Further Update on Waste Collections in Bad Weather

There will continue to be disruptions to this week collection services, conditions on some side/back streets have improved slightly but most still remain difficult to safely access with a 26 tonne vehicle,therefore all crew will be proceeding with care and only carrying out collections where it is safe to do so.

If bins are not emptied on the normal day of collection then we will endeavor to remove all accumulated/side waste on the next collection day.

The authorities Gritters are continuing to work hard to grit the district and St Sweeping crews have also been assigned to gritting duties.

Furthermore waste can be taken to a number of civic amenity sites throughout the district, residents should therefore check the councils website for the nearest site in there area.

Finally the waste collection service apologies for any inconvenience these disruptions may cause.

Waste Collection Update

As stated on Monday 21/1/13 there will be an high volume of disruptions to this week collection services, conditions especially on side/back streets are treacherous due to snow and overnight freezing temperatures, crews at this time will be procuring collections from Main roads and where possible from treated bus routes etc.

With regards those collections missed on Friday a spare crew will be where possible attempting to procure these collections.

We advise that where possible residents place there bin to the nearest main road, this will help ensure a collection, furthermore waste can be taken to a number of civic amenity sites throughout the district, residents should therefore check the councils website for the nearest site in there area,alternatively if bins are not emptied on the normal day of collection then we will endeavor to remove all accumulated/side waste on the next collection day.

Finally the waste collection service apologies for any inconvenience these disruptions may cause.

Forget Victorian Values-Welcome Back Elizabeth 1st

Over 400 years ago the foundations of local government were established by the passing of the first Poor Laws in 1601. Local rates were to be levied to provide for the poor, the unemployed and the ill. It was a local system that made clear that there was a difference between the deserving and the undeserving poor and treated them accordingly,reflecting to the ethos of the time, almshouses, financial support or punishment depending on the categorisation. This is the system that developed over the next three centuries until the realisation that this was a national, not local priority leading to the establishment of the Welfare State.

Roll forward four centuries and we are seeing not a return to Victorian values but those of the first Elizabeth. The popular press, with the active support of some politicians, is running a campaign to re-establish the idea of the deserving and undeserving poor, shirkers versus workers, the same rationale as was being used by the Elizabethans with a different spin.

At the same time as this publicity campaign is running welfare support is being localised, Council Tax Benefit (CTB) has been transferred to Local Authorities from next year but they have been only given 90% of the local costs of this, meaning that again local people will either have to meet the cost of local welfare or local benefits recipients will face cuts regardless of their circumstances. At a time of massive cuts to local government budgets and a virtual freeze on Council Tax increases local communities are faced with a choice of cutting other services to meet the costs of CTB or passing on the cuts to CTB recipients. These cuts will in reality ben in excess of 25% of benefit as the Government has protected pensioners benefit without passing on the real costs of this centrally decided policy.

This policy is another example of the reality behind the rhetoric of we’re all in this together as it will fall disproportionately on the poorest communities in the most deprived areas; areas where the Councils have already been disproportionately hit by public sector cuts.

It is no accident that the Government has introduced this policy at the same time as they and their media allies up the temperature attacking those in receipt of benefits, many of whom are in work and in low paid jobs. It is a cynical attempt to deflect onto local government the blame and the pressure for a national decision.

We introduced the Welfare State to ensure that all people, wherever they live, had a standard of protection that met the aspirations of a civilised society. This attack on national provision is likely to be just the thin end of the wedge. We all want a lower benefit bill, we all want full employment but we elect national government to pursue policies to achieve this end. To pass on to local government these responsibilities without the power is to return to the first Elizabethan age without the social conscience or economic analysis.

TDF- The Route Of All Evil

The fact that the Tour de France has come to Yorkshire and will come through Bradford District on each of it’s days is a great coup for the County and for the district, yet to read and listen to some of the comments you would think that far from being a great opportunity it is the greatest disaster to fall upon Bradford for decades.

For those who chose to ignore the fact; Bradford is in Yorkshire and the TDF is expected to result in a £100m boost to the regions economy. Unless we chose to isolate ourselves from the rest of the county there is no reason why Bradford, district and City centre, should not secure at least its fair share of this economic boost. Even without the TDF people stay in Bradford and visit other attractions in Yorkshire and vice versa, no one has explained why this should be any different with the TDF.

The race is not coming through the City centre but it is coming to the District; as a Council we are responsible for promoting the whole district and I therefore welcome this decision. I would have considered contributing to the costs of the TDF even if it did not come through any part of the District because of the significant economic benefit our district can accrue. Bradford is ideally placed to benefit as we are within easy travelling distance of much of the route, not just the bit that comes through the District as long as we unite, public sector, private sector and the local community, to ensure that we sell the whole district and secure as much benefit for as many businesses as is possible.

The really worrying thing about some of those who are objecting to the route, which has been set by an organisation that has run the greatest bike race on earth for over 100 years based on their technical experience, is that they appear not only to dismiss the rest of the country and the interdependence of our local economies but they seem to have decided that unless an event happens in the City Centre then it is not happening in the area covered by the Council. Part of the role of the 90 Councillors is to have a responsibility to secure economic benefit for the whole district as well as represent their own Wards.

The Council will spend the next 18 months working with the private sector and other local authorities to secure the best return for Yorkshire and, most importantly for Bradford. Bradford needs a coalition of the willing, not only to secure maximum benefits from the TDF, but also to deal with the challenges the whole district faces in employment, regeneration and cohesion. We need debate, we need challenge, we need to hold decision makers to account, but there do appear to be people who are wiling, even determined, to portray a negative story about Bradford for their own ends. To those people I would say, criticise by all means, challenge by all means but your current tactics and comments mean that you are damaging the City and District you claim to want to improve and benefit. The reaction of some people to the route of the TDF seems to exemplify that view and I would ask how those people expect to help sell this City and this district to the thousands of visitors we can expect to Yorkshire and Bradford when they simply criticise and complain rather than engage and contribute.

I will work with people who have positive contributions to make and are wiling to work in partnership and develop ideas. For those who feel their own political ends are more important than supporting the potential benefits to the local economy they can get on their bikes and leave the work of delivering to those that are really want to contribute.