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

Everything's quiet, well quieter!

Well, it has slackened off a bit over two last weeks on the council front, mainly through me having a not too serious hospital procedure which had me out of action for a few days.  The outcome was fortunately reassuring so you’re stuck with me yet awhile!

Did my usual monthly surgery, meeting up with a couple of residents, after which I had a mini meeting with parents, both ex-governors, to start looking at how to set up a credit union collection point in one of the local junior schools.  I expect some of you will have noticed the following irony – at the same time as payday loan companies are on the increase, who prey on those in financial difficulties to persuade them they need a loan fast which gets them into more debt than they were before, yet finally credit unions are getting the press coverage they need & deserve.  Even the Archbishop of Canterbury has been promoting them (although this was a tad spoilt by the revelation that some of the Church’s money is invested in Wonga!)

In this last week, after my recuperation, I have slowly got back into the swing of things by attending a few meetings.  One of these, on Wednesday, was concerning a scrutiny panel that I am on – Wellbeing & Attainment of Children & Young People.  We are nearing the end of this process, which is yet again a first for me.  Over the months we have done a lot of work to assess how well educational establishments are ensuring the wellbeing of their pupils & students, how this relates to attainment, gathering of a large amount of information & evidence, and consulting with many relevant professionals along the way.  So at that meeting we made a good start on deciding what recommendations we are going make as the way forward.  These will eventually go to cabinet with the aim that they then get actioned.

Finished off with something else new.  Yesterday saw the first Uplands Street Market, supported by all the local councillors, and it appeared to be very successful indeed.  Great variety of stalls, from craft to food, also giving visitors the chance to fraternise the shops as well, which in these difficult times must have been a welcome boost.  Hopefully as a market one of many more.

Les

Ups & Downs

As you all know I’ve been a councillor for over a year now but I’m sure most of you will understand when I say there’s still lots to learn – indeed I’m sure you never stop!  And sometimes you might move to another committee covering an area of the council’s remit which you haven’t done before.  And so it is with me, with yet another new learning curve for me to get to grips with, and with which I may need some help.  As it happens one of the meetings I was at last week included looking at specific training requests from councillors, so we could decide how these are to be met.  I am certainly very pleased that the authority takes this seriously, clearly understanding the importance of enabling us to effectively carry out our roles.  
 
Of course even at those meetings & events where I feel confident in myself, that is I have gained a good understanding and can ‘feel’ the purpose of meeting hence can contribute to its goals, this still requires a high level of commitment on my part.  So it’s always good to have a bit of light relief such as an event in the ward last week, where I turned up too early to draw the raffle so went away again.  And even better, there was the meeting later the same day in a community centre, where we ended up holding it in the kitchen (don't ask!) whilst being blasted from both sides by loud music!

And fortunately the rest of life has its bright spots – a lovely long weekend away, great weather for our annual BBQ chez nous, the Lions winning the rugby test series, and at last a British Men’s Tennis Champion at Wimbledon.  (After 77 of years of waiting I really don’t think I could have faced another year of the TV commentators going on, and on, and on … )

Les

Still some new firsts!

It’s over a year but through Scrutiny there are always new committees that you can join.  As it happens I finally managed to get to one that I had expressed interest in before Christmas!  Called Service Improvement & Finance, this group does 'what it says on the tin' in that it looks at services the council offers in the aim of suggesting improvements where possible.  Although I say I managed to get to it, typically I had another meeting with clashed with it so was only there for about half an hour.  But even in that short time I felt I could identify with its aims.  With a bit of luck I’ll do the whole meeting next time!

There are a number of initiatives being tried on the Hill to help those people living there, particularly when it comes to money & budgeting, something even some of the most intelligent & cleverest people can be known to struggle with.  I went up to a drop in session in Phoenix Library to find out more about one such scheme, and also visited Gors Community Centre one afternoon for an advice open day, with CAB, LASA credit Union, Age Cymru and so on.  The worry I have, and probably all likeminded people, is that despite leaflets, flyers, social media, it can be very difficult to get people to come along to these.  But not only because they don’t get to know about it but for all sorts of other reasons, like embarrassment, feeling stupid, don’t want to ask for help etc etc.  Added to this the number who are needing this help is surely going to escalate. 

I’ve also been to Area 1 planning meeting for the first time – I swapped from Area 2 as I felt I wanted to be able to hear about issues affecting neighbouring wards even if the planning applications for Townhill itself were rare.  And I’ve had a double dose of Governors – the Finance Sub-Committee & the final full Governors meeting for the academic year. 

Last but not least I chose to go on a day & a half Summer School looking at Credit unions.  It turn out to be the ‘curate’s egg’ – good in parts, but bad in others!  However I probably benefitted from it more than it felt like at the time.

Les

Give a little, get back a lot

In May I managed to remember to go to the LASA Board meeting (somehow I didn’t put the date in my diary for April so not surprisingly I didn’t get there!)  It’s been quite a learning curve even though I have been involved in both this, and other credit unions, in the past. There is just so much going on, and I’m having to learn about it all at the same time as brushing up on policies & procedures.  I’ve probably mentioned this before but for me the priority is to promote LASA as the right alternative to all the hundreds of legal loan sharks out there, who as I see it are making money by legally ‘stealing’ from the poorest in society.  I read an interesting article recently which pointed out that many people in desperate straights just don’t bother to think about how they will pay the money back, which is why it’s so easy for these companies to get away with it.

In the last fortnight have also been to Trustees meeting which isn’t held very often. This is usually quite rewarding as we are able to give small grants to various social enterprises and so far we have rarely had to say no to anyone. 

And the last council meeting was one of the lighter ones I’ve been to.  It included a very interesting presentation on the Penllergare Trust who are doing excellent reclamation work on the woods in that area of Swansea.  A Welsh speaking councillor was critical of the spelling but as it happens although not strictly correct it is in keeping with the way the word was spelt at the time the house existed, and those grounds laid out.
 
In the same meeting we also enjoyed an excellent answer from the deputy leader to a question about what will replace the members’ coffee machine. You may have seen the article on the front page on the local paper.  They made it look like for years the council has been squandering loads of taxpayers money on tea & coffee!  The point is we realise that it’s a waste so not only are we getting rid of an expensive ‘toy’ but we all agreed we would now pay for this from now on.  The paper, of course, failed to mention that!  Anyway, she inferred that because of the changes we would definitely require a drinks monitor, and fortunately her intended ‘target’ laughed as loud as the rest of us!

And to end on a nice note, I was invited to the launch of the first smoke free playground in Swansea, opposite the Phoenix Centre.  There’s always a feelgood factor when you are able to do something that will benefit kids, giving them a better future.

Les