Report from the County Councillor

Another year of major changes – more than we would like to see, but necessary for the reasons I will give. It would be easy to oppose change, but nothing stands still and responsible reactions are necessary to changes in circumstance. My quarterly reports to Parish Councils have covered many issues – far too many for this report, so I have selected the most important for inclusion here.

Snoasis:

The County was a consultee on this planning application, Mid Suffolk District Council being the Planning Authority. The County Council welcomed the proposal in principle, recognising the potential for the local economy and tourism. It recognises nonetheless the potential for an eyesore and public irritant and awaits the outcome of the public enquiry with interest.

Waste Procurement Programme:

Continuing to send residual waste (after recycling) to landfill is a non-starter, as, quite reasonably, there will be heavy fines and penalties imposed on this practise in the future, if it continues to pollute the environment through landfill. We believe that the right solution for Suffolk is “Energy from Waste”, which means burning our residual waste and using the heat derived to produce electricity. This will mean continuing the recycling process to the bitter end by producing a valuable commodity (electricity) from our waste that would otherwise be buried.

Residential Care Homes & Day Care Centres:

More and more of us are living to much greater ages and quite rightly so. The pressure on the Council’s Social Services though as a consequence, also escalates. The government does not acknowledge this through its grant aid processes. We therefore have to convert our dwindling resources into the most efficient way possible, by providing the best possible services to the maximum number of clients.

Beacon Status for Waste:

Suffolk County Council in conjunction with the County’s District and Borough Councils is providing a waste collection and disposal service in the County that is second to none. That level of efficiency was rewarded by Central Government in 2006 through the award of Beacon Status for our Waste Management Services throughout the County.

Schools Organisation Review:

With a dwindling number of Middle Schools throughout England, it was time to “bite the bullet” and look to the future of education in Suffolk. We could no longer afford the standard of education offered to the school children of Suffolk to be threatened by the dangers of continuing to subscribe to an education system through Middle Schools that was educating only 5% of England’s school children. The decision has been made then to reform Suffolk’s system to be totally two tier and to comply in total with the system that educates 95% of this country’s children.

Building Schools for the Future:

This is a massive government initiative to rebuild and regenerate our secondary schools through the injection of some £500m. into the County. This should make Suffolk’s School building infrastructure truly fit for the 21^st Century

Merger of Suffolk Police Authority:

None of us could see any sense in merging Suffolk Police with those of Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The government thought it would improve efficiency, but common sense prevailed and the whole notion was dropped; but not before Suffolk Constabulary was forced to waste mega-bucks on designing the conversion.

Nuclear Energy:

Sizewell A has reached the end of its planned lifespan so is being de-commissioned. Our reliance on energy sources that are seriously unreliable (Russia and the Middle East) has revitalised the thirst for more Nuclear Energy. Sizewell is a prime location and the residents of East Anglia have little fear of this system for energy generation. We can expect, I think, an upsurge in interest in this means of energy generation.

Local Authority Reorganisation:

Here we go again! The Merry-go-round gathers pace. Ipswich wants to be a Unitary Authority and to take over all the L.A. responsibilities within the Borough Boundary. We think it will be more expensive for the residents of Ipswich and for the residents of Suffolk, so we oppose it.

Bird Flu:

We have been ready for it for many months, and finally it arrived in a “bootiful” way. It has been and gone; we contained it through our emergency planning arrangements, but because it is expensive and disruptive, we hope it doesn’t come back.

The A12 north of Ipswich:

We continue to seek funds from Central Government to improve the A12 north of Ipswich, notably through by-passes for the “four villages” (Farnham, Stratford St Andrew, Marlesford & Little Glemham). Whether we shall ever be successful remains to be seen. We bung money into the EU, who then build roads in all the poorer countries of the EU with us seeing no return from our contribution for our UK trouble spots.

Rate Support Grant & Council Tax:

Every year we are short changed by Central Government in respect of the money we receive to provide services throughout the County. Last year we had to save £24m. to survive and this year it is £22m. The government provides grant according to a formula, but then has a system called “floor damping” whereby they “milk” the so called wealthy Counties in order to subsidise the so called poorer counties. That way they have “stolen” this year some £7.3m. from us and last year it was £7m. By reducing our service levels we have retained this year’s Council Tax rise to 4.5%.

Olympics 2012:

I have been appointed Suffolk’s representative to the Regional Board of the Olympics 2012 organisational structure. This is not so much concerned with the sporting aspects of the Games but more with the commercial benefits that the County might enjoy as well as the tourism “legacy” that traditionally follows each Nation’s Games.

Securing the Future:

I have already mentioned the shortfall in government contribution to the County’s income to enable the necessary services to be delivered. We are not whingeing about this as there is little point. We have to accept that we will be short-changed year on year and cannot continue to make savings of in excess of £20m. per annum by simply reducing services. We recognise that we have to change from being a service “provider” to being instead a service “enabler” and the “securing the future” programme is about the way that we can achieve that within the resources at our disposal.

Creating “Suffolk – The Greenest County”:

We believe that in conjunction with many other agencies, not least the Suffolk Strategic Partnership, we can indeed lay claim to Suffolk as the Greenest County in England and we will strive to fulfil that description over the coming months. I am heading up a Policy Development Panel that will seek to achieve that description and move towards a conference in the Autumn, where we, together with our many partners, will lay out our plans to answer the description “Suffolk – the Greenest County”.

My Personal Perspective:

My work as a Portfolio Holder and Cabinet Member of Suffolk County Council continues to be demanding of time and effort. My personal health has suffered a slight knock as what I thought was a muscle strain turned out to be a defective hip joint in that the cartilage has worn away. That has become increasingly restrictive on my movements in recent months and hospital X-Rays have shown that a total joint replacement is the only solution. I am glad to report that my operation is scheduled for next month (May) and although I will be restricted in my activities for several weeks I hope to then be fully active by mid-summer. There is of course two years to go before Suffolk’s County Councillors face re-election, so I am hoping to be fit and well to face that challenge when it arises.

As always, I remain available to the electorate of the Thredling Division, to answer questions or to take up issues where the County Council has input.

Eddy Alcock………………………………Annual Report to Parish Councils in the Thredling Division of Suffolk April ‘07.doc