Thousands of Walsall tenants are being given the opportunity to say what they think of their landlord Walsall Housing Group (WHG).

Independent researchers are going around the homes of 2,750 people asking them to complete a questionnaire about the services they receive from WHG.

Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires and his colleagues across Willenhall are urging tenants to take advantage of this opportunity as the results will shape future services they receive from WHG.

“The honeymoon period with WHG is over and the number of complaints about the Landlord, which was set up five or six years ago to take over the management of social housing in the borough, are on the rise” said Ian. “This is evident by the number of complaints the Focus Teams across Willenhall now receive,”

If you want an improved service “say it as it is” is our advice.

“I was heartened to see that MP’s from all three parties have made a united demand to the Government’s public transport minister for a “fair run” for the new direct service between the Midlands and London” said Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

Ian was responding to a headline in the Walsall Express and Star recently which read “Call for new train service to get a fair run” referring to the popular Wrexham,Shropshire and Marylebone Railway service.

“I have to say the feeling was short lived” said Ian ”as it would appear that their idea of a “fair run” was that the minister should intervene to stop what they call a “spoiler” service recently announced by Virgin Trains.

The Virgin Trains service would put Walsall on the rail map providing a much needed direct link to the Capital as well as strengthening the bid for much improved local services with new stations at Willenhall and Aldridge.

“I can’t believe just how selfish and short-sighted the MP’s and Wrexham and Shropshire have been” said Ian. “What they should be doing is fighting to put the Wrexham and Shropshire on a fair footing and we would be prepared to join them in this” continued Ian.

“The service should have free access to Wolverhampton and Birmingham International. At the same time there is a need for the Virgin Trains service as it serves different communities and opens up the prospects for improved local services.”

Ian is to raise the subject with Walsall’s three MP’s when they meet later this week for their regular meeting with the town’s three political leaders and Chief Executive.  

The sell off of Walsall’s historic market proposed by the council’s Tory Cabinet is to come under scrutiny on Tuesday (1st April) thanks to a combined initiative by Liberal Democrat and Labour opposition councillors reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

As reported on this blog on 23rd March the cabinet decided to move the management of the town’s 600 years old market away from the council and to form a 50:50 public/private sector venture company to run the markets instead.

The Tory Cabinet took the decision in private session totally disregarding the findings of the all party working group which had recommended that the markets remained under council control.

The meeting on Tuesday will allow members of the Regeneration Scrutiny Panel to cross examine the Tory Portfolio Holder with responsibilities for the markets and listen to the views of the market traders.

“It will be interesting to see what the Tories on the panel do” said Ian. “They have supported the recommendation to keep the market within the control of the council during the long deliberations over the future of the markets. They had also agreed to the temporary move of the market to The Bridge.Then at the last minute, some of them did an about turn and voted against both the move and the council remaining in control.”  

At long last it looks as if Walsall Council is to take action against the owners of “The Bell” public house in an attempt to stop further deterioration of this historic Grade ll listed building.

Officers are recommending to the Development Control Committee when it meets on Tuesday (31st March @ 5.30pm) that an “Urgent Works Notice” be served on the owners to ensure the structural stability of the building and to make it wind and weather proof and to prevent further vandalism and theft.

“The Bell” is a Grade ll listed building which dates back to the 1660’s. It stands in Market Street in the centre of the conservation area. 

It was built shortly after a fire which destroyed most of Willenhall. Much of the fabric of the building dates back to the eighteenth and nineteenth century with some sixteenth and seventeenth century timber framing.

In recent years the public house closed and the building was allowed to deteriorate by its owners. It has suffered from arson attacks, unauthorised entry and theft of lead to the roof which has resulted in significant damage to the building.

“Although the Urgent Works Notice should halt further deterioration of the building it will still leave it looking a sorry sight” said Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires. “The only thing that would bring it back to its former glory would be for someone to take it on, renovate it, and re-open it as a pub, but that seems as far away as ever given the current economic climate” concluded Ian.

Julia Goldsworthy

Surveillance powers designed to prevent crime and terrorism and have been used by councils more than 10,000 times since 2004, research by the Liberals Democrats has found.

A survey of more than 180 councils discovered that:

• Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) powers have been used 10,288 times in the last five years
• 1,615 council staff have the power to authorise the use of the RIPA
• 21% (340) of these staff are below senior management grade
• Just 9% of these authorisations have led to a successful prosecution, caution or fixed-penalty notice

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said:

“This Government sees civil liberties as little more than a temporary inconvenience. Slowly but surely freedoms have been eroded. We’re now in a situation where dog fouling is considered enough to warrant surveillance by council officials.

“When RIPA was passed, only nine organisations, including the police and security services, were allowed to use it. Now a total of 795 bodies, including all 475 local authorities, can use powers that were originally designed to prevent terrorism.

“Unless RIPA is reformed it risks becoming a snoopers’ charter. Surveillance powers should only be used to investigate serious crimes and must require a magistrate’s warrant.”

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on Walsall MBC councillor Ian Shires said:

“Local Authorities need to take action on relatively minor offences such as dog fouling and fly tipping but using the powers contained within RIPA is totally inappropriate.”

Just a reminder that the standard first and second class postage rates go up on 6th April, from 36p to 39p and 27p to 30p. Large Letter first and second class postage rates go up from 52p to 61p and 42p to 47p as well.

Save some money by buying your stamps now, in advance of the price rise. For each folder of 100 generic First or Second class stamps that is a saving of £3.

In trying to get ‘that better deal’ we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that this is the fourth year in a row that the price of stamps has increased by more than the rate of inflation. “The increase will hit the elderly disproportionately hard, because they rely so heavily on letters and cards,” a charities spokesperson said.

The Fish and Chip shop at Unit 3, The Woodlands Centre in Bloxwich Road North, Short Heath could be forced to close because they have failed to comply with planning conditions contained within the planning permission which was granted back in March 2005 reports Liberal Democrat councillor Ian Shires.

Walsall’s Development Control Committee meets next Tuesday 31st March to decide whether or not to take enforcement action which could force the closure of the business if they don’t comply with their planning conditions. 

Planning permission was granted on appeal to the Secretary of State following refusal by Walsall’s Development Control. Conditions were imposed at the time in order to protect nearby residents from smell and noise.

Plans for an extractor fan needed to be approved by Walsall’s  Development Control before the fast food takeaway could open. However the extractor fan was installed and the business began to operate without prior approval, as a result complaints came rolling in. It was clear that the then leaseholder had not complied with the planning permission.

The situation was complicated because of a change of leaseholder. However they were made aware of the non compliance and were given time to put things right. At the time of writing they have failed to do so. As a result Development Control will be recommended to grant the taking of enforcement action when they meet on Tuesday.

Tom Brake

Commenting on Government plans to monitor social networking sites such as Facebook, Tom Brake said: “This is yet more evidence of this Government’s obsession with hoarding vast amounts of people’s personal data.”

“We need complete clarity from the Government over what data they will retain and how it will be kept secure.

“Will membership of Facebook groups or people listing ‘suspicious’ interests be caught in their dragnet?

“We also need guarantees that the Home Secretary’s dustbin Stasi’ won’t use terrorism legislation to access retained Facebook data for frivolous purposes, such as identifying people who let their dogs foul the pavement.”

Vince Cable

Commenting on the inflation figures released today, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “These figures paint a very contradictory picture.”

“There is a real danger of entering a world of falling prices, wages and production. But at the same time, food, public transport and council tax costs are still going up and living standards are being squeezed for many people on low incomes.

“The Government must use next month’s Budget to cut taxes for low earners. These cuts must be fully funded by closing the tax loopholes which only benefit the wealthy.”

Nick Clegg delivering keynote speech at Harrogate 2009

Nick Clegg criticises the Prime Minister’s wasteful VAT cut and urges him to learn from his European counterparts by investing in jobs

In response to the Prime Minister’s statement on the spring European Council, Nick Clegg welcomed news of a common European framework of regulation in financial services but was critical of his arrogant and wasteful policies to combat the recession.

He called on the Government to immediately cancel the VAT cut and invest the money in public transport and home insulation to create new jobs straight away.

See the full speech below

Mr. Nick Clegg (Sheffield, Hallam) (LD): I thank the Prime Minister for his statement, in which there is much to welcome. The principle of a common European framework of regulation in financial services is a significant step forward, and one that we have been advocating for many years. There will continue to be differences in detail-he alluded to them himself-but the principle of cross-border regulation of cross-border finance will be welcomed by all but the most small-minded Euro-sceptics. The eastern partnership with countries such as Georgia and Ukraine is also welcome, not least because of Russia’s sometimes belligerent attitude towards its neighbours.

I remember in years gone by that the whole of Europe would groan every time the Prime Minister made another tub-thumping speech about how superior his policies were to everybody else’s, so it is good that the idea finally appears to have dawned on him that he does not have all the answers and that he might even have a thing or two to learn from our European Union neighbours. Is the problem not now that, even with a touch of new-found humility, it is hard for him to lead at the G20 summit and in the European Union, because he does not practise at home what he preaches to them abroad? Would his rhetoric about stopping protectionism not pack more of a punch if he had not indulged in populist rhetoric about “British jobs for British workers”? Would his words about cracking down on tax havens not be more compelling if he had not presided for 12 years over industrial scale tax avoidance by British banks and big businesses here in Britain?

When the Prime Minister tries to act as President Obama’s agent in Europe and persuade his European counterparts to issue another fiscal stimulus, would those leaders not listen to him more if he had not blown £12.5 billion on his wasteful VAT cut? Would those leaders not be more likely to listen to his recommendation that economic recovery must be driven by green investment if he was actually making those investments at home, rather than talking-as he did the other week-about 400,000 fantasy green jobs, which he has no idea how to create? If he had used the VAT money, as we proposed, to invest in public transport and in a transformation of our housing stock, he could have created 100,000 new jobs starting right now.

It is becoming increasingly clear that it will be difficult for Britain to afford a sustained, major new fiscal stimulus to boost our economy. Is it not therefore clear that we must take drastic action to ensure that we stop wasting any more money on things that do not create jobs? Will the Prime Minister commit immediately to cancelling the VAT cut and investing what money there is left in green transport, in the insulation of our homes, schools and hospitals, and in jobs? Did he not wonder, as he looked round the table at the other EU leaders at the summit, why not one of them had copied his cut in sales tax? Will he admit that they were right to choose to invest money in jobs instead?