Local & National

Two real things of note worth mentioning this blog…

Firstly, along with various officers and one of my fellow ward councillors, I undertook a very interesting, useful and positive ‘walkabout’ around Mayhill.  You may recall in my last blog I said all three of us had been looking to get some street improvements carried out.  This walkabout followed on from those discussions and in doing so I was able to see for myself some of the environmental issues in the area.  As we went round we all pretty much agreed on a number of actions which would help enhance the area – not major work so not too costly but enough to make a difference and show that we were bothering.  The next step is some form of consultation with residents, to make sure we have their support in the main.  And for someone like me who spends most of my day in a sedentary position, an added bonus of the exercise was just that – the exercise!

The second?  Well apart from the usual plethora of meetings there was full council on Tuesday.  And for me yet another first even after 18 months, my maiden speech.  I’ve always said that I’m not bothering to waste my time and everyone elses by just talking for talkings sake - there are plenty who do that already!  So I’ve bided my time until now.  I spoke on a motion about payday lenders and other legal loan sharks, and how to curtail their activities – I feel very strongly that they are parasites, making money off people who haven't got it.  Apparently recent stats have them raking in £1 million a week!  After the proposer did his bit, it was then seconded by the Leader who in turn very graciously passed on to me to give my speech.  Must have been OK as I was applauded!!  And I'm very pleased that I’m pretty sure everyone present, including the opposition, voted for it anyway. 

Many of us are out tomorrow afternoon in the city centre, asking Jo & Jill Public what they think.  There was a very good item on TV last night highlighting the issue.  It included the amazing mums from Bonymaen.  They had who kicked all this off in the first place by realising they were being ripped off, decided they'd had enough of it, and were going to fight back.  It’s been a privilege fighting the cause alongside them.

Les

Quieter on the council front

A quieter fortnight on the council front thank goodness!  But some very useful meetings nonetheless, staring with a recent scrutiny group I have joined.  We intend to assess how we can best engage with the public, and after taking time to decide on the scope of the inquiry we are now in a position to get to work.  To the outsider it might appear that the process is a bit cumbersome to begin with as it takes a couple of meetings to get to this point.  But it’s really important to make sure we all understand & agree the issue from the outset, so in my view it’s time well spent.

I managed to get to the PACT meeting in TOPIC House.  I’ve probably said before that this venue is the Older People’s Information Centre and that these meetings are open to residents from the whole of Swansea.  But there are regulars who come from the ward itself, and of course it’s useful to keep in touch with those who run centres like this.  And they do a cracking range of cakes, (for which Jeff is very grateful!)

This last week has concentrated very much on the ward.  As local councillors all three of us have put forward various ideas for street scene improvements as we all feel even minor ones can definitely make a difference to residents.  But of course, as you probably all well know, the council is a big lumbering organisation and the wheels can grind very (and frustratingly!) slowly.  However we’ve had a double whammy of help, from another cabinet member and a director, so some of our suggestions might finally come to fruition in the not so distant future.

Outside direct council meetings I’ve also been to my once termly Finance subcommittee up in Seaview Community School.  It always surprises me how much I get from my involvement with the school as I would never have put me down as school governor material.  But then years back I would never have dreamt of being a councillor!

Les

A week is a long time in politics – a fortnight is even longer!

It’s been an interesting but very heavy going fortnight.  We attended not one but two full council meetings this week, with the extra one dedicated to the difficult issue of where to have a second council maintained gypsy traveller site.  Many of you will know that this is still unresolved as it was genuinely felt that none
of those proposed fitted the bill.  So we begin again but not from scratch, and in any case this is far too important a decision to be made in haste but get it wrong.

And there are more clouds on the political horizon with the news confirming that the budget would need substantial cuts next year.  The cabinet members have been wrestling with the figures to see how this can be achieved with the least impact, and as a council we have opened up the debate to staff and the public.  It’s still not going to be easy but maybe with their involvement we can at least work on this together instead of giving everyone affected a fait a complis.

It was good to end on a high note by attending a training session Friday morning on what being a Corporate Parent is all about.  What was very encouraging is the obvious dedication of the professionals who came to explain their roles in helping ‘looked after’ children.  It was clear to me that there was, almost without exception, the right balance of caring & expertise, to give children in care the best possible opportunity to develop their potential just like any other.

Les

Past, Present & Future

Causeway to Lindisfarne, Northumberland

Put off blog entry from last week as had a well earned (well, I think so!) long weekend away –  bit of a trek all the way to Northumberland but had a lovely 2 days there.

It’s good when something positive happens in your ward, whether or not you had any hand in it.  Cabinet Member Mitch Theaker managed to get a half-pipe skateboard run installed at the top off Gors Park which been very popular from the outset.  You may have already had the fortune (or mis!) to see my mugshot in the local paper recently, alongside Mitch, amongst others, watching kids truly excelling themselves – very uplifting.

After this photo op, as well as those which are becoming regulars, such as Equalities, Democratic Services & Planning, over the past couple of weeks or so, I've even had the chance of going to three meetings at the same time!  But as I’m not quite that flexible it meant, of course, choosing the one most relevant at that time.  It’s rather strange but whenever this has happened it’s never been that difficult deciding which one’s best.

Mingled with doing business, today I've been catching up on casework - a mix of phone calls & e-mails, some new enquiries and some where chasing up existing ones.  Amazing how long it takes!

Just to tease you I’ll finish by saying that my next blog will include what happened at what is probably going to be quite a contentious meeting, but you’ll just have to wait!

Les

Fighting the Good Fight

Now just what have I been doing over the last three weeks?  Yes, I know it’s three, and no I’m not a week late – some time ago I decided to try and stop spreading myself too thin, so with that in mind I’d keep this to just twice a month. But never fear, for those of you who need more (really?!) there’s always my political blog onto which I have just posted an item entitled HOGGOF.  You’ll have to go and look at it - lesleywaltonpolitics@blogspot.com - to see what this awfully corny heading means!!!!!

Les at Campaign Launch Sat 31st August 2013

Back to what I’ve been up to …  As I reported in my last blog I am now on a group that is campaigning against payday and other such legal loan sharks, including the methods they use to lure unsuspecting people into a downward spiral of debt.  It’s true that some people do take out a payday loan literally to bridge the money gap up to payday, and if it suits them, fine.  But even then it still doesn’t remotely justify the interest rates being charged, or the way some of these companies will not easily let you pay off a loan, but keep offering more & more, hence the debt gets worse & worse.  Continuing on my soapbox (on a roll now, sorry!) and possibly stating the obvious, but not everyone is naturally good with money – just think how many people say Maths when asked what was their worst subject at school!  And these are the people who are going to be very vulnerable when it comes to persuasive advertising for ‘easy money’, and people knocking on your door who wont take no for an answer.
So I’m sure you will agree that there are a lot of challenges around this issue.  However both from our meeting this week, and from the campaign launch the other Saturday – went really well, lots of people there, good item in the press – we have amassed some great suggestions as to what we can do in fighting this campaign.  Really quite exciting!

Other than this I’ve had the usual smattering of meetings, including one looking at how we are going to scrutinise Public Engagement.  This is I think will get to be quite a hot topic, as the council is going to be opening up discussions on the budget for 14-15.  Interesting times ahead.

Les

Mainly Ward Matters - it certainly does!

Yet another first, and this after well over a year as a councillor.  I went to a meeting of the Audit Committee – very roughly described as ‘auditing the audits’.  I suspect this sounds as dry as dust to most people but I actually found it interesting, which surprised myself, and that I was able to contribute then & there.  (After this 2+hours meeting I went straight on to another, this time wearing my business hat, and finally getting home after 10pm.  Thank goodness this doesn’t happen every week!)

Also over the last couple of weeks I have been involved in looking at some interesting ward issues, ranging from trees to credit unions.  And my regular monthly surgery proved very useful as I managed to touch base with a number of people to progress some of these matters.  I have also just joined the group who are jointly behind organising the Pay Day Loan Big Action Day on Saturday 31st August, in the Ocean Room, National Waterfront Museum, from 12 til 2pm – for latest Evening Post article click here.  The other driving force is a group of mums from Bonymaen who have been caught up in the payday debt spiral – see their story here – and they will have some strong messages to give on the subject.

To finish, a salutory tale …  As a rule I prefer e-mails & texts to phoning because you can do them in your time, and decide on exactly what you want to say.  However I’ve been reminded how easy it is to send one which you think says what you want it to say but in fact gives totally the wrong impression!  And of course this is where a phone conversation can make all the difference – the person can hear the tone of your voice and respond accordingly, and more often than not it leads to a discussion where each can have their say.  So from now on I will ask myself “phone call and/or e-mail?”

In fact I’ll make one right now – just need to decide what toppings I want on that pizza …

Les

Out & About

Student Liaison felt a bit deja vuish – these meetings are not that frequent so I suppose it’s understandable that they go over the same ground to a certain extent.  And it’s quite a big group so not easy to make practical decisions, so I found it heartening that we formed a subgroup to do just that.  I am sure this is the best way forward.
 
Went to a very successful community event in Paradise Park – Teddy Bear’s Picnic – with lots of helpful & interesting stands & activities aimed at families.  Without a doubt one of the highlights was a police car where kids could have a go at activating the siren – the PCSO must have been deaf by the end of the day!  I was there particularly to support the anti-food waste stand, which was doing a great job handing out loads of kitchen waste boxes.  

They were also promoting the Real Nappy campaign 
where families can get £100 worth for free.  (Do get in touch if you want to know more – e-mail me at lesley.walton@swansea.gov.uk.)  Gone are the days when you had to boil them, now you can just put them in the wash with everything else!  Not only that, they no longer just come in white but all colours and designs.  And no, I’m not being paid to say this!!

Equalities Wednesday and what could have been the driest meeting of all which was actually quite interesting – an overview of the 2011 census data.  Makes you realise just how much councils up & down the country must depend on this information in order to use their resources as effectively as possible.

Unfortunately later that same evening Jeff & I were mugged which put a slight dampener on things.  However we think ourselves every lucky that we weren’t badly hurt, and they didn’t get away with my handbag – it always amazes me how instinctively stubborn (possibly foolish as well) I can be, but there was no way they were having it!

Most of this week I have been following up casework with just the one meeting – another scrutiny panel that I’m relatively new to, basically looking at the effectiveness of various council services, something which I feel is going to be increasingly important in the years to come.

Les