This week Deputy Leader Ian Parry has invited the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles to visit us. The invitation aims to encourage him to help turnaround the perception that councils are failing to cope with budget reductions.
In the letter the Deputy Leader made the point that in Staffordshire we are succeeding in reforming and improving frontline services and he outlined many of the good things we are doing:
- A pioneering new bus travel scheme, giving under-20s journeys anywhere starting in the county for £1. This has received national backing from the British Youth Council. Older people are also being offered free 24/7 bus travel
A pledge to protect all county libraries with initiatives including wifi roll-out, the introduction of eBooks and “Touchdown Centres” to make libraries temporary workplaces for people on business
- Groundbreaking use of technology to allow elderly people to live independently at home
- £4 million extra funding to tackle potholes
The strong message is that councils are not all about cuts and that Staffordshire County Council is making a difference by focussing on our priorities of supporting the county’s economy and our most vulnerable residents. We are asking Eric Pickles to – “come and see for yourself” – and we couldn’t say that with confidence without the hard work that you all put in to deliver services. I’ll let you know what his answer is!
I wanted to take the opportunity to mention a visit I made recently to the Therapy and Sensory Team in Burton-upon-Trent. During the day John Maun and his colleagues introduced me to their work, and to a number of residents that use their service. I started to get an idea of just how challenging life is when you lose your sight, and the range of things that the team can do to support their service users. I learnt a lot during the day, and I appreciate the time they took to show me their work, the frank questions they asked and the honest answers they gave to my questions.
On a final note I had the privilege to attend a session at Walton Hall Youth Club the other week. The youth club is run mostly by volunteers, many of whom are parents of current and past children at Walton Hall special school. The parents had been concerned that there was no wider support network for the young people, many of whom have significant issues around confidence, after they left the school and set up the youth club a few years ago with assistance from the County. It was great to be able to see how the sessions at the youth club were helping the young people build this confidence and equipping them with some key life skills. Talking to them and their parents really helped to remind me about the hugely important role the County plays in helping potentially vulnerable people with a wide spectrum of needs.