort of enterprise can flourish, and as a Town and District Council we should do our bit to try to assist the process.

I will certainly be working with the Conservative Group on both councils to bring forward proposals as to how we help the process along, so watch this space for the next month and I will try to keep you posted on what is happening.

On Friday I chaired the regular meeting of the steering group for Shepton’s Townscape Heritage Initiative. The THi has been up and running for very nearly three years now, and will run through until 2013. So far we have provided grants for five properties to be renovated in the town centre, some of them are complete, while others are still ongoing. We are now at the stage where we have received applications or enquiries for nearly all of our target buildings in the High Street, Town Street and The Market Place, and in contrast to THi projects in other parts of the country, where plans are being scrapped because property owners cannot be persuaded to invest in their own properties, we will certainly be able to spend all of the current half a million pounds grant pot that is available, and will be putting in a bid to the Heritage Lottery fund for some more!

The THi is the second phase of investment into Shepton’s town centre in the seven years of the current Conservative administration at Mendip, and this intervention by the council has led to a total of two million pounds being spent to improve the fabric of the town centre. This investment is the first that Shepton has seen for close on thirty years, and if the current level of interest in our town continues it will be the catalyst for regeneration that the town has been waiting for.        

Finally for this week, can I send out a plea to anyone reading this blog to support the drive to raise money for the protection of our historic Market Cross? Cllr Jeanette Marsh who is the current chairman of the Town Council has launched an appeal to raise £100,000 to enable urgent repairs to the listed structure to be carried out. We have unfortunately been turned down for funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund, and although we will certainly putting in another bid shortly, some of the repairs are very urgent and cannot wait. The Trustees of the Cross do not have sufficient money to carry out the work, and despite both Mendip and the Town council putting public money in, more will be needed.

If you are able to help, please contact  Mrs Jeanette Marsh, Chairman, Shepton Mallet Town Council, 1 Park Road, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5BS, Tel: 01749 343984 or alternatively Neil Shearn, Chairman, Shepton Mallet Market Cross Charity, 2 Charlton Road, Shepton Mallet, BA4 5NY, Tel:  01749 342763.

Lest we forget.

As a councillor I get invited to attend many events during the course of the year, and whilst there is never enough time to put in an appearance at all of them, the Remembrance Sunday service at the Cenotaph is one that I feel extremely privileged to attend. I always find it very poignant and moving and I feel greatly honoured to be able to lay the wreath on behalf of the District Council as I have for the past 7 years.

The Remembrance Sunday commemorations that occur all across the country every year give us all the chance to lay aside our differences for a few moments and to concentrate on, and give thanks to all of those who gave their lives to ensure that we have the freedom to have those differences. Most of my generation have been lucky enough to grow up in safety for the most part, without the threat of having to go to war and having to make the ultimate sacrifice, the younger generation have certainly stepped up to the mark in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts and we will have the opportunity to salute those that have served there as well.

The fallout from the Comprehensive Spending Review continues to reverberate around local government, Somerset County Council have given more details as to how the savings that are required will have to be made, and without doubt, most people will notice these changes as they come through.  I don’t think that there are many politicians that put themselves forward for election with the sole purpose of slashing public spending, however I do think that spending got seriously out of control thanks to the last Labour Government nationally and the Lib Dem administration at County Hall locally. The levels of expenditure and debt that occurred during that period of profligacy have now come home to roost, and it is essential that it be reined in.

What has not been widely publicised, especially by the Labour luvvies in the BBC who seem to glory in their doom and gloom headlines, is that overall there will be no actual cash terms cut in spending during the five year term of this government, all of the changes merely mean that the proposed growth in public spending will not occur as previously planned and at the end of the parliament the rate of public spending will be the equivalent that we last saw in 2007, so hardly a return to the dark ages that the prophets of doom glory in.

While Somerset County Council has its unique problems, especially its massive £400 million Lib Dem debt to service, other local councils have also announced that cuts will have to be made, Gloucester have announced that over 1000 jobs will be lost, Wiltshire who initially forecast that because they are a unitary they would be insulated from the cuts have said that they mis-calculated the scale of the problem by about £50 million and will have to re-think, the new unitary in Cornwall is having major problems even getting an agreement on what is to be done and so it goes on.

Closer to home, Mendip’s Cabinet had a briefing on Monday evening as to what we know about the levels of savings that we will have to make. The headline figure looks as though it will be somewhere around £2 million over 4 years (7.1% pa) but we will not know exactly how that pans out until early December when we should get more precise figures. My portfolio deals with the payment of benefits and collection of taxes and we will see big changes as the plans to move to a single universal credit from the current myriad of benefits feed through. Ian Duncan Smith has put an awful lot of work and his reputation into sorting out the benefits system, and so far the plans seem to have attracted cross party support. It can only be right to for someone who works to be better off than someone who is relying on benefits, it is how you get from one to the other that will be the test. It will also be vital that the private sector grows strongly over the next 5 years to create the jobs that people who come off of benefits will need.

Possibly the most interesting point that has come to light in the last few weeks regards the scheme to re-evaluate everyone who has been claiming Incapacity Benefit over the last few years. The new process evaluates what people are able to do and does not concentrate on the things that they are unable to do. As a result, thousands of former claimants have been found to be fit for work, including some who claimed that they were too fat!!!, and thousands of others have volunteered to come off of the benefit rather than go through the test.

Perhaps after all, the shock of the country’s financial predicament could lead to some fundamental changes to our welfare state that have been long overdue?

A credit to their generation.

I had the great pleasure yesterday afternoon (Sunday) to be part of the welcoming party for the group of marchers representing all of the services on their “March for Honour” as they passed through Shepton. 

The group of young men involved in the march are truly a credit to themselves, their colleagues and the country as a whole. I have not spoken to a more polite, respectful and self assured group of young men for an awfully long time. I have often been very critical of a lot of the teenagers and young people that I come into contact with, I often find that they are boorish, ignorant, disrespectful and arrogant. This group of young men could not have been more different and it was a huge pleasure to share their company even if it was only for a short while. I wish them great success in their bid to raise £1 million for the poppy appeal and look forward to seeing them at the Albert Hall at the end of their long march.

Last week was full of the usual fun and games, Tuesday night saw a meeting of the Town Council which degenerated into the usual slanging match with Cllr Dunscombe leading the shouting. It comes to something when a town councillor has to be officially warned as to his conduct in the middle of a meeting, especially after we had just listened to a very interesting presentation by the monitoring officer, who explained how members should act when taking council decisions.

Unfortunately we were not able to set the precept for the Town Council at that meeting as we did not have a recommendation from the Community Development committee so it will have to wait until our January meeting. There are a number of competing projects that will require significant funding if they are to proceed and we will have to make some decisions about these in the very near future.

Tonight there is a meeting of the Cabinet at MDC, as always it is an open meeting with members of the public welcome if they wish to come along and listen. Tonight’s meeting will be especially interesting as we will be discussing how the measures in the comprehensive spending review are likely to affect Mendip in the next few years. As portfolio holder responsible for benefits, my department will have to administer the new housing and council tax benefit regulations and make sure everyone understands them, it’s not going to be easy.

It’s a bit quieter on the meetings front this week (thank goodness), maybe I’ll even have time to get on with some work for my business and keep the wolf from the door, sometimes it is very difficult to balance what has to be done for the council with earning a living. Last year I kept a record of all of the hours I put in on council work, phone calls, e-mails, meetings, case work, official events etc etc, it worked out that I received £2.60 per hour for that period, from a tax payers point of view it’s a good job we are not on the minimum wage!

I’m really looking forward to the Edwardian section of “Turn Back Time” tomorrow evening and to the Carnival on Wednesday. The weather forecast is not too good for the next couple of days, let’s hope it clears up in time so that everyone can enjoy what must be one of the best free shows on earth without getting soaked. We really are so lucky to have this fantastic event on our doorstep every year.

Let’s park that idea!!

Well I did say last week that I hoped to finally have news about my parking scheme this week, and joy of joys it has come to pass.

After many months of preparation, surveys, persuasion, prevarication, obstruction and finally agreement, Shepton will trial a parking refund scheme for 4 months as from the beginning of December.

The general idea is thus; if you park in one of the town car parks and pay for the privilege, you will get a ticket to put in the vehicle plus a detachable reminder. If you then tear off the reminder and take it into one of the 22 (so far) participating retailers and spend £10 or more, the retailer will refund you either 80p, which is the equivalent of the first hours’ car park charge in Great Ostry or Commercial Road car parks, or 50p which is the charge for the first half hour in Regal Road.

The scheme does not affect the free car parking provision in Great Ostry where there is a free 1 hour parking area, or the other free parking areas behind the Police Station or in Regal Road, these remain as they are.

I have been very heartened by the enthusiasm of the retailers in the High Street, Market Place and Town Street who have embraced the idea whole heartedly, and I am hoping that this scheme will help to boost trade, especially at the Northern end of the Town.

The trial will run until the end of March 2011 when I intend to survey all of the participants to see if they wish it to continue. If successful it is possible that we may look at expanding it to the other towns in the District. If there are any retailers who have not yet committed to the scheme and wish to join in, please let me know and I will ensure that you get the necessary signage. I intend to circulate a list of participating businesses as soon as the scheme gets under way.

Another event that got underway this week after many months of anticipation was of course “Turn Back Time” the BBC time travel shopping experiment filmed in our town centre. I rushed home from a Town Council meeting on Tuesday night to catch the end of it, and then watched again courtesy of the iplayer.

The programme was great, very interesting, thought provoking and in places very funny, seeing 7 fully grown men struggling with a 500lb Gloucester Old Spot pig was priceless, I can’t wait to see the rest of the series.

But on a more serious note, I bumped into 6 people from Bristol who came to the town, had lunch and did a bit of shopping, purely because they saw the programme on Tuesday night, and a local shop keeper told me that she had a bumper day on Tuesday with people attending the Victorian Market. This included a family from Frome who had never been to Shepton before, who said the town was delightful, and that they would be back.

This interest in our town is just what we hoped for when we were working with Wall to Wall to bring the series to Shepton, and I’m very hopeful that this will be just the start of a flood of visitors who will make our high street a viable, thriving and exciting place to do business once again.

The website that dare not speak its name?

It's been a strange week, I was prepared for it being busy, and it has not disappointed on that front, work has been manic and finding time for my council duties difficult, however it all fell into place eventually. That with three yes three games of skittles has fully occupied all of my time.

Monday's meeting of MDC Cabinet and the Corporate Management Team went well and plans for the future are progressing, nomination skittles Monday night was an organisational nightmare, and I was on the verge of elimination at the first hurdle when a 15 spare on the last hand saved my bacon and I progressed through to the last 8 to be played in January.

Tuesday evening saw the Central Mendip Community Partnership meeting in Wells. An interesting meeting on several fronts, Mr Dunscombe as is his raison detre, decided to have yet another go at the Partnerships decision to support the Bristol Academy of Performing Arts in 2008. It's very easy to be smart with 20/20 hindsight if only we all had that benefit. The partnership's decision was taken with due care and with the information we had available at the time. The decision of the partnership was unanimous with Conservative and Lib Dem councillors voting in favour, Mr Dunscombe was told that he would not be getting an apology no matter how many times he demands one.

On the other hand the Steering Group of Shepton's section 106 monies put forward proposals to spend some of its funds on refurbishing the town centre seating and litter bins, and to improve the lighting of the Market Square. These proposals, miracle of miracles seemed to find favour with both Mr Dunscombe and Terry Marsh, and will go ahead. Its not often those two agree with me. Later on in the meeting even Gloria Cawood said "I agree with John", well I was shocked, three opponents agreeing with me in one meeting, I left immediately before they changed their mind!!! Skittles Tuesday night was pretty dire and we lost miserably.

Our new Lib Dem councillors website (well he says its not his, but he registered it and told the world about it) is still full of a daily dose of vitriol. Not only that, but its claims to be "independent" are far from the truth. The website regularly sensors comment that it does not wish to publish, I have had complaints that critical comment has been censored and not published. He really should come clean, as its obviously a Lib Dem website then say so, don't be shy, Lib Dems' are not normally shy about negative campaigning, if it is genuinely independent then publish your critics comments as well, but lets not pretend that there is not a political game going on here. As I've said before, and it's worth repeating, I have no problem with robust political debate, and the recently added political discussion forum on the http://www.shepton.org/ website will certainly give all local politicians and members of the public somewhere to air their views, I do however take issue when blatant inaccuracies are published, purporting to be the truth.

For example, our local Lib Dems state on their website that "Mendip District Council are £2 million in debt" when in fact Mendip has zero debt, it is a debt free authority, it states that I have been on the side of Tesco and "big business" in planning applications, when in fact I voted against the Tesco application, against Costa Coffee and against Dobbies Garden Centre, it states that I have been plotting to overthrow Harvey Siggs as leader of the council, when in fact he has had my complete support in the past and will continue to receive it for as long as he wants it, and today I see that it says that I have been attemptng to have their precious website closed down, which is also a complete fabrication. So no more lies please, come clean, stop pretending to be independent when clearly you are not.

Back to the past week, the Town Council Community Development working party on Wednesday evening failed to reach agreement on plans for the coming year, so that will have to be re-visited, and joy of joys we won at skittles, not by many, but a win is a win (bit like elections really!!!).

Busy week again next week, I'll be on the radio on Monday morning, BBC Somerset Sound at 8:30 am to talk about the Bath and West Showground development, then meeting Monday afternoon with the Car Park Team to put the final touches to my voucher parking scheme (more next week I hope), Tuesday sees a meeting of the Full Town Council at 7pm in the Council Chamber, all welcome, and on Wednesday I have an all day meeting between the Senior officers at MDC, the Cabinet representatives and the management team of Capita to discuss the business support contract that Capita has with Mendip. This meeting is a regular occurrence and ensures that the contract is operating as it should, and is providing good services for the public at a competitive cost to the taxpayer.

I think that's all for now, more thoughts soon.

Challenge Declined

In my last blog I challenged our local Lib Dems to respond positively to the needs of Shepton Mallet and to come forward with any ideas that they may have. I am prepared to work with anyone who has the interests of the town at heart and who will work without prejudice for the good of the community.

To say that I've been disappointed so far is an understatement. Our new councillors website is still filled with daily vitriol against anything Conservative and against Shepton Mallet as a town, this is especially disappointing, and shows that the lessons have not been learned after being branded "distasteful and un-professional" by the Standards Board last week. It is full of postings that attempt to drive the reputation of Shepton Mallet into the ground, it does nothing to promote harmony in the town and is engaged in a personal campaign to destroy the reputation of Cllr Edward James.

The website also complains bitterly about Somerset County Council, and bemoans the announcements regarding the round of spending cuts that are to come over the next 4 years.

The utter hypocrisy of the Lib Dems is there for all of us to see. When they were kicked out of the County Council in 2009 they left behind a debt of £400 million after 16 years of uncontrolled spending. They now bleat about the cuts that will come over the next 4 years and I have to ask "who is responsible"?

The interest payments on the £400 million of Lib Dem debt equates to very nearly 20% of all of the council tax that the county council collects each year, thats just the interest, it doesn't tackle the debt its self, that will have to be paid down as well. So 20% of all of our taxes go to the banks in interest, that is money that can't be used for social care, road repairs or libraries, then on top of this huge chunk of money the council has to deal with the cuts coming down the pipe from the coalition government.

That's right the cuts are "coalition cuts" which the Lib Dems are fully signed up to and Danny Alexander, Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury is "cutter in chief", he has designed most of the cuts in public spending that are so necessary.

Somerset County Council have massive problems that must be dealt with, 20% interest payments on top of 7.1% year on year savings that must be made. The decisions that have to be made are difficult, and will inevitably impact on the lives of the staff who will lose their jobs and the residents who will see an impact on services, but there is no alternative. The council must live within its means and the only options it has is to either cut spending or raise taxes, it probably will have to do a combination of both, but with pressure to keep taxes low to help boost the recovery, this weapon will be negated for the most part.

If you object to a plan that has been put forward then you must have an alternative to be taken seriously, otherwise you are just another voice of dissention without any responsibility. The situation that the county council finds its self in is largely the fault of the Lib Dems, the Conservatives will take the decisions to sort the situation out over the medium term, it's just a shame the Lib Dems didn't have a thought as to how they would pay back their debts when they went on their 16 year spending spree.

What a week!!!

Who ever described politics as boring and irrelevant can never have lived through a week like the last one, we've had the long awaited Comprehensive Spending Review, followed by all the analysis a predictions of either a golden future or death and disaster depending on which side of the political divide you stand. We also had a local by-election in Ashwick, Chilcompton and Stratton ward, which the Conservatives in the form of Steven Priscott held on to, albeit by a narrow margin, but all the more remarkable when the backdrop of short term difficulties at a national level, and the incessant negative campaigning at a local level is taken into account.

The Lib Dems were cock-a-hoop at the thought of a sure fire by-election win, so much so they drafted in the entire team from all over the county, for the mandatory photo opportunity as soon as the count was declared, only to go home with their tails firmly between their legs when their hopes were decisively dashed.

Then as if that wasn't enough our new Lib Dem councillor in Shepton Mallet, who has for some reason decided that he must personally assasinate the characters of every hard working Conservative in the district, was castigated by the Standards Committee at Mendip District Council for being "unpleasant, distasteful and un-professional". I think the electorate of Shepton Mallet deserve a councillor who represents all of the community, whether they voted for him or not, and should not have to tolerate this un-professional conduct that brings the office of District Councillor into disrepute.

I have no problem with robust political discussion and differences of opinion, I make my views known and obviously realsie that not everyone will be in total agreement with me. There is absolutely no need for those differences to degenerate into personal campaigns, full of lies, half truths and innuendo and I challange our new councillor to respond to this positively, lets hear his views, perhaps he has an idea that may be of benefit to the town, so far all we have heard from him is that he is against everything, whether it be Tesco, Car Parks, allotments, the Town Council, Mendip Council, the Conservatives et al, not one positive message has been promulgated.

The main story of the week was surely the Comprehensive Spending Review, Chancellor George Osborne laid out his plan to get the country back on its feet after the years of excessive spending by the last Labour government. You would have thought that we are heading back to the stone age if you listen to the Labour sympathisers on the TV and in the Guardian, where in fact we are merely returning to the levels of public spending that last occurred on 2007!! Such was Labour's profligacy, they created very nearly 200,000 extra public service posts, to further increase the country's debt, AFTER the recession started, and spending started to spiral out of control.

It is obviously regrettable that half a million public sector jobs will be lost over the next 4 years, but as a country we can't afford the current levels of spending, and if the chancellor has got his sums right, the private sector will expand over the next 4 years to more than compensate for the public sector jobs that will be lost.

At a local level we now know that the government grant to local councils will be cut by 7.1% per year for 4 years. There will be extra money for those councils who budget for 0% council tax increases, and there will also be extra flexibility as to how councils are allowed to spend the grant that they get, but at the end of the day councils will have to change the way they provide services, and will also have to stop providing some of the services they currently provide, councillors and officers at Mendip have been working on plans for the future for several months, the final shape of those plans will be announced in the next few weeks.

I'm now off for a lie down in a darkened room before investgating a controversial planning application later on today and in preparation for another busy week of Cabinet meetings and Parish Forum on Monday, Central Mendip Community Partenership on Tuesday, Community Development Working Party Wednesday, and training on Thursday.

So politics is politics boring and irrelevent?

You have got to be kidding!!!

Labours' Cuts

It makes me chuckle to read the musings of various Labour politicians regarding the comprehensive spending review that George Osborne will announce this Wednesday.

You would think to read the utter tripe coming forward, that the Labour Party had absolutely nothing to do with the current financial situation the country finds its self in, and whilst it may be argued that the full scale of the problem is not entirely the fault of the last Labour Government, they certainly made the situation much worse than it needed to be and furthermore did nothing to prevent the meltdown happening.

It was Gordon Brown as chancellor who sold off our gold reserves at the bottom of the market, costing 3 times more that Black Wednesday ever did, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who removed pretty much all of the controls over the banks allowing them to gamble with our money, it was Gordon Brown as chancellor who indulged in a spending splurge of such proportions that the country was spending more than it was earning in tax even at the height of the boom, and it was Gordon Brown who after stating the he and he alone had ended "boom and bust" then presided over the biggest boom in recent history followed by the biggest bust in peacetime for 500 years.

So when I hear Labour politicians, Chris Inchley among them, spouting about the inevitable public spending cuts to come, and how they will hurt everyone, and how unfair it all is, I will just remind them that the current situation is largely their fault, as the last Labour Government did what all Labour Governments have always done and that is they spent all the money, (ask Liam Byrne), they screwed up the economy for a generation, then left it to others to pick up the pieces and put the country back on track.

They should all be thoroughly ashamed.

Getting Started

After several years of constant nagging I have finally succumbed to the pressure and started this blog.

Over the coming weeks and months I will try to keep you all informed with what is happening in Shepton Mallet, Shepton Town Council and Mendip District Council from a Shepton Conservative perspective, so if anyone has any queries or suggestions for future posts that they would like to see just drop me an e-mail at john_parham@btconnect.com and I will try to oblige.

For this first attempt, I thought I would try to put to rest the rumour that Mendip District Council is going to be leaving the town in the near future.

Can I state categorically, for the record, that there is absolutely no plan for Mendip District Council to move from its current site.  I think that that is unambiguous enough, even for the local conspiracy theorists that abound in the town. I have no idea where this rumour came from, but it is untrue.

Mendip is conducting what is known as a accommodation review currently, as with any operation that employs hundreds of people, you have to periodically take steps to ensure that the buildings and internal layouts are not only fit for its current usage, but are sufficiently flexible for any likely changes that may occur in the near future.

With rapid changes in technology, changes in our clients’ requirements, and still to be announced changes in funding, Mendip District Council must be able to adapt to those changes that it will be required to make. The current survey is doing just that, and a report will be published next month which will bring into focus what changes, if any, will be necessary.

If changes are required, decisions will have to be made how they are to be funded, and over what timescale they will take place, however, moving to another site will not be up for consideration.

Furthermore, not only is the future of Mendip District Council safe in Shepton Mallet, we are currently engaged in advanced negotiations with Capita, other local councils and other public service organisations, to bring more jobs to the town, and they too will be largely based around the current campus. So far from jobs leaving the town, we are extremely hopeful that new jobs will be coming into the town in the near future. All this in addition to the statement I made last week that Mendip have assured the Town Council that their needs will be fully accommodated in the future.

So there you have it, I have stated clearly on three occasions that there is no plan to move, the council has confirmed that statement, and Councillor Harvey Siggs, leader of the council has also confirmed that position, maybe now the rumour mill will find another target for a while.