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Conservatives in the South East – here’s what they are really like
Southampton – privatisation and no free services
Right-wing website ConservativeHome published an article by the Tory leader on Southampton City Council. He said the article wasn’t for publication – seeing what he said, it’s not surprising:
"We do not in principle favour “free this and free that”, eg swimming or transport, school meals or computers or whatever it is, because it always involves earmarking for particular groups, and not everybody wants to swim or go by bus or whatever.We prefer to leave money in people’s pockets so that they can spend their money as they wish."
"For ideological reasons we are going for outsourcing, externalisation, privatisation, wherever possible and sensible, especially but not exclusively in the leisure and recreation area."
So there we are – privatisation and charges for everything.
Southampton – cutting social care
Alan Whitehead has raised new concerns regarding the threat of massive disruption to domiciliary care services which could hit up to 1000 vulnerable citizens next month. He wrote to the City Council asking them to confirm how many residents currently receiving domiciliary care will lose their current carer under the new care contracts, how many will be forced to switch to Direct Payments in order to keep their current carer, and whether there will be any difference in price between care provided through the local authority and care purchased personally through the Direct Payment system.
Alan said :
“When the Council first proposed these changes to domiciliary care, they pledged that most residents would be able to keep their current carer.But I have since been contacted by a number of constituents who will lose their carer under the new system.I have already held an urgent meeting with officers about one such case, but we still need clarification on how the system will work for everyone else.I want the Council to be absolutely clear that no-one currently receiving domiciliary care will be worse off under the new contracts.”
Southampton – closing care homes
Alan Whitehead wrote to the City Council urging its Cabinet to reject proposals put forward to close Whitehaven and Birch Lawn Care Homes.In his letter to City Council Social Services Executive John Beer, Alan pointed out that the Council’s plan was to close two care homes but replace them with a new one fit for the 21st century.That plan has since been shelved- the two homes will close but no replacement will be provided.
Southampton – Tory PPC exploits breast cancer charity
Women living in the Romsey and Southampton North constituency have been sent a survey from A-listed Tory PPC Caroline Nokes, which incorporates the logos of both Breast Cancer Care and the Conservative Party.
The survey is nothing to do with breast cancer (it's just a general political survey), and yet it's done in the colours of the 'In the Pink' campaign and Nokes claims she is sending it out as part of Breast Cancer Awareness month.Apart from being immensely tacky, my understanding is that by putting a registered charity's name and logo on party political literature may put the charity in a potentially illegal situation. I cannot imagine the charity would OK something like this, which suggests the local Tories showed appalling recklessness by sending it out. (labourhome.org, December 2007)
Crawley – Tory council say no to free swimming
Tory run Crawley council decided to refuse the government scheme to give free swimming to under-16s and over-60s in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. Labour councillors and the public protested outside a council meeting in flippers and goggles to highlight the mean Tory attitudes. The Tory council rejected the scheme on cost grounds, but even their own sums showed the scheme would cost just 1 penny per person. The Tories prefer their own scheme, which means a retired person pays £1.90 per session!
Crawley – Tory council restoring garden instead of repairing council houses
Tory-run Crawley Council has a backlog of repairs to its council houses and has refused to accept government grants to give free swimming to the under-16s and the over-60s. Yet they have decided to spend £1.3m and apply for a £2.5m lottery grant to restore the Victorian garden at Pound Hill.
Surrey Heath and Reigate and Banstead – Tories refuse grant for free swimming
Tory-run Surrey Heath and Reigate & Banstead councils have both refused government grants to offer free swimming to the under-16s and over-60s.
Kent County Council – Millions wasted
Kent County Council is under fire over its decision to spend nearly £15,000 on a DVD aimed at showing people how to cross a town's ring road and find their way around its shared space features. The council had produced the DVD to give people tips about how to navigate their way around the system in Ashford.
Kent County Council also spent £1.4m on its failing internet tv service, Kent TV. The council has had to set aside £1.2m for running costs for just 2 years and £200,000 for set up costs.
In May 2008 Kent Council revealed it had lost £6 million that it had spent on the Turner Contemporary scheme in Margate. This was the cost of the original scheme that was cancelled by the council. The council are now working with new architects on a new design.
Basingstoke
Conservative-run Basingstoke council has spent £2.3m on costs of reducing staff numbers. This was £800,000 more than expected and councillors were not given the chance to scrutinise the costs. When Labour Councillor Sean Keating asked for details of the costs, they were released too late for the local scrutiny committee to call in the decision.