Redlands Liberal Democrats

Holding FGW to account: one year on

Just a quick reminder that this evening Cllr Kirsten Bayes, myself and other Members of the CCEA Scrutiny Panel will be quizzing representatives from First Great Western Trains and others about service performance over the past 12 months.

The meeting is being held in the Council Chamber at 6.30pm and is open to members of the public and press.

This follows a public meeting which was held last year following a successful Lib Dem motion to Council which called on First Great Western Trains to do more to improve the poor levels of service it was providing commuters and rail users in Reading.

At a meeting to plan the event a few weeks ago a couple of Conservative Members queried the usefulness/relevance of tonight's meeting. As far as I can recall their comments were along the lines of 'what can the Council actually do about the performance of a rail operating company, anyway?'

The clue is in the title of this scrutiny panel: CCEA - Corporate, Community and External Affairs Scrutiny Panel.

While it may be true to say that the Council does not directly manage the local train network and it cannot force FGW to deliver better services, in my view councillors and councils do have a role in terms of bridging the accountability gap that exists in relation to local train services i.e. allowing local people a chance to have their say over local service.

Secondly, there is a clear community leadership role the Council should perform in relation to key local services as the only directly accountable representative body in the local area.

By this I mean the Council needs to be seen to be taking a clear lead in scrutinising and holding to account those bodies and service providers that impact on the quality of life of local residents in Reading.

The local train service definitely falls into this category: it's used by thousands of Reading residents every day to get to and from work, as well as for leisure purposes.

Another example of effective scrutiny of external bodies by the Council in Reading was of Thames Water following the floods last year.

One of the Tories also complained about the tone of some of the comments made by members of the public.

Apart from saying it goes with the territory when you are dealing with customer service what I would say is this:OK, so some of the people who asked questions at the public meeting last year did get a little angry, but understandably so in my view,

Reading's commuters have put up with a lot over the years and fares are not cheap by any means.

Can we really be sure FGW fares constitute value for money when compared to services offered by other train operators and in other EU countries?

As a commuter myself I've experienced delayed and overcrowded trains operated by FGW into London many times over the past few years and you are left wondering as a passenger: what chance of redress is there? who can I complain to?

Tonight's meeting is being held because over a period of time significant concerns were raised both inside the Council by Lib Dem councillors and outside by commuters, about the quality of services provided by FGW.

If service has improved since last year's meeting that is to be welcomed.

This does not mean, however, the need to scrutinise and monitor performance simply goes away. We do need to look as a Council at the best mechanisms for doing this, however, going forward, and doubtless this is something we will discuss following tonight's meeting.

I think if a meeting about this vital local service  were not held every now and again to check Reading residents are getting the services they rightly demand then questions might quite rightly be directed at councillors along the lines of well, what's the point of councillors and indeed of scrutiny?

UPDATE

I've just received this email which kind of says it all:

"For me, the bottom line is value for money. The cost of rail travel continues to increase, and I earnestly question what the return is. I would like to know whether any further fare increases are planned. To do so in the midst of a recession would not go down well with commuters.

The following are issues that affect me as a commuter, and I'm very keen to know what measures are in place or planned to address these:

1. Overcrowding (at times severe). It's stressful having to compete for a vacant seat with a host of other commuters, and simply not fair given the cost of the journey (why should I pay to stand?). For me, this is the dominant issue. Yes, journey times are longer, but Network Rail are also at fault for this. To see First Class half-occupied with Standard Class passengers forced to stand in the aisle or pressed against the toilet door is quite frankly disgusting.

2. Talking to customers. FGW must do better to keep passengers informed (they can seem aloof). If the train has stopped, why has it stopped? I accept that infrastructural issues are beyond their control, but FGW drivers should at least keep us posted. The best train staff are those who sympathise and connect with their customers. FGW must also ensure that their public addresses over the tannoy are audible.

3. Mechanical failure. This has impacted my journey more than once (a train in front breaking down, for example). Will FGW be repairing or upgrading rolling stock?

4. Air conditioning. At times like this, their air con is insufficient. Not a major issue, however.

Many thanks, Daisy. This means a lot to me as a disgruntled commuter. It's good to know that you care."

UPDATE 2:

The meeting this evening went very well and was felt to be worthwhile by those councillors, members of the public, and representatives of First Great Western I spoke to afterwards.

My Lib Dem colleagues and I posed a number of questions to the representatives from FGW and Network focussing on a range of issues around current performance and value for money.

There was a smattering of members of the public at the meeting who asked several questions.

I explained the reason why we had tabled the motion to Council in the first place - poor performance- and raised the need to improve dialogue between Reading passengers and FGW in the future. 

The Managing Director of FGW outlined what they did currently to get feedback but acknowledged the lack of a rail user group for Reading. This is clearly an issue.

I reflected the criticisms outlined by my email correspondent above where were echoed in conversations I've had recently with fellow commuters.

I also managed to sneak in a question to FGW about what they are doing to promote recycling on their trains and at stations (including the scourge of discarded free papers, cans and bottles).

I am pleased to report FGW's MD told the meeting that FGW are belatedly introducing more recycling facilities at the Reading and Old Oak Common depots (and ideally stations) following a successful pilot project in Plymouth.

Future improvements to Reading Station and Reading train services like all major transport projects are heavily dependent on money being invested in future years at a national level...and the question of who will pay and how rail services will be funded remains uncertain.

I put this point to FGW and as FGW representatives themselves aknowledged, as we head into the pre-election period FGW and other rail operating companies are in the hands of DfT and national politicians when it comes to future funding of rail services and this is an issue in relation to future sustainability of rail travel around Reading.

In terms of the tone of the meeting, the representatives from FGW and Network Rail listened sympathetically to the issues raised and to be fair to them seemed very ready to engage and admit shortcomings of the service.

On a less positive note, the plight of Reading's commuters is clearly not a top priority to Labour politicians: only two of their councillors attended the meeting and between them they managed to think of only one question to ask on Reading-Slough services.

A million young people set to be unemployed under Labour

Following my post last week about the plight facing young people in Reading in this recession another day brings yet more worrying news.

Government figures published today show nearly a million young people are now officially not in work or education.

I was only a child at the time of the last recession but I can remember hearing about the impact mass unemployment had on a generation of young people under Thatcher in the 1980s.

Labour has let down a generation of young people.

The thinktank the Centre for Cities also published a report today which warned that the number of young people out of work is set to rise and that Labour's flagship policy, the Future for Jobs fund, will fall far short of what is needed:

"The £1 billion Future Jobs Fund, announced in the 2009 Budget, aims to create 150,000 new jobs during 2009-11 for long-term unemployed young people. This will help less than half the expected 350,000 young people due to be long-term unemployed by Dec 2011.

For those people who believe that Reading will escape the recession largely unscathed I would draw your attention to this paragraph in the study:

"The worst affected cities, such as Sunderland and Barnsley, have experienced an increase of four percentage points or more in their youth claimant count since the recession began.  But it's not only Northern ex-industrial cities which are affected: Swindon and Milton Keynes have also seen big rises."

As I reported last week, Reading is seeing a big rise in the number of people claiming JSA (job-seekers' allowance). I noticed a large queue forming outside the job centre in the Town Centre on my way to work last week before the centre had even opened for the day.

I'm glad to say that the issue of youth unemployment is rising up the political news agenda locally with pieces on last week's Politics Show (which was filmed in Reading University) and in Post journalist Hilary Scott's regular column.

I met officers earlier this week to discuss my plan for a special summit on helping young people in the recession. I am hopeful this will take place early in the autumn to ensure students can attend.

In Parliament, Jo Swinson MP (Lib Dem, East Dunbartonshire), currently Britain's youngest MP last week called for an urgent debate on the issue.

Sadly her call was rejected by Leader of the House, Harriet Harman, presumably because the government has no idea how to tackle the problem.

I have written to the Lib Dem education and employment teams in Parliament urging them to step up their campaigning on this issue.

I also met a representative of the National Union of Students today to hear more about their plans for an alternative higher education funding system. The plan includes a proposed graduate tax to help fund higher education.

I think this would be punitive in the current climate where many graduates leave university with tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt.

The Lib Dems are committed to abolishing tuition fees and reforming the way higher education is funded to make it fairer.

A debate on the NUS proposals is planned to take place in Reading this November.

The government is currently reviewing the cap on tuition fees for higher education (which stands at £3,000). 

There is wide speculation that the government could lift the cap and fees could rise as high as £20,000 for some elite institutions - however, the review is not expected to be published until after the next election.

Yet more evidence (if it were needed) of this Labour government ducking the tough decisions.

Students and the recession: University of Reading responds

I was pleased to receive an email this evening from Professor Christine Williams, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) at Reading University in response to my post earlier this week in which I expressed my fears about the difficulties graduates and school-leaver are currently facing finding work.

Calling my concern "justified" she drew my attention to the fact that this year we are seeing the biggest ever graduate cohort enter the job market and added "and this in a year when the recession promises grim news for job seekers of all types."

Prof Williams wrote to me with details of what Reading University is doing to actively support students graduating this year.

This includes the publication of a new leaflet published by the University's Careers Advisory Service which aims to help graduating students find their first jobs in small and medium-sized organisations (SMEs).

I've attached below an excerpt from the briefing issued by the University to the press:

"The message to students this year from the University Careers Service (CAS) is that the jobs market will be more difficult and that students will need to think laterally about job opportunities. Companies recruiting need their graduates to hit the ground running and so need them to have business acumen, know how to fit in and operate in an organisational environment. Students who have already built up these skills through placements and work experience are in a stronger position. Students in years one and two of their courses need to start thinking now about how they are going to acquire these skills."

I am impressed by the lengths University staff are going to to provide advice and support to students  at this critical time. Full details are listed below:

• Preparing students for life – the Careers Management Skills programme is embedded in the university and is compulsory. It is the only comprehensive, compulsory and credit bearing programme run at a UK higher education institution. (taken in 2nd year). The programme involves self awareness, looking at job opportunities and preparing resources such as CVs.

• New seminars addressing a new style of graduate recruitment -  shift towards hiring directly from internships thus making work experience and extra curricular responsibilities essential to gain core skills and awareness.
• Spring 09 - special ‘finding opportunities in the recession’ workshops
• Course specific sessions for Finalists on the ‘Coping with the recession’ and ‘Where the jobs are in the credit crunch’.
• Students in other year groups informed that they should also being taking action now for the summer.
• Internships are being promoted and further developments of the 11 work experience schemes, including SEED, the Summer Enterprise Experience & Discovery scheme.
• Careers Fair - Tuesday 2nd June - full. Employers from IT, financial services, law and agriculture etc . Still employer interest in recruiting Reading graduates this summer. The large autumn 09 careers fair is already well booked by employers and demonstrates ongoing recruitment of Reading graduates.
• Dedicated support from Careers Adviser for their subject area for final year students. Via email / personal appointments or through FACEBOOK site
• Dedicated website for careers tools – www.reading.ac.uk/destinations-demo

It's also really good to hear that the University is continuing to offer support to students once they have left University:

• CAS will be staying open all summer and is proposing to run events, fairs and workshops to help Reading graduates find opportunities.

• Life time guarantee of careers advice for Reading graduates

• Helping retrain people changing careers to become teachers in maths, chemistry, French and physics through the free and bursary-supported ITT Subject Knowledge Enhancement Courses.
• Appointments for graduates of other universities living nearby
• With funding from the Centre of Career Management Skills CAS will be developing this summer teaching and on-line resources in the following areas: coping with the recession for unemployed Reading graduates, improving the employability of international students at the university, helping to write careers education materials for MBA students, producing better careers materials for professional researchers and developing interactive and diagnostic features on the Destinations® career management skills website

I hope other universities follow suit and that Reading's colleges and schools adopt a similar approach, resources permitting. It will be worth it to help prevent young people in Reading from spending weeks, months or even years out of work.

I was also sent data y the University from by the annual Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) Survey of leavers from 2008.  This survey shows that unemployed Reading University graduates from 2008, as of January this year, accounted for 8% of the total number. T

This figure is apparently around 1.5% down on the average over the past 5 years. The University's briefing suggests that this in line with most other universities. 

The University's briefing observes that 'those graduates who found jobs in the summer fared better than those who put off entering the job market until later in the year.'

Survey stats in full:

2008 – 52% in full time work, 6% in p/t work, 2% in voluntary work, 9 % work and study, 18% further study, 8% unemployed, 5% not available for employment, . 83% response rate.

The University's briefing also adds that 'Reading University was rated as number one in the 1994 Group of universities for employability by international students in the 2008 International Student Barometer.'

While I can understand why the University's press office is keen to emphasise the positives, all the signs are that this year's graduates - including those from top flight universities such as Reading, are likely to face an uphill struggle finding work.

Latest figures published by the Office of National Statistics yesterday revealed that unemployment has risen to it's highest level since 1996 ,with job vacancies sinking to a new low.

Overall, the action taken by Reading University is a positive start.

But the reality is this: youth unemployment is currently running at 16.6%.

This summer, 400,000 young people will be graduating from university. This figure does not include the number of youngsters leaving school or college.

Rising youth unemployment is an urgent issue requiring a timely and co-ordinated response from people and organisations in Reading. I will be campaigning in my capacity as councillor to see this happens as far as possible locally.

Some home truths

If you are a regular reader of this blog you may recall that back in April I was invited to attend a seminar hosted by the Department of Communities and Local Government (CLG) on the issue of tackling empty homes. I relished this opportunity to lobby ministers and civil servants face to face for action.

In many ways it was the logical next step of successful my local campaign.

Well, since then there has been a reshuffle and Ian Wright MP has been replaced by another Ian - in this case Ian Austin MP, who will take on the responsibility for housing and regeneration within CLG.

Today I wrote him a letter:

Dear Mr Austin,
 
First of all I would like to congratulate you on your appointment to your new post within CLG.

I attended a seminar organised by the Department for Communities and Local Government on the subject of tackling empty homes on 23 April.
 
I found the event extremely useful as it enabled me to share my knowledge and experience on this important issue with other councillors, officers, civil servants and experts such as David Ireland of the Empty Homes Agency.
 
It was nice to feel listened to and I felt that my participation did help shed light on the problems faced by local councillors in takling this issue.

However, since the event was held I have not heard anything from your Department and I am left wondering what next steps are planned in relation to empty homes. This is disappointing.

The then Parliamentary Under-Secretary Iain Wright MP impressed on me his keeness for the government to look at ways to empower local authorities and local communities to do more to reduce the number of empty homes across the country. I welcome this.

In Reading we are lucky enough to have an empty homes strategy and an officer who is able to dedicate much of his time to tracking down errant landlords and attempting to bring empty propertries back into use. This was only possible because of a motion to Council which I tabled alongside an active local campaign.

Not all local authorities are so lucky. As the seminar revealed, the amount of resources councils are able to devote to this important issue varies widely across the country and not all councillors and officers see the wider benefit to the community of reducing the number of empty properties in their area.
 
I am writing to you to find out what follow-up activity is planned both directly with attendees following this seminar and what you personally plan to do to continue the work of your predecessor, Mr Wright, in relation to tackling the problem of empty homes.
 
Now, more than ever, it is important that the government works even harder to ensure that all obstacles to progress in the battle to reduce the number of empty homes are removed.
 
I look forward to hearing from you.

Yours sincerely,

Cllr Daisy Benson
Chair, Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel.

Let's see what happens! I'll post the Minister's response here.

Time for action to help young people affected by the recession

This morning I attended the Credit Crunch Summit organised by the Council, which focussed on help for small businesses.

I have to admit, I have been quite sceptical in the past about the value of these events although I haven't wanted to get into a political bunfight about it unlike some other local politicians as I don't think that was helpful.

Comments have been made in the press that Reading is well placed to weather the recession. My own view is that the recession is clearly impacting on different people and businesses in different ways and it is not helpful to over-simplify the picture or allow ourselves to lapse into complacency.

The main focus of my attention as councillor has naturally been on the impact of the credit crunch on housing in Reading, an area I will be revisiting with my scrutiny hat on in July.

I went to the event today with a fairly open mind, hoping to find out more about how Reading people are being affected and what more we might be able to do to help at a local level. 

I feared there would be a lot of hot air from Labour councillors but it was refreshingly absent fro proceedings.

It was very interesting to hear at the event from two local businessmen who run small businesses in the Town Centre, including  Adam Jacobs of family-run jewellers, Jacobs of Reading. I am a real fan of this shop as they managed to rescue a much-loved ring of mine which I had managed to damage while out on the campaign trail via a letterbox!

Adam talked candidly about his recent experience, including his encounter with the Chancellor, Alastair Darling, as part of his visit to Reading:part of his 'recession tour'. Charismatic was not the phrase I remember him using! 

He said in his business that they were finding the impact of the recession to be 'unpredictable', with the number of customers rising and falling from month to month. This was making it very difficult for Adam to plan ahead. 

He also explained how he and his staff had been forced to adapt to these changing times. I was very impressed to hear about how he had taken the opportunity to increase the skills base of his staff, helping to make their jobs hopefully more secure in these insecure times.

One worrying statistic that leapt of the page during an RBC presentation on 'key recession indicators' was the fact that the number of people claiming job-seekers allowance in Reading has increased 122% on the same time last year.

The Deputy Manager of Reading Citizens Advice Bureau talked about the fact that many job seekers that came through their doors had never been unemployed before and needed help finding out which benefits they were entitled to. She also said that more and more companies were getting rid of staff citing 'poor performance' when really when this was just used as an excuse to reduce the head count.

Conservative councillor Mark Ralph posed a thoughtful question about the value of the event: was it in fact beneficial to the business community at large?

Interestingly the feedback from the Reading Federation of Small Businesses, Greater Reading Chamber of Commerce and Reading Voluntary Action was that in fact they found opportunity to share information and discuss solutions was in fact very useful.

It's true to say, as Cllr Ralph pointed out, that the place was not teeming with business people -  but as one speaker pointed out business people are busy enough trying to stay afloat: it is the job of these representative bodies to go on fact-finding missions and to feed the important stuff back to their members.

Leaving small businesses to one side for a second, I am very concerned about the impact that the recession is having on young people in Reading - particularly school-leavers (both with and without qualifications,) and college and university students graduating this year.

According to the latest figures the proportion of 16- to 18-year-olds not in education, employment or training in Brtain increased from 9.7% at the end of 2007 to 10.3% at the end of 2008.

This has been put down to a massive increase in youth unemployment in recent months.

This is a real worry.

In Reading, the number of teenagers not in education, employment or training is already too high.The impact of the recession will only make things ten times worse for these young people and their families.

Last week the Guardian reported that at least 40,000 of all students graduating from universities this year are likely to be unemployed for at least six months:

"According to the Higher Education Careers Service Unit, up to 40,000 of this year's nearly 400,000 graduates will still be classed as jobseeking in six months' time – twice the rate recorded last year. They are part of the biggest cohort of graduates ever, and the first to have paid £3,000 top-up fees for every year they studied. They are the New Labour generation, the class of 2009: the most educated, the most indebted and potentially the least employed ever."

Today's students are already struggling to cope having been saddled with huge debt thanks to the failed policies of this Labour government.  Many students completing three year courses will leave university in Reading this summer with debts averaging £20,000. 

Things were difficult for students when I graduated a few years ago, but the idea of trying to find a job and get on the property ladder with the current expected level of debt is hard for any of us to contemplate.

Students that I know who have graduated from Reading University this year with excellent degrees who should have excellent prospects are feeling gloomy: I don't blame them. They worked hard and believed that there would be a job for them at the end of their university career. They have been badly let down by this Labour government.

Anyway, I suggested that a positive step for the Council to take might be for a future summit to be dedicated to the issue of helping young people weather the recession, focussing in particular on those groups I have already identified.

I would like to see young people and students invited to this event along with representatives from schools, universities and employers in the town. We must not turn our back on our young people in these difficult times.

I followed up my call  later today with an email to the Leader of the Council who I hope will take this idea forward.

As Tim Smith, Executive Director of economic development agency Reading UK CIC said this is our responsibility if we are to be true community leaders.

UPDATE:

I have since heard from the Leader of the Council that my idea for a special summit on support for young people in the recession will now be taken forward (planned for the autumn), and in the meantime officers will be looking closely at what else can be done to help them find work.

End of term waste

Students living in Redlands will shortly be moving out of our area and heading off for their summer holidays or graduating.

We really enjoy the opportunity we get as councillors to meet young people living in our area and to witness the enjoyment they clearly derive from living in Redlands - an area which is very popular with students due to its close proximity to the University and plentiful housing.

As around 50% of our electorate in Redlands are students we work hard all year round to represent them on the Council, from campaigning to improve the quality of student housing, to campaigns for cheaper bus fares and better bus routes and student safety (notably better street-lighting).

However, along with with lack of available on-street parking, one of the downsides for all residents living in a densely-populated area such as Redlands is what to do about excess waste.

Many properties are converted into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs) for students and others and often one black bin (for non-recyclable waste) and one red bin(for recycling) is not enough for a household of maybe 5 or more adults.

RBC Streetcare officers have done an excellent job of providing additional bins where they are needed to large households but sometimes even extra bins don't tackle the problem.

In previous years the end of the University term has seen a build up of waste at student properties around Erleigh Road as students struggle to dispose of waste.

We campaigned long and hard to get the Council to carry out waste extra collections at this time of year to deal with the build up of waste and we are pleased this is now happening every year.

In addition, we successfully campaigned for bottle banks to be introduced into the ward for the first time. It's hard to believe that before 2008 there were no glass recycling facilities in Redlands whatsoever. 

Labour-run Reading Borough Council is one of the few councils which does not provide door step glass recycling: a policy the Lib Dems in Reading are actively campaigning to see changed.

The Erleigh Road bottle banks have been very popular, so much so we have had on several occasions had to ask the Council to increase the frequency of collections from this site.

We believe that the University of Reading should do more to share the Council's burden in its efforts to keep our streets clean and green. I have gone so far as to say the University should part-fund an additional environmental liaison officer for the University area to help the Council's resources go further.

Constituents collar me regularly to complain about waste issues in their area (most recently the complaint was about rats!). And they are right to do so, in my view.

The way local streets look and feel have a big impact on people's perception of their neighbourhood, as well as their quality of life. This matters to us as ward councillors.

This issue was also raised many times during our recent private rented housing scrutiny review and as a result we agreed a number of recommendations which call on the University to do more. I will be meeting University officers with RBC soon to seek progress.

I am pleased that the University is continuing to issue students with guidance in the form of leaflets about to dispose of waste when they move out, as well as additonal black bin bags, in response to our campaign. There is still more the University could do, I feel, to fulfill it's responsibilities as a good neighbour.

However, my concern continues to be that students need more help disposing of bulky items such as sofas and mattresses. Every summer these household items litter local streets and front gardens around Redlands. Students may get the blame for it but often this problem is caused by landlords leaving items outside properties they let.

Earlier this year we successfully campaigned to get the Labour-controlled Council to reform it's failed waste policy which imposed charges on all households (except pensioner) for collection enabling many residents to qualify for free collections. Find out if you are eligible for free collections here. 

We hope this policy change will help to reduce dumping and fly-tipping of rubbish in streets around the University.

However, for those landlords and others who fail to dispose of their rubbish as they should we are campaigning to get the Council to take enforcement action for the benefit of all other residents who do their bit to keep our neighbourhoods clean and tidy.

Lydford road parking scheme quashed!

At the Traffic Management Advisory Panel (TMAP) yesterday, the highly unpopular proposals for Lydford road were dropped.

The original plan was to introduce a ‘No Waiting At Any Time’ restriction for the whole length of Lydford Road on both sides. This proved highly controversial to all the residents who called me and the council received 63 objections to the scheme. At the meeting I was able to air the concerns presented to me by residents. So based on the level of objection from residents and the your Lib Dem ward councillors - this scheme will be now be dropped and will not be carried out.

All the recent parking schemes in the greater area have been working around the edges of the parking problems and not tackled the issues head on. So I also asked for a full review of parking in the area between and including Upper Redlands road, down Alexandra road, across Erleigh road and back up Eastern Avenue. A similar review had recently been conducted in Newtown. Panel members agreed that this would be a useful course of action and we, as your councillors, will be consulted in the future on which area to look at.

I strongly believe, this review should also include representatives from the Hospital, University and Alexandra road Mosque - so as all the major pressures on parking can be full investigated. I also believe this review must also look into installing car club places at strategic positions. This could be popular with the student population and help convince them not to bring a car to Reading, when they live out in our ward - especially since the University's best efforts are clearly failing to address this issue.

I look forward to seeing this review materialise and seeing what options are available to improve the state of our congested streets.

Rubbish Meeting

Yesterday I, Cllr Ricky Duveen and Cllr Kirsten Bayes (plus 3 councillors from other parties) visited the Household Waste Recycling Centre (HWRC) at Smallmead. This meeting was primarily for members of the Environmental Scrutiny (ES) panel to discuss the points made at the December ES meeting with regards to furthering recycling in Reading.

I have to say, Officers listened to everything we had originally suggested and looked into ways of implementing these ideas. It was very nice to see every item myself and Ricky had put forward in order to reduce the 45K tonnes of rubbish, currently sent to landfill at cost, was discussed.

In a nutshell, these included the following highlights:

• Batteries - EU legislation has forced this issue, and there is now money available from central gov't to sort this out. Containers will be left in various strategic positions, like shops, for residents to drop off there old batteries. Of cause, it would be better if we all used fewer batteries!
• Food waste - A further report will come to ES scrutiny later in the year where the options can be discussed. Ricky and I have been campaigning for this for some time and feel this is an obvious way of reducing landfill and potentially generating some electricity via a waste product. This approach has been successful in other area's.
• Glass - There is the possibility of community bins placed in area's where the output of glass waste is especially high.
• Small and medium Business' - This is being looked at and there is the possibility of improving this service.
• On-street recycling - after the successful trial outside Christchurch shops, this can now be rolled out across the borough. Again at strategic positions. This is a particular favourite of mine and many residents and I would greatly welcome this move.

It was agreed that a further meeting would be set-up solely to look at waste minimalisation, which is something the council really needs to get ahead of the game on - as it saves money and our limited resources.

Jam today? The truth about Labour's latest spending spree

Labour-run Reading Borough Council is today proudly trumpeting additional cash for council housing in Reading. Where did this money suddenly appear from? You may well ask.

Councils everywhere are benefiting from extra money to spend on council housing repairs as the Labour government rushes to splash our cash on visible "goodies" ahead of the next general election in bid for votes.

While I welcome more spending on council homes in Reading and the local jobs that will be brought with it, I am frustrated that thanks to this Labour government's failed housing policies Reading's council tenants continue to be forced to pay millions of pounds worth of rent into Treasury coffers via so-called 'negative subsidy' - or put simply, a 'tenant tax' to you and me.

Thanks to months of campaigningby the Lib Dems, Reading Borough Council belated joined the campaign for fair funding for council housing.

However, despite a broad based national campaign by tenants and politicians the government has still failed to take action to reform this broken system. Sound familiar?

The latest splurge on council housing in Reading follows the embarrassing u-turnthe Labour government were forced to execute on council housing rents earlier this year in a desperate bid to cling on to council seats in many of it's former heartlands.

Last Thursday's county council election results have shown just how ineffective Labour's electoral strategy has been.

Questions I tabled to Council a few months ago revealed that mistakes made by the then housing minister Margaret Beckett are set to cost the Council thousands of pounds in administration costs.

Another false economy foisted on the Council by this failed government which ends up costing us money.

Behind today's 'good news story' is the reality that in a couple of years time thanks to the profligacy of this government the money - our money -  will have run out.

Or as an article in The Times put it around the time of the Budget:

From 2011 onwards the government plans one of the tightest squeezes on public spending in the postwar era, according to the plans set out by Alistair Darling last week.

'From then, so-called “current” spending on public services, including the salaries of public sector workers, will rise by just 0.7% a year on top of inflation. Capital spending, on schools, hospitals and roads, will be slashed, dropping by half over three years. The result is that total spending by government will slip 0.1% annually, after inflation, for at least three years until the next parliament. Until the brakes go on, however, it is business as usual.'

I doubt this will stop Labour throwing money at things like Council housing during the run up to the next election.

However, I honestly believe that this craven attempt to cover up for the fact that many estates in our country and on our doorstep in Reading have been shamefully neglected by Labour politicians over the past 12 years will not fool anyone.

University area: action for students and local residents

As predicted on this Blog a couple of weeks ago, Reading's Labour Cabinet endorsed fully the recommendations put forward by Scrutiny to tackle issues connected with private rented housing in the town.

This was the culmination of successful local Lib Dem campaign to get these long overlooked issues on to the agenda. The next big challenge will be making sure the Council and other bodies go one further and deliver real change.

The Scrutiny Review included a number of recommendations aimed at local universities in Reading, calling on them to share the burden of responsibility for improving student housing and reducing environmental impacts.

I wrote to Cllr Deborah Edwards, Labour Lead Member for Housing a few weeks ago asking her to take these suggestions forward (as only the Executive technically has the power to do this):

"I am writing to see if you might be happy to write to the Vice Chancellors of both Reading University and TVU to seek to enter into a dialogue with these two bodies about the range of issues highlighted during the course of the review, and to draw attention to the specific recommendations about student housing and the environment in the university area...I would be happy to work with you as appropriate to seek action from the universities in the town towards meeting objectives outlined in the scrutiny review."

I am pleased to say my email was met with a very positive response from Cllr Edwards:

"The meeting of the Cabinet endorsed the recommendations, of which, many are already ongoing and in action. Therefore, no worries that this will be a "dusty document"... I also stated that I want to be part of the team to seek and put pressure on the Reading Universities to work with us to improve student housing. Also I, will of course, work to progress the Landlord Accrediation Scheme. Let's review this together and I am sure can work to relaunch this very valuable scheme."

I am particularly pleased to hear of Cllr Edwards' support for a revival of the Landlord Accreditation Scheme and I'm sure this will be welcome news for Reading's student community.

I will be meeting Cllr Edwards and officers soon to discuss next steps.

The other area we are campaigning for more action from Reading University is around parking in the University area.  

We received a massive response to our recent consultation on RBC's proposed changes to parking restrictions on Lydford Road, and my ward colleague Cllr Glenn Goodall will be bringing these concerns to the attention of the Council's Traffic Management Advisory Panel on Tuesday evening.

We are calling on RBC for a full scale review of parking problems around Erleigh Road to include a discussion with Reading University (and indeed the Royal Berks Hospital) about ways of reducing problems for residents. These institutions must be part of the solution, not just the problem.